Life Line (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Life Line) (2)

The way I used to see these Alpha Quadrant episodes of the series was as the closest I was going to get to a continuation of 'DS9' simply for the fact that series inherited the playground of the Quadrant after 'TNG' expired, though in reality the death of a TV show was actually a Phoenix rising from the ashes immediately, transformed into a film series. This was something 'DS9' never got and I missed the most central part of the Trek I knew, as much fun as Delta Quadrant adventures were. Now I see it much more as a crossover with the 'TNG' films - how many characters from 'DS9' appeared on 'Voyager' after the former had ended? Zero. Yet we had two 'TNG' characters in this one, as we did in the previous instalment, 'Pathfinder.' The double-act of Troi and Barclay may not have been an obvious partnering to add into the 'Voyager' cake mix, but it was charming and this particular episode joined the two threads of previous episodes, namely Troi helping Barclay in 'Pathfinder' and Barclay being instrumental in assisting in the EMH's creation (way back in 'Projections'), as well as giving us the first proper appearance of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman on 'Voyager' after a holographic diagnostic program had been shown before ('The Swarm'). And we come full circle back to this being a continuation of 'DS9' by the fact the last and only time we saw Zimmerman in the flesh was in that series ('Doctor Bashir, I Presume'), how's that for connections! But as much as I would have liked it to tie more into 'DS9' than anything else, in truth the only tie is that Zimmerman went there, Leeta refusing to return to Jupiter Station with him and the lonely old man with only his holograms for company went back to his work on his own.

'Insurrection' had come out only fifteen months before and ended with the Enterprise-E going off on its next adventure so this episode was made during that last period of ongoing 'TNG,' continuing as it always had ('Nemesis' had much more finality due to the breaking up of the crew), and so it was easy to imagine the Enterprise going about its business. When Barclay calls in Counsellor Troi for her expertise to help in dealing with the impossible patient (Zimmerman and Stamets would have found a great mutual enmity, I have no doubt!), she mentions both the Enterprise being on a mission and having to ask Captain Picard for permission to go, the kind of reference they rarely included, especially in the time they were making the 'TNG' films. If her presence and references weren't enough to suggest this as a definitive 'TNG'/'Voyager' crossover we also have a direct link to 'Insurrection' when the Doctor takes on the form of a Tarlac woman, one of the Sona's indentured beauty slaves, to fool Zimmerman. And finally, as well as bringing back the best Starfleet uniforms ever created (the ribbed, grey shoulder variation introduced in 'First Contact' and then brought to 'DS9'), as they should considering the era in which this is set, we actually get Troi making a visit to Voyager herself! Okay, it's really only Barclay's holographic recreation where the Doctor runs to when he can't help his irritable patient, but it was a joy to see Troi in her 'TNG' film look in Voyager's Sickbay (it's not quite as unlikely as may seem since that same Sickbay set had been commandeered for the Enterprise-E!), and my only disappointment was that we didn't get to see her in other parts of the ship or interacting with holographic Voyager characters.

One last thing to cement the idea of a crossover is that they also had a third character who'd been in the 'TNG' films in Jack Shearer (already a veteran Trek guest star even before that), in his final appearance in Trek, bringing back Admiral Hayes of 'First Contact' - he'd already returned in 'Voyager' once, in the Season 4 finale, 'Hope and Fear.' That probably explains why I had a feeling of dread when he was talking about plans for Voyager: it wasn't that he reminded the characters and the audience that Starfleet still considered Chakotay and his crew to be Maquis, though that was a great suggestion for potential story issues in future had the ship got home before the end of the series, but because his instructions from Starfleet in the previous appearance were actually part of a ruse! This time it's genuine, but I couldn't shake that feeling of unease left from 'Hope and Fear,' even as he was giving promising news of deep space vessels moving to meet Voyager that would rendezvous in five or six years, which would have been a wonderful thing had it happened. Hopefully they were able to keep in touch with those ships or they'd be speeding towards where they believed Voyager to be only for it to actually no longer be in the Delta Quadrant at all, having used Borg Transwarp conduits to take a shortcut! I'm sure the same system of communication with Voyager could have been used to keep those deep space vessels in the loop, and it must have been a revolutionary development for all far-flung missions from this time on.

That kind of amazing technological progress was what Trek should have concentrated on instead of ridiculous fantasy like Discovery's spore drive and the 'mycelial network.' This sort of thing was much more real and grown-up in its storytelling and consequently means so much more in the gravity of its telling. While Starfleet still can't be in full and daily contact with its distant ship, they can at least communicate once a month and so occurs the Doctor's furthest travel: in Season 4 he'd been sent to the Alpha Quadrant in a one-off transfer ('Message In A Bottle'), mentioned here in passing as proof of concept, but now he's being sent practically to Earth's doorstep in the galactic scheme of things: Jupiter Station, a facility that had been mentioned a number of times across both 'DS9' and 'Voyager' and so had built up a sense of place that it was enjoyable to finally see. And it did look great, a combination of former Starfleet technology, the Argus Array, for example, and the mushroom style of the 'TOS' films, except sleeker so that the multiple segments look like Galaxy-class saucers placed on top of each other. Needless to say I loved the look! Internally it was more basic, as you'd expect from episodic television, but it neatly moulds Voyager's Holodeck style of metallic grid scaffolding with the latest in Starfleet decor, including transparent PADDs that show technology continues to advance in Voyager's absence.

The most momentous development is from the Voyager crew themselves and goes almost unspoken - the Doctor's program is so large, even with Seven (not B'Elanna? See how she takes even the Chief Engineer's role - I don't even recall Torres being in the episode for more than a few seconds in the Briefing Room, despite the fact she was always the one to deal with the Doc's program), cutting out unnecessary subroutines, pruning his various side interests that aren't going to be relevant to the mission. This means the crew will have to wait another month before they can send the letters and communications that Janeway had delightedly offered, so it was a big favour for the Doctor to ask. I'm sure they were understanding of what he was going through once Zimmerman's poor health became known, and the view their Doctor took of him being the closest thing he had to a Father, though it's just as possible they had their own families they needed to check in on for similar reasons. It was a big sacrifice for the crew and I would have liked to have seen that be a more prominent moment in the episode, though I did enjoy seeing the Doctor sway Janeway to his way of thinking. And it sets up the series for regular contact with home, a huge development.

