Inside Man

DVD, Voyager S7 (Inside Man)

Another outing for the Alpha Quadrant bureau of Commander Harkins, Admiral Paris, Barclay and Troi. On top of enough TNG references to fuel a website, and a mention of a very obscure planet (Tiburon, from whence Dr. Sevrin of the Original Series hailed, and also a DS9 crewman in 'The Ship' - Troi and Riker decided to go there for a holiday!), we also get the first Ferengi episode since DS9 ended. It's not really a Ferengi episode, but we get to see one of their 'horseshoe' vessels, and the aliens themselves aren't bad - it could have been a lot better if they'd worked in an already known character such as Brunt or Leck.

Seeing another spot of life in the Alpha Quadrant now brings mixed feelings for me. They'd already done this successfully a couple of times last season, and though at the time it was the only Alpha fix we could get, seen from a contemporary standpoint the episode isn't quite as successful as I'd like. It could be that I'm being picky, but reminding us of the familiar Federation makes me wish the ship had taken on more modern Starfleet ways, such as the 'new' uniforms, or if things had been more than a chance to salute past glories with constant references back to Kazon, Vidiians and Hirogen.

Regardless, Dwight Schultz gives another great performance as Reg Barclay, two versions in fact. One, the Reg we know, the other, a Reg without flaws, who slaps eveyone on the back and takes charge, while entertaining the crew with hilarious impressions as the life and soul of the party. We've seen him act confident before, but this time it's not even him, but a hologram. There do seem to be mistakes such as the crew immediately trusting him simply because he's in Reg form, and they don't seem to have looked into his plan very effectively - it's only at the last minute Seven sees through it.

That's the other mistake - last we hear she and the hologram are going towards whatever rupture thingy it was, then we go to the Ferengi side, then at the end Janeway makes a few comments in her log and it's unclear how Seven was rescued and the hologram captured. We don't even get to see her safe and well. A little tag scene with the Doctor where she pays him a compliment for being a much better hologram than the Barclay one was needed. Or they could have made it so Seven made it to the Ferengi ship and it became an ongoing storyline which could have led to a more organic resolution for the ship's return home. It would have been ironic that the one person who isn't looking forward to going back to Earth would be the first to get there.

It's great to have Troi back as ever, with scenes of off-duty conversation a pleasure. Barclay's girlfriend wore a dress that looked exactly like Fenna in DS9's 'Second Sight' -  maybe they were the same size and they wanted to save money? The Voyager crew were well-used, but as ever Neelix gets short shrift, patronised by fake Barclay with 'we'll need you to be extra specially morale boosting!' Complaints are unnecessary, however, as it's giving us some nice stuff in the right way.

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