Day of Honor

DVD, Voyager S4 (Day of Honor)

I had always considered this one of the weakest in a strong season, and analysing my reasoning I have to conclude that it was because I was comparing it to an average Klingon episode of 'DS9,' and in that light it does come up short. The Day of Honour had never been mentioned prior to this, so it's not like we can even give it bonus points for unearthing some new lore on the popular race that would be useful to explore again in future. It is logical that the series struggled with Klingon episodes in general, since its only Klingon character (half-Klingon, to be precise), hated her heritage and had nothing but bad feelings toward it, blaming it for her volcanic temper and deep-rooted feelings of angst. That was to change from this episode onwards, with the support of Tom Paris in a surprise twist where we discover they love each other. That's another issue I always had with the story: the sudden, out of nowhere declaration of love from B'Elanna - out of character, except in the area of impulsiveness, it didn't ring true and really had no discernible buildup. They got on fine and had fun together, but that's why the ending didn't satisfy, because they're about to die, floating in their EVA suits, and it's just as easy to see that as a 'dying declaration' under duress than Torres' true feelings with no evidence to the contrary. The only indication that it might be more than the usual reset is that it ends with them being rescued and there's no tag scene, which we usually see (such as Quark and Odo reasserting that they hate each other at the end of 'The Ascent'), leaving it unresolved.

I was expecting them to be beamed aboard just before she admitted it and then backpedal once they were comfortably on the ship. Instead it leaves us with the question of what this means for Tom and B'Elanna? Tune in next week, or in a few weeks, to find out. Anyone complaining the series had no serialisation in its storytelling (leaving aside the fact there were actual episodic arcs in the first three seasons), can see that there really was in the character development department. It just wasn't necessarily as regular and satisfying as, say, 'DS9' was. In fact I felt both plots of this episode weren't fully resolved, with Seven's (as she becomes known here), understanding of compassion a quick-fix solution to a problem, engineered to ingratiate her with the crew a little and give her a purpose beyond standing in the Cargo Bay all the time. It's ironic that she requests duty in Engineering on the very day that Torres is having such an awful time, and is just bad timing on her part, though in her Vulcan-like way she fails to understand and respond to the barbs from the half-Klingon - with almost no emotion, the hostility could just as well be the accepted norm for Starfleet personnel from her naive perspective. Probably for the best that she doesn't realise when she's being insulted or verbally assaulted as that might have set her human development back quite a ways. But at this stage she's still barely human, despite losing the tubes and lasers, unable to even realise how badly she fits in so that she can't get upset about it. But that would come, for good or bad.

My theory (and I say theory because I can't recall exactly what happens over the next few episodes, but I'm pretty sure she goes against her promise not to try to return to the Borg), is that everything she does is a strategy to ensure her chances of rejoining the Collective are maximised: she wants to perform some kind of task, but in reality she could be learning ship's systems, probing for weaknesses, having access to the sensitive systems of Engineering and formulating a plan of escape or a way to send a message. She's like Data, she can do multiple things at the same time in her computer-like way, so it does stand to reason that her choices are based on that ultimate goal (not to mention the Borg Queen's plan for her, which we'd learn of next season). The way Seven talks of the Borg's existence, having no lies, no secrets, sounds almost appealing, and it furthers our understanding of why an individual, once detached from them, would wish to rejoin. It's a kind of sanctuary, a lack of responsibility, part of something greater, not having to think for oneself… It's very much a view on modern consumerist society, I believe, and is much more effective than the Ferengi, who more blatantly symbolised this. So many people want to belong to a group, to be accepted, and laziness is prevalent, with films in particular showing the trend towards simplistic, lowest common denominator entertainment, away from the thoughtful approach of Trek.

