Equinox

 DVD, Voyager S5 (Equinox)

A stark contrast between holding to the ideals and principles of Starfleet and abandoning them in the pursuit of success. What did the crew of the Equinox think they were getting back to? That they could just return home and cover up how they got there, or that Earth was the goal and they didn't even consider what was beyond reaching it? Because Starfleet would have found out. Somehow, even if they could have blown up their ship just after rescue, Starfleet isn't stupid! While Ransom was accusing his crew of forgetting what they were playing for, for the sake of a shower and a hot meal it was actually he himself who was forgetting: returning home wasn't as important as acting as Starfleet officers to the best of their ability. They had been through a lot and there may have been mitigating circumstances, but to murder sentient beings and so forget themselves as to ignore the ethical implications of that... let's just say it proves Janeway's rigid way was the right one. Many times she or her crew had been faced with potentially giving up on the dream of a quick and easy return in exchange for years of toil, death, trapped away from their society. And yet, some ships do that by choice, taking on long-range missions that could last many years before ever meeting other Starfleet vessels. That is the nature of the organisation: to explore, to seek out new life. True, making that choice and doing it with consent is a different prospect to being forced into it, but that shouldn't change the essential nature of what these people are made of, and if anything, should only have reinforced their desire to discover new things.

At the same time you could say that Starfleet's mission is ultimately aimless, they could never hope to meet all the alien species out there, to discover all there is to discover, the job never ends, but then that's the point, really. It's a mission of unending discovery, a new challenge in which to test their mettle, training and beliefs around every corner. While Voyager had done that with aplomb, Equinox had a far different attitude, and since that comes from the Captain on down it must be something in Ransom's psyche that allowed him to abandon his principles. We've seen Janeway and her crew lose everything (the Kazon took over Voyager and dumped them on a dangerous planet, for one), we've seen the occasional rebellion, even from those closest to her (Tuvok was involved in the effort to retrieve Sikarian technology which would have solved their problem and got them home much quicker), and not forgetting her personally having to give up command and resolve to live out her days on an alien world with only Chakotay for company ('Resolutions'), but none of this dented her confident sense of belief in what was right or wrong. If they had to give up on going home then the next goal was to find a way to survive and make the most of whatever life they could have. Otherwise it was a dedication to never back down, never give up, a wholehearted resolve to carry on however bleak the odds may be (taking on the Borg or Species 8472)...

That is the strength of this episode, in showing how far Voyager has come, not just in terms of space traversed or lightyears travelled, but in how close they have remained to their principles and what could have happened if they'd left them behind. I can't help but wonder if this story was in some way a response to the arguments that early 'Voyager' should have had more conflict between Maquis and Starfleet crews, that integration was too easy, more drama could have been squeezed out of it. But I've always appreciated that they didn't go down that route - there is plenty of conflict and drama in the first couple of seasons, but it came mostly through the machinations of a Cardassian spy, not the inner trials of living with those who'd been booted out of Starfleet and gone to join the Maquis. It was still supposed to be an optimistic, positive idea of humanity, even if they don't all agree all the time, and just like in 'TNG' they would learn to get along very quickly because that's what people of this fictional time are supposed to excel at. 'DS9' was different because it showed the fallout from a major event in Starfleet's existence (more than one - the Borg, but also Cardassia's withdrawal from Bajor), and how it affected those who survived, but also it had the possibility of non-Starfleet peoples interacting on an ongoing basis with Starfleet.

