11:59

 DVD, Voyager S5 (11:59)

There's something very affecting about a group photograph, and the way this episode ends going into that moment of the past and injecting life back into it as we see Janeway's ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell, now Janeway, and her offspring, a happy snapshot of the latter end of life, it's especially moving. It's a beautiful end to a unique episode, one of the most atypical of the series, if not the whole of Trek. It's not a sci-fi story, there's no time travel, other than for us, the audience, as we 'go back' and see the real story of what Janeway's ancestor did and how the Captain's line was formed - the moment Shannon almost walks out of the bookshop the first time, before she's really made a connection, was the moment you realise if she hadn't turned back Kathryn Janeway would never have existed. Time is a constant series of results from decisions and choices - well, maybe not constant, but turning left instead of right, accepting that job, walking into that building, any of it could have far-reaching implications and perhaps that is what the story is about? I say perhaps because I don't know what the story is about. For the Captain it's about delving into her own genealogy and finding disappointing answers: this ancestor who had inspired her to aspire to a career in space for being one of the first woman astronauts, turns out not to be what the family story told, but the fact she did inspire her was what mattered. For Trek it's about a kind of dawning of its own era, well before first contact with the Vulcans, another step on the trajectory towards space exploration.

In some ways it does appear to be a decrying of those 'backward' people who love history and wish they lived in the past 'when lives were worth living,' as Henry Janeway puts it, while the Trek future requires explorers and adventurers and those who are going to push towards the future envisioned by Trek. But it's not done in a cliched, simplistic delineation between past and future - the very story is about celebrating a past that got them to the future the series exists in. Trek has always (well, used to always), had a strong foot in the past, an acknowledgement of history, a reverence for the old. Yes, they have Holodecks, Transporters and sundry technological wonders, yet plenty of Starfleet people we've met, from Kirk to Picard, find pleasure in old books, in recounting historical events or knowing the genealogies of their past. Trek has had a nuanced connection with the past, it didn't throw it all out and ignore it as irrelevant, it's a part of this future, and that's satisfying to see - they understand the importance of knowing what happened and learning from it, not dismissing it, disbelieving the evidence or failing to have an interest in exploring and unearthing the facts. Janeway is dismayed that the facts don't fit her picture, but the lovely thing about the story is her friends, her crew, rally round to remind her that her ancestry was important: it brought her into the world, for one! I can't help imagining how current Trek would tell the same kind of story and it would be that Shannon was more important than was thought, she achieved more, we owe her more, it would be all about her, her, her to the exclusion of all else!

The scenes with other characters on Voyager are quite sparse, more like inserts amid the real story, but they are also carefully laid crumbs on a trail that leads to a fantastic melding of the two stories as we see the connection of family for both Shannon and Janeway in their respective positions and times, a beautiful commonality they share. I've always liked it when the A- and B-stories in an episode find a way to come together at the end in artistic meeting. In this case both stories were connected from the start by the fact of them being about what Janeway thinks happened and what actually happened, but it was still pleasurable to see them intertwine so much and in such a personal way for her and the crew. At first it does simply seem like they couldn't justify setting an episode entirely in the past with only one member of the cast acting in it - I suppose they could have used the approach of other stories where the setting is mainly off the home ship or station and bring the cast in to play other contemporary characters of the time, but that could have distracted from the story in this case which is really about the connection between two very opposite people. But as the story progresses the little scenes peppered here and there build to an affirmation of friendship and family that crown the episode very neatly and make it important that it was a 'Voyager' episode instead of something that could have been done on any old series.

I remember finding it somewhat of a disappointment when I first saw it as it was in the days when I was getting advanced notice of upcoming episodes thanks to Star Trek Monthly, the magazine still going today (in its third guise after Star Trek Magazine, now Star Trek Explorer), and so I had been primed for some kind of 'Future's End'-type adventure about the past, or our present as viewers (hmm, wonder why Janeway never thought to look Shannon up when she was on Earth in 1996!), and not some adult exploration of loyalty and progress (adult in the true sense of the word, not the modern Trek view of gratuitous violence, swearing, etc!), that wasn't particularly interesting to a teenager. But the episode has aged very nicely so that each time I enjoy it a little more. It wasn't about some exciting thing called the Millennium Gate, which sounded ripe for weird alien plots or something, but is in fact about the meeting of past and future, two people who are 'stuck' in each non-present finding common ground. It is strange, because it subverts the traditional idea that big business, commercial interests come in and rip up an old town, force out any resisters who only care about the place's heritage, and usually it's a victory for tradition versus so-called progress by those who only want to exploit the place. Instead it's about someone coming around to accept modernity for the sake of this woman - Henry has the power, but Shannon has the key to everything, and she's the one that wants it all: both Henry, setting in motion Janeway's family line, but also getting the job that she needs, so it's about compromise, not dismissing one view or another.

On the face of it is about opposing views, but it's less about that than it is about discovering your place in the world - Shannon claims she's in a transitional stage, Henry asks from what to what. There's a lot of that talking around things, like when she returns to the bookshop at the end and he says it's closed and she replies that's not what the sign says. They're beating the air with words, it's not that they really mean much, they're simply sallies to reach a point of contact and that was fascinating to see and hear. It is very strange seeing the 'evil' businessman, bald, besuited, trying to get Shannon to appeal to Henry's nature and manipulate him around, but she's never less than honest: she'll think about the offer and she goes back and tells Henry, almost like she's putting the offer to him. It helps both characters are enjoyable to watch and there's a good sense of warmth and joy to the story to the extent it very much feels like Christmas in the best Trek tradition, complete with actual Christmas decorations and lights because of the time of year in which it's set, with the snow falling at the end as Henry makes his decision to emerge and grant permission for the development to go ahead. It's not even explicit that he's abandoned modern life because his wife died, but you can get that message from the way he's so intent on living through books, the story having a very similar message to 'Generations' about cherishing time and not living in fiction, an apt warning for those of us who love the Trek world and want to exist there as much as possible.

