Concerning Flight

DVD, Voyager S4 (Concerning Flight)

Over the years we've explored many a state of holographic existence in the Trek realm, from the earliest days of 'TNG' we saw villainous characters learn a degree of sentience (Cyrus Redblock), or even full self-awareness (Moriarty). We've seen real people represented in holographic setting against their wills (Kira/Quark in 'Meridian;' several of the 'DS9' cast in 'Our Man Bashir'), and even characters that had a knowledge of their existence, but had been programmed to accept it rather than for it to mess up their function in the program (Vic Fontaine). On this very series we've had the most exposure for a holographic crewmember of any (the Emergency Medical Hologram), and thanks to some Temporal Directive-ignoring actions from Janeway (why should she follow a Directive that hasn't even been invented in her time?), we got to the stage of a fully free, functioning equal member to the flesh and blood crew (or organics as psycho-gram Dejaren called them in 'Revulsion' - another aspect of holographic life, one who was so repulsed by his crew of solids he murdered every one). But I can't think of another example of a wise mentor character transposed from the environs of his holographic home and forced to accept an alien world as reality as it is with the great maestro, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), or his photonic likeness, Janeway had been using for rest and relaxation (although whether jumping into cold rivers to test the mechanics of a flying machine is relaxing, I'm not so sure!). I thought we saw her atypically leave the program running to set up a shot of da Vinci being beamed away, but we never see it happen as it was the processor, not the man himself, which was taken.

There's an impression that John Rhys-Davies made several appearances in the role, but in fact this was only his second (after 'Scorpion'), and final one. Partly it's because we saw the da Vinci workshop several times (who can forget the Doc in period garb from 'Scientific Method'?), as it was such a detailed and well-crafted set (I imagine the art department must have been excited to recreate the flying machine, an extension of this period design), but Rhys-Davies has a lot to do with it, too, for bringing his larger than life persona to it, and digging in to the role. For a good proportion of the episode I struggled to recall why I had such good memories of it - not that it was bad or poorly executed, just somewhat unremarkable. But somewhere along the line I realised what makes it one of the greats of the season: the pairing of Janeway with her artificial mentor, switching their positions so the apprentice becomes the master, yet making his presence not only necessary, but essential to her survival, without even mentioning the fragility of The Doctor's mobile holoemitter, his greatest source of emancipation and part of his being. If anything, that side effect could have done with much more exploration as all we get are a couple of comical scenes with an irritable Doc cooped up in Sickbay, his cabin fever reducing him to plead for gossip from the least communicative member of the crew, Seven of Nine and reverting him back to his Seasons 1-3 position: trapped on a screen, unable to attend briefings in person - it show how much physical freedom can affect mental wellbeing, even for a hologram, probably one reason why he mellowed so much once that was attained.

Perhaps emphasising the importance of the emitter would have taken away from the preciousness of Janeway's attachment to Leonardo, and made him seem only of secondary importance, thus undercutting the story, but I just felt a little more fear for the losses Voyager incurred would have been recommended, not to mention whether the aliens were beaming items away at random or with purpose. It was certainly a novel idea to misuse the Transporter as a weapon (and could have been seen to greater extremes if it had torn strips off the ship), and I'm surprised we haven't seen such technology used in this way before. When it comes down to it, the Captain is the most important missing piece, and it is her persuasion for the man who believes he is her mentor, her ability to coax and direct this recreation of a great mind from history, that creates a delightful pairing to makes the episode special, culminating in their uplifting flight of emotion, rising away from danger into success (if only the real da Vinci had had access to duranium alloy back in his day - history might have been a little different!), crowning the episode with beauty and joy as distinguished as Master Leonardo's grey locks (and making me think of the film 'Fly Away Home' for its soaring spirit). Janeway gets to take real risks, far more exciting than the safe environment of the Holodeck, no safety net of a river, and Leonardo, who's strange experiences are a story within the story, recovers from the humiliation he felt when his first attempt at flying failed so miserably to the jeers of his home crowd.

