Random Thoughts

DVD, Voyager S4 (Random Thoughts)

Paris had just been shopping when the episode begins, but how did he pay? We see Janeway pay in coin of the realm (she even admits to being unaccustomed to currency), so was it replicated or did they barter for it? If replicated, then there must be something in the Prime Directive about affecting a planet's economy, but I suppose Voyager's small crew weren't going to make much of an impact.

Neelix reprises a scene from 'Caretaker' by having a conversation with someone in the Transporter Room while smelling strongly (Paris doesn't ask if he'd care for a bath).

It's good to hear Tuvok having a telepathic conversation for a change (even if he uses more facial gestures to make up for it!).

Those are my random thoughts. But was this thematic sequel to 'Meld' an episode that had been originally written during Season 2 or 3? I don't know whether its position, following an epic two-parter, may have emphasised its flaws, but it had the strong impression of being an early season episode: human-looking aliens the crew visit for shore leave; cheap-looking, primary-coloured clothes, no alien makeup and flat colours in a cramped 'town' set of tall, narrow buildings and maze-like passageways; some dark secret the crew uncover, lifting the mask of hospitable gentility; and very little Seven of Nine. It could easily be what I always call 'The Episode' (Season 1's 'Time and Again'), as that was a template for so much of the early occupied planetary missions, or perhaps 'Prime Factors,' or even 'Resistance,' 'Remember' or 'Darkling,' with much of the level of mastery found within those stories. But there is a fascination in seeing this transitionary period where they would still hark back to the series' beginnings (such as Janeway discussing things with Tuvok), while existing in a 'post-Kes, Seven of Nine' period (it might have been more interesting if Kes had still been around, what with her unrestrained telepathic abilities that could have made a vast wealth of darkness for the illicit thought peddlers). But though it has some of the limitations of the early seasons, it also features some of its strengths. Namely, that characters such as Tuvok hadn't been relegated to secondary (or even tertiary), status, continuing in the fine tradition of the Vulcan's many investigative episodes (think 'Ex Post Facto' and 'Meld,' amongst others).

It's a good one for Tuvok, who has an admirer of his methods (Nimira, played by Gwynyth Walsh, whom it's great to see out of her B'Etor Klingon makeup, in her only other role on Trek to date - she treats him like a mentor, so out of her depth is she in dealing with violent crime - it vindicates the use of the Brig in Trek as she sees it as an unnecessary violation of freedom, but is forced to realise the usefulness of incarceration, having been a bit snooty before), the Captain consulting with him, and opportunity to follow his usual solitary tactics, which both place him in danger, but also root out the evil undercurrent, putting the seasoned Vulcan at centre stage. It could just as easily have been a B'Elanna episode (or a Kes one), and once again we see the very canny decision to include representatives from two of Trek's most integral races in the main cast, allowing what we know about their dispositions, attitudes and outlook to be reflected in 'Voyager,' proving that even with a series so isolated from the main hub of galactic happenings, we were still tied to the canon and could explore it in satisfying an interesting ways (Bryan Fuller take note: though I'm not specifically advocating a Vulcan or Klingon should be part of 'Star Trek Discovery,' examples of established races that could do with some fleshing out would be a wise move). Yes, B'Elanna's first instinct would be to bare her teeth and snarl at a clumsy oaf, and yes, Tuvok has the mental strength to be able to keep control of his thoughts - that last fact is part of his strategy in which he tricks the malcontents of Mari society into revealing their guilt.

As I watched Tuvok walk into a dangerous situation, a back alley where merchant Guill and his associates are doing business, I was initially dismayed that someone as sensible as the Security Chief would do that, and then he gets overpowered by a paltry three assailants which I felt he could have taken (though he gave them a very good lesson in Vulcan martial arts, or was it wrestling?). It may have been that their bestial urges for violence gave them greater strength, or maybe he was overwhelmed by the telepathically projected emotions, but I think it was all part of his plan to get to the confession of Guill and provide mental evidence of his crimes - he allowed them to get the advantage so that in apparent defeat, he was able to work on Guill and get him to mind meld to gain the mastery (reference is made to the dark images in Tuvok's mind which could be a callback to his experience with Suder in 'Meld'). It was a brave tactic, though it might be unfair to attribute such an emotional motivation to one so logical. But that's why Tuvok is such a great character, certainly one of the best on 'Voyager,' and a constant reminder of how cool the Vulcan race is. It's also a reminder of how cool the office of Security Chief is, continuing the kind of solo quests for justice that both Odo and Worf took part in. It was fortunate that Nimira, Chief Examiner of the Mari constabulary, one of the few remaining officers of the law still required in an almost perfectly law-abiding citizenry, took a liking to Tuvok for his professional abilities and cool, measured way, because she was harsh enough to the crew even then, and would probably not even have listened to Janeway had she not felt a kinship to the more experienced investigator.

