Date: November 21, 2020

Season 4, Episode 13

Musical Accompaniment: My 4-star music list, as I realize I’ve been listening to the 5-star almost exclusively.

Interstellar News: We got a new couch today and it’s wonderful!

TL;DR: The crew all experience nightmares and encountered the same alien in their dreams. Kim and five other crew members are stuck in dream land so Chakotay induces lucid dreaming and meets with the alien who tells him to leave their territory and the crew will wake up. The crew do wake up but it’s a ploy by the aliens to take over the ship, except Chakotay’s really still asleep and the Doctor reports he’s been asleep for over a day. The rest of the crew is asleep and experiencing a group unconsciousness, Chakotay wakes up again and beams down to the planet where the alien bodies are located. Chakotay wakes up one of the aliens, aims a torpedo, gives them an ultimatum, and then Voyager gets to head on their way… though everyone now has insomnia.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: Either I’ve become impervious to antimatter explosions, or we’re still dreaming.

Torres: A warp core explosion should have destroyed the ship.

Janeway: If I were awake, or if any of this were real, which it obviously isn’t. Things just weren’t adding up. Chakotay’s disappearance. The warp core failing to eject. And as Chakotay said, lucid dreaming is about taking control, so I took a chance.

Tuvok: Surely there must have been a less extreme method of testing your assumptions. As Captain, you shouldn’t be taking chances with your life.

Janeway: I’m touched by your concern, Tuvok.

Janeway being snarky, Torres being an engineering, and Tuvok being logical.

“I won’t dignify this inquisition with a response.”: This was an episode that certainly kept me on my toes. It didn’t take me long to realize everyone was dreaming, but it was weird that Kim and Seven were making out and that was his nightmare, or that everyone was terrified of the alien that invaded their dreams. This is something that rings true to me that would happen if you lived and worked with the same people for four years, you begin to discuss things you might not usually. I loved the twists where Chakotay didn’t realize he was still sleeping and wasn’t really sure if he was awake, it kind of reminded me of when Data and Picard where in the holodeck or when Riker didn’t know what was real. I also liked when the crew was stuck asleep with the aliens having taken over the ship and Seven’s idea of creating a diversion is to beat up Kim. I’m a little sad that the end is “I don’t know if I’m awake or not but I’ve totally got all my weapons pointed at you and the EMH will blow you all up if you don’t let us go”, but it also tracks with Chakotay taking matters into his own hands once he realized there was no way to tell if he was awake or not. 7 orders of crab rangoon for this episode, with yummy sweet and sour sauce.

TA Out!

Date: November 20, 2020

Season 4, Episode 12

Musical Accompaniment: Taking Back Sunday

Interstellar News: It was a beautiful day for a drive, but I am le tired.

TL;DR: Neelix helps Naomi Wildman get to sleep and then goes on an away mission with Paris and Chakotay to try and harness some protomatter. There’s an accident and Neelix dies, but back on Voyager he’s revived by Borg technology. Neelix still wants to celebrate Prixin but starts to lose faith after two things happen: he didn’t see his sister in the Great Forrest and he sees himself die during the holodeck simulation Chakotay runs. Neelix is pissed at Seven for reviving him, he feels like a piece of him is missing, so he asks Chakotay to help him on a vision quest. The quest has everyone in his life telling him he should have stayed dead, so he records a goodbye message and tries to space himself. Chakotay and Wildman eventually help talk him down and he goes to help Naomi go back to sleep.

Favorite Quote:

Seven of Nine: You will be assimilated.

Neelix: No time for that now. Maybe later.

Neelix is on his vision quest and completely ignoring dream-Seven of Nine.

“My palette is sufficiently broad”: This was a hell of an episode but it also left me with a lot of questions. If the “bring people back from the dead” technology has been in Seven’s brain this whole time… why didn’t she suggest it when a crew member died in “Scientific Method“? Will this cause for the crew to have to indicate if they wish to be resuscitated using Borg technology or not, sort of like a space DNR? I do continue to like Seven and the way she talks, especially when she’s talking about “reactivating” and “salvaging” Neelix like he’s a Borg drone and not a person… but it’s an apt analogy. I also think it’s a good use for Chakotay to be an acting ship’s counselor, given his background, but he’s also too laid back about Neelix missing his appointments. This episode takes us on an emotional roller coaster. First we’re shocked at the accident, then saddened at the death of Neelix, then surprised by Seven’s technology and Zombie Neelix, and then completely feeling for the pain Neelix is going through so much that he feels he needs to commit suicide because he’s not really alive in the first place. It takes a village and the ship has become a family for Neelix, and this episode proves that. 7 hugs for everyone.

TA Out!

