Blink of An Eye (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Blink of An Eye) (2)

An homage to a 'TOS' episode, a good example of how to repeat a story idea, but do it differently. The concept is an alien race living at a different rate of time to the normal rules of the universe. Of course there is some issue with time in space: depending on where you are it makes all the difference, or so I believe to be the case. Relativity? That sort of scientific jiggery-pokery maybe? That's why they had Stardates to explain how time could be standardised and kept track of in very different places, all very clever. Ignoring the implications for the sake of a good story is more important, however, and this wasn't about the technobabble (which 'Voyager' tends to get criticised for), it was concerned with what it would be like to witness a civilisation's rise and development across the centuries, and not just from a dry, observational anthropological perspective, but if your very presence within the consciousness of this people affected their entire culture. As Tuvok said, it was a Prime Directive situation, and very much so, because, again as he said, they don't have warp drive. But don't worry old Vulcan, they'll get there, just give it a few hours! That's the fascination inherent within the story, that this people grow and change across centuries in the time Voyager is trapped in orbit, at first merely a bright star that appeared in the heavens, named Ground Shaker and Light Bringer, for ages after equated with the sudden earth-shakings that had begun at the same time.

It was their fault, too, because somehow they become a third pole for the planet and affect its seismic activity, though it was an unintended consequence: that's one of the pitfalls of exploration, though, that sometimes you can find yourself in a situation beyond your ability to get out of. That may be a theme, whether unintended or not, since it shows how even the mighty, those who believe themselves to be advanced because of their views, attitudes and accomplishments, can still become out of their depth. There's a mirror with the planet's people (they weren't ever given a name despite the Doctor spending three years as one of them, nose-gouge and all! - at first I thought this facial feature shrunk as time passed, but checking back it was the same across the ages), since a later generation consider themselves to be so much more advanced, wiser than their 'primitive' ancestors who could only explain the Sky Ship within the understanding they had at that time, but now how much more we know: so we'll send a letter in a balloon to ask them to stop the shaking. Yes, it shows how an arrogance pervades each generation when it surveys the past (if indeed they're even wise enough to study that past instead of calling it untrustworthy or lies if it doesn't tally up with their current attitudes), that now is the time that we are wise, now is the moment history has been building to, rather than seeing it as just one more stone hauled onto the wall with many more to come. Humility isn't something we're that good at as a people, hence the aliens of Trek aren't either since they're projections of us.

At least our crew have the wisdom not to rush into anything. I'm sure at times they've displayed just as much arrogance as other generations, but they have learned some things, and while sometimes you do need to make a snap decision, at others, information-gathering is imperative to be able to take the right course. I like that they don't immediately become despondent at being caught, and throughout they retain a sense of interest and curiosity even when they come under attack. Chakotay, whose love of anthropology is well known (ahem, well, in recent seasons perhaps - wasn't that why he wanted to beam down to the Species 8472 recreation of Starfleet HQ?), is excited by the prospect of studying a race's entire development. And as I said, even when they're 'developed' enough to be able to send warheads against the Sky Ship Janeway won't fire back. It's fortunate that an earlier generation made the trip to visit them, though it cost them both their lives: Terrina because she didn't survive the transition into their space-time differential, Gotana-Retz because he did, meaning in a matter of minutes all the people he knew would have died and his name would become synonymous with the loss of an astronaut. It's fun to see another primitive spacecraft again this season (after 'One Small Step'), this time of alien origin, and like John Kelly, Gotana-Retz is full of wonder at the idea of life outside his own planet, even if he is more cautious than his copilot, wanting to get out as soon as they got in!

What works about this story is that the title is so apt: it may be a direct play on 'Wink of An Eye' (a Biblical quotation for something happening instantaneously), but it is displayed in the brief glimpses we get of the generations on the planet below: the 'primitives' that first discover the star in the sky; a later generation that believe they should try to communicate with it; another period in which they'd developed astronomical instruments the better to observe the Sky Ship; the time the Doctor spends down there; and finally Gotana-Retz' era when they had the ability to send a spacecraft up to the mysterious vessel. And obviously beyond when they develop more deadly technology, though we never get to see that era, other than Gotana-Retz himself closing out the episode as an old, old man sitting on the same hill that had been seen from the start, witnessing Voyager finally wink (or blink), out, a moving final shot. But we don't get to know any of these generations or the people we saw, we're not even allowed to travel down with the Doctor, that could have been an entire episode in itself, much like 'The Inner Light' of 'TNG,' except he didn't live out a whole lifespan - still, he found time to really integrate into the culture in those three years, even to the extent of having a son that he tasks Gotana-Retz with looking up to find out what happened to him. He asks him how that can be and the Doc sidesteps the issue, so presumably it was a stepson, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible... It's another alternate existence the Doctor has experienced after his backup module was activated hundreds of years later in 'Living Witness' and planned to make his way back to Federation space.

Gotana-Retz is the only one we get to know more about, but you have to wonder why no other expeditions were sent up to discover what happened to the first astronauts. 'It was necessary for the story,' would be the main excuse, but it could also be suggested that they became even more afraid of this thing which they knew was causing so much turmoil in the planet's geography and assumed they were hostile, as evidenced by them attacking as soon as they had the capability. DDK is the actor playing Gotana-Retz - in snooker, the 'Dreaded Double-Kiss,' but here standing for Daniel Dae Kim, a staple of the genre who I've since seen as a main character in the one-season 'Babylon 5' spinoff, 'Crusade,' and whom would also return to Trek again as a MACO in three episodes of 'Enterprise.' He's not the only familiar face, as Obi Ndefo as Protector, or 'the man who would write a letter to the Sky Ship.' More commonly associated with 'Stargate SG-1' he'd also appeared previously in 'DS9' (as no less than Martok's son Drex in 'The Way of The Warrior'). Olaf Pooley is also in this as a Cleric - the actor died in 2015 at the grand old age of 101 so he would have been in his mid-80s when the episode was made which must mean he was one of the oldest people to appear in Trek, surely? They certainly had a large guest cast, I noticed the usual Co-Stars screen in the end credits was two pages long rather than the usual one!

If the last couple of episodes have explored people who got lost in the fantasy world they love (Barclay in 'Pathfinder,' Janeway in 'Fair Haven'), with its obvious parallels to Trekkers, this episode has its own relation to fanatical devotion to Trek - they mention the Sky Ship influencing all kinds of areas of their culture to the extent they even have children's toys and collectables as the legend of this mystery grew with each passing generation (a bit like Quark's Marauder Mo action figures, perhaps!). There is a lack of time, which is extremely ironic when you think how many centuries pass in the short period Voyager is trapped above, but no gravity well, or whatever it was, would be sufficient to extend this episode's forty-two minute running time and allow us more in which to explore the culture, especially regarding the Doctor's visit. But in the context of the series (realistically, you'd have to dedicate the full 172 episodes to such a plot to be able to do it full justice!), it does work and there's something to be said for seeing the majority of it from our crew's perspective, even down to the Doctor's experiences being referred to as it allows the imagination to fill the gaps as much as we want. Should he have demonstrated more regret at leaving his family behind and signs of difficulty integrating back into his old life? Maybe so, but again, time is limited and this wasn't a Doctor episode, plus you could tell he was presented with an unforeseen opportunity and relished the experience, making the most of being trapped there, knowing he wasn't likely to 'die' of old age (though there could have been issues with his Mobile Emitter breaking down if he'd gone on living there), and his crew would be doing all they could to bring him back.

There is some discussion of the futility of worshipping nature, which I was glad to see. Trek is of course secular for the most part, scientifically based, working things out based on evidence, but also taking into account the warmblooded existence of humanity rather than taking a cold, clinical approach. But it was heartening to see it clearly demonstrating that such beliefs are borne out of equating special meaning to acts within nature or outside forces, very different from genuine belief in God whom sent his Word to give us the facts of life, and the best way to live for individuals and society. The episode I'm sure didn't intend to point out that way, but it served as a reminder that belief is a rational pursuit, and blind faith is no faith, which was good. It also shows how even the 'advanced' can be backward when motivated by fear, as while the planet's people were moving towards Voyager's stage of development they continued to feel threatened and so retaliated. It's true that they eventually developed a means to haul Voyager out of there (as much for their own benefit as the Sky Ship Voyager's!), it was only because an emissary was sent down from on high to tell them the truth. Yet more theological parallels!

I'd expected the probe they send out initially to have played a part in influencing the advance of technology since it was flying round the planet for two hundred years, its orbit eventually decaying, so it could have been a case of 'Chicago Mobs of The Twenties,' the book left behind that influenced an entire planetary culture in 'A Piece of The Action' on 'TOS (yet another way to do such a story - straight up comedy!), or the Communicator in 'The Communicator,' an 'Enterprise' episode inspired by the former episode in which Dr. McCoy left behind his Communicator on that planet at the end. You never know how a culture could be altered by its contact with outsiders, especially outsiders of greater power, which is really the whole point of having the Prime Directive in the first place, but there was nothing Voyager could do in this case, short of blowing themselves up - actually that should have been a part of the story when they realised how they were shaping the world, affecting geological stability. They wouldn't have done it, but that should have been part of the discussion if there was no other option. But once again time was the issue, before they'd even worked out what was happening it was already too late. At least they had time to show the crew in slowed down state compared with Gotana-Retz and Terrina when they first come aboard, a classic recreation of 'Wink of An Eye' (though fortunately no one got scratched this time). It was noticeable how still the actors were, so it must have been a special effect, locking off the scene and then adding in the astronauts after, otherwise there's always some slight movement as people still need to breathe, no matter how good they are at holding still, so this was much better in that technical sense.