Of course, even the 'idyllic' existence of the Borg isn't entirely so: for one, it's murderous to the individual, all rights rescinded, not just responsibilities, and literally, thousands of drones will be sacrificed if it serves a purpose, life far from precious. And two, when Seven claims to be unaccustomed to deception she's not being entirely honest, because if, as I suggest, at this point she's constantly planning escape then she's deceiving them completely. She could carry both views at once, because, just like B'Elanna, she has a half-human, half-alien nature to balance, and unlike Torres, she hasn't any experience yet. It's a shame Torres couldn't see this and make it her mission to help this new crewmember fit in, just as Janeway showed faith in her. It's another example of something people throw at post-'TOS' Trek - in this case that there's no conflict and they're all perfect, which isn't true. Thanks to her Maquis background we can understand why B'Elanna is the way she is, which is to say she's improved greatly over the seasons, but she's still not at a stage where she's overly helpful. I also felt this would have been an excellent chance to add something to Tuvok's character - now that his former pupil, Kes, has moved on, he could take on Seven, who, as she does with Torres, shares strong similarities with him. Instead, the only time they really share the screen here is when he's escorting the Caatati  representative and, even though he must have known the aliens' history of being assimilated, the remnant forced to flee and live as pariahs, he fully answers the alien's question upon seeing Seven: she's human, formerly Borg. Surely even a Vulcan would realise the trouble he'd stir up - it would've been easier, and still truthful just to say she was human.

Now we come to another element of the episode that didn't entirely work: the Caatati themselves, and specifically the main example, aren't well fleshed out and the performance wasn't entirely faultless - in the scene mentioned above, he overreacts as if he already knew she was Borg. One thing I was confused about was who was whom. I thought the Caatati leader, Rahmin was the main alien we saw throughout, but he was only seen on the viewscreen, and it was actually Lumas that boards Voyager and makes the case for his people. I was so sure it was Alan Altshuld (whose long face was familiar from a couple of 'TNG' episodes, and the sandal maker in 'False Profits'), and I was going to comment on the uneven performance by him, but he was credited as Lumas, and in the 'Voyager Companion' the text says it was Rahmin (or, wrongly, Rashmin!), who is outraged by seeing an ex-Borg on Voyager. Obviously the synopsis is rather condensed, and I believe this must be referring to the initial viewscreen contact (though why would Lumas be so surprised to see an ex-Borg if his leader had already spotted her? Maybe that explains his overreaction, he was just waiting to jump on her?), and it was Altshuld that was a bit all over the place. Maybe that's why he never worked on Trek again? The actor that played Rahmin had also appeared before, Michael A. Krawic had been a Maquis member in 'DS9,' and went on to appear as a Vulcan on 'Enterprise' ('Carbon Creek'), but although the Caatati's look (an intricate and fascinating design, another Westmore wonder), and name worked well, they weren't one of the best defined races Voyager ran into.

Partly, to be fair, it's because of the manipulative, conniving nature of these beings - it's hard to feel sympathy for such a people, even though their situation is one to be sympathetic about (they haven't been welcomed anywhere - maybe they should shack up with the Voth, who share a similar look!). They're the type that use all the emotional blackmail they can, have a false humility in their despair, but are really rats that will take you for everything - not everyone who's a good cause reacts to assistance in the right way, a good lesson to remember. Don't confuse poverty with meanness. I suppose they are fairly dimensional when you think of them that way, as initially they appear to be the usual helpless race that politely request Voyager's help, then their request goes up a gear when they don't feel they're getting as much as they could out of the Starfleet crew, unpleasantly plying on the pressure to take more than full advantage of the charity, which before the episode is out, turns to ungrateful demand. It's clear when their situations are reversed and he has the superior numbers, that they wouldn't be helpful to Voyager in the same situation, which once again reminds us how different our crew are. But he also misjudges people terribly, both in small ways (he walks up to Tuvok when wheedling about them sleeping easier knowing the children have been fed, when a Vulcan doesn't have the same kind of emotional connection or a guilty conscience to be roused!), and in large - fails to hear the steel in Janeway's voice or realise how far she'll go to protect her own crew. Not the woman to give ultimatums to!