Janeway could easily have turned the emitter containing da Vinci's program off, just as we see Tuvok pausing him mid-speech (a good effect because they freeze the picture, although when Janeway turns him back on you can see Rhys-Davies swaying slightly!), but where would the fun in that be? I'm reminded of the rationale Janeway gave Seven at the end of the previous episode where she emphasised the importance of a little fun, enjoying the experience rather than treating it as mere diversion from their main goal of reaching home - I sensed that Janeway, as Katerina, was enjoying living a real adventure with one of her heroes, in spite of the deadly serious nature of the mission to retrieve the computer core and other essential supplies (such as when she impishly tells Tuvok to distract da Vinci with small talk - wisely, the Vulcan gets the master talking about himself). The story was well constructed to make it a necessity to keep the program running because he had been taken on by a 'patron' (Tau, the villain responsible for stealing Voyager's equipment), and was a way in to that world. I don't quite know why Tau allowed his program to keep running - either he hadn't experimented with the emitter and didn't know how to turn it off, or more likely, it amused him to have this alien artifice seeing the world through new eyes. I'm surprised he or his men never noticed da Vinci knew Janeway and realised her identity quicker, but he didn't seem like the cleverest of antagonists (even if John Vargas, who played him, had some pedigree, with a credit on 'Star Trek II'), despite Leonardo's praise of his patron's mind - anyone that had futuristic knowledge would probably appear intelligent to the eyes of a 15th Century man.

I like to think Tau (very reminiscent of the Tarlac of 'Insurrection' and even the long-faced slave-trader of 'Rajiin' on 'Enterprise'), made time to sit down and discuss the ways of this world, without letting on that it was another world, and it might have been beneficial to show us that, to make him a more dimensional villain, rather than a mere pirate scavenger preying on ships and selling their vital components on at inflated prices. He makes an effort to come across as a charming businessman when Janeway makes her custom obvious, yet he also seems rather small time compared to the likes of Annorax or the Borg - we only see a couple of his minions, and when Janeway and Leonardo are trying to escape it's only him and one guard that pursue and fire at the flying machine. We needed to see a gang of phaser-wielding heavies racing after them to infuse the escape with greater tension, though the flight more than makes up for any shortcomings in scale. Indeed, the creators appeared to have learned from the previous episode in creating an expansive scope for an alien world, far from the cramped set-bound alleys and narrow streets squashed together, we have a wide, bustling marketplace full of aliens wandering to and fro, bartering and chattering (was my Universal Translator on the blink or were those aliens we track across the screen speaking an alien dialect - it was a bit 'Star Wars' in a Mos Eisley Spaceport kind of way). We also have a beautiful matte painting as backdrop for when Janeway and her fellow escapee flee into the hills, the natural environment, as well as the varied locales (we also see an industrial area), helping no end to sell this as a world. It also helps that alien makeup always looks better in natural light.

Astrometrics, too, plays its part in visualising the terrain, flexing its newly born muscles with its first proper runout to show us a plan view of the ground (although I wasn't clear on why they didn't just zoom in on Janeway's location with a closeup, unless their orbit had taken them further round the planet at that key moment, which begs the question why they didn't simply hover at planet-keeping, or drop low enough to get a better lock, though I suppose they needed to keep clear so Tau didn't know they were in the area and scarper). Seven's new home has the look of a futuristic window on the galaxy, and while it may not live up to the Stellar Cartography of 'Generations,' on a TV budget it makes a useful addition, not least as an abode for Seven's skills and desire for solitariness, which, despite her wrench away from the millions of voices of the Collective, she prefers, as it's a calmer environment where she can concentrate fully on relevant tasks. Until Harry drops by to help out and tries to explain that the way she speaks could be a little more diplomatic… There's no set B-story, most of the characters having scenes here or there: Chakotay holding the Bridge while Janeway's on the Away Mission, B'Elanna tasked with creating a defence against the Translocator beam; the Doc getting antsy in Sickbay… Seven's interactions are the closest we come to a thread running through, and it's nice to see her individually with Harry, the Doc and Tuvok. She seems almost as Vulcan as Tuvok (and in my opinion was a much better-written role as an emotionless, logical female than T'Pol in 'Enterprise').

We only hear about her altercation with Torres, but I can see why the half-Klingon might have been more prone to flaring up than usual (though at least she doesn't have Seven underfoot any more - maybe Astrometrics was built because she couldn't have stood the ex-drone in Engineering a moment longer?), what with an important console getting nicked right under her nose and being given the order to engineer a defence against this weapon, probably on top of her normal duties and with less computing power at her disposal. That was another side to the episode that could have been elaborated upon, the tension increased if we thought Voyager was dead in the water, or severely hampered (as Tuvok says in response to Janeway's order to 'Fire at will!,' "I have the will, but not the means," an amusing rejoinder to a common phrase!). The loss of equipment and the computer core didn't appear to make very much difference, and again I say that to increase the tension they should have made it imperative that every last piece of stolen booty be recovered, even the phaser rifle and uniform Chakotay allows a trader to keep in exchange for reluctant information. But the episode isn't really about tension as much as it is about Janeway having to deal with a recalcitrant hologram (she's well up to the challenge having had plenty of practice in that department!), Leonardo refusing to return to 'Europe' where he isn't allowed to fail, and wants to stay in the 'New World of The Americas,' where if it is a cage (he makes the point we're all prisoners of those more powerful than us), it is one of gold.

