Re-Watching VOY

[Lord Garth]

Right after New Year's, I had "Hard Time". Now, right after Easter, I have "The Chute"! That's too weird. Can't wait to see what the next Holiday will be that'll be followed by a Prison Episode!

In other news, ahead of Star Trek: First Contact, I stitched together "Q Who" and both parts of "The Best of Both Worlds" into one big mega episode. At the beginning of it, I have six-and-a-half minutes from "The Neutral Zone" as a prologue. All I left in from that episode was the Enterprise going to investigate the destruction of the outposts along the Neutral Zone, the Romulans showing up, and the posturing as it's revealed that no one has any idea what's going on. I made it all straight to the point. Anything that didn't need to be there is gone. It'll be fun to watch how it all flows together in one sitting. and to post my thoughts about the whole thing once I get to it.

But first "The Chute"! Which is an intense episode from what I remember, but not so intense that I'll have to spend an entire night mentally prepping myself for it, unlike "Hard Time".

 

[Farscape One]

Right after New Year's, I had "Hard Time". Now, right after Easter, I have "The Chute"! That's too weird. Can't wait to see what the next Holiday will be that'll be followed by a Prison Episode!

In other news, ahead of Star Trek: First Contact, I stitched together "Q Who" and both parts of "The Best of Both Worlds" into one big mega episode. At the beginning of it, I have six-and-a-half minutes from "The Neutral Zone" as a prologue. All I left in from that episode was the Enterprise going to investigate the destruction of the outposts along the Neutral Zone, the Romulans showing up, and the posturing as it's revealed that no one has any idea what's going on. I made it all straight to the point. Anything that didn't need to be there is gone. It'll be fun to watch how it all flows together in one sitting. and to post my thoughts about the whole thing once I get to it.

But first "The Chute"! Which is an intense episode from what I remember, but not so intense that I'll have to spend an entire night mentally prepping myself for it, unlike "Hard Time".

Considering where you're currently at with rewatches... it'll be Memorial Day, with the two-parter "IN PURGATORY'S SHADOW"/"BY INFERNO'S LIGHT".

 

[Lord Garth]

"The Chute"

This is one of those times where VOY being in SD and un-remastered works to its advantage. The graininess, video noise, and imperfections all add to the atmosphere if this episode, making it seem raw, rough & tumble, and like Paris and Kim are in a prison. Total anarchy, totally savage, and only the strong survive.

At first, it looks like Paris is going to be the strong one, standing up to the alphas, while he'll pretend Kim is his prison bitch. Then Paris gets shanked and then Kim is tasked with both making sure Paris stays alive and fending off all the literally crazy inmates. Literally crazy because the clamp is driving them crazy.

Except for Zio, an inmate who's learned how to control the craziness and has written a manifesto. In every prison movie, there's that one inmate who's wiser than the others. He allows Kim (and Paris) to stay with him. Eventually, Zio wants Kim to kill Paris, who he views as a liability. Kim 100% refuses to kill his friend.

Kim's resolve and his refusal to let go is on full display. Both the good that comes out of it, like keeping Paris alive, and the bad. He's so determined to figure out how to escape that when he reaches the exit, it leads directly into space, and that's when he finds out the prison is really a space station. Being completely irrational, he still doesn't give up and insists they can escape if they all work together. He sounds crazy! He can't see at all that he'd be leading them into the vacuum of space. The clamp is adding to his disassociation for sure. And, of course, no one there listens to him.

Meanhile, Janeway has to figure out how to rescue Kim and Paris. Ambassador Liria, played by Robert Pine (Chris Pine's father) is one of the hardest-headed aliens Voyager has encountered yet. He wants to impound Voyager, doesn't care about new evidence that would exonerate Kim and Paris, and overall is as difficult as possible.

Rib and Piri, who are responsible for the explosive that Liria thinks Paris and Kim used, tell Janeway where the asteroid prison is. Then this episode comes up with a solution to a problem: how does Voyager rescue Kim and Paris if they can't enter Arkitirian space where they're being held? They use Neelix's ship. Janeway, Tuvok, and a bunch of security guards rescue Tuvok, they get out of there... and then Neelix has to use his piloting skills to evade the Arkitrians.

While I was watching the episode, I was wondering how it would be possible for Neelix to evade the Arkitrians so completely. It's the only weak point of the episode, but I can rationalize it as Neelix had to be involved in a lot of tough scrapes in his Pre-Voyager Days, so he must've become very good at evading other ships when necessary.

At the end, when Paris is healed, Kim is still troubled because he tried to kill Paris at one point, but Paris says all he remembers is that Kim protected him from all those other inmates. Nice way to tie up the episode.

I would've liked to have found out more about Rib and Piri's cause, since the Arkitirans aren't the type of aliens we'll ever see again; but that's more of a "would've been nice" rather than a "have to have". A great way to start the actual season. I give it a 9.

 

[Farscape One]

Slight correction: it was a space station, not an asteroid.