The story becomes a personal coming together of one of our favourite characters with someone who views him as little more than an early variation of a technology that has progressed way beyond that - we learn so much about the EMH's history up to the present in this one episode. They're now up to the Mark IV (no mention of LMH, or Longterm Medical Hologram, something presumably nixed after the issues with Dr. Bashir - I do wish they could have found a way to include a line about that experience from Zimmerman, but we had a mention of 'DS9' in last week's episode and you can't have everything), with the 675 Mark I's reduced to menial labour scrubbing plasma manifolds on 'waste transport barges.' I thought when Zimmerman first mentioned this he was merely being hyperbolic, rubbing it in how lowly the Doc's program was considered now, but even later it comes up and sounds as if it was a reality, he wasn't being mean, which begs the question, 'what waste?' I presume some kind of industrial fall off because organic waste would all be recycled in the Replicator, and personal waste is dealt with in 'waste extraction,' according to 'DS9.' It's that bitterness for the treatment of those made in his own image that creates a bond between irascible patient and impatient doctor, brought to fruition by Troi and Barclay's devious method of putting the Doctor's program in danger of coming apart, which can only be saved by Zimmerman's intervention, in turn helping him realise Voyager's EMH is the last of its kind still doing what it was programmed for, and also that it, that he, has exceeded his parameters. It's brought home by the fact of Zimmerman's own situation of surrounding himself with holographic life because he feels more comfortable with that than humans.

Zimmerman, his problems, his genius, was very deftly written, he's more than merely a grumpy old man facing the end of life. He may go on about the advances of the program and be involved in other work as his role as the Father of modern holography (just as Dr. Noonien Soong was in the same position when it came to positronics - how I'd love to have seen those two meet!), winning the Daystrom prize, but he still wears the same bettered old lab coat we first saw his facsimile sporting in 'The Swarm,' which shows that he sticks with what he likes. It isn't all tragedy, he does care about holographic life - not in a sense of being some kind of champion for its sentience, but appreciating what it can do, and has done for him. Haley may just be his maidservant or housekeeper, but she's also someone he interacts with regularly and knows how to deal with him. Even Leonard (hmm, a reference to Nimoy or McCoy?), the holographic iguana with the disturbing ability to repeat human speech when the mood comes on him, he promises to leave to a good home. So he doesn't see these as only tools, but real beings. Tragedy is a strong part of the episode: for Zimmerman and his seemingly terminal illness; for the Doctor and his wish to be acknowledged as more than just another hologram. It's a coming together of these two minds, neither understanding at first the importance the other has in their mind - though he effects to despise the Doctor, Zimmerman realises he is a representation of the dream he had, what he originally wanted.

There is a lot of self-absorbed ego, but then Zimmerman is a genius and it appears even in Trek's supposedly developed humanity (since shown to be just the same as 21st Century us in modern Trek, not understanding the need to write futuristic people classically, something that came to me from Brannon Braga in the fascinating interview he did with The Shuttlepod Show podcast, and struck a chord), there can still be those outsiders that don't fit with the established vision of humans being more advanced - you only have to look at Barclay for another example, though he's merely the facilitator this time and is mostly in the background, story-wise. Thinking of being in the background reminds me of the great technical achievement of this episode, the latest in a long line of Trek's dating back to 'TOS' which featured multiple characters in scenes played by one actor. You can actually forget both the Doctor and Zimmerman are portrayed by Robert Picardo, they're so different and appear with each other so often. There is much less of that sitting the camera down equidistant from them, one on the left, one on the right, talking at each other, usually the hallmark of such scenes. They move the camera, they cleverly cut to over the shoulder shots, moving the camera there, too, so it was all edited together superbly. Most impressive to me was that when another character is present I couldn't tell if they'd filmed their scenes with Zimmerman or the Doctor so seamless was the choreography!

Sometimes the eye-lines didn't quite match up, and I was watching very closely, but there was so much movement from both actors (there I go again - I mean from both performances!), being so demonstrative, that it wasn't too noticeable as you get swept up in the scenes. Picardo is great as the Doctor, always was, but he excels himself in the role of the slovenly, snappy, bad-tempered Zimmerman, who has become even more bitter and dismissive since we saw him three years before in 'DS9,' his attributes no doubt exacerbated by the pain of his illness. That the Doctor is the only one who can provide a cure makes sense due to Voyager having so much to do with the Borg, and therefore more knowledge of nanoprobes. What I don't understand is how these were able to come with the Doctor, if indeed they did? I have to assume they couldn't since they were physical things and the Doc wasn't exactly being beamed, his program was being transferred (I can see why there might be no real difference, since in both examples it's something being converted to data, which is then transmitted, but the Doc was never solid in the first place so I'm not sure a solid object could be reduced to its data in a Transporter and then reconstructed into solidity?). Perhaps it was as simple as providing schematics from which Starfleet would be able to reproduce nanoprobes?

The story opened up the 'Voyager' universe to admit of the possibility for connecting with wider Trek of that time, not being trapped far away from all the 'serious' stuff. Not that there weren't always tricks to pull off cameos, guest appearances and such, but this was now  a regular connection with home, the next stage in that dream, and in a way, a third part of the trilogy after getting off a message to Starfleet in 'Hunters' that first alerted them to Voyager's survival, to 'Pathfinder' where we saw the fruits of Barclay's research, to now where they can get to a new level of contact. I don't remember how well this translated into adventures on the series going forward, there were only two episodes left for the season at this point, and while they certainly had more specific Starfleet orders late in Season 7, I don't recall it having a huge impact. Perhaps it would have been more satisfying to use these developments to reach the stage where they could actually bring the ship home before the end of the series, where we could have explored all those issues with Seven, the Doctor, the Maquis, but that would have been out of character for a series that didn't like to go too far outside its established premise. One thing I would have liked either way, would have been more from Dr. Zimmerman, but this was his last appearance (to date - nothing's off the table these days, one of the few positives about modern Trek!).

