Date: October 2, 2020

Season 2, Episodes 18 and 19

Musical Accompaniment: The Stargate movie soundtrack

Interstellar News: I thought it would be fun to write about Death and Life in the same post. Happy Second Day of Halloween!

“Death Wish” in TL;DR: Voyager encounters a comet that was actually the prison cell of a Q (whom I shall call Q2) who wanted to be mortal. The Q we all know and love eventually arrives (he will be Q1) to try and stop it, so they agree to let Janeway be the arbiter. Q2 asks Tuvok to represent him at the hearing. Q1 questions himself, as an expert on the Q continuum and then brings in three people who Q2 helped, one of which is William T. Riker. Q2 shows his captivity and then they decide to head to a manifestation of the continuum so he can show how he’s suffering. He explains how he’s done everything, seen everything, and the only excitement was when Q1 was acting irresponsibly. They return to Voyager and Janeway agrees to grant Q2 asylum. Q1 turns Q2 mortal, he chooses the name Quinn, and then ingests hemlock that Q1 apparently supplied because he wants to go back to being the bad boy of the continuum.

Favorite Quote:

Q1: Yes. Without Q there would have been no William T. Riker at all, and I would have lost at least a dozen really good opportunities to insult him over the years. Oh, and lest I forget, without Q, the Borg would have assimilated the Federation. Thank you. Thank you.

Q1 talking about Q2 (aka Quinn) and all the good he did in the past.

“Say, is this the ship of the Valkyries, or have you human women finally done away with your men altogether?”: I forgot just how much I missed Q. The whole first bit on the bridge is fantastic. Quinn is a bit rusty and he makes the men disappear, but he is also quite polite and apologetic about the whole ordeal. Janeway’s face and response when she finds out Q is on board is perfect. When our Q arrives it’s so fast paced; bouncing around from the start of the universe to an ornament on a Christmas tree and Janeway finally has to put a stop to the madness. Tuvok makes an excellent representative for Quinn and it was fun to watch Sir Isaac Newton and a hippie from Woodstock be linked somehow. The manifestation of the Q continuum reminds me a lot of that from “Caretaker“.

The asylum hearing is a wonderful throwback to “Encounter at Farpoint” and we see some evidence that other cultures view life and death in different ways. As someone who cared for her terminally ill mother, I completely understand Quinn’s want to relieve his suffering… even if I couldn’t understand it myself. While it may not be a choice for me, it’s certainly understandable that there are some things a person can’t do anymore. However, I wish that Quinn would have agreed to give being mortal a try for at least 10 years or something like that. In the end, it’s Q who has been inspired to help someone with their last wishes. It irks me, though, that Q didn’t at least agree to tell Starfleet that Voyager was lost and headed home… it was the least he could have done. 8 loaded potato cakes for this episode.

“Lifesigns” in TL;DR: Paris is late, again, and Tuvok encounters a distress signal from a Vidiian female who is dying. She is beamed into sickbay and the EMH transfers her consciousness from a device she had installed into a holographic body in order to allow more time to work on her physical body. Danara Pel wakes up and she’s also a doctor, one who is trying to help her people and not by stealing organs. The EMH and Pel work together and she names him Shmullus, after her Uncle. Paris gets into an argument with Chakotay and Jonas receives instructions from the Kazon. The doctor realizes he’s falling in love and tells Pel in the most EMH way possible, but she just wants to be friends. Kes realizes that Pel is just overwhelmed, so Paris and Kes help the EMH and Pel go on a holodate and it’s absolutely adorable. Paris is disobedient once more so Chakotay gives his shift away and tells him he can come back when he’s ready to work. Pel wants to live out the rest of her life in her perfect hologram body with the doctor, but he convinces her to spend the rest of their time fixing her body so she can help her people. He finally does the transfer and they dance in the holodeck.

Favorite Quote:

EMH: I apologize.

Denara: No. They were just being nice.

EMH: Irritating, isn’t it?

The EMH being wonderful as always.

