Think Tank

DVD, Voyager S5 (Think Tank)

When I think 'tank' I think aquarium. I think military vehicle. I think cistern. But is there more 'think' than 'tank' in this episode, or more 'tank' than 'think'? I'm beginning to sound like Kurros and his whimsical attitude to existence - he reminded me of the Vorta; sneaky, cunning, sly and manipulative, while still taking a certain delight in the 'game,' whatever that might mean, which fits in perfectly with the view I developed of this think tank as being a miniature Dominion, an anti-Federation on a small scale, a mirror of what our noble Federation could have (and could still, if current Trek doesn't pull itself together), become. It may be mini, but it's also reminiscent of the Borg: a search for perfection through knowledge, but knowledge at all cost, removed from compassion. They still have their lines they won't cross, specifically genocide or the production of weapons of mass destruction, but even in that worthy code their definition appears to be merely semantics since they admit they're happy to destroy a planet, and if that isn't mass destruction I don't know what is! Indeed, I thought at first the Hazari boobytrap was the blue-faced guy's planet, revenge for holding back payment at first for services they'd rendered. But as Janeway observes when they're considering if the Malon might be responsible for setting bounty hunters on Voyager, revenge isn't profitable. I wonder if genocide or WMDs were suitably profitable, whether the tank would cross that line, though most of the time it doesn't pay to wipe out potential customers, and I'm sure they'd have absolutely no compunction in playing both sides, untrustworthy as they are!

It'd been a long time since I'd seen this episode, and once only, since it was one of a few I missed on transmission, catching up years later in the DVD age, so I didn't remember all the details, but right from Kurros' slimy and dangerous demeanour I guessed they were going to have been responsible for hiring the bounty hunters, they were too manipulative not to have been behind it, and too knowledgeable not to know exactly what they wanted and how to get it. What did surprise me was the problem to be solved being relatively small fry in comparison to Voyager's real jeopardy, so I didn't feel the story got to the heart of the series' predicament - it would have been more dramatic if the stakes were Voyager's chance at getting home (though perhaps that was considered overdone), at the cost of Seven. I have no doubt the think tank could have found a way to achieve that, albeit much like the later Equinox crew to come at the end of the season, through unethical means. I found it interesting that despite Janeway having her qualms about their morality it didn't preclude the possibility of working together. Perhaps that's a lesson for today when social and political views are so wide apart as not to allow even the possibility of cooperation. Of course they ultimately ask for one tiny thing more than Janeway can agree to: the life of Seven of Nine. It wasn't quite as simple as that, however, Kurros is offering her the chance to go for perfection above remaining within the limited confines of her life on Voyager, and to a former Borg that's a tempting offer. But it's a failure on Kurros' part to understand how much she's grown in the past year and a half by learning from her Voyager family - he hasn't known her as a person, only a commodity.

That would seem to be this group's flaw: not having compassion or interest on a personal level, only in what they can gain. They set themselves up as kindred spirits with Voyager's crew, explorers just like them, except their goal is pure knowledge. They don't wish to assimilate people (other than very select minds), but they do wish to exercise their particular skills of problem-solving and could have been a great source of aid in making the Delta Quadrant a better place - in some ways they already have, listing various accomplishments to have benefited many races, including such a dramatic reveal as their success in curing the dreaded, debilitating Phage suffered by the Vidiians (nice to hear there was a happy ending for that species, or new beginning), sometimes for seemingly small remuneration such as a secret recipe. Yet even in this goodness you see them enjoying the pleasure of power in playing God with other races. They want what they want on a whim, motivated by greed, much like the collector Kivas Fajo, who wanted Data for his priceless collection. These people are more abstract in their desires, perhaps reflecting the fact they're quite an abstract collection of beings. They have a vague goal of acquiring more and greater knowledge, but I never discerned an ultimate purpose other than seeking what they don't have in order to possess it. In that way they're a little Ferengi, and a little V'Ger, but their motivation isn't a positive one as evidenced by how they go about it, willing to deceive and manipulate.

Fear was at the core of Dominion philosophy, greed is central here, but we don't know enough about the individuals concerned to be able to judge why this should be. Tellingly, Kurros was the price for his world's saving, forced to join as a child, which can explain some of why he is the way he is. I wonder why they'd want a child, presumably they could tell he was some kind of genius and with their assistance could grow up to be quite useful as another brain in their group, though it can't be ignored he was effectively sold into slavery, not having a choice, being a child. In theme and visual terms I can see a preparation for the Xindi of 'Enterprise' as this was written by Berman and Braga who would go on to create that Dominion-like threat to Earth, almost a transition point from the 'DS9' anti-Federation to the later series' imitation: partly it's the variety of alien life that makes up this group, but specifically, Bebox, the aquatic life form in a tank we only see glimpses of as we peer through the little viewing window, as well as the non-human (for want of a better word), speech of some members. In fact, the Universal Translator can't even understand some of the creatures' dialogue, which makes you wonder how 'universal' it really is! The teaser was appropriate for setting up so much alienness as it's one of those few that has nothing to do with Voyager, either ship or characters, all aliens on the stage, and they look good, especially the blue guy that tries to rip them off, although spikey-head (Fennim), looked a little too similar to the attackers of 'Latent Image,' as good as the design was.