As much as I had suspicions about the theme of abandoning the past to live in the present with all its preparation for the future, I couldn't help but be buoyed by the charm of it all and the fact it isn't rabidly one view. Clearly, and fitting with Trek's use of technology and a future that is quite different, the 'progress' nature of movement towards this ideal is the predominant view, but it also allows space for the past, not dismissing it. It's surreal to see Kate Mulgrew driving around in an old banger on icy Earth streets at the turn of the millennium and they get their references in to the Y2K bug and the fact that the Millennium was celebrated a year earlier than it actually was since it was actually the turn of 2000 to 2001, not 1999 to 2000, which was fun, and also prophetic considering this came out in 1999 so they couldn't have been certain these things were as they predicted! There was concern over what it would mean to cross over into a new millennium, people didn't know what to expect, even though it's really only our own measure of time. But above all it is that warmth, the 'Star Trek IV' joy - it's not that it's hilarious or exciting or even profound, but there is something poetic about it all, simple messages of family and a reassuringly old-fashioned approach and message about familiar things of society instead of some new order, dangerous ideologies, changing of fundamental behaviours and beliefs that is upsetting society as the fashion of the now, while at the same time this story is about development. And it's great fun Shannon calls her car her rocket ship and records what are basically ship's logs on tape recorder as she goes.

What helps the episode is a lack of distraction. The scenes on Voyager are few and link directly in to the story, and there are no familiar guest actors for once (though the passerby who isn't much help was played by James Greene who'd had other roles in both 'TNG' and 'DS9,' but he's not a name I'd know), and no aliens. Janeway did mention different alien races' historical views of humanity, like the Vulcans dealing with savages, the Ferengi drawn to Wall Street and Bolians disgusted with our plumbing, but it's the central pillars of Henry and Shannon upon which the story-building takes place. It doesn't rely on a lot of Trek history and references, nor is it an action story of defending this or that. The Millennium Gate itself isn't even that important, it sounds grander than it really is, described as either a self-sustaining civic building that laid the groundwork for bio-domes on Mars, or a glorified shopping centre (I must admit I prefer more open air centres than closed-in and artificial, personally!), but it's really there as a symbol of modernity which can either be fought or embraced. I thought there was a mistake in Kim's story of an ancestor in 2210 putting the crew into stasis for a six-month journey (whereas in 'Enterprise' they had warp 5 ships long before then so wouldn't need to travel like that, and also in that series they were laying out relay stations for messages, too!), but then I realised his ancestor stayed awake as pilot so it's not that they didn't have warp, it was just a long trip and there was no need to be awake for it. I liked the message that books can take you anywhere, anytime, even if that isn't what you're supposed to take away, but if you expand it to Trek, which can do the same, it has more relevance, and they fully succeeded in that here.

***

Darkness

 DVD, Stargate Universe S1 (Darkness)

Either the first proper episode of the series or the fourth, depending on whether you count the pilot as one or the three parts as individual. Let's call it the first standard-length episode. Last time it was air they were short of, this time it's power, hence the title (all making sense so far). At this stage it remains difficult to judge the series, either on its merits or its story, but certainly its sense of place is working and there's an attempt to solidify who these people are in our minds thanks to the device of having many of them record their name, age and job, plus what they think of the situation on the floating camera orbs Eli dubbed kinos. It was helpful because there are so many characters, but at least we now know most of them in small part: there's Volker, the astrophysicist ordered to work with Dr. Rush, Riley, Brody the engineer guy, Spencer the soldier, the science lady (who didn't give her name), TJ the medic, James another soldier... Curious that in Scott's moment he says a prayer since you don't often see specific beliefs given time in TV (especially Christian), and after his behaviour in 'Air' where he was not exactly holding true to such a faith in certain moral ways, leading you to assume his faith had lapsed, or maybe that's the point and this position has brought it back into focus for him? I'm not sure you could say there was a strong story holding things together so far, perhaps due to the serialised nature of this most experimental (yet also following the herd in terms of what was popular at that time and since: serialisation, the shaky cam, the images of the ship that look as if they're being captured for real by documentary meaning they aren't the perfect space shots...), entry in the franchise, so it comes across as quite bitty.

Multiple character arcs are being set up while under the overall plot of the latest survival situation: in this case whether it was all for nothing because the ship isn't doing anything. They should trust the ship, that's all I'm saying. I have the advantage of knowing what's going to happen, and it does look dire, but it usually ends in some beautiful turnaround so no need to worry. The real trouble comes from the humans aboard Destiny for the most part as we see friendships forming (Eli and Chloe), rivalries more evident (Rush and authority), and even the hints of potential mutiny when Eli is brought before a group of people that think he knows what's going on and demand he tell them. As would often be the case, it's Rush's story that is most interesting as he goes from his standard level of irritation, to cranky, to violently angry, shoving Riley against a wall and later collapsing as he feels the pressure and rants as the only one who can really comprehend all the systems, leading to a physical breakdown. It made a lot of sense that it wasn't stemming from conscience: we ultimately find out from Johansen he's going through caffeine (and nicotine), withdrawal, which was a very realistic and believable problem that people would have if they suddenly went cold turkey after the evacuation of Icarus Base - just like the science experiments in 'Air' where you see beakers and chemicals there's a real world style that is often missing from much modern sci-fi, making it no better than fantasy. It's good to see 'Stargate' doing things differently (not that they never used fantasy elements, but it was usually science fiction more than anything else), and makes their predicament much more real.

