Star Trek: Voyager
"The Fight"
Air date: 3/24/1999
Teleplay by Joe Menosky
Story by Michael Taylor
Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
"It's hard to follow them. They go to strange places." — Chakotay's grandfather, perfectly describing this story
Nutshell: Weird and atmospheric, but what does it all mean?
The lights are on, but who's at home? I'm trying to figure out if this episode is really worth any more than the value of its strangeness. When it comes to execution, this is an episode that pushes the envelope. Just where does that envelope get pushed? I dunno—out there, somewhere. Very, very far out.
Voyager, alas, seems to be in a bit of a rut. I hope it gets out soon, because season five has been pretty solid until recently. "The Fight" is not an awful show, and it certainly won't be remembered as an episode that didn't try. But the episode, for all its enthusiasm for being different, left me very unsatisfied. It's a mess. The producers and director put so much energy into a show that's so unfocused. Clearly, if they'd put that kind of energy into a show that made sense, they'd have something here. But one thing is certain: I'm not on the same page as writers Menosky and Taylor, and I don't think it's for lack of trying.
Despite the routine tech stuff, I can actually swallow the basics of the plot. Chakotay is having a very weird day, but, then again, so is the entire Voyager crew. This is the sort of day that would warrant Janeway saying, once again, "Weird is part of the job."
Voyager ends up stuck (in an idea a bit too similar to the "subspace sandbar" in "Bride of Chaotica!"), this time in something known as "chaotic space," where the rules of physics simply do not apply. If the crew can't figure out how to escape very soon, Voyager will be destroyed (cue music of doom). About this time, Chakotay starts hallucinating. It turns out that a hereditary mental defect he has is being stimulated by aliens who live in chaotic space. They're inducing the hallucinations in an effort to communicate with him. Subsequently, Chakotay goes on a vision quest to figure out what these hallucinations mean.
It's this vision quest that gives me the most trouble in "The Fight." The episode is consumed with stylistics and atmosphere—which in itself is fine. But I was amazed at how ineffective this vision quest was in terms of revealing something intriguing about the situation or Chakotay's character. I'm sure there are people out there who will try to analyze every last detail in search of some sort of symbolism. Me—I don't buy a lot of it. The writers' intent here is simply not interesting enough to warrant so much supposed "symbolism." This is an episode in need of a psychologist. I'm not a psychologist; I'm a reviewer.
Of course, that's not to say I won't try. In the final analysis, what "The Fight" really comes down to is Chakotay's reluctant need to keep "fighting"—overcoming his fear in order to communicate with this alien presence. And no one said that everything has to be laid out for the viewer in concrete, absolute terms. The boxing metaphor is reasonable enough; the idea of Chakotay taking blows as the aliens talk to him has a pretty clear psychological intent.
But what about the rest of this mess? Chakotay's vision quest not only has boxing, but also Boothby. Why did this episode need Boothby? Apparently to give Ray Walston another Voyager appearance. And also to expand the character into something he's not—namely Burgess Meredith. (I liked it better when Boothby was framed in his groundskeeper role and a mentor to mainly Picard; now the door is open to stick him in any episode or holodeck setting that has to do with the old academy days, where apparently everyone in Starfleet knew him. Bah.)
Then there's Chakotay's grandfather (Ned Romero), the "crazy old man" whom the episode views as some sort of symbol of tradition that Chakotay struggles with.
And there's all the murky dialog with other characters in Chakotay's vision, where style, not substance, is the point.
Each of these elements in itself is okay, but the episode throws them all together in an over-baked stew that makes surprisingly little sense. It's excessive, and the story suffers as a result. I got the feeling that the creators were trying too hard to accomplish a goal that wasn't even remotely certain.
When Sisko has visions on DS9, I get the feeling it means something, because such visions usually grow out of some significant story point or character history; it's a part of the character. That's perhaps the big problem with Chakotay having visions here: They don't reveal much about the character that we can really understand. Okay, so he knew Boothby back at the academy, and he was a boxer in his free time, and he has different opinions than his grandfather. None of this comes to fruition by the end of the episode, so I'm forced to ask: So what? Like with all too many Voyager concepts, these elements serve the needs of the tech plot first, and the character a distant second.
