Real Life

DVD, Voyager S3 (Real Life)

'Real Life' is the ideal title for this story of the Doctor creating a holographic family for himself, and not just because of B'Elanna's modifications to the variables in order to make it as unpredictable and unsteady as reality can be. It is evocative of the Doctor's own existence, because, before we forget, he's a hologram too. So what constitutes real life for him isn't as simple as biology - he's a relatively new life form himself, so for him to experience time with other holograms should be a natural thing, yet we really haven't seen him take on a holoprogram for social reasons to this length before. He's been on 'Away Missions' such as his quest to track down Kim in the Beowulf saga ('Heroes and Demons'), and he's used the Holodeck to entertain a female companion during the Vidiian Danara Pel's recovery ('Lifesigns'), but this is the first time he's seen fit to create his own world to live in regularly. He's still doing it ostensibly as an experiment, but like most things for the Doc, it's all about stroking his ego, reinforcing his brilliance. Perhaps the Doctor is an insecure character which is why so often this season he's referred to his qualities, reminding everyone how much they depend on him. If you take his thought processes a stage further, his only real life is to serve the crew for an indeterminate period - he doesn't degrade like physical bodies do (and how well he knows about that, being a doctor a constant reminder of the frailty of 'human' life), so he has the same problem Data had: a future to look forward to in which all those he knows will eventually cease to be.

This episode doesn't dig that deeply into the subject matter because the Doctor is still learning and developing - it wouldn't be until the final season that he really questioned his own existence and his position, where he might end up if and when Voyager were to make it back home, a home that has no bearing for him as all he knows is the ship. What the episode does do is teach him about parameters ("Limits; boundaries," as he himself says to daughter, Belle, in the episode), and that living beings don't conform to neat and tidy existences in which everything is positive and all achievement is rewarded in kind, as the Doctor would want. It's funny seeing him trot out this perfect family to share with B'Elanna and Kes, the two opposites of the crew, because each have different reactions, but both recognise that the Doc doesn't understand the object of his goal: to learn about family. The family members all do exactly what they should and there is no conflict, so the Doc has completely misunderstood what a group of people are going to be like, even with the ties of being part of a family unit.

Ultimately you could see the point of the episode as being that the Doctor already has a family that he's an integral part of: Voyager. His new family is there to glorify him and succour his needs, while he just sits back and enjoys the adoration. The Voyager crew as family isn't a strong message running though the episode, it's something you realise if you think about his position, but what does become clear is that family is about meeting the challenges of life together, relying on each other and riding out the storms (literally in Tom Paris' case). When the Doctor has to make the decision whether he's going to take on board the painful results of life when his daughter is injured, or just disassociate himself from the program, that's the moment of power in the story. Like most humans of our time (the reason he's so amusing, like Quark, is that he reflects our own values of selfishness and other negative emotions, while living around 24th Century people that are much more developed - not perfect, but rounded, having learnt to live better), he tries to pretend he was unaffected by his program, but as noted before, holographic life for him is real life, and for his own benefit the program must be completed, which is why this episode isn't ludicrous as it could at first be seen from the premise.

He makes the brave decision to go through the grief of losing a child and continuing the program, supporting son Jeffrey, and his wife at the difficult time. Perhaps where the episode falls down is not the fault of the episode: we don't see the family ever again, and don't get the impression that he's working through a time of grief, that he's battled on with the program as if it were real, unavoidable life that continues until death. No episodes take up the baton and keep the story going, partly because 'Voyager' favoured neat, contained stories rather than allowing them to spread over into other episodes - you can start to see parallels between the Doctor's attitude and that of the writers of the series: they didn't like things to get too complicated or messy, just as the Doc wanted things to be just so in his family. They didn't seem to understand any more than him that the absence of the messiness of life, not easily swept up and sorted out ready for something completely different at the end of an episode, was what meant the series never reached its true potential. Just as the Doctor learns that reality is painful, but more rewarding than the alternative. It's almost like Jeri Taylor, who wrote this episode, is leaving a lesson behind her for those that follow, and one they didn't pay attention to.

I'm not saying the Doctor's family program should have been an integral part of the series as it progressed, and I wouldn't have wanted it to become a space soap opera with the Doc dealing with these computer-generated problems week to week. For us, who live in the biological realm, it's difficult to accept that what the Doctor goes through is really real because we know it's fiction that can be switched on and off at will, reprogrammed or abandoned without conscience. There are issues here about the Doctor's existence that are ripe to be addressed much more deeply, but he was just one of several characters that had to be the centre of an episode, and it would be someone else's turn next week. Maybe this is why the later seasons saw him used far more than certain other characters because there were these rich veins to tap, and I'm not saying he wasn't used well before, but when something has this much impact on a character it would be good to see some of the aftermath. Too often I compare and contrast 'DS9' and point to it as the right way to go as opposed to 'Voyager,' and I would have to do so again, because they did allow characters to experience things over time and not neatly tie it off at the end of an episode. They didn't always immediately address issues (look at Kira and Tekeny Ghemor - there was a space of two seasons between those encounters), but more often than not, they got to it eventually.

Looking at this episode as a whole, regardless of whether its threads were taken up again in future, it remains a good, solid story, with a hard ending, something Season 3 has really done well. Yet I don't like it as much as I used to. There's great amusement to see the Doctor first smug, and then struggling through Torres' alterations to the program (a bit like when he put himself through a terrible cold virus, again to try and understand human behaviour, then when he lost control through B'Elanna's tinkering, he learnt a lot more about the reality of it), and the extremes the narrative takes on, and it's also good to see him rise to the challenge, using all he knows to try and combat the problems strewn around him, in his own pompous way. We connect more with him when he realises he's made the wrong decisions or hasn't managed to make things work, but it's not these things that make him balk at running the program, he still thinks he can make things right. It's when he can do nothing to save his daughter's life that the drama and lessons really kick in and are the most affecting moments of the episode. As long as you can put yourself into the Doctor's world and identify with him, questions of whether he should be called out of this tough fantasy reality to save a member of the crew's life, and showing that it's just a disposable narrative, fall to the back of your mind.

It becomes a bit of a rabbit hole to go down when you start to realise everything we're watching is fiction anyway, we're no different from the Doctor because we're investing time and interest in characters that aren't real, that we can turn on and off at any moment, and yet, just like his made-up family, they have a life, a chronological A-to-B progression that we get the most out of if we take part in it in the correct order and invest ourselves into. Still, it would have upset the balance of the drama if Janeway had ordered the Doc out of his program, say, if Tom Paris had been more severely injured, at a time when he was most emotionally invested, like the touching scene in which he stands with his family and watches his daughter die in front of him - just as if we're in the middle of an important scene and we're called to answer the phone, or something. It's a bit of a wrench, our minds confused by two realities, and this is just what the Doctor experiences in some ways, his thoughts of the fantasy world affecting those in the real, as shown by the way he gives Tom such a talking to for being such a maverick risk-taker.

I'm not completely sure which side of the fence the episode comes down on when it comes to which is the A and the B story. Clearly the Doctor's family life is the main draw, but it felt like an equal amount of coverage was given to the scientific plot of Janeway wanting to chase down these space tornadoes, just for the sake of being an explorer, with Tom taking a shuttle into the storm. It seems a reckless thing to do, just the sort of thing that Neelix used to complain about to Kes, who would reply that if she was Captain she too would peer into every crack in the universe. It came on a little heavy-handedly, though, as if to remind us forcibly that we're still a ship of exploration, even if most weeks we have to battle enemies or strive to reach supplies to continue the journey home: there's still time to do what starships have traditionally done. The CG effects didn't help my impression of this dry story, looking very lightweight and not making me feel the power of this spatial phenomenon as I should. No doubt when the time comes to put out HD versions of this series, these will be solidified and beefed up. Saying that, I was impressed with the beautiful sub-subspace layer Paris is carried into, like a cross between the Badlands and a glowing sunset, it totally sold another plane of existence, or secret inner domain of space.

A minor point I wanted further expanded upon was the line Tom has about Replicator rations. It's nothing new, we've known for a long time that they have to ration the Replicator energy, the reason they have to put up with so many outlandish dishes from Neelix in his role as Ship's Chef. For some reason, this time I wanted more information, I wanted to understand the trials of survival Voyager must go through with no starbases, no safe harbours and this epic path before them. I know that at its launch it was the most technologically superior vessel Starfleet had developed, and that all starships are equipped for years-long voyages, so they'd be readier than most for a generational journey, but I wanted to see more of the difficulty of being completely self-sufficient, something they'd begun to do in earlier seasons with the airponics bay, or gathering food on other planets - it was the logistics of survival that suddenly perked my mind into wanting to know more about something that was unique to this series.

I hope Janeway notified the Vostigye that their station had been destroyed as I can imagine them thinking Voyager might have been to blame, and had scooted off after doing this dastardly thing - we already know the ship has an undeserved reputation flying round the quadrant. Even with warp travel gossip is still the fastest thing in the known universe. At least they didn't lose a shuttle this time, but how could they when it was named for the inventor of warp drive, Zefram Cochrane?! I also realised in this episode that I firmly dislike Kes' long locks. She looks more like a rocker or some music star than the elfin helper we know so well, the hairstyle doesn't fit with her voice and personality. At least it came in at the end of her time on the series, though I still like her character, here used again so aptly as the Doctor's helper in his social need. Unlike Torres, whose Klingon temper is inflamed by the Doctor's stupidity at creating a family of 'lollipops,' in her words, Kes remains supportive, after all she's the one who's always coached him in matters of people psychology, while he taught her medical skills, always a source of good character-building in the early seasons, and good to see it continue.

