This is a first and probably last for me ever. I watched half an episode of DS9, namely "The Visitor", stopped it, wasn't in the mood to put on the second half, and put on VOY instead. No, this is NOT to say anything bad about "The Visitor". I just have to be in the right type of mindset and have to mentally prep myself for watching it. Something I don't have to do with...
"Persistence of Vision"
This episode was a slow burn at first but then picked up more and more steam as it went along. By the of it, it occurred to me that this is the most Voyager episode of Voyager up to this point. So much of what's here will be used elsewhere later on. The crew lost in a dream state is something we'll see again in "Waking Moments". Characters seeing specific other characters who are important to them is something we'll see a variation of in "Bliss". Janeway being swept up by a fictional character in a story that takes place in the 19th Century is something we'll see in "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk".
At the beginning of the episode, there's even the seemingly hard-headed alien that won't allow them the pass through a certain region of space they say they claim. He looks dark, shadowy, and intimidating. But instead of Voyager being fired upon, they just start seeing things one-by-one. Leaving only Kes with her mental powers and the Doctor, being a hologram, the only ones who can't be affected. Kes is able to overcome any temptation to succumb to the dreams and overcomes when the alien tries to stop her after he tries to stop her, and it makes Kes the one to save the day. I think it was a nice change of pace.
It's interesting who the characters choose to see and what it says about where the characters are at this point in the series. Janeway sees Mark, which reminds us that she hasn't forgotten about him. Tuvok sees his wife. Kim sees Libby. Torres sees a Chakotay that loves her romantically. Paris has no love interest, so he sees his father, who wants to put him down. So, if this alien can't get them someone with a lover, they'll find a way to get them another way, with family. That Kes sees both Neelix and Paris is probably something lingering from the dropped idea of there being a Paris-Kes-Neelix love triangle.
This dream-like state that almost everyone ended up in was slowly built up to. At first, it's only Janeway who's seeing things before she becomes completely lost in what she sees and mentally feels like she's somewhere else. The subtle hints are everywhere at first. Like the cucumber sandwiches and the cup with flowery design on it that looked like it was from Janeway's holonovel.
I like the concept of Janeway's holonovel, but I feel like there should be more to the execution. The language doesn't sound 1800s-y enough, in my opinion. It should sound longer, even more prosaic, overly elaborate, and very flowery. As elaborate as the mansion and as flowery as the cup. There's a lot of time spent in the holonovel and it wouldn't have felt like it was taking up time if they did more with the story in the holonovel itself. I don't care about the kids that much. I want more rivalry with Mrs. Templeton and more steamy romance with Lord Burliegh. But anyway...
At the end of the episode when Kes manages to overcome the alien and the Voyager crew snap back to normal, I appreciated that they weren't able to find out anything more about him. Without being familiar with this area of space, they couldn't even begin to know where or what to look for. Which is taking advantage of the Delta Quadrant setting.
Overall, not a heavy or weighty episode, and it does take a while to get going, but I do like the mind games, getting some glimpses into the characters even if it wasn't that deep, and I like how much they gave Kes to do. The responsibility for saving Voyager was on her. And credit to originating so many types of ideas that I'd come to associate with the series. I give it a 7.