Persistence of Vision

DVD, Voyager S2 (Persistence of Vision)

Creepy episodes: they are the best. This is the third story of the season in which strange and unreal happenings afflict some or all of the crew (and the second in a row that the Doctor has advised a female crewmember not to miss meals), but it never gets old. The Holodeck characters roaming the ship are the most chilling aspect at first, but I'm not sure if they are worse than the appearance of people close to the main characters who pull them off course in appealing to their innermost thoughts and wishes. The ending is mysterious and adds a flourish of a conclusion, as the alien speaks so confidently and as though he's in charge, and we soon find out why.

There is only really one little pointer to later events in the series, and that is the alien's attitude toward Kes - he's surprised at her power and it was she that upset all his plans (if any of it actually happened...), hinting at her unknown depths, something that would go on to be explored and change things forever for her and the crew. We know so little of the Ocampa, this dependent race that relied on an alien entity to provide for them, and Kes' personality stood out even among her own people.

Other things you could call noteworthy: Kim and Torres working together (on the project to get the Doc moving around the ship as he saw in his nightmare of 'Projections') - they would be a familiar pairing on projects this season. Also Torres' secret fascination with Chakotay never went further. Paris' difficult connection to his Father is touched on again, and this version of Admiral Paris is much closer to the one I'd imagined than the later, Richard Herd version. It's a shame they didn't take advantage of the recent use of Kim's girlfriend Libby to have the actress make a cameo as it would have been a simple matter to film it during production of 'Non Sequitur'. It could be that they hadn't written this episode at that point. And I'll bet most viewers never expected to see Vulcan in this version of Trek, but it wouldn't be the last time...

The most best moments both centre on Janeway. When she is confronted by Mrs. Templeton with the knife at her door for one, and Mark appearing at her side for the other (in his second and final appearance in the series, and he gets to do a bit more than in his first). The first instance is probably the scariest moment as it takes such a long time to get to, using the old horror technique of making us uneasy - she sits with her back to an open doorway to a darkened room, or earlier she sees a glimpse of a Holocharacter disappearing round a corner. These moments of half-seen things or shadows magnify the foreboding, but it's the deep welling in her eyes when she wishes to tell Mark she's still alive and which she finally succumbs to that tells us so much about her.

Again Neelix is too easy to see in a nasty light, once his friendly persona skews into malevolence. The way they finish with a quiet little scene between Janeway and B'Elanna somehow emphasises the discomfort that's come before, and far from setting us at ease, I can imagine any children watching would have felt most uncomfortable at the thought that these character now have to go off to bed after such events, a time when we are most alone and vulnerable. It also speaks volumes about how the two feel after what's happened, and the urge to get home has only been allowed to rise further to the surface. One of the highlights of Season Two and the most accomplished of it to this point.

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