Unlike the last couple of episodes I can't say this was much of a character piece, which is usually more affecting or moving, though Janeway was certainly front and centre as she dynamically takes risks (with that potentially crippling manoeuvre to blast their way out of the gas cloud), forces her people to think, forges alliance with their enemies, and tricks the tricksters. 'Who Tricks The Tricksters?' could have been the title! But she's not up to her standard of 'Counterpoint' where she was against a similarly deceiving foe and played him like a piano. It's one of those episodes where the Captain and Seven are crucial and it all revolves around them, a template for perhaps too many stories of the series, though it hadn't been attempted as much this season. It's not that it's bad to focus on a couple of characters, or specifically them, but it can upset the balance at the expense of the others. I don't feel B'Elanna got a fair shake in this one, for example: as Chief Engineer she should have been at the forefront of coming up with ideas to deal with Kurros and co., yet although they mention she had an idea she's very much a background presence in the story, her natural role failing to bring her forward as it once would. Less so, but still apparent, was Tuvok's role - you'd think as Chief of Security he would naturally go on an away mission to a suspicious alien vessel, but then they couldn't have had the reveal that Seven was attending an 'interview.' Also, he mentions a mind meld attempt on the Hazari they capture, but it was unsuccessful and spoken of in a throwaway line, reiterating the focus is not on him.

I prefer when people's individual abilities are allowed to shine as it cements that impression of inspirational teamwork so important to Trek's mindset and style. Some of the characters aren't the only thing missing - they preferred not to show the battle with the Hazari when they're on the attack, perhaps due to budget constraints, since there are a lot of ship shots in the episode generally. I'm not usually one to advocate more screen time given over to action shots, but in this case I felt the episode could have done with a bit more of a jolt of energy than it had, perhaps leaning towards the cerebral with all the 'thinks' going on. Not showing what's happening externally can work very well (as evidenced in 'DS9' and plenty of other episodes of Trek), but there wasn't quite enough tension in this one. Lots of interest, but not so much tension. I enjoy references to other races and they covered that with the Malon (was Jason Alexander under all that or was it just a stand-in?), Devore and the Phage. And it made sense for Paris to be responsible for ship-wide crazes, but would they all have spare Replicator rations to be able to make copies of this electronic game, 'Sheer Lunacy' - is it a real game, it sounds like it? Perhaps mention of the previous craze being yo-yos was an attempt by the series to comment on the zeitgeist as I certainly remember in the Nineties there was always 'the next craze,' yo-yos being one of them! The Replicator rations question can be filed directly under the series' faults when it came to shuttlecraft, as we have to assume Voyager lost yet another one aboard the think tank's ship since Seven 'stole' a shuttle to get aboard, then was beamed back to safety - apparently through alien shields, no less, as we see shields up as the Hazari are attacking the vessel! They could easily have explained that due to Kurros' regular appearances in isomorphic projection form, there was a trail of particles between the ships that enabled a signal to be forced through - and that only took me seconds to think up! But the series was never one of the higher on the list of papering over inconsistencies, perhaps setting the course for later Treks to come, to its detriment.

Regarding the isomorphic projection, reminiscent of the misguided holo-comms of 'DSC,' I wanted to understand that better - okay, so he can drink Janeway's coffee, taste it, and it doesn't splatter on the deck, so is it like it's being beamed to his real body? Also, he appears with the list of demands with one of Voyager's own PADDs and hands it to Janeway. So... did he beam that in with the projection, and if so, why go to the trouble of projecting at all and just beam yourself in? All very fancy to make him look technologically superior, I suppose. I have yet to see 'Star Trek: Prodigy,' one of the current animated spinoffs, but from publicity I've seen it looks like their characters are a mix of non-humanoid creatures and I wondered if this think tank menagerie, shall we say, was an inspiration for that? Especially since it's supposed to be the most connected to 'Voyager' of any other series... As long as they didn't take inspiration from Seven's moral lesson of the episode: cheating is more efficient! I don't think that was the real message of the story, it was more about 'blue-sky thinking': thinking outside the box: being abstract, maybe? In that regard Starfleet officers can usually be relied upon to come up with unconventional solutions, as long as they're not unethical: using knowledge, but unlike Kurros and his cronies, not at all costs. Seven was very pragmatic and practical in her approach to the offer to go with them: it was logical she should be given up so the ship could be saved, not an emotional response, an acceptance of what needed to be done, though not recognising compassion for herself - as positive a message as self-sacrifice is, it needn't be jumped to as a default response, after all she's only got one life. Janeway could see that and would never give up her crew - would even Kirk have let Spock sacrifice himself in the warp core in 'Star Trek II'? It's hard to believe. What do you think of my solution, Admiral [to the no-win scenario]?

They weren't at the stage of a no-win scenario, even if the Hazari had so many ships they were more like an entire fleet than the traditional image of the bounty hunter as a lone individual. As Neelix said in his great moment, they'd been through worse before and he had faith in his Captain, which was warming to see and probably the most heartfelt moment in a cerebral-focused episode. I wish they'd use him as a sounding board more often, as he used to be in the first three seasons. Just because Voyager passed beyond the regions of space he knew, doesn't mean he isn't full of his own kind of wisdom from lived experience, and failing that, the constant reassurance of dedicated friendship (the same can be said for Tuvok). The only downer of the episode is Kurros' eerily prescient words that if Seven chooses to remain with Voyager she'll never be satisfied within those limitations, something that has proved true if you can accept the horrible things they did to her in 'Picard' - with Season 2 we know Starfleet kicked her out for Borg-ness (sure, sure, exactly what you'd expect from their modern view of the organisation), and that somehow caused her to go so far from her Voyager family, and I couldn't help noting the warning in this episode, even though it came from someone trying to manipulate, or hitting back at her rejection. The blue guy, Saowin, was played by Christopher Shea, who'd previously been the Vorta, Keevan, and would go on to play an Andorian and a Suliban, and another Christopher, Darga, played Klingons in 'DS9' and 'Enterprise,' here as the main Hazari. Steve Dennis (Fennim), had already been an alien in 'Warhead' and would return in 'Equinox,' plus in 'Enterprise' as an Andorian. I would say of this episode, it doesn't tank, but could definitely have done with a little more think.

**