"Threshold"

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Oh I think it is saved by the humor..

[Paris and Janeway have mutated into amphibian-like life-forms, which have mated and produced offspring]
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000296/CHAKOTAY: I don't know how I'm gonna enter *this* into the log.
TUVOK: I look forward to reading it.

JANEWAY: I've thought about having children, but I must say I never considered having them with you.
PARIS: Captain, I'm sorry. I, I don't know what to say except I don't remember very much about, er, you know
JANEWAY: What makes you think it was your idea? Sometimes it's the female of the species that initiates mating.


He doesn't remember "very much" about it.. I wonder what he does remember?

 

[JB2005]

^ I dunno...it's sort of humorous, until you remember they left their offspring to face an ecosystem they're not a part of...

 

[USS Excelsior]

Also add that people don't evolve, the species do.

And I would also say that being protected from the elements would make us less likely to continue to evolve as much as we have in the past anyway.

 

[exodus]

You really have to wonder how lousy Braga's grasp of basic high school biology is in order for him to have written an episode like this.

Did you forget Barclay the Spider in TNG?
Did we complain?

So we kinda gave them the green light to do it again but this time with Polywogs.

We kinda did.

 

[JB2005]

^ I complained about Barclay the spider...well on second viewing, on first viewing i was 4 and just hid behind a cushion behind a sofa!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Didn't Riker also turn into a neanderthal? Which was kind of in keeping with his character but biologically dumb.

 

[JB2005]

^ Oh I dunno, the cat turning into an iguana was impressive...especially since it still gave birth to kittens...

What? Iguanas lay eggs? Cats don't?

 

[Rom's Sehlat]

And now all I can think of is a fish. And now I'm hungry. What is the next episode in line?

Easy, Alternate Universe.

"Meld" is the next one.

@JB2005, yes, the Barclay-spider was very... intense. I think the most intellectually shocking was Picard's reaction. Picard has been stalked in dark caves (I'm sure sometime in his career), shot at, skulked around dark, [mostly] empty starships with sweeping deathrays about, and fistfought aliens he's never met before. But it was his own crewman-turned-arachnid that makes him SCREAM in terror. That to me was more shocking than the initial fear from a freaky-looking Barclay. And when I first saw him, I thought it was a crab or other crustacean.

And in "Genesis," who killed that crewman on the bridge? Was it Neanderiker?

 

[froot]

I dunno, Tom's "PEPPERONI!" line kinda makes "Threshold" for me.

I just pretend the episode isn't canon and I turn my brain off and enjoy the hell out of it.

Spider!Barclay scared the crap out of me, too...

EDIT: "Meld" has the best guest star EVER. EVER.

 

[froot]

Yes, so I was aware it would lead to controversy, conversation, and coffee!

I know the writers had good intentions. Unfortunately, sometimes things just flop. And this one didn't just flop, it flipped and then flopped. Ah, well, the next episode sounds decent.

And now all I can think of is a fish. And now I'm hungry. What is the next episode in line?

Exodus, if you get to invoke Mulder and Scully for the Eugenics Wars, how do you explain that Henry Starling (and not the rivalry between Jobs and Gates) was behind the computer revolution?

Easy, Alternate Universe.
In one, it's Henry Starling.
In ours, it's Jobs & Gates.

Ever heard of Henry Starling?
See?

You're cheating. D:

 

[JB2005]

Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay,
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size,
Scares Picard, just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Spider-Barclay.

Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He's a holo-addicted dud!
Have I disrailed the entire thread?
Take a look overhead!
Hey, there
There goes the Spider-Barclay.

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.

Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Barclay
Wealth and fame
He's ingnored
Holo-Troi is his reward.

To him, life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Spider-Barclay.

 

[JB2005]

I dunno, Tom's "PEPPERONI!" line kinda makes "Threshold" for me.

I just pretend the episode isn't canon and I turn my brain off and enjoy the hell out of it.

Spider!Barclay scared the crap out of me, too...

EDIT: "Meld" has the best guest star EVER. EVER.

I'm really happy for you froot imma let you finish, but DESCENT I had the best guest star of all time. Of all time.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Love the Spider Barclay song, JB2005

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Also add that people don't evolve, the species do.

And I would also say that being protected from the elements would make us less likely to continue to evolve as much as we have in the past anyway.

Well said. Quite likely.

Love the Spider Barclay song, JB2005

Second.

 

[BlobVanDam]

As stupid as the episode was, the "evolution" aspect didn't bother me too much. Tom had just transcended space (and possibly time, it's scifi, so just go with me here), so he could have potentially already experienced evolution in its natural state, and the effects of transcending the warp barrier might have accelerated a natural evolution to follow that path, rather than some predetermined, calculated evolutionary path.

Ok, that sounded less stupid in my mind. Sorry. Either way the episode was ridiculous, but I found the idea of turning into rubber lizards funny enough to still be entertaining. Tom and Janeway turned into lizards and had babies. That's so bad that it's good.

 

[froot]

Thirded on Spider-Barclay. LOL

This image just keeps being useful.

 

[JB2005]

Thirded on Spider-Barclay. LOL

This image just keeps being useful.

 

[exodus]

Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay,
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size,
Scares Picard, just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Spider-Barclay.

Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He's a holo-addicted dud!
Have I disrailed the entire thread?
Take a look overhead!
Hey, there
There goes the Spider-Barclay.

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.

Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Barclay
Wealth and fame
He's ingnored
Holo-Troi is his reward.

To him, life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Spider-Barclay.

You are a sick fucker, you know that?

 

[Sorak]

Threshold makes perfect sense as long as you ignore:

The faster than infinite speed drive
Tom Paris is Jesus
Evolution can apparently happen within your life time
Evolution has a predetermined end
No one on the Voyager crew thought to use the drive to get home, then allow themselves to be delizarded
No one on the Voyager crew thought to use the drive to get home, being piloted from sickbay/the holodeck by the Doctor/specially programmed holograms while the crew is put into stasis

So yeah, the only thing that's left in the episode are the words "Written by Brannon Braga" And that makes sense

Hahaha!

Anyway, yes: a very poor episode. Probably a 'filler', surely an insult to logic, science and the intelligence of fans.

 

[JB2005]

Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay,
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size,
Scares Picard, just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Spider-Barclay.

Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He's a holo-addicted dud!
Have I disrailed the entire thread?
Take a look overhead!
Hey, there
There goes the Spider-Barclay.

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.

Spider-Barclay, Spider-Barclay
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Barclay
Wealth and fame
He's ingnored
Holo-Troi is his reward.

To him, life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Spider-Barclay.

You are a sick fucker, you know that?

Genesis works so much better as a musical:

Genes fried tonight through misuse
Through misuse, through misuse
You can't avoid genetic abuse
Abuse, abuse

Without these T-Cells you're let loose
You're let loose, you're let loose
Take off, get out, no excuse
No excuse, no excuse

What's that coming over the hill
It's Worf the monster!? It's Worf the monster!?
What's that coming over the hill
It's Worf the monster!? It's Worf the monster!?
What's that coming over the hill
It's Worf the monster!? It's Worf the monster!?
What's that coming over the hill?

Confused, mind bruised, it seeps out
It seeps out, it seeps out
Face down, home town looks so grey
Looks so grey, looks so grey

Convexed you bend, twist and shout
Twist and shout, twist and shout
Stand up brush off get moving
Get moving, get moving

What's that coming over the hill
It's Worf the monster!? It's Worf the monster!?
(x4)

Face down, home town, face down, home town
Face down, home town, it looks so grey
(x4)

What's that coming over the hill
It's Worf the monster!? It's Worf the monster!?
(x4)