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.

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