VOY: “Course: Oblivion”

Date: December 26, 2020

Season 5, Episode 17

Musical Accompaniment: Continuing Fantasies & Delusions, as each song is quite long.

Interstellar News: Tonight we social distanced with three dear friends around their bon fire and it was good to get out, though it was hella cold outside.

TL;DR: Paris, who is strangely a Lieutenant again, and Torres get married, Seven catches the bouquet, and the happy couple gets showered in rice that suddenly disappears into Voyager, as the ship is falling apart. They’ve installed the enhanced warp drive and believe they’ll get home in two years, give or take a few side quests. Torres and Seven realize Voyager was affected by the enhanced warp drive when suddenly Torres and a few others get sick, in fact the whole crew has cellular degradation. Torres dies and Chakotay and Tuvok figure out that they’re actually all of the duplicates that were created during the last few minutes of “Demon“. Janeway still thinks their mission is to get back to the AQ and nothing will deter her, except for Chakotay dying. Once this happens she has the ship turn around to try to get back to their planet, but more folks die and deteriorate. Janeway dies, Kim is in charge, and their time capsule explodes so they send out a distress call. The real Voyager finally gets in range but is too late, the ship has completely lost shape.

Favorite Quote:

Neelix: Are you sure this rice isn’t supposed to be cooked? Steamed, fried?

EMH: The idea is to shower the couple with a symbol of good fortune, not garnish them like a roast chicken.

Rice is no longer used in outdoor weddings as it can make the birds explode.
Paris and Torres in front of Janeway
Seven of Nine: “Given the volatile nature of their relationship, one might have predicted homicide rather than matrimony.”
Tuvok: “When it comes to affairs of the human heart, it is wise to look beyond logic.”

“We’ve come too far to be stopped by dust.”: This was a fun little episode, because some of the clues where there. Paris suddenly being back to his promoted rank, he and Torres getting hitched when there was no proposal beforehand, and the enhanced warp drive (where there was no mention of it before) was all a little fishy, not to mention the bit with the rice. However I had completely forgotten about the events of “Demon” until Chakotay and Tuvok were doing their investigation. I knew something was up when Torres died, but once I realized these were the duplicates it was hard to feel shocked when someone else died. The Janeway duplicate was so deep in the fantasy of Janeway’s life and mission, as were the rest of the crew, that they kind of screwed themselves when they didn’t immediately return to the planet. Once they realized what they were, they should have all said “fuck it, let’s go back to our home where we can live and be happy”. I’m also wondering what happened in the 10 months between when they were off having their own adventures if the real Voyager ever encountered someone who had heard of them and thought it strange. It was kind of fun and kind of gross to see them all deteriorating, but I will admit to not really being invested in their journey as much when they didn’t immediately turn around. 6 sweet potato dumplings for this follow up.

TA Out!

Christmas Day 2020

Date: December 25, 2020

Musical accompaniment: Fantasies & Delusions , composed by Billy Joel and performed by Richard Joo, as it was one of my Christmas presents from my Mountain family

Interstellar News: Today was an eventful day. Normally we would meet my Dad and Stepmom in New York to have a late lunch/early dinner with her family. There are always lots of appetizers, plenty of main dishes, and yummy desserts. Then we would all travel back to NJ and exchange our presents. Growing up, it would be just me and my parents and sometimes my Grandma. In some recent years, we’ve done Christmas Eve and Day in the Mountains and there is always lots and lots of food. As we did not travel, this year was a little different.

Kevin from HOME ALONE "Merry Christmas ya filthy animals"
My favorite way to wish people a joyous holiday.

We woke up and made sausage and eggs for breakfast, mine on a bagel with veggie cream cheese and the husband had two English muffins with spicy pepper cream cheese, and had a Zoom breakfast with the Mountain family. We took a short break where I put together some banana blueberry muffins and Grandma’s “cocoa butter stick” cookie dough to chill for later. We then got back on Zoom and did the Christmas gift exchange. Husband then traveled to Mookie’s to grab some hot turkey for him and corned beef for me and we ate while Zooming with some of our New York family. After that we played one round of Ticket to Ride: Netherland, which I totally won, and I had a wonderful video chat with a dear friend. Next was dinner. We air fried a whole chicken, put together sweet potato dumplings, potato bread stuffing, and Brussel sprouts with sea salt and black pepper. Just as dinner was ready we had a Zoom call with my Dad and stepmom where they opened their gifts, ours are in the either somewhere out there, and we got to eat our yummy dinner. So here we are, close to the end of the year. I’ll be back to Trek tomorrow.

TA Out.