Date: November 19, 2020

Season 4, Episode 11

Musical Accompaniment: AFI and punk friends

Interstellar News: Another beautiful walk today despite the cold.

TL;DR: While running the da Vinici program in the holodeck, Voyager comes under attack by someone who de-materializes items from the ship. Kim and Seven work to track down the missing technology and send away teams after them. They find da Vinci walking around via the Doctor’s mobile emitter, and he thinks he’s been brought to America and is working for a wealthy patron. This patron is a bad dude named Tau who stole all of the stuff and sells it to the highest bidder. Tau catches Janeway, da Vinci helps her escape to where their stuff is being held, they send it to Voyager, and then are rescued.

Favorite Quote:

da Vinci: Che bella! There’s a mechanical woman inside.

Janeway: In a way, yes. Initiate a level four induction relay overload.

Janeway: That’s it.

da Vinci: And now?

Janeway: We wait for the Portuguese

da Vinci is flabbergasted by the voice of the computer and Janeway has him convinced her crew is Portuguese.

“Earthquakes and idiots. Florence be damned.”: This was an interesting story on what it feels like to be mugged in space. Janeway is hanging out with her hero when someone flies by and steals their technology. I disliked that they didn’t seem more upset about leaving Federation technology in the Delta Quadrant as they have in the past, but maybe that’s because they didn’t think it would upset the balance of power like it would have with the Kazon. I did enjoy the segments with the Doctor as he had been enjoying his freedom thanks to the mobile emitter and hated being “imprisoned” in sickbay. I loved how enthusiastic da Vinci was about being in “the new world” and how he wasn’t phased by the new materials and technology. It was a fun little mystery but nothing exciting really happened, aside from them getting the flying machine working. 6 fried pork dumplings for this episode.

TA Out!

Date: November 18, 2020

Season 4, Episode 10

Musical Accompaniment: Some classical piano music

Interstellar News: I got to organize a cabinet today, and it was wonderful! There was the promise of organizing a closet today too, which makes me a very happy person even though it didn’t happen.

TL;DR: Voyager is taking shore leave with the Mari, a telepathic race that has apparently outlawed violent thoughts. A man runs into Torres, beats up a man in the market, and then Torres is arrested because it is her thought that caused the attack. She’s to be charged and is to undergo an engramatic purge and then let go, but it’s dangerous. Tuvok and Janeway review the evidence to see if it may have been someone else while Paris comes up with a rescue plan. A woman is killed in the market place because of the same thought, and Tuvok questions Guill who was with Torres when she was bumped into. He’s apparently part of the Mari black market that deals in violent thoughts. Tuvok gets beat up but eventually makes it back to Voyager with the evidence he needs to exonerate Torres and stop the purge.

Favorite Quote:

EMH: Fortunately the Mari didn’t get very far with the procedure. You can return to duty, Lieutenant, though perhaps with one or two fewer violent engrams in that fiery head of yours.

Torres: It’s all right, Doc. There are plenty more where those came from.

EMH: Duly warned.

Torres acknowledging both her temper and her Klingon side.

” I dread the day when everyone on this ship agrees with me.”: At first I thought this episode was going to be like “Remember” where the Mari man bumped into Torres and somehow gained her temper. This, however, was much darker and I liked it that way. This was an interesting combination of 1984, Equilibrium, and Fight Club… but in space! The Mari believe they are superior at avoiding crime and the “police” think everything is hunky dory and the people are angels, but there’s a dark underground that craves dark and twisted thoughts. It’s an episode that keeps you guessing for a bit and then gets you thinking. At first it looks like a transfer of anger, then it’s an interrogation, then it’s the balance of abiding by local laws while also not harming the crew, then there’s a second attack and all bets are off, and finally there’s the realization that Guill is more than he seems. Even then, Tuvok is beat up and possibly compromised because he’s using a lot of his telepathic power that he hadn’t accessed much in all of the time Voyager has been in the DQ and quite possibly before.

My biggest gripe is that it’s not clear if they knew the law or not. In “Justice“, Wesley Crusher didn’t know the local law and almost paid for it with his life. I would think that if Janeway and company knew of the “think only happy thoughts”law, they would have tried to be more vigilant. I’m not saying that ignorance of a law excludes you from abiding by it, but when a telepathic species can tell your intentions… that changes things significantly. Tuvok is wonderful in his pursuit of the truth, Janeway is capable as ever in her “captain mom” role, Paris is the dutiful boyfriend that also works to free Torres, Chakotay is a fantastic second-in-command and interface with the crew, and Seven continues to learn about humanity and what it means to gain knowledge through observation rather than assimilation. 9 Borg drones for this episode, all of whom are equally as flummoxed as Seven of Nine.

TA Out!