It's not that there needed to be more said between him and the Doctor, they have a nice moment at the end when Barclay takes a holo-image of the pair together for the Doc's collection, a beautiful shot to end the episode on, the Doc and his 'Dad,' but Zimmerman still says he hopes he won't be back next month to see that he's taking his medication! There's a grudging acceptance, but I feel it would have sprouted up from that seed, probably to the opposite end of the spectrum, that Zimmerman could make a trip to Voyager (perhaps through some holographic avatar), because he's been thinking about the Doctor and wants to share some improvements with him, in the process upsetting everyone onboard, including the Doctor, who doesn't know how to turn him down now that they're getting on so well, the episode ending with a scene, which I can see so clearly in my mind, of Janeway gently explaining to Zimmerman that his improvements aren't necessary, he should be proud that his 'son' has gone off and made something of himself - yeah, that would been great fun, but I can understand why they never did something like that. The Doctor was already getting a lot of exposure, Picardo didn't need to keep playing another character as well, as much as he'd have loved it, I'm sure! I'm just glad we got to have a meeting of creation with created, further cementing the Doctor's status as being in the same vein as Data. At least we never had an evil brother (though if the series had lasted a few more years...).

I haven't had a lot to say about Deanna and Barclay, but that's because though they were key characters in the story, the focus was most definitely not on them. They had their time in the sun last time in 'Pathfinder,' I'm happy they were brought back (and not for the last time). Troi even gets the classic line said about her by the Doc: "She's a counsellor, not an engineer," which was great fun to continue that tradition. Amazing to think that both she and the Doctor returned to Trek so many years later, and it's always a thrill when main characters meet, the main reason I consider this a crossover with 'TNG.' Maybe I don't thrill to this episode as I once did when it was so exciting just to see characters return long beyond the time they were current (even if the films had yet to run their course), but we have had a lot of that crossover potential in recent years (mainly in 'Picard' and 'Lower Decks'), which has been fun, but you still need the story to live up to it. This story does live up to it, but I tend to think there wasn't quite enough 'Voyager' interaction. As I said before, you can't have everything, and this is yet another classic for Season 6, a season I realise I have to accept as being a great one, even if it may have been let down by Season 7 not developing further. But there are still two more to go with this one, and hopefully I'll consider it a good ending.

****

Gauntlet

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Gauntlet)

Endings are always difficult, especially unfulfilled ones where a series is left hanging. But for what it was, this season finale that was also the series finale, worked on both the level of a cliffhanger had there been a Season 3, and as the final time we'll encounter these characters, a clever accomplishment and one that leaves me realising I will miss these people. There aren't many modern TV shows (and I use modern in the sense of being this century!), that I actually like, but this is one of them, for sure. It was designed to be different, uncomfortably different from other 'Stargate' fare, and on that account it succeeded. It could be troubled, fraught, a bit depressing and negative at times, but it showed signs of promise, it gave us a new way of using the established lore to set up a completely different scenario, but it was clearly too much for the average viewer to get onboard with. Season 2 showed how much the characters could grow together and as we see here, with Young toasting them, they became the family you want to see in this kind of thing, people you want to spend time with, and despite missteps the series gradually became more settled and reliable in being a more consistently compelling story.

That makes it harder to say goodbye, but for me this is only the final part in a longer journey which I began fifteen years ago (funny to think this very series was on the air at that point!), of reviewing every episode of 'Stargate' (except the cartoon, but that doesn't count!), going back over 'SG-1' of which I'd seen most of, seeing 'Atlantis' for the first time and the 'SG-1' spinoff films, and at last watching, and now re-watching, 'Universe,' and it's been a pleasant journey. I've never kept it secret that I prefer 'Star Trek' and its universe to 'Stargate,' but that hasn't prevented me from getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. So I'm saying goodbye to a chunk of my life with this review. Technically there will be one more as I still have to watch 'Origins,' and you never know if the franchise will be resurrected one day with more adventures (I'm even tempted to read the books...), but in terms of the solid bulk of it all, that's it. I would have loved if they could have brought 'Universe' back and theoretically they still could: it would be very easy to rationalise, a massive time jump being baked into the solution against the drone blockades preventing them from accessing stars to power up. It means they could say the stasis pods malfunctioned and that's why the cast look so many years older than when they made it. If they couldn't get Robert Carlyle or certain others they could say they died, although I would hope if they were going to do it they'd get them all back, but the possibility, at least narratively speaking, is there.

I would really love to know whether they knew this was it when they were making the last episode. You'd hope the studio or whoever was bankrolling it would have given them the courtesy of letting them know, but either way this was a good way to leave it: with the main guy who started it all, Eli, alone as the last person awake on Destiny, happily contemplating the magnitude of this vast ship speeding through the many times vaster universe, a smile on his face. It couldn't have been a better way to finish out, and with the sets each darkening and the various characters saying their last goodbyes it was even more affecting for me when viewed in the context of the entirety of 'Stargate.' They took the time to give some of the characters precious final moments back on Earth, Eli getting his Mother's blessing to live his life and not be concerned she's alone, probably the best scene of the episode, but there's also the montage with people such as Matthew Scott (who has taken somewhat of a backseat in recent episodes, I felt), return to see his ex-girlfriend and their son, though sadly he can't bring himself to go to them, what looked like Chloe visiting her Mother, and Parke, still blind from the events of the preceding episode, given the power of sight one more time in the body she inhabits on Earth.

It was all very well judged, the emotional side to the moment as keen as the action side, they found a great balance in this series that they didn't always hit, but this was a great example. As ever, the visual effects were superb, with a tense battle with a drone ship not once, but twice as they use one of their two shuttles as a decoy and play the kamikaze drones' strategy against them. It gets a bit techy when they're explaining how they can neutralise the effect of the drones' energy weapons on their shields, but maybe that's just another reason why I like this series so much. Most importantly they didn't forget about the characters. Maybe it would have been better to have included at least one old 'Stargate' cast member in a cameo, probably Richard Dean Anderson, but I can see why they didn't - it would likely be deemed too expensive considering the series was for the chopping block and if they were going out then it's better to concentrate on the characters of this series (as much as I love the ending of 'Enterprise,' which got so much unnecessary flack!). They were able to touch base with authority on Earth in Colonel Telford, reminding us of the meeting of minds between he and Young, just as Young and Rush ended as allies, albeit Young not trusting his former enemy enough to allow him to be the one to stay behind to fix the final pod.