Lumas was flighty and inconsistent, which is the main reason we don't feel the same compassion that Seven develops (somewhat mechanically, but it does appear to be there), and takes away from the satisfaction of the conclusion of that strand. In reality we're not as happy to see these people go merrily on their way, Janeway would have been in her rights to punish their actions, as what happens to you doesn't give you the right to take advantage of others (best represented by Janeway's decision that stranded them in the Delta Quadrant in the first place). I also found it far too convenient that they would suddenly trust this former Borg to create a piece of technology that wouldn't blow up in their faces - they were suspicious and mean-natured enough to question her motives, but Lumas is happy to take the generator. Again, I can see what terrible troubles they've been through, and that must be why Janeway goes easy on them when in reality they threatened her entire ship and its homeward bound mission by stealing the Warp Core. It's also a very pertinent issue for today, with so much refugee migration across the world, and shows us how we should be dealing with such people: even if some don't display the most honourable of intentions, they should still be given the chance and assistance they need. That's what Janeway would do.

Again, how much was this a genuine act of kindness from the emotionally stifled ex-Borg, and how much was it an opportunity to get in the good graces of the crew. Clearly she feels no remorse for her people's actions toward the Caatati, but if she were doing it to prove her use and lull her shipmates' concerns about her, then Seven would have strong motive to do what she can. In this reading, it does rather negate the warm and inspirational ending of overcoming enmity (though she didn't feel anything personally to them). The same could be levelled at her for being so willing to give herself up, one of the conditions the Caatati imposed upon Voyager. I'm sure she could have handled herself on a shipload of the aliens, despite their lynch mob mentality, and this could have been an ideal situation to garner her escape from Voyager, especially as I'm sure she didn't rate them very highly as captors. At least it gives us a genuine vindication for her, and acceptance from Janeway, who chooses to believe that it wasn't her actions that led to the Warp Core having to be ejected (although, again, very suspicious that on her first day in Engineering the most important component that's powering Voyager further and further away from Borg space, is the thing that's ejected!). More should have been made of the scene, though as it stands it's still a great moment when the Captain says she's one of their group now and they'll protect her. Is this the first time we see a Core ejected in Trek, now that CGI had reached an acceptable level?

The stakes were superficially high with Tom and B'Elanna floating and about to asphyxiate, and the loss of the Warp Core would have been game over as far as the series' premise was concerned, so the real stakes had to be in the personal lessons Torres and Seven learnt: that compassion can come from any quarter, and that B'Elanna felt she was a coward, having pushed others away all her life, as well as her heritage. But if I've been down on the episode, pointing out it's inconsistencies, the lack of good aliens, and unresolved or unclear motivations, on balance it's still a fairly strong episode by the standards of most TV, with its fair share of inspiring goodness. Age helps, I think, as when I first saw it I'd never had a job, and while you can identify with certain aspects of B'Elanna's bad day, it's harder to understand how people's emotional life and mental existence is affected by what happens around them, when you're younger. With experience you do begin to fathom how someone could feel in that situation, and no longer does B'Elanna seem a moody old troublemaker, she has genuine problems and a great deal of responsibility. Even so, you'd think that a ritual in which she could let out her frustrations in violence and endurance, all fully acceptable within regs, would make her jump at the chance. Except that it's all tied to how she feels about the Klingon heritage, and that it stood for everything that tore her apart. Enter the Talaxian…

Neelix doesn't have much, but what he does do shows his beautiful nature of understanding. The Neelix we first met was a talker and a bit of a con artist, and despite being constantly goodnatured, he was also rather selfish. His time with Voyager (and Kes), taught him the benefits of sharing and community, and although Torres hasn't got to the stage in her life where she can help Seven, Neelix is far more than a clownish Morale Officer in name only: he displays nuance, knowing about her rituals because he's taken time to do research, and because he's 'supposed' to know these things, but where the Neelix of old would have tried to cheer her up, he sees what she needs and offers to be a pressure valve for her to blow off steam onto. That's a brave thing to say to such a person, but it's also evidence of his great capacity for caring. Just when you think the character is spent, with nowhere to go in development after Kes had left and his knowledge of the Delta Quadrant exhausted, he reminds us why he's such a loveable and essential member of the crew. It's a wonderful character scene that ten space battles couldn't better, and as much as it would have been thrilling to see an early season 'DS9'-style Runabouts versus enemy ships, I'd rather have this. I also like that Neelix is pro tradition (something we'd further explore in 'Mortal Coil' later in the season), and is all about keeping old ways alive, encouraging B'Elanna. And how else were we going to see Klingons on 'Voyager' but with a Holoprogram (well…), not to mention painstiks! Ah, painstiks - takes me back to those early seasons of 'TNG'…