****

Pathogen

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Pathogen)

They finally did something right this season, and it's one Robert Carlyle got his mitts on - does that mean by reflection I should wish Rush came into control? Well, he already is in control of the ship without telling anyone, but I mean if he was in command he could do whatever he wanted! But at what cost... He continues to put his scientific curiosity above any other concerns - while the others are worried about Chloe's blackouts and wanderings, the conniving Rush is only interested in how she can play into his calculations. He comes across as quite a mercenary mind. Perhaps no better than that other mercenary, Mr. Mean Guy: Simeon, I finally caught his name, and unsurprisingly, what does he do as soon as Colonel Young has relented out of the blue and allowed the remaining Lucian Alliance soldiers to be let out into the community? He goes right up to Dr. Parke and whispers something insulting in her ear. He's certainly not the wisest person around. Her colleagues leap to her defence in indignation, despite the fact they weren't likely to be able to do anything about it if he took them on. But Greer isn't far behind and he loves it rough! Simeon is the serpent in Eden, if you can equate this dark, dismal ship with the garden paradise! But he's a snake and no mistake, slithering around, hissing in people's ears - even his boss, Varo, has a go at him for his misdemeanour. He's a typical bully, happy to unsettle those he can, but backing down when anyone stands up to him - like Varo, or more specifically, Greer. But he's also the sort to hold a grudge and do whatever he can to excrete the poison within.

Hmm, quite poetic, but he is the traditional boo-hiss villain in what is an intensely grey-toned series, and you don't need to have seen it before to know he'll come to a bad end - not the sort to find common ground with the enemy or ever relinquish hatred. He's just one of the problem people of the episode, a common theme this time. If Chloe turning into some kind of alien spy was unsettling for her friends and shipmates, it was nothing compared with Eli's Mother being told by the Airman visiting her in hospital that he's actually her one and only son, Eli! This was the real triumph of the story, we see this woman who has had a life of disappointments, her husband leaving her, accidentally infected by a needle with HIV, and then her son, the one thing she has left, spirited away by the military and he can't even call her. She's greatly depressed and it's just as hard for Eli to see her that way. You find yourself urging him to just spill the beans, tell her the big secret. And then he does... And she doesn't believe him! She thinks he's some kind of loony or a liar sent to spin stories about what's going on with Eli, but for once the series is generous. It still has to end the episode on a sombre, downbeat note as we hover round the ship and see into people's situations (at least without the caterwauling to go with it, even too sombre for that!), but at least in Eli's case light shines brightly: Camille, also on Earth, proves to be a great ally, the only person he can turn to in such a unique and devastating situation, and demands special treatment for him.

Mum visits Destiny! What a great scene, one of the series' best, this haggard woman, bewildered by all that she's been told, is no less awed seeing it in person. The actress sold it all in her eyes, she didn't need to speak and you felt the weight of that story lift. Just beautiful. It puts Rush's insistence on running the ship and trying to use Chloe to solve his problems into deep, dark perspective, even if his conscience, or the ship, depending on point of view (both his dead wife and Dr. Franklin show up again when he's on the Bridge, as they usually do), reminds him he's lost two people so far by his actions. It sounded like he wanted to bring Chloe in on his Little Secret, but can he trust her, that's where we're left? Despite any inappropriate moments in the episode, I couldn't, for the most part, deny that this one held me and got back to what made the series appealing - ironic then that it should be in one so tied to events on Earth! We see plenty of good things, whether it be Young finally giving his prisoners their freedom, Eli and his Mother, with Camille's help, and Greer standing up for his people. Yet we also see a lot of bad, too, as expected: Rush decoying his colleagues when they show they really aren't stupid and have noticed the ship stops whenever he's not around, lying about being in his corridor of quandaries as a way to put them all off his scent; Greer barely able to restrain his violent passions; Simeon... just being Simeon. But the good outweighs the bad and shows potential again, even if I didn't think much of this episode when I originally saw it. This time it appealed a lot more and the mystery worked.

***

Fair Haven

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Fair Haven)

Phew, that was close, I thought I'd settled down to watch 'Emergence' from that opening shot of a steam engine - gave me the terrors! But no, it's worse: Oir-land! Actually, despite its reputation (or at least the reputation I've formed in my head from seeing it before), this is quite close to being a good episode. It falls short, but that's more to do with where the story goes than its Holodeck setting. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was drawn in by the beautiful green hills and busy village streets that brought a refreshing and attractive change in the opening, even if they are a reuse of the Paramount backlot or whatever it was (Universal Studios, apparently), which they'd used before in 'The Killing Game.' It reminded me of the beautiful live action scenes at the beginning and end of 'Tales of Beatrix Potter,' an animated rendition of her books made in the Nineties whose enduring memory for me was held in Beatrix going out to post a letter in a lovely little village (it's at the forefront of my mind since seeing it again recently after decades). The crew fitted in quite nicely within this rustic, pastoral world where mutton chops and cloth caps mingle with long dresses and flowing locks, and the worst that can happen is a bust-up in the local pub. Americans love Irish culture, presumably because there's a lot of ancestry there from the potato famine that caused so many Irish to make new lives in the new world. But they really love it! The closest I can think that Trek had connected with previously was the Bringloidi in 'Up The Long Ladder' or Kirk's Academy nemesis, Finnegan, in 'Shore Leave,' otherwise it hadn't been a subject much touched upon.

I'm forgetting Trek's only Irishman, Chief Miles Edward O'Brien, and you'd have thought they'd have used him to explore the culture more, but other than his love of a good beer and darts he wasn't perhaps the typical example. Here, they make up for it, if they needed to, with all the fun o' the fair, so to speak, if I may be so bold. Of course it's Tom Paris' idea, he's always been both the historian and the holoprogram author supreme, if you can call his work authorship. It may be that there are two different kinds of holoprogram (and probably more, such as training programs or investigative recreations as we've seen before in episodes such as 'Identity Crisis' and 'Schisms' to name a couple on 'TNG'), one where a story is played out, as in Janeway's Gothic holo-novel seemingly inspired by 'Jane Eyre' and seen occasionally in the early seasons (and which maybe put her off such things for a long time after when the characters stalked her through the ship!), or merely highly detailed settings, and this is what Paris excelled at: Sandrine's was the most famous, a place for the crew to relax together other than the Mess Hall, or the Paxau Resort with all its bright colours and Hawaiian style (even if it was a Talaxian location!). For some reason the series had steered away from recurring holoprograms post-Season 3, the only one springing to mind would be Leonardo Da Vinci's workshop, and that was only used a couple of times. Sandrine's had been returned briefly for Seven in 'Someone To Watch Over Me,' but in general the series had come to prefer the seriousness of their situation more than indulging in fantasy.

As if to reset the balance, along comes this episode. The trouble with it is I'm not sure what message it's trying to send, if any. It seems to go against Trek's traditional call to reality, away from fantasy, something I've commented on a number of times, not least the previous episode in which, again, it was set almost entirely in the Holodeck with Barclay forming bonds with holo-characters. Did this story develop off of that one, I wonder? There's nothing wrong with the crew having some fun in a fantasy world, especially when it's to escape what's going on outside, a kind of storm they have to wait out. And equally there's nothing wrong with their Captain doing the same, and it's fun to see them interacting together in a leisure setting, but things take a bit of a strange turn when Janeway is drawn to the bartender, Michael Sullivan, and for whatever reason starts to make alterations to his character to suit. There was some small discussion on the way people seek to change those they're closest to, but it was very brief and lost next to the revelation that Janeway is lonely. Even with the meals she shares with her First Officer and the closeness she's had with her confidant, Tuvok, she's still the boss, the one at the top with no equal. It's sad, but it's not very well integrated into the story, even to the point that when she starts fiddling with Michael's program, changing him to her specifications, she comes across as slightly sinister!

The Doctor understands her needs and counsels her to pursue such activity, but this is where the story really lost me when he basically says fantasy is the same as reality as long as your feelings are real. Granted, we have to take what a hologram says with a pinch of salt, he's coming to it from a different perspective based on his own reality of non-reality, and we've certainly seen that point of view proved to be wrong or inappropriate on a number of occasions and would do so again across the series ('Author, Author,' is a good example). Holograms aren't the same as him, he's a unique individual and while we've seen others that have become sentient, such as Vic Fontaine or Moriarty, they were still confined to a certain extent - the Doctor is the first hologram to develop freedoms for himself and this was all a result of being generated by so much data and experience that he developed a personality all his own, very different from the combination of people he was based upon. All this to say that his input, even from the fact that he is the ship's physician, isn't necessarily entirely correct. Janeway does at least learn she needs to take a hands-off approach to make her time with Michael more meaningful, but still, we've all played games, watched films or read books where the characters were very real to us - Trek itself is full of characters to be inspired and fascinated by, and who hasn't imagined themselves there as part of a Starfleet crew? Still we know that it all has to be switched off and we can't base our real life on fantasy, no matter how engaging it can be.