What would they have done next, that's the speculation I can't help pondering - either they could have had it all go off without a hitch, Eli fixes his pod and as they expected, they're all awoken three years later in a new galaxy. Or Eli could fail, or something goes wrong and they wake up at different times on the journey, or it goes really wrong and they do wake a thousand years later. I doubt the latter as that would have been very difficult to do as you'd need to show an Earth that far in the future, which is tough to do convincingly. Or maybe they could have their cake and send it down a wormhole, too: split the series into different timelines as they did with the descendants that had spread out into the galaxy they'd been in, and we could follow the different groups trying to work out which is the 'real' one. Maybe that would be too much. 'Stargate,' despite putting out such a radically different series as 'Universe,' wasn't the most experimental, daring sci-fi out there. It was one of the last proper, non-streaming, twenty-episode a season sci-fi shows that was made before streaming came along and changed the face of television, reducing it to short batches of episodes on myriad services. Much like 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,' another series I liked from that time, it ended with so much possibility and in a position of creative strength, but money talked, viewers didn't flock to it and a strong series was cut short well before its time.

Young, Rush, Eli, Greer, Scott, Chloe, TJ, Camille, Brody, Volker, Parke, James... They were part of something good and they were given their dues in this episode with various scenes. It's never enough, but it's good to leave the audience wanting more. I'm not sure I felt quite the same way about 'SG-1' and 'Atlantis' because they both had their time, they didn't end with the impression they should have gone on, even if I'd have happily watched their further adventures. That was one draw of 'Universe' - in spite of its position, travelling away from our galaxy into the distant unknown, they could still bring in anyone they wanted to. In the end they crafted fine characters that stood with the other series', characters being this franchise's strength. What more can I say? It took me through time, week by week, enjoying what they were doing and proving 'Stargate' doesn't have to be limited to a group going to the planet of the week. Or maybe it proved that's all audiences want from it? To me it showed it could go a bit deeper - maybe it was a little soapy at times and they certainly set up more soapiness for the future with a big time jump that would leave them having to reconnect with people on Earth who might not understand the absence, but they never got to play that out. You just have to take the series for what it is, consider what might have been, and try to be content. Here's to the 'Stargate' family, you will be missed.

***

Fury (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Fury) (2)

Kes could run workshops on how to make an entrance! What a way to open an episode: an amazing scene that plays on the history of our characters' dynamics, flipping from seriousness to levity, then capping the teaser with Kes returning like an avenging angel, striding through the ship in her flowing robes, strutting like a Sith Lord, wreaking havoc on all and sundry, rupturing bulkheads as she goes. I remember being pleased when I heard they were bringing Kes back for an episode, and even more when I saw it, rating it as one of my favourites back then. I never much cared for Kes on original viewing, but I always loved when Trek connected with its past by bringing back characters or plots to continue them. My perceptions today are more complex: I came to appreciate Kes so much more as I rewatched the series on DVD in the 2000s and I give Jennifer Lien a lot more credit than I did then, and wish she could have remained on Voyager even while Seven was added to the crew. Now, coming to this episode fifteen years after I last saw it (and even at that time), it's not quite as revolutionary and captivating as I originally saw it. Kes looks terrific, if a little portlier than she used to look, her elfin looks at the limit (and contrastingly haggard as her older version), yet she still looks right, the hair, makeup, wardrobe and acting is all lovely. But Kes still isn't quite as emphatic as she once was when Lien was playing the role on a weekly basis, and that mutes the impact of the story a little, mainly in the ending.

I'd love to know the story of how this came about, what was happening in Lien's life at that time, we know the struggles she's had in the years since, but this was relatively soon after leaving the series - was she getting other work? Did she jump at the chance to return to 'Voyager' or did she take it grudgingly if she needed a paycheque? Did she need to be convinced, did the people behind the series do it for her as a commiseration for the way they summarily chucked her character, had they always hoped to bring her back at least once, or was it simply an idea that came up and enough people in power liked it? As far as I know the story has never been told, that's why the 'Voyager Companion' takes so much grief, because we wanted a book like the 'DS9' one that delved deep into every episode and provided so much background that added to the episodes. It seems like a short time now, almost twenty-five years after the fact compared with the less than three years since Lien had left in the second episode of Season 4, but in TV terms that would have been a sizeable chunk of time back then. To have to get back into that character and for the other cast members to be able to return to those specific dynamics must have been a challenge.

Because it's not just on Kes, who appears as both an old, embittered version of the lovely young woman we knew, but also that Season 1 original, too. I'd forgotten that almost the entire episode takes place within that timeframe so it really is a trip back to the past. It wasn't the first time the series had enjoyed going back to the early days, nor would it be the last ('Shattered,' perhaps the most apposite example, would be along the following season), with episodes such as 'Worst Case Scenario' in which the Seska-era was revisited thanks to the Holodeck, or 'Relativity' in which Seven receives a personal Voyager history lesson, and I love that they were able to do this. They took up so many elements of the beginnings of the series, whether it was the spot-on observances of how the Doctor was viewed, such as being turned off summarily when he started to babble, considering a name (a quest that weirdly ended and never gets talked about despite his growth as a person), or pushed out of the staff meeting when they need to use the screen through which he was attending (no Mobile Holo-emitter in those days). Nancy Hower's back as Samantha Wildman, not too much of a stretch as she was one of the very few recurring characters to have made a relatively recent appearance thanks to being the Mother of Naomi, though it's criminal how little she was used in these latter appearances considering how much her daughter became a part of the series, her role often split between Neelix and Seven to the extent you could forget Naomi even had a living Mother aboard!