We also have the fleeting images of the ship in space that continue to be majestic and beautiful so that the only complaint is they don't linger on them long enough. The people problems are apparently the main focus of the series, in opposition to the usual 'Stargate' manner of telling stories, so there is much conflict, much uncertainty and seeds of trouble planted all over. Time is allowed for Young to make a communication stones trip back to Earth which gives Colonel Telford another chance to sow dissent and try to stir up trouble as he believes Young is a problem (Director and actor Peter DeLuise gets a cameo as the guy Telford comes to relieve just in time to make the stones' swap - he must have a sixth sense!), while we see a little of Young's life as he takes the opportunity after reporting in to visit his lady whom we saw in flashback last time accusing him of putting his job first above her and she can't accept the sci-fi explanation of him showing up in Telford's body. I'm assuming he wasn't supposed to have told her what was going on as it would be all top secret so maybe there'll be ramifications if that gets out, but it shows a little bit of where he's coming from. And he does a good job of keeping things together in a difficult position, dealing with this mix of civilians and soldiers in various stages of obedience - while Rush may give the impression of seeing the crew as children compared to his great intellect, he is also quite childish and Young deals with him in a very mature way.

I don't know why they insist on presenting Earth-based scenes in such a washed-out tone, almost moving towards the sepia, but perhaps it's meant to emphasise the unreality of it compared to the real business of life on Destiny? As is common with early episodes of more serialised series' the story is taking its time to get going as multiple payoffs and storylines are set in motion for the future which leads to individual episodes not being quite as satisfying an experience in themselves - the series remains nice to look at, it has all kinds of avenues of promise, and it's enjoyable to be on this ship with all its potential for story and drama, this breathtakingly vast concept of travel beyond what we can really understand, but that inability to quite grasp the magnitude of the situation also means it is yet to be fully compelling storytelling. So far it is merely events and opinion, argument and setup. Once the characters are fully laid out it will improve, not to say it isn't a positive viewing experience, just not enough to rate strongly at this point in the development of the series. And when I first saw it I was disappointed we didn't get an opening credits sequence, the modern way of having a brief logo flash up, then cast names over the opening scenes to squeeze more time in the hour for adverts, a despicable practice, but just one more example of it edging away from the traditional 'Stargate' towards more mainstream popular drama. Shame it didn't work out for them...

**

Someone To Watch Over Me

 DVD, Voyager S5 (Someone To Watch Over Me)

Seven of Nine is described by the Doctor as charming and efficient and he could just as well have been talking of this episode as it is a quite charming experience, but as can sometimes be the case with the better episodes of a series, it's not one that allows much for the reviewer to write about. It's a pretty simple tale of two halves: in the one we have the Doctor continuing his efforts to school Seven in the social graces of human society, while in the other we have Neelix acting in his capacity as Ambassador and trying to stem the tide of exuberant excess which a visiting monk is set on enjoying, both plots being entertaining and delightful. It suits Neelix to be selected for such a task because ambassadorial duties have long been among his roles in the crew, and it suits the dramatic potential, too, since he's out of his depth as someone desperately trying to curb his guest's appetites while at the same time allowing him the latitude to explore this other culture, and walking that line between control and freedom, something that other members of the crew would be better suited to: if it had been Tuvok or Chakotay, for example, they'd have been better able to keep Tomin in check, but Neelix is constantly being flustered because he hasn't had much of this one-to-one experience before and doesn't want to let down his Captain in what appears an austere and delicate trade. As it turns out, Tomin's superior, the Abbot (I wasn't sure if that was his name or title, it could be either, or even both), expected him to take advantage of the opportunity, so either way, no harm is done.

Abbot himself reminded me oddly of a mix between the Talosians (thanks to the bulbous-headed look given to him by his large grey hood), with the face of Commodore Mendez (an actor that had also appeared in then-modern Trek as a villainous Romulan in 'TNG'), but sadly it wasn't Malachi Throne at all. The actual actor was Ian Abercrombie in his first role in Trek, but who they liked enough to bring back for another holo-centred story in 'Spirit Folk' during the following season. Tomin was played by Scott Thompson as opposed to Scottie Thompson (seen briefly as Nero's wife in 'Star Trek XI'), and he did a fine job, even if it paints the monastic type as secretly longing for a worldly life of pleasure. Not the best example of showing other ways of living in the best light, but in fairness we have seen plenty of similar orders and characters that have been very serious about their beliefs, and this was quite a comedic episode. The comedy is contrasted by the tragedy, if we can use such a term for the Doctor's predicament: that of falling for his pupil. They do have a good friendship, the Doctor and Seven both finding satisfaction in each other's company and he's certainly one of the people most trusted by her. The real tragedy may be that he almost threw it away by turning her social success into a bet - even the most difficult to offend would be horrified to be used in such a way, and Seven is no different. Fortunately, this isn't a soap, nor a serial so we don't need to drag it out over multiple episodes and she's quick to forgive him for his misdemeanour, one of the simplest, but best moments for its complete lack of drama, or even worse, melodrama!