Real life is a good reminder: that was the title of the episode in which the Doctor did exactly the same thing, creating a family for himself, but one which was perfect to his specifications. He does counsel Janeway not to change Michael and that was the lesson he was taught by B'Elanna (who barely appears here!), so I'd have liked them to acknowledge that experience directly, otherwise it appears the writers didn't remember they'd done a similar story with him. Or perhaps they chose to be more subtle rather than bringing it up on the nose? The other thing is that we know how severely against genetic alteration the Federation is so you'd think such attitudes would be hardwired into Janeway and yet she's so quick to alter her new friend to suit her with no apparent connection. It makes me wonder if such experiences could make a generation of humans come to see augmentation as possibly not so wrong after all and decide to go down that route? I can imagine the current Trek era doing just that although I've been relieved so far to see they've preserved continuity in that respect so far, even in our current age when almost anything is becoming permissible. It's back to that idea that feelings are the most important and should be listened to above all else, something that the highly science-led Trek universe has generally not endorsed. That's why it stuck out here where Janeway's feelings are more important than the reality. In this case it is just one little dalliance with a holo-character, I doubt they're advocating fantasy replacing reality, but in that respect it is a slippery slope.

I don't think they particularly had that in mind in previous times they've explained that it's more important to face up to reality, no matter how bleak (as Kirk did in 'Generations'), compared with living in the past or in a fake world, but it's certainly an issue. That's not what the episode was really about (it would be addressed again later in the series when Tuvok went through the Pon Farr and used the Holodeck for the emergency), but that's also what prevented the episode from working, it didn't have a clear idea of what it was saying. It's almost a comedy for the most part, the comical Irish stereotypes, our people sometimes not quite fitting in, the Doctor being suited to a dog collar and cassock (even if there is a juxtaposition between the humorous tone and the seriousness of faith and how such things are portrayed, though in some ways it's good to see Christianity shown on screen in such a secular programme, even in the way it was). It made me smile on occasion, such as when Michael suggests to Janeway they run a foot race down to the station and back, or when the Doctor expresses some positive views about the program and they say that's high praise from a hologram! It's enjoyable to experience interactions with a different place and time - it's telling that Michael associates tattoos with people on ships whereas nowadays you can't move for them. Even some of the scenes not set on the Holodeck, such as Tuvok's discomfort due to the radiation, is somewhat amusing - I really thought Paris and Kim talking about rolling ships and Neelix bringing up blood pie were a conspiracy to prank the Vulcan, but they looked completely innocent and surprised when he suddenly bolts so I don't think there was any intention there.

It's simply nice to see the crew having fun together, but more than that it was lovely to see our Captain so happy and relaxed, it made a nice change of pace. It's just when it becomes more serious and Janeway realises she's got a crush on a fantasy character that it changed into something else - it'd happened before: Harry Kim was hung up on that woman on the Holodeck in 'Alter Ego,' though that was a much stronger story and proved to be more rational, showing that computer-generated characters don't have half the mystery and depth that a real person does. And was Janeway hogging the Holodeck? She attends a knees-up at the bar which you'd assume was something the whole crew would come along for, but we soon realise she's the only flesh and blood person there when she tells the computer to remove all the other characters, leaving her alone with Michael. If it was an open-door policy and they were keeping the program running all the time then you'd think other people would be coming along - hey, where's my dance partner gone? The Captain's overruled it all! It could be the middle of the night as she did have a habit of being up in the wee hours, but even then you'd think the night shift might want to join in. I was also confused about how Kim and others could have sustained cuts and bruises from the bar fight as you'd think the safeties would rule out any actual damage, because why would you turn off the safeties in a fun jaunt of a program?

All pretty ridiculous, but somehow the episode still has some charm and warmth. Other than Janeway's suspect behaviour I quite enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it more if we'd seen more of the other characters together in the program, as Janeway's story rose to prominence above all the others and knocked them out of the story, but there's no denial that many scenes were really pleasant, especially those between a sensitive Neelix and his Captain. I wonder if they'd planned to visit Fair Haven regularly? It only came back once, later in the season, so either it was too much of a struggle to get all those guest stars together or they couldn't think of enough reasons for it to recur - being such a big program it would be harder to just have a scene or two there, though I could imagine them doing that if they just showed the bar. Maybe it did return in more than just 'Spirit Folk' (I have the feeling that's a better story since it actually went somewhere), in the same way as other recurring programs did where you just had the basic setting and none of the guest characters. Some of the guest casting was notable: Richard Riehle (the moustached and bowler-hatted Seamus), already had pedigree in this kind of fantasy village story as he'd played a character in 'The Inner Light,' part of the Kataan people's recreation in Picard's mind. He'd go on to play another important role as Dr. Lucas, Phlox' correspondent in 'Enterprise,' and is one of those actors with a familiar face from many things. For me, Fintan McKeown (Micheal Sullivan), was just as interesting to see as he marks what I believe is the only connection with another of my favourite TV shows: Nineties action series, 'BUGS,' in which he had a minor role in one episode.

**

Awakening

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Awakening)

They weren't going to get back home! Because that would mean the end of the series. Or would it? If the series had lasted a few more years I could imagine them getting to the point where they finally power the 'gate and return home, but then come back to Destiny to take command properly. Some might choose to stay on Earth, new characters would join the mission and it would all be about the ultimate purpose of the ship. But sadly the series had its legs cut out from under it and never got to explore further ideas. A bit like Telford. He's left stranded on a seed ship with a bunch of aliens closing in on him. He's not dead, but I have no memory of whether he was brought into the story again - it'd happened before, characters getting stuck off Destiny when it goes into FTL, yet they still found a way back eventually. But this time it looks doubtful, and just when he was being a good guy, too. It was starting to become apparent that he was itching for command again - though no longer at loggerheads with Everett (he's on first name basis since they're of the same rank), he's pushing for more recognition, he wants to be in on whatever plan Colonel Young is making, he wants input, he wants to be useful, but at the same time he's also got a line to 'Homeworld Command' as they kept calling it, which means he can go over the leader's head - have they done that before, I don't recall if they stuck with Stargate Command or just never mentioned either name previously, but they really rammed it home this time (it would explain why we don't see Cheyenne Mountain any more, it's always the Pentagon).

Telford could have been a bit of a thorn in Young's side, so I'm surprised they didn't keep him around longer (if indeed he is gone for good), as they do like their interpersonal tensions on this series, not for them the light banter of past Stargate teams. Young doesn't like to explain himself, as any commander wouldn't, it undermines his authority and he needs obedience, or at least he does from the military, but it's also a civilian organisation so it's more complicated than that. As we've seen so many times the military is in control and Young will do whatever it takes because he's entrusted with the lives of all under his command, including civilians. But still, it may have been easier for him to lose Telford. Questioning his orders or simply not obeying them could have made things complicated, even if they were at a point where they trusted each other and had saved the other's life. There's also the issue of the loneliness of command, Young less able to talk candidly with those of his rank or above, though unlike Captain Janeway of the Voyager he could at least pop home if he needed to. But Telford might have been a sympathetic ear, though again, how far could he really trust someone that could be used to replace him? Much like Rush, someone who has capabilities and keeps his cards close to his chest through technobabble, though Young doesn't yet know how close - once again a man could have been saved if not for Rush taking matters into his own hands and moving the ship on. Last time it meant the certain death of Riley, this time the potential death and at the very least, loss of Telford.

Young isn't the only one who could have used someone to discuss things on the level of equal: TJ is offered an outlet by Chloe who sees the need for her to talk through the loss of her baby, but it seems she's more interested in Varo, leader of the Lucian Alliance prisoners remnant. His lieutenant, the short-cropped mean-looking guy fancies his chances with her, but she shows she knows how to hurt, not just heal - always beware docs and medics, they know the body's weak points! Young refuses to budge an inch on Varo and his people's incarceration, giving them no hope of ever proving themselves, and you can tell he's partly right in that since mean guy (can't remember his name if it's even been said), is so obviously never going to cooperate, but getting to know these people would be better than leaving them to rot in a room, because then he'd at least be able to understand who the honourable ones are, but he's got too many other priorities, not least using the seed ship's power to activate the Stargate home. It was a development to at least see another Ancients' ship. It may not have been that impressive on the inside, mostly constricted compartments and corridors like a submarine (and I'm usually one to love creeping round a dark ship), but the external visuals are great as ever, selling the size of both vessels well, a strength of the series.