Other callbacks abounded, whether it be Josh Clark making his penultimate showing in the series (if merely a one-line cameo that had no bearing other than being a nice little extra - that's how the series tended to treat many of its so-called recurring characters, sadly), Janeway's hair bun, or Torres going back to straight hair, so they showed they wanted to get the details right. At the same time Chakotay has his later, all-black, no grey hair and the characters don't act all that much like their younger selves. I liked that they had scenes for Kes with those particular people she spent time with: the Doctor in Sickbay, gentle Neelix as her closest confidant, and Tom offering to teach her how to fly. These were the staple scenes in those days, but whether it was deliberate or not, Kes often came across as distracted, not fully entering into the interaction. This worked quite well for the story because she's encountering people she's come to have a grinding grudge against and yet can't show her hand by actively demonstrating any ire towards them. But sadly she didn't have the warmth and light that always seemed to emanate from the old Kes (that is the young Kes as she was, rather than the older Kes as she is now!). You could see the slightest stirrings of memory toward these people, but she was still clouded by confusion and a singleminded belief in how the situation could be rectified, though I can see that as planting the seeds that Janeway was later able to nurture into growth at the end.

When I look at it like that I don't feel quite so badly about the fast turnaround of the ending where Kes is confronted by a hologram of her younger self exhorting her to remember how she used to be and not to do this thing she's planned, then the Captain gently pours on the nutrients of sunlight and water to grow the seeds (a metaphor probably coming to mind since it took place in the Airponics Bay!). It did seem that all of a sudden her angry plan, in which she was oblivious to all death and destruction, was halted, she was able to reason again and saw that there was hope in travelling back to Ocampa. For someone so intent on her goal of saving her younger self it was an anticlimax, especially as Janeway isn't exactly given a blindingly rousing Kirk-like speech to lift us all and show her the error of her ways, to paint an inspirational picture of hope that sheds a dawning light and parts the clouds of mistaken rage. It's not just that, it's also the way that rather than have her stay for a little, to reconnect with her old friends with whom she parted so amicably back in 'The Gift,' giving them a boost towards home, she's soon off to the Transporter Room, beamed back aboard her shuttle and flying off to Ocampa. At least Neelix was there to see her off, and yet it was with a great sadness, only compounding the tragedy of their distance in Season 3 of the series. You could see he wanted to say so much more, his line when she asks if he says anyone he knows, ambiguous ("Only you," which could be taken any number of ways), and so the episode ends on something of a downer, uncharacteristically for the series.

Mixed feelings abound, in the characters, in my view of the episode, but I still rate it highly, it's a definite classic, and while I can see flaws in how close they were to recreating that Season 1 style, I don't judge too harshly because they didn't have to do this story at all. It's another one to buck the trend and not be a Seven, Doctor or primarily Janeway outing, but includes everyone and is typically high-concept as Brannon Braga preferred. If they don't quite sell the message of hope at the end it can at least be seen as a commentary on where the series had progressed from since its early days - just look at the effects of the Vidiian ship's attack on Voyager, they couldn't have done as detailed visuals in the early pre-CGI years, and while some of it can look a little lightweight I thought the main attack with that grappling arm clamping down and Chakotay's 'tear it apart, then' was very good, that line seeming a direct reference to 'fly her apart, then' which I'm pretty sure was something he said before, maybe in 'Caretaker' or 'Year of Hell' - actually I'm getting confused with Captain Sulu and I might be equating it with the kamikaze run at the Kazon ship in the pilot, but he'd have made a great Captain.

Something that helped set the tone of a return to Season 1 was that beautiful scene between Janeway and Tuvok at the start (another one where it came across a little weaker or discordant when they re-played the scene at the end, as if the first version was a masterclass in how to do a scene like that right, and the redo in how to do it wrong!). From the first episode they were put together as people with history and a deep friendship and understanding, which was why in 'Prime Factors' in Season 1, the earliest time Tuvok directly went against his Captain and friend's orders for what he considered the good of the ship, he was the recipient of The Janeway Dressing Down Scene. Many have gone through the agony of that, she doesn't rant and rave, she doesn't scream and bawl, but she's disappointed and you don't want to do that. It became a sub-genre in its own right as each crew-member has had this talk from her when they've crossed a line and made a serious error in judgement, but here, though we're made to think it's just such a time as that, it's actually Janeway being playful and having some fun with Tuvok. It also fits perfectly with the theme of them sharing a private secret between them, since when the events of Kes' reappearance play out again they've kept an ace up their sleeve in readiness. It does make me wish we'd had more of this expert craftsmanship in the friendships on that series, especially Tuvok/Janeway over the years, an area which 'DS9' beat them at hands down, but they showed sometimes they could do it too.

It's not just a great scene, it also pleases with all the lore that's thrown in: they've known each other for approximately twenty years, they've served on three starships together, Janeway attended the Kolinahr of Tuvok's daughter (doesn't seem like the kind of thing just anyone would be invited to, which shows how close they are). The episode pleases like that in a lot of ways, whether it be Ayala getting one of his rare lines (and a Phaser Rifle, although I can't remember if they had those in Season 1, I feel like they came later?), a mention of Gel Packs, Naomi's Ktarian heritage (and a callout for Deep Space Nine where Janeway says she met Wildman's husband!), the double-beamed Vidiian Phasers, retconning Wildman's pregnancy to explain its extended length was due to the Ktarian side, even the shot as Tuvok follows a Naomi out of time through Voyager's twisting corridors was like 'Persistence of Vision' when Janeway follows the hologram Beatrice, and I always love it when things go weird. That in itself was a consistent touch with Tuvok's Vulcan nature as we know his telepathic abilities were in accord with Kes so it made perfect sense that he would start to see, hear or have knowledge of, the future five years hence. What I found especially interesting was the continuation of Kes' story - she didn't simply show up for a cameo as so often happens in modern Trek, she was integral to the plot and we learned what took place after her original exit as well as leaving her with the hope of a new future, much like Scotty when he was brought into 'TNG.'

It seemed as if Kes' less-then-latent mental powers had not been a boon for her. She had not grown into some non-corporeal God-like entity, instead the change had confused her, she lost her identity and came to believe a lie about herself, something becoming common in identity politics of today, so it's an unexpectedly good message. Because otherwise, if she'd been this all-powerful being why would she even need Voyager's Warp Core to go back in time, and why would she need a ship to travel in (the interior of which, whether intentionally or not, was reminiscent of Captain Braxton's Timeship, complete with the ascending light patterns in the interior as if telegraphing this was going to be a time travel story!), and she wouldn't need to stalk the corridors of Voyager, she could just fly right through to Engineering. But that would have been less identifiable and it looked so great to have her ripping through the ship, walking through forcefields and using early Vorta psychokinesis (excluding the ball of energy!), to send people flying. At first I thought she was deliberately avoiding harming the crew by merely knocking them away, but then she allows a bolt of energy to zap Torres and kill her, then you know either she really does hate them or doesn't care about the collateral. Even so, there remains a core of care from the character - her whole motivation is to save her younger self, it's not coming back to take revenge on Voyager as such, though the best way she decides is to sell them out to the Vidiians in the most treacherous way possible (another potential callback to the time there was a spy aboard secretly contacting the Kazon to entrap Voyager).