Tom Paris (whom we're reminded is an Ensign these days after his punishment in 'Thirty Days' - at first I thought Tomin had made a mistake, then remembered he'd been demoted), was shown to be completely insensitive for someone that's so quick to pick up on what's going on with the Doctor, blurting out about the bet in front of Seven, but then perhaps that shows what he believes about her: that she doesn't have feelings which can be offended. In comparison to B'Elanna (once again losing her temper - she seems to have regressed since being with Tom, though I assume it's more to do with her Maquis-related crisis earlier in the season!), she seems entirely composed and unruffled by most things, but I'm sure if he'd stopped to think he would have held his tongue even in Seven's presence. It's a real joy to see the Seven that we knew after going through the gruelling, distressing 'Picard' series in which she's reduced to an uninteresting action babe - it may have been 'Voyager' in which she wore the skintight suits, but she was far more nuanced and developed than she is now. It's like the worst parts of her were magnified in 'Picard' and to go back to the real Seven, the one with potential and a bright future as a member of Voyager's crew is real balm on the wounds of those of us who forced our way through 'Picard' Seasons 1 and 2 (whether they succeed with her in 3 is yet to be seen for me, though I very much doubt it).

Out of the small pool of guest characters for this episode I'd say Lieutenant Chapman was the most interesting for his brave acceptance of this difficult woman inviting him to dinner in the Holodeck. It was completely out of the blue, it's not like he's a character that had been seen before, and he would likewise never be seen again (judging by his experience with Seven I wonder if he transferred off the ship, perhaps to join that monastic order!), which is a shame because in the early seasons the series did a great job of using a few recurring crew-members that they could bring in for whatever purpose they saw fit, be it Carey and his disagreements and competitiveness with B'Elanna, Hogan with his ultimate role as 'redshirt,' Jonas as a Maquis spy, or Suder for the intriguing ethical situation in which he placed the Captain, not to mention others even more visible like Seska, Wildman, or later, Vorik. One of the things they lost in the middle years was that sense of a crew that doesn't change because they can't: there are no other humans out this far, no starships from which to transfer to or from (though that'd change at the end of the season...), and so it makes sense that we'd be seeing the same faces more and more. But that also threw up potential production pitfalls of retaining an extending recurring cast, giving them things to do which could take away from the main cast, and not having enough people to draw from for any new potential drama that can come from a crew-member we didn't know (like Suder).

I can see why they did that, and partly it must have been in deliberate opposition to the 'DS9' way thanks to the rivalry between productions, but there's no question the series was only enhanced by its sense of place and familiarity that was being eroded or sometimes ignored in these later seasons. Chapman was an example of that. He could have been set up a few episodes prior, but then again they may not have thought about this episode or formed the character, the series preferred to remain almost entirely episodic at this stage, which as I pointed out earlier can be a boon when it comes to not dragging out misery over multiple stories, but also loses some dramatic potential in some cases. But Chapman was fun and Seven's scenes with him entertaining - I must say I wondered if he knew about her social exercises: he can't have failed to notice the Doctor attending their holoprogram in the guise of a piano player since he didn't show any surprise when he hurries over after Seven's injured the poor man while dancing. When you think the Holodeck is such a small location, unless it was a bustling group evening where various couples from the crew were attending for their own little candlelit dinners, you'd think Chapman would find it odd that another crew-member would be in there with them! Maybe he just didn't know what was going on and was just so focused on the most impressive woman aboard asking him to dinner that he never thought about it!

Privacy didn't seem to be much in evidence during the episode as Tom walks in on an earlier attempt by the Doctor for a lesson. Don't they lock people out or was he there by arrangement? It didn't seem so. And does everyone know about the Doc teaching Seven how to interact, or just Tom? Is there a rule that at certain times the Holodeck is open to anyone and private programs aren't allowed? Or is it simply that because Tom was the designer of the 'Chez Sandrine' program he has access to it whenever he wants? (Or that Robert Duncan McNeill was directing his third episode, so he should have access to every area whenever he wanted!). It was lovely to return to a familiar haunt that had been superseded by other holoprograms over the years, but sad they didn't include any of the characters that went with it, like the hustler or Sandrine herself (although I was surprised to find Judy Geeson only played the role in a measly two episodes!). When you think of it as a computer program, just like computer games, everything should be stored as it was when it was last used, so I don't know why they didn't go further in the recreation except that other characters weren't needed. The program could have been modified at any time, so it's not a problem, but if you're going to bring back an element from earlier in the series surely you'd want to make get maximum nostalgia effect? It's not the most original story idea, either, bringing to mind a mixture of the Odo/Kira story 'His Way' (just as good in its own way, or in his own way!), in the sense of trying out scenarios holographically you're not ready for in the real world (it is after all primarily a training tool), and that 'TNG' episode where ambassadors are hosted and don't behave in the expected way ('Liaisons'). Even 'Real Life' when the Doctor had a holo-family has similarities, though nothing so tragic happens here.

It's really not the originality that matters, though - I've said this many times in reviews: you can do almost exactly the same story and as long as you show a different character archetype going through it then you can have an equally fascinating exploration of that story and character from an entirely different perspective. It's not the same for Seven as it is for Odo, or would be for the Doctor, or Tuvok, or Tom, or..., etc. That was one of the qualities of Trek when they were mainly concerned with exploring a small corner of the Trek world or an individual character rather than attempting to create vast impersonal stakes on a galactic scale, or all the other failings of current Trek's storytelling (leaving aside those which I have yet to see, but judging on the seven combined seasons of 'DSC,' 'Picard' and 'Lower Decks'). The richness of the world these characters inhabit used to be enough, and there are further examples of that depth and breadth here: we see the old faithful dress uniforms brought out again. 'Course: Oblivion' was the last time we saw them, though in that case they weren't real. We see a Bolian and what appears to be a purple-haired Boslic called Tria, a very underused species that I believe had only been played by one actress in the past (a friend of Quark's called Rionoj who was in three episodes), so that was nice to see. Oddly, there appears to be some uncertainty over who played Tria as Memory Alpha has Dene Doucette listed, while the latest 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' says Monika Kusley so they can't both be right (although the web page was saved in 2013 and the book came out in 2016, but on the other hand it also has many mistakes in it!).

