Basics, Part II

DVD, Star Trek: Voyager (Basics, Part II)

It really hit me how simply exciting and well laid out this episode is. It may be that I've been watching a lot of 'TNG' lately and that has made me forget how terrific the later series' were, but I didn't come to this with any expectations other than that this was a very good episode that I hadn't seen for a long time. But it really is a great episode full of archetypal heroic behaviour, uplifting self-sacrifice and understanding between peoples, all whipped up into a delicious frenzy of movement and plotting, confrontations and survival. Notably it is one resolution to a two-part episode that truly lives up to the first part, which doesn't always happen. The series had reached a point both creatively, behind the scenes, and story-wise, where they had decided to move on from the crutches they had leaned on in the first two seasons. The Kazon had served their purpose, maybe they hadn't been developed enough, and regardless, Voyager was always moving on so it could never stick in one area for too long. Seska, though she could have continued to be a threat, was tied to the Kazon so it was logical for her to die, and even for her there is a feeling of compassion when she uses her last strength to try to reach her baby. She may have been treacherous and two-faced (literally), but she did care for the child, and Maje Cullah showed, despite all their arguments, that he cared for her, showing great sadness at her death.

I can understand the Kazon/Seska plot being wrapped up, and they did wrap it up - even the baby was neatly explained away as actually being Cullah's child rather than Chakotay's; but I wished Suder's story hadn't been ended just as abruptly. Only in three episodes did he appear, but in that short time Brad Dourif created one of the series' best recurring characters that could have had so much more exploration. He goes through so much to save the ship, basically regressing all the good work he and Tuvok achieved in controlling the violent instincts that had made him a murderer. He still has those instincts and wants to fight them, but knows he must give up the peace of mind he's discovered for the sake of his crew. My favourite moment for him, even above his heroic death successfully disabling ship's systems so Paris' attack can beat the enemy, is when he finds the message the Doctor has left him, knowing that Seska might deactivate him at any time. At first Suder crumples down, only his eyes showing above the computer screen, then he gathers his resolve and stands upright, realising what he must do, his black Betazoid eyes staring into the future, and he chooses to do what it takes to regain the ship. That was the culmination of the character for me, and proves that even a murderer can find redemption.

I feel it was laziness and an inability to plot a course with the character that earned him an early demise, he deserved to live, though I was mollified somewhat by his hero's death. Poor Hogan, one of the minor recurring characters of the early episodes, was used as a redshirt - a meaningless death to shock us. But that worked so well at the other end of the spectrum because he was someone we knew, not an extra. Sometimes it's good for the audience's preconceptions to be shaken up and his early demise certainly drove home the true nature of the planet Janeway's crew had to call home. I love the way the scene was directed - we'd already seen a cave monster at the end of Part I, this time we don't see it, instead experiencing its own point of view in a fantastically fast and brutal rush through the tunnels charging towards Hogan, the walls rushing by and the daylight almost blinding in contrast. If nothing else it gets Janeway angry, and that's not a good sign for her enemies. At first, when she grabs some grubs from under a rock and ferociously orders everyone to partake, I noted how she didn't eat any herself. Not taking her own advice, I thought, but then I realised that actually it was her nobility shining through - she wouldn't eat before her crew had all been fed.

There's a lot of nobility in the episode and its one of the deciding factors in this being one of the best of the series, as well as its ability to juggle multiple stories adeptly, always keeping us wanting more. Chakotay is, I think, the best used character of the episode - if only the later episodes had had this depth of input for him. He shows his heroic side on several occasions and in several different ways: he backs up the captain, he leads his team of people, caring for Wildman's baby, he always makes sure that others are looked after - either running from the natives into the caves, or escaping the monster inside, he's always the last to leave the danger zone, making sure everyone else is safe. He takes on the iconic Captain's role, more suited to the male-dominated environs of the harsh world. Not to say Janeway isn't the captain, as her leadership is what keeps them together, but Chakotay just gets to do what he does best. And his best means walking boldly and bravely into the middle of an angry circle of warrior natives. His calm presence and unthreatening nature show that a lack of fear can be a huge asset. He rescues Neelix and Kes, and although the natives are only held back for a few moments, it gives them time to escape. Most importantly these moments are so well characterised - only Chakotay would do something like this, it's a unique aspect of his persona.