Perhaps what is less of a strength, maybe even a weakness, is that they can do a lot in an episode, but at the same time not much actually happens: finding the seed ship was one thing, downloading data, the possibility of using its power to get home, but it's a lot of plot points happening and less character work being done. It's not that there's nothing, we have a number of scenes between characters, but the sum of its parts does somehow seem less in the end. They lose Telford and have the hope of a trip home cruelly ripped away from them, and that's about it. It could be that there are too many characters so we don't get enough on each of them (where was Lieutenant James, she's been very quiet so far this season?), and though I enjoy the less 'main' main cast, like Brody, Volker and Parke, we're not really learning much about them. It's a style, the serialised nature, but it does have its detriments. This time we get some aliens, at least, a rare occurrence on the series. They look a bit like the ones we saw last season, though squatter and armoured. Were they intentionally meant to look similar to the ones we left behind, this is another galaxy don't forget? The one that walked into the control room I thought was going to turn out to be a child from the passive way it acted, or the childish way it spat out the food it was given, plus those doe eyes and hugging its knees all gave it a childlike quality. It seems unlikely in retrospect as unless they were a gang of children they all looked the same and were certainly moving towards Telford in a menacing fashion. But maybe they'll turn out to be benevolent or less of a threat if we see them again?

Can't fault the tension which mounted as Telford tried to reverse the power drain with mere minutes to spare, and the CGI, be it ships or creatures - it was especially delightful to be afforded the chance to see the Stargate manufacturing plant within the seed ship (complete with meaningful music, though not the 'SG-1' theme or something that would have added nostalgic weight), as underwhelmed as Rush seemed to be by it. More Stargate lore would be good for the series as it can come across as merely incidentally within the 'Stargate,' well, universe! I want more legacy stuff (and we'd get it, at least two characters would be showing up later in the season), but I understand it needs space to tell its own unique story, just as 'Atlantis' before it had that opportunity, even if that, too, was cut short when it could have done with more years. They're certainly not shy about presenting a depressing worldview - Varo voices it this time as 'life is loss,' so definitely the glass half empty sort of man. It may be true, there's a time for everything under the sun, after all, but sometimes I think they need to remember they're not under the sun. Not that it needs to be light and frothy, or full of emotion (like 'Discovery,' say), but I want to see people overcoming their negative feelings and succeeding at things. They might enjoy it a little more.

**

The Chaos Engine

 

Amiga 1500/1200, The Chaos Engine (1992) game

Not one of the games I'd played before, which is a surprise as I discovered it worked on my A1200 so I'd have thought I'd have tried it out back in 2010 or whenever it was we last got the boxes of Amiga games down, but I was under the impression it didn't work. Needless to say, it did, and I was at last able to experience one of the famous titles of the Amiga's later period of the early-90s, and one which had a very good reputation. I'm not a lover of shoot'em-ups, although I prefer the ground-based variety to flying through alien hordes or whatever, but the genre was never going to be one of my favourites. Saying that, I quite enjoyed 'Alien Breed II' and was very satisfied to have finally beaten it a few years ago so I was up for this challenge in a similar vein. It was both easier and tougher than I thought: on the easy side it's actually very short with a mere four Worlds consisting of four levels within each, making a total of sixteen. It sounds a lot, but they weren't massive environments and you could bash through them in five or ten minutes depending on how careful you were to explore and search out the best route. Not that there was a lot of that either, but occasionally you had to make a choice on whether to go down one path or another and repeating levels to discover the most profitable or easier way to the exit door was part of the tactics.

As you can tell from the fact there are exit doors it was very traditional old-skool gaming fare: picking up collectables, blasting enemies, traversing an environment. It was surprising there were no end of level bosses to fight, though in my case I never much enjoyed that side of games, certainly the 2D ones, so it wasn't something I missed. They made up for it by having the Chaos Engine itself at the very end of the last level be a tough challenge, though like most things it was as much a case of knowledge being power as player skill, dexterity and reaction speed. That last battle took me a few days to finally conquer, partly because it was a challenge, but also because you have to get through the four levels before it each time. At least the entire game wasn't required to be completed every sitting, you're awarded a password at the end of each World, making things a lot easier than they might have been. It's not the end of the story, however, as you have to be sure to have a good run when you get to the password screen because it's unique to not only the mix of characters, but also all your stats, so if you have few lives and energy you may as well go back to the previous password point or the beginning, otherwise it's an uphill struggle.

I liked that aspect, there was a definite necessity of using tactics to progress through the game, pacing yourself and conserving what resources there were or health you had, a balance between searching and finishing the level rather than simply rushing round blasting - at least, unlike 'Alien Breed,' you're afforded unlimited ammo, one less thing to worry about. It encourages exploration so you discover the desirable coins, power-ups and extra lives that will ease you through the journey a little, but at the same time you had to be wary of how much you put your character in harm's way within that exploration as health costs money to replenish, food cans being relatively scarce. One of the good points is that every two levels you're given the chance to upgrade certain attributes such as overall Skill (which allows you to extend the limits of health and speed), or add extra lives, or, importantly, upgrading your weapon or special abilities. Finding the right balance is important and makes life easier down the line, and I enjoyed that side of it, not to mention the fact it means you really need to be hoovering up as much stuff as you can - again you really have to be careful not get drawn in, rushing over to grab a coin from a defeated foe only to find another one right behind that damages you.

The story itself wasn't perhaps the best implemented, action the important thing here, but it's something to do with a guy in the last century (so presumably the 19th Century...), who created a machine that did bad stuff to time and space... how? No idea, nor what that image of a mechanised Tyrannosaurus Rex was all about in the opening sequence, but it doesn't seem to matter much. The key part is you get to choose out of six characters to play as (I chose the Navvie, not for any good reason, just ended up picking him, although I selected the Thug as my assistant since he seemed quite lumbering and I had a better chance of grabbing the goodies more often!), with different weapons and strengths - I must say I liked the art style a lot, especially the intro shots of the characters, but the environments were also well drawn, even if they only had four different themes and they weren't generally very colourful. I'm sure the game has even more going for it with two human players, though I only played the single-player. Sometimes I found the companion controlled by the computer to be a touch annoying, not shooting when I wanted him to, or getting in the way and injuring himself (so I'd need to waste cash on health or lives for him when it came time to spend the money), or putting me off as he'd follow me and might get damaged as he didn't look out for himself well enough. Cleverly, the Wisdom attribute really did make a difference so later on he'd be making more effort to avoid being killed, dodging enemies, etc.

For the most part the levels weren't too taxing once you knew what you were about (even if the rapid pressing of the fire button so much wasn't good for the Joystick!). The final level was, appropriately, the most difficult, saving up as many lives as possible, edging through the previous three, then doing the same in that one, except you get to the point where you're almost guaranteed to lose a life on each of the two topmost generators since you have to destroy them from the front, but there are only approaches from the side, and four electricity balls that follow you. I tried drawing them off, but they kept respawning, though I was able to get it done in the end, then you're thrown into the battle against the machine, simply having to blast as much and as quickly as you can hammer the buttons because you're being blasted yourself, but you take out the energy bar and you think it's over... And then there's a new energy bar and even more dangerous shots pushing you back! With three good lives you can win, and that's how I was finally successful.

If you really wanted to you could probably play the game through as each of the six characters, and with five different companions for each of them, a lot of replay value if it was a game you loved, plus it was sharp and smooth, a technically accomplished design. Music was a bit forgettable within the levels themselves, and as I say, I was surprised it was so short (only when reading the back of the box did I realise the fourth World was also the final one, expecting at least seven!), and there were a couple of questionable bits (the Preacher's bio says beware his 'perverse nature' (!), which isn't a very positive representation; and the fact yin-yang symbols were presented as good things you wanted since they'd save your position in a level suggests some kind of agenda), but in general it's difficult to fault. In some senses it is basic, the puzzles of where to go and what to do aren't too taxing, and it is a bit linear aside from the options to hunt for other, more favourable exits (there were often areas I couldn't work out how to get to, so the game does have its secrets to search out for the dedicated). It held up well for a game I had no prior connection with to carry me over the threshold with nostalgia, and I'd say it's about as good as 'Alien Breed,' though that was tougher (less easy to win through to passwords), not necessarily a good thing. I can imagine going back to this one in years to come, maybe to try a different character, possibly to go for a higher score (though scoring has never been one of my gaming draws, one reason I'm less keen on shoot'em-ups in general), it's worth running through: it guided it's disks to my drive. It will be remembered.

***

Pathfinder

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Pathfinder)

'These Are The Voyages...' was the episode that sprang to mind while watching this. For some reason that appears to be an unloved gem while I get the impression 'Pathfinder' is much more warmly received. I love them both. I don't think it was Deanna Troi's participation so much as it was a flashback combined with a holographic setting that sent my mind towards the finale of 'Enterprise' (sadly there's no Riker, but he had at least appeared in the series already, back in Season 2's 'Death Wish' - Riker should appear in every Trek series!). That wasn't the only connection I made, of course: we've got a post-'Insurrection,' pre-
'Nemesis' Troi for one thing, and it's lovely to drop in on her, or I should say, see her drop-in on Reg Barclay, who himself had last appeared in 'First Contact' for an enjoyable little cameo - interestingly he was in 21st Century getup in that scene, being part of the team sent down to Earth at that time, so this is the first time he ever wore the (greatest of all time), purple or grey (depending on your point of view), ribbed shoulders of late-24th Century Starfleet (or one of them, as we see it changed several times after, but then when did it ever stay the same for long, other than on Voyager...). For me it was a statement of my favourite Trek's continuation, since 'DS9' had taken those uniforms and made them their own, much more than the sporadic appearance of the 'TNG' crew every few years ever could - the station gets a much appreciated mention as sending an 'interstellar phenomena forecast' which influences Barclay, so are we to assume it became a space weather station after the Dominion War?

