Q on Voyager

[neogothboy74]

I was recently talking about Q with a friend (& fellow Trek fan), and she asked me how I felt about the character. I told her that I usually didn't enjoy Q (she loves hm), but that there was one episode where I really loved not just him, but the entire idea of him, which was never the case previously. I mean, I liked him well enough in "Deja Q", "Tapestry" & "All Good Things..." and I would have said those were his best moments, until I saw this other episode, which just eclipsed those IMO. She asked me what episode I was talking about and she was shocked when I said "Death Wish". She didn't know of it. She'd only seen a few episodes of Voyager and decided it wasn't for her. So I sat her down and we watched the episode and she was stunned, and we had some interesting discussions about the episode, and how we both felt that it featured the character at his best and didn't shy away from some difficult subject matter. I didn't love his later appearances; I never thought they measured up, though I did like Lady Q. I certainly didn't love his appearance on DS9. But to me, "Death Wish" is the Q episode to beat.

Does anyone else care to comment?

 

[Praetor]

I agree, 'Death Wish' is probably the best Q episode, and definitely the best of Voyager's Q episodes although I did enjoy the others. (I just like Suzie Plakson in general. And Q's son? Yum.)

But I think what made 'Death Wish' so good was that it had omnipotent beings dealing with life and death, which was interesting.

Plus there was Riker.

 

[scottydog]

I loved Death Wish, but then again I love almost all the Q episodes. But I agree that the themes of life and death, and Q's growth as a being, were very impressive in that episode.

 

[neogothboy74]

And Q's son? Yum.

I couldn't remember Q's son, having only seen that episode once. so I just looked him up. He looks too young for me in that picture. But it says he's in "Exit to Eden" (the book of which is uber hot), and other gay faves "Alexander" & "The Velocity of Gary". I wonder who he plays in all of them, as I own all 3 of them. Hmmmm.

 

[neogothboy74]

Scottydog; you're Worf / Leia pic made me laugh out loud.

Thank You.

 

[Praetor]

And Q's son? Yum.

I couldn't remember Q's son, having only seen that episode once. so I just looked him up. He looks too young for me in that picture. But it says he's in "Exit to Eden" (the book of which is uber hot), and other gay faves "Alexander" & "The Velocity of Gary". I wonder who he plays in all of them, as I own all 3 of them. Hmmmm.

He also went to school at UNC-Chapel Hill.

I have a suspicion about him.

 

[neogothboy74]

Well...good luck with that. lol

 

[Praetor]

Eh?

 

[neogothboy74]

Good luck with your suspicion; I hope it proves accurate...or true...or just wacky fun for you.

 

[Brit]

I am very lucky in that my daughter is a Trek fan too, so we get to have these discussions one on one. There is I think (and forgive me but my DS9 knowledge isn't as good as my Voyager or TOS) somewhere in DS9 the notion that the Prophets are actually Bajorians evolved until they exist outside of linear time.

Could it be that the Q are humans also evolved out of liner time? What do you think?

Brit

 

[Too Much Fun]

I am a big fan of Q. When I saw that "Fan Collective" Q set, I felt like it was made just for me, but I was dreading the Voyager episodes on it as I've never liked the show and hadn't seen them before. After I'd seen them, I decided that they turned out well mostly because Q elevates any show he's in, so even the inherent suckiness of Voyager couldn't stop a show he was in from being good.

Still, those episodes are riddled with flaws. What bothered me most was how "Death Wish", "The Q and the Grey", and "Q2" all went into way too much detail about the Continuum. It took away some of the mystique that was maintained by keeping its true nature vague in previous Q episodes. Q's son was also infuriatingly irritating until he lost his powers, but again, I thought these episodes were solid despite their flaws.

While certainly better than any other Voyager episodes I've ever seen, I don't think they're even close to the quality of Q's TNG appearances (other than the first two, which were pretty shaky). I'll always believe Deja Q is one of the best Next Generation episodes of all-time, despite Corbin Bensen almost ruining it at the end, because everything from the direction, writing, and acting was pitch perfect until that two Qs scene. That's the one way "Death Wish" is better than "Deja Q"...it has a better written and acted second Q.

 

[crohnie]

I enjoyed Q's character overall and I think having him on Voyager is a special treat. One of the things I liked about his appearances was his chemistry with Captain Janeway

I wasn't that impressed with Death Wish when I first saw it. But I have come to appreciate it more now. I think its a really good episode because it has that Trek way of discussing humanity's issues (right to die) without using humans as an example. It's really cool that they got to use the Q.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

I like Death Wish and somewhat enjoy The Q and the Grey.

