Comment Stream

Re: VOY S6: Spirit Folk

Wow. And I mean, wow! After reading all the comments, I must be about the only person in America that thought this was one of the best Voyager episodes.

In all honesty, it's a reasonable sci-fi contrivance that puts together a fun take on a pre-warp culture coming face to face with Trekkian technology.

In fact, that's what makes this episode so much better than most holodeck disasters: it doesn't really matter that the holograms are holograms. Thanks to the captain's love interest, the crew (and the audience) has a stake in the reaction of the Fair Haven characters.

I also have to congratulate the many guest actors. They did a fantastic job!

Re: DS9 S3: Heart of Stone

I'm surprised you dismissed the B-story so quickly. Nog breaking down and admitting to Sisko he's ashamed of his father is the best scene in the whole episode (and frankly, when I first saw the show I couldn't think of anything Nog could say to get Sisko's recommendation, until he came up with that).

Re: ENT S3: Anomaly

Yet another TV show decides that torture always works when used against the bad guy. All you have to do is take your Popeye "bad ass" spinach and scream a lot while straining your neck to get answers.

Cripes. Can lazy writing get any worse?

This episode was horrible.

Re: ENT S2: Cogenitor

This episode is a travesty. Humans have not yet met aliens. But self-aware sentients should have a value beyond that of what a majority decides to assign to them.

The show's message is morally reprehensible, and condones virtual slavery in the name of moral relativism.

Starfleet should be ashamed. Archer, relieved of command. And personally, I'm disgusted with the author of this episode.

It could have been decent if the cogenitor was not fully sentient. It could have been decent if Archer granted asylum but was forced, at gunpoint, to give the cogenitor back despite his ruling. It could have been decent if Archer granted asylum at the expense of the aliens rejecting all future relations.

As it is, the episode teaches evil.

Re: VOY S6: Riddles

I've disagreed with you before on ratings, but here I'm genuinely surprised at your low rating. To be fair, the Reset Button was expected and used once again.

But this is still one of my favorite episodes of Voyager. And it managed the salvage the heretofore disastrous Neelix/Tuvok dynamic in what for me was a completely unexpected way.

Tuvok HATES Neelix. With the passion of a thousand suns that only a Vulcan can feel - and suppress.

Which leads to the double tragedy of this episode - and I'm a sucker for tragedy. The direct one, dealing with brain damage, is more poignant than you give it credit for. Yes, it should be obvious that damaged Tuvok should be taught to become what he can be, not what he was. Yet this is a lesson that people in the real world never manage to learn until something FORCES them to understand the person they knew will never be the same again.

It's an obvious lesson - but it's one that has to be learned, over and over again, so one I absolutely do not fault the script for. (Though I suppose you could argue that Trek mores are supposed to be advanced enough this would be the default Trekkian response.)

And while the primary Tuvok plot was good enough as an allegory to brain damage in our world, the Reset Button is forgiven by me precisely because it's the Reset that provides the real emotional punch of the episode.

Neelix LIKES Tuvok, and damaged Tuvok likes him back, yet Neelix must accept the death of this relationship for the good of his friend. That's powerfully sad, and yet something that can only be cheered on by Neelix himself.

A complex emotional resonance that the Reset gives us.

Tuvok HATES Neelix, yet repaired Tuvok owes Neelix an unpayable debt for Neelix's dedication to him during his recovery. And he has the memory of his gratitude for Neelix, and more, his dependence on him.

But repaired Tuvok still HATES Neelix. It quite frankly hurts him to admit any attachment to Neelix at all. Yet he is compelled to do so to the extent he can because of the unpayable debt. And so he maintains tremendous guilt for his revocation of their temporary friendship - yet proves he will humiliate himself to please Neelix (even if only a tiny bit) out of gratitude.

It's incredibly powerful stuff. Full of exceptional characterization (all the more remarkable since it ably incorporates the previous badly-written dynamic). And while I agree with you that the aliens could have been interesting & some Voyager cliches are present, as with some of your DS9 reviews, I have to say the sheer weight of the episode forgives what would otherwise be flaws.