I recently read in an old edition of Star Trek Monthly from September 1999 (I'm going through all the old issues), that Barry Jenner said he'd been asked to reprise the role of Admiral Ross in an episode of the sixth season of 'Voyager' and I naturally wondered if this could have been the one? We are a good few episodes into the season at this point, so it's possible it was a story that never got off the ground (maybe tied to Ron Moore's short-lived posting to the writer's room), or Jenner wasn't available by the time they got around to offering him a specific episode, or it could be that they had the scenario in mind that they were going to be getting into regular contact with little Voyager lost, but then realised if they were going to have an Admiral they needed it to be Owen Paris, Tom's Dad, since that would carry far more weight for this series and characters. It's a shame in one way that they couldn't get the original actor, Warren Munson, back, since he'd portrayed the character not only way back in a vision of Tom's from Season 2's 'Persistence of Vision,' but even reprised the role as late as Season 5's 'Thirty Days.' I'd love to know the reasoning behind not keeping to the continuity by recasting the role, but that's not to say Richard Herd didn't do a fine job - like Munson he too had been on 'TNG' previously, though he had the extra Trek cred from being William Shatner's boss in 'TJ Hooker,' too! It's just I was never sure he was right for the role, remembering him being quite jolly and upbeat, quite different from the impression Tom gave of his Father, or the Munson version, but at least in this initial appearance of his four, Herd is as stern and stone-faced as you'd expect.

It's not just characters from the past reappearing, or a sense of the wider Trek universe continuing back home in spite of Voyager's (and our), absence from it, 'DS9' still there, the Enterprise under Picard still off on missions (how sad we got see so few of them), indeed, in orbit of Earth during this episode, and the Captain's mentioned by Deanna, as is Geordi who would have liked to visit Barclay (but again, he'd already made a kind of visit to the series when a future timeline version of him as Captain of the USS Challenger was involved in last season's 'Timeless'), even Data and his cat Spot score references! It wasn't in the same overwhelming avalanche as some of our current Treks have tended to throw in ('Lower Decks' being egregious in this respect early on - I hear they've recently visited 'Voyager' itself, too, as they did with 'DS9,' so only the Enterprises -E and NX-01 to go then, yes?), but it was wonderful to hear of familiar friends again, especially at this time of Trek's life when the series had become the only new Trek in production. And the joy wasn't restricted to other series', as Voyager's own past is enjoyably implemented in the way that the vast majority of the story takes place on Reg's holographic recreation of the ship, and of course the images and characterisations come from when the ship had launched because, although Voyager had managed to make contact back in Season 4, sending physical profiles in order for Starfleet to create a more accurate simulation of them was not going to be high on the priority list!

It's amazing how much younger the cast looked in this episode, I couldn't work out if they'd gone to the trouble of exercising and carrying themselves in the way they did in Season 1, or if it was simply the old hairstyles that did it, but whatever they did it felt like genuinely stepping back to the beginnings of the series (not for the first, or last time, see 'Relativity' as an example) - even B'Elanna and Chakotay wear the old Maquis outfits they started out in, which was so much fun, and their hair is especially noticeable because it's changed so much since then. Neelix and Seven do not appear simply because there would be no physical records of them, even though Starfleet knew of their existence (Reg even naming his cat after the Talaxian cook), so not having Seven was another way in which the series had reverted back, though they could have done with Kes - even then she wouldn't show up for the same reason Neelix didn't, so it's hard to find fault! About the only questionable note in the whole thing is that the Doctor makes no mention of having met Barclay. The crew toast this guy they don't know, responsible for giving them a morale boost, but the Doc had already met a holographic recreation of him back in Season 2's 'Projections.' I can't remember how much he would have remembered of that time, and he's since had revisions to his program, maybe been restarted from scratch due to events like 'Latent Image' and 'The Swarm.' I can't recall the lore to be able to say definitively he should remember Barclay, but it would have been nice if they could have acknowledged Dwight Schultz's first appearance somehow.

Trek history in general isn't the only thing nicely picked up on in what is a kind of celebration of its past and present. Barclay's own personal history, introduced as someone who had a serious case of holo-addiction back in 'TNG' ('Hollow Pursuits'), returns to haunt him as people around him, even Deanna, believe he's had a relapse, and it does appear that way: once again he's living his life more fully in the Holodeck than in reality, failing to connect with real people and wishing he could spend all his time with his artificial friends: he's become obsessed by Voyager, something plenty of Trekkers can probably identify with, that desire to live in Trek and through it, seeing the characters as your friends more than real flesh and blood people, so they were talking to the very ones who loved this series in much the same way one of the themes of 'Generations' had been fantasy being an ultimately empty experience compared with reality. Whether viewers would take on board or even see themselves reflected in Barclay is another question, but it made for someone you can at least sympathise with. Saying that, I must admit Barclay did irritate a bit this time round. I don't know if my tolerance level has been eroded thanks to some of the terrible characters of modern Trek (I think in this case mainly of Sylvia Tilly, I can see a lot of Reg in her, but also the irritations and disgust with Georgiou, Burnham, Jurati, Raffi... the list could go on!), but that may explain why I didn't feel so generous towards Barclay's stuttering, whining speech and I don't know if it was more over the top than it had been in other performances to justify Commander Pete Harkins' belief he's regressed.

Not to say I didn't love his arc and it was joyous to see one of these classic characters interacting with my Voyager crew, even a version of them from several years before, and it's only a regret that Troi didn't also have scenes with them. I will say that I loved the beautiful setting for the story, somehow evoking Kirk's apartment in 'Star Trek III' when he has friends to visit. It was that same kind of wall-sized window looking out on the world, and in this case we get a sense of time passing as Barclay tells his story to Deanna in broad daylight, then sunset, finally night falling with all the skyscrapers beyond lit up making it a very cosy episode to watch, complete with that futuristic 'fire,' a sort of glowing bend of glass or metal. I thought I'd spotted one little moment when a hover-car flew past in the distance, but on checking I find that it was as Barclay stood by his window a piece of Neelix' cat fur wafts away from his hand and that's what caught my attention! It was wise of Trek to largely avoid such things (unlike now, when they do that sort of thing all the time - it's too much tying down what the future is, like when they had 'DSC' characters brushing their teeth, for example), about the only example I can think of from the original era (1966-2005), was a scene in 'All Good Things...' where an establishing shot of Data's university has some vehicles flying around, though that may not be the only time. They do make some efforts to show technology moving forward in small ways, such as the transparent version of the PADDs we're used to and mentioning an attempt to build a transwarp probe as one effort to get in contact with Voyager.

Did they know they'd be bringing Reg back on more occasions? I wonder because it does seem as if his story effectively gets some kind of closure: he's vindicated in his dogged pursuit of the plan to contact Voyager for one thing, he hasn't relapsed into his old ways, but also there's hope for his future as Pete wants him to meet his sister-in-law leaving us with the impression Barclay's coming out of his shell again, finding a new place after the sadness of leaving the Enterprise. I don't think it was made clear why he left the ship. It would have made more sense if he hadn't shown up in 'First Contact' as there was already a sadness about losing the family base of 'TNG' as seen in Worf's uncertainty when he speaks of the time post-'Generations,' but Reg clearly had been one of the many to transfer to the next ship to bear the name, Enterprise. There's still some kind of sadness as although we'd seen the 'E' in 'Insurrection' it was uncertain when the next film would be, and with 'DS9' ending there was no longer even a regular member of the film crew showing up any more. All of which made it more special when Deanna arrives for her chat with Reg. I think that's the main reason it reminded me of 'These Are The Voyages...' Not so much the content, but the form: two characters from another series using the current series to explore a problem. And using a holographic version of the crew of that ship, of course! Maybe if 'Voyages...' hadn't been the final ever episode of its series people might have been more accepting towards it, though I loved it from the first time I saw it.

There's so much to love about this episode, too, whether it be the format of starting the episode far from Voyager and not even seeing the real live version until near the end in almost the same way as in 'Course: Oblivion' though this has a much happier ending, and just as poignant. In fact I'd say the moment they make contact, despite having already done so on the series, was the more personal and meaningful. It was the promise of closer contact in future and a voice from home. Somehow seeing the story of how Project Pathfinder (or is it Project Voyager now, as that's how Admiral Paris refers to it?), was a success from the point of view of those involved, Barclay in particular, while keeping our characters off screen most of the time only made it a relief, and it's the magnitude of the achievement that is a turning point for the series. It was preparing us for much closer contact in future that should have eventually turned into Voyager being ordered on missions, perhaps even with some conflict as they were ordered to do things remotely that the crew might not like, but though by the end of the series they did do one or two actual missions, it was too little and too late, this didn't develop into what it should have, one of the series' failings. Still, at this stage the possibilities for both the ship and other stories that could be told with characters from the Alpha Quadrant were exciting, and while I could always have done with more, they did fulfil some of that promise.