I was wrong, there was plenty to say about this episode, it wasn't merely a fun and poignant exercise for the Doctor and Seven to engage in. And I haven't even mentioned the singing! As a rule I don't like singing in films and TV series, it can too often take you out of the drama, pausing everything for the sake of some musical expression, which is why I can't stand musicals (they've talked about doing a musical episode for years, especially in the current era, which I hope never happens, stretching credibility too far, though they've already done that anyway...), but Trek has always used music and singing tastefully (even if some can't stand the hippies in 'The Way To Eden,' I really enjoyed all that!), or entertainingly, and most importantly, sparingly! Having the Doctor and Seven duet was delightful and we'd already heard they were accomplished singers individually as the Doc's always had an interest in opera, while Seven played a nightclub singer in occupied France during World War II in 'The Killing Game.' Typical of her, she brings down such abilities and advantages to mere Borg vocal processor efficiency, but the beauty can't be hidden behind dry technical terms. Whenever they sing in the episode it's a lovely moment, just as it has been in every Trek series at one time or another (though I'm not sure I remember any singing in 'Enterprise' - I have a feeling that's where the idea of a musical episode may have first been brought up since Scott Bakula was also an accomplished performer in that regard). As an episode it may not have any far-reaching ramifications, but as another slice in the lives of these people we enjoy seeing, it stands as another highlight of the season.

****

Air

 DVD, Stargate Universe S1 (Air)

Where to begin? It was a much longer opening episode than I ever remembered, essentially three parts in one, so there's a lot to keep track of. Fortunately I watched this a few years ago when I bought all the 'Stargate' sets instead of waiting to view it in its proper place in chronological sequence. That makes it a little easier to digest this vast episode than if I were coming to it brand new, I know the characters, broadly where they go, and where the series ended (too soon), but I came to it originally without any prior knowledge of either this (other than its ignominiously early demise), or its prequel, 'Atlantis,' if you can call it that when there's no connection between the two other than both being in the same universe! I hadn't even watched all of 'SG-1' at that time so I was truly venturing into the unknown much like the characters. It's slightly disappointing there was no character in the continuing cast that had featured in the previous series', though we have plenty of faces from past 'Stargate,' not the least being three of the original four cast members of the original series. But I was hoping some minor recurring character from 'Atlantis' would be in the main cast, not quite remembering who all the characters were. There are a lot of them, one of the signs this was charting new territory for the franchise which had tried to stay as close in style, tone and format to its parent show when 'Atlantis' came long. You can see the influence of such Noughties TV as 'Lost,' setting up a big ongoing adventure story for a large cast to solve, no one safe, and filming it in a much more prestige drama style than the more traditional formula the other series' had followed.

We have a lot of shaky-cam, something that was becoming more and more common and which is a little irritating, and gone is the usual opening title sequence, though at least for this episode we do have a beautiful, majestic fly-by of the Ancient ship, Destiny, as the cast names appear. The premise seems to be a lot more about interpersonal conflict than the tight band of four or five characters of yore, so we have all kinds of threads hanging loose, upon which the writers had set up potential to be pulled from: there's the fresh-faced, good if flawed, Scott, there's the volatile bad boy with a temper Greer, the genius boy Eli and most importantly main scientist boffin Dr. Rush. There's a blonde medic, Colonel Young whom we don't really get beyond typical heroic leading man, and Chloe, daughter of a Senator who dies saving the ship. And there are others: James, another soldier, Camille, a representative of the IOA, and no doubt various others I'm forgetting. It's all a bit messy and you're really unsure of what the series is going to be from all this setup - if I'd seen 'Atlantis' beforehand I'd have noticed the parallels that it's another vast alien 'city' to explore within the bowels of which anything of story potential could come, as it did in that series. It's a little clumsy as to why there could be this ship out so far beyond not just our Milky Way Galaxy, but the Pegasus and many more, way away from any petty little alien worries like Lucian Alliance or Wraith forces, it's mind-blowingly vast in concept. And yet we hear this isn't the first ship that went out so far, other 'gate-building and seeding ships went first to prepare a route so this ship could follow, but wasn't this ship meant to be unmanned too?

They speculate that perhaps the Ancients ascended before they got around to boarding it, but then why would it have been sent out at all if they could already get Stargates out there? You see the logic problems, but they had to come up with some way to have Stargates still be part of the series otherwise they couldn't really call it that! Though clumsy, the setup was still pretty good and it both begins and ends well, from the moment people are being hurled out of the Stargate into this dark hall, to the mad scramble to bring the necessary sediment or whatever it was, back to the ship, there was a great sense of first confusion, and later jeopardy. It can't help but be (probably deliberately so), compared with a genre (though not one of mine), favourite: 'Battlestar Galactica,' in the sense that they start in disarray, escaping from a foe that means they can never go back, and then they're simply trying to survive. Another influence must be 'Voyager' since they're out in a distant space far beyond all else that had been encountered in past series'. This both frees them and makes them captive at the same time, because how do you do aliens beyond all known galaxies, not just our 'small' region of space. They would tend to avoid them as much as possible, though the episode ends with a tantalising hint of things to come when a tiny craft detaches from the Destiny and flies off. But as much as they had the possibility of newness to explore, they were also mostly cut off from the lore and continuity of 'Stargate' as a whole, something that may have hurt the series overall.