I enjoyed having Klingons in the series again, even if holographic - we haven't seen many young Klingons before, perhaps never teenage ones, though I think Alexander was roughly this age in 'DS9' Season 6, a few months after this episode. In 'TNG' a kut'luch was an assassin's blade, but perhaps it was also known as this warrior's ritual blade as well? There are plenty of other fun references for the discerning viewer to pick up on, whether that's the Bolian Embassy, a Klingon nickname for Vulcan behaviour ('Vulky'), or the never-seen, occasionally mentioned Parrises Squares, not to mention the return of Beatrice from Janeway's holonovel of the early seasons, only the computer's using her template for another 'B,' Belle (the actress was also apparently one of Picard's children in 'Generations' but I don't remember her being there). So, much to like, and the punch with the ending makes the episode go out with a bang, but if you've seen the episode a few times you notice it takes time to get going and the tornado plot doesn't match up to the family plot, and I do like it when they can tie the narratives together (they did, to be fair, with Paris' risks and the Doctor's reaction to him, as well as his advice on seeing things through), but I didn't feel it was the classic I once did. Perfectly enjoyable without being a lollipop, but of little consequence in the long run, even if seeing the Doctor cross another hurdle in his understanding of humans, and towards seeing himself as being part of another race, works.

***

Committed

DVD, Smallville S8 (Committed)

Oh dear, another premise that's been done too many times before. They may have ditched Lana, but they can't seem to shake the romantic problems driving the storylines. We have Chloe and Jimmy's engagement party, at which his parents didn't attend, though their presence was apparently expected (an American custom?), but that was only a small problem which was later fixed by Jimmy coming completely clean with Chloe and admitting that he doesn't know his Mum, and his Dad, rather than being a high-flying executive is just a mechanic, all of which he'd been too ashamed to tell anyone, instead creating a false persona to live by in the city. He didn't tell her any other of his secrets of which a few have built up over the seasons, I'm sure, and I noticed Chloe kept quiet about all her mutant history, too, so there's still plenty of teeth to pull in future if a demented psycho wishes to torture them into telling the truth. How many times have we seen a madman kidnap a person or persons and force them to tell the truth? I don't know, but kidnapping has been a regular occurrence since the first season, it's just ridiculous the number of kidnappers out there that target this specific group of characters. Sometimes it made a semblance of sense, since the Luthors were high profile targets, but couples…?

They didn't even keep the suspense up for too long, because who else was it going to be but the only new character to be introduced: the jeweller. Either that or the cake shop owner! No, the story was completely secondary, and wholly contrived so that Lois could admit that she secretly loves Clark, to his face. That's it, that's what the episode boils down to, and if that's all that's going on, I worry about what they can actually accomplish on this series. I know it ended a couple of years ago now, but I have to watch through all these episodes still to come, and I do at least have hopes for the occasional story to excite or impress. Hopes that are fast fading. So not much anticipation regarding the villain, though for a few precious minutes I did entertain the thought it could be a character from the past, returned to stop Chloe from marrying Jimmy. No, just another deranged man that somehow is sane enough to run a jeweller's business successfully, only in his off hours does he go out kidnapping and torturing.

Admittedly there wasn't quite so much emphasis on the torture, and in his mind the villain was doing this not for the sick pleasure of watching others suffer under his power, but because he wanted to help couples be true to each other - he even goes as far as transporting his early victims, Chloe and Jimmy, home to their boudoir, and not only that, but lights all those candles for them, too! What a guy. He wasn't that creepy, just another weirdo there to facilitate a ridiculous sequence of events that led Lois to her admittance. I was surprised that they went there and actually did it, though of course we don't get to hear the reply from Clark as he escapes before having to answer the question, and actually the moment was dramatic, but then they press the reset button by the end with her coming up with the reason that she actually slipped the sensor off her finger so the machine wasn't working properly. But if that was the case, why tell a 'lie' when she could have got off free by telling the 'truth'? It's a little confused, and it doesn't matter because, as I pointed out, she covers herself and it's veering dangerously into the Lana/Clark days of secretly held inner loves and that who un-merry-go-round.

This time Oliver Queen's at it too, trying to make up with Tess, who has apparently grown hard from the time when he used to know her. She still harbours hopes that Lex will be found alive after a recent clue, but I don't get why Oliver would be pursuing this leader of the LutherCorp empire when it's such an evil organisation, unless he wants to prevent it from carrying out any more wrongs. Tess thinks Lex did more for the world by striving to keep it safe than Queen ever did, but then she doesn't know his secret identity. I can't believe he could be beaten in a stick fight either (sort of a fun callback to those impromptu fencing matches Lex used to have at the Mansion), except if he was going easy on her. He is a good guy after all, even if his character has done nothing of merit this season to justify becoming a member of the cast, a far cry from the glory days of Season 6 when he was such a compelling addition. At least Smallville was a bit more a part of it again, with the Talon the place Chloe and Jimmy seem to live, and the Sheriff being called in, though he's not made an actual character in this one, and could have been any of the officers in the background. A shame, because the position of Sheriff used to be important to the series.

And so passes another episode full of lovelorn chat, secrets being spilled without any real consequence, and the storylines continuing to go nowhere. This time Davis is the chosen one not to appear, but it makes no difference either way, there's very little variance in the characters, they're all too similar, and nothing really new and interesting happens - Lois loves Clark, Chloe's honestly over him, and that's about the level of depth. They may not be teenagers any more, but teen soap is all this is. I keep saying it, but I wish it were different. I could point to the scene in the jewellers as being quite good, when Oliver comes in and Lois and Clark pretend they're getting married, as that was funny, but even then you start to wonder how they narrowed it down to this jeweller and it's so incredibly contrived - another example being that the villain just so happens to wear a Kryptonite bracelet, otherwise Clark would have had no trouble. Lazy, lazy writing.

**

Before and After

****

So I would have to say in closing that this is one of the better episodes of the season. It has the same flaws as the 'TNG' tale 'Cause and Effect' in that it loses some of its impact with repeated viewings, but at the same time, thanks to the Year of Hell being followed up on, it retains importance. It's a sign that the writers were on top form that even after so many years of stories in which reality is manipulated, they were still able to come up with a new take, particularly when it came to time travel. That's the advantage to having a continuous stream of episodes over a number of years, with people that knew well what had come before and a guiding hand that had overseen all those other stories, because it means that there's a certain amount of shorthand for the production and audience who have been following it, and less reason to rehash what had gone before, but to push the envelope creatively. I'm not saying it didn't become harder, but they were still at that stage when not every great story had been developed, with room to expand and explore. The degeneration set in during 'Voyager,' in its later seasons, continuing into 'Enterprise,' but at this time they were experiencing golden years of character and story. It's good to see Kes used again so neatly, even going as far as her dying to learn the vital chroniton torpedo signature without which she was doomed, on course for nonexistence (like O'Brien in 'Visionary' who couldn't take another time jump and died, his counterpart returning to the correct time). It even ends with a happy scene of the main cast all together, so couldn't be much neater and pleasant.

Kes' look is one aspect that sows a little confusion into an episode that needed bedrock familiarity with the 'correct' time she was supposed to be in (it's handy that she came back to the time in which the series currently is, as it would have been rather awkward if she'd ended up in Season 4 or back in Season 2!), yet they chose this episode to be the one in which they change her appearance so radically with long, flowing locks, quite different to the Kes we always knew and loved, so on first viewing it makes you think she still hasn't got back to the right time yet - why make such a drastic change in hair and clothing in an episode that was already topsy-turvy? Is her change of hairstyle to hide the ears, yet another sign of them stripping her character away, ready to dump her? Still, despite some confusion there are little touches that remind us of the continuity of Trek to appreciate, and how they often remember the small details - one that stood out for me was a brief line of dialogue from Neelix, saying how glad he is her lung is working well, because of course she only has one lung after donating the other to her beau in 'Phage' when his organs were stolen by the Vidiians. We also get a mention of the Beta Quadrant (timely, since last episode featured a reference to the Alpha Quadrant), another homely reminder that this all takes place in the same galaxy.

Something else we wouldn't necessarily have expected to see were Kes' parents. I can't remember if they were dead by the time she joined Voyager, but we certainly never met them in the pilot. 'TNG' Season 7 may have been known as the season of family, but this season has had its share of relatives, too! Only last episode we had Harry Kim's Mum show up in a dream, then earlier we'd had Janeway's Dad, and now we get not only potential descendants in Linnis, Kes' daughter, and Andrew, her grandson (Harry actually got married and had a child, making him Tom's son-in-law which was weird, but funny!), a sad extrapolation when you realise they never existed, just like the 'DS9' crew's descendants in 'Children of Time,' but more importantly we meet her parents, Benaren and Martis and see her actual birth (twice! - another thing we learn about Ocampa is their births are exceedingly clean, with Paris not getting a speck of slime on his hands when he plays midwife to his and Kes' child in a shuttle). As much fun as seeing Kes' past life is revisiting a scene from the pilot episode (the first time they did that?), in which Neelix holds forth with reasons why Janeway should let Kes and he remain aboard, only this time Kes is acting weirdly and messing up his carefully prepared speech with nonsense, which is both funny and brilliant to see, especially considering how different Kes looked then.