Christmas Eve 2020

Date: December 24, 2020

Musical accompaniment:

“I Wish You Were Here” by the Dropkick Murphys

Interstellar News: Normally, Christmas Eve is spent with my Mother’s side of the family and we eat ALL THE FISH (and some other stuff too). In 2019, we had everyone still living under one roof and it was spectacular. My three aunts, one uncle, six first cousins, me, five spouses, nine kiddos between the ages of 13 and 1, and at least three fur children (including Professor Zoom). We were missing my Grandparents, my Mom, and two of my Uncles quite a bit… but we ate all kinds of fish and other yummy foods in their honor.

feast of the seven fishes diagram
If you’re Italian, you know

This year, unfortunately, we couldn’t be together at all. My oldest aunt and oldest cousin caught Covid and we had decided way before then we were going to use an abundance of caution and be isolated this year. Instead the husband person spent most of the day in the attic and our bathroom installing a heat lamp for me, our bathroom is way too cold in the winter, and I spent that time watching Star Trek. We then made a wonderful homemade mac and cheese, added some ham, and made a side salad so we could Zoom and exchange presents with some dear friends. They loved their gifts and we loved ours, even though one is lost in the mail and has likely perished by now. Exhausted, we watched some TV and decided to go to bed early when a headache presented itself. Next year, I hope it’s a better one.

TA Out.

VOY: “The Disease”

Date: December 23, 2020

Season 5, Episode 16

Musical Accompaniment: Finishing my 4-star playlist and then moving on to something else.

Interstellar News: Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

TL;DR: Voyager has been helping the Varro, who are on a multi-generational ship and generally distrustful of outsiders, fix their engines for the last two weeks. Janeway and Jippeq have a tentative understanding with each other, but it’s Kim and Tal who have fallen madly in love despite clear fraternization rules. Kim asks Seven about love, she likens it to a disease, and Paris covers for Kim but eventually Kim has to go to sick bay and tells the Doctor who has to tell Janeway. Janeway does her best “I’m mad and disappointed, now stop seeing her”, but Kim can’t bring himself to let go of Tal. Tuvok and Neelix find a Varro stowed away in a Jeffries tube and Chakotay finds out that there are Varro who want to leave the ship and it’s clear there is sabotage afoot on the Varro ship. Kim borrows a shuttlecraft and they visit a nearby nebula but are caught by Tuvok and Tal is in trouble for sabotaging the ship. The Varro ship begins to explode but Voyager shields them enough to evacuate. Some of the smaller ships decide to stay together, but others decide they want to settle on their own planet. Kim and Tal say goodbye, Kim continues to refuse treatment for his broken heart, and Janeway explains how protective she’s always felt of him. In the mess hall Seven comes to thank Kim for completing some scans, reconsiders her analogy, and wishes him to get well soon.

Favorite Quotes:

some e card "get well enough to have sex again soon"
This is all I thought about when Seven said “I assumed that romantic love was a human weakness, but clearly it can also be a source of strength. Perhaps my analogy was flawed. Love is not a disease. Get well soon”

Doctor’s Orders: “Sometimes I think everyone on this ship has been possessed by alien hormones.”

Seven of Nine: The Borg have referenced this condition in over six thousand assimilated species.

Kim: Condition? You make it sound like a disease.

Seven of Nine: Physiologically, it bears a striking similarity to disease. A series of biochemical responses that trigger an emotional cascade impairing normal functioning.

Seven is not wrong. Being in love can be absolutely awful some times.
Ariel "I'm 16, I'm not a child anymore"
“But that was five years ago. I’ve changed.” – Ensign Kim

“You had intimate contact with an alien species without medical clearance?”: I would watch this episode again if only for the Doctor. He was more upset at Kim for breaking protocol than I think even Janeway was. I mean we find out Starfleet has a regulation and a WHOLE HANDBOOK regarding inter-species relations, but not a word for what to do when you’re lost in space… come on now. This was also a real coming of age story for Kim who reminds Janeway and all of us that he’s been on the ship for five years and he’s not just a kid any more. Unless Tal was willing to come on Voyager or Kim was willing to stay behind, they both knew their relationship was going to come to an end. This is the one piece that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, though, is why didn’t that happen? If they were so in love why didn’t one of them decide to stay, especially if the bond is supposed to be for life and could have been life threatening to Tal. We went awful quick from the Varro captain being all gloom and doom to “oh, we have medication for that”, and it makes me tilt my head like a puppy who is confused. I did enjoy the sabotage plot where it starts off small, but then it escalated all too quickly in my mind. A decent episode and it gets 6 songs that are all titled “Untitled”.

Good Charlotte, “I Don’t Want To Be In Love”.

TA Out!

VOY: “Dark Frontier”

Date: December 22, 2020

Season 5, Episode 15 (this is a double episode so it was listed on Netflix as “Parts 1 and 2” but it was aired as a full 1 hr 30+ min.)