Date: November 17, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 8 and 9

Musical Accompaniment: “Peace in Tamreil” from the Elder Scrolls

Interstellar News: It was very cold today, but it was an excellent day for a drive. The colors were beautiful and the company was fantastic.

TL;DR: The Krenim use a time weapon to destroy a Zahl colony, but it doesn’t change the timeline much. Seven and Kim have finished the Astrometric lab, but a different Krenim ship fires on Voyager. The Zahl are friendly and explain the Krenim used to be powerful but not for some time, when the time weapon is deployed again and the Zahl are completely wiped out. This causes the Krenim Imperium to be back in their full power and Voyager to come under attack from some real weapons. 32 days later, Deck 5 explodes and two crewmen are killed. Day 47 shows Torres hurt, Seven trying to find the frequency of a chronoton torpedo, and Tuvok being blinded once it explodes. Day 65 has the crew on emergency rations, Neelix helping out in Security, and Janeway being cynical about her birthday. The Krenim time ship adjust the timeline again but Voyager causes them to fail, so they transport over Chakotay and Paris and try to erase Voyager. Janeway gets them out and on Day 73 orders an evacuation of everyone except for the senior staff.

Voyager is left with Janeway, Kim, Torres, the EMH, Seven of Nine, Tuvok, and Neelix. Chakotay and Paris, after two months of isolation, are brought to Annorax who as a proposal for them. Day 161 has Annorax tell Chakotay about the first time he used the weapon and sees Janeway suffer from severe burns as they exit a nebula. Paris talks with Obrist and comes up with a plan, which Chakotay finally gives his blessing on once he realizes Annorax won’t rest until he restores his wife. Voyager makes friends and a run on the weapon ship. She orders everyone off the ship to work with their new allies and then they all attack the weapon ship. Janeway sacrifices herself hoping to restore the timeline, which works. We are now back to the top of Part 1 where Janeway interacts with the Krenim and decides to avoid their space. Annorax is shown to be back with his wife.

Favorite Quotes:

Seven of Nine: There is an undetonated chronoton torpedo lodged in the starboard Jefferies tube on deck eleven, section two. The warhead is still active.

Tuvok: Do not attempt to disarm it. Hold your position and wait for my arrival. Is that clear?

Seven of Nine: Arrive quickly.

Seven does not mince her words.

Tuvok: It is inappropriate to contradict the captain in front of the crew.

Seven of Nine: That was not my intention. I simply pointed out that her decision was wrong.

Again, Seven with the best lines.

“We’re going through their space whether they like it or not.”: Part 1 is heartbreaking and a great set up for Part 2 and there’s really only one giant problem. EVERYONE FORGOT ABOUT WHAT KES TOLD THEM IN “Before and After” regarding the Krenim!!!! I mean no one even registers “oh yeah, it’s the big bad guys that Kes warned us about” or anything. There are a lot of good bits in the time jumps, though. Torres and Kim playing a trivia game while they wait to be rescued, the Doctor being upset about having to close the hatch and killing two crewmen who wouldn’t have made it anyway, and Chakotay trying to be kind and thoughtful to Janeway but her being too occupied to appreciate the gesture and sentiment. I love how Seven becomes Tuvok’s aide and he lets her help him, they’ve gone through something that now has put an unbreakable bond between them… well at least until Part 2 happens. Seeing the two crewman not make it to safety, watching Voyager get worse and worse as the days go by, and listening to Janeway’s last speech is all so heartbreaking. We end the episode on both a cliffhanger and a downer, but it’s a situation that was always a possibility when you’re stranded in space and so far from home.

“I have never understood the human compulsion to emotionally bond with inanimate objects.”: Part 2 is the culmination of Part 1 and is both satisfying and not. Chakotay drinks the Krenim time travel Kool Aid but it’s totally the thing he would do, trying to cause the minimum number of casualties. Paris, naturally, wants to return to Voyager and does what he does best… come up with a plan by just winging it in some ways. Annorax is just Barry Allen trying to fix the timeline, not realizing that the only way to undo his first mistake was to simply get rid of his ship as if it never existed. I understand they existed outside of time, but does that mean they didn’t ever age? What about when Janeway destroys the thing keeping them outside of time? Everything in Part 2 made sense, but it also means we spent two episodes watching the crew go through horrible things only for them to have never happened. Janeway is totally in character of making decisions under stress, as we just saw in the last episode, and even the “bad guy” gets his happy ending. Unfortunately, none of them retain any information about this so no one really learned the lesson of appreciating people as you have them in your life. I am also widely disappointed that the watch didn’t play an actual role in saving Janeway’s life, but that’s just a me thing. Overall, a very satisfying group of episodes even though everything’s made up and the points (and rating) don’t matter.

TA Out!