Star Trek: Voyager
"Rise"
Air date: 2/27/1997
Teleplay by Brannon Braga
Story by Jimmy Diggs
Directed by Robert Sheerer
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
"I will have to land the shuttle manually. Brace for impact."
"Make sure you crash it DIFFERENTLY this time."— Lt. Tuvok and me
Nutshell: A lackluster plot further sabotaged by some pretty awful execution. A highly unfortunate occurrence.
Voyager's uneven third season takes a turn for the worse with "Rise," an incoherent mix of silly action, heavy-handed intrigue, shaky character interplay, and typical disaster themes. Coming off the heels of the pointless "Darkling," "Rise" is an unsettling entry into the third season and not much of a way to end sweeps month.
The plot begins with a rather illogical disaster backdrop as Voyager destroys an asteroid on a collision course with a planet colonized by some new friendly aliens called the Nezu. The asteroid fragments unexpectedly, and large pieces of it crash to the surface causing huge dust storms and forcing the colonists to evacuate. (Maybe next time Janeway won't wait until 30 seconds before an asteroid hits a planet before blowing it up.)
Tuvok and Neelix take a shuttle along with some of the Nezu officials to the surface to assist in the evacuations. It doesn't take long before "Rise" starts making big mistakes, beginning first and foremost with Yet Another Shuttle Crash™. I was actually chuckling through the silly scene where the shuttlecraft was shaking and rocking and Tuvok was reporting that the stabilizers were off-line (or whatever). Voyager has made the Shuttle Crash into such a ludicrous cliché tha that the whole idea has become positively laughable. Why, oh why can't the writers think of different ways for putting characters in difficult situations? (Anything would be better than the Shuttle Crash.) These difficult situations have long felt contrived because there's never any apparent thought put into them. It's simply a conjured means put to an end.
And the "end" featured in "Rise" is nowhere near satisfying. Once we get the Shuttle Crash over with, the plot begins turning into nothing less than a big, lumbering mess. Since the shuttle is (naturally) out of contact with Voyager and Our Heroes have to escape before they're buried by a fallout of settling dust, Neelix observes a "tether" near the crash site—a 300-kilometer pole extending from the surface of the planet into space with a carriage to lift people from the surface—and devises an escape plan. (By the way, I'm not even going to begin on the plausibility of a "300-kilometer pole in the ground extending into space." No comment here at all.) He used to work on similar devices in his past (it's not until later that we find out that he only worked on 1/10 scale working models—typical Neelix), and thinks he can apply his knowledge of those systems to repairing the damaged tether.
Within the tether control room, Neelix is nabbed and held hostage by a woman named Lillias (Lisa Kaminir) who has taken shelter there. She holds a knife to Neelix's throat in one of the more overwrought and tensionless scenes of the type that I can remember. (Everyone knew she would release him after the commercial break and they'd become friends, so why did they drag the scene out so long?)
Most of what's wrong with "Rise" appears to be the fault of director Robert Sheerer and the actors. While Braga's teleplay is nowhere near the realm of "stellar," it isn't all that insultingly bad either—it's more along the lines of "simply standard, unambitious Voyager." What really fails here, rather, is the execution. Sheerer can't milk any tension out of any scene or situation. And most of the guest actors, to be blunt, offer absolutely terrible performances and completely flat line delivery. Ethan Phillips and Tim Russ are fine, sure, but considering all their scenes are opposite these other (for lack of a better word) bad actors, none of the scenes work.
Kaminir is passable but far from portraying an interesting character. Kelly Connell as Sklar and Geof Prysirr as Hanjuan, on the other hand, are both atrocious and manage to embarrass everyone else in just about every scene they're involved with—which is highly problematic considering how pivotal (Connell in particular) their characters turn out to be. The only decent guest star is Alan Oppenheimer as the ambassador (who appeared in DS9's "The Jem'Hadar" as the captain of the Odyssey), but, unfortunately, he has the fewest scenes.
Then there's the reliance on "disaster" themes—putting characters in extreme situations without the benefit of decent drama—as Tuvok, Neelix, and the Nezu have to cope with a new problem when Dr. Vatm (Tom Towles) launches the carriage pod before Neelix can repair the systems, forcing everyone to begin improvising on the fly as they begin their ascent. Most of the plotting in "Rise" is simply forgettable, but as the episode progresses Braga piles more and more extra baggage onto the story, introducing a contrived "murder" angle when Vatm dies due to apparent poisoning; lots of scenes of "dissension" among Our Heroes, mostly badly performed; then an "intrigue" angle as the Neelix/Tuvok plot ties into Voyager learning the "asteroids" are actually artificially-created devices that, as Chakotay puts it, "aren't hitting their planet by chance."
Then there's the "character theme," which boils down to Neelix trying to impress Tuvok and consistently being dismissed because Tuvok doesn't like him. (Come on—this is the same after-school special type of material that arose between Neelix and Paris in last season's "Parturition.") Strangely, this is the only angle of the story that comes close to working, since both Russ and Phillips seem genuinely into the idea. Neelix's actions strike me as pretty childish (which like much of what he does in this episode is pretty much in-character, reassuring me that it's a general problem with Neelix and not necessarily this installment). When Tuvok refuses to acknowledge Neelix's gut feeling, what does Neelix do? Being the only one who knows how, he refuses to pilot the carriage any further until Tuvok agrees with him. This strikes me as rather wrong-headed on Neelix's account (although Tuvok doesn't come across a whole lot better under the story's attempts to put some blame on his dismissive attitude toward Neelix)—but it's admittedly the only scene in the episode that caused me to sit up and take note.