“Romance is not a malfunction.”: This was a timely episode as we just watched an episode of Scrubs where an ALS patient was trying to kill herself as her body started to break down. This also is along the same lines as the previous episode, as Pel knows she’s going to eventually die of the phage and wants to end her suffering, though this time to be with the hologram she loves. The Paris story line gets a few scenes while Jonas gets two scenes, one where he actually sees Seska and it’s all moving along.

This was a great way to show that not all of the Vidiians are complete and utter bastards as well as showing the EMH has a holographic heart. He panics because he thinks he’s malfunctioning, but it’s really because he’s being unethical in “dating” a patient. When the EMH so matter-of-factly told Pel he loved her and did she feel the same, I cackled and laughed so hard until she said no and HE LOOKED SO SAD. I loved that they parked and looked at the stars, it’s a fantastic first date even with the flowers AND candy AND teddy bear… slow down kiddo. The EMH is also super supportive of Pel doing her thing and living her life helping people as she’s meant to, but spending as much time together as possible in the meantime. It’s much better than some of the other love stories Trek has told in an hour. 9 otters named ‘Ib’ for this adorably cute and absolutely heartbreaking episode.

TA Out!

Date: October 1, 2020

Season 2, Episode 17

Musical Accompaniment: A “Spooky and Creepy” music mix

Interstellar News: It’s Spooktober! This is going to be the best month ever and I’m totally stoked about it. That totally means my hopes will be dashed in a few days, but Spooky Season is a mentality, and they can’t take that away from me.

TL;DR: Ensign Wildman considers names for her baby. Voyager finds debris from a ship and Torres realizes it’s her fault. The Maquis found a Cardassian weapon, Torres reprogrammed it, renamed it Dreadnought, and then she sent it on a mission to destroy a Cardassian fuel depot. They thought it was lost in the Badlands but it apparently came with them to the DQ and is now on a course to destroy Rakosa V. Jonas, of course, tells the Kazon about the weapon. Torres beams over to Dreadnought and gets it shut down, but Dreadnought lied to her because it believes she is now working for the Cardassians. Torres was too good of a programmer and everything she does, Dreadnought has an answer for. Janeway decides to use Voyager to stop Dreadnought so she orders everyone to escape pods while her and Tuvok stay to maneuver in between Rakosa and Dreadnought and she sets the ship to auto-destruct. Torres finally figures out what to do and, in true Trek fashion, detonates Dreadnought. Torres is beamed directly to sickbay, Janeway stops the self destruct and goes to recover everyone who left the ship. She also made friends with the Rakosan First Minister, Kellan.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: Doctor, I forgot about you.

EMH: How flattering.

To be honest, I forgot about him too and he’s my favorite… whoops.

“Life support has been terminated. It is advisable for you to return to your ship.”: I absolutely loved this episode. Torres gets to be bad ass and save the day, again, and Janeway also gets to be the bad ass captain we all know she is. Torres is a brilliant engineer and outfoxed herself almost to the detriment of ship, unfortunately. We get to meet another DQ race that thinks the Voyager crew amount to what the rumors say of them, but this time they actually make a friend which is a nice change of pace. The back and forth between Torres and Dreadnought is fantastic and it’s hysterical that even a computer program thinks it’s completely improbable that it and Torres are in the DQ so far from their last position. It reminds me of when I would take a plane flight, turn off my cell phone, and then turn it back on when I land elsewhere and it’s like OH MY GOD YOU’RE SO FAR FROM HOME! One thing that bothered me is that Dreadnought disables the com system and transporter lock, but then tells Torres she should beam out once the life support system is turned off. Otherwise, this was a fantastic episode and a great science fiction story. 9 great, big pumpkins for this one.

TA Out!

Date: September 30, 2020

Season 2, Episode 16

Musical Accompaniment: In honor of my maternal grandmother, who I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, here’s some Verdi.

Interstellar News: It’s still not October. This saddens me.