Coherence is a lost virtue. One needs to look no further than the opening minutes for a prime example: Why does the story begin as a flashback? There's no dramatic basis for it, no reason not to simply start the story in a normal, chronological manner. Unless the writers were trying to confuse us with weirdness (which given the rest of this episode is a distinct possibility), I'm not understanding at all the reason behind the flashback structure (or lack thereof).
What remains is execution. Winrich Kolbe is one of my favorite Trek directors, and he demonstrates here that he has a knack for the utterly weird. Unfortunately, he demonstrates this to a fault, pushing way too hard at times. In "Infinite Regress" earlier this season, David Livingston went pretty far into chaos in that show's final act, but he used technique in a way that still told the story. In "The Fight," Kolbe simply doesn't have enough story behind him, and it seems to me that he overcompensated as a result. Some of this is neither understandable nor relevant. Doc's role in Chakotay's vision is particularly hammy and strange without having much of a point.
The other problem is that the "chaos" feels a bit too staged. I was convinced in "Infinite Regress" that Seven was overburdened by voices, but here I was convinced I was watching actors trying to project urgency. Beltran and Picardo have several scenes together where they're yelling in terse phrases that are supposed to be frighteningly important and urgent, but it comes off too much as "acting." I appreciate seeing Beltran in a little bit less of a wooden role, but he never really convinced me that he was Chakotay on the verge of going nuts.
I'll give "The Fight" points for atmosphere and ambition, but I have serious problems with the story's lack of sensibility and tendency to resort to wretched excess. It's an episode like this that reveals Voyager's biggest weaknesses—a series that tends to get caught up in mechanical sci-fi concepts that lack the human interest they need to be compelling.
All in all, this is mediocre Voyager. I was somewhat entertained by the visual ambition of "The Fight," but the underlying story simply did not engage me. At the end, we've faced and escaped another anomaly and logged another day at the office. Chakotay goes back into the holodeck to fight a few rounds. Nothing really wrong with that, but nothing interesting about it either.
Next week: SERENITY NOW!!! (Jason Alexander is an alien that appears to be a lot more serene than George Costanza on his best days.)
Previous episode: Course: Oblivion
Next episode: Think Tank
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80 comments on this post
Sat, Jan 19, 2008, 9:21pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jan 7, 2009, 4:49am (UTC -5)
I am thinking that you spent too long trying to figuring out the weirdness of this episode, instead of making sense of what was literally there.
Mon, Jan 19, 2009, 4:33pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Jan 23, 2009, 10:40pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Mar 3, 2009, 2:25am (UTC -5)
Although, the inclusion of Boothby seemed like such a waste. Given all the mentoring he did, when did this guy actually tend to the gardens?
Tue, May 12, 2009, 11:33pm (UTC -5)
This episode broke new ground for voyager.
Wed, Aug 12, 2009, 12:49am (UTC -5)
Fri, Jul 2, 2010, 12:56pm (UTC -5)
Computer: "Negative."
hahahahahahaha
A good, interesting, different episode, at least as far as the concept. The execution was execrable.
More annoying, improbable, lazy 20th-century recreations.
More of Acoushla Moya's buffalo spirits mystic bull (fast forward!), after quite a few episodes' merciful respite from it. Are people really gonna be that dumb four centuries hence as to still cling on to ancient deities and religious hokery-pokery? I despair.
Interesting, however, how all this New Age-y meditative crap is featured prominently among quite a few species but you (thankfully!) see no Muslim with their ass in the air, or a Xian doing the "Jesus loves you" schtick, or a Jew wearing a kipah... - even a Buddhist banging on some gongs.
Sat, Aug 28, 2010, 1:23am (UTC -5)
Wed, Sep 8, 2010, 6:27pm (UTC -5)
Contact with the wormhole aliens in DS9 was done so much better than this.
Wed, Oct 13, 2010, 7:17pm (UTC -5)
It was nice to have a Chuckles-centric story, but his interest in boxing seems somewhat at variance with his purported "peaceful" personality.
I didn't care much for the story, but I was impressed with the direction, particularly in the scenes in which they used snippets of characters' previously spoken dialogue to construct what the Weird-ass Space aliens were trying to communicate.
The least believable aspect of the episode was the idea that anyone could be in a boxing ring with Neelix and not use the opportunity to show him the consequences of being the most annoying character in any incarnation of Star Trek.