They wisely chose the best of the early antagonists in the Vidiians as the ones they to up against, the race having had some of the better episodes, such as 'Threshold' (another key moment in the Wildmans' lives, both Mother and daughter - I almost wish they could have gone into that episode specifically, a bit like 'Trials and Tribble-ations'), and they were a key part of the early seasons, even if they weren't in it all that much. It's always nice for the series to acknowledge its past and bring that past into the present and what better way than to bring back an old face. They literally do that in the sense that Vaughn Armstrong, The Man of Many Faces, added yet another alien to his growing roster as the Vidiian. He was also a link with Season 1 since he'd played the first Romulan of the series in 'Eye of The Needle' and had come right through to their contemporary season as one of Seven's former Borg associates in 'Survival Instinct' and this would be far from his last role in both Trek in general, and 'Voyager' in particular. Josh Clark's Carey would only return one more time (to be ignominiously killed off), but this episode sadly marked Ensign Samantha Wildman's final contribution. She didn't have a whole lot to do, and it's a real shame we didn't see her with Naomi, but I always liked her open, friendly face and she was one of those early recurring characters that added so much to the sense of community aboard Voyager. Saying that, and this is a real surprise: even Naomi only had a couple more episodes to her name after this one!

Other elements that added to that Trek sense of continuity and lore, or reiterated it, were the Doctor's assertion that medical protocol supersedes a Captain's authority (though I'm not sure why he couldn't confer with Wildman and ask if she minded the Captain knowing - at least he did say she'd meant to tell the Captain), and it also played into the idea the Doctor wasn't considered a full member of the crew in that she put pressure on him to reveal the information which she'd have been less likely to do later in the series, I feel, or at least the dynamic would have been more amicable perhaps. There's also that scene in which Janeway and Paris discuss changing direction at warp ("Faster than light, no left or right"), something that has been criminally ignored in modern Trek iterations in the most blatant and stupid of ways. Paris does qualify it by stating that changing direction is possible, but course corrections could fracture the hull, a long way from the zipping around style of warp where you whizz about in any way without consequence (see 'Into Darkness' for one terrible example!), so I enjoyed that strict parameter, limiting what a starship could do, being brought up. I was also impressed by Janeway deliberately not firing on Kes at the first opportunity. She works to try and talk with her, to learn what it is that made her this way, seeks dialogue, and only when she's been thrown across the room twice and the stun setting has had little effect, does she resort to killing her, and then instantly regrets she had to do it. It's such a far cry from the belligerence, violence-first action of so much modern Trek, or the sticking the boot in to a vanquished foe such as at the end of 'Star Trek XI,' that show how much the sensibilities of those behind Trek has changed (and I'm not just referring to the Kelvin films, but all the modern Treks most of the time).

For me it was a treat to have Lien back, and even though the story has a little bit of a limpness to the ending and doesn't have what you'd wish as a full and joyful reunion after all that had happened, it remains a strong story overall. It does bring up questions over Janeway knowing in advance that Kes was going to leave the ship eventually which should have coloured how they interacted over the years, unless they're saying this is an alternate timeline so we only saw how the original events played out on the series and now, by the end of this episode we're in a slightly different timeline and don't know how that knowledge might have altered Janeway or Tuvok's thinking since that encounter. For example, would Tuvok have been in such a hurry to help Kes explore her abilities if he knew that one day she was going to come back and take out her anger on the ship? On the other hand he may have been just as concerned with monitoring and helping her to control them as he was, but at the same time he and Janeway didn't know how it would play out if she did show up again... It all starts to give you a headache if you think about it too much, but that's one of the fun things about time travel, speculating about the possibilities therein. There's an element of life imitating art - I don't say that Lien was resentful towards the series and went off the rails because of it, but it's known she's not had a great time of it in the succeeding years, which makes this more sad when it makes you think of that.

Seeing this again during a new age of Trek revivals where especially 'Voyager' has had so much attention within new productions I wonder if we could ever have Lien back as Kes - most likely in 'Prodigy' if it were to continue, but when you realise five out of nine characters have so far come back in some form of current Trek (Paris on 'Lower Decks,' Janeway, Chakotay and the Doctor in 'Prodigy,' Seven in 'Picard'), it would be a shame if there were never a complete reunion as there has been with 'TNG.' It's not quite the same situation of course, the former were more popular and the 'Voyager' cast never got their time in the sun for films, but it does seem they are the second most popular (living) cast nowadays so I could see it happen. I can even imagine a way to have Kes back since 'Prodigy' is involved with the Delta Quadrant and she returned to her people and I could see that knowledge changing the society vastly, to the extent that they'd be completely different if Starfleet encountered them again. It does seem unlikely considering cost-cutting (even in this episode you see that: I assume that's why Kes left via the Transporter rather than Shuttle Bay, even though we'd already seen that location with the gorgeous Type-2 Shuttles inside earlier in the story), and the state of the world affecting everything, but a bare few years ago it seemed unlikely any of the old cast would ever appear in their roles again and look what's happened since. For now, I can enjoy this as the last word on Kes, a character that grew on me and became a wonderful part of the series and one I'll always regret losing.