With all these story elements tugging at each other, Braga merely proves that more is not better; although I still think it potentially could've worked if the transitions between all the different elements were done more effectively. The way Sheerer clumsily moves back and forth between the plot angles hurts a lot, and made me say "so what?" on several occasions. The story, while definitely not good, might've worked okay if not so haphazardly assembled.
The action culminates with a couple obligatory fight scenes (punctuated with some fairly lousy special effects sequences) when Sklar is revealed as a traitor in cahoots with a group of aliens that sent the "asteroids" to the planet in an attempt to force an evacuation and claim the planet as their own. On the roof of the carriage Tuvok finds a data pad containing technological information about the bad guys' ship, which conveniently allows Voyager to defeat the alien bad guys—in a stock battle scene of alarming ineptitude.
"Rise" is so much of a mess that the final scene features Neelix basically explaining the entire plot and making the connections that would've been obvious under stronger storytelling. If the story hadn't been so choppy and badly performed then maybe the plot could've been simply "okay"; unfortunately, it covers so much ground so unsuccessfully that it ends up being a big waste of time. I wouldn't go so far as to say the story is insultingly bad and lacking in substance the way "Darkling" was (although it was quite mindless). But in another respect "Rise" is much worse: It holds very little entertainment value. (For at least "Darkling" was sporadically amusing with Picardo's portrayal of Evil Doc.)
What I said for "Darkling" also applies here: This episode is watchable, but nothing more.
By the way, "Shuttle Crash" is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures Corporation.
Previous episode: Darkling
Next episode: Favorite Son
Like this site? Support it by buying Jammer a coffee.
76 comments on this post
Sun, Dec 23, 2007, 8:53pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 27, 2008, 8:30pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Aug 3, 2008, 8:53am (UTC -5)
Tue, Dec 23, 2008, 8:28am (UTC -5)
Wed, Dec 30, 2009, 9:13am (UTC -5)
More mysterious is how they make so little of retro-engineering the Doctor's C29 mobile emitter and the Borg tech from the various Borg corpses and encounters they've had.
Fri, Mar 26, 2010, 11:33am (UTC -5)
Yes, well observed that this was a sci fi Flight of the Phoenix - it really is.
Fri, Oct 1, 2010, 6:51pm (UTC -5)
Also, doesn't a space body, whatever it was when it was a space body (asteroid in this case), become a meteorite when it strikes a planetary surface?
Thu, Oct 14, 2010, 11:52pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Oct 24, 2010, 11:01am (UTC -5)
As for the rest of the episode... well, there are too many plot holes to even count. Experienced or not, how could Neelix be able to learn alien technology so quickly? Why would Sklar betray his race? Why would - oh, never mind.
Wed, Feb 16, 2011, 5:30am (UTC -5)
I've read many of your reviews, and often find myself agreeing with them, and your score, /after/ reading the review, even if I didn't agree with your score beforehand. But there's one thing I vehemently disagree with, and that's your dislike of Neelix.
I find Neelix very much to be a multi-layered personality. I don't think he's someone who's fully coped with the loss of his parents and his sister yet; his often lightheaded jokes seem to me to be nothing more than a way to camouflage the sadness that is still in his heart. When he dies in "Mortal Coil", it seems to me that he's not so much sad about realizing there's no afterlife, as he is about realizing he won't see them again.
The contrast of Neelix against Tuvok is also something that, I think, works very well. In this particular episode, we see it get to a head. Neelix has been putting up with this dismissive Vulcan who wants nothing to do with him for a very very long time, even though he considers him a friend (and Tuvok knows this). When he believes there's something important on the roof, Tuvok believes he's just being silly, and dismisses him without even considering the possibility that he might be right. That just pushes the built-up tension to the surface, and Neelix and Tuvok get into an argument. Not at the most convenient of times, I'll grant you, but these kinds of arguments often do.
Also, I don't see his stopping the tether carriage as childlike. If the party inside the carriage wants to go and investigate what's up on the roof, that needs to happen when there's actually still air outside, since I don't think there are any space suits in the carriage. Granted, someone could take a shuttle from Voyager and do it that way, but that takes time, and we're in a crunch here. Neelix doesn't actually say it with so many words, but his "we're not moving until someone checks" does make sense in that light.
I'll grant you that the acting and directing wasn't stellar; but I do think that based on Neelix and Tuvok's history, the interpersonal conflict presented here seems very believable in my eyes, and would warrant more than just 1.5 stars.
Oh, and regarding the technical feasibility, you might want to check the wikipedia page on 'Space elevator' :-)
Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 10:17pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Mar 16, 2011, 12:38am (UTC -5)
@Wouter Verhelst : thank you for putting so eloquently what I've always loved about Neelix. There is a value to all people, and Neelix is a wonderful person who hides his deep pain (which in many would make one cynical and menacing) with saccharine humour. People who dismiss him as "annoying" really miss the entire point of his character. It's so sad how this show went (and goes) over so many people's heads.
