Prime Factors

DVD, Voyager S1 (Prime Factors)

Few episodes provide such an agonising watch as this. The huge dilemma for the Captain and crew is even worse than the events and choices that stranded them in the first place. At least then they had the satisfaction that they were helping the Ocampa, but here they are on the receiving end of their own Prime Directive. And it hurts. The episode is a bit slow to begin with and seems to be heading into the soon-to-be-established doomed Harry Kim romance category. Thankfully he's quick to put aside such notions when the possibility of the Sikarians space folding technology unfolds, and the narrative soon speeds off in a new direction entirely.

The agony of the episode comes from the great hopes certain characters feel, that they justify the means by the end, while going against better judgement and even Janeway's orders. We get to see their real selves when they begin to theorise, knowing the Captain won't go against Sikarian laws. Their wishful thinking, egged on by Seska, who really comes into her own as a mutinous, but sly and canny manipulator, leads them on. In the very next episode we'll discover why she of all the Maquis was so reluctant to settle in, but for now, we see that she has not integrated quite as well as she seemed to.

Her aquiescence has always been tempered by an easy slide back into the Maquis values, and this carrot dangling in front of her in the shape of the trajector is just enough to bring her personality to the fore, where perhaps she had buried it previously. B'Elanna accepts the blame, and she was the senior engineer, but it was at Seska and Carey's urging, that theory turns to active disobedience, and finally direct mutiny. But we see how far she's come in the bold decision to bring the truth to Janeway, a moment both proud for the character and so disappointing for her Captain. While Seska is happy to let blame lie hidden, Torres knows how much trust Janeway has placed in her and takes the responsibility.

From the crew's perspective you can equally see the extreme desire that motivated them, but Janeway has stuck to her guns, and it is this that keeps the ship together as later seen in contrast by the Equinox. Tuvok and Torres' chewing out is the first example of Janeway's heavy disappointment in the trust she places in her crew, and would not be the last. Before this her authority and discipline had been aimed outwards at aliens, but for the first time it turns inwards, and is a sad and powerful moment. The important moral messages of accepting responsibility for your actions, obeying the law and sticking to your principles are all reasons that turn this almost Risan tale into a much stronger and more meaningful event.

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