They weren't entirely trapped on this dark vessel away from everything they'd ever known, they had the communications stones which would enable trips back to Earth, mentally at least, and also the appearance of other characters (like Dr. Lee or Walter). This gave an added benefit of being able to do all kinds of stories not restricted to the ship, wisely. If they weren't too restricted they did trap themselves a little bit by losing the lightness and neatness of those well depicted archetypes. Not to say they aren't there, the series is still well rooted in the military versus scientific mentality, with a side order of civilian interference that has always been there, it's just more spread out amongst various characters. One thing that did appeal, especially after the more fantasy bent of modern Trek and other sci-fi, is that procedures were followed and things made sense: they get sunburnt because they don't come with sunscreen, and they're doing little experiments to locate what they need on the desert planet, it doesn't just happen with technology or magic. Not to say that hierarchy is always followed, the chain of command is confused by Young being incapacitated for most of the story, there's a mass of frightened people, both soldiers and civilians, and various strong-minded individuals with their own ideas as to what should be done. What is interesting is seeing how things come together, with some characters making the wrong decision that gets them killed.

There's also a good sense of there being more to most of these people than we're used to, we're not sure if they're good or bad, they have their own agendas: is Rush their only hope or is he a troublemaker intent on achieving his own ends at the expense of others? Eli is the one we're supposed to warm to as the outsider being shown or explained to about all the various 'Stargate' lore, though he is a little annoying, this podgy young guy who only got there through solving a puzzle in a computer game that had been designed to find someone suitable for the mission. He's easily walked over by the others, as he should be, I didn't understand why you'd put him in charge of one of the teams on the desert when he has no leadership training at all, other than for dramatic purpose. Chloe, similarly was a bit of a disgrace, having an emotional meltdown as her Father gives up his life to save the ship, and making his last moments torturous as he must be able to hear her selfish wailing for him to come back instead of bravely accepting his decision and being strong for him (but we see where she got it from as her Mother is also extremely emotional!). That's not to say we don't see bravery in action, whether that be Scott taking the plunge to see where the Ninth Chevron has led the 'gate, or Young being the last to evacuate the doomed Icarus Base, to Greer going back for Scott when he's out of contact in the desert with time running out before the ship jumps again.

I liked the direction for the most part, the way the flashbacks to how this all came about aren't 'One Day Previously' as we've seen so many times before, but were woven into the story more organically, and when they had montages or moments of danger it was well done and shot nicely, other than the overuse of shaky-cam. The desert portion of the story took me all the way back to Season 1 of 'SG-1' when they encountered these intelligent crystals on another desert planet, only in this case it's intelligent, benevolent sand. The effects were very good, and that goes for the ship and the Faster-Than-Light aurora borealis light shows as well, it's just a shame the interiors are so dark and dingy, though I can see why it has to be that way so they can be creepy about it all and you never know if that's a shadow in the corner or a hatch into some little crevice, providing ever more dramatic potential. I liked the music which suitably evoked the alienness and scale of the ship and the situation these people find themselves in, so Joel Goldsmith was still going strong, just a shame they couldn't have had an opening theme along with the closing theme. It was somewhat refreshing to see some of the attitudes from characters, made before PC took over completely, so there's still a rough reality about people that I appreciated, even if it wasn't always complimentary. It was sad the series never lasted beyond two seasons, but I'm certainly looking forward to seeing it with new eyes as the last bit of 'Stargate' (not counting 'Origins' as it's only a short, is a prequel, and has never been released on DVD). This particular 'episode,' if you can call it that as it's more like a full film, had its moments, but also felt a little drawn out (much like modern serialised sci-fi), but I know they did better as the series progressed.

**

Juggernaut

 DVD, Voyager S5 (Juggernaut)

Further evidence that Season 5 was finely tuned, achieving a balance with the characters that had been lost when Seven joined the ship, and which would affect the ensemble negatively in the last two seasons: this time the favourites are most definitely in supporting roles, with Janeway, the Doctor and Seven all reduced in screen time, while B'Elanna, Neelix and Chakotay are elevated to leading roles, and it's a pleasure to see. If it were merely the balance of the cast it would be no guarantee of a great episode, but we also have a strong story that displays a masterclass in dramatic structure and makes me wish we could have seen Bryan Fuller's 'Discovery' because it would undoubtedly have been superior to what we actually got in that series when you see the kind of quality he was involved in here. There's a ticking clock, a risky mission, a dark, eerie ship to progress through, and a personal stake with Torres' temper cropping up again as a detriment to her service on Voyager. There is the impression of the series turning back time, grasping at the past of the first two or three seasons to give us the drama we had then, back when B'Elanna was a loose cannon, barely controlled by her respect for her former commanding officer in the Maquis, Chakotay, and he was much sterner and stricter, dishing out Maquis justice to enforce cooperation with Janeway, while Neelix was the go-to expert always a high priority to bring along on a mission.

It is a little strange that these characterisations should return since things had become a lot friendlier, a lot more relaxed, but it can easily be justified by events that had happened in the past year or so: dealing with the Borg, Seven of Nine proving a thorn in B'Elanna's side and somewhat taking her place under the Captain's wing - not that she needed it, she'd learned to soar thanks to Janeway's trust and tutelage, and the Captain once again shows what a strong understanding she has of her Chief Engineer when she refuses Tuvok's advice to send him to take over the Away Team, stamping the brand of faith on her crew-woman, a faith justified. But the biggest change was the very personal and violent reaction Torres had experienced regarding news of the Maquis' annihilation by the Jem'Hadar, as seen in 'Extreme Risk' where she was throwing caution to the wind as a reaction to her emotional problems. This would appear to be an outgrowth of that experience, showing the series could do ongoing arcs if it chose to, another aspect more common in the early part of the series. It's true that Torres has appeared to regress, but she's been through some trauma and this story was a way to further address that. I must admit, the ending did leave me wondering if her difficulty controlling her temper was to be an ongoing plot as we see her reliving the violence she was forced to inflict upon the unfortunate core labourer intent on sabotaging the giant time bomb that was the Malon freighter, as she relaxed in the sonic shower (showing it in operation for the first time ever, unless you count 'The Motion Picture'!), yet haunted by her actions.