It was fortunate for Janeway and Torres that Kes' future didn't pan out, or they'd have died in a blaze of… well, disappointment, really. Just as in Torres' less than horrific accident in engineering in previous episode 'Favourite Son,' I was underwhelmed by hers and the Captain's deaths, ignobly blasted by one of their own consoles! They really should stop running high voltage currents through or storing gunpowder in those things, or someone's going to get hurt. It's not like we haven't seen this happen many times before (even in 'All Good Things…' the helmswoman of Beverly's ship is killed in this manner), which is okay for minor characters whose function is to illustrate that death is around every corner in space (if space had corners), but for a main character you expect more, especially as the opportunity to have serious loss comes around so rarely. So, for the pair to go out in a console burst was a missed opportunity for something spectacular - just as the 60s style and tropes of 'TOS' are easy to smile at, this is one of those things that in future will be thought of in the same way about 90s Trek (if it isn't already). It was good to see Chakotay as Captain, though of course he'd already had experience in the role as leader of his Maquis ship, so it's not like he wasn't ready. It would have been a fascinating situation if Janeway really had died on the series (not that I would wish it on her), just to see how Chakotay would get on, and how much longer or shorter it might have taken to fulfil the crew's central mission. Who would have been promoted to First Officer, and if Tuvok, how would that dynamic have been?

For Kes, her confusion at events is increased tenfold by her great age (we learn the approach of old age and death is known as the morilogium, as opposed to the elogium that denotes birth - maybe they should have called the episode by that title since we'd already had 'Elogium'), and so, while we don't recognise her daughter and grandson any more than she does, we're quicker to pick up on what's happening. It takes her a number of temporal jumps before she's got the hang of what's going on. If nothing else could be garnered from the episode, we uncover new facts about the Ocampa - Kes ages rapidly in the last few weeks of her life, and before that she looked the same as she did throughout the series, so, although we already knew ageing was rapidly accelerated in comparison with other species (putting Klingon and even Ktarians to shame in the speed of their children maturing!), now we have a better understanding of that instead of Kes just telling us that she's a one-year-old. We see it as a fact, making all the difference. The only downside is, like the oversight of Kes' abilities having the potential to give her a longer life, there also isn't enough change seen in the Voyager crew, who all look exactly the same six or seven years into the future. We know they would look different in hair and face by the end of the series, and it would have been preferable that a little ageing had been done, nothing too drastic, but if the Doc was allowed a change of appearance they ought to have considered others, too.

The other things that make this episode special is seeing future events that are closer to home, as in just a season away. I'm so glad they followed up on this story's introduction of the Krenim and the Year of Hell, though I'm very much intrigued as to how the original idea of actually making it last a season, would have played out. It made a great two-parter in the 'Voyager' tradition, and adds something extra to this episode for being such a success. Though much of the future Kes lived through failed to transpire, this was a key moment, and though it could easily have been glossed over when it came to the time frame of Season 4, it was an opportunity that the series fully grasped. Other things that would stay true, despite Kes' leaving (that's a point - how did she manage to push them so much closer to home, and yet they still came upon the Krenim, or was it a predestination paradox that couldn't be escaped?), were that Tom and B'Elanna really did get together (there were already signs of that likelihood this season), and that Joe Carey would die before the conclusion of the series, though in her timeline he was killed in a Krenim attack rather than surviving almost to the end - another predestination paradox? At least Kes bought him a few precious years with her gift.

Of course she was shortly to leave, and I do wonder if the makers of the series knew her fate at this time, whether they'd already decided she was going to be off the show, or whether it was her own decision, like Denise Crosby or Terry Farrell before her, not being entirely content with how the character was being used? Even after all these years I still don't know the truth of why she left. But anyway, back to the old Kes and the reason she doesn't immediately begin to puzzle out her conundrum: it's because she really is that old, her memories lost or patchy, and this situation is something that's activated when the Doctor tries to extend her life artificially using a bio-temporal chamber. Would this really be considered had Kes reached that point in the series, assuming 'Voyager' had continued for nine or ten seasons? I'm not sure if the Doc would have been happy to tinker with her natural span, but it's a shame for one thing, that the series didn't last long enough to see that happen, and for another, that Kes didn't stay for the full duration. So we're getting a glimpse of something we were never going to see, something that makes this episode feel more special (I wonder if Stephen Moffat, the 'Dr. Who' producer, got his idea for River Song, a character who is shown to be experiencing time from the opposite direction in each successive appearance, from this - it's possible).

This time we don't have the checklist, partly because Kes is the subject, so she isn't going to be as well-versed in these well-trodden aberrations as a fully trained Starfleet officer would be, and also because of her age at the time the episode begins. Because it begins just before her death, or an attempt to stave off that inevitable death since she has passed nine years of age, the natural lifespan of a member of the Ocampa. But hang on a minute, judging by the emigrants of 'Cold Fire' who left the Ocampan homeworld to follow Suspiria, the female Caretaker, the lifespan can actually be a good deal longer for those that have explored their potential mental powers, just as Kes has been doing under the tutelage of Tuvok. Not that we've seen so much of that this season, which is a shame as Kes' burgeoning abilities were another aspect of her character that made her compelling because we never knew what she might be capable of or when a new power might surface (like Clark Kent in 'Smallville'). It's not that this was stripped away from her, but the way this episode deals with her character is another example of not paying full attention to her arc and the things that made her interesting.

From the opening shot we're placed into the story as the participant, a bit like the opening to 'Prototype' where we experience the point of view of a robot floating damaged in space. It's an immediately intriguing scenario, not the least because the Doctor has hair and there's a child, so we're dealing with some kind of alternate situation, whether that could be alien interference, time, reality, holographic trickery… the list is almost endless, and nowadays when a crewmember wakes up in one of these extraordinary positions, they run through the possibilities like a checklist - for the audience as much as themselves since we've seen so many variations on the reality being wrong that they have to 'hang a lantern' and let us know that they know that we know that this could go down a number of paths we've seen before. The real challenge is getting that expectation out of the way and riding the story, sucking us in so that, while we still care about the mechanics of how they're going to pull off this particular unreality on this particular occasion, that out-of-narrative thought process sinks into the background as we enjoy the unfolding mystery.

DVD, Voyager S3 (Before and After)

Favourite Son

DVD, Voyager S3 (Favourite Son)

Harry Kim is a Trill. That could be the high concept one-liner for this episode. It would be erroneous, but it sells the story: that Harry Kim, the most human of the humans, the inexperienced, green, excitable ensign out on his first assignment (from the start of the series), suddenly acts out of character, earning Janeway's wrath, but saving the ship from a devious enemy. And all because he's going through a physical transformation into the member of another race. Just as we would later see a member of the crew brought back from the dead as a means for a species to procreate in 'Ashes To Ashes,' here we find out that the Taresians supposedly send out their menfolk with the order to pass on the DNA of the species into other species who will one day feel the urge to return home to Taresia. That's what they want you to think, anyway, and in some ways it's disappointing to find out that Harry Kim is plain, simple Harry, not an exotic alien that we could have learned all about in the succeeding seasons and could have shaken the very foundations of the series! Actually it would have been unlikely to cause that much of a stir in larger terms, but it would have held great fascination for a human character to change into an alien and observe the metamorphosis of identity as had originally been conceived of in the original idea.

Identity is the central pillar of the story, and if it doesn't play out proudly and triumphantly as some messages do, it's there for the taking if you want it, the culmination being in the scene at the end in which Harry shows signs of regret at not being someone 'special' as the Taresians had claimed. Rather than go for the obvious speech that everyone is special we get a far more direct and personal vindication of Harry as a person: from his best buddy, Tom Paris, formerly the rogue of the crew, who admits when Kim says he wishes he was more like his bold, adventurous friend, that Tom has taken Harry as his inspiration on how to live life, making for a touching, character-driven ending. The thing with this episode is that everyone is used well, and the characters are the drivers of the story, not the other way around. Harry experiences guilt at B'Elanna's injury in engineering, even though at the time he instigated the attack on a seemingly friendly vessel he was sure of their nefarious and deadly intentions. Kes is the one whose calming influence permeates his gloom. Or Chakotay, when he does his dramatic hurdle of the bridge railing to take over Kim's position. Or Neelix at the end, complimenting Kim on the distinguished spots he had sported - almost everyone features in a worthwhile role, not just set decoration or to say, "Yes, Captain."

Spots are a good thing to look at - not generally, but in this context. In the Trek universe the first thing that jumps to mind are the Trill, the race of which Jadzia Dax is the most famous member. Kim isn't a Trill, obviously, and I like that though they use a similar facial differentiation from human, it's also different to the Trill, being more asymmetrical in positioning and lighter in colour. It's enough to mark the change in Harry (and not spoil the faces of the female guest stars, the reason Trill spots originally came to be invented when the Trill had previously been shown as bumpy-forehead aliens and they didn't want to hide Terry Farrell's face with prosthetics), and give him a physical sign to go with all the thoughts, feelings and internal alterations that are being wrought upon him, without doing something radical like growing an extra arm or two.

