Date: December 1, 2020

Season 4, Episode 21

Musical Accompaniment: I am now on songs that begin with the letter ‘E’

Interstellar News: It’s the first day of my birthday month! It’s also Giving Tuesday. I think this means you should give me presents 🙂

TL;DR: Voyager is knocked out of warp, the computer is taken over, and an Omega symbol appears locking out Chakotay. Janeway is the only one that knows what’s going on and she has the crew begin to get ready for a super secret mission, but then she discusses with Seven as she already knew from when Picard was assimilated. Senors picked up a particular molecule that Janeway wants to destroy and Seven wants to harness and Chakotay eventually convinces Janeway to tell the senior staff so they can all work on the problem together. The molecule can be synthesized and is super unstable, but when it destabilizes it destroys subspace and that means no more travel at warp speed. They find the molecule, save some of the people, piss them off by telling them they’re going to destroy it, and then space the molecules while in containment and destroy them.

Favorite Quote:

Tuvok: It’s unfortunate we can’t study this phenomenon in more detail. We may not have the opportunity again.

Janeway: Let’s hope we never do.

Tuvok: A curious statement from a woman of science.

Janeway: I’m also a woman who occasionally knows when to quit.

Tuvok and Janeway having a very frank conversation.

“The final frontier has some boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed, and we’re looking at one.”: This episode started out with a fun mystery and a nice twist that Seven knows a hell of a lot more than she should. Part of me got lost in the technobabble about the molecule as Starfleet found out about it about 100 years ago but the Borg found out about it much before then and it’s all over the universe, but then I started thinking about something Janeway said. WHY DOESN’T STARFLEET HAVE A PROTOCOL ABOUT BEING LOST IN SPACE? I mean it happened in TOS and TNG more than once, although the outside influences that caused it also brought them back… but that’s not the point. I can’t believe that they have a protocol for every damn thing, but not what to do when you’re stranded and unable to contact for updates. I also really loved that Seven was super efficient and gave everyone new designations and Kim is the only one to complain, and then he gets shot down by Chakotay. I give this episode 6 dragon blankets in various colors.

TA Out!

Date: November 30, 2020

Season 4, Episode 20

Musical Accompaniment: I am now into the last of the ‘Songs that start with the letter D’ on my 4-star list, so we’ve got a bit of Reel Big Fish, Bling 182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Minus the Bear, and The Beatles.

Interstellar News: Today did not feel like a Monday, but it’s at least the last one of the semester and it was also payday.

TL;DR: Paris has been working in the holodeck on a car and the EMH reams him for shirking his sickbay responsibilities. Suddenly a ship approaches Voyager. It’s using a coaxial warp drive and it’s in trouble. Paris saves the day and it’s captain, Steth, beams aboard. Paris helps with repairs but it’s clear Steth is not who he seems. Paris and Torres have a huge fight then Steth swaps bodies with Paris and sends him on his way in Steth’s ship. “Paris” fakes it with everyone on board while “Steth” wakes up to the Benthan authorities and the real Steth, who has also had their body swapped. “Paris” can’t keep up the facade for very long, however, and he gets drunk and has an altercation with Seven. He then takes over Janeway and escapes in a shuttle while “Steth” convinces Chakotay he’s really Paris and they go after “Paris”. Tom, Steth, and Janeway are all able to be put back in their bodies while Steth promises to return the other alien body if they can. Paris finishes the car and shows Torres, who he then makes up with.

Favorite Quote:

Torres: So this is where you’ve been hiding? A garage.

Paris: It’s more than just a garage. This is a monument to hundreds and hundreds of hours that I probably should have spent with you.

Torres: Probably?

Paris: Definitely.

I really do love their relationship, they’re so snarky to each other and it’s wonderful.

“If I were worrying about danger I wouldn’t have become a test pilot.”: This was an okay episode. Paris is being an idiot again and certainly doesn’t know how to have an “adult” conversation with his partner. He finally is able to make it up at the end where he tries to let Torres in. I do like that Paris has an affinity for “older” technology and that it’s an old fix that helps with this new technology. The same way that the Doctor nerds out when he meets another hologram in the wild, Paris gets super excited about a new method of traveling through space. When the alien inhabiting Steth takes over Paris, it’s far worse than Paris has ever been as far as the creep factor. I was also pretty sure that Starfleet replicators only replicated synthetic alcohol, so that was also strange to see Paris drunk and surly. I knew he had taken over Janeway’s body as soon as it happened, but it was still a nice reveal. It’s some good acting by Paris, who really plays the asshole very well, but otherwise it’s just a very meh episode. Oh, and the car was very nice for a “cam-a-ro”… hehe. 5 teeny, tiny, stuffed animal otters for this one.