Fri, Dec 10, 2010, 11:36pm (UTC -5)
I thought Terellians had four arms?
It says so at Memory Alpha so it must be true...
Fri, Dec 17, 2010, 6:23pm (UTC -5)
Voyager Enters the Twilight Zone
Voyager Attempts to do The Prophets (badly)
Take your pick.
I don't know. I don't get it. Weird episode. EPIC technobabble to get them out of it.
Chaotic space? The laws of physics in a state of flux? (LOL!!) This isn't Sci-Fi; it's Fantasy. Poor quality Fantasy.
If you didn't get it already I didn't like it much. The episode wasn't terrible per se, it was just too weird to take seriously. Like the episode before it, it tried to do something different (people have differing opinions on "Oblivion".. I sort of liked it) but this time it just had this feeling of being a fish wayyyy out of water.
As an aside, I share the concern about Boothby.* He's a groundskeeper not a boxing coach and I don't see where he fit in this episode. This guy is special and when he's not used for special moments it ruins his special-ness. I hope as I watch the series that he doesn't end up Voyager's version of Vic Fontaine (who I got sick to the back teeth of the sight of)
At least it gave Chakotay something to do for the first time in 2 years.
* I know I'm talking a lot like it's still running. Bad habit from watching it as if it is, right down to watching it in parallel with DS9 S7. I can wish things still can't I? :)
Sat, Apr 16, 2011, 4:21am (UTC -5)
As for the talking heads bit that reminds one of the Prophets--this is actually a lot more interesting--each of the lines is an actual piece of dialogue from the episode, a memory of Chakotay's worked into a stream of consciousness. Very cool.
2.5 stars
Fri, May 6, 2011, 3:39am (UTC -5)
DS9 hid behind false character moments (like Sisko's relation to the people in his past/future) as a means to disguise the visions' true purpose, that being to drive a plot which profiteered on backstory and propound a subversive philosophy.
Sun, May 6, 2012, 9:07am (UTC -5)
Thu, May 24, 2012, 1:24pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Sep 19, 2012, 1:15pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 4:00pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Jun 19, 2013, 7:11am (UTC -5)
Chakotays' random sudden intrest in boxing felt lame and a lazy device soley to benefit the bad plot. It's episodes like this that really kill any enthusiasm I have for Voyager, thanks for that writing staff! The only marginally cool moment in the whole show was the way the aliens finally communicated but by that point I was nearly put to asleep!
A half star for the worst episode since Demon...
Wed, Aug 7, 2013, 11:25am (UTC -5)
when the doctor and janeway dont understand the technobabble, then how are we supposed to understand it?
i couldnt wait until this episode was over. one of the few in the entire series. Demon was much better.
1/2 star
Sat, Aug 31, 2013, 4:56pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Jan 14, 2014, 10:23pm (UTC -5)
Not a big fan of the episode, partly due to the feeling that it was a Darmok knock-off, and partly since the whole mysticism thing got really old seasons earlier.
Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 1:48am (UTC -5)
Fri, Nov 28, 2014, 11:25am (UTC -5)
Fri, Apr 3, 2015, 3:12pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Apr 19, 2015, 11:59am (UTC -5)
I like the idea of Chakotay confronting his fear of mental illness. (As an aside, how impressive that a treatment could turn off a single gene and prevent mental illness, presumably without having other unintended consequences.) I like the idea of showing the potential value of being insane by other people's standards. Here, the value is that the aliens could communicate with Chakotay and save Voyager in the process. (Usually, the "value" of insanity is portrayed as enhanced creativity or productivity.)
I did not like boxing and Boothby as mediums for conveying Chakotay's struggle. Why couldn't the struggle have been portrayed solely through Chakotay's flashbacks of his grandfather? Or perhaps flashbacks of other times in Chakotay's life when he was concerned about being vulnerable to mental illness. I couldn't wait for this episode to be over, which is too bad. More could have been said or implied about the nature of mental illness and what constitutes lucidity.
