Some ruminations and train(wrecks) of thoughts on "Alice"...
The episode starts out interestingly enough with a space trader who may as well be "Space Ebay". Paris gets a space woody over the mere appearance of this rusty old craft, which not only looks like a reject from 1940s Flash Gordon but also apparently has a neurogenic treknobnabble interface. Strangely enough, for some advanced technological features that could have been augmented for Voyager, the episode doesn't even go that route. It's a coin toss in terms of where the makers wanted to take the story... was it worth it*?
Tuvok is vain about his age. Also, the crew are not being illogical - just inaccurate due to the lack of sufficient data, leaving them to guess in this game of "virtual whack-a-mole".
Admittedly, for a commercial break, I was hoping the ship wouldn't have lit up of its own accord. It felt cliched. The story makes up for this later on, but at that moment I was a tad disenchanted. The story also makes up for this scene by quickly going to the console where it shows a graphic of Tom's brain scan overlaid atop his skull. This sets the tone nicely. We're not sure how things will proceed, we're just clued in enough that this ship and its neurogenic interface are going to be evil. Also, "moohahahaha!" If only Alice had a mustache to twirl, but thankfully the episode doesn't go down that trite garden path of 2D cardboard cartoony villainy either...
Harry can work those ancient threads rather nicely. As for Tom's rubber suit, not so much... how badly must it have smelled days later as he also never shaved or anything else.
I must admit, this is a new take on mind/machine integration that even begs the question of who built this ship, and why, and how it went haywire to induce such control over its occupant. Or why it thinks the particle stream astral-phenomenon is somehow its home. Would exposition defining this help or hamper the story?
The ship zaps Torres when she touches a rounds sensor on the wall. Tom quips he needs to repair that. Was he zapped as well? This ship seems to be oddly protective of him.
This episode does a great job with Tom's hallucination - which we the audience already know he was. Even in the one scene where he is talking (to himself) and the gold- and blue-shirts who walk by don't take notice. It's possible one or either looked as they passed him, and he is between them and the camera. Blink and you'll miss it.
Neelix's outfit is a reminder that not all cultures find the same fashions palatable. Not since Doctor Who's "Snakedance" do we see an outfit that seems a tad "juvenile" but plated with utter sincerity. That takes guts and I say this as a compliment, not a backhanded compliment. (Actually, if there is a backhanded compliment, for this post I will state the fact afterward.)
There's some first rate camerawork in this episode, especially when the anthropomorphizing of Alice appears. Many scenes in this episode have these little touches of detail and flair, even the appearance of the booze bottle from the rear of the replicator instead of the camera pointing at it. Not sure if VOY did this before, but regardless it's refreshing to see little moments like this as they keep the proceedings refreshing. We've all seen replicator goodies appear before but rarely if never before via from the inside out.
Space trader still has residuals from when "Alice" had mapped and took over his mind. Wasn't expecting that. He's cured quickly enough, but that wouldn't be surprising. The Federation knows enough of how the brain works at this point, even if neurogenic control systems are still beyond its grasp. Dang, why couldn't Alice lure in Torres at the same time? (Because she had to be the way out of this plot's climax, and she's used well enough. Just be thankful Tom was in Alice's virtual clutches often enough or she would have been murdered inside the psychocrazywack ship...)
The particle fountain, which does not ask if you want Pepsi or Coke, looks marvelous. Inside and out.
The starfield as Paris warps through it, reminds me more of the Doctor Who theme from 1974... hmmm, it's photoshop time coming soon...
The EMH definitely has some strong and sparkling dialogue in this story.
The ending does gloss over the proceedings, but I'll leave it at that. Maybe he could look for energy sources to help get what's needed to replicate the bits he used to bring the psycho ship back to life. A ship that reminds me of a certain Futurama episode... a partial parody, perhaps (with popcorn?) Oh well, at least Naomi drew a cute card.
And "The Lights of Zetar" gets what feels almost like a nod as, when the ship is hit by Voyager, it's Tom who feels a kick to the head as a result. Seems a bit of a stretch. Imagine, in the writers' room, where one asks the other "Remember that old story from 1969 written by that Lambchop puppet person and her hubby? Well, let's take the notion that the baddie of the week is linked psychically to a crewmember, we won't name the baddie 'Cleo', and form a whole 45 minute story around that!" Seems improbable, I'd hope?
Lastly, Chakotay even gets something to do and this episode was made after Beltran's dispute with the producers. What he's given is about as much filler in a story that feels like filler, yet it's competently made filler with a boost in the camerawork and even music departments. I just get the impression it could be more despite the top notch production values. Wait, do I hear a slinky voice? Oh my, why hello there Alice, how nice it is to meet you!
B- Definitely worth a look. It's more than competently made, with a "tried'n'true" A-/B-plot format that retains interest just enough.
* (spoiler alert) Yes. But I'd rather they have some engineers get a proper look at it.