TA Out!

Date: November 29, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 18 and 19

Musical Accompaniment: Continuing with Vampire Weekend, Shinedown, and Lifehouse… among many others.

Interstellar News: I started writing this the night before Thanksgiving (where it was just the two humans, four cats, and one dog… but I still made a feast) and then was so worn out for the last three days. Glad I’m getting back to writing today. Also, a dear friend called these two episodes “the cosplay episodes” and boy was he right.

TL;DR: The Hirogen have captured Voyager. For the last three weeks some of the crew are inserted into the holodeck as pre-programmed characters for the Hirogen to “hunt”, others are locked in their room, and some (like Kim and the EMH) are being forced to keep Voyager running. They run a World War II simulation where Seven is a lounge singer, Tuvok is the bartender, Janeway is the owner, Neelix is a package boy, and Torres is a pregnant spy… they’re all part of the French resistance. Later we find out Chakotay and Paris are part of the American infantry and Neelix is transferred to a Klingon program after he “dies” in the WWII simulation. Karr believes the Hirogen could use holodeck technology to reinvigorate their race but Turanj and some others are not as insightful. Kim and the Doctor develop a plan, temporarily wake up Seven to tell her, and then put her back in the simulation so she can disable from within. They succeed, Janeway “wakes up”, and the holodeck simulation begins to degrade.

Janeway and Seven enact a plan while the Americans and French work together to destroy the Nazis/Hirogen. Janeway gets the EMH to her and Neelix, where they later convince the other Klingons to join the holographic fight. Karr and Janeway discuss his objectives and they come to an agreement to exchange Voyager’s freedom for some holodeck technology. Turanj, however, has other ideas and kills Karr and tries to kill everyone else. Kim overloads the holo-emitters and the fighting comes to a standstill. They eventually call a truce and Janeway decides to uphold her original agreement with Karr and the Hirogen depart Voyager.

Favorite Quote:

EMH: You are their Great Warrior. Lead them.

Neelix: Pardon me, gentlemen. I wonder if I might have a word with you.

EMH: They’re Klingons, not kittens.

The Doctor does have a point…

“I hate to waste good wine. Give him the ’36.”: Part 1 starts with the Klingon program and someone who sounds/looks just like Janeway and then we realize it is her but she has no idea and it’s a big shock. The slow reveal where everyone is during Part 1 is fantastic. The senior staff, of course, is part of the big holodeck program but Kim is still on the outside making sure all of the ship’s systems still work and the EMH is being asked to care for all of the wounded so the Hirogen can keep hunting and studying their prey. Everyone is cast wonderfully in the World War II epic and, of course, it’s Nazis. This is all, of course, a set up for Part 2 and each time you’re wondering how they got themselves into this mess and how they’ll get out. There are just enough oddities among the crew, like a holographic doctor and a former member of the Borg collective , that make the crazy plan work.

“I’ll reattach any severed limbs. Just don’t misplace them.”: Part 2 is the culmination and it wasn’t as grand as I thought it would be. For one of the first times the battle is a draw and both sides split amicably. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what we’ve come to expect from the crew of Voyager. I think it’s finally starting to get real that they aren’t the most advanced group in the DQ and they aren’t always going to win or get away scott free. This part was wonderfully humorous though, especially all of the bits with Neelix and the Doctor, there was just something between them that really worked for me. I also toally got what Karr was trying to do when he questions the Nazis and his methods of “studying” the crew, but he’s very much like the lead scientist in “Distant Origin“… he just didn’t have the buy-in from others to support his theory. He gets killed for his trouble, as does the cease-fire and the possibility of Voyager gaining another ally in the DQ. It’s absolutely wonderful that they wrote in the pregnancy and even made fun of it, Torres is great once she remembers who she is and isn’t the pre-programmed version of herself. Janeway, though, is at her best when she improvises to Chakotay (who’s still under the influence) all of the “strange” things he’s about to see. That must be part of the Captain training, as Picard, Kirk, and Sisko all had the same knack for doing so.

As a two-parter and a “cosplay episode”, I really enjoyed it. It’s a nice break from their voyage home without it really detracting from the overall story. As one of my former regulars used to order, a 7 & 7 for this one. Bottoms up!

TA Out!