Flesh and Blood

DVD, Voyager S7 (Flesh and Blood)

There's something about seeing Jem'Hadar, Cardassians, Bajorans, Borg, Romulans, Breen and Vulcans, all together in an episode, even when they are 'only' holograms, and the visual excitement does much to strengthen the weaker moments. Because while there are plenty of frenetic action scenes, be they personal (the Doctor's experience of being hunted) or spatial (various ship to ship skirmishes) there's a feeling of emptiness and disappointment through a lot of it, especially the early scenes. The locales are too bright and sunny, the aliens too stereotypical (even as it's brought to our attention in dialogue), and the decisions too easily reached. The progression of the story doesn't inspire confidence, and poses questions in your mind about whether they thought of a load of cool stuff and flung it together for an 'event' episode. But gradually throughout the story as we're torn in various directions, for the Hirogen, for the holograms, for Janeway, for the Doctor, and as personal histories are shown to influence characters, a transformation occurs.

By the end I was impressed with more than the 'cool stuff' - the Hall of Fame collection of Trek's best aliens; people charging through foliage; ships speeding away - and became aware of the Doctor especially, but also B'Elanna and some of the holograms points of view and changing circumstances. Because Iden does at first appear a trustworthy, if misguided man. His desire for the liberation and peaceful settlement of his 'race' inspires sympathy, and his words to the Doctor on servitude are true in a manner of speaking: he is Voyager's EMH and so can't do whatever he wants, but that is as much true for the 'organic' crew. The Doctor could cite that his crewmates are on the ship by choice, but even that isn't so for all of them. The Maquis had to make the best of things, and became integral members of the crew, and so has the Doctor.

At the same time, and this is something that's come to the fore previously and would again, his rights and those of sentient holograms are in question, and what would he do once the ship returned home? If it weren't for the portable emitter he'd be stuck in the same confined existence as most holograms, and though Trek has addressed the issue in many ways, a definitive answer on the position of holograms as equals, because of their relative ease of creation and necessary uses, is uncertain and has unlocked a pandora's box of possibilities. If further episodes occurred in the timeline then this should surely be worked out, and perhaps, like warp speed was curtailed for a while to protect the fabric of space, holotechnology should be revised? As was shown, some are purely mechanical without the ability to learn, and are clearly not on the same level as the EMH, but then should they be given sentience? It's all thought-provoking stuff, that has gone deeper than the android question posed by Data's existence.

I was so pleased that Donik and Kejal were free to continue an existence and perhaps there is hope for holo/organic armistice. I was originally significantly less impressed by the episode because I was annoyed how the Hirogen had become less dimensional, and less special. When first seen they were about eight foot tall and deadlier than Klingons. Since then they were lessened in stature, and now we have weak, weedy versions too. As always, Trek sees fit to water down their baddies, from one point of view, or make them a more realistically complex society from another. The Hirogen were never likely to be a rich and varied race such as Klingons, Vulcans or Bajorans, but this time I wasn't put off by the attempt. Rather I felt the pull of the views of each player, and while in the first half I thought the crew were just that: merely players on the stage, in the second part it was their character and experiences that drove the narrative.

I wouldn't say the two-parter was one of the best featurelength episodes, but seeing it as one did improve it and made me wish there were more of these! The Hirogen were a Voyager creation and were used sparingly. Maybe they didn't retain the status they first had, and their ships didn't look that impressive from the outside, but they weren't rendered toothless like the Borg and showed their own form of quality in never giving up, even without weapons and in a Y-class environment (another great idea: propose a holographic settlement on a planet inhospitable for organics!). Vaughn Armstrong got to inhabit another of his many roles, but against expectation he's killed off rather quickly. Only his distinctive voice showed through the total prosthetics this time!

We're familiar with the ticking off scene at the end of many previous stories, and we expected the Doc to be punished, so it's a joy that Janeway demonstrates her wisdom. In much of the episode she came across as blind, stubborn and unsympathetic, but her reconciliation with the 'enemy' at the end elevated the episode. There was an intelligence that seeped through beyond the shaky camera and phaser blasts, something that hasn't always come across this season. A success then, and I think I mentioned the kick it was to again see Jem'Hadar, Cardassians, Bajorans...

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