Tuvok isn't the only one to form a solid connection with the Mari. No surprise that Neelix, someone who likes to take on ambassadorial duties, and is quick to see the best in people, found a friend so quickly in young Talli. But what seems a humorous and understandable B-story to give him something to do, turns into a dead-end, literally, putting the exclamation mark on the violence that Voyager's crew had inadvertently brought when she's murdered by an old woman for a simple act of clumsiness (were these thoughts being passed around like a virus, or was the woman a 'user' and bought it - if a virus, how would Guill make money when anyone could come into contact with it, but if she was a customer, why would she dredge it up in public?). It rams home the message that there is no such thing as a perfect society where all ills have been eradicated, and makes it very clear that while prohibition is a noble goal for all the wrongs, it is all too easy for those wrongs to go underground, become part of a secret society of evil - people don't have the capacity to be perfect, perhaps an indictment of the Roddenberry vision of the Federation's perfect harmony. I don't think his vision was really perfection, just the attempt to attain it, though with a society, if the morals of right and wrong become confused, then there is no clear 'up' to reach for and they are groping in the dark. I also don't think the message of the episode is for unfettered freedom or allowance of damaging choices, but rather that complacency can lead to just as much destruction as anarchy. I don't think they're suggesting, for example, that recreational, yet harmful drugs, should be legalised for everyone to enjoy at their own risk, rather that vigilance is important so that a society doesn't rest on its laurels if it thinks such issues have been eradicated because they're unseen.

The themes are clearly prohibition in society and pornography, as shown by the inhuman way Guill leaps to B'Elanna's aid with an insatiable glee so that he can mentally grab her momentary fury. He's attracted by the dark inner recesses of the mind which have become ever more desirable to the Mari for being illegal and so harshly punished, walking a dangerous line in being a member of the community, a merchant in the marketplace, and covering his dark network of felons operating a black market in violent or frightening thoughts. The episode is quite uncompromising in its depictions, both in the result of the bloody beating that was apparently triggered by Torres' thought, and the knifing of Talli in an unprovoked attack, more shocking for the fact it was carried out by such an aged woman, overcome by extreme, murderous rage. They don't stint on blood, both the man who was beaten is covered in it, and Talli's head is seen lying in a pool of it, more disturbing for both happening in daylight and the bright environs of the colourful market. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, as we glimpse much worse imagery in Guill's sharing of thoughts with Tuvok - you'd never expect to see a person burning, their skin blackened by a still-raging fire (though the nightmare Neelix sees in 'Jetrel' was similar), but although his flashes of horrific imagery pass in seconds it's still surprising they were allowed to put such things into a Trek episode.

If only the episode had had the time and budget to, as it were, live up to the depths of the nastiest moments, but, and I don't know whether it's the fault of the direction (though I always like the device of flipping between interviewees as seen in the questioning sequence, though it wasn't done as naturally as in 'DS9'), or the cramped production design, the episode didn't fully reach its potential, either in the exploration of what drives people to evil, or the great, classic science fiction idea of people's own thoughts being censored. Somehow, the twisting maze of streets and the claustrophobic environment should have been played upon, but the contrast between the light, happy scenes of the crew relaxing and enjoying time off on an alien world and the dingy back streets with their dreadful secrets, wasn't carried through well enough. The moments of violence are stark and uncomfortable, but the rest of the episode doesn't give strong enough reaction to them in terms of repercussions or an atmosphere. It's just dissipated, and where we should feel uncomfortable about the potential for explosive outbursts for any Mari at any time (maybe Talli should have suddenly turned on Neelix and badly beat him, which would have upped the ante somewhat), and uncertain of Nimira's course of action, since she's both hard on B'Elanna, but respectful and thoughtful around Tuvok, it's like she just flips a switch rather than there being any tension. And that's the key: if you watch episodes like 'Meld' or even 'Darkling,' things are much creepier, and the lightness of much of the episode should have leavened that mood and made the extremes more daring, but instead the intention and mood was blurred.