Musical Accompaniment: I listed to songs that start with ‘U’ and ‘V’ while working this morning, so I’m on ones that start with ‘W’ now.

Interstellar News: I am looking forward to work being closed for two weeks, but unfortunately I’ll still have to check my email periodically.

TL;DR: Voyager takes down a Borg ship and, while salvaging, Janeway develops the idea of pulling a transwarp coil heist with a Borg Sphere that was heavily damaged. Seven is tasked with going through her parent’s notes and she has several flashbacks to before her assimilation, as her parents were Borg observers. Seven also has a virtual visit from the Borg Queen where she is told that Voyager will be safe if she returns to the Borg. The Doctor builds dampeners for the four going on the mission and Seven is almost pulled off by Janeway at the last minute, but Seven insists. The team successfully steals a transwarp coil but Seven defects and stays behind where she is taken to the Unamatrix One complex and introduced to the Borg Queen.

Election 2016: Grand Nagus Zek R) vs. The Borg Queen (D)
I know there is a typo, it’s totally not my meme… but still quite funny. Chakotay’s quote “Better safe than assimilated” must be why folks voted Red in 2016.

The Borg Queen reveals that Seven was specifically planted on Voyager so that she could learn about humanity in order for them to be assimilated more properly. Seven is made to oversee the assimilation of Species 10026 but she has definitely not drunk the Kool Aid and helps four beings escape. On Voyager, Janeway and crew put together the pieces while Naomi proposes a rescue plan in the most adorable way. Janeway, Tuvok, Paris, and the EMH go in the Delta Flyer to rescue Seven while the Borg Queen brings Seven’s drone father to the forefront to try to force her to play along. Janeway eventually confronts the Borg Queen and they are able to rescue Seven and escape. The Borg Queen and several ships follow but Chakotay collapses the conduit and the ships are totaled as they pass through. Voyager runs the transwarp coil until it collapses, bringing them 15 years closer to home and Seven debriefs with Janeway.

Favorite Quotes:

EMH: Eureka! I was hoping to find one of these. It’s a servo-armature from a medical repair drone. Laser scalpel, biomolecular scanner, micro-suture, all rolled into one instrument.

Paris: No Federation Sickbay should be without one.

The snark coming from Paris is subtle sometimes and other times I hear his sarcasm all the way from 25 years ago.

Janeway’s Jam: “I’d rather suffocate than vaporize. Do it!”

Robert Picardo as the EMH in sickbay
The EMH wearing his concerned face after Janeway wants to reroute power from life support.

Borg Queen: You are the only Borg that has ever returned to a state of individuality. We want to keep you exactly the way you are. Otherwise you would lose your human perspective. We don’t want another drone. We want you.

Seven of Nine: I will resist.

Borg Queen: I know.

I totally pictured Han saying “I know” before he went into the carbonite here.

“Now, this is how I prefer the Borg. In pieces.”: The flashbacks were great, but it really got me thinking… HOW DID HER PARENTS GET TO THE DQ? I guess maybe they hopped into a transwarp conduit before it dissipated? I also don’t understand why The Borg Queen would want more humans when she already has some from over the years? The first part reminds me a lot of Ocean’s 11 because of the heist aspect but also because Janeway was doing that overconfident thing that gamblers do sometime. It was also confusing, though, because I thought they were out of Borg space… but clearly the Borg are everywhere so maybe not really? Naomi was absolutely delightful, especially since she has transitioned well from being scared of Seven to wanting to emulate her for her perfection. The first part is absolutely a great set up to the second part, because you want to know how it ends… at least I do.

Fun fact: I’ve always loved the very last line, it’s such a bad guy line. When I realized the name of the Transformer was “Jazz” I knew it would be the name of my next cat. When Janeway says her line, this is all I thought of.

“There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.”: This part was a lot of action mixed in with a lot of story. Seven’s obvious pain at being around an assimilation in progress while she’s not a drone is palpable. Seeing her father again, though, I totally saw coming but it didn’t add to the story the way it was used. Janeway does excellent rescuing work while Chakotay does wonderful captain work back on the ship. There were several things that jumped out at me. When Janeway and Paris were in the shuttle and engaged the transwarp drive, I was having flashbacks to “Threshold“. The Borg Queen suggests a new method of assimilation for the people of Earth and it strikes me as exactly what the Shadow supporters did to Earth at the end of Babylon 5. This is now the second Borg Queen that has been vaporized, so I’m interested in how she backs herself up and who was Queen before her as she was clearly something else before she was Borg (as she admits). For a two-part story, this was great at showing more of the Borg and how Seven grew up. I’m okay with giving this 6.75 liters of coffee soda with my salty Italian meat and cheese sandwich.

TA Out!