It's not a great episode for the reasons you mentioned (directing and guest acting), but the characterisations of Tuvok and Neelix make the whole endeavour worth watching. And guess what? The interactions they have here play deeply into their character development over the next four years, but hey this series doesn't have any continuity because of the all-important shuttle count. God knows how important that is.
Mon, Mar 21, 2011, 11:35pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Apr 1, 2012, 2:14pm (UTC -5)
Most of the time, though, I'm able to ignore these annoyances, particularly if there's a good story going on. This particular episode? Not so much. I'm waiting for Naomi to start her rapid aging process. Ethan Phillips and Scarlett Pomers had decent chemistry on screen.
Mon, Jun 4, 2012, 10:20am (UTC -5)
Mon, Jun 25, 2012, 11:01am (UTC -5)
Sun, Sep 30, 2012, 9:29pm (UTC -5)
So now we come to this episode, "Rise". And while it wasn't the best episode by far, I did find myself caring about this loud and annoying alien who very much wants the approval and friendship of a crew mate who any viewer knows, doesn't like him. Kudos to telling Mr. Vulcan how he really is, Mr. Neelix. Kudos.
Thu, Oct 4, 2012, 2:21pm (UTC -5)
Sucks hard.
Sat, Apr 13, 2013, 2:42pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 19, 2013, 12:56am (UTC -5)
I disagree that Tuvok is any more condescending to Neelix than he is to anyone else who shows signs of emotion. That fact made Neelix’s blow up seem even more childish. Neelix reminded me of religious people who get emotionally upset when someone simply questions their beliefs. (A muslim got quite upset at me once when I suggested that perhaps Mohammed wasn’t a prophet of God. He told me that I was insulting him. I was clearly not, however.) As an aside, in my opinion, the only Vulcan who didn’t condescend to emotional people was T’Pol. She was quite rational about the emotional people around here. Spock was pretty good about this too, although some of his comments about human emotions came out a bit snide.
Oh, and to the people who are saying that we who are annoyed by Neelix are misunderstanding him: No I'm not. I completely understand his history. That doesn't change the fact that while I am watching the show, his is the only character that makes me cringe in annoyance often. He IS annoying even if I understand why. However, I am not convinced that a person with his past would be that annoying. He is written to be practically incapable of recognizing that people around him are bothered by him. I have known people in real life who are sort of like this (never this extreme), but they can usually take a hint. Even if YOU don't find Neelix annoying (which you seem to do -- you just grant him the context of his past), that doesn't mean that people who do find him annoying are clueless. I believe that he was deliberately written over the top and allowed to be acted over the top in an attempt at humor by the producers. But, as you can see, many people find that kind of thing annoying rather than funny. I don't blame the actor for this, by the way. Even if Ethan Phillips would choose to play Neelix over the top, it is the responsibility of the production team to make sure the actors are giving them the performances that they desire. The Neelix character came from the same place as Jar Jar -- a production mind that thought that shrill, cloying, and overbearing are funny. For many people they are not. Neelix is fine when he is played more low key. It’s just too bad that he is rarely played that way.
Wed, Jun 19, 2013, 3:13am (UTC -5)
I agree that the episode has many problems. But the interpersonal conflict between Neelix and Tuvok works, in my opinion.
Is Neelix an annoying character? I can see why people think so, even though I don't agree with that sentiment. Even so, annoying people do exist in real life, too. The fact that Neelix is annoying in and of itself doesn't make him unrealistic as a character. I don't think that people who find him annoying are necessarily "clueless".
That Tuvok is condescending towards everyone in the carriage is completely irrelevant. Personally, I can tolerate condescending people for a while, but if I have to live with them for a long time, eventually my patience runs out; and if I believe I'm right about something and people are just dismissing me out of hand, the limit of my patience will be reached much earlier.
Both are true in the case of the Neelix/Tuvok interaction here: Tuvok isn't condescending just in this episode, the two have a history, while Tuvok doesn't have that history with other people in the carriage (they're throwaway characters) Additionally, it's Neelix who came up with the idea that perhaps there's something out on the roof, and Tuvok doesn't even entertain the possibility.
Is an emotional outburst, as Neelix had one in this episode, the most productive way to solve the problem? Most likely not. Is it a human, understandable, and believable way? Absolutely.
Sat, Jul 27, 2013, 4:04pm (UTC -5)
Neelix's tantrum was childish and unfair to Tuvok, but in character for him. His low self-esteem causes him to be hypersensitive to perceived slights and he doesn't seem to consider long-term ramifications of his actions.... Like the fact that stopping the vehicle and opening the door endangers everyone. While I understand why he acts that way, his issues make him a liability.
I don't blame Ethan Phillips. I was an avid fan of "Benson" as a child and therefore he (and Rene A. from DS9) will always have a special place in my heart for their respective roles of Pete and Clayton. He is a talented actor. When given good material, he does quite well. He just was written poorly most of the time.
I did crack up at the "you have to have the last word" gag at the end.
Wed, Sep 4, 2013, 5:08pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Sep 11, 2013, 4:07pm (UTC -5)
Plus there were some excellent Tuvok-Neelix moments here.