TL;DR: Paris starts a betting pool, where he is clearly the only one winning, and Chakotay shuts it down. Torres finds a dead crew member, the EMH suspects it’s murder, and Suder is the prime suspect. He lies at first but then eventually confesses though Tuvok cannot accept Suder had no motive so they mind meld. Suder leaves the meld with some of Tuvok’s control but Tuvok begins to have rage control issues. Tuvok murders holo-Neelix in the holodeck and trashes his quarters. The EMH removes Tuvok’s emotional control to complete a treatment which leads to Tuvok ranting, raving, and eventually passing out. He breaks out of sickbay to execute Suder but cannot go through with it. Suder will be confined to quarters for the duration of the trip, Tuvok will continue treatments in sickbay, and Janeway says no more mind melds.

Favorite Quote:

Tuvok: Why would you need to do research on Vulcan holidays?

Neelix: It’s part of my job as Morale officer.

Tuvok: Morale is irrelevant to a Vulcan.

Neelix: Oh, please! There’s no one on this ship requires my services more than you do. I will not rest until I see you smile.

Tuvok: Then you will not rest.

Tuvok does not joke, though he did smile and Neelix wasn’t around to see it.

“If you can’t control the violence, the violence controls you.”: Neelix’s contacts were freaking me out this episode. Paris is the child misbehaving so mommy and daddy will pay attention to him. Last time mommy had sex with him, very Oedipus Rex, and this time daddy gives him a very lame slap on the wrist. It’s all just filler, and not very interesting filler, because Tuvok steals the show in sickbay and the holodeck. I legit gasped and gave my husband the side eye when Neelix was “killed” because there was a good, long pause before Tuvok ended the program. Tuvok’s curiosity gets the best of him here, but it gives us a hell of a performance from Tim Russ. Watching Tuvok freak out Kes and the EMH while verbally decimating Janeway was quite the trip. Seriously, though, why didn’t they post security in sickbay? This episode also gives us a look at what happens when someone commits an unforgivable crime 70,000+ light years from home. A very strong episode that I enjoyed a lot. 8 sweet cream cold brews for me.

TA Out!

Date: September 29, 2020

Season 2, Episode 15

Musical Accompaniment: Some autumn porch ambience on this rainy night

Interstellar News: Why can’t it already be mid-October? WHY?

TL;DR: Paris makes it to warp 10, passing the warp threshold, but then he’s suddenly allergic to water and can’t breathe the ship’s air. Paris dies and then isn’t dead because he developed a second heart. He goes through millions of years of evolution in a 24 hour period, kidnaps Janeway, and they disappear in a shuttlecraft at warp 10. Voyager eventually finds them but they both look like catfish with arms and apparently procreated. Chakotay stuns Paris and Janeway, catfish edition, and takes them to the EMH for fixing but HE LEAVES THE BABIES TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES LIKE SOME KIND OF MONSTER. The EMH works his magic and Janeway and Paris are back to their usual, human selves.

Favorite Quotes:

EMH: Hmm. It looks like he’s having an allergic reaction. What did he ingest?

Torres: Just a cup of Neelix’s coffee.

EMH: It’s a miracle he’s still alive.

The EMH providing us with more sass than one could ever hope for.

Chakotay: I don’t know how I’m going to enter this into the log.

Tuvok: I look forward to reading it.

Chakotay reacting to the three babies that emerged from the cave and Tuvok giving us the best response ever, in his Vulcan deadpan.

“Wake up, Lieutenant!”: Every time the EMH speaks, it’s magic. He’s got sass and snark for days and he delivers it with such authority. Aside from the EMH, though, this episode bounced around a hell of a lot. We start off with Kim, Paris, and Torres trying to solve what amounts to a Millennium Prize problem and Neelix saves the day with a story that helps the team achieve transwarp, along with the new dilithium they found. Suddenly the story turns into a horror medical mystery surrounding Paris who made the test flight and he evolves or devolves or something, and it’s gross and weird but okay I can deal with it. BUT THEN HE KIDNAPS HIS CAPTAIN AND THEY PROCREATE AND HAVE BABIES in the span of like three days, which is stupid and wrong and did I mention stupid?