Visually the episode works well, even if the inviting women of Taresia are much more formally attired than, say, similar occupants of Risa. It turns out that things are very much in the Risan way of thinking, with males in high demand and polygamy a common practice, something that tempts Kim to stay, though as it turns out his duty to Voyager and wish to continue on the great voyage with his friends keeps him from rushing into a hasty decision he would have regretted! If identity is one message, and being content to be who you are, not dreaming in a fantasy world where you're more highly regarded than others, then denial is another, perhaps stronger one: the moral of the story is that if you give in to the urging of hedonistic pleasure and allow yourself to be immersed in it, just as in false merit, you'll end up as dead as the grave, a striking image shown to Harry when he discovers Taymon, another new arrival, shrivelled and drawn of all his vitality by these vampire women. Unlike vampires (blood, or creativity-devouring as seen in 'The Muse' of 'DS9'), their goal is to continue their species through this (or maybe that is the vampiric motive also - I'm not up on my classical horror mythology). Taymon had been the greatest exponent of the life Harry had been offered, and he ended up the deadest, if that be a word…

Harry isn't the character you'd most naturally expect to be at home with a planet full of women seeking his attention, but on the other hand maybe he was just the right person to be put through this particular trial. Harry may be young, he may be inexperienced, and he may not be the best equipped to deal with demanding alien races, but he's also had Starfleet rules drummed into him most recently, has a Captain he respectfully looks up to as almost a Mother figure (I can't imagine Janeway containing her outrage at the unauthorised attack on the Nasari ship if it had been someone less innocent, but she's willing to hear Harry out, even if it is a shock to the system, because he's like a son to her), and knows right from wrong. He's lulled into happy moods by all the female attention, but as soon as his wish to return to the ship or even contact Voyager is challenged that ignites a spark of stubbornness in him that has always served him well (as he said to Paris in the pilot, he doesn't need anyone to choose his friends for him, and because he went against the grain, giving someone a chance, he found a lifelong friend). It takes a few moments for him to realise the precariousness of the situation he's in when his two potential wives throw up blocks to his questions and wishes, but he thinks on his feet and soon tricks them by playing their own permissiveness against them - I can't see Tom lamping the fairer sex on the back of the head with a candlestick, but somehow, when innocent Harry does it, it doesn't seem quite so bad…

It was still pretty shocking that this woman gets knocked out in such a violent manner, even though the impact happens below frame! But what could Kim do when she'd grown suspicious and wasn't going to go along with being tied to a chair like her friend? When Kim goes on the run we have the creepiest moments of the episode, finding dead Taymon, bravely using one of the guy's wives as hostage (even braver considering Kristanna Loken went on to be the unstoppable female cyborg villain of 'Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines'!). If Kim had had a level playing field, say the Taresian women didn't have honking great wooden rods with which to clonk him, he might have stood a better chance, but as it was seeing the poor lad pinballing between these heavy clubs makes you feel genuinely fearful for his life. With such moral messages behind the action (you can add drugs to the pleasures on offer, which Kim turns down, not needing it), you can also see theological imagery if you look for it: Kim surrounded by the objects of temptation, caught in a deadly snare, has no way out in his own strength and, in a perfectly directed shot, looks up to the heavens as we look down on him, saved by an external power that beams him away! Or you could use the analogy of a cult where it at first seems attractive, full of new experiences and somewhere you're understood and seen for who you 'really are' as you never have been before, then at the moment you start to question or want to leave, the portcullis comes down and the real nature of what you've gotten yourself into hits home.

The episode has other bright things of note beyond a good story: we see Kim's Mother, for example. It's only in a dream, and just as in other dream-like meetings crewmembers have gone through with members of their family (Tom with his Dad, Janeway with hers, and to a lesser extent, Chakotay with his), she's chiding him or making him feel bad rather than being the true to life figure we imagine from previous comments (Janeway spoke of her in the pilot, saying she'd called to ask if it was too late to send Kim's clarinet). The dream sequences were, as usual, accomplished well. This time they had a sharper look than we tend to see, the indistinctness played out in echoey sound and positioning of people Kim knew - if it had been a bit more vibrant on the colours, and a bit misty, it could have been a vision from the Prophets! If we're talking 'DS9' inspiration then we could also point to the Taresians' story about how Kim could be one of them, that his Father was sent out into the galaxy and reached Earth, then Kim was drawn to go into space and eventually to their homeworld. Sounds a bit like the shapeshifters of the Dominion who sent out their infants to explore for them, with the implanted urge to find their way back. And look out for Deborah May as Lyris (Lie-ris, more like!), who played Haneek in 'Sanctuary' on 'DS9,' another matriarchal role as head of an alien race. And the title must have been so good that 'Enterprise' had to use a similar one in 'Fortunate Son.'

The Taresians must be one of the few races of the series to know of and mention the Alpha Quadrant. Usually denizens of the Delta Quadrant have no concern beyond their own borders, and don't think about other parts of the galaxy, so it was refreshing to hear it spoken of by nonhumans - they must have done more than implant Kim with alien DNA, spying and hacking would need to be involved in order to get such information to be able to set up this plausible backstory. But there were remarkably few problems with the episode, except I did find the Doctor's comment that Harry would soon be indistinguishable from the Taresians a bit ironic considering he looked exactly like them as soon as the spots broke out on his face - he could have been talking medically, perhaps the internal organs and such identifying characteristics were the object of his comment. Also, note that Kim doesn't wear the blindfold he always sleeps in - an oversight or has he changed his habits? It could even have been a side effect of his encroaching Taresian DNA. I couldn't help thinking it was a bit uncomfortable for Torres to wake up in the brightly lit sickbay with three people looking at her, as opposed to the muted gloom of Bashir's Infirmary which also had the advantage of a bit more privacy!

The approach to ship battles was another part of the package that succeeded, giving us some tense moments that are less common in this and other Treks when compared to, yes, 'DS9' (sorry). You feel the relief and joy as the Taresian vessel tears past Voyager to lay into the attacking Nasari, and the shipboard action is integrated perfectly in pace and direction. It's a wonder Voyager could survive though, considering they were taking on the Nerada! Except, fortunately for their little ship this wasn't the massive and terrifying Borg-technology boosted Romulan mining vessel of 'Star Trek XI,' but it is funny that such a similar name was used - I guess the makers of the new films aren't avid 'Voyager' viewers… Or they didn't care… But don't get me started down that avenue! The sparse, pale sets with those beautiful teardrop doors were a work of great production, but strangely consolidated the impression of a convent environment, subconsciously arrived at by the formal dress of the inhabitants and lack of males, though this couldn't be much farther from the truth. Harry even gets in a story about the Sirens of myth just to add an extra layer to the piece, even if these messages and layers are pretty much unconnected. That's why it's so important that the characters are at the forefront, something 'Enterprise' too often eschewed, and a big point in this series' favour. Most of all, the story works because it's Harry this is happening to, and no one wants to see the good guy lose. At the same time it's inspiring to see that good guy deal with problems, and Harry certainly did that!

***

Instinct

DVD, Smallville S8 (Instinct)

There's a theme of nostalgia running through this James L. Conway (of Trek fame), directed episode as if they woke up and suddenly realised the series had changed almost beyond recognition and thought they ought to remind us where it had all come from. All that is just a catalyst to look at Clark's dawning loneliness now that Lana's gone forever, couched in a story hiding it under a visit from a super-powered alien woman from the planet Almerac because they couldn't just say Clark and Lois are both lonely, could they? That would be too simple, and too much to ask and there has to be some kind of story to fill out that sentiment. But I liked seeing the Talon and the Kent farm that I had imagined was now abandoned since Clark works in Metropolis, but there he is with the dog(who feeds it?), getting Lana's old necklace out of a drawer and facing the fact that the farm is all empty - must be quite a commute to work every day, or it would be if he couldn't super-speed! It's become easy to forget that Clark has special powers since the series has become so much more concerned with matters of the heart or mind that, though we usually get to see him use his skills they're not the main draw they once were, he seems to have no trouble fitting into ordinary life, the struggle which was always one of the defining and most fascinating aspects of the series.

It's handy that in his moment of thinking about Lana it just so happens that Tess Mercer gets an old scientist colleague of Lex' (Dr. Groll, who was in it from at least Season 6), to activate the blue crystal found at the site where Lex disappeared, sending out a beacon which attracts Maxima, Queen of Almerac to our fair globe. She happens to be looking for a mate to take back home, so I suppose she must have been perusing the skies when this beacon flashed out and teleported over at a moment's notice! If she knew that much about Kryptonian men you'd think she'd know that practically all the survivors ended up on Earth and made an earlier visit! I was glad she wasn't just another of these Kryptonians, a dead race who are always popping up very much alive, even if it was a bit super-sci-fi to introduce other planets of super-powerful beings, though I suspect this is all from the comics rather than something original to this series. It's another nail in the coffin of Clark being special on Earth if that coffin hadn't already long been nailed up, buried and rotted deep in the soil! He's just one of many aliens, but that disappointment was over long ago.

A bit like Chloe's own disappointment in Clark not being her boyfriend which is another nostalgic reference from back in Season 2 when Clark was ill and she read him this love letter as he lay unconscious ('Fever'). That's really what this is all about: not the love letter, but laying to rest all the old combinations that were going around, Chloe glad to be able to call Clark her Best Friend Forever, something she'll share with him alone, though she's going to marry Jimmy. Good that Davis and Oliver don't appear to add their love woes to the mix as what was here was quite enough, especially when accompanied by far too much closeup smooching. The nostalgia I liked, that stuff I didn't. When you look at the episode as a whole it's pretty much another one treading water, that if you love the characters and the locations and the series you'll lap up, but if you've grown jaded you're waiting for something to happen that actually means something. I suppose the object of it all is to show that Lois and Clark are the 'soul mates' of the series, even though they're being slow to realise it, so this was a totally super-soap episode.