****

Blockade

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Blockade)

At least they've got a 'full tank of gas,' as Rush puts it at the end. But at what cost? I'm amazed nobody died, it was a pretty dire situation and I really thought Dr. Parke was a goner. Poor Parke, but blindness, temporary or otherwise is a small price to pay for being alive. It just goes to show you should never go back for anything in an emergency. And that fire in the hydroponics bay was devastating. Why couldn't they have each taken a plant with them to the planet, that way they'd at least have varieties of all of them to propagate from? Parke was trying to do what was right, but she should have known not to push it to the last minute, cut her losses and get out. She didn't know Destiny was going to lock down the deck, trapping her inside, but still... It was quite spectacular seeing her in this trough of water that's being boiled by the extreme heat - I would have thought that level of heat would have simply vaporised it in no time, but it was a great effect either way. The episode was full of that sense of scale and danger, getting back to showing the series at its best right before it was cut off in its prime. That's one reason I thought people, specifically Parke, might be killed off, but I'm glad they didn't do that. I'm never a fan of executing established characters to underline how dangerous a situation is, better writing is all that's needed (unless the actor's leaving or it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for great drama).

Parke's little drama in hydroponics was but one in a slate of them - Eli and Rush take Destiny through its top-up in something that's more deadly than a star because the drones have set up shop at every star they come upon and the only escape is to do something outrageous or they'll be out of power for good. I'm not sure it made all that much sense, sometimes Eli's the man to put in the calculations, sometimes Rush is, they say how difficult doing this is going to be, yet Parke can survive it in a suit, so they flip-flopped a little bit between hyperbole and tension, but otherwise I felt it was a nicely written and put together piece. On this alien world where the rest of the crew are placed for their safety (I would have thought Young would have commandeered the third suit so as to be there in case Rush made any bad decisions, since Eli isn't the one to stand up to him), and take it as an opportunity to search for supplies - it's one of many human ex-colonies they assume are out there since their descendants from that recent planet they visited had spread out over the two millennia: a good way to populate planets in future since they'd had trouble with worthwhile planet-based stories with the overriding impression there's almost nothing and no one in these galaxies they're traversing. While they could have easily come to the end of space likely to be inhabited by their descendants in time, that would at least have given them the chance to add new characters and have traditional 'Stargate' adventures on Earth-like locales such as this one, and it was a good idea.

Because it was quite disappointing they got rid of these people from the last couple of episodes. I understand why they did it, they probably didn't want to be saddled with a set of new characters as they came to the end of the season, if they had continued the series, but it would have been nice to have some of their descendants stick around. But the series seemed to like making things simpler - look at the Lucian Alliance people, they eventually got rid of them all except Varo (who apparently begins to set in motion his alternate version's life with Lieutenant James by assisting her in destroying a drone on the planet - not sure where he got the bazooka, did they find that on the planet?). Again, I can see why they'd pare the crew down so as not to have to keep track of so many people in moments like this where everyone 'gates off the ship, but I would prefer to have those threads to deal with later. It was nice to see all the people that make up Destiny, or get a sense of the whole crowd of them, with people like the guy who always panics, or non-speaking extras that we occasionally see. It's not like they never show a crowd, but for some reason it stood out to me in this one and of course provides great visual contrast to the idea that Eli, Rush and Parke are alone on this vast ship.

Scale was something very effectively portrayed, be it in Destiny, in the abandoned city which Young sees spread out from his vantage point, and in the huge mega-drone ship that swoops down on them as they evacuate the planet. The sense of a lost city, probably a lost world, too, was well conveyed, even if it was just the same street they've used before (I assume), that whole sequence was strong in tension - they can't communicate because there has to be radio silence or the patrolling drone will pick it up, but eventually it fires on Scott's position in a shop and of course Greer on the other side of the road strides out, taking that as his cue to blast it. I like that they mention their limited bullets, and that Brody can make them, as that kind of drain on their supplies is important to keep in mind. I'm not sure about Scott and Greer (and then Young also), firing at the drone, it didn't seem to be having much effect and yet the drone itself couldn't hit them for toffee, when all it needed to do was blast the whole area! But still, it was a tense moment and a victory for our heroes. Can the finale live up to such a well balanced episode? Even little scenes on the ship before all the excitement, demonstrated a great understanding of the characters and their crew dynamics now (Young, upon giving up his Captain's Chair to Camille, says he's not Captain Kirk, a nice little Trek reference!). That hasn't always been the case, but this has been a good patch of the series and one that will make its cruel decapitation even sadder... next week.

***

Impossible Mission 2025 - The Special Edition

 Amiga 1200, Impossible Mission 2025 - The Special Edition (1994) game

Upon checking what contemporary Amiga magazines had rated this game I was shocked to discover how highly it had scored! My own experience with it back in the Nineties as a young gamer was failing miserably to get anywhere and not having the inspiration to keep trying - in fairness, I don't remember playing the original upon which it was based (and came as part of the package), very much either, so I don't think my lack of interest came from comparison with that. I just always remembered finding it a boring game that wasn't as accessible as most of the platform games I played then. Having enjoyed the original this year I fully intended to have a crack at this one, even with memories of my former disengagement with it, so I wasn't surprised to find a host of problems with the remake after the tight, bright, clean design and colour of that enjoyable original. First impression is how ugly it looks, dull browns and greys, a far cry from the majority of the platform genre, but I don't think it was limited to the era in which this was made that the mistaken belief that dark, gloomy visuals made a game more edgy and grown-up (see any Mario game for refutation details), was common, while in actual fact it just made them miserable and ugly.

It's not merely the look that put me off, however, it's the overhauling of the entire style on which it was based: no longer are you confined to one room at a time, you're thrown into a large environment full of instant death drops, the playing view (one of its biggest issues), is zoomed in too much, unlike the original where each room was all there neatly laid out on the screen, a puzzle to be solved. Now the environment was too open, and because your view was so close in you can't see around your character enough, making the job a lot harder: you can't see much above you without jumping, and you can't see below at all, with no way to move the camera in that direction without taking a leap of faith and jumping or dropping off a platform, a heinous crime in a platformer! But most annoying is that Atombender's robots (it's still the same guy all these years later, so either this isn't set in the same 'world' as the original where you caught him at the end, or he's escaped prison - they didn't care as much about in-game timelines and having ongoing continuity back then!), suddenly appear at the edge of the screen, and you have little time to react. Even worse, and this is where the unfair gameplay comes in, Maintenance Droids can appear from nowhere, you can go to the edge of a platform, move back so the edge is off screen, and they'll come charging along out of nowhere, plus they can change speed and direction, so you may not be safe even if you've dispatched all robots in the vicinity!