There are a few technological and strategic questions the episode raised for me: as great as it is to see the EVA suits of 'First Contact' return, I can't help wondering why in over a century they hadn't fitted boosters to the design, as Spock did in 'The Motion Picture,' allowing him a measure of spatial control and autonomy - it seems like an obvious thing to include, especially as technology's improved so much since then that miniaturisation surely could have given them the option of a minor propulsion unit of some kind. Not that it would have made much difference, as Voyager was too far away, but at least they could have dodged any space-borne ephemera or, in the case of a slippage on a ship's hull, would mean they would have a way to get back if they began to float into the void! They also don't appear to be very sturdy since a slight jolt causes Paris' air to leak (though they must be very easy to put on considering the short time they had to suit up!). We could argue that the suits do have a thruster component, but they're either separate and they didn't have any in the shuttle, or hadn't been topped up after the last mission. And maybe these suits have had a lot of use (which we never saw), weakening the structural integrity… Yeah, that must be it. Sad to see the shuttlecraft Cochrane bite it - the Caatati must have had some weapon to be able to disable and set it on a course for destruction with one feedback pulse! And, most importantly, why did they not send every shuttle they had to pick up the single most essential piece of tech they own? They didn't appear too concerned, as if kicking out the Core and retrieving it later were a common occurrence!

It's well trod ground for B'Elanna to refuse to acknowledge her Klingon side, but not the less affecting, and Paris showed himself to be a true friend (though I don't recall him reciprocating B'Elanna's declaration!), though in the context of the story he had as much reason to end up with Seven as Torres, since he showed friendship and support to the neglected ex-Borg during the episode. It must have been floating in the cold depths of space that confirmed it. It was quite a dramatic thing for them to do, actually have a couple of crew hanging in zero-g, something difficult to recreate realistically. They didn't do a bad job, but I wasn't fully sold on the setup: I felt their clothing and masks should have frozen quickly and more could have been done to get an impression of the scope of their environment when they generally were zoomed right up close, sticking the camera right in their faces. I can understand why, as they needed to be able to make their expressions as visible as possible within the confines of the helmet, but it came across as claustrophobic rather than two tiny pinpoints of light in the vastness of nothing, worse than floating on an ocean. It's difficult to simulate such an environment and to have the actors move naturally rather than overdoing it or appearing too still, but it wasn't bad and the shot of Voyager approaching in the reflection of B'Elanna's mask worked.

The cast was pretty well used - the Neelix scene the clear standout, but most of the cast have their moments (though the EMH never appears, despite Sickbay featuring as the location Seven and Janeway hand over the Thorium generator, which was odd as it seemed like an appropriate moment to have his 'contractual' appearance!). There was a good sense of things getting on top of Torres, what with Seven foisted upon her, her 'favourite' Vulcan, Vorik, much in evidence, Chakotay pulling rank to remind her of her duties, and even Paris almost doing the same when she won't leave from the destabilising Warp Core, reminding her he outranks her! I didn't actually realise he did, since they were both outcasts at the beginning, both Starfleet dropouts, but Chief Engineer is more important than Conn, you'd think. Whatever, Paris would be demoted next season, anyway… It was good to refer back to the Academy, and also how, when he and Torres first met, she didn't have a very high opinion of him, but then she never does until she gets to know people, as shown by her attitude to Seven when as far as I know she hadn't lost anyone at Wolf 359 or had any particular reason for animosity to the Borg beyond shared hatred of the idea. Nor was the Day of Honour ever mentioned again in any series, as far as I recall, though the book series of the same name, second of the then-annual releases where the then-four series would be tied by a common theme, which apparently inspired this episode. And lastly, Torres claims they don't know anything about transwarp tech, but she must have forgotten the Excelsior of 'Star Trek III' (as had the writers!).

***