Equinox are the Maquis in many ways - they were Starfleet, but they joined their own cause: the one in which getting home at all odds was not only conscionable, but desired and acted upon. There can be various arguments about how they ended up that way, whether it was because they had a smaller, less powerful ship designed for short range planetary missions, they had a smaller crew, or their technology wasn't as powerful. I did like the design of this Nova-Class creation, smaller, weaker, still with an EMH, but in every way not quite as good, again showing they didn't develop like Voyager did, as the Doc's blossoming was a result of how they came to treat him (and it's another episode like the previous one, where we get evil Doc!) - they don't even have Holodecks and rely on alien tech that would be shown in Part II, calling it a poor man's Holodeck! However it's looked at they did go back on what they had promised to be as Starfleet officers. When the crunch came they weren't willing to sacrifice themselves. Even after the first nucleogenic life-form had died in their captivity they could have made diplomatic efforts, but they simply used that as an excuse to move to the next stage and the next. You see early on that they've left Starfleet ways behind: they call each other by first names, even the Captain (it's almost surprising they still wear uniforms except they probably didn't have power to spare to replicate new clothing - it shows that some can look like Starfleet on the outside, but yet not share the values, appearances being deceiving). He claims rank and protocol are luxuries, quizzes Janeway on how far she's gone to save her ship regarding breaking the Prime Directive, and quickly realises she won't be sympathetic to the Equinox' ways. So once again they get themselves in even deeper by actively mutinying against the command structure.

I don't know if it was from this episode I got the quote of when more than one ship is working together command falls to the vessel of tactical superiority, but as soon as Janeway said she can't pull rank on Ransom that immediately came to mind, and of course later in the episode that's exactly what she cited and followed. Perhaps a reminder of her inconsistency as a Captain, just as much as the episode being a reminder of Voyager's origins and how much it's gone through to get to where it is. I wonder if Janeway would have been so quick to abandon her ship if the circumstances had been reversed and a more powerful Starfleet ship overrode their years in the Delta Quadrant and ordered them to abandon Voyager? I suppose they tackled that question to some extent with the previous season's finale, 'Hope and Fear,' but it does seem a little harsh she's so quick to give up on Equinox. At the same time it's a harsh situation, it mean survival and a decision must be made. I would have preferred Voyager to perhaps start to gather the odd ship around them as they got closer to the end of the series and their journey, but then the stock shots of a single ship flying through space would all have to be changed... Cynicism aside, there is something sad and beautiful about this single ship venturing on alone through all these years so I can see that changing the nature of the series like that might have been a step too far (though perhaps they could have added Neelix' ship and the Flyer to this Starfleet vessel to create an instant fleet!), but maybe they could have bent the rules for a few episodes or half a season just to shake it up?

Talking of breaking the rules, when Ransom asks Janeway if she ever broke the Prime Directive and she replied she hadn't, I wondered how accurate her statement was. She mentions bending it, but has she broken it? I don't remember specifics well enough to recall instances when that question came up (Tuvix was technically new life, wasn't he?), but it seems unlikely she never did! Otherwise she's been a great Captain, and while you can see similarities between her and this Ransom in the sense that he has the loyalty of his crew and when he's revived, his first thought is for them, the mark of a caring Captain, they are still poles apart in execution. I don't believe Janeway would ever have acted underhand in the way Ransom did to ensure his position. With the addition of these other Starfleet people it adds a little more connection to the Alpha Quadrant and that can be seen in things like Max Burke reminding B'Elanna of a Klingon insult she used to call him, or mention of the Caretaker. I wanted to hear how Equinox had been swept into the Delta Quadrant, were they near the Badlands? Also, I didn't catch whether they were launched after Voyager - presumably they were out there before since they assumed Voyager had been sent to find them, but were they captured by the Caretaker on his Array, what were their experiences there? It's a shame we couldn't have had a more recent ship that knew about the Dominion War and such, but it wouldn't have been possible because now that I think about it, obviously it had to have been taken before Voyager since they were the ones to end the situation, no one else was kidnapped after them!

One area they could have done more in was having the Equinox crew consist of a few aliens, not just humans. That way we could have had more Alpha Quadrant species again (I'm always looking at how they could add these races into a series that was so far off the beaten track), or even a familiar character who'd been in 'TNG' or 'DS9' would have been nice. But I can see that might have taken some of the focus away from this tight-knit group, and the fact they were all human only made them seem tighter, I suppose. Also, they are the baddies so anyone who'd been there before who we wanted to see again would also have to be a willing accomplice. Still, it could have thrown up even more interesting drama. One race that gets a mention are the Yridians with whom Captain Ransom is said to have made first contact. 'Enterprise' would seem to contradict that since we saw at least one of them in that series, but you can always easily dismiss any problems there since it was so long ago, it was pre-Federation and we don't know what happened to all the NX-01's logs or if they even knew what a Yridian was, so there's no real issue - even if there were a loophole, it's thrown in in the very next line about both Borg and Federation believing them to be extinct, which means they must have known of them before first contact occurred. No harm done, and it shows Ransom does have some diplomatic qualifications, but things don't stay the same, people can be led off the correct path to make bad decisions and who knows where anyone could end up, especially if they give up their beliefs for something that becomes more important to them.