Mon, Nov 30, 2015, 7:35pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Feb 7, 2016, 4:33pm (UTC -5)
As for why this episode is merely ok, I have two major quibbles:
1) This is season 5, and we just now find out Chakotay both is a fan of boxing AND has a strong fear of going insane due to a hereditary disease? Neither of these was ever brought up before (and I assume the insane part doesn't get brought up again, although I guess the boxing one gets to recur in order to show The Rock)? Did he look even more uncomfortable than the rest of the crew whenever Voyager had one of its mind screw episodes? Shouldn't that have factored in with his brainwashing episode in Nemesis? Did he ever bring up boxing when he was going on about being a pacifist warrior? Nope, it just springs up out of the blue. I guess it's hard to say this episode should be abandoned just because it's too late, but this definitely would have been a better episode in the second season, and if it would have impacted Chakotay's character in more subtly ways.
2) The plot feels like something that would be analyzed in middle school. Hey kids, today we're going to talk about character development and plot! When you write a story, your character should learn something about himself, and face a challenge to overcome an obstacle that relates to that trait he learned about himself. So what do we have here? Chakotay realizes that he feels a great fear of mental illness due to this hereditary disease. Yet his obstacle is that he must risk mental illness in order to save his ship. And we learn this through the metaphor of boxing, where you have to be willing to take some hits. Let's make it even more obvious by having the trainer say boxing is all about what's in your heart. Thus, we know it's a matter of willpower to overcome the fear. That's all Chakotay has to do. Now, let's turn this simple idea into a 45 minute story.
Yes, that's what many character pieces do, mirror the main plot with the character growth. But in a great story, it's subtle. In a great story, there's a real struggle, making you wonder if the hero will pull it out. But here? It's just such a straight line, so blatantly obvious. The struggle was just Chakotay taking a while to face the aliens, but no real growth there. Perhaps, rather than just seeing him screaming in sickbay, we could have seen him try to make contact, make some progress, but then seriously worsen. Start hallucinating and finding himself completely irrational more often. Then he has a real fear, that this is permanent, that he is getting worse. Can he go back inside his mind after that? Do they delay and try to find a technobabble solution? Does Chakotay risk permanent brain damage to save the ship? Does he reach back into his memories to his grandfather, and wonder what it was like for him to live with his disease? Wonder if, maybe, he can still have some peace in his life even if he does go insane?
Nah, we'll just go straight to the dramatic climax. No winding around, no subtlety. Just imagery, flashbacks, and plot resolution. It all just seems so simple. It's a pleasurable enough outing, but just feels unfulfilling in the end.
Sat, Mar 5, 2016, 4:55am (UTC -5)
I wouldn't mind so much if this was an engrossing episode, but it really isn't. In terms of character development the main themes for Chakotay come out of nowhere, Boothby gets thrown in for no reason, and it just doesn't feel organic. The snippets of dialogue formed into sentences is an effective vehicle, but the rest just seems like a mess. Not a fan. 1.5 stars.
Wed, Mar 9, 2016, 3:49am (UTC -5)
The crazy gene fear and Chakotay's interest in boxing both appeared out of nowhere.
And since Chakotay has had other scenarios that affected his mind, it was odd this was never brought up before, not even a passing mention.
I also preferred every moment they spent out of a dream sequence, and on Voyager discussing technobabble terms about the chaotic space, than the dreams themselves.
The concept perhaps may be good, but I don't think it was executed convincingly enough.
Fri, May 27, 2016, 9:14am (UTC -5)
I just don't like to watch the damn thing, regardless of it's valid meaning.
It's awakens my "crazy gene" :-)
Always a skipper.
.5 stars.
Sun, Jun 5, 2016, 11:41am (UTC -5)
Chakoty was clearly terrified by the vision that he would become crazy like his grandfather. I understand this because I remember becoming repulsed by characteristics of elders as a child accompanied by flashes of insight that those characteristics were part of me. As an adult, that insight has helped me accept what I might otherwise have rejected in myself.
Despite his anthropologist father, I don't get the impression that Chakoty had a good childhood and I think that, like many Trek characters, he chose Star Fleet as an honorable way to escape home (Spock, Ro, Tasha). I think the writers have done a terrible job with his character because they did not have a consistent idea of his background.
But I found the episode sufficiently evocative of my childhood conflicts to be watchable.
Thu, Aug 25, 2016, 1:14pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Sep 6, 2016, 6:40pm (UTC -5)
Wed, Nov 2, 2016, 1:25am (UTC -5)
Wed, Nov 2, 2016, 8:23am (UTC -5)
Sat, Nov 12, 2016, 4:11am (UTC -5)
Chakotay: "He's not landing any punches".