What most appeals in the episode are he and Janeway's conversations - she has the mastery of him, despite looking like a boyish young apprentice in her pastel shaded clothing and short hair (I have to wonder why she didn't wear period dress or casual clothes in the holoprogram - unless she was due on duty as soon as she was done with her 'book,' or maybe even on call, or perhaps a Starfleet uniform is so comfortable she prefers it most of the time, absolutely nothing to do with money-saving measures by the production team, I'm sure!). Her skill at keeping the confused and stubborn master on track for her purposes, while explaining things in a way he can understand, without really explaining, is impressive - not only can she stand up to any villains with steel backbone, keep her crew together in spite of the odds against so many calamities, she can fulfil the role of an apprentice without losing control over an artificial, though great, mind that is renowned for its curiosity and invention. He's able to process almost all the information in ways he can understand, as wonders of the New World. Whether alien faces, since we know he can see they're different by his attention to, and sketches of, Tuvok's 'Scandinavian' ears ("Monstrous and wonderful are the people of undiscovered lands"), the ship's computer and its voice interaction (a box with a mechanical woman inside, perhaps a vague reference to 'Metropolis' - probably not far from the truth where Majel Barrett was concerned, with all the audio recording she had to do across so many series'!), to pistols that fire lightning (I love the way he takes the phaser from Janeway and Tuvok like a parent confiscating a dangerous toy).

Earlier I said that they could have simply switched him off, but equally they could have gone in the opposite direction, Janeway filling his mind with the wonders of the future and his true state, but it worked best as it was - he does question existence after getting an inkling things aren't right, having seen the phaser blast pass through him (narrowly missing the emitter!), asking his protege if they are actually dead, in Purgatory, or spirits. It's a fascinating moment of existential angst for a holocharacter, but it is lovely that his fondness for Katerina is what motivates him beyond any other, which shows what a bond she's struck up with him in her interactions - you get the sense that Janeway plays as hard as she works, having really invested herself into the program back when they were on the ship, and no less of that passion is directed in her force of personality when dealing with whatever situation arises: your heart sinks when Tau appears, having overheard her combadge conversation with the ship, but her steely resolve turns it around and you then begin to feel he's going to get far more than he bargained for. Leonardo takes the drastic step of battering his patron to the ground, yet in keeping with his character, desires to hang around to face his wrath and make explanation, and though he refuses to go back to Europe for any reason, he will do it for her. It was fortuitous he had crafted his prize flying machine up on the very hill the Captain beams them to, but I'm not going to cry foul when it brings such a joyous finale.

I remember it being an unexpected pleasure to find that da Vinci would be returning, and in such a wonderful way. It's not a typical episode, nor is it a great science fiction story, their choice isn't to explore the experiences of a hologram in terms of realising sentience as had been done before and was continually being done in the longest arc for a character of that kind, The Doctor, but to explore Janeway's ability to command even those above her 'station.' I especially appreciate that they don't rush the episode to conclusion and hit the credits, but allow time for a coda, to wrap up Janeway and Leonardo's experiences together. It ends with a jaunty, harpsichord-type period tune so rare for Trek, but Leonardo is such a vivacious and curious old man you wish to see him react to this futuristic world again, or even just be there as solace for Janeway, and it's genuinely saddening that this is his last appearance - I can imagine he and Janeway in many more adventures, he'd have made an excellent recurring character now and again (especially as the series had turned away from that compared to earlier seasons), a wise figure for the crew to consult, a bit like Vic before he was invented, except this was one time when 'Voyager' could have got in on a concept before 'DS9,' but in their usual tradition they didn't utilise things to their greatest potential. Da Vinci was a good fit and John Rhys-Davies was great in the role, and if the episode sometimes came across as a little like a 'Sliders' episode with much improved budget, it didn't detract from fulfilling interactions. All this and a reference to Kirk's claim of meeting Leonardo, too ('Requiem For Methuselah')!

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