Neelix is no Jar-Jar... that's lazy and unfair. Jar-Jar is a racist caricature, Neelix is perennially cheery, and perhaps annoyingly so, but probably a necessary distraction on the "ship of the damned" that stirs up the typical Starfleet interactions (in addition to the not so uptight Maquis). There's all sorts in the world (galaxy) and interacting in society means interacting with them and putting up with them. Life would be a tad grim without this variety.
I'd prefer him than another stick-up-the-arse TNG take-yourself-too-seriously type.
Plus he was right in this case about his "hunch"... where's the credit for that?
Finally, isn't it accepted that the materials for building a shuttlecraft can be replicated? I think it's fairly realistic that a shuttlecraft can be damaged in all manner of circumstances, and I'm pretty much positive that it has been established in recent Star Trek that such vehicles are mostly built of replicated materials, not ordered from a factory somewhere.
Tue, Oct 29, 2013, 1:03pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Mar 8, 2014, 10:16am (UTC -5)
Neelix says he can barely open his eyes... Tuvok gives him some motivation, and the next minute he is wide awake and saving the day. A good director would have made sure that this was acted properly.. that you could see how hard it was for him to carry on when injured so much.
That's one example of many in this episode and beyond.
Tue, Jun 17, 2014, 6:31am (UTC -5)
Why would it even be disclosed to anyone, except the alien ships personell, for that matter?
I'm tired of seeing voyager get outgunned all the time, and get saved by a last minute miracle. Also I'm tired of seeing voyager always take the first hit (or multiple hits), before they begin pondering what to do.
The breathable air is another hole, but i'll forgive it. Lets assume at some off-screen point they fixed it.
In overall though, it was an original episode, and worth 2,5-3 stars.
Mon, Aug 25, 2014, 7:30pm (UTC -5)
There's nothing about this episode that ever strives to be anything more than the sum of its underwhelming parts. Most of the performances read like a first rehearsal based on a rough draft. The idea of a space tether is certainly fresh in ST (though it is a genuine theory in scientific circles) but is merely used here as a backdrop to a bad story. And the pairing of Tuvok/Neelix seems forced out of script necessity for our benefit rather than being an organic part of an unfolding story.
One can add all of the interesting ideas in the world to an episode; but don't forget about plotting, dialogue, performance, and overall storytelling quality as well. What is here isn't overly-offensive, but it is trite and tiresome.
1 star.
Sun, Oct 19, 2014, 8:52am (UTC -5)
I really liked this episode, it was different, and you who are always asking for "character developement" / storyline, well you've got one here! The premise is almost irrelevant. the whole show is about the Tuvox-Neelix relationship and a "long due" elaboration on their rapport. I thought the outburst was really well acted and justified for the character, and really liked the final dialogue as well.
I generally don't like Neelix, but in this episode the whole thing worked. I also liked the idea of aliens invading other worlds cleverly, not by force but by ruse...
Mon, Aug 17, 2015, 11:38am (UTC -5)
It's totally in character for Neelix to act the way he did. He LIVES to please folks, Captain on down and he gets no "love" from Tuvok (because he's Vulcan or course). I guess what we learn about Neelix here, is that he does required some level of acceptance/appreciation for his efforts.
I just watched this again last night. I do have one question for the brain trust here. Why was that "pad" on the roof? Who put it there, for who?
Also, it was pretty darn funny that Tuvok struggled so to get that PAD out and then Sklar just easily turns the knob as it comes right out! :-)
The ending in the mess hall was pretty darn funny.
I'll go 2.0 stars.
Fri, Oct 2, 2015, 5:20pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Dec 8, 2015, 10:39am (UTC -5)
Thu, Dec 10, 2015, 8:12am (UTC -5)
I think the problem with the Tuvok/Neelix interaction is I kept basing it on human values. Neither Tuvok nor Neelix are human so it's difficult to say if this scene was as serious as it would have been if it were a human he were interacting with like, say, Paris. Who also had his own issues from what we saw in S5's Gravity. Or better yet S1's Ex Post Facto.
Anyways Neelix was really the only talaxian we had seen so there was no baseline comparison to begin with on how they tend to act. It's harder for me to really say.
So I guess I default to human emotions but that's not really an accurate or fair assessment either since neither are human. Tuvok was full Vulcan and the choices made were not based on emotional context or a 'funny feeling' as Tuvok put it. Condescension would be based on an emotion akin to a superiority complex. He didn't come off as that. His temperament didn't change, in fact whether it was swift, decisive action or quiet, contemplating moments. I can easily put his performance in the Hall of Fame for Vulcan portrayals in the ST mythos.
Neelix as one reviewer well put it seemed to have this strong need to be accepted on some level by everyone. Including a Vulcan who does not express emotions. His actions in this case were dead wrong and downright dangerous. That I did not like in the least. I really wished they hadn't let him come along on the mission. His headstrong ways could have easily been the death of all of them. On a mission you don't have the luxury of acting like a child when something isn't going your way.
In this case the lift was prematurely launched and things had to be done quickly and completely without being so careless with the feelings because of a perceived condescending that never occurred. Watching the scene it wasn't even close. It was just a talaxian that demanded to be heard at a moment where survival should have been a priority. And whining for acceptance to a Vulcan, to boot.
I generally enjoy Ethan Phillips' work. But Neelix was not one of the better characters he's played.