One thing that really stood out to me was Admiral Paris' professionalism when he states he won't let his personal feelings for his son interfere with Starfleet procedure when there's some conflict over Reg being removed from the project and he visits him at his office (was that Starfleet Command or Starfleet Academy, I wasn't clear?). You can't help but compare such an attitude to current Treks (especially 'DSC' where I've recently been watching Season 4 and Captain Burnham has her boyfriend hanging around on the ship to argue with her!), and the greater emphasis on doing what feels right rather than what is right, ignoring procedure or altering it to fit such attitudes and it reminded me of one more thing that set old Trek apart. I did question Barclay's maths when he says Voyager is sixty-thousand lightyears away, but he was in a high dudgeon and may not have remembered how much had been cut off the ship's journey. But then if that was the case how could he narrow it down to three sectors that it should be in? Especially as they only recently made a big jump with the catapult so that should put all calculations out of whack. It's true I don't know exactly how many lightyears had been shaved off the journey over the course of the series, but I was sure it would be more than ten thousand lightyears (it was twenty-thousand in 'Dark Frontier' alone!).

Richard McGonagle (Pete), had been Ja'Dar in 'New Ground' on 'TNG' and would return to play Pete again in Season 7's 'Inside Man.' And Victor Bevine, one of the Security Guards, had minor roles with each of the then-modern crews. One other point is worthy of note: that this was the last ever episode to have its first transmission in the Nineties. Why should that matter? Well, for me and probably for many, that decade marked the Golden Age of Trek. It's not that there were never great episode before or after, but it was a time of great creative blossoming, a time when Trek's reach grew and grew, when they went from strength to strength, and when they reached a pinnacle of writing quality whose consistency has never been matched. Whether you think the highlight was 1994 when 'TNG' ended, 'DS9' continued, 'Voyager' was being filmed, and 'Generations,' featuring both 'TOS' and 'TNG' characters, came to cinemas, or 1996 when the 30th Anniversary hit home with 'First Contact' and the one-two punch of 'DS9' and 'Voyager' both well into, or coming into, their own, this was the time when Trek fired on all cylinders for the longest period and I'm glad that 'mini' era was closed out with such a worthy example of quality Trek as it did with this episode.

****

Aftermath

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Aftermath)

A lot happens, none of it very positive. The most exciting thing is that Dr. Rush has finally cracked the code and unlocked the control room from where the ship can be taken in hand. And now he decides when it stops and when it goes. But of course he doesn't share this with anyone, other than figments of his imagination, or figments of the ship trying to communicate (if so, doing a very bad job!), in the form of his dead wife, Gloria, and the missing Dr. Franklin. Young has lost a lot of trust among people and Rush is no exception, but it's a little suspicious that he keeps getting involved in ship operations despite not being around most of the time, so you'd think someone would twig. But not yet. Anyway, Rush isn't happy with Young, nor is Camille who wants the remaining Lucian Alliance prisoners to be treated fairly, Telford goes over Young's head to contact the SGC and gives him an ultimatum on which of them must be kept aboard, but Young doesn't exactly make friends with the leader, Varo, and to top it all, he tops Riley. Good, kind, gentle Riley. Okay, it's not quite that simple, the shuttle is sent down to a planet when they're desperate for supplies, but crash-lands, trapping Riley in rubble, he can't be moved, they've presumably got no way to do transfusions regardless of all the advanced technology on the ship - Rush might have helped by preventing the ship's departure and searching the database for medical assistance, but he's intent on keeping his control a secret, so from Young's perspective it seems they have limited time and he can't leave his man to die alone.

It was a horrible situation, but it's still more horrible that Riley is suffocated in that 'compassionate' way, even if it was at his request, Young helping him by euthanising him! I agree it didn't look good, but while there's life there's hope, the least they should have done would be to get him out of there, even if they have to shoot him full of painkillers, just to try and save him back on the ship, and if he bleeds out at least they did everything possible (get some docs from Earth to take a look, TJ's only a medic after all!), but no one thinks there's any hope so they just give up. It was a dispiriting end to a rather negative episode in which not only does Rush keep his secret, the Alliance members cause a riot in their cell and no one is happy. There was one nice little moment when TJ and Riley discuss whether they believe in God and an afterlife, but it's so sad they're completely without knowledge, it's all about feelings and other people's impressions, they don't have any personal experience to fall back on, so it's an even lonelier death than it might have been. At least TJ has some small hope in the belief her baby was somehow saved and lives still on the planet they left behind, but even that is a slim hope. It doesn't look good on the military that they're willing to strand a load of prisoners on a planet that doesn't seem too great for life, even though it was a tough situation, but surely there was room for rehabilitation? Again, it's a hopeless worldview and a very unheroic and uncharitably harsh choice.

We do at least get a little backstory on the Alliance from that girl (Koz?), who at least seems to be genuinely interested in contributing to their microcosm of a society - she claims to have been a farmer forced into joining on pain of her family's death, that the Alliance is made up of  warlords, and their reason for putting so much effort into trying to take over Destiny was because there's some legend tied up with it that it will take them to immeasurable, Godlike powers somehow. In the meantime Rush also has come to believe that it's name, Destiny, was for a reason, that the Ancients were supposed to come there, but for what purpose, and whether the series got to answering such questions before its untimely demise, I don't remember, though judging from the fact it's taken them until Season 2 just to find the central control room, I have a feeling not! What are they going to do now without a shuttle, wasn't that the last one they had? It's not been the greatest start with these first couple of episodes, but hopefully we'll get back to that sense of camaraderie and mutual trust and exploration that made the last few episodes of Season 1 hang together so nicely. And will Young ever stop doing things that he's going to find it hard to forgive himself for?

**

The Voyager Conspiracy

 DVD, Voyager S6 (The Voyager Conspiracy)

"It's quite clear we've been the victim of an elaborate deception." Another Seven of Nine story? But we just had one last episode! Thing is, she's usually more than ripe for great stories so it's hard to feel hard done by even if some of the actors probably felt that way. This one is no exception, though it's one of those that I wasn't sure if I'd liked before, an uncertainty only increased by the gradualness of its quality to come through. It takes most of the running time to build up a head of emotional steam, but it's one that comes roaring at you full force right at the end and once again proves it's the personal, not the external plot's magnitude that makes Trek sing at a level above other TV. And it's another of those episodes that reminds me why I enjoy Trek in the first place, which I often find myself questioning when I watch the (increasingly expanding), modern era with all its bells and whistles which nevertheless misses the heart of Trekness. On the face of it, it's a Big Story with ramifications for the entire series that could boggle the mind if it were true. While I could see new Trek running with this storyline and making these conspiracies actually true, as that's the kind of garish sensationalism it tends towards (even while utterly ruining Trek's greatest conspiracy in Section 31!), and this isn't a review to bash the current state of affairs (that's not fun), 'Voyager' manages to work in facts, or seeming facts, about the ship's original mission and how it truly ended up getting stranded in the Delta Quadrant, that could almost make you start to wonder...

It's actually nowhere near as plausible as Section 31's own gambit to recruit Dr. Bashir in 'Inquisition,' in which they worked in some great details of the doc's career over the previous few years, things that we'd seen and fit neatly into this paranoia they were instilling. The 'Voyager' writers, for all their abilities were never going to be as accomplished as their counterparts on 'DS9' (perhaps one more reason Ron Moore found his situation untenable), so they don't come up with things nearly as believable as in that episode, plus they cheat a bit by having Seven's reel of evidence fading out so we don't hear all of it as there really isn't very much you can pull on to suggest Chakotay was planning a Maquis uprising. And that image of what could be a tractor beam was very dodgy, no matter how pleasurable it was to revisit the series' origins by showing clips of the Caretaker's array and other bits of the pilot (not to mention the occasional other episodes, 'Dark Frontier' and 'Scorpion' - why, it's practically a clips episode, or as close as they'd come, but it puts 'Shades of Grey' in the, well, shade...). No doubt the writers were intending to show up the inconsistency and mental gymnastics of conspiracy theorists, but there's no way they'd realise just how deep the rabbit hole would go in succeeding decades, because this could easily be an analogy of today: Seven overloads on downloads, filling her mind with all kinds of facts, reports, unverified sensor readings, etc, just like we can do now by hoovering up all we can take from the internet, and then proceeds to join the dots to make a pattern that suits her growing paranoid state of mind.

Tuvok can even admit that some of what she says is logical, but he goes no further than that earlier in the episode: logical, but highly speculative. This of course is when she's first spitting out theories, or one theory, about the existence of some 'photonic fleas' and is proved to be right, having absorbed enough data to create this relatively unlikely scenario that does indeed prove to be true and fuels her later speculations and logic leaps. It was a good setup for what comes after, and though the episode doesn't exactly jump into its story wildly with both feet, it has a gentle, pleasant, 'life aboard Voyager' quality to it. It may be that I've thought of Season 6 and on as being too undeveloped for its position when I think of the dramatic advancement in story quality, the vast landscape of characters, races and ongoing plots that rose to arguably its highest level in the equivalent season of 'DS9' and they were exceeding expectations, while on 'Voyager' they're still turning out relatively simple 'little' mystery stories of the week instead of building up anything or really developing characters - this could almost have been a Season 4 episode when you remember how many times Janeway had to argue and battle Seven with words, as well as teaching her the hard way when she disobeyed like a petulant teenager. My point being that they weren't moving the series forward, sticking with what worked, and it does work, but it isn't a classic that it could have been with a richer backdrop to lay it all on.