Boothby: "That's the problem, you're not letting him."
Hilarious.
I like what they were trying to do here. I'm not sure I like the way they did it, but I can't immediately think of a better way either. In order of communicate with the alien species chakotay has to overcome his fear of going insane. But the process feels like insanity to him, and he has to overcome that fear in order to communicate. A great idea.
2 stars for effort.
Sun, Mar 5, 2017, 8:20pm (UTC -5)
Cause Boothby loves ya.
Wed, Mar 8, 2017, 6:56pm (UTC -5)
Sorry, but this episode is sci-fi excess at its worst, and I do think it merits 1/2 a star at best, not the generous 1 2/2 stars that Jammer gave it. It feels like Joe Menosky assembled the plot out of spare parts rejected from past screenplays; he's on autopilot at best in this one. The boxing stuff with Boothby, other than wasting the presence of Ray Walston, didn't convey any sort of atmosphere to me other than boredom. The aliens trying to warn Chakotay through his boxing program were telegraphed as friendly way too early for the show to maintain any tension. Overall, a real stumble in an otherwise fairly solid season.
Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 11:49pm (UTC -5)
Boothby does not belong in this role at all.
The dialogues with the crew (like Sisko with the wormhole aliens) in Chakotay's visions were a bore, and Beltran is far being compelling in this version of Chakotay (not that he is not a dud the rest of the time, in my opinion). Even Ned Romero, a capable actor, seemed underwhelmed in that role.
The denouement was an all-too-frequent cliché. Not a good outing at all.
Mon, Dec 11, 2017, 12:53pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Dec 23, 2017, 7:57pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Dec 31, 2017, 7:23am (UTC -5)
Beltran simply cannot act at all. Out of the thousands of actors desperate for a role, they somehow ended up with him, McNeill, Wang and Lien, something which badly hobbled this show from the start.
Boothby shouldn't be in this story and his boxing advice is nonsense as said above.
Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 12:00am (UTC -5)
This episode also seems to forget what happened earlier in the episode.
CHAKOTAY: The aliens. They were there, watching me.
EMH: Inside your vision quest?
CHAKOTAY: They were trying to tell me something.
...
EMH: Let them speak to you.
CHAKOTAY: No! They'll make me go crazy.
EMH: You're not going crazy. They're doing this for a reason. You've got to trust them. Stop fighting. Open your mind. Let go. Listen.
Then...
JANEWAY: Could be some sort of alien geometry, but we'll need much more. Is it safe for him to try to make contact again?
EMH: Medically speaking, yes. The problem is convincing the Commander of that.
CHAKOTAY: They want to contact me.
And later they seem to forget all of that happened...(same line even)
CHAKOTAY: They want to contact me.
JANEWAY: Who does?
CHAKOTAY: The people who live here.
EMH: This will sedate him.
JANEWAY: Wait a minute. You believe somebody lives here, in Chaotic space, and they're trying to communicate with you?
Wut? No shit Janeway. You just told him a little bit ago to keep trying to communicate with the aliens.
JANEWAY: Why go through all the trouble? We're trapped here anyway.
CHAKOTAY: Let me back in the ring.
EMH: Even if this is some kind of alien communication it could harm him. Permanently.
....
CHAKOTAY: Captain. When have we ever turned away from a first contact?
JANEWAY: Send him back in the ring.
But they said earlier it was medically safe to contact the aliens that they forgot about, so I guess they forgot that too.
This episode is stupid in many ways.
1/2 star.
Wed, Mar 7, 2018, 3:03pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Apr 7, 2018, 10:57pm (UTC -5)
I'm all for it. :-)
Sat, May 12, 2018, 5:53am (UTC -5)
Yes, I said it, and I meant it.
This could have been a Chakotay-development episode, i.e. delving into his past, why he joined the Maquis, his passion for anthropology, his relationship with his heritage, his family, and his friends, (and maybe a bit about boxing). Instead, we get a boxing episode with aliens who make no sense. I guess this is comparable to Twisted, but that episode preserved the sense of mystery and developed the crew's relationships. The Fight spent 45 minutes doing nothing.
At least Threshold developed Paris's character.