There's minor intrigue from the blue crystal being stolen from Mercer by the end and no one knowing who took it, just a mysterious red 'X' signing off a message from the thief. I continue to wonder why Mercer is so singleminded about locating Lex since she must know he'd just discard her if he returned, but perhaps, like many ladies before her she thinks that if she's loyal to him he'll love her or something, but she's in an incredibly powerful position and the best she can come up with is a mission to find the guy who would take the power back off her? Maybe she's as curious in what he found out, not just interested in him? Maybe we'll never know as I have no idea if Lex Luthor ever made a return appearance. The episode wasn't terrible, and had the interest of a supposed meteor freak on the loose and various parties trying to track her down, but Jimmy was a complete idiot taking the advice of the barkeep who suggests he should make Chloe jealous to make her care more! At least there was a bit more honesty going on between characters, but there wasn't anything to impress in the story.

I couldn't believe Lois Lane would survive an impact from her car being flung high into the sky to come smashing down onto two others when Maxima attacks after telling her she has a bond with Clark and so must be destroyed as her rival for his affections, so it must have been a fluke, the vehicle landing just so on those other parked cars to cushion the impact, those seat belts Kryptonian in quality! The other problem with the narrative was that though Clark gets rid of Maxima so easily by pressing her bracelet, she could surely teleport back at any moment she chose. She wouldn't have much reason except for revenge at being turned down, but she looks the vengeful sort - I hope she doesn't become a recurring character because she was a typical 2D comic book villain. One last thing is that Clark has worked out that the blue crystal will still contain the computer that is Jor-El (I'm not sure they've ever made that clear before), and that if they can get it back he could cure Chloe of her Brainiac super-encyclopedia infection, but do they really want to do that? She was incredibly useful this time in telling Clark all about who this mystery alien woman was and how to defeat her, so maybe they should keep that kind of information around? Just a suggestion…

**

Rise

DVD, Voyager S3 (Rise)

It never struck me before this viewing how similar this story is to the 'DS9' episode 'The Ascent.' They both have titles reflective of their need to reach higher ground for the survival of the characters, both a shuttle crash, and both feature their series' odd couples that could trace their roots back to the 60s, and McCoy and Spock. Not to mention they were both created in the same season of TV, though 'The Ascent' came first by a long way. The 'DS9' story is one of the best Trek episodes ever, and this falls way below that on the mag-lev carriage scale, but that's not to say there's nothing of value or entertainment to be had. Just as it was a great pleasure whenever Odo and Quark were plumped together, Tuvok and Neelix' opposing attitudes and experiences are one of those interactions that work so well. Tuvok has lived a long and logical life, while Neelix has been an odd job man all over the place, having gained his own unique perspective on the universe. It's just tough that he finds himself in an environment which is so constrained by regulations, though his reason for joining was that he saw his skills would be needed by this wandering crew - he probably harboured hopes of loosening them up a bit, too, which he succeeded admirably at, while still learning to follow the rules that made Janeway and her crew's attitude to life and other races so appealing to him in the first place.

Neelix loves to help, and that being true, he also loves to push himself further, to keep learning new skills so he can contribute to Voyager's journey - only last episode I was wondering what the future held for Kes and Neelix now their primary function of commenting together on human behaviour had ended (we do get to see them in the same room and pretty much talking to each other in this one, though it's only business when Neelix comes to sickbay for supplies), and this is an ideal episode in which to demonstrate that Neelix still has much to offer even though his main role as guide was no more once they'd reached the Nekrit Expanse. At the same time, rather than comment on humanity, he's given the speeches this time to comment on Vulcans, or specifically, Mr. Vulcan himself, Tuvok. I can't agree with all that Neelix says, I think he was being a bit sensitive when he hotly berates Tuvok for being so sarcastic and intolerant towards him, always looking down on him and being so superior. It's just the Vulcan way, and if Neelix came from the Alpha Quadrant I'm sure he'd understand that better.

I could agree with his attitude to the Away Mission of rescuing Dr. Vatm: when he and Tuvok are trapped on the planet with a band of strangers, Neelix tries to break the ice with Lillias, a woman he could have harboured a grudge against after she gave him such a violent welcome, holding a knife to his throat. But Neelix of all people understands what it is to be afraid and has a massively generous spirit, so he forgives, forgets and tries to make friends, earning him perhaps his first sign of affection since Kes. He may not have been single-mindedly carrying out his orders as Tuvok points out, but what the Vulcan is forgetting or ignoring, is that they aren't with a group of Starfleet officers, they're with aliens and strangers - Tuvok would probably cite this as an even greater imperative that Neelix behave as a Starfleet officer (even though he isn't one), but Neelix was right to treat the situation differently and try to get the team working together. Tuvok assumes that everyone will follow his lead to ensure survival, but they aren't logical like that, he hasn't factored in their feelings. It brings to mind another classic episode, this time from 'TOS' - when Spock faces similar challenges from his Landing Party who don't react well to cold logic in the face of death. At least Spock didn't have to climb onto the roof of the Galileo mid-flight as Tuvok does!

There's something about Vulcans which makes them the coolest aliens of all, and my personal favourites. We see many aspects of this in the episode, from a nerve pinch to disable the fleeing Vatm, to Tuvok's calm and efficient use of force against the thug, Hanjuan, who thinks he can intimidate the Vulcan and gets a crushed fist for his trouble in a Superman-like manoeuvre from Tuvok. There's also his logic and intelligence, the ability to work normally in extreme conditions, and control in any situation, but something that always stands out is that most Vulcans (until we got to 'Enterprise' where Vulcans were made as unpopular as possible!), do listen to the others in a group and act accordingly. When Neelix goes on strike, not allowing the mag-lev carriage to move any further until someone's gone up to the roof to retrieve the dead Dr. Vatm's mystery object, Tuvok does everything in his power to dissuade them from it, and that Vatm was delirious, but when he can do nothing else and has to acquiesce to the demands he takes the burden on himself to carry out the task, just as Spock planned to stay behind in 'The Galileo Seven.'

What's special about the episode is this understanding between Neelix and Tuvok, their reliance on each other, and the teamwork that gets them through. It's the first stage in a thawing of their personalities - they may not be compatible, but they learnt to accept each other's foibles for the mutual good. After this episode there's a slightly softer interaction between them because they've both been through something together - Neelix had always respected Tuvok, he was the first member of the crew he met on arrival, and now he'd been able to let off the steam that had built up about the Vulcan not respecting him in return (you could say Tuvok had already let off the steam of Neelix being incredibly irritating by killing a holographic version of him in 'Meld'!) - as I noted before, I think he was mistaken, as Tuvok values each individual's contribution and only seeks to bend it more to the rules of Starfleet that he upholds. I'm sure he always respected the knowledge Neelix could give of the local area and his other skills even if they hadn't been moulded to Starfleet standard. But Neelix has made great strides to learn his place on Voyager, taking on numerous roles because he's not a trained specialist and being useful because of it.

My first thoughts on the episode that stood out for me right away, were on clothing! The Nezu looked to be wearing Romulan garb with the same wing-like shoulder pads, though they had the more muted hues of later Romulan uniforms. Then I was thinking about Neelix' own wardrobe - though he's allowed on an Away Mission (which, by the sound of it I was expecting to consist of several members of the crew on each - we never saw the other two teams, but you'd think Tuvok would have been assigned more than just Neelix), he still doesn't get to wear a uniform, not even the exercise clothing seen recently in 'Blood Fever'! He has something that looks a bit more serious than his usual colourful dress, but still appears to be from his own collection. Why not give him a uniform? I would guess it's because he hasn't technically earned the right to wear one as he hasn't gone through the Academy, but then even Wesley was awarded one when he had an Acting Ensign rank. Okay, so he had gone through exams and had been working towards the Academy, but I began to think further on the subject and question why he and Kes didn't both get uniforms when they first joined Voyager? Not all the Maquis members had been to Starfleet Academy, yet they all became fully fledged, uniform-wearing members. Was it because Neelix and Kes were aliens and they didn't really know how they were going to settle in to the hierarchy of the ship, or just a production-led desire for more colour and variety than if all the cast wore the same outfits?

The episode's story is very much in the 'TNG' mould of a mission to help a planet from a natural disaster, something we'd seen the Enterprise-D crew do on many occasions. I liked that we were able to see something of that again, even though that's not Voyager's primary goal they can still stop by and help those in need. What also works is the decision to throw us right in the middle of the plan with Voyager shooting an incoming asteroid before it can damage the Nezu homeworld. I imagine this must have been a tough episode for a Director to handle as most of the scenes take place in the confines of a metal box, the carriage they use to travel the tether up above the atmosphere so Voyager can beam them out. The set had enough dark corners to be visually interesting, or not a dull, clearly laid out box - for example you don't immediately understand where everything is and when Vatm shut himself in in order to escape the surface and leave them all behind since he didn't know if he could trust anyone, I wasn't entirely sure where the carriage ended and its station began, except for the sealed door.

