Monday, 9 May 2011

Tuvix

DVD, Voyager S2 (Tuvix)

One of the hardest decisions a Captain has to make is the balance of lives, of who should live and who should die. Captain Janeway has never baulked at making the hard choices, it's what makes her a great Captain. Her first major act was to strand her crew in the Delta Quadrant to save an alien race, effectively cutting off the crew's lives as they knew them, so she's not a stranger to the far-reaching implications of her judgments. In a turnaround of Quinn's request for asylum and suicide a few episodes back, Tuvix' wish to live at the expense of Tuvok and Neelix is one of the hardest she has faced. And yet it's not that hard really - Tuvok and Neelix were/are integral members of the Voyager community and their resources are more useful coming from two entities than one, even though Tuvix was a melding of the best qualities of both, and arguably complimented each other's abilities. All the arguments are ever so slightly weighted against Tuvix' right to life. The biggest quandary is posed by the 'Starfleet way' as Tuvix phrases it: that Tuvok and Neelix would both willingly sacrifice themselves for others, but on the other hand there is the statute to respect all lifeforms. What is more important, respecting new lifeforms or what they were before if that sacrifices them?

On a purely visual level, Tuvix is a wonderful meshing of the two characters, both in the fascinating makeup that leaves viewers staring curiously all the time he's onscreen, and the understated, but accurate depictions of both personalities and gestures. Tom Wright does enough to remind us of them, but it doesn't turn into parody or become silly. His performance must be applauded for he melds the traits, mannerisms and even forms of speech of the two characters without them taking over - there's enough of it to remind you of them, but Tuvix has his own style and behaviour that is as fascinating to watch as his bulbous, Goblin-like Uruk-Hai head! Indeed, his gentle, pleasant persona demonstrates that it's the inside that counts, although this makes Janeway's decision so much harder. It might have been better if Tuvix had arrived comatose and uncommunicative rather than helpful and eager to please. Only when he is betrayed, as he sees it, by his friends who want Tuvok and Neelix back, do we see the frightening side of him, his face screwed up in anger and disbelief, but even then he is forced, perhaps as much by habit in obedience, as physical restraint, because presumably he would have retained the superior Vulcan strength, yet is overpowered by two human security officers.

In some ways the criticism could be that the episode doesn't take the concept far enough (perhaps a regular problem with this series), preventing it from reaching classic status. It's more than a novelty thanks to the integration of several ongoing elements of the series - Tuvix understands the Doctor's difficulty in choosing a name; Kes' short lifespan, which could be over by the time a cure is found for Tuvix, a part of her character not often taken into consideration; The Doctor's initial inability to comprehend the toll Tuvix' presence is on Kes, and his private realisation as he sees her from across sickbay; Chakotay of all people becoming good friends with Tuvix, since he didn't get on that well with Tuvok. There are also some very strong scenes, Janeway and Kes' especially.

Janeway is in a difficult position since she has no one of her own rank to relax with, to let down her hair and be herself and not have to maintain distance and keep a strong persona for the crew. But Kes is not an ordinary member of her crew, she is, to all intents, a child and someone, like Harry Kim, that Janeway feels especially responsible for. Kes manages to provide an environment of innocence and directness that allows the Captain to show her personal side a little bit - her balance between hope to return to Mark and giving up, accepting life in the Delta Quadrant is the reality for the short- and long-term future. Kes' unique position allows her to show this vulnerability, represented by seeing her 'defrocked' - they seem to love showing Janeway in her nightdress, but it's done in a way that doesn't undermine her authority as ship's Captain. I would suggest only Captain Archer was seen more often in his pyjamas (or equivalent)!