Wed, Jul 18, 2018, 8:05pm (UTC -5)
I feel that given how simple this episode really is, it tries to make it into something big with the special effects, weirdness etc. In fact, the overall impression for me is one of arrogance. It's a shitty premise and the writers/direction are pompous in trying to make it look impressive.
Chakotay does his vision quest -- and we see his crazy grandfather. Are we to understand that his grandfather wasn't crazy and something was trying to speak with him? Or what? Did Chakotay learn anything from his grandfather? We know family and spirituality is important for Chakotay and that this is clearly a "Chakotay episode" -- but it's just unfocused nonsense for the most part. Even the whole confronting the fear or the unknown or whatever isn't instructive.
Not even 1.5 stars for "The Fight" -- so 1 star it is for this mess. Maybe it could have included a B-plot. The whole idea of aliens communicating through a boxing match (altering senses) is too much of a stretch -- TNG has done this kind of thing better, as has DS9 with Sisko's prophet visions. Plenty of weird filler material in here that gets tiring to care about. Just not a good VOY viewing experience.
Fri, Jul 27, 2018, 5:29pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Oct 16, 2018, 1:12am (UTC -5)
Mon, Nov 12, 2018, 3:51pm (UTC -5)
Correct me if I'm wrong , but isn't the idea of an area of space and/or an alien in that space somehow altering someone's DNA and needing to do that in order to communicate with other life forms a pretty neat and original idea?..If admittedly not well executed..And the concept that this life form us maybe somehow made of space itself and yet has physical mass and dimension..I thought that was pretty neat..what would you say Jammer?
Tue, Sep 3, 2019, 3:37pm (UTC -5)
Fri, Sep 6, 2019, 12:49am (UTC -5)
The end.
Then going round in circles like the Thompsons in 'land of black gold'
Nelix the dull shouting in the middle of a boxing ring was a highlight though.
But vision quests, wheels of whatever with stones and all that just bore the hell out of me.
Sat, Oct 5, 2019, 12:39pm (UTC -5)
It was quite enjoyable to see Beltran flipping out again and again, a fresh take on the ordinary, often sleepy Chakotay. A big plus for the evil Doctor =]
3 Stars.
Thu, Nov 21, 2019, 8:58am (UTC -5)
Sun, Nov 24, 2019, 12:51am (UTC -5)
I liked aliens who self-identified as too different for humanity to communicate with. While I understand that the Babel Fish facilitates faster dramatic exposition, and that it’s cheaper to use humanoid bipeds with forehead prosthetics than to hire real aliens, this epIsolde at least acknowledges what would surely be the rule rather than a rare exception if we ever did make contact.
CJB said “Hey, an alien race that can only communicate by punching Chuckles in the face? I'm all for it. :-)”
And while I like Chakotay and think he gets a bum rap in these comments, I got more entertainment value out of that post than from this entire incoherent pastiche of an episode.
Though I did like the Doctor’s rants, especially the one gleefully/ragingly detailing boxing injuries.
Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 3:52pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Dec 19, 2019, 12:10am (UTC -5)
Sun, May 3, 2020, 7:50pm (UTC -5)
I had already typed up a thorough review of this episode, I accidentally refreshed and lost everything so to sum up: this episode along with many others in the series is incoherent and just awful. It actually hurt my head to focus on the nonsense, Beltran was terrible in this - like the absolute worst acting I've seen in almost any show, and it's mostly because it's so badly written and not for his character type. I'm glad that every episode is almost in its own self contained bubble so I can easily skip something that looks crappy without worrying about missing something in continuity (the Nazi WWII one for instance was an easy skip 5 minutes in).
Thank God for Seven of Nine, the only character keeping me engaged at this point.
Sun, May 3, 2020, 8:42pm (UTC -5)
TNG's 6th and 7th seasons weren't great (S7 is highly uneven) but I always felt that it had more potential (overall better premises, better sci-fi, but not necessarily a better cast/characters than VOY).
For me, DS9's 6th and 7th seasons are its 2 best. You didn't really want to miss any episodes unless they started out like "Profit and Lace"! But these seasons had some terrific episodes and the strength of the underlying arc was in full force.
Sun, May 3, 2020, 9:05pm (UTC -5)
While I don’t agree with your assessment, I wanted to suggest typing up long reviews in a word document then pasting here. I learned that lesson the hard way more than once.
Tue, Jun 16, 2020, 6:48pm (UTC -5)
The chaotic space subplot is too perfunctory to even mention. This is a very dull episode.
Tue, Jun 30, 2020, 12:40am (UTC -5)
In Season 5 Ep4 "In The Flesh" the fake Boothby (Species 8472) meets Chakotay in the garden opening scene. Chakotay asks him who he is ?... "Boothby's the name, been here for 54 years" .....
(WHO DOESN'T KNOW BOOTHBY??!?) *54 YEARS DUDE!!!* FIFFFTEE-FOUURRR Years!! ...
(Chakotay should have been busted as a spy, right then and there! )
Let's see if I got this straight: Chakotay arrives unannounced, no one knows him, he's got a camera, and doesn't recognize the head dude, who is been there longer, than the statues!
Anywho, Fast forward : same season, Ep 18 ... opening scene again, Chakotay says , " I was sparing with a Terrellian ... BOOTHBY was there, Boothby used to train me when I was a cadet..!." Oh come on, now you know him?!
Continuity?! ... I mean its one thing to error from 3-4 seasons ago, lol, but it's the same damn season, they didn't think anyone would notice? Man, they take some liberties in this show.
I agree with previous reviews, snoozer ....
This is what I call a filler episode ... "filling in" the episodes between what we all want .... more SEVEN OF NINE stories!
Mon, Jul 6, 2020, 11:41pm (UTC -5)
Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 8:57am (UTC -5)
I absolutely never want to see again boxing as a metaphor, boxing to work out everyone’s problems, etc etc.
Sun, Aug 23, 2020, 8:14am (UTC -5)
"We're far from the spirit of my grandfather and my grandfather's grandfather and my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather. And from the plains of the buffalo. And my grandfather's buffalo. And my grandfa..."
SNOOZE...
Mon, Aug 24, 2020, 8:41am (UTC -5)
The background material with Chakotay's grandfather was the type of exploration of the character that we haven't seen since season 2, and some of Chakotay's dialogue is something I could see the younger Chakotay as portrayed in "Tattoo" saying.
This is another middle of the road episode for me, which is to say that I enjoyed it. It's entertaining, it's not bad, but it's not different enough to elevate it beyond many others.
Mon, Oct 26, 2020, 7:42am (UTC -5)
Sun, May 2, 2021, 12:17pm (UTC -5)
Mon, May 3, 2021, 2:56pm (UTC -5)
Thanks for sharing.
Tue, Jun 1, 2021, 12:57am (UTC -5)
Mon, Jun 21, 2021, 9:08pm (UTC -5)
Sun, Jul 11, 2021, 9:57am (UTC -5)
Fri, Aug 6, 2021, 2:45pm (UTC -5)
Tue, Aug 10, 2021, 12:33am (UTC -5)
The boxing scenes were bizarre, although I was fine with Boothby as his trainer.
I'm bothered that the writers keep defaulting back to Chakotay's native american background for almost every episode he is in. It makes him so one dimensional. Then again, with rare exception, the writers failed to develop most characters. Garak and Dukat were better characters than nearly all Voyager characters, and they were just recurring guests.
Fri, Dec 2, 2022, 9:15pm (UTC -5)
Thu, Mar 9, 2023, 5:30am (UTC -5)
Classic shallow Berman Trek.
Sat, Mar 18, 2023, 6:02pm (UTC -5)
But this was a weird one.
Mon, Aug 28, 2023, 2:56pm (UTC -5)
))In Season 5 Ep4 "In The Flesh" the fake Boothby (Species 8472) meets Chakotay in the garden opening scene. Chakotay asks him who he is ?... "Boothby's the name, been here for 54 years" Chakotay should have been busted as a spy, right then and there!((
Chakotay was PRETENDING to be a member of Species 8472 - presumably, a raw recruit unexpectedly drawn from the ranks and thrust into the simulation. Chakotay was thus PRETENDING to be a still-disoriented and naive alien who was in turn PRETENDING to be a Star Fleet officer. Two layers of deceit! If, instead, Chakotay had immediately revealed his intimate, real-world, insider knowledge about Boothby, Chakotay would have exposed himself as a spy. Chakotay therefore FEIGNED ignorance and naivete.
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