The Swarm..and the new Swarm. A rewatch

[RAMA]

I re-watched this episode finally to make a direct comparison with the "new" Swarm called The Krall in ST:Beyond. I've never seen this episode more than once (which is rare), and what I found after all these years was a story that had problems endemic to the Berman era Trek, but particularly Voyager.

The episode starts out with an overlong teaser involving the budding relationship between Torres and Paris. It hasn't quite gotten there yet and it's rather awkward, until they find energy readings they are looking for..it turns out the readings are of a stealth enemy and they inexplicably appear, stun them and leave. Not much of a teaser..but the aliens are more elaborate than usual and surely they will lead to some grand new intrigue in the Delta Quadrant? Wait no, scratch that, the EMH is having memory problems and we all know the producers in the Berman era want to focus on characters, so THIS must be the main story right? Well that's the issue. This A and B story pattern doesn't always work, and was started in STNG to make the drama and "out there" scifi elements more accessible and grounded. Here it does not work well.

Peekaboo

Fighting it's way leisurely to get out is an alien race that according to Berman was supposed to replace the Kazon, and substitute for the Borg, whom we all thought would realistically be the main villain eventually. They barely register at all. Why did they fail?

I can think of a few things. One, despite very detailed suits and makeup, they aren't all that memorable. Their language consists of muffled utterances that can't be read by the universal translator. An unfortunate decision. We never really get to know them. Two, the the CGI ships were not up to snuff. They were unique in Trek history, with perhaps only the Borg (a swarm of sorts) and the Tholians (they swarm and web their prey in) as analogous. The direction and VFX work were just not up to the task. Third, they were really not the focus of the story, IF they were, then this might have been the new "villain" of Voyager, but they were not treated as such by the writers or producers...half-hearted at best. The Swarm problem..well, turns out all those ships are linked (what??) and easy to technobabble away. Design flaw much?

There is a mildly entertaining story in it's place, the Doctor actually comes across a problem with his original design not being able to handle his development as a full-time conscious entity. This is certainly interesting, but once again, Voyager is the king of technobabble, and the resolution is not as interesting as it could have been.

Fast-forward to 2016. The Swarm, later known as The Krall..once again it appears they are a species that is xenophobic, though in this case, they appear to have a spokesman in Idris Elba's character. Their very existence is meant to be a challenge to the expansion and reason for being of the Federation. This remains to be seen, but now the focus is on The Swarm..their ships are not like parasites, as in Voyager..they are designed like a ramming missile, disintegrating a vessel piece by piece. This swarm tactic is not a unique idea but a very rare one in Star Trek. Something certainly not seen on a big budget in a ST movie. It finally seems that the idea has been done right, and we have something truly alien beyond a usual Klingon and Romulan or genetic superman.

The face of the enemy:

 

[DS9forever]

Insertion mandible... Sounds daft.

 

[Saul]

I was always interested to see more of the Swarm in Voyager and was disappointed that they never came back. The episode itself has some problems, it feels like it's a two parter cut down to one and it might well have been. Any development of the swarm as a race or as individual characters take a backseat to the Doctor's problem with his memory. Things are wrapped up too quickly with the swarm and their asses are handed to them which is a poor showing for a new threat when thinking back to the Borg first showing up.

 

[stardream]

For years I thought the Voyager swarm was the B-plot and the episode was all about the Doctor with a 'so that's what they're going to do with Paris and Torres' foreshadowing moment.

I did not know that the Swarm was supposed to be the 'new' villain. I thought they were just a 'bad guy of the week thing. Interesting.

 

[Lynx]

I would have liked to see more of The Swarm instead of The Borg.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I can't argue that The Swarm is littered with problems of every sort. What I found great about the episode was Kes' love of the Doctor. It spells it out, very nicely, what he means to her and has meant to her and demonstrates, once more, how loving Kes is to her friends, onboard. But otherwise, yes, the Tom/Torres chat was badly written and completely uninteresting. The Swarm creatures had the same problem that every alien menace of the week had on Voyager: They were too easily dealt with. They might be persistent, but when they invaded Voyager, they got their asses kicked so royally, by every crewman they encountered. Just anybody ... even Neelix could have. I stopped giving a shit about them, completely, by that point. When Janeway so easily unravels the mystery of how Swarm technology works and uses it against them, it was like, yes ... yes! Let's wrap this episode up, already. I'm bored! ... BORED, I tell you!!!

 

[stardream]

But otherwise, yes, the Tom/Torres chat was badly written and completely uninteresting

I found it VERY interesting!

Seriously I heard that it was just supposed to be 'another scene' of Tom flirting and nothing coming of it but someone decided to make it a 'thing' and they re-shot it several times until they got whatever it was they wanted out of it...which resulted in an army of P/T shippers.

 

[publiusr]

Have the Suliban, the Swarm--and the Krall all hit by the small drones released by the Stargate universe drones.

Get rid of all the fleas.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Rewatched this today. It's not a great episode. The Doc's story had it's moments, but felt rushed. The Swarm themselves are a cool idea. Voyager's are tics, bleeding Voyager dry and Beyond's version of the concept are piranhas. Voyager's are defeated by technobabble.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I found it VERY interesting!

Seriously I heard that it was just supposed to be 'another scene' of Tom flirting and nothing coming of it but someone decided to make it a 'thing' and they re-shot it several times until they got whatever it was they wanted out of it...which resulted in an army of P/T shippers.

Obviously, Tom married B'Elanna and had kids with her, so it's kind of hard to look back on how they got there with an overly critical eye, as the Ends justifies the Means, apparently. But, it wasn't entertaining - it wasn't fun to watch!

Tom & Chakotay were both victims of having to do without, thanks to Voyager's circumstance. And this caused them both to persistently pursue women who soundly rejected them, time and time, again. It was kind of sad, really. How can I be happy for Tom, because he - seemingly - just wore Torres down, finally? She rejected the poor guy over ... and over ... and over. Had there been plentiful options onboard from which to select another woman, would he have kept after B'Elanna? I certainly hope not.

All of Tom's aching ... all of that longing ... his yearning for her must've stroked her ego to where she needed that, like a cup of coffee, in the morning! Tom should've been a Man about it, you know? Sooner, or later, a long-haired, Delta Quadrant lovely would've graced the halls of Voyager, probably, if he could've just held out. A woman he wouldn't have to jump through any hoops for, or would've tried to string him along, just to have something else to brag to her girlfriends about. If they ever reboot VOY, they should offer me a consultant position, for all of this kind of stuff ...