We just reviewed "Death Wish" on our podcast ( feel free to listen here if you are interested) and it was as frustrating an experience as I was dreading it would be. I would watch John de Lancie read the phone book. He is an arresting and charismatic actor, and Q is a brilliant character in his hands. However, I cannot forgive the Voyager writers for the damage the end up doing to the Q Continuum with the Q episodes they did. While I find "Death Wish" the 'best' of the three - it has an interesting philosophical thread - the is not only inconsistent in the episode itself, it badly over-explains something that was previously nebulous and scary to the viewer. Truth be told, Season 2 has had more episodes I have enjoyed in it then I was giving it credit for in my memory. Episodes like "Meld" and "Resistance" have been fun to rediscover. Stuff like "Death Wish" though...it reminds me why this show has the bad rep it has. I'm curious what other people think.
from what I've read a lot of people like this episode. I am a big fan of all the Q episodes. This was a great one IMO.
The episode itself is great, imho, but yes, it was the first one of an arc that transformed Q from a nigh omnipotent and mysterious antogonist (who probably has positive intentions with humanity though you can never be sure) into an uncertain parent running to mommy Kate for advice.
What's the most interesting is that it does a much different take on suicide than TNG's "Ethics" had. VOY did crank up the innuendo, of which sometimes works, but they "humanized" the whole Continuum a bit too much. Some mysteries should just not be revealed or hinted at.
Not sure the stance of the protagonists is actually that different.In Ethics, Picard and Riker both ultimately accept Worf's right to kill himself (though both don't like the idea at all and go as far as possible to refrain him from it) - Beverly, as a doctor, doesn't. In Deathwish, the crew and Janeway cannot really sympathise with Quinn's wish to kill himself, though they can understand it to some degree and they recognise his right to do so. I agree though, that the point of view from the suiciderer-to-be (is that even a word in English?) is painted in a more sympathetic light in Deathwish. But perhaps that has also to do with the fact that Klingons are seen as a slightly less advanced, and the Q's as a more advanced culture. It's an intriguing premise after all: would we humans condone it if "God" announced (s)he wanted to commit suicide?