That sequence begs the question that if Vatm planned to take the carriage alone why did he bother concealing the datapad on the roof? Maybe he didn't expect to get away with it or it was a spur of the moment thing to steal a ride. For that matter it turned out they didn't need to escape the impact of a massive asteroid after all since in reality it was an Etanian invasion ship (those aliens looked good, so it was a shame we only saw one on a viewscreen), though they weren't to know that, and Voyager needed the tactical information contained on the datapad or they wouldn't have been able to stop the vessel. It's not explained how Vatm learned this information, but perhaps he had contacts somewhere that had passed it on… I don't know, but it's not really important - it becomes clear the spy was Sklar. This might also explain why Tuvok had an equal opponent to fight with in the overweight alien - had he actually been an Etanian he might have been stronger, though you can also point to Tuvok using much of his strength in the recent ordeal of hanging onto the outside of the platform, and that air was being sucked out, and that Sklar had a bar to beat the Vulcan with.

The characters were a little bland, this was hardly '12 Angry Men' in space in terms of dialogue, though it was fun to see a twist that almost made it into a 'Poirot' story with the suspects to murder all gathered in a room, a genre Tuvok is adept at, being an investigator. In this case he puts the case on the back burner, having to concentrate on ensuring their journey to safety succeeds, which may have been unwise, with hindsight. It shows appearances can be deceiving as each of the characters doesn't look like the kind of person they are: Lillias is a frustrated person, worried about her missing sister (the message she's been located at the end is icing on the cake), though she seems a tough and desperate figure at first, and Neelix is able to connect to her because of the loss of his own sister, Alixia, who'd been mentioned before and would be seen in the following season, a bit of a reminder of his Talaxian past that still hangs over him, though his guilt had been purged by forgiveness in 'Jetrel.' Sklar is a fat and genial alien who doesn't look the sort to pose a threat; Hanjuan a troublemaker who might rough you up, yet is actually quite a jolly fellow as demonstrated when he shows his joy at reaching safety by spontaneously hugging Tuvok, much to his displeasure; and Dr. Vatm looks more like a vampire or gangster than a respected scientist! Though the episode as a whole can feel a little bland, there are bright character gems scattered along the path of the narrative - it would have been better if we'd got to know the guest characters more, but that might have risked lessening the mystery.

Outside of the carriage it was great to see some external work done as Tuvok really looks like he's up in a cloudy sky, though that was all CGI. The images of the moving carriage, or Sklar falling out don't hold up so well now, really looking unnatural or jerky, which is a problem that sometimes crept into Voyager since they were the series that most embraced computer generated imagery even thought it was at such an early stage for TV. The physical effects worked very well, such as the clouds roiling against the window in transit, or the gusts Tuvok has to brace against on the roof. Interesting that the Director tried something a little different on the bridge: usually we cut from one station to another, but this time it was done with a whip-pan (I think that's the technical term when the camera moves at blurring speed then stops), probably because he felt so constrained by the rest of the episode he needed to have some fun where he could! The Nezu Ambassador that remains on the bridge was played by Alan Oppenheimer who'd previously been on both 'TNG' (as a Klingon advisor to Kahless in 'Rightful Heir'), and 'DS9' (the ill-fated Captain Keogh, who's Galaxy-Class starship is the first Federation casualty to the Jem'Hadar), though he doesn't have much to do here.

With a good episode for Kes just gone, and now this for Neelix, it's reassuring to see that they were slowly being reeled back into the series after the shock of 'Warlord.' In retrospect that may have been a bad move for just the immediate gratification of doing something radical which left the characters out in the cold with no clear future, though I suppose you could have said that before that episode. It's telling that both characters left before the series ended, that they were thought of as secondary in many ways and not fully realised, or maybe discovered to be lacking in depth. That's not quite fair to them as Neelix had already lived an interesting and varied life, and most of Kes' life was on Voyager, but these things didn't often come into play as options to be picked up and used for stories. That said, it was especially pleasing to hear more of Neelix' past and see him return to the confident, independently-minded man with a clear purpose and goal, able to apply his resourcefulness and wide knowledge base to the best effect. It's a story about how he and Tuvok deal with each other under duress, and it works, despite production not being as fantastic as, say, climbing up a mountain was in 'The Ascent,' with even a satisfying tag scene to round things off nicely in which Neelix and Tuvok have a funny exchange about who gets the last word. I do. (For some reason both the DVD set booklet and the 'Voyager Companion' book wrongly give this title an exclamation mark - only two episodes in the history had one; 'Operation- Annihilate!' from 'TOS' and this series' own 'Bride of Chaotica!').

***

Darkling

DVD, Voyager S3 (Darkling)

All about Kessing or Dr. Doctor and Mr. Doctor, that's the question? In other words are we dealing with a bona fide Kes growing up story, or the Doc and his evil personality? It's difficult to draw the line as we usually get a definite 'A' story and a lesser 'B' story, but both characters experience about equal exposure. The Doc, despite having received his ultimate springboard in the mobile emitter, still hadn't risen to take upon himself the stardom of the series as one of three characters that got the best stuff, and Kes, never a star figure, had been used pretty well in the season as a whole, but hadn't been overused to any degree, particularly in recent episodes, so it's a joy that both of these get the spotlight. I've got to make a choice, so I'll go with Kes and discuss her part in the narrative first: ever since 'Warlord' in which she broke out of her childish bounds, the result being her and Neelix no longer the couple on the ship, they'd struggled to come up with a good use for either of them. Previously their function, couched as it was in odd job roles round the ship, had been to meet and discuss life on board and what was happening from an outsider's perspective. It gave us, as viewers, a way in to the drama and adventure that wasn't from a well-versed space mariner of Starfleet, and provided comment on humanity and their way of doing things. The Doc came to lever himself into that role more and more, and with Neelix beyond his knowledge as a guide from 'Fair Trade' onwards, it's no surprise that his and Kes' roles had become a lot less defined than before.

It just shows that if you gave Jennifer Lien some meat in the script, she would sink her teeth into it, and I'm not talking about Kessing the alien wanderer, Zahir. It's interesting that throughout the episode we see the characters closest to her talk or respond to her growing interest in the man, but we never see Neelix. The pair haven't been seen alone together since the split, but it was at least good to hear it had been a definite split rather than leaving us hanging as they had for so many episodes. Maybe they didn't know how they were going to tackle it? Zahir coming on the scene invites Kes to reevaluate her life, reminding us of her criminally short lifespan and that she's a third of the way through it already! She's at least a teen, if not twenties or thirties by this point, demonstrated in her wardrobe which moves away from the innocent pastel shades and into a dark and plush catsuit that just a season ago we could never imagine her wearing. An overt sign of her growing up, if her talk with Captain Janeway in which she admits she's not sure she wants to spend the rest of her short life on Voyager, wasn't enough. And when she's practically won over to Zahir's idea for a private voyage to another area of space, in the full bloom of romance she's seen to be wearing a joyous red outfit. It's also notable that after the events of the episode where she makes the decision to stay with those she knows at a time when she's changing, she goes back to the muted, but daring material and colour of before.

It's still difficult at this point, perhaps because of so much hindsight on how the series progressed, to see where Kes was going to fit in now, especially after expressing the need for more excitement in her life - what, is Voyager's journey into unknown space, meeting unknown cultures, dealing with dangerous species, revealing the wonders of the galaxy on their adventure, not enough to satisfy? But then Kes was from a race of people eager to explore, never satisfied with the same old (I'm talking about her people's true sense, not suffocated by the Kazon and Caretaker), and unsurprising when you consider that nine years is all they got. It probably made them appreciate the new more and want to live each day to the fullest "because it'll never come again,'" to use Picard's words in 'Generations.' "I don't know sir, I plan to live forever," replies Riker. I think he was joking (unless he was considering the unending marketing empire Trek has spawned), but for Kes it proves to be less of a joke, more of a lifestyle choice. But we haven't got to 'The Gift' yet, and this could be seen as another pointer to future events, just as 'Unity' was prophetic in mentioning the possibility of a race that could destroy the Borg. Infatuation with a dashing space buccaneer could have been a natural point for Kes' departure, but I'm glad that when she did go it had more meaning.

Having seen this episode many times before, it being one of the videos I had, it's easy to become jaded by the concept at the heart of the story - that of the Doctor developing a dark side that becomes a personality in its own right and takes over. You know what's going to happen so you're waiting for it, although unlike the similar story 'The Passenger' on 'DS9,' in which Bashir is the evil bad guy, we're not left guessing for long who's who. I wouldn't have minded a bit more mystery (like the much later Tuvok story, 'Repression'), but it's not fully concentrated on the EMH, as I said. They've certainly had good use out of the Resort Holodeck program this season! We get to see some recreations of well known figures, including T'Pau, the famous Vulcan from 'TOS' - even after thirty years learning something new about her (that she was ruthless in her application of logic), though it wouldn't be the last we heard of her thanks to 'Enterprise.' It's all due to the Doc's designs on 'improving' his bedside manner, something he's done very successfully before, which makes me think this was purely a vanity project for him - like Kes he wanted change, and grew from it, but unlike Kes who irradiates any scene she's in with an angelic glow of happiness, he becomes the opposite. The story even goes as far as having the opposing points of view in argument, the Doc claiming evil is stronger or has more right to exist, and Kes striking up for the side of compassion and empathy.