Death Wish is one of the best Q episodes, I think I rate it at the same level as Deja Q.
I think there was a lot of guts involved in finally taking us to the Q Continuum in Death Wish and I think they pulled it off just right. I love the surrealism of the scenes in the Continuum.

The Q and the Grey didn't work as good. Its enjoyable, but my gripe with this episode is that we see our lowly human heroes go up against several Q and not be hurled out of existence in return. "They're using our weapons". That was just ridiculous. The Female Q was awesome though.

Q2 I'm kinda indifferent about, but I'll have to rewatch it to make sure.

 

[tomalak301]

Death Wish was a great episode. It brought that Q that I liked from Tapestry, Q Who and Deja Q because it was more serious than silly. Also loved the disappointment the crew felt when the Continuum was symbolized by just a road.

As for his other episodes, I kinda liked Q and the Gray, even though that might have more to do with Lady Q more than anything else, and Q2 was a waste.

 

[plague]

Could it be that the Q are humans also evolved out of liner time? What do you think?

Interesting theory. Of course, don't all of the humanoid species have some shared lineage?

I personally don't remember this episode, but if neogothboy thinks it was all that, I'm sure it was.

It reminds me though, of one of my pet peaves. Why did Q appearances have to start having weird Xanth style names for the titles? This is possibly one of the most annoying things for me, and just another reason not to like the Q stories.

 

[neogothboy74]

the Prophets are actually Bajorians evolved until they exist outside of linear time.

Could it be that the Q are humans also evolved out of liner time? What do you think?

Brit

I don't remember there being any episodes that suggested that the Prophets are Bajorans. But there could have been some vague reference somewhere that I missed, or a line that I interpreted differently. In the post DS9 fiction, the Prophets have been revealed to be gods to more than just the Bajorans.

I think the Q are more interesting as their own species, but only because I like the open ended question of what we're evolving into. I think. lol

Interesting theory. Of course, don't all of the humanoid species have some shared lineage?

Many of them do, as per TNG's "The Chase".

 

[Brit]

I don't remember there being any episodes that suggested that the Prophets are Bajorans. But there could have been some vague reference somewhere that I missed, or a line that I interpreted differently. In the post DS9 fiction, the Prophets have been revealed to be gods to more than just the Bajorans.

I actually got that from my daughter, she said she it was mentioned around the fourth season of DS9, it's also a theory in the "Nitpicker's Guide for DS9, and she thinks it was played around with a little at the end of the series.

She said the phrase in the fourth season is the Prophets to Sisko "You are of Bajor." That could have come from the fact that his mother was inhabited by a Prophet during his conception and birth. Unfortunately I don't have DS9 Fourth season DVD, but I can look at my DS9 Companion.

My daughter is actually pretty good with Trivia stuff in general and especially good at Trek Trivia.

Brit

 

[kimc]

"Death Wish" is one of my favorite episodes. As for the rest any episode with Q is a good episode imo.

 

[Lynx]

I like Q. Great character.

But I think that he was better in TNG than in Voyager, although I do like some sequences in "Death Wish" and "The Q and The Grey".

 

[Myasishchev]

I'm on the fence about Death Wish.

I thought it was an interesting dilemma, but it has some problems.

1)There is no reason to believe that Q would abide by the decision of a Starfleet captain, so the framing device they use is transparently false. "Q is not a liar" is not exactly equivalent with "Q keeps promises." He didn't keep promises to Picard, why to Janeway?
2)Quinn has lived a life of eons and seen the entire universe. Q shows his impact on reality by giving us... three guys from Earth. I know he thinks we're provincials, but I thought the whole point of Q was to shake us up. Give us some testimony from the Sentient Farts Galaxy or something.
3)JANEWAY NEVER ASKS Q TO SNAP HIS FINGERS AND TAKE HER TO EARTH. I know he shows her Earth as an inducement to take his side in their fake, pointless little trial thing, but at the end, when he's been won over, she never asks, "Hey, Q, wait! You seem to more or less like people, and we helped teach you an important life lesson, can you send us back to the Alpha Quadrant?" The worst thing he could've said was no.

After Death Wish, they get all Voyager with Q, and I don't want to talk about it anymore.