The episode did succeed with Tuvok's singlehanded takedown of the thought dealers, a good impression of night time, following Guill after his unsatisfactory audience with him into the gloomy side streets. Maybe some smoke or some other device would have made it work even better ('Enterprise' was good at dingy locales), but the fight was well staged and his meld with Guill had the air of Spock's forced meld on Valeris in 'Star Trek VI,' much more atmospheric than the one he did in a bright room with Torres earlier in the episode which was simply a case of slap the hands on the face and be done with it. I'm always an advocate for keeping the mysteriousness and sense of awe in the Vulcans' telepathic powers, retaining the gravity of its deep probing, not an option to be used lightly without preparation. But as I say, the one against Guill had much more meaning to it - long before 'Impulse' Tuvok makes a passable impression of a zombie Vulcan, although I always remembered the sequence as being longer, with him inexorably chasing down Guill and unleashing terrible images designed to terrify the man away from his fascination with the horrors of the mind. In actual fact, it's a brief moment and we don't see any imagery except for Tuvok's steady approach, in the same cut, bruised and ripped clothing he had from the fight in the real world.

As usual, Tuvok makes it clear to B'Elanna that his was no quest for unwarranted defence against alien laws (AVTGBH: Aggravated Violent Thought resulting in Grave Bodily Harm!), but, as ever, for justice, which was a nice, jolly little scene at the end to remind us of the Vulcan way. B'Elanna had calmed down quite a lot since we first met her, much like Kira did on 'DS9,' and with the stability of Tom Paris as a support, and the respect of the crew, she had carved out a comfortable existence on the ship. It's a bit strange that Tom wasn't more evident in the story, being so close to her, the only contribution he makes to her assistance being when he goes to Chakotay to suggest a rescue mission. I like to think that the familiarity between the two stems from the after effects of their experience aboard Annorax' ship in the previous episode. They wouldn't have any actual memory of those events because, essentially, they never happened, but there could be some temporal backwash or whatever terminology you want to use, that could mean they retained some kind of instinct from it, which would explain why Paris talks to Chakotay like that and why the First Officer invites him to sit in the Captain's chair, a rare privilege! He gives good advice, too, not entirely shooting down Paris' suggestion, but letting him come up with a plan he can put before the Captain in case there's no other option.

The reason, of course, that they don't simply beam B'Elanna away and have done with the planet, is due to the Prime Directive, as so many issues are: I think they should include a clause that puts finding out all the laws and bylaws of a planet that's about to be visited at the top of the crew's priority so they don't inadvertently trigger a death sentence or a memory erasure for some seemingly minor infraction (they don't seem to have any rules about the openness of everyone to read each other's thoughts which the crew seem surprisingly unconcerned about!) - episodes like this, or 'Justice' on 'TNG' where Wesley is sentenced to death for walking in a flowerbed (although this episode is different enough to that earlier one to... justify it!), would then not be an issue, although I'm sure some races would still find a way to prosecute, or some wayward crewmember would be lax about the law and come under fire.

The final scene where Seven, largely absent from the episode, marches into Janeway's Ready Room and upbraids the Captain on the ship's policy of exploration and making first contacts because it causes too many problems and isn't the most expedient way to carry out their primary goal of getting home, appeared to be little more than filler for an episode which was under its running time, considering how separate it is from the rest of the story (and the previous scene ended it quite effectively), but thinking about it, it's actually a good decision because it gives justification to why they do what they do. Janeway remains calm and reasonable, despite the breach in protocol from a rude and abrasive Seven (back to being a less conformed member of the family as she was in the 'Year of Hell' episodes, since that took place over months and she'd gone through growth that had been taken away by the resetting of the timeline), accepting her lack of understanding, but firmly informing her that they won't be changing their ways, and that meeting aliens and visiting new planets makes life exciting - they aren't going to avoid the advantage they have to see places and peoples that Starfleet's never even heard of (even if many of them do look similar to Alpha Quadrant encounters!), and it's not just a statement for Seven's benefit, it's aimed at the audience who might be having the same questions about the validity of stopping to explore at so much risk. A message of non-interference, though not non-interaction, even if it means taking those risks.

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