Comparisons would hurt the best TV shows when it comes to 'DS9,' in my book (and 'Voyager' is certainly up there as one of the best, also in my book!), so I don't intend to demean the episode, it's just a good idea to see it in perspective, unlike the way Seven rips through her discoveries and goes off the deep end! The first inkling that things are not quite right in Sevenland comes when she begins to believe that part of the Caretaker's Array could have been brought all that way ahead of them (she suggests through a relay of ships, though I noticed she didn't give the slightest piece of evidence to back up that idea!), when Voyager's journey has been haphazard at best: they've increasingly found ways to lop years off their journey (as they do in this very episode by using the alien fellow's catapult to launch them three years closer to the Alpha Quadrant), especially in recent seasons, and while I haven't been making a running tally of how far the (was it seventy-five year?) journey has been cut down, the distance has been greatly reduced. The idea that ships carrying this Tetryon Reactor which powered both the Array and this catapult, could somehow get ahead of them without those shortcuts... well, it was farfetched, to say the least. And then when she starts believing in a joint Federation/Cardassian mission to expand their territories into the Delta Quadrant she just starts to look a little loony. Bare facts themselves can only tell so much, and as much as the law is concerned with such, it's also important to remember character and motivation of individuals. Raw facts can provide a structure, but it's what hangs on or within that which matters.

It is the characters of Janeway and Chakotay, the way they act, how they conduct themselves and what their motives have garnered over time that demonstrates who they are and what they stand for. I feel Seven should have brought up the secret Captains Directive about the Omega molecule as evidence that Janeway could go solo and take on something personally, directly from Starfleet that she doesn't need to tell her crew about, or is in fact forbidden from sharing (if that's correct), as proof she can operate without any of their knowledge, but then she'd have had to remember all the events of that episode and that Janeway was right. Still, there were occasionally details that would have served the story, sometimes better than what they did drop in to 'support' her theory: Kes had to leave the ship because she knew too much? In that case why would she part with a gift of pushing them lightyears closer to home? An aside: it was so nice to hear of Kes again, someone that had necessarily been largely forgotten by this point, and she's mentioned a few times so I wonder if they knew they'd be bringing her back later in the season? Possibly, but it was a long way off, coming in the latter half, but maybe they had a long lead-in to ensure Jennifer Lien was available? Other facts used to support her story is the Doctor going aboard a ship in the Alpha Quadrant ('Message In A Bottle'), in order to contact Starfleet, but she knows what he went through there and she trusts him for all he's helped her with in her time on Voyager.

There's also the alliance with the Borg, ceasefire with the Hirogen, etc, as evidence of Janeway's preparation for Starfleet and Cardassia's plans, but for one thing making peace where possible is what Starfleet does, representing the Federation, and as for the Borg alliance she herself knows only too well how... futile that eventually was. It's clear the data is overwhelming her and she hasn't got any hobbies with which to go and let off steam. She should have used Worf's training program where he beat up skull warriors in the Holodeck (actually I could see Seven getting on quite well with Worf in such a context, I wonder if they have any scenes together in 'Picard' Season 3 - only a few more months for me to wait for the DVD release!). Instead she keeps generating theories, even ones that come into conflict with each other as she hops madly about from one story to the next, eventually settling on everything being about her. This is where it suddenly clicked for me ('it's all about you, Michael, everything is about you,' as the ill-fated Airiam once said in 'DSC'), this is what Trek became in recent years, you see the melodramatic ridiculousness of Seven's self-inflated importance where the One is much more important than the Many, and what old Trek showed as delusional and unreasonable is just the kind of thing new Trek does seriously with a straight face! Again, getting off track, not here to bash new Trek, and in fact there's plenty to show it is improving, even if in tiny increments.

This is where it all comes into focus, Janeway beaming to the Delta Flyer which Seven has stolen in order to destroy the catapult, or herself, or both, because she's convinced she's become a target and it was all a plot to take her back to Starfleet HQ and carve her up for more intel on the Borg. Does Starfleet really need to do that after all the Borg they've encountered, even more with the USS Voyager's reports and research gathered over the last few years, so it's clearly ludicrous out of all proportion that so much planning would be made to catch one young woman. It takes Janeway's calm, careful logic to talk her down, persuading her with words, reminding her of all that she herself has done for Seven, the friendships she's made, the encouragement to learn about her family history that has only served to help her grow and learn to accept her new life. If the earlier stuff was a bit of a rickety bridge to Seven's ultimate actions, this scene demonstrated that the 'Voyager' writers could craft that ol' Trek magic when they tried. Even after so many similar scenes in the past where Janeway had to reach out a verbal hand and get Seven to trust her, this still holds so much weight, and it's simply a beautifully written, performed and directed scene where the Captain turns Seven's factual delivery, which she was spitting out like a weapon, around into her own weapon that breaks through the silliness and reaches her crew-member. It's not unique to Janeway that she can dredge up the deepest, truest reality, a way with words was also a well-known attribute of Captains Kirk and Picard (Sisko being more of a presence than a wordsmith), but perhaps because of her femininity she has that unique delivery of compassion from every pore, that her pleas are so persuasive and reassuring.

If the most obvious analogy was with wild conspiracy theories, it could also have been aimed at cults and their overarching control of the mind - Seven has effectively brainwashed herself by trying to make sense of more information than she can process. She's more than a machine and this may have been intended as a sign that her former Borg abilities and technology could not continue indefinitely without being maintained within the Collective. That would have been a strong, pure arc for Seven and was certainly one that appeared intended to some degree (I think of the Season 7 episode where her cortical node degrades and Icheb donates his own so she can live, or the very end of the series when even her implants are smaller and less pronounced as she continues to shed Borg technology), but was utterly ruined by her appearance in 'Picard' where she'd apparently reverted back to full implants even while she'd lost the regimented, almost Vulcan-like manner of speech that spoke of the character so strongly. In that regard, and just as in later 'Voyager' they didn't make her 'too' human, it's a sign of marketing - just in case we bring back this character we need her to be recognisable as what she was or those stoopid audience members won't get it! Here, Seven, and Jeri Ryan, are perfect, as is Janeway. (My only question is why they needed to beam back from the Flyer, it makes you think they're abandoning the ship's newest addition!).

It's interesting they chose this episode to show the Captain and First Officer dining together as it hadn't been common ever since 'Resolutions' in Season 2 when they'd decided against the pairing, but then it served this story very well that they can go from gentle banter and an atmosphere of the cordial geniality of equals away from the eyes of the crew to genuinely suspecting the motives of the other as they get pulled into Seven's fantasies - as they noted, she at least had the excuse of a malfunction. You could say that's the only part that doesn't quite ring true. If they'd leant on the pair's disagreements in recent years over the Borg or the Equinox, maybe it would have arisen more naturally, but each taking a Phaser as they investigate? We can put it down to a moment of mutual madness, but that side of the story could have been better set up, especially as the 'evidence' Seven points to, is a string of circumstances that don't add up. With the stuff she was telling Janeway about Chakotay it was just ridiculous - that Seska didn't steal his DNA, it was all part of their plan, and other things that I didn't recognise, which I suppose they made up since there really wasn't anything much to use against Chakotay (I think that's the bit where they fade out Seven talking so they don't have to add more!), but even the DNA thing had already been proved false since the resulting baby was Maje Culluh's anyway! If you remember your Trek facts they can come in handy.

What's fun about the episode is throwing in a lot of references and reminders about the series' past, and indeed parts of Trek lore they rarely had reason to mention or deal with due to their position: the Cardassians, seeing a Cardassian Warship (which we were no longer getting since 'DS9' had ended), talk of Kes and Seska and the Caretaker, the fact they'd met two of that species ('Cold Fire'), and didn't want a third encounter, and is that the last mention of The Badlands in Trek? I wouldn't be surprised. There's even further description of Neelix' life in the year he was hanging around in the region as he'd become close to Kes, though made a point of avoiding the Caretaker. He speculates the Caretaker sent back the other ships that were pulled in (I think he mentions fifty-two ships in that year, which suggests it was one ship per week if a year can be said to be the same in that area of space), and the tests the Caretaker ran took some time, although I'm not sure how well that tallies with the fact he sometimes sent infected victims to be cared for by the Ocampa - what would happen to them, did they find a way to leave or just settled into a new life? I can't imagine a Cardassian doing any less than making extreme trouble for the innocent Ocampa and in fact the Caretaker could have been doing exactly what he wanted to avoid by sending aliens down to their city. But now I come to think of it I think they said all other examples had died so that would clear that up!