The episode starts out interestingly enough with a space trader who may as well be "Space Ebay". Paris gets a space woody over the mere appearance of this rusty old craft, which not only looks like a reject from 1940s Flash Gordon but also apparently has a neurogenic treknobnabble interface. Strangely enough, for some advanced technological features that could have been augmented for Voyager, the episode doesn't even go that route. It's a coin toss in terms of where the makers wanted to take the story... was it worth it*?
Tuvok is vain about his age. Also, the crew are not being illogical - just inaccurate due to the lack of sufficient data, leaving them to guess in this game of "virtual whack-a-mole".
Admittedly, for a commercial break, I was hoping the ship wouldn't have lit up of its own accord. It felt cliched. The story makes up for this later on, but at that moment I was a tad disenchanted. The story also makes up for this scene by quickly going to the console where it shows a graphic of Tom's brain scan overlaid atop his skull. This sets the tone nicely. We're not sure how things will proceed, we're just clued in enough that this ship and its neurogenic interface are going to be evil. Also, "moohahahaha!" If only Alice had a mustache to twirl, but thankfully the episode doesn't go down that trite garden path of 2D cardboard cartoony villainy either...
Harry can work those ancient threads rather nicely. As for Tom's rubber suit, not so much... how badly must it have smelled days later as he also never shaved or anything else.
I must admit, this is a new take on mind/machine integration that even begs the question of who built this ship, and why, and how it went haywire to induce such control over its occupant. Or why it thinks the particle stream astral-phenomenon is somehow its home. Would exposition defining this help or hamper the story?
The ship zaps Torres when she touches a rounds sensor on the wall. Tom quips he needs to repair that. Was he zapped as well? This ship seems to be oddly protective of him.
This episode does a great job with Tom's hallucination - which we the audience already know he was. Even in the one scene where he is talking (to himself) and the gold- and blue-shirts who walk by don't take notice. It's possible one or either looked as they passed him, and he is between them and the camera. Blink and you'll miss it.
Neelix's outfit is a reminder that not all cultures find the same fashions palatable. Not since Doctor Who's "Snakedance" do we see an outfit that seems a tad "juvenile" but plated with utter sincerity. That takes guts and I say this as a compliment, not a backhanded compliment. (Actually, if there is a backhanded compliment, for this post I will state the fact afterward.)
There's some first rate camerawork in this episode, especially when the anthropomorphizing of Alice appears. Many scenes in this episode have these little touches of detail and flair, even the appearance of the booze bottle from the rear of the replicator instead of the camera pointing at it. Not sure if VOY did this before, but regardless it's refreshing to see little moments like this as they keep the proceedings refreshing. We've all seen replicator goodies appear before but rarely if never before via from the inside out.
Space trader still has residuals from when "Alice" had mapped and took over his mind. Wasn't expecting that. He's cured quickly enough, but that wouldn't be surprising. The Federation knows enough of how the brain works at this point, even if neurogenic control systems are still beyond its grasp. Dang, why couldn't Alice lure in Torres at the same time? (Because she had to be the way out of this plot's climax, and she's used well enough. Just be thankful Tom was in Alice's virtual clutches often enough or she would have been murdered inside the psychocrazywack ship...)
The particle fountain, which does not ask if you want Pepsi or Coke, looks marvelous. Inside and out.
The starfield as Paris warps through it, reminds me more of the Doctor Who theme from 1974... hmmm, it's photoshop time coming soon...
The EMH definitely has some strong and sparkling dialogue in this story.
The ending does gloss over the proceedings, but I'll leave it at that. Maybe he could look for energy sources to help get what's needed to replicate the bits he used to bring the psycho ship back to life. A ship that reminds me of a certain Futurama episode... a partial parody, perhaps (with popcorn?) Oh well, at least Naomi drew a cute card.
And "The Lights of Zetar" gets what feels almost like a nod as, when the ship is hit by Voyager, it's Tom who feels a kick to the head as a result. Seems a bit of a stretch. Imagine, in the writers' room, where one asks the other "Remember that old story from 1969 written by that Lambchop puppet person and her hubby? Well, let's take the notion that the baddie of the week is linked psychically to a crewmember, we won't name the baddie 'Cleo', and form a whole 45 minute story around that!" Seems improbable, I'd hope?
Lastly, Chakotay even gets something to do and this episode was made after Beltran's dispute with the producers. What he's given is about as much filler in a story that feels like filler, yet it's competently made filler with a boost in the camerawork and even music departments. I just get the impression it could be more despite the top notch production values. Wait, do I hear a slinky voice? Oh my, why hello there Alice, how nice it is to meet you!
B- Definitely worth a look. It's more than competently made, with a "tried'n'true" A-/B-plot format that retains interest just enough.
* (spoiler alert) Yes. But I'd rather they have some engineers get a proper look at it.