With that being said, I am surprised that Tuvok completely dismissed what the dying scientist was saying. It was certainly plausible that if there were anything to be hidden it would be on the Maglev's roofside. As to what could be anyone's guess but it wasn't entirely illogical nor out of the question. He didn't need Neelix's childish outburst to come to that conclusion. Something else I slight the writers for.
As willful as the aliens were themselves (the female one had Neelix at knifepoint and the other one was a hotheaded caveman. BOTH wanted to toss the scientist out the Maglev door!) they had quite the audacity to attack Tuvok when they knew nothing about either of them. Why be so quick to take the hypersensitive talaxian's side? Tuvok was maintaining a cool head and stuck to the objective which was to position the carrier lift to transport range. Another source of contention for this ep.
I always enjoy Tim Russ' Tuvok. But truthfully there is no chemistry between he and Neelix. He and B'elanna had much more chemistry. S2's Resistance and S6's Barge Of The Dead were examples of that. He also had great chemistry with Jeri Ryan's Seven Of Nine. At least there was consistency as only a borg and a Vulcan can muster.
On another note as far as Spock's ways I always keep in mind that he was himself half human. Issues he took up had an underlying passion to them that you would not see in a typical Vulcan, such as in TNG's Unification. I think that was the source of all the arguments between he and his father Sarek. The fact that he chose to 'embrace' his Vulcan side is a very real human attribute. So appeals to his emotions were not surprising in the least. Just confirmation that even as a half human feelings sometimes get in the way.
Overall I rate it 1 to 1.5 stars. The execution left a lot to be desired.
Wed, Jan 27, 2016, 10:22pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jan 29, 2016, 5:17am (UTC -5)
It's just a shame the rest of the episode was so dull, and as others have noted that seems to lie mainly with the execution and performances rather than any fundamental problems with the idea. You have to wonder whether the FX budget for this one was running low too, because they seemed to be having something of a shocker this week. 1.5 stars.
Wed, May 11, 2016, 1:05am (UTC -5)
Sun, May 22, 2016, 2:54pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 8, 2016, 2:40am (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 8, 2016, 7:22am (UTC -5)
Yes, the technology wasn't there in the 50's/60's, but I believe those little carbon nano-fibers could get the trick done now.
Fri, Aug 19, 2016, 4:28pm (UTC -5)
Hasn't modern scientists established that this is completely feasible? They call it a space elevator.
Tue, Aug 23, 2016, 4:07pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 12:35pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 14, 2017, 5:47am (UTC -5)
When Sklar fell out of the mag-lev, I just had to laugh. I watched the scene twice, and it seemed as if he was about 12 feet from the open door, and after he was hit he just kept shuffling his feet backwards until he was gone. I think if he'd just stopped moving his feet, and let his momentum keep going, he'd have fallen over about three feet away.
After coming in from the cold, perhaps Tuvok was having a problem with not having proper air to breathe. But after showing that one fellow just how strong he was (he caught his punch and took him to his knees), he could not overwhelm the stodgy scientist, and only won the fight because the scientist shuffled out the door.
Yes, I also noticed the beaming scene and had a problem with it:
*Janeway tells Tuvok standby to transport*
*Shot of ship shooting Voyager, hitting shields*
*Tuvok on bridge, using pad to save the day*
These three shots were bang, bang, bang, seeming to take less time than even a normal beaming would take. And it didn't look like Tuvok had just arrived, he looked like he'd been there for a few moments.
I really, really wished Neelix had actually worked on tether systems before. Finding out he lied just to get them over to the tether was a disservice. It would have been much better to find out he really did know what he was doing. Having a homage to another show is great, but only do it if it helps the show. This simply made me think he was the same, old Neelix. Doesn't know how to do anything really well, and lies about his prowess so often I don't ever believe a word he says. Then he compounded his lie by saying they always named their mag-lev craft. Did they really? Or did he just name his models? And if they did, how would he know? He never worked on them.
It never worked for me that the scientist fellow would completely lose his cool and try to launch the darned thing before it was ready. He knows there is a traitor, but does not know who it is or if they are near him or not.
HEheheh... yes, I also laughed at Tuvok not noticing the pad was held in place by a simple turn lock. He fought with it so hard... hehahahah... then, the baddie just twists the knob... hehahdhdh... the one who shouldn't be able to breathe... heheheh... stupid funny.
Have a great day Everyone!...RT
Thu, Jun 15, 2017, 8:28am (UTC -5)
Neelix must believe that lying is acceptable behavior. He lied to Janeway in Caretaker as well (which resulted in her crew being in danger) and Janeway still let them onboard.
Tue, Jul 18, 2017, 10:59pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Aug 20, 2017, 10:32pm (UTC -5)
Jammer is right, awful directing.. and acting.