Neelix' remembrance of Kes' speculations, as well as his own independent records and logs from his ship only adds fuel to the fire of Seven's theory and though both he and the Doctor aren't included much, I did like that they were used in a way that made sense, not merely there to make up the numbers. Of course the doc couldn't be too visible or he'd have quickly realised something was wrong, being probably her closest friend. Other than Naomi, who's only a child, and that was a tough moment when she sends the little girl away with a flea in her ear, babbling her theories, rattling away about her Father being Ktarian, and blah, blah, blah. The poor child doesn't know what to make of it, and Seven is an odd enough fish that she wouldn't go and inform someone what happened (though if there was more time I could imagine a scene with either her Mother or Neelix who find her down in the dumps - that could have been a clue as to Seven's mental state, though it could just as easily be explained away as her being in a bad mood). The pairing is always delightful, a continual reminder of Seven's own childlike nature, despite the vast growth she's gone through over the last two-plus years. Naomi also serves a useful purpose of setting up Seven to seem mean and aggressive to her in contrast to their friendly, easygoing first scene - you could even say it throws in a childhood lesson of the week as you'd get in old cartoons: learning is about quality, not about quantity, it's more important to take learning in than how much you can cram. And then we're automatically set for a pleasant way to send the episode out as they're friends again and all is as it should be, exactly the kind of reassurance to leave viewers in a happy place rather than shocked or anticipating what horrible thing will happen next...

The real message of the episode is it's never a good idea to download chunks of data into yourself - Tom Paris typically condenses the process very neatly by equating Seven's downloads to 'learn while you sleep.' Even if this is a very Seven and Janeway story it finds a way to include everyone confidently, be that Tom making his comments, Tuvok allowing himself to be quizzed by Seven without a stir of equanimity (of course he remembers exactly what yield he programmed into the Tricobalt explosive that he used to destroy the Array over five years ago - he's Vulcan!), or B'Elanna sounding typically annoyed when Seven wakes her up early in the morning, or is confused when Chakotay serves up an almost Maquis-like level of intrigue, asking her to take her time to give him time. Maybe the only thing missing was a scene between them later where they joke about the likelihood of a Maquis takeover, but it wasn't really necessary. Even the guest character served the story quite nicely, if a bit of a stretch that he could singlehandedly build this huge catapult, somehow fighting off any curious aliens that would typically come as marauders to steal his wallet. If he could build it then you wonder why Voyager couldn't do the same, make a jump as far as they could go, then build another. I don't think we were told exactly how long it took this enterprising shoehorn-head (typically great design from Westmore - it's almost taken for granted at this point!), to build his catapult, so maybe it took a while, plus the whole point was that the necessary reactor was hard to get. At least we can throw out one of Seven's theories quite easily - she claimed it was being used to pull ships in as an invasion fleet, but catapults don't pull, they push!

Tash was the third and final contribution from Albie Selznick in Trek (unless new Trek proves me wrong), who began back in 'TNG' as The Juggler in 'Cost of Living,' then an equally movement-based role on 'Voyager' as the Tak Tak Consul of 'Macrocosm.' This was the best makeup he got, though. My problem with new Trek (this again, I know, I'm sorry, it's good to get it off my chest), or one of them, is that aliens always speak so casually as if they're only human, but I have to say that this was the case with Tash, too (and to be fair, the Voyager crew can also come across a bit contemporary sometimes), but perhaps the difference here is that it's not an established race, he's just a one-off alien-of-the-week so it doesn't hurt. If a Cardassian was speaking like that, or a Romulan, Vulcan, etc, that's when it really undoes that sense of continuity and internal reality. When they mentioned the 'photonic fleas' I instantly thought they were somehow holographic, but on checking the 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' it said energy-based beings, which includes, but isn't exclusive to, holograms (they do love that little junction down a Jefferies Tube, though, don't they - is it the third time in recent episodes they've opened that hatch?). 'Making warp drive look like a wooden sled,' was a good line and slogan if Tash ever gets around to marketing his Tashtastic Catapult (TM), though it reminded me of the 'Transwarp' claims of the Excelsior. And I loved the touch of the Replicator warning that a plate was hot when Janeway was going for culinary authenticity (she obviously doesn't like actual cooking, unlike Sisko or Riker). Finally, Neelix' request to turn a Cargo Bay into a nursery wouldn't be as premature as it appeared since the Borg kiddies would be coming eventually.

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Intervention

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Intervention)

Seconds don't tend to live up to the experience of the first round, and this was no exception, although I didn't dislike it as I had the first time I saw it. It was a bit of a sequence of events to begin with, stuff happening to resolve where we left them before, the Colonel doesn't get mown down with all his people, Varo intervenes; Scott and Greer don't get zapped by the pulsar, they wisely head underneath the ship, which protects them; and Chloe somehow gets healed, her bullet wound stops bleeding all of its own accord - since there were clips of her being held by the aliens in the water tank in the recap at the start does this mean they did something to her as I don't think there was any other real connection to that, at least not in this story. But although a chunk of the episode is given over to running around or creeping about, one side saying do this, the other saying no, internal conflicts, etc, towards the end it does become reasonably tense as Rush lays down an ultimatum to the aggressive, self-imposed new leader of the Lucian Alliance gang, Dannic, a man who will sacrifice them all because his mission has failed. Only the botanical bay will be safe from the next pulsar hit, but he won't lay down weapons, and you can believe Rush would be harsh enough to go through with allowing the ship to flood with deadly radiation that will kill even those on their side left behind (when Telford says he's a coward he wasn't acting!). But as Greer says at one point, everybody's okay.

I'm glad they didn't go round killing off characters indiscriminately as what's the point of building up these people only to off them, other than for an immediate smidgen of drama, but it's a sacrifice rarely worth making so I applaud that they didn't do that, with only Kiva, the leader, dying offscreen so they didn't have to bring the actress back, and Dannic, her successor. He was in it before, but I don't remember Simeon. Maybe he was there, but didn't have lines? Obviously Varo is the main voice, but even the girl who shot Dannic was a new character. There were enough members of the group that they can bring out one or two, I suppose, it's a dark ship, they wear dark clothing, they probably melted into the background if we need justification for why we didn't see them before, so I'm okay with that. I certainly recalled that the remnants of the Alliance were forced to join our people and there would be plenty of strife because of it, but what else could they do? At least Varo is an honourable sort, or he's gooey on TJ, so maybe that motivates him to be the good guy? She has an out of body experience, literally! Returning to the planet they left some of the crew who wanted to start a colony, but you're never certain it's reality, it could just be her imaginings or dreamings as she lingers near death and her baby dies within her. And yet... It ends with one of the most upbeat closing moments of the series when she sees the same beautiful anomaly when the ship comes to rest, which she'd encountered in her 'vision' so maybe it was true after all?

It could have been a really depressing part of the story that she's conned by her subconscious into thinking her baby's alive, though parted from her, but this sign, almost like the rainbow for Noah's Ark, suggests it was true. It was a weird part of the story, you'd never have thought they'd bring back any of those people, and it's filmed in such a dreamlike style to encourage it to be seen as unreality. But it's also plausible in the way Cane talks about these alien beings who've helped them, so it ends up being quite hopeful and positive, even if tinged with bitter sadness over the eternal parting, and I came to quite like that part of it. The thing is they make very clear TJ's there on the ship, merely unconscious, while at the same time allowing us to see what she experiences and the contrast with all this anger and violence, the dark, dark ship filled with people in dark, dark clothes, perhaps it was necessary to give some light as well. But does she even believe it? She looks fairly distraught when Young visits her or when Camille tells her what happened, but then again with the sign in the heavens it proposes hope and it was such a benevolent action to save the baby, it comes across as right and good that if aliens were out there helping the colony they could have such power and decide to step in (plus it handily prevents TJ from being tied down with baby duties as they'd already done with Teyla in 'Atlantis' - maybe they realised that would take the character out of the story too much?).

TJ's story is the personal one, it's what happens to everyone else that really matters. Greer is in his element, stalking round the ship like a hunter, along with Scott taking out the enemy without weapons, then using their weapons on them, but if it hadn't been for that one Alliance girl nothing would have saved them, so they owe it all to her for... executing her commander. Okay, so he was about to get them all killed, not exactly good qualifications for being leader, but could she not merely have wounded him? This Lucian Alliance is a savage group and you can tell that Simeon is going to be trouble, he had a nasty look about him! I don't think there was even any serious issues with the story: I felt it was silly they could lock themselves into a room when we'd already seen technology the enemy had to unlock doors, but they were going serious by welding the door shut (Brody definitely seems to carry more weight now), the only solution would be to blast it open, killing all inside and they needed Rush to reverse the power removal from the shields. Mind you, Dannic would probably have taken his chances and hoped one of his technical people would be able to deal with it, but there was no time even for that, so it worked out okay. The exile to a barren planet was admittedly short-lived and seemed to exist only to remind us that this is a Stargate series and they do indeed still have one, but it was the conflict on the ship that was important and I was relieved it didn't drag on, they successfully undid the events of the end of Season 1 and now we can get onto the business of... whatever this series does, now with added Lucian Alliance.

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