It was strange, because I was getting a warm and pleasant reaction to the moment she's about to bludgeon the enemy to death, but then does the Trek thing and instead resorts to talking it out. That's what Picard would do! It showed her maturity, already seen on so many occasions in the development of the character, only this time she's unable to appeal to the opposition's reason and is ultimately forced to beat him down to prevent the catastrophe he's trying to ensure. It reminded me of Suder, the Betazoid murderer from Season 2 who was similarly counselled by Tuvok, just as B'Elanna is here, and then, just like her, was forced into using his violent side again to protect the ship when the Kazon took over. This story doesn't have the same power as those of 'Basics,' which were among the best in the series, but there was certainly a sense of parallel there I picked up on. The downside is that, while it's more realistic that she had to use her last resort, it's not quite as true to the Trek ideal that the enemy can pretty much always be reasoned with, that they will respond rationally and sensibly. Clearly much more realistic in this approach of only understanding force as the solution, though not as inspirational. But it was true to Trek that she at least made an impassioned effort. It just means we don't get to see a satisfying coda in which she talks about what happened and we feel she learned something and everything's secure and safe. Instead we don't know if she's traumatised, whether this will come back in future... You could say it was more dramatic and perhaps a decision not to do what was expected, the usual happy ever after moral takeaway to underline a theme.

Something that was very much in the Trek mould was 'humanising' an enemy race, getting to know them, showing them within their own context, and who would have thought the Malon would have had that opportunity! If they represent a trait of humanity, it would be the rubbish men, coming to take our refuse away, with a side order of environmental issues. We'd seen Borg rehabilitated, Jem'Hadar on 'DS9,' even the scourge of our galaxy, Species 8472 had been given the humanisation treatment, it's just one of those things that made Trek what it was. I say made, and that's because modern Trek has little to do with the kind of hardware-based, philosophical exploring, sci-fi ideas and character exploration that worked so well for so long - I was even thinking in the scene where Torres tries to talk the labourer to stop what he's doing, that modern Trek wouldn't bother with that, they'd just have her come in swinging, and be a lot more violent about it, too! But though there was that element of desperate discussion, she did have to fight in the end so old Trek didn't have the absolute moral high ground (and when they said about the Vihaar myth I immediately thought of Vahar'ai, the process Kelpiens experience - new Trek has contaminated me!).

To get back on topic, the Malon are presented for the first time as three-dimensional beings with families back home, a beautiful planet, and rational explanations for their behaviour instead of merely being demonised as these disgusting, hateful people that care nothing for anyone. It doesn't mean they aren't those things, too, but they carefully picked a guest cast of Trek veterans, actors who knew how to act through the bulky prosthetics, wigs and costume, to go as far as making the Malon at least partially sympathetic in this situation, and that was an impressive aspect of the story. When guest characters are shown to be more than merely enemies it adds nuance and makes them far more interesting than mere targets to be taken down. I found it most telling that these workers, scarred by freighter blight as they are, contaminated by radiation, were still able to have children and are doing what they do so their families will have a better life - and the worst job is practically a death sentence yet some are willing to take on the task knowing even if they likely won't survive, their family will be taken care of. Nobility in the Malon? Surely not! Of course if they'd wanted to do more episodes they could have gone into even further detail on the race, perhaps shown that some unscrupulous types actually round up the unwanted from society and force them into the role of core labourers, and explore the areas where Malon society could be further at fault, but there were no other Malon stories, they'd served their purpose. This episode was their justification, making right what had been a simplistic villain at the start of the season.

There's nothing like a steamy, slimy mass of machinery to crawl through for evoking the danger and claustrophobia of a ticking time bomb, and B'Elanna gets to strip down to her vest, much like Janeway in Macrocosm, or Picard in 'First Contact' and 'Insurrection,' and get sweaty - the grey Starfleet vest was a great invention from Robert Blackman when he created what I consider the best uniforms Trek ever had: the grey-ribbed shoulder uniform of 'First Contact.' Technically, the grey vest came about earlier because it was often seen as an undershirt on 'DS9' and then 'Voyager' in the years before 'First Contact,' but the film made it acceptable for Starfleet officers to shed their outer garment and clamber around in the peak of physical condition you'd expect (O'Brien's years of standing around in the Transporter Room notwithstanding!), and it was used to great effect in episodes like this to the extent that Chakotay actually looks overdressed in comparison to Torres stripping down to streamlined proportions. Even Neelix gets to wear a sleek outfit because obviously he never wears a uniform not having been through the Academy where he'd need to earn the right to wear the uniform, and the same for Seven. I wonder why he wasn't wearing the grey or bluish Away Team outfit that had been used in previous episodes like 'Blood Fever,' they seemed to have dispensed with those, perhaps because they now had the option of the vest. Regardless, the look really suits Torres' role and her mood, as well as the very non-Starfleet locale because you know whenever someone removes their jacket they mean business.

