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Re: VOY S5: 11:59

I'm really disliking Voyager in general more and more the more reruns I go for. It was the first Star Trek I watched, since it was the first to air in Sweden - on Public Service TV no less! Some episodes I've looked forward to has turned to ashes in my mouth, not at all as enjoyable episodes as I've remembered.

11:59 is not one of those.

Oh, it is not a brilliant episode, it has a couple of plot issues. But it does have sincerity and thoughtfulness to an extent Voyager rarely reaches or even tries for. For some reason the quietness and everyday perspective reminds me about TNG's Inner Light, the way both of these episodes stick out in tone - no comparison otherwise.

But watching it this time, it's not just about that sincerity for me but also the sentimentality and warmth, as it tried to be a still, somewhat sadness tinged episode. Having developed much more firm opinions on Trek, what I dislike about Voyager is just how passive aggresive and plain unpleasant this crew is. They're more often than not a competent crew, in line with the general aesthetics of Golden era Trek, but they're emotionally immature and problems that the TNG crew would deal with healthily will result in bickering with Voyager's.

In this episode, there's none of that. There are a couple of wry jokes and a bit of banter, but for once the dialogue sells it as endearing and not toxic. This is not just an episode about captain Janeway re-evaluating a mythologized past, but about the crew making effort to bond. In that sense, it also has a bit in common with TNG's All Good Things in tone - and, yet again, no other comparison otherwise. I like the little scene between Paris and Neelix, trying to have a friendly competition about trivia - there are way too many scenes in Voyager in general with Tom making fun of the poor guy behind his back, it is nice seeing them enjoy each other's company for once.

Janeway's ancestor made a home for herself in a totally unexpected place, and being eerily similar to our captain. This is theatre, and thus all good to me. It would be fair to criticize it as heavy handed, but I think Mulgrew and the writers sell it with slight differences between them. Shannon is more aloof compared to Kathryn, to name the most obvious thing, and she is more marked by being an alone drifter, while Kathryn has always been on top of things and never had enough alone time. The parallel works for me, and I like the affirmation that these people should be dear to Kathryn, and to each other.

If Voyager had gotten this down in general, I would be more alright with its lack of new ideas, with the comparative lack of political themes compared to earlier shows ... it could still have got the message through that community and teamwork is the solution to problems. It's a shame, because the actors sure could pull this family warmth off when given the chance.

Re: VOY S5: Once Upon a Time

This is a fine enough episode.

There is, as pointed out, some lazy and heavily reused circumstance, but it's at the very least not an episode that struggles with having personal meaning, which Voyager struggled with continually. This episode doesn't stack up to The Visitor by any means, but compared to several other, more highly rated episodes of Voyager, this was one I was actually looking forward to seeing on my current rewatch.

I don't think what happens in the shuttle matters that much, as in that we, the audience, knows they'll survive didn't really matter; you could still write an episode with Neelix going through the same emotional turmoil just from the Voyager crew wrongly thinking they might lose the shuttle. Neelix is a heavily traumatized person, and I think it's much more worthwhile discussing this episode on those terms, since that's the actual weight of the material here.

And while it might be seen as overwrought and obvious, the dilemma Neelix is dealing with is dealt with pretty spot on considering what an immature person he is.

While I dislike how toxic Neelix in the earlier seasons is, I think this episode makes good use of that emotional immaturity. Neelix overcompensates constantly with a happy and nice surface, and everytime this psychological schema stops working we get an angry and combative Neelix. In the episode with the space elevator, which had been described as Neelix having an unreasonable, selfish tantrum, this is also the case. I think it's a pretty good way elaborate on Neelix's psychology, and I feel like this episode really recognises how this anger is more often than not a maladaption (though I do think it was very understandable and ultimately productive blowing up on Tuvok finally).

So it might seem obvious to is what Neelix needs to do, but this isn't who had learned to deal with things and this is a thing he has to go through on one way or the other, in one magnitude or the other. As always, Ethan Philips is one of the better actors in the show, and he had decent material in this one compared to the hogwash he has most oftenly been dealt, even though he acts well then too.

Naomi is also acted really well for being a child actor, and I think her and Neelix having a common arc of growing up is nice. I wouldn't trust a guy so set on sweeping emotional problems under the rug with being a parent, but partly through his relationship with Naomi he is actually finally given the chance to nature and move on.

Re: VOY S4: Message in a Bottle

An unfocused episode with good ideas, but perhaps too many - and that is what makes it deliver flat sometimes, and sometimes not.

@Jim The irony is not only already addressed by B'Elanna herself in a previous episode, but it's most likely restated here for it's thematical value.

This episode is about differences in personal growth, propping up the Doctor's achievements in many ways. Seven is a reflection of how the Doctor used to be, specifically more rude, and both are ona path to gaining increasing sentience, agency and humanity. In a sense, this is Seven's first season and she is where the Doctor started years ago.

The EMH MII is even newer, and the Doctor's annoyance comes across not simply as slipping back into his old, aggrevated persona, but as impatience with seeing this kid making the same basic mistakes as he did. I know from my own experience that it can be jarring to see someone younger that reminds you of yourself and your immaturity at that time, as you age.

The C-plot with Tom and Harry feels pretty off and unneccessary, and perhaps it is doubly necessary because the point of it is ALSO to prop up the Doctor - he is, as is proven by their failure, unreplacable. While thematically in line with what the episode is trying to convey, it would have been at least nice to see Tom not being such an asshole for the entire message but perhaps himself come to terms with the fact that the Doctor is his friend and that he shouldn't have tried to replace him. That would have in my opinion helped a lot with cementing the double nature of this episode as both being a comedy and seriously emotional.

As @Andersonh1 put it, the Doctor's more measured and simple "I did it" shows a great deal of growth for such a bombastic person as he is. It is that growth together with the fact that the Doctor has gotten more comfortable in his own outrageousness that sells him as maturing, and, as it seems when the writing isn't at its best, even more mature than the rest of the crew who can't even just be honest with him at times about how he is received but resort to passive aggresiveness or finding excuses to avoid him.

I wish I could have liked this episode more than I did on rewatching it just now, because thematically it is an important episode for a generally good character, that has meaning. I would have been able to swallow the unfocused tries to make all these different plot threads about character growth if they were followed up with some humanity. It wouldn't have hurt if they took one second for Janeway to commend the Doctor for a succesful mission, is what I'm saying, as well as other such honest and positive interactions between these people.