I really love this episode. The slow decay of Tom and Harry's control really amplifies the situation they're in. It's also a great showcase of Tom and Harry's friendship. And a great way to start the season (production order wise, anyway).

I'd probably also give it a 9.

 

[DonIago]

I definitely watched the episode once (the revelation of the true nature of the prison is pretty great). I don't have VOY on DVD or otherwise available that I know of, but this is one of those ones where I'm kind of okay with never having seen it again, because I just found it so painful. Kim and Paris must suffer!

Did VOY ever again utilize Neelix's shuttle? It seemed to come out of nowhere that anyone even remembered they had it in the first place!

 

[korblborp]

Did VOY ever again utilize Neelix's shuttle? It seemed to come out of nowhere that anyone even remembered they had it in the first place!

two, maybe three more times.

 

[Lord Garth]

"Remember"

It's a special occasion: Voyager is inviting aliens over instead of being attacked by them. Voyager hitches up the Enarans with a ride, and they give Voyager new energy conservation technology. Neelix pulls out all the stops and decorates the Hell out of the Mess Hall. It actually looks pretty nice. But this episode is called "Remember" not "Dining with the Enarans" so something has to happen.

I personally wouldn't mind hanging out in the decked-out Mess Hall with the Enaran-themed party, but Tores gives the whole thing a hard pass. The dreams she's been having lately are way more exciting. I can't say I blame her. I just had some pretty interesting dreams. The only difference is her dreams make sense. So much sense that it's actually a narrative. And it turns out to be so real that it is real. Jor Brel, an Enaran leader, tries to confuse the issue by saying maybe the other Enarans are accidentally giving Torres these memories, which they tend to do, and her mine is amalgamating it into something else. But she's insistent this isn't the case and the Doctor proves she's experiencing someone else's memories.

What are these memories? Torres is experiencing the memories of a woman named Korenna who, in her youth, who was seeing a man named Dathan (Nathan with one letter switched!), who her father doesn't approve of because he's a "Regressive". Dathan has to sneak around to see Korenna. Skipping to the end, Dathan and all the other Regressives were exterminated and all knowledge of this was suppressed. An elderly Korenna, who's been living under another name, is giving Torres these memories. And she has to finish before she dies, as she's killed. Jor Brel tries to pass it off as something else, that she died of natural causes, but it's another coverup. After Torres tells the Voyager crew about the Regressives and what was done to them, Jor Brel immediately denies it and wants the Enarans to leave the ship.

I appreciate with the maturity with which this subject matter is treated and how it doesn't try to beat you over the head with its message. It shows what happened as was. It shows how strong of a propaganda machine Enaran society has. And it has a message that can easily be translated into today. Two messages, actually: First, be careful who you pick up on the road. I'd say don't pick up anyone, because you don't know what you're getting yourself into. And second, society will go to great lengths to cover up its atrocities and make sure no one knows about them so as to cause social unrest. Torres is furious. Quite understandably so. Janeway is in the unenviable position of telling Torres there's nothing she can do. If the Enarans want to deny part of their history, that's their perrogative.

It looks like the episode will end on a downbeat note, but while there may not be anything Janeway can do, there's something Torres can do. She allows one of the Enarans who she'd been working with in Engineering to gain access of Torres' memories of Korenna's memories and she gets to live through the experience herself, so maybe what happened to the Regressives won't be so suppressed going forward. This episode then leaves it an open question about what happens to the Enarans afterwards and how far this information spreads.

The message is on-point, the handing is on-point, and the story is kept to regular people on a small-scale story about something happening on a large-scale. With so many moving parts all effortlessly working in tandem, I can't imagine an episode of this type being any better than it already is, and it's excellent at what it is. I give it a 10.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

It's always nice to find a good season 3 episode! I'd definitely recommend Remember over Unforgettable (though it's maybe not as good as Remember Me).

 

[Farscape One]

I have to give extra credit to Roxann Dawson, because she was able to change the timber of her usual voice to be of someone closer in age to Karenna when she was young. Roxann has shown great skill with her voice. (In "DREADNOUGHT", in ENT's "DEAD STOP", as both versions in "FACES".)

But I have to ding Janeway a bit. First she tells B'Elanna she can't off snooping on the planet because that is interfering in their internal affairs, but then she says to her (in an indirect way) to go ahead and talk to the Enaran in Engineering. It's the exact same thing... interfering in the internal affairs of a world. As Janeway rightly pointed out, B'Elanna already tried to make them aware in the Mess Hall but they were not having it, so thst was her one shot. Janeway has been written as inconsistent from episode to episode, but I think this was the first time she was incobsistent within the same scene.

I get the message and I completely agree with it, but you also can't be dictating to other societies what is and is not acceptable regarding telling their own history.

 

[Lord Garth]

It's always nice to find a good season 3 episode! I'd definitely recommend Remember over Unforgettable (though it's maybe not as good as Remember Me).

I can only think of one song for this.

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