I'm not sure why Neelix was selected for the mission rather than, say, the Doctor, whose medical assistance could (and was), required in such a place and he was obviously someone who wouldn't be affected by a dangerous environment other than the risk to his mobile emitter. Or Tuvok could have been a sensible choice, but then drama sometimes requires the 'weaker' or less experienced characters to go through a situation (as happened with Seven over Tuvok in the previous episode), and while neither Torres nor Neelix are weak, they also have more pressure points than Tuvok, for instance. And just on a viewing level, it was lovely to see scenes of two characters that rarely have meaningful interactions together. If they were stripped of some pertinent characters they were also put into a less typical position of having to do without their basic equipment, another theme that is always worth exploring with relish because without their technology they're forced to rely on the training and expertise that we know they have. So in this case they couldn't use their Tricorders as it would attract electrical damage, and then when B'Elanna would use her Phaser to deal with the intruder, she can't because it would ignite the gas, so it really brings out their best when they have to improvise.

Controlling technology is useful, but as the episode demonstrates it is self-control that is just as, or even more, important to succeeding: B'Elanna had a good point that 'you can't order someone to meditate,' and there's a sense of that slightly playful, though ultimately serious First Officer/older brother friendship she always had with Chakotay where he's her commander, but obviously their history goes back further than Voyager, and that he's tried to help with her temper in the past. Fortunately we didn't get all that mumbo-jumbo about vision quests and suspect spirituality that was one of the negatives of the early seasons, and instead we get Vulcan mumbo-jumbo which, for reasons of being invented make it less problematic, even if it appears to be bog-standard meditation Tuvok's teaching (reminded me pleasantly of his tutoring of Kes in the old days), though it was more like a session of counselling to me! I do like it when Tuvok has the chance to help his fellow crew-members with logic and control, and while Torres seemed to have mellowed in the last couple of years, becoming more settled with her role and relying more on Paris as support, it's true that she does have deep-seated anger that had never gone away, mainly from the way she was treated for her Klingon heritage, which shows that children were still being obnoxious even in this idealised future, and once again reminding us of the fallen state of human nature rather than reiterating the mistaken belief that humanity is by nature good. I'm sure people will be pulling out the Paris quote about Ferengi, except that however you look at it, it was generally true!

One quote I enjoyed, and that had nothing really to do with the episode, was an observation by Seven in one of her few scenes that the Captain 'does seem to succeed more often than random chance would allow,' which could be seen as a little bit of breaking the fourth wall as it reminds us that Janeway leads a charmed life as the Captain of a Trek series. And I must say, I was very impressed with the Chakotay we got in this episode, continuing the trend of the season that gave him good, authoritative lines and actions that never took away from Janeway's ultimate superiority, and as I remember it, would be lost in Seasons 6 and 7, sadly. But he's forceful when he needs to be, clamping down on Torres, but also being supportive. You can tell he's worried at certain points, but he makes decisions and stands by them, and he'd have made a great Captain in Starfleet, I'm sure. The only thing he did wrong was to look back: never look back, just keep on going, and because of that he was injured and taken out of the picture. But that was all part of the escalating drama as if this was some kind of action disaster film - and it is a major catastrophe where everything in three lightyears will be destroyed if this freighter goes up. The stakes are high and things keep going wrong, they have to twist and turn to solve each problem, it's people you don't often see working together, and you have the timbrous tones of Ron Canada to sell the Malon as more than mere rubbish men.

There's really nothing to dislike, it has good production value, room for characters to breathe and reminds us of who these people are. You could almost believe this was a lost Season 1 episode with B'Elanna's volatility, Neelix slaving over a hot stove, Tuvok back in his mentoring role, and Chakotay given the reins of commanding an Away Team, back to... I won't say a better time because I think Seasons 4 and 5 are actually the richest, most exciting and best put together all-round, while the early seasons were much more patchy, but also had that unpredictability that meant they could be shocking or surprising but also held a strongly reassuring, family feel. Even the villain could have been mistaken for a Vidiian, so I'd say it took the best qualities of the early episodes and continued that along with the quality of these middle season stories and production value. Maybe it could be argued we'd already had something similar with 'Dreadnought,' another B'Elanna episode in which she has to go aboard a dangerous vessel and stop it before it does some serious damage, but that was positively genteel compared to the rigours of this grimy, stinking hull and I'm sure watched back to back would provide an intense contrast!

It also helps to have Ron Canada (in his last Trek role), having previously played a not particularly memorable role on 'TNG' ('The Masterpiece Society'), and a very memorable role as Worf's Klingon accuser Ch'Pok in 'DS9' ('Rules of Engagement'). Shame he didn't get more as his distinctive voice was a big selling point in the characters he played. He's assisted by another familiar Trek name, Lee Arenberg, who'd already had several roles across 'TNG' and 'DS9' and would go on to be a Tellarite in 'Enterprise' (in the great Andorian trilogy of Season 4). There's even a nice little uncredited role for Alexander Enberg as the Malon sent down to the core much against his will - I knew I recognised the voice: he was Vorik! Almost his final appearance in Trek, except for one more episode as Vorik right at the end of the series. Even the Vihaar creature who was actually just an irradiated crewman, was played by someone who'd return, Scott Klace, though he probably doesn't want the 'Enterprise' episode on his CV as it was one of the worst ('Precious Cargo')! I do like it when they use the extended family of Trek names - not all the time, it's good to have fresh blood, too, but when the roles are so different and heavily covered in makeup it can work really well, adding an extra layer of trivia to enjoy. This episode was anything but trivial, it succeeds on just about every level (maybe some of the CGI wasn't the best, though seeing Voyager peel away from the freighter and then speeding away as it explodes in the star was still dramatically exciting for the speed and sense of power, just that CG explosions don't often come off well), and proves you can do thrilling action stories within the constraints of cerebrally satisfying sci-fi ideas. It was truly a juggernaut of an episode!

****