The idea of merging two characters to form a new person is an excellent sci-fi plot, and that it should be such contrasting personalities as logical, restrained Vulcan Tuvok, and exuberant Neelix is a masterstroke, if an obvious way to go. It promotes all kinds of speculation on other mismatches. What would it be like to combine Quark and Odo, Spock and McCoy, Worf and… Wesley? Similar themes had been played out before, such as the complete opposite of splitting Kirk into two, a 'good' and a 'bad' half. McCoy had dealt with Spock's mind inside his own during the film 'Star Trek III', and were it not for the fact that transporter malfunctions had almost become an in-joke in themselves thanks to their propensity to provide dangerous problems to solve, you'd think this story would have been done before. It wouldn't have mattered if it had, and is one argument that Trek could go on forever - you can do the same stories with different characters to create a new outcome, new experience or a new perspective on a familiar topic.

The other way in which speculation can take hold over this episode is the 'what if?' of Tuvix having remained aboard. Perhaps if this were a 'DS9' story they might have allowed the character an arc over half a season or a few episodes, to explore him and the other characters through him. If they had come to accept that their crewmates had been subsumed indefinitely into this new creation much more conflicted and emotional haggling could have ensued, taking what we saw of Kes' hard time adapting to Tuvix in the episode to new levels. If they had done this they could still have used the actors, perhaps showing Janeway talking to a holographic Tuvok when in need of advice, or going through a mindmeld with Tuvix if that were possible. Maybe Tuvok could come to her in dreams too, and Neelix could be represented by flashbacks and more episodes of 'A Briefing With Neelix' that he'd already recorded, or personal messages for Kes that she finds. It would have been quite a radical thing to do, though there were precedents for altering characters fundamentally, such as Odo when he becomes a 'solid', losing his shapeshifting abilities, though only for a time.

The question of the depth of Tuvix' loyalty is another facet of speculation, because although he is diligent and attentive to duty I have to wonder if his new life, once he had completely won over the crew, and more specifically, Kes, might have paled a little - would he have wanted to explore the new possibilities by leaving the ship? One thing that gave me a mental chuckle was the opening scene featuring Tuvok and Neelix getting on as 'well' as ever. It was a good job Tuvok had recovered from his experiences in 'Meld' in which he strangled a holographic Neelix when his ribbing became too much and he began to sing, just as he does in the scene in the teaser of this episode! This was probably Tuvok's toughest assignment of the series - an Away Mission with Neelix!

'Voyager' continually dropped in hints and references to all other branches of the Trek mythos, and pleasingly so - just because they are so very far away, doesn't mean they shouldn't remember their heritage, and it's especially noticeable in this season. This episode mentions Andorians (through their amoebas), and Jupiter Station, a place that would become much more closely linked with this series' history, since it was the home of the Doctor's creator. There is also some continuity to other episodes of this series, or lack of it - Neelix' digging into Vulcan songs couldn't have been very exhaustive since he credits a funeral dirge as being the most cheerful, yet Tuvok sang 'Falor's Journey' but a couple of episodes ago, which was much more upbeat than that! The Science Lab is shown, possibly for the first time. Add in a bit of Shakespeare, Tuvix' speech about the right to exist seemingly inspired by Shylock's in 'The Merchant of Venice'. Rather than 'prick us, do we not bleed', it's 'do I not cry out when I stub my toe', but the sentiment is there.

The ending as Janeway walks out, having done the deed, taken the responsibility, the sagging weight of it clear after she's stepped out the door, is strong, but it leaves the story feeling incomplete since we don't have Neelix and Tuvok's point of view of the situation. This suggests they have no memory of what happened which is an added weight to Janeway's decision, as Tuvix was complete and separate rather than a symbiotic Trill-like sharing of bodies and thoughts. That Tuvok and Neelix haven't learnt anything through not knowing what happened is a big flaw in the episode, because, as Michael Piller would have said "what do we learn about the characters?" and when Tuvix is long gone, his 'parents' would still need fleshing out. The similarities and differences between Tuvok and Neelix warranted exploration, as seen in later episodes, such as 'Riddles'. While the episode is not a classic because of such pieces missing on the journey to reach it's potential, it at least has the distinction of being one of the most leading stories for discussion, and long after the computer effects of later Borg installments have lessened the drama of such action-oriented shows, this will still be provoking debate in spades.

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