It did strike me that this is a very manly episode with little for the womenfolk to do but carry babies and maybe do a bit of running away (Torres volunteering to be one of the three that lure the natives into chasing them). I've mentioned that Chakotay seems more Captain-like than Janeway who, although her strong leadership keeps the crew together, is much more reliant on her First Officer to make the important moves, and Tuvok, who deals with the security matter of crafting weapons. Kes is also a victim, rather than a hero, while Paris is the one to retake the ship, also blowing up a pursuing Kazon vessel early on. Neelix only makes things worse by his contribution, becoming combative to his captors, undoing some of the good work of Chakotay, but that's his way, true to who he is, his diplomatic gene not in evidence when it comes to Kes, though I'd have thought his survival skills would have been more in evidence than we saw. Kes' role is helping to care baby Wildman, and there was a hint of her powers coming through when she seems to have a premonition of Neelix' danger after he leaves camp, but it could just as easily be seen as worrying for his safety.

Chakotay is instrumental in bringing the crew and the natives together peacefully when he rescues a girl from the lava flow, although I'd love to hear how they explained to the natives the appearance of the great Voyager swooping down at the end. I loved the look of the natives, their shocks of dark hair swept back, craggy, bony, jutting faces and ragtag sewn-together clothing, even their frenetic motion and bobbing stance - they worked really well and I can't remember many other instances when Trek crews have had dealings with such primitive beings. I didn't even think about the lack of Universal Translators for the crew to use. It could have been a lesson that stripping away the technology such as the UT could provide more drama, it certainly provokes a stronger reaction in their dealings with the unintelligible natives as they struggle to reach common ground. The struggles of the episode and the crew's triumphs are what make it such an uplifting story. The crew endured a lot in this and they always come up trumps: the beast of the underground is fended off, the natives become friends, the lava is escaped. It's safe to say that Janeway's crew lived up to Cullah's challenge, surviving against the odds with their Starfleet training a solid tool to rely on.

There's even time for jokes with Chakotay not being able to light the fire and Tuvok explaining that he made the bow for himself to use as he was an archery instructor at the Academy. I liked the symmetry of a baby on the planet and a baby on the ship, a good linking device. The Doctor shows what he's capable of and how far his program has come since the early days when he reverts to his Season 1 persona to lure Seska into a false sense of security, but he goes further and demonstrates how deep his program and understanding of humanoids is by later acting as if he was solely responsible for all the sabotage, not only lying to Seska, but also lying about lying - she may have been a master, but the Doctor won this battle. I wondered where the Kazon planned to take him as he's flanked by two soldiers and marched through sickbay until something else comes up and they have other things to attend to - they'd have got a surprise if they'd made him walk him out of the room! Earlier, when Seska leaves sickbay the first time, the Doc records his medical log right next to the doorway. He was fortunate no Kazon walked in on him just then as it would have blown his cover!

The third, and smallest storyline is Tom Paris' mission to gather Talaxian reinforcements. There was no surprise that he survived the cliffhanger as his name was in the titles, but people would have known if he'd left anyway. It's one of the few instances in the series when Voyager had someone close enough at hand to assist them, but like the Kazon, the Talaxian connection was to become mostly a thing of the past. I wasn't really sure why they would help anyway, except that Neelix was a member of the crew, but Paxim must have been impressed enough with the crew that he was willing to stick his neck out for them. Then again, the race was generally shown to be a goodhearted and stout one, ready to help, though they could also be very selfish. One of the few additions I'd have liked was to see Talaxian soldiers pounding the decks shooting at fleeing Kazon, but it wasn't their story so it's fair enough that we only see Paris and a couple of them beam to the bridge - the makeup probably didn't come cheap, in money or time. I wondered how the remaining Kazon were to escape Voyager, but in the next scene they mention some of the escape pods had ejected. Hopefully the crew can replicate new parts as they'd need them in the future.

There's really nothing I can fault this episode on. It weaves exciting action sequences with meaningful character development, witty lines and very assured direction with many dramatic moments and the kind of sequences previous Treks could only dream of - the eel-like cave-dweller was the first fully CG creature in it and worked really well (even though I remembered someone was going to get eaten and as soon as I saw someone that looked like Dennis Madalone, the famous stunt coordinator, I knew it would be him!), but effects certainly didn't overwhelm the story, everything working in concert to near perfection. They got around showing the size of the crew intelligently by having them split into smaller groups, but obviously it would have been an amazing sight if we could have seen all two hundred crew members together. And I was surprised the episode wasn't capped by a short speech from Janeway, but they'd crammed so much in they were just out of time. If only the later seasons had worked on all these levels as well as this one did. It promised the third season to be a romping action ride, that also took time with its characters, as we'll see, though Michael Piller was a real loss to Trek in general, this being his last episode.

*****