Sat, Sep 2, 2017, 2:28pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Sep 23, 2017, 1:01pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Oct 4, 2017, 10:03pm (UTC -5)
Anyway the Neelix/Tuvok stuff has moments. There's a problem here which I think is common in a buddy movie/conflict episode, where both characters seem to be somewhat exaggerated in order to make them butt heads more. I know he was dealing with children there, but the Tuvok in Innocence seemed to recognize that sometimes you have to actually talk to people to reassure them rather than just scowl at them, and so his complete opposition to Neelix doing any morale boosting in their precarious, life-threatening situation is over the top. Neelix, meanwhile, apparently lies that he used to work in magnetic tethers when he...built models? But anyway, the big moment where Neelix insists that Tuvok is dismissive of him actually did work for me, because Neelix is basically correct; Tuvok *does* condescend to him and resents him. And we know why: Neelix invades his space. Neelix imposes. Tuvok's dismissiveness of Neelix went back to Caretaker, and it's not wholly actually the result of Neelix's flaws -- Tuvok's disgust at the idea of Neelix wanting a bath in Caretaker suggests a lack of empathy, I think -- but a lot of it is that Neelix is not that far from the holodeck character version of him Tuvok created to strangle in Meld, that Neelix will absolutely not allow Tuvok to keep the distance Tuvok wants. The episode then maybe feels a bit unbalanced; Neelix is "right" but the reasons for Tuvok's behaviour go uncommented on. I think maybe "childish" is the wrong way to describe Neelix stopping the tether, because I do understand that Neelix believed it was for the best, but it's also insubordination and Tuvok is probably too lenient on him, given that Neelix insisted that he wanted to be on the security team. But the scenario is also somewhat contrived, because for Tuvok to be so dismissive of the idea that the dying man who had a secret and was poisoned over it might have been correct strikes me as, yeah, illogical. (Say what you will about Ex Post Facto, but I miss the Tuvok who wanted to solve mysteries.) I hasten to add that if Neelix hadn't stopped the tether car, leading to Tuvok going on the roof and getting shot and then that guy holding them hostage, etc., they also could have just continued going up, gotten in contact with Voyager, and have them scan the roof for anything that might be worthwhile, and the timing would presumably have worked out for Voyager to still get the information on the enemy shield harmonics sooner -- so even in the episode's frame, I'm unconvinced that Neelix was "right."
Anyway, I get it, I do. Neelix is intuitive, has a lot of skills but little discipline, is really focused on people; Tuvok is logical, has highly specialized skills but not quite as much varied experience, and is focused on ideas. They are bound to disagree, and you can see the general shape of the disagreement here. The fact that I can sort of see both of their points of view on some issues is a mark in the ep's favour, and I also get how, in a disaster scenario, people's natural inclinations can become excessive. So yeah, Neelix slacking off for half the time to help the strangers around him feel better and Tuvok telling people to stop feeling anxiety but barring any other steps to help people feel better so they don't go stir-crazy are both "bad" but are both related to good impulses. I just felt like both were a little too unreasonable, compared to how they're normally written -- well, Tuvok anyway. The episode also gestures to some Galileo Seven stuff where Tuvok's authority keeps getting questioned by that one guy, I guess.
Still, I was kind of with the Tuvok/Neelix stuff until toward the end, when Neelix gets injured, and he's apparently ready to...give up? Die? And then Tuvok gives him a bit of a pep talk about his sister, and then Neelix gets up and he's totally fine and then they make the rest of the trip, and Neelix even stands around making jokes on the bridge when they get called up. I'm not sure exactly how they could have sold that Neelix was that close to losing consciousness completely and then gathered himself together, but they really didn't do it here. And then we have one of those endings where the beam-through-shields has to be broken, a rushed plot ending, and then that last scene where we get what seems to be an attempt to imitate a TOS making-fun-of-Spock ending which falls completely flat. These last few minutes really turned me from not liking this episode to seriously disliking it, even though some of the previous Neelix-Tuvok scenes were okay.
Points for Neelix's scene talking about his favourite sister, though. I probably will agree with the 1.5 star rating.
Wed, Nov 8, 2017, 10:16pm (UTC -5)
First of all, another lame Voyager episode where nothing works. What a suprise.
Scanners couldn't track debris. Couldn't locate site of transmission. Communications don't work. Thrusters don't work on shuttle, so shuttle crashes (of course). Shuttle's warp and impulse engines and comminucations then don't work. Heck, even the elevator thingy doesn't work! I'm so sick of nothing ever working. So stupid.
Why didn't Voyager detect that the asteroid wasn't a real asteroid?
The whole, 'person living inside the carriage and taking Neelix hostage' stuff, was unnecessary and ridiculous.
Why did Vatm start the carriage before it was ready and leave everyone behind? He had absolutely no reason to at all. He didn't know that other guy was a traitor, and even if he did, why not say that, and get help from the others? What good does it do to launch the carriage all by himself? And why did he put the pad on the roof instead of just carrying it? Why and how does he have a pad with all the sensitive alien info on it? What a total coincidence that both the investigator of the attacks, and the traitor are both there at the same time for no apparent reason. And neither one knows what the other one did, so that's even more coincidental that they both end up on the carriage. Just ridiculous.
NEELIX: Doctor Vatm! Please stop! The tether's base hasn't been secured. If he launches now he'll destabilise the entire cavern.
SKLAR: Wait, please! Don't leave us here!
TUVOK: Stand aside.
NEELIX: It's too late. The cabin support structure is collapsing. We've got to get out of here.
TUVOK: Can we launch?
NEELIX: I think so.
Wut? So you can't launch, but it's ok to launch? Wut?
Then literally about 2 min later they are 30km above the surface. So they were going 900 km/hr. Though they say they are going 30km/hr. Ok then. Then they settle on 47km/hr. And that means it would take a little over 6 hours to reach the top, but earlier they said it takes 12 hours to reach the top. No one working on this show ever checks any speeds or distances or does any sort of math whatsoever apparently.
The other people on the carriage question why Tuvok is in charge of anything, since it's their carriage, and their planet, after all, and Tuvok basically says, 'because I can beat you up that's why'.
HANJUAN: Who put you in command?
...
TUVOK: If you are trying to intimidate me, I should inform you that as a Vulcan I possess physical strength many times your...
...
Hanjuan tries to hit Tuvok, and Tuvok grabs his hand crushing it.
...
TUVOK: It is going to be a long and perilous journey. As such, I will need your full co-operation. Understood?
Nice Starfleet negotiating skills Tuvok.
Then Vatm is murdered!
LILLIAS: Murdered? How?
TUVOK: Poisoning. According to my tricorder readings, his water supply has been contaminated with a lydroxide corrosive.
NEELIX: Lydroxide? That's the coolant used in the tether couplings.
HANJUAN: How do you know it wasn't an accident?
TUVOK: The coolant system is completely sealed, and there is no lydroxide anywhere else on board.
So Sklar killed Vatm. Why? No reason whatsoever that I can see. He didn't know who he was. Where did he get this poison from if everything on the carriage is sealed? He's just carrying it around with him just in case? And there's no trace of it anywhere now? Wut?
And as other people mentioned, they are already short of oxygen, so of course what they do is open the hatch and let all their air out. Pfft.
Tuvok fights Sklar, and instead of nerve pinching him or choking him out or something, he kicks him out of the carriage to his death. So Tuvok murdered someone for no real reason. But that's ok. No one cares about anything else in this episode anyway, so what does that matter?
And the second 'asteroid' is 2 hours away, and is supposedly going to crash into the planet, killing thousands of people. Why didn't Voyager warp over to it and destroy it long before it got to the planet? They just waited there at the planet for it to show up, because that worked out so well the first time right? But it's actually a ship anyway! Gotcha! So lame.
Then Neelix explains what was really going on the whole time at the end, with some pitiful exposition. So much lamer.
A terrible terrible episode. And for all the people saying it could have been better with better direction, not even Steven Spielberg could have saved this total pile of crap.
There's also even more crap that other people mentioned and even more that I tried to erase from my memory.
zero stars.
Wed, Dec 13, 2017, 8:11am (UTC -5)
That Tuvok apparently doesn’t care that there’s a murderer inside with them is a plot hole. The rest isn’t.
I don’t know how some people miss the point so badly. Saying space elevators is a stupid idea when it’s a real idea and feasible in Star Trek world. Whinging about shuttles (now more than when Jammer wrote his reviews - there are two entire episodes later dedicated to how voyager can not only build but design its own shuttles which he didn’t have, though I think with all the episodes about getting materials for the ship combined with them not really caring about lost shuttles it would have been possible to guess anyway). Saying they don’t understand the murderer’s motives and that that’s a problem with the plot and not their attention. Come on!
There are real problems with Voyager sometimes and this plot has a big one in Tuvok the starfleet officer with his duty to the truth, Tuvok the mystery solver who is completely distressed if he doesn’t have all the answers to a murder even if others would consider it solved, apparently no longer caring about a murder in front of him. On the mission he takes great pains to point out he’s in charge of. That’s a real genuine honest to god plot hole, one that detracts from the episode.
Beaming up in a fight is a plot hole too but not a significant one. I often think American television really suffers from adverts. I assume this was shown in an hour slot and if they’d had that full hour for each episode they would have been a lot better. But that’s how it is. So the first parts are often paced well and then they really squeeze the ending in. It’s not good but I think it’s better than either rushing the whole thing or giving us less story. There are plenty of logical explanations for how they and Neelix got back on the ship and his concussion was at least stabilised, but it was weird that we so conspicuously didn’t even see a hint of any of them. But I don’t call that a serious plot hole because it’s a minor plot point.
I like this episode for the Tuvok/Neelix relationship development and the insights into Neelix. That’s the point of the episode and I think they did it well. I also think the ideas of the failing rickety space elevator, the murder in a closed space, the aliens who use both cunning and force to steal planets, they’re all good ideas and at least felt fresh for Star Trek even if they’re not. I’d give this 3 out of 4 easily
Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 8:12pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Mar 11, 2018, 4:05pm (UTC -5)
Ambassador: " What happened to you? Where's Sklar?"
Neelix: "Mr Sklar... returned to the surface"
Was particularly funny in a very un-Neelix way.
Wed, May 2, 2018, 6:32pm (UTC -5)
It starts off as if right in the middle of a story and in the end Neelix fills in the details. It just didn't work here as for the longest time, I'm wondering what the hell was going on, what the point of everything is. And the reveal in the end is nothing special.
The premise of uncovering a plot to take over a world, a traitor, a doctor who is on to him is a good one, but that gets swept under the rug by so many routine action scenes -- like the woman holding a knife at Neelix's throat for what seemed like forever -- no drama to it.
The episode wants to have Neelix/Tuvok come to a new appreciation of each other by creating strife between the two and then each of them being heroic. It's lame. They have their debate on instinct vs. logic and who gets the last word -- that much has some validity but I'd have to side with Tuvok when dealing with Neelix's petulance.
Barely 2 stars for "Rise" -- didn't care for the abundant action scenes as the aliens and their situation was arbitrary and not engaging at all. The ending resolution is all too convenient (I actually thought the data device went out the door with Sklar when Tuvok defeated him). This is the type of episode that plagues VOY -- poor execution of a potentially decent idea, lousy guest actors, bland action scenes and without the benefit of some of the better VOY cast members.
Thu, Aug 16, 2018, 7:48pm (UTC -5)
"I do have one question for the brain trust here. Why was that 'pad' on the roof? Who put it there, for who?"
VATM: "Where's the pad?"
THE DRIFTERS: "Up on the roof . . ."
Fri, Sep 7, 2018, 9:36am (UTC -5)
"I have experience with this, I can get the plane going again . . . well, my experience is with models . . ."
Ross great as Tuvok, as always. Phillips great, too. Good exploration of the need to value and balance logic and intuition, emotion and intelligence, strength and softness, detachment and attachment.
Exciting happenings as Tuvok flies off the side! Villain blows out the hatch!
The attack by fake asteroids, and the tether device, were very creative.
Kind of convenient ending, with that enemy shield data in that thingy, that allowed them to beat out the enemy so handily. But that's ok.
I liked the ending. "No, I do not."
Good ep!
Fri, Oct 12, 2018, 11:57am (UTC -5)
Fri, Dec 14, 2018, 6:52pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 2:49am (UTC -5)
It’s entertaining enough and I loved the idea of a species using natural disaster to conquer a world. Some of the neelix stuff is annoying but not as bad as I recall
I just think coming so soon after the Borg episode anything would be a let down
Thu, Jul 11, 2019, 3:49pm (UTC -5)
Right on.
Anyway, pretty solid episode; almost worthy of a re-watch sometime down the line. No guarantees though =]
Wed, Aug 14, 2019, 6:41pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 11, 2019, 5:38pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Apr 20, 2020, 10:19am (UTC -5)
The space tether idea was cool...but seemed impractical. The weight of a space tether would be IMMENSE. There is no way an orbital object would generate enough force to keep it from imploding on itself.
Tue, Apr 21, 2020, 7:00am (UTC -5)
Otherwise, I enjoyed "Rise" quite a bit. Interesting story and definitely an interesting setting. I don't think we've ever seen an orbital tether/space elevator in another Star Trek episode, and it makes a nice claustrophobic setting for the action to play out, with the danger of falling from the ever-increasing height used to good effect. There's some good character work here with Neelix and Tuvok. The guest actors are not the best, but they get the job done. There is a lot of plot jammed into the episode, agreed, but it generally all works in the end. I'd go two and a half stars at least. Good episode.
Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 11:00am (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 30, 2021, 4:31pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Jul 1, 2021, 1:46am (UTC -5)
Sun, Jul 25, 2021, 9:31pm (UTC -5)
Others have mentioned the how Tuvok, Neelix and the surviving Nezu settlers magically appear on the bridge of Voyager without any transition from their previous location on the space pole.
It is a bit unusual to have this type of directorial mistake occur in a Voyager episode....pretty glaring...but almost added an element of humor.
I clocked it at 9.5 seconds after Janeway says "Prepare to beam up."
An astute director could have easily inserted stock blue transporter beams for 3 secs, followed by standard down-the-corridor urgent jogging for 3 secs, and then top it all off with Neelix coming through the automatic doors of Voyager's bridge, cupping his hands to allow Tuvok to fit a foot in to the 'hand stirrup' thus configured and bounce into a somersault to tactical and then implement the special enemy-neutralizing codes, just as Kim says "I finally got a lock!". That would fill up the remaining 3.5 secs.
In all seriousness, the episode delivered several important character development moments which enhanced the Tuvok-Neelix relationship arc. The episode is deceptively bad but is actually better than mediocre. 2.5 stars.
Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 11:06pm (UTC -5)
I just find it hard to get excited about "The Galileo Seven" in an elevator.
Sun, Oct 10, 2021, 8:45am (UTC -5)
It's a shame, because the space elevator (or sky hook) seen in this episode is a neat trope. Though common in science fiction literature, it's not something you see often on television.
Mon, Dec 20, 2021, 9:30am (UTC -5)
Yeah that really bugged me too. Along with the awful special efforts - Jammer is being charitable in calling them "lousy" rather than "abysmal".
Sat, Feb 5, 2022, 6:27pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 10, 2022, 5:06am (UTC -5)
Wed, Oct 5, 2022, 6:59pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Oct 17, 2022, 9:11pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Apr 21, 2023, 7:35pm (UTC -5)
I find nelix’s behavior towards Tuvok to be highly toxic. He refers to him as “Mr Vulcan” and constantly tries to get him to express emotion, which for a Vulcan is like waving a shot of whiskey under the nose of a recovering alcoholic. And now nelix has the temerity to accuse Tuvok of being the insensitive one? Fuck. That.
I do notice a growing depth in nelix’s character, ever since fair trade. I’ve been feeling less hate and more pity. I’ve known people like nelix, who deeply need the affirmation of those around them. It usually feels like it stems from a place of insecurity and I generally wind up feeling protective towards that kind of personality. I’ve begun to feel that way towards nelix and I’m appreciating the character more as a result. But when it comes to Tuvok, I’m still a nelix hater.
Submit a comment
◄ Season Index