The blunt nature of right versus wrong is, in some ways, refreshing on Trek as they often like to dabble with the grey. Undeniably this can be more dramatic, as 'DS9' shows with so many of the rights and wrongs those characters performed, but Kes has always been a pretty pure kind of person, and being faced with such negative feeling really activates her fervour against it. Even then, she has great compassion on the new version of the Doctor, making us genuinely believe that she wants to find a way for him to exist as well, not just to protect herself and the real Doctor. It's this that turns the episode from an okay, slightly dull romantic shuffle-along, into something more powerful, the second half in which the Doc fully changes and he and Kes go on the run, the deciding factor (was that leaves from the planet on the Transporter platform when he kidnaps her, or the actors' marks?). At first there are humorous elements to the evil Doc, whether it's his chilling display of unconcern for Torres and how close to torture she was (unable to oppose the strength of a computer - it made me think of Odo in 'The Alternate' or Data in 'Brothers,' and how dangerous these non-humans can be when out of control or operating against their crewmates' purposes), though that wasn't exactly a laugh a minute. I'm thinking more of the turbolift ride in which evil Doc lurks behind that woman, prevented from who-knows-what when Paris enters full of cheery chattiness and is met by sullen moodiness!

Then when Kes is held captive in a sequence that recalled the end of 'The Last of The Mohicans' film, where Tuvok, Zahir and Chakotay pursue the Doctor and Kes along a mountain path, and she tumbles out her words, showing the kidnapper that he actually means well, confusing him because his inner self still wants to protect her, and it becomes a great ending made even better by the moment he hurls himself and Kes off the cliff, pre-empting 'Star Trek 11' by about twelve years in beaming them out before they plummet to their deaths. Would the Doc have died, or to be more accurate, damaged his program? If he'd landed badly and the holo-emitter had been ruined it could well have meant the end for him, but otherwise he should have merely come to a halt when hitting the ground. Kes on the other hand, was doomed, so it's fortunate for her that beaming someone falling at such a speed proved possible for Voyager's advanced technology! What makes the episode even better (apart from Kes not leaving with someone we don't entirely approve of, or that's how I came to see it), is the restored Doctor reciting to himself the Hippocratic Oath, which ends the episode on a poetic and reflective note, the perfect final minutes for the story.

What must be applauded is Robert Picardo's performance as the horror Doc as opposed to the holo-Doc, making the most of appliances, vocal changes (which we'd heard before when he infected himself with a devastating virus - we'd also heard Torres' paralysed speech when she was made a full Klingon by the Vidiians), and body language to create an unkempt, slouching, shambling creature motivated by its passions. Remind you of anyone we know? Yes, it's like a completely unrestrained version of the EMH's creator, Dr. Zimmerman, the roughed-up hair a real callback to that rather scruffy and selfish man, only totally evil. But Jennifer Lien deserves credit for her performance, too, always at her best when she has to act desperate or gabble her words out in a crisis, not cowering or repressing her personality, but projecting it with renewed vigour. It was nice to see those closest to her reacting to her thoughts and potential involvement with Zahir, whether that was Janeway's understanding chat in the Ready Room, Tuvok's Fatherly talking-to of Zahir, or the Doc's wistfulness (I half expected him to break out into 'Someone To Watch Over Me,' but that was a different mentored to come). Certain other characters were overlooked; Neelix; Kim; Paris got a good walk-on, but Chakotay was reduced to a walking stick for Zahir! But this was a good one for those the spotlight did fall on, reminding us why we love the Doc and Kes, a good opening with an alien storyteller, and an affirming experience for Kes, because this ship is her home, is all their homes, no matter where or how far it travels.

***

Toxic

DVD, Smallville S8 (Toxic)

So a man walks into a bar and collapses, right? The press thinks he's drunk, but the punchline is that he's been poisoned by an unknown source. Oooh, exciting, eh? Well, actually no. I was turned off by the start at the Ace of Clubs, and it wasn't until I saw the flashback memories a dying Oliver Queen (for it was he), had about being washed up on a tropical island that I became interested, because we were getting to see the Green Arrow origin story! How great is that! Only it's the origin story with added Tess Mercer and no natives - fair enough, they didn't have time to show us the two years Queen spent on the island and how it changed his life and made him resolve to be a good guy - they'd included the 'webisodes' on one of the DVD sets which showed this story in animated form, so it was thrilling to see at least some of those scenes for real. If only the whole episode had been about that instead of a short-lived mystery of who was doing the poisoning and why, since no one who didn't already know actually found out much about those motives (although Clark was able to save Mercer again), and the villain was very underwhelming, just the kidnapper from the island days who survived a shot of the poison and came back to avenge himself on Queen and Mercer.

The episode has the same problems these latter seasons have had in terms of dialogue not sounding natural, people not behaving naturally (Queen letting the centipede go even though he hadn't eaten for days, and then being able to run around after wild boars, craft arrows, etc), and people shouting at each other to get their points across, again with bad dialogue that makes them sound like simpletons (even some misspeaks from certain cast members - watch the scene at the end with Lois and Clark for an example), such as when Oliver diverts the conversation to how life was on the island (cold here, hot there, and mosquitoes, dude! Mosquitoes!). The other thing is there's no solid ongoing threat, everyone's sort of friendly in different ways, whether that's professionally between Clark and his boss, Tess, or Davis in his capacity as a medic; yet also they're moody with each other, particularly Oliver who gives Clark a good tongue-lashing at the end for not telling him his parents were killed by Lionel (something I couldn't remember if we knew from before, but we must have, it's just another detail that slips the mind because of the lack of momentum or significance on an episode by episode basis), after being given the dossier by Mercer, claiming he's too afraid to trust friends, fulfil his destiny, afraid of everything. I know it was said in anger, but for him to suggest Clark hadn't had his own 'island experience' of trauma and change is to forget everything that's happened in the last seven seasons! Where's the cool Queen of Season 6 - though vulnerable, he had a strength to his character that has yet to return, though we saw glimpses from the flashbacks.

The other annoyances are the soapy aspects, with Lois seeing a dying Oliver and regretting their parting, yet also confiding in Clark that she didn't want to duplicate the Clark and Lana roller-coaster (more of a merry-go-round, without any merry, in my eyes), but even mentioning such things, reminding us of the flaws and inconsistencies of the series is a no-no. Not to mention the sickly meetings of Chloe and Davis - now she shares a special secret with him that even Jimmy doesn't know. You remember Jimmy, he was the one who used to be in the series… You do remember? Anyway, it appears that since Chloe had dealings with Brainiac (I can't remember what happened, did she get taken over, it doesn't matter), she's become hyper-intelligent and can read at android speed (I'm talking Mr. Data, not mobile phones…). Anyway, why set all this up except for teen trauma which we don't need, especially as the series is supposed to be 'growing up' with Clark wearing suits and smart shirts now. Not content with a story wandering all over the place when it should have successfully concentrated on the island, we get the not long-awaited first meetings of Lois and Davis, and Queen gets to visit the Luthor mansion, though it feels dead and empty without a Lex or a Lionel inside, part of a past long gone. Except it's the only tie to this still being called 'Smallville' so they had to keep it in (plus it saves money on giving Mercer a brand new office complex, especially when she's got the Daily Planet Editor's room, too).

So far so average. I would have thought in three episodes there would have been one to capture the imagination or get me excited, but aside from some good sequences on the island (including a nifty visual effect as Queen uses his skills to throw a makeshift arrow at his captor), this was the same dumb, slow soap that didn't teach us anything, didn't have much to say, and feels like the series is really marking time. How it survived for another two seasons after this I don't know unless things pick up. In fairness, there's usually good patches in a 'Smallville' season, so I await them in hope and increasing desperation, because aside from watching to write reviews I can't say I'm enjoying it. Marks for not making the villain Queen's 'girlfriend'/party hanger-on, but it's small comfort. Even the new end credits music, which I've not heard before, immediately seems to pall.

**

Unity

DVD, Voyager S3 (Unity)

The first proper appearance of the Borg on 'Voyager,' and a long way away from the ongoing menace, the best known villain of the series, that they would become, without the controlling force behind the Collective that was the Borg Queen in the film 'First Contact' released not long before this episode, or Lore, as had been seen in the final 'TNG' Borg episode, 'Descent.' This was back to basics with the Borg, in a way, yet also managed to pull off an alternative look at them in a partially positive light: in my eyes it is the 'Q Who' of 'Voyager' to 'Scorpion's 'The Best of Both Worlds.' The threat had been laid out at the end of 'Blood Fever,' but for 'Voyager' to rush straight into dealing with that threat in the very next episode was perhaps a little out of character for the series, where usually we might be made to wait a few episodes, the lingering threads hanging. You could say that happened again here because this is an atypical Borg story, with the mindless creatures only a powered down, sleeping menace for most of the episode, leaving them to 'Scorpion,' the season-ender, to deal with on a large scale, but it works as a progression towards perhaps the biggest threat in Trek history.

It's good that this isn't immediately apparent as the Borg episode everyone had been expecting, allowing full power to the reveal of the ex-Borg in Chakotay's startled eyes - we're left as much in the dark as the Commander, not shown who or what is really going on. Even on emergence from his cell (did he really need to bang on the door when he knew there was a guard patrolling the gantry above - he seems undecided whether he's sneaking out or demanding to be released! Then again, a crack on the head will do that to you…), Chakotay's confronted by injured aliens, some missing limbs or eyes, rather than it becoming obvious who and what they are, or were. Of course we'd seen ex-Borg before, but not in this form of people trapped on a planet, completely cut off from the Collective and planning to reconnect to a personal link to avoid the in-fighting that had resulted in the loss of the Borg's link. (Just an aside: how did these remnants of Wolf 359 get there? There was only one Cube and it was destroyed. Were they picked up after floating through space by another Borg ship or did something occur akin to the Sphere escaping in 'First Contact'?). Opportunities were missed in fleshing out the factions on the planet, learning more about what was going on there, as we only hear it from Riley's point of view - it stands to reason that Klingons, Cardassians, and other races, once freed from the controlling power of assimilation would soon begin to reassert their own destructive and volatile natures on those around them. A shame, therefore that we never got to see any of these Alpha Quadrant races when it's such a rarity on this series.