Oh, but that’s not the “best” part. CHAKOTAY LEAVES THE BABIES TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES on an uninhabited planet. Will they be able to live without their parents? Are there predators on the surface? Does Janeway or Paris want to raise them? What an absolutely awful decision. I mean maybe the EMH can de-evolve them or something… they did that in Super Mario Bros. Oh and then there’s this one dude who keeps sending stuff to the Kazon but it’s like one line last episode and one line this time in the middle of everything so it’s so easy to forget. Though it was about the warp 10 stuff so I’m now giggling over the thought of a Kazon starfish or something silly. Anyway, after the medical stuff it turns into a kidnap-rape-evolution story that I have no idea how we got to or why. In the end Voyager is still stuck going warp 9.9 or slower, poor babies. I give this 3 paper flower bouquets… but only because of the EMH and in memory of those poor baby fishy things.

TA Out!

Date: September 28, 2020

Season 2, Episode 14

Musical Accompaniment: Apparently I’m in a Bach mood

Interstellar News: Today was a day, definitely a Monday.

TL;DR: Voyager has been attacked by the Kazon, again, and a crewman is dead. Chakotay suggests a temporary alliance with the Kazon so they can make it through the DQ in one piece. Some of the Maquis crew are unhappy with how things are handled and Janeway refuses to abandon her Starfleet principles, but a talk with Tuvok about the events of The Undiscovered Country helps her to see how this could still align with Starfleet principles. Neelix heads over to meet with Pommar sect while Janeway meets with the Nistrim and Seska. Culluh makes too many demands so the alliance is off, but Seska tells him it’s his baby. Neelix is taken captive by the Kazon but escapes with a group called the Trabe, led by Mabus, who apparently used to mistreat the Kazon until the Kazon revolted. Janeway and Mabus get five of the Kazon majes to come to a conference in order to start peace talks, but it’s a trap by Mabus who just wants to kill the majes. Janeway kicks him off her ship and they bugger off.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: I’m not grateful, and I want you off my ship. Chief, beam our former guest back to his vessel.

Mabus: Captain, don’t do this. You’re going to need us.

Janeway: I don’t think so.

Mabus: The Kazon will be determined to seek revenge. How can this one ship hope to survive?

Janeway: Not by making deals with executioners. Energize.

Janeway is not holding anything back, she’s displeased and wants him to know it.

“I don’t think we can afford to keep doing business as usual.”: I never met crewman Bendera but his death is still sad. The way everyone talked about him, especially Chakotay, you knew he was a good man who was just trying to get home like everyone else. I do like that we saw a memorial and it was the first thing Janeway ordered when the dust settled. I understand Janeway’s determination to be a good captain and stick to what she knows, but she’s also in uncharted territory. Much like all of my fellow educators during this global pandemic, we’re trying to tread water in a situation that’s constantly changing. We have to adapt to a new climate, just as we did when technology started to replace paper and pen techniques.

Tuvok readily has an example of how a warring people could be, eventually, wonderful allies just like the Klingons and the Federation eventually found peace. Culluh and the Kazons are super misogynistic and that’s clearly to their disadvantage when there are smart, resourceful women like Janeway and Seska at the table. The Klingons are like that a bit, women not being able to run their own house and all, but it’s just another race like the Ferengi who treat women as “less than” in order to stay in power. I will say I totally bought Mabus’s lies and was super shocked when he was the one who set the trap, but looking back it was all laid out for me. Neelix making excuses for not knowing about how the Kazon were treated, the Trabe being broken out so easily, and even the “oh we’re just misunderstood oppressors, I was just a kid” speech. I don’t quite understand how five sects of the Kazon could get to where Voyager was so quickly if they’ve been heading toward the AQ for almost a year, but it was interesting to see the subtle differences between the sects. I was also cheering on Janeway when she kicked Mabus the fuck off her ship, but I think they could have done a better job at the negotiating table. It’s an interesting turn of events and one that I didn’t see coming. 6 scoops of strawberry ice cream for this episode.

TA Out!