It's not like you have beautifully implemented controls, either, as your man (or woman, or robot - three characters to choose from, but I'm not sure why, there's no incentive to replay levels with a different character and no alternate ending!), jogs along and leaps in such an arc that you can easily misjudge it and find yourself colliding with a robot, sending you off to the last computer screen you entered (if you fall off the bottom of the level it puts you back at the beginning). This was another area which annoyed: instead of the multitude of easily reachable computer terminals in each room of the first game, there are a smattering of consoles across each large level, with specific functions - here's where the criticism of unnecessary complication comes in: as in the original you search objects which then reveal something. It used to be one of three things, either a puzzle piece, Snooze code to send robots to sleep, or a Lift Reset to put all the lifts in a room back to their original positions. Now there are far more things to collect - it could be a gun which fires one shot to destroy a robot, or a temporary invulnerability. It could be a lift reset or a magnet to draw one lift towards you. There are a number of these Power-Ups, though the most important item, the one you're searching for, is one of nine pieces of circuit board which, when combined in a particular terminal, will enable you to get the code to allow you to take the lift up to the next level (or Subsection, each Level being divided into three of these).

It's not even as simple as that sounds, for when you have all the circuit boards you have to arrange them in a tile puzzle to find the correct picture, which can take some time since the picture of the circuit board is not easy to distinguish its correct layout as if they're deliberately making it frustrating! Saying that, I actually found that part to be the most enjoyable early on, but even that enjoyment can be cut short if you find the tile solution 'Auto Solve' Power-Up which does the hard work for you, so even the best thing I found in the game could be nullified. That's before you even earn circuit clues or a Power-Up of your choice by playing one of two games Atombender's left around in terminals on each level: a basic shoot'em-up, unvarying in its waves other than a few slightly different patterns, and a simple memory test similar to the original's game rooms, but less nicely laid out, where you input the correct sequence of shapes in the musical order they appeared. These give you a choice of either a Power-Up (though you're limited in what you can choose, and if you want the better ones you have to play through a number of times), or the circuit clue which I believe starts off one piece of the circuit board in its correct placing in the tile puzzle. And just like the original game you don't have lives or health, you're afforded a certain amount of time and have to complete a level within it, losing a few minutes every time you die, either by contact with a robot or falling off the screen - as before you can fall any distance to land without penalty.

I wasn't thrilled with all these new rules and additions, the look, or the sound (the music wasn't bad, other than the third or fourth level which really grated, but the sound effects weren't as perfectly judged as before, though they were fine), or anything else about it, but I persevered, and if there is one saving grace about it, it's the password save at the end of each Subsection, ensuring a certain level of accessibility. If I'd have had to complete those early levels every time to get to a later one the experience would soon have palled, but at least with passwords there's a sense of achievement and progression that helped me to keep going. The second level in The Office was an improvement in most ways - it looked better than the Carpark and I was getting into the rhythm of the gameplay so that by the time I was on the third level, Industrial Zone, I was actively looking forward to having another go at it - I'd build up a map of a level in my head and think about where I might have missed something or how to get to another area and so the puzzle aspect became more enjoyable. It remained annoying it wasn't possible to control everything from the Joystick alone as you could in the original, forced to cycle through the Power-Ups (with a limitation of carrying only three at a time!), then hitting space to activate them (although you could do it by pressing down and hitting fire, but if mistimed you'd end up doing an inadvertent jump which could cause great irritation).

I came to understand the idea of the Power-Ups, when to use them, which ones were most valuable and what it was best to carry depending on what part of the level you were on - there might be automatic gun turrets which need to be shot or destroyed by grenade to get past, there could be a lift to an upper part of the level that required a magnet to bring it down to you, but best of all is locating the Holy Grail: in this case a Jet-Pac that allowed you to fly anywhere in a level with the side benefit of unlimited laser ammo. At first this seemed merely a boon to allow you to get through a level quicker, and much like the Auto Solve something that took away the point of playing the game, but as things progressed I learned it was essential to reach certain parts of levels and would be increasingly difficult to find so that when you did you felt a level of elation from the empowerment. Even then things weren't solved as you were given limited fuel, and once it's gone, it's gone. A heretofore unrealised tactical element came into the game where you in fact needed specific items at certain points to progress, and then you had to keep track of the location of Inventory terminals (or Locator terminals which would show you where the other computers were), in case you need an essential Power-Up, so I no longer resented all these different terminals and Power-Ups, they became integral to the experience.

My rating, which I was seriously considering awarding one star early on, had gone up to two and I was even considering three stars, except what I assumed would be the final Level, Computer Centre (because how many other departments could there be - I was forgetting it's not a logical place, so Construction is right at the top where I was expecting maybe one level of a penthouse!), was typical of final levels in games in that it was less fun to play, and more of a headache, but I was surprised that I was actively enjoying the game which had initially seemed like a slog compared with the streamlined neatness of the original. Taken as something different, ignoring what it was based on, brought it out as a very different experience with only rudimentary similarities. Even the physical side of it, having to anticipate Maintenance Droids appearing from the edge of the screen, or the different types of robot you encounter, became a test of skill rather than an annoyance at lack of vision (and you could use the flaw in your favour - if you wanted rid of those Droids you could usually run away so they were off-screen and that could make them disappear). It remained a touch unfair when you had to drop down to a lower platform you couldn't see, but even dying became a part of the tactics - a way to get back to the start of the level, or to jump back to the last terminal (sometimes I might not enter a new terminal to ensure I'd be put back higher in a level upon death, all part of the tactics). Unconventional, and a generally frowned upon way of doing things, circumventing the usual rules of avoiding death at all costs, but this isn't a typical platform game and I came to see that.

Atombender's warped abilities clearly didn't extend to the quality of his shoot'em-up 'SPPAM' ('Synchro Punk Patrol: Alien Menace'), which had terrible slowdown when too many aliens appeared on screen at the same time, and this may have been a flaw in-game (actual game, not game within game!), but I took it as deliberate, a commentary on his personal failures in life and work. The fact I was adding lore to the game world in my own mind shows I had become invested in it, shockingly! I came to really enjoy 'SPPAM' and it became a useful tool in getting Jet-Pacs in later levels where either they weren't available or were tricky to find - it required a chