Star Trek: Voyager
"Waking Moments"
Air date: 1/14/1998
Written by Andre Bormanis
Directed by Alexander Singer
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
"...and the next thing I knew, I was being boiled alive in a pot of my own leota root stew."
"Talk about a nightmare."
"But it was perfectly seasoned."— Neelix and B'Elanna
Nutshell: A reasonable diversion, but not a whole heck of a lot more.
An alien appears in the dreams of the Voyager crew members. By what can't be a coincidence, everybody has nightmares on the same night, and the same alien appears in everybody's dreams. Ensign Kim and several other crew members are locked in sleep—physically fine, but the Doctor can't wake them. What does it mean? Chakotay goes to sleep to find answers, to ask what this alien wants, if anything. Using pseudo-hypnosis, he devises a way of forcing lucid dreaming (that is, knowing that a dream is really just a dream) so that he can wake himself up when he has the answers, hopefully avoiding the fate of Kim and the others.
Chakotay finds the alien, a person from a race that, when asleep, apparently exists as combined figments of their own and other people's dreams. Sound implausible? It is. Border on fantasy? It does. The episode avoids discussing how this existence is possible. But I'm not going to hold that against "Waking Moments." You sort of have to take these things on the given terms. Besides, I have bigger fish to fry.
Like "Random Thoughts," "Waking Moments" is the type of Voyager offering that seems to indicate what the series sees itself as: an hour-long diversion that specializes in featuring this week's (somewhat) unique alien race which bears a (somewhat) unique property, which leads to a (somewhat) interesting plot-based adventure for Our Heroes. Unlike "Random Thoughts," however, this installment doesn't ask a whole lot of questions, so all we're left with for critical analysis are the superficial plot machinations and their pure intrigue level.
"Waking Moments" is what they call "average." It's agreeably fun, but it doesn't have enough meat to it to be the slightest bit more than that. The plot turns are certainly watchable, but not really all that compelling. And even though I can't think of a source reference offhand, this premise seems strangely familiar and could probably be accurately called "derivative." (And now that I think about it, shades of TNG's "Night Terrors" come to mind.)
The basic question I think "Waking Moments" is getting at here goes something like, "What if a society existed in reality as a mental state that we consider fantasy?" The question has possibilities. Unfortunately for this episode, the lame answer supplied seems to be, "They'd commandeer the starship Voyager for no discernible purpose."
I think that about sums up my biggest complaint about "Waking Moments"—there's simply nothing substantive about these aliens that justifies their actions (beyond perhaps extreme paranoia). As the plot progresses and takes on some intriguing complexity, it turns out the Voyager crew members have all fallen asleep and are dreaming the same dream from their own point of view—interacting in a web of unified thought that Seven aptly labels "collective unconsciousness." But can somebody tell me why the aliens, who apparently control the entire dream-like state with some sort of technology, stage the dream as a shipwide takeover? What is their motivation for holding the crew captive in sleep? I've tried to find one, but as far as I can tell, it's inexplicable. It's yet another example of the Hard-Headed Alien of the Week Syndrome™. The whole episode builds to a finale that lives or dies on "how is it can we defeat the cardboard bad guys this week?"
My fault; the alien does, technically, give Chakotay a reason for why his people have decided to take Voyager's crew captive: "For centuries you've come and found us in a state that you call sleep and tried to destroy us. But not any more. One by one you will fall asleep and enter our reality, where it is you who will be destroyed." You decide what it means; I'm calling it an unintelligible utterance of bad dialog. I was practically waiting for an Evil Laugh after the alien said this.
The whole "motivation problem" dominates most of the story if you think about anything for more than 0.68 seconds (as Data once put it). Under scrutiny, the plot begins to fall apart. The only way this works is if you turn off your brain and go with the flow. If you can do that, "Waking Moments" comes with some stuff to recommend.
For starters, this episode has fun bending reality. I suppose it can be said that the real reason for the aliens' takeover of the ship is so that the story can sidetrack us with a false plot long enough so that when the real truth comes around we'll get novelty out of the shock value. Chakotay wakes up from his dream—and then later he wakes up again. It can be confusing if you don't think about it; but if you do think about it a lot of the plot pulls together on its own terms by the time the show ends—until your thinking process begins finding the gaping holes in the aliens' logic and contrived motivation.
The plot does a reasonable job of explaining itself so that we always know pretty much what's going on (even though the explanations aren't always believable), and every once in a while comes a time when Chakotay has to question whether he's dreaming or really awake. I like shows that bend reality (such as "Projections" and TNG's "Frame of Mind" and "Ship in a Bottle" and DS9's "Whispers"); they can be fun—although "Waking Moments" doesn't push the idea far enough for it to really take hold and overcome the stupidity of the takeover scheme.
But for what this episode is, it was very nicely executed by director Alexander Singer. The pacing is up, which keeps the show watchable even though it's shallow. The episode opens with one of the most interestingly assembled teasers in recent memory, as the story crosscuts between each different character and their respective dreams ... and only slowly reveals that what we're watching are dreams.
Also, the use of Earth's moon—as a mental image to alert Chakotay that he's sleeping—really worked for me. When Chakotay saw the moon in the cargo bay (after believing he was already awake), the show generated a spark of creativity that made me take notice. Chakotay's subsequent awakening (Doc: "You're awake!" Chakotay: "Are you sure?!") also had me eagerly awaiting to see where the story was headed—too bad it took such a conventional road, because the possibilities for something much better were there. The most effective use of the moon comes when Chakotay sees it on the viewscreen—and after he wakes up he sees the alien planet on the viewscreen instead. I'm not sure why, but I was quite taken by the transposition. It felt very genuine, and at that moment I could fully identify with the confusion Chakotay was feeling in trying to identify reality from unreality.
Another good idea that could've been taken farther (but which still benefits the episode even in its limited use), was the idea of the way the brain skews reality when dreaming. Things are always off-kilter in dreams, but you rarely notice the off-kilter elements until after you wake up. There's a moment concerning a warp core breach that touches upon this (a breach should destroy the ship, but in this dream world it doesn't). Touching upon the idea was good, but why wasn't there a lot more of this? The whole episode could've been a puzzle of characters trying to determine what was and wasn't real around them—and, because it was all a dream, having them accept as real what we the audience would see as obviously not real. It may have been a riskier story idea conceptually, but it would've been much more interesting than another routine takeover plot.
A few quick asides:
- Not to nitpick, but the "identical brain waves" clue that is supposed to account for the fact that everybody is having the same dream doesn't seem plausible to me, even on Trek-level plausibility terms. Everybody's having the dream from their own perspective, so why would their brain patterns be the same?
- If you look closely at the scene where B'Elanna exits the smoke-filled engineering set, you will briefly glimpse a very pregnant Roxann Dawson. Shooting around Dawson's pregnancy is a technical concern that proves amusing if you look at the way the she's cleverly positioned on the screen in every scene. Maybe we should dub this game the "B'Elanna watch." Okay, maybe not.
- Torres: "And if the aliens try to stop us?" Janeway: "Then we turn this dream world of theirs [grabs a big, bad gun] into a nightmare." ARRRRGH! No, no, no. This line takes the cake as awful B-movie lines that try to be Badass Taglines™. I actually laughed at how bad it was. It's a miracle that Kate Mulgrew was able to deliver the line with a straight face—but then again, she's had lots of practice, as the writers give all the lines of this type to her. (Cf. "These lab rats are fighting back," "Time's up," etc.) Enough already.
- What are those strange pins on B'Elanna's uniform supposed to denote? I realize the uniform itself was created to hide the actress' pregnancy, but what, if anything, are the pins in story terms?
- I was amused by a lot of the light character dialog—and especially the notion that Tuvok's nightmare is showing up for his duty shift naked. Who hasn't had that dream?
That's about all from this corner. "Waking Moments" is like last season's "Displaced" in many ways. The show lives and dies on plot execution, the storyline is more or less routine, the aliens are stubborn and paper-thin, and in the end we're supposed to pat Our Heroes on the back for their ingenuity. Unlike "Displaced," however, "Waking Moments" maintains its entertainment value with a brisk pace and good execution, as well as benefiting from some nicely worked-in character moments.
This is the epitome of so-so.
Next week: Romulans, an LMH, and alien predators. Is this part one of a Voyager story arc? We'll see shortly...
Previous episode: Mortal Coil
Next episode: Message in a Bottle
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74 comments on this post
Sat, Nov 17, 2007, 12:55am (UTC -5)
Thu, Dec 27, 2007, 4:49pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Jan 5, 2008, 7:39am (UTC -5)
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 5:49pm (UTC -5)
I think I know the answer to this one. The discernible purpose was to alleviate boredom.
Tue, Apr 29, 2008, 4:58am (UTC -5)
Mon, Jun 21, 2010, 12:00pm (UTC -5)
Mon, Jul 12, 2010, 5:53pm (UTC -5)
Also, I don't think those are pins she was wearing. I thought they were little tools in a breast pocket.
Sat, Dec 4, 2010, 11:04pm (UTC -5)
He's my favorite character.
Thu, Dec 30, 2010, 6:42am (UTC -5)
Thu, Apr 14, 2011, 10:40pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Apr 29, 2011, 12:18am (UTC -5)
Mon, May 16, 2011, 8:23am (UTC -5)
You gotta love the 'acute insomnia' scenes at the end. It just makes so much... sense!
Mon, Apr 16, 2012, 10:28pm (UTC -5)
They should have just written Roxann Dawson's pregnancy into the show. Tom knocks up B'Elanna. End...I mean beginning of story. Anything to get rid of that dorky overcoat with the pocket protector. She may be an engineer, but she's still half-Klingon. There is no honor in nerdliness.
Fri, Jul 27, 2012, 3:02am (UTC -5)
Anyway, I just watched this one for the first time since it premiered, and oh my goodness, I agree with this review regarding Janeway's cheesy-arse line. She had a lot of them this season, didn't she?
Mon, Oct 1, 2012, 9:32pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Oct 4, 2012, 3:15am (UTC -5)
Tue, Oct 23, 2012, 1:55pm (UTC -5)
I agree, however, that the motivation of the aliens appears somewhat simplistic and not
very intriguing. But, hey, who knows, maybe they are just xenophobic. That would largely
explain their behavior and actions. We had something like this before in Star Trek.
Check out the TNG episode "Clues".
But what doesn't make any sense in this episode (Waking Moments) is that the Doctor - after he's been given a direct order by Chakotay to fire photon torpedoes from the bridge and *kill* him and other sleeping aliens on the planet - simply agrees to execute this order, without even a slight protest. This really makes no sense. Because the Doctor would definitely be prevented from doing that by the Hippocratic oath, which
namely says 'do no harm'. You simply can't kill. Period. This would be murder, and I'm sure his ethical subroutines wouldn't allow him to go along with this even if he wanted to. It would be illogical and unethical for Doc to do that, even if it meant saving the crew (by the way, we don't really know if this is the only way to save the crew... Doc's still there, after all). Chakotay, obviously, didn't alter the EMH in any way, so Doc agreeing wholeheartedly to obliterate him and the aliens (sentient lifeforms!) is very much out
of character, not to mention illogical. This, to me, is a major flaw in logic. But I guess there was no time in this episode to deal with Doc's ethical dilemmas. :)
Sun, Apr 14, 2013, 12:17pm (UTC -5)
Anyways, I found this episode to be a little too average. I agree with the review with how mundane it is that the plot takes a standard alien take-over route. The set-up seemed to promise something much more distinctive and interesting. But there is enough character moments, good ideas and fun even if it stays settled firmly on average.
I also agree with Micheal a few comments up about Chakotays' characterisation being far too heavy handed with the Native American stuff. And this is coming from someone who holds a keen interest in Native Americans! Its a bit silly and unrealistic for Chakotay to be so rigidly defined by his heritage that its pretty much hs only defining feature. The writers need to inject more of a distinct personality into him and work on devoloping him in more satisfying ways so that he's not so bland and repetitive. His heritage can still remain an important part of who he is, without it becoming close to the ONLY thing about him. The novelty of having Native American culture in such a tech-filled sci-fi environment has run its course. Time for something new from Chakotay, I'd say.
To stargazer, I noticed that problem too with the Doctors' non-reaction to being ordered to basically kill a load of people. The only thing I can think of is that there was an off-screen conversation between Chakotay and the Doctor explaining this is playing the aliens' bluff rather than a real intention to harm them (with Chakotay adding something like "if the aliens still don't want to play ball, give them a 'warning shot' to try to convince them to give up the ghost!"). That's the way I try to rationalize it. I guess this would take some excitement out of the climax so maybe this is why the writers didn't bother to iron this out.
To conclude, before I go too much off-track, I'd give this episode a 2.5/4 as well. It's got some good moments, but it's just a bit too standard given its promising set-up.
Sat, Jun 29, 2013, 9:24pm (UTC -5)
They couldn't even have done that. All they could have done was starve the crew to death. I guess they just really hate awake people.
The senselessness of the enemy species aside, it was a fun episode. I loved how the entire crew was all bunched up to laugh at Tuvok when he walked onto the bridge, and I loved when Seven started kicking Harry's a$$. Too funny.
I fail to see how Harry having a dream about an attractive woman makes him gay. I have had many such dreams and I am not gay. Actually, I find that comment a bit offensive. So what if Harry is gay?
Sat, Jun 29, 2013, 9:26pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Jul 7, 2013, 12:34am (UTC -5)
Actually Ensign Kim "gets it too..."
Actor Garrett Wang IS gay in the "real world."
So, another gay asian in Star Trek... first George Takei and now Garrett Wang....hmmm....a pattern?
Fri, Nov 8, 2013, 5:37pm (UTC -5)
Linda Park from "Enterprise" is gay? That just put some images in my mind that totally saved my day ... thank you!
PS: W`ho cares anyway? Aren't we past that already?
Tue, Apr 15, 2014, 11:03pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Aug 28, 2014, 8:46pm (UTC -5)
Watchable enough overall but also lacking.
2 stars.
Sun, Aug 31, 2014, 12:48pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Nov 9, 2014, 2:00pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Nov 9, 2014, 2:01pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Dec 31, 2014, 1:04pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Oct 27, 2015, 9:54am (UTC -5)
They reused EVERYTHING while filming trek, so I'm not surprised they used DS9 music here. I don't remember it being so blatant before though.
Good episode. I like your review Jammer and agree.
2.5 stars.
Thu, Nov 12, 2015, 9:00pm (UTC -5)
I liked the way the lucid dreaming worked. The slightly vague unreality of the dreamworld (although I think they could have done more there) helped, as did the appearance of the moon. I knew it was coming, but even then it still works whenever Chakotay sees it. His paranoia afterwards is pretty real as well. One particularly thing I thought was clever was that the beginning of the dream. The original plan, to simply fly past a certain world, doesn't really make much sense. I mean, they've been what, 5 light years away from it, and as soon as they pass that particular planet they all get better? Don't they need to go, I don't know, another 5 light years further along? But then, you discover they are in the dream world. It doesn't have to make sense! The Voyager writer's dream...
I also liked the way they tried to deal with everything on the real and fake Voyager. The Doctor giving everyone amphetamines to stay awake was smart, but just as smart was that it wasn't a long term solution (too bad they couldn't create an REM-dampening situation like in Night Terrors). His work to keep Chakotay awake afterwards was smart too. Also, I liked how Janeway and the crew dealt with the matter after Chakotay woke up. They didn't immediately assume they were dreaming, but it stayed in the back of Janeway's head long enough that, when things started to turn weird, she took a risk in assuming that it was a dream. Basically, all the characters were smart here, so I have nothing to complain about.
Well, yeah, the aliens are stupid. It is unfortunate; chances are, TNG would find a way to give the aliens a logical reason to do everything they were doing. And generally, the seemingly hard-headed aliens would actually turn around and not be hard-headed after all. Suppose, for example, if they ripped off Clues. As the aliens say, they are used to getting smacked around by waking peoples, so control others in their dreams. But it isn't over any malice. The whole dream of Voyager being taken over is their plan; their plan is to "lose" in the dreamworld. The Voyager crew would think the sleepy aliens are dead, wake up in some manner so that they don't suspect they were in a dream, and move on. That way, the sleepy aliens would be safe. And this way, the sleepy aliens would learn about the other aliens in a safe manner. Some of the plot may need to be rearranged to serve this, but at least it wouldn't be the typical brain damaged fools as usual. We could maybe even see the alien's viewpoints in this. Instead, we have an artificial danger and mustache twirling villains!
But personally, it was a pleasant enough diversion, so I can't complain too much.
Oh, and jokes aside, someone on the writing staff really has it in for Harry Kim. The nightmares make sense given the characters' personalities. Janeway is obsessed with protecting her crew; her nightmare is failing them. Tuvok represses his emotions; he dreams of being exposed. Chakotay struggles with his family and his struggles with pacifism, Tom loves being a pilot. So Harry's greatest nightmare is... the thing he was aiming for for the first half of the season. That guy's got problems. And to dig in the knife, the writers decided that Seven's distraction... is to beat up Kim.
By the way, I didn't know the music was recycled, but I thought it worked pretty well in this episode. The scene revealing the cave of sleepers in particular worked well I thought.
Sat, Feb 13, 2016, 2:21pm (UTC -5)
On the debit side the ending isn't the strongest, but I enjoyed this one a lot. 3.5 stars.
Sun, Jul 3, 2016, 7:58am (UTC -5)
Sat, Aug 27, 2016, 6:02pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Aug 27, 2016, 6:07pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Aug 27, 2016, 6:23pm (UTC -5)
Good show. (***)
Sun, Nov 6, 2016, 8:41am (UTC -5)
The one thing that really bothered me is that the crew can so easily escape from captivity (even if it is in the dream voyager). There really doesn't seem to be many intelligent species in the delta quadrant...
Wed, Jan 18, 2017, 4:31am (UTC -5)
Wed, Feb 15, 2017, 1:57am (UTC -5)
LOL! Best comment on Jammer's I have to say, I was howling with laughter.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this episode, thought it was a lot of fun. If I didn't know better I would have thought that it was written by Brannon Braga: the very surrealist atmosphere, the dream within a dream, lots of symbols etc. I thought it was executed in a very compelling manner and the alien-of-the-week was suitably creepy.
The only thing I found slightly out of character was Chakotay's order to simply annihilate all the aliens. It seemed very un-Starfleet to me - granted, I know he's ex Maquis, rather, and sleep deprived/ under an incredible amount of stress at that, but it still seemed a bit odd. I also really enjoyed the end scene, where everyone is still up at that ungodly hour and has decided to hang out at the mess hall.
Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:54pm (UTC -5)
I thought it was pretty entertaining. I enjoyed it with its creepy atmosphere and the crew working together. Fun!
Thu, Oct 19, 2017, 9:52am (UTC -5)
On the plus side, I love Seven of Nine's distraction. "ENSIGN KIM, IT IS YOUR FAULT WE HAVE BEEN CAPTURED," in a full "HOW DO IMPERFECT, NON-COLLECTIVIST HUMANOIDS BEHAVE? BY IRRATIONALLY ARGUING!" voice. Perfect. And some of the moon imagery is cool. That's about it. 1.5 stars.
Sat, Nov 4, 2017, 10:20pm (UTC -5)
Well, I'm somewhat ambivalent about this episode. Some good scenes, some not so good ones. Middle of the road. My thought was, if the aliens didn't invade their sleep, wouldn't they have just flown by without knowing they were there? It didn't seem like they were on their way to that planet or anything, and with them being in caverns, Voyager might not have even noticed them at all. They seemed to be trying to defend themselves from a threat that did not exist...
Perhaps I missed something...
Have a Great Day... RT
Sat, Dec 2, 2017, 11:06pm (UTC -5)
And I hate episodes where I'm just supposed to 'turn my brain off and go with the flow'. I don't watch Star Trek to turn my brain off. Quite the opposite. I don't want to have to accept the fact that the aliens basically couldn't exist as they are made out to be, and they are doing this for some vague reason, etc. etc. Either have an explanation of how and why things are happening, even if it turns out to be a not very good one, or don't put it in the show.
And if the aliens control this dream world, and control what everyone dreams, why would they let them dream they are escaping? If they only want to keep them there until their real bodies die, maybe have them dream they are locked in cages they can't get out of. Or just dream they are on vacation. IDK. Something, anything but the one thing they don't want them to dream about, which is about how to escape. And why would the aliens even reveal themselves to them in the dream and give themselves away in the first place? It all makes little sense.
Whatever. Bad episode.
1 1/2 stars.
Sat, Jan 6, 2018, 12:57am (UTC -5)
But I must say the last comment before mine, from Skimmles, was pretty persuasive--and makes me wonder if even Jammer was a little too generous.
BTW, I'm puzzled as to how I saw this episode at all. A couple years ago, I did extensive research (including this site, friends' recommendations, and "best of" lists I found via Google) in order to produce a curated list of the best Voyager episodes, which I have been slowly watching with my wife and daughter.
But after finding this one so "meh", and then seeing Jammer's rating, I went back to look at my original list of episodes--and it wasn't on there. I have added a few here and there over time, but I usually make a note explaining why I added them. Nothing here: it just mysteriously got on the list at some point with no notation. Maybe while I was dream-typing!
Thu, Jan 11, 2018, 2:37pm (UTC -5)
Agreed it was disappointing the aliens didn't have any reasonable motive (what with being asleep, they wouldn't even want to take the technology/ship and they could have just, as initially was presented, demanded the ship avoid their territory) but I thought that wasn't too harmful.
Maybe the Doctor was programmed to be able to kill if doing so would be following a just order (though that wouldn't make sense for a temporary/supplemental doctor, maybe that programming was added on later).
Sun, Apr 8, 2018, 12:33pm (UTC -5)
Whilst it’s true that the principle of “first do no harm” applies to doctors, it only relates to their treatment of patients. To make a tortured and deliberately ridiculous analogy, imagine a doctor being attacked by an intruder into his home. Do you think he’s going to let himself get clubbed in the face because his medical degree stops him from defending himself from a beating? Of course not. Furthermore, doctors in contemporary military services are both perfectly entitled and trained to use lethal force in times of war.
In this scenario, Voyager’s crew are being attacked by hostile aliens. The Doctor’s responsibility is to his crew, by design. He is on a (mildly) military vessel. The Hippocratic Oath doesn’t apply. It’s conceivable that he might have been programmed not to kill in some sort of Asimov inspired 3-laws kind of way, but any such programming would have nothing to do with his position as a doctor.
Wed, May 30, 2018, 10:29pm (UTC -5)
The other big issue I have here is that what should be an important action is just skipped over and we are at the episode's coda. So after Chakotay threatens the alien after falling asleep and entering the dream realm (after he wakes up one of them on the planet) then the next thing we know, the aliens' field is being neutralized and the crew are recovering (with bouts of insomnia). This was ridiculous -- we don't even get to see the cardboard aliens acquiesce to Chakotay.
Enough stuff that requires a double take to figure out if it was in a dream or awake. I liked the opener -- the shot of Tuvok walking around (obviously naked) -- it was very weird but unfortunately the episode didn't live up to the promise.
There was one line that was so stupid it made me laugh. This is where (in the dream world) the crew is gathered in some holding area, and Chakotay goes "We need to re-take the ship." No really?? This is almost on par with Troi's "He's frozen." in "Encounter at Farpoint".
The visions of the moon for Chakotay were well done to symbolize when he's in the dream world -- it got hard to keep track of at times. Some interesting dreams for the various crew members that speak to their characters (although Tuvok's might be the exception here).
2 stars for "Waking Moments" -- interesting idea but implausible with some cardboard villains...something becoming all too common with VOY. Really disappointed with how quickly the ending wrapped up. Really seems like VOY will give any idea a try -- this episode is such an example.
Sun, Jun 17, 2018, 1:22am (UTC -5)
Personally I really want to think that the Doctor would not kill, and this apparent willingness bothered me too. In our Star Trek context, the doctors we've seen have been generally unwilling to kill, and certainly would not not unless there was absolutely no choice. McCoy, Crusher, Pulaski, Bashir... they generally didn't even carry weapons in away-team situations. These are not the people you would ask to hold the button while you negotiate a "do this or we all die" situation. I have no trouble believing, with that background, the EMH would be absolutely prevented from killing sentients. And with Chakotay barely staying awake, it would have made more sense to send the doctor down, and leave Chakotay ready to fire with a dead-man switch (ideally connected to a timer to allow in-dream negotiation).
Sun, Aug 19, 2018, 1:27am (UTC -5)
Wed, Sep 19, 2018, 11:10pm (UTC -5)
It was well done and I wasn't surprised at all when we learned Chakotay was still dreaming. We got subtle cues, but because of the numerous times I've been through this in my own sleep, the times I've struggled so much to wake up and to feel certain I was awake (it is awful, I mean awful), I picked up on it right away.
Years ago, I used to experience this so often that I, too, developed insomnia for awhile. I hated to go to sleep for fear of it. It's plain to me the writer had some experience with this also, and got every note right.
Spooky and affecting. I haven't had a "can't wake up, please let me wake up, let me really be awake this time" dream experience in a long time now, though this ep makes me anxious. Because it's almost bedtime.
Sleep tight, Springy. :)
In general an exploration of Reality - what is it, how do we know it, can we ever really be sure enough?
Fri, Oct 12, 2018, 3:58am (UTC -5)
Wed, Oct 24, 2018, 6:26pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Nov 14, 2018, 6:41pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Aug 20, 2019, 11:55am (UTC -5)
There's not much to complain about really, the story is super solid and keeps on unfolding most elegantly 'til the very end. Mixing in comic relief and action perfectly in what otherwise is a dark and sinister plot. I for one don't think it's very important to have the aliens motive spelled out for the audience - in "Schisms" nobody cared, albeit it was a more mysterious tone to those aliens, but still.
David Bell's music does sound extremely alike his DS9 arrangements, but if it works, it works. I would also like to point out one of the main highlights of this episode, namely the absolutely BEAUTIFUL photography. There were so many gorgeous frames in "Waking Moments" that I lost count half-way in. Even if you don't like this episode it is certainly worth a re-watch just for the shots.
When I watch this I fall in love with Voyager. No way this gets less than 4 shining stars.
Mon, Sep 9, 2019, 2:09pm (UTC -5)
To answer some questions, the aliens are probably like cats, and sleep most of the time, but still have to get up, work, eat, etc. Then they use their telepathic abilities to commit piracy on passers by.
@Jammer
What are the "pins" on her "engineering jacket"? Well, I assume they are tools, like a stylus, a universal Sonic screwdriver, a laser cutter, perhaps? I walk around work with a pocket knife, a Gerber/Leatherman, pens, and a sharpie. It makes sense for B'elanna to do likewise. In fact, we should see others doing so.
@Brian C
On Voyager, they successfully and deliberately eject the Warp core 3 times on Voyager. They do it in season 1(I don't remember the episode title) but you don't see it. B'elanna does it in season 4's "Day of Honor." And the doctor, posing as B'elanna, ejects it in season 7's "Renaissance Man." In the latter two instances, they show it happening, and it's a pretty cool effect.
Mon, Sep 9, 2019, 2:14pm (UTC -5)
A decent 3 stars
To answer some questions, the aliens are probably like cats, and sleep most of the time, but still have to get up, work, eat, etc. Then they use their telepathic abilities to commit piracy on passers by.
@Jammer
What are the "pins" on her "engineering jacket"? Well, I assume they are tools, like a stylus, a universal Sonic screwdriver, a laser cutter, perhaps? I walk around work with a pocket knife, a Gerber/Leatherman, pens, and a sharpie. It makes sense for B'elanna to do likewise. In fact, we should see others doing so.
@Brian C
On Voyager, they successfully and deliberately eject the Warp core 3 times on Voyager. They do it in season 1(I don't remember the episode title) but you don't see it. B'elanna does it in season 4's "Day of Honor." And the doctor, posing as B'elanna, ejects it in season 7's "Renaissance Man." In the latter two instances, they show it happening, and it's a pretty cool effect.
Sat, Sep 14, 2019, 11:10am (UTC -5)
Mon, Oct 21, 2019, 1:47am (UTC -5)
In a nutshell, it's too cynical. Once again the voyager crew outwits an alien adversary and then, sayonara, they're on their way to the next episode. It's a plot driven episode with no emotional weight or moral and it's a shame because these things could have easily been woven in.
At the end, Chakotay should have reasoned with them, explaining that they can't live their lives in paranoia about other people, that not all races are the same, and that they can be friends etc. Outwit and defeat the enemy, and then use it as an opportunity to redeem them and bring humanity to them. Chakotay should have been like: "look, we can kill you all right now, but we won't, because that's not who we are! We come in peace, we mean you no harm! You cannot judge other people to be the same, let's be friends! I love you!" Then the aliens could come back and have one of those little cocktail party things they do in star trek and the final scenes could be the aliens thanking everyone with really happy dreams... each dream is different, except Kim still winds up with seven.
That would be cool.
Sun, Dec 29, 2019, 5:58am (UTC -5)
Mon, Dec 30, 2019, 3:34pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Mar 22, 2020, 7:41pm (UTC -5)
Mon, May 11, 2020, 9:35am (UTC -5)
Fri, Jun 19, 2020, 11:06pm (UTC -5)
But for a show of this type, it was pretty good. And I'm rather fascinated with dreams, so the lucid dreaming part was enjoyable.
The intro was the best part.
Tue, Aug 11, 2020, 2:44pm (UTC -5)
I know there are a lot of plot holes in episodes to make them work, but they should have at least found a way to technobabble the doctors abilities away. This one needed way too much stupidity to make work. Instead it’s another Chakotay episode bordering on spirituality. Speaking of which, how is it that not a single crew member can withstand the field, but Chakotay can resist it for most of the episode?
Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 5:08am (UTC -5)
An interesting premiss, enough science, enough fiction, some light relief, not too much pointless talkie-talkie between characters no-one cares about.
Tue, Feb 23, 2021, 12:09pm (UTC -5)
I never really appreciated him first time round, but to me now he's the secret star of the show. From the scene in Scientific Method where he comforts Janeway by saying he'll "share a glass of wine" with her, to their tender "goodbye" In year of Hell Part 2, to all the way back in Season 1 where he takes part in illicit behaviour to spare Janeway from making an uncomfortable ethical decision.
I'm always desperate to know what he'll say and do next!
Thu, Apr 8, 2021, 9:33pm (UTC -5)
@Peter H I agree, Tuvok is MVP, and I too enjoy his subtle but warm friendship with Janeway, in way I never did when I watched and re-watched series on the telly. Tim Russ is excellent in portraying Tuvok, he is my favourite Vulcan :-)
Sun, Jun 6, 2021, 5:35pm (UTC -5)
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Good episode. very good.
I'd have liked one more scene with the moon, though - at the very end. Chakotay is summoned to the Bridge and is horrified to see that the moon is on the viewscreen. Lettering appears to say "To be continued..." and then disappears with the bridge crew laughing at him (and us indirectly) because it's just a prank.
I think that could have proven very amusing and disorientating at the same time.
Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 9:23pm (UTC -5)
However, since I have grown to like the character of Chakotay, it was a pleasant watch, even though I had to start it over several times. I agree with earlier commenters in liking the dream sequences in the teaser and the moon's image as a device to help Chakotay recognize the unreality of a given moment. I think 3 stars seems justfied. It suffered only from the shallow quality of the aliens and their poorly developed motivations.
Wed, Oct 13, 2021, 2:03pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jul 8, 2022, 7:41pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jul 27, 2022, 9:40pm (UTC -5)
A "neurogenic field" permeating all of space seems implausible. The aliens being asleep indefinitely in some cavern, with no explanation how *their* bodies aren't withering away, was also implausible. Also... why evolve at all to be this way?
Besides that, the aliens were so one-dimensional. If they were that xenophobic and reclusive, then why reveal themselves at all? Why not just live in their societal dream world on an obscure planet that nobody knows/cares about? Why project into dreams? It just doesn't add up.
I liked the creativity of this episode. We got to see things on Star Trek that we don't normally see, like people's embarrassing dreams! They just didn't go deep enough with it.
Thu, Mar 23, 2023, 2:05pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 10:48am (UTC -5)
I join the club of those finding this episode neat and enjoyable. Good standalone. To those who are disturbed by loopholes and illogical science etc. Let's start with the Warp theory ....
Thu, Jun 1, 2023, 9:54pm (UTC -5)
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