They made up for this later, with holographic versions of 'home' races in 'Flesh and Blood,' but it's astounding when you think of the clear opportunity they had for warring Klingons, etc, that weren't taken. I can answer my own question to some degree: for a start they didn't want to give away that these were Alpha Quadrant races at first, so the monk-like attackers couldn't be recognisable. For seconds, attention could too easily have become focused on those races - Klingon genes tend to overpower most others, so the co-operative of humans, Romulans, and others we don't know, might have been undermined if their enemies hadn't been the rather nondescript variety we saw. The enemy also made a difference in that they gave us reason to root for the cooperative forces, even though they were doing a dastardly thing of using Chakotay against his will to shoot his own people and obey their instructions against Janeway's will - it's fortunate for Chakotay that he didn't have control over his actions or that last scene in sickbay where Janeway talks it over with him would have been a sharp dressing down - we've seen it before and it's not pretty!

At least we got to see one familiar alien in the Romulan, Orum (played by one of those fantastically and memorably named guest stars, Ivar Brogger!), who is very sincere and likeable in his bottled excitement for the cause and gratitude towards Chakotay for agreeing to help. We hardly ever see Romulans we can identify with, the few exceptions coming from such historic figures as the noble Romulan Commander of 'Balance of Terror,' or Telek R'Mor, the scientist from the past, of this series, and Jarok the defector from 'TNG,' so to have a sympathetic Romulan on side gives credence to the cooperative's goals and was an excellent choice of race. It's a shame then that he isn't quite as trustworthy as we thought, but then, neither is Riley or her mates. The big moral quandary of this episode is whether they were right to force Chakotay to activate the beacon against his and his Captain's wishes. Unlike Torres in 'Prototype' when she goes to the Captain like a pupil with a great idea to ask the headmistress, gets turned down and is furious, Chakotay's mission of mercy isn't as clear-cut. Riley's already got him pretty much on side with romantic inclinations (something that makes him look a little shallow and her as horribly manipulative, taking advantage of an ill man), but even then he's not entirely certain it's a good idea, so when Janeway balances more towards the negative, he doesn't try to argue her down - they make a great team.

So the cooperative make him do what he couldn't otherwise, they get their way, the other factions stop attacking, the floating Borg Cube destructs (though they could have given Voyager more than three seconds to get away rather than their undying gratitude!), and Voyager can go on its way, safe in the knowledge that this Cube won't be attracting its fellows or used by the cooperative which are still confined to the planet. Should Voyager just move on or should they return to confront the cooperative? It's just a thought I had, because the only reasons not to are that they feel their work is done and it's the end of the episode so we've run out of time, but in reality, you'd be more likely to go and have it out with them for doing what they did. The whole thing was in the same mould as the Prime Directive without actually being that: they're warp capable, just not warp available species. But then again they've created this new community on this planet so should a Federation ship interfere? Janeway decided no, so they went behind her back anyway, but they used her personnel to do it. It's not an easy question to answer, but neither is whether what the cooperative is doing is right: as Janeway points out, they're imposing their will on everyone on the planet!

It's not exactly made clear what this link will mean for the denizens of the planet. They must still all be individual because otherwise how would Riley and the others have distinct personalities, but at the same time the link is strong enough to stop the factions from fighting, so is it some kind of community dampening field on their emotions that stops them from getting angry? Is it a full-on Borg neural link that no one controls and everyone works for the betterment of the society? Or is it, and this is what I felt, something which Riley and her band of merry pacifists can control everyone else with? Because we don't get to hang around, we can't know for sure, but it's a worrying thought. The cooperative could have made an interesting contribution to the series in an ongoing capacity, but sadly we never meet them again, probably because as they said, they were only interested in their community and the planet had become their home. They weren't interested in leaving or they'd have been all about building ships or getting Voyager to help them move home. Not that I can see what was so great about the ugly, damage-strewn planet, maybe it was a touch of the Stockholm Syndrome and they'd only become attached after living there for so many years?

What were those good points about the Borg I mentioned earlier? For one we learn that the neural link that connects all Borg to a collective intelligence has healing properties: being joined to them is healthy! (As long as you don't want to be an individual, of course…). Being joined together stops fighting and ill will, meaning good things for everyone and a fair and efficient society! (As long as you don't harbour wishes to do your own thing…). So why not join the Borg today? Sign up for your free downloadable information pack: the Borg don't need you, you need the Borg. That might be one way to look at the situation, and certainly on first glance the cooperative's goals are worthy and based on Federation ideals. The only downside appears to be freedom, something which Riley and the others seem to have forgotten, but is that a result of becoming cut off from the Collective, or would she have had those ideals before? There are parallels with the 'DS9' story 'Hippocratic Oath' in which the second most dangerous adversary in Trek history, the Jem'Hadar, are seen without the inherent dependence and addiction to drugs. Seeing how badly that ended, Janeway and Chakotay's dubious thoughts on whether the cooperative will be a good thing looks more realistic: if they were willing to use their power at a moment of need, forcing their will on Chakotay, how long will it be before they're tempted to do more? Shame we never found out.

We've had a run of episodes directed by Trek actors, if three in short order counts as a run: 'Alter Ego' had been Robert Picardo's turn, Andrew Robinson had just done 'Blood Fever,' and now it was Robert Duncan McNeill making his second 'Voyager.' His style doesn't stand out, but that's a good thing, successfully telling the story as if it had been done by any professional Trek Director. It must have been an assured touch as I wouldn't have suspected a relatively unfamiliar hand if I hadn't known, so top marks for the conn-man. Paris barely features, but then Kes, Neelix and Kim aren't much in evidence either, this is a strongly Chakotay-centric episode, an experience to be enjoyed when you remember that he was all but forgotten in much of the later seasons. Something else all but forgotten had been the Nekrit Expanse. A big thing had been made of it in 'Fair Trade,' but how much did it really impact the ship's voyage apart for that setup episode? Barely, is the answer, paid only lip service, and that sparingly, a real waste of a good concept that should have been explored. It's little details like this that begin to stand out more with each repeated viewing, and while 'DS9' is solidifying in your mind and taking even firmer shape to back up all the good work, 'Voyager' starts to unpeel a little. You notice story details, or that the CG explosion of the Cube doesn't look as good as the live-action special effects used to.

What was good, and the regular benefits of the TV series' living off the big budget feature films being in evidence again, is that we get the kind of sets and Borg makeup from 'First Contact' that made the race more terrifying than the pasty-faced corpse version of 'TNG.' This was a newer series so it was only right that they upgraded the look of a familiar face, even if the work had been done for the film. The corpse the Doctor autopsied was from the Cube they found, but I've often thought it was the one they found at the end of 'Blood Fever,' which is why I didn't quite follow when Janeway talks of the corpse they found without reference to the planet of that episode. Pay attention! For some reason I was spotting themes from 'The 37s' in this one, though I don't suppose there's any real connection between the two episodes: Ensign Kaplan (who dies without any need to, how cruel was that!), suggests Voyager might have landed when they discover a Federation message; Riley's story of being abducted by aliens then being left to fend for themselves when they awoke from suspended animation (maybe she saw 'The 37s'?) is identical; the idea of staying on the planet as that's become their home - I was even expecting the plan she came to ask Janeway about to be an invitation for the crew to come and live with them and become part of the cooperative.

The attack on Chakotay and Kaplan could have been more fierce, though I suppose being confronted by hooded assailants on a planet you've arrived at expecting to help someone was pretty unpleasant. But Kaplan is killed off with nary a thought, and Chakotay, because he's a main character gets zapped by a super-weapon that knocks him out, damages his brain in some way and makes a nasty mark on the side of his head which appears to grow as if he's been assimilated in blood and it was happening very, very slowly. Or did he hit his head when he fell? That part of it was a little indistinct. I wondered if Riley and co. had either killed Kaplan or left her to die, but that wouldn't have made sense as she was an asset, and they would have wanted anyone they could get to join their group.

What they did with this episode was bring the Borg in in a new way, without resorting to a plain old action romp, but learning something about them or those that had been Borg, something the series would have to wrestle with in ups and downs over the course of the following four seasons. At this stage they still had sixty-seven years ahead of them (that would have been a lot of episodes - we'd still be watching it now!), showing that as yet there had been no big leaps, it was just standard warp power moving them along on the journey. But things were to change, and the biggest one was the Borg, so seeing their introduction here has a special resonance to the rest of the series. Even more so does the suggestion that there could be an even more powerful enemy than the Borg, something not spoken on screen before, I believe. In this case it turned out to be an electrical storm of some kind (those Borg ships really ought to have better health and safety!), but the hint of the future was powerful. Even the Borg were proved not to be as omnipotent as they seemed: for example their technology could replicate functioning arms, but not BBQ ribs…

****