It is enjoyable to see Voyager through fresh eyes, whether that be having a child aboard (Naomi makes a charming cameo - I half expected her to say to Gilmore that she looks like her Mother!), or the delights of clean corridors and plenty of food. It makes you realise how well Voyager has maintained itself, perhaps a little too much considering all they've been through, but then again it is a more advanced ship, at the cutting edge when it was launched five years before. That would be my argument against turning it into a dilapidated hulk - that's part of the pleasure of the series, too, seeing those clean lines and tidy decks. The Equinox in contrast is absolutely mashed internally, and there's that enjoyably creepy start where Voyager's crew explore this dark and flickering environment, especially with the prospect of nightmarish flying creatures that have desiccated the bodies of anyone who came into contact with them. I thought, for the most part, these creatures were well designed, looking like some evil harpies of some evil realm (much like Species 8472), CGI allowing them to do something a bit different that would have been far more challenging to accomplish prior to this point in the development of the technology. The real horror is reserved for what was done to them, and perhaps the story loses some of its power when you already know what's happened and what is going on.

That said, it does still remain a strong story, whether that's down to some good camera work (the shots pulling away from or pushing in to Ransom in his command chair, across the Bridge, were memorable), or the intrigue of these new characters, the psychological implications of what they've been through, and perhaps more precisely what they've allowed themselves to become party to. It all adds up to a good finale to the season, this time ending on a cliffhanger as none other than Captain Janeway herself is attacked by the flying devils on her Bridge and that's the final shot... I'd have liked to see Equinox warp off and maybe more damage done to Voyager to make it look more serious, but the episode is more than its cliffhanger and that's really only nitpicking ways it could have been better. Good use is made of our crew's willingness to stick to their guns and yet they've still managed to get to this point where Equinox meets them, and that's a good lesson to draw from: the tortoise and the hare perhaps, or doing their job of exploring, gathering as much information as they could while also looking for shortcuts, but not indulging in those options they can't agree with. Winning at all costs is less important than being true, don't give up, persevere, even if you're forced to become resigned to a fate don't use it as an excuse to throw out your belief system and act as others would who haven't had your training or preparation... Yes, there's lots to take, and there's even a recall to 'Insurrection' and its crooked Admiral, when Janeway asks how many lives it takes before it's unacceptable to murder - in the film it was the Ba'ku, in this it's these life forms, but the comparison is there, especially when this came out only a few months after the film.

Rick Worthy had a small role in the film and appears as Lessing here, but had also been in this series prior ('Prototype'), plus 'DS9,' and would return in 'Enterprise' in a recurring Xindi role. Otherwise, the Ankari Captain (which was a good design, though they could just as well have been called 'donk-ari' as they looked a bit donkey-like!), was played by Eric Steinberg (Porter in the film 'First Contact'), and as mentioned in my previous review, Steve Dennis, in two episodes this season, including the previous, was credited as Crewmember, though I don't know which he was. Does Season 5 live up to the idea I've long had of it being the high watermark of the series? I'm not sure. It's difficult to judge when so much time has passed (especially with myself watching the series again so slowly over so many years in between other reviews). I think perhaps it is, but maybe I don't have quite as strong a position, it's not unqualified, Season 4 impressed a lot, but perhaps in relation to 6 and 7 when I felt the series grew a little staid and failed to live up to its billing as the only Trek series now that 'DS9' was no longer serving up new stories, it retains its crown. But it's also possible I'll reevaluate Season 6 as I come to review that and see it's not as much of a drop as I have in memory or impression. I'll soon find out as I intend to keep going with the following season rather than take a break as I usually would, since this is now the only season of old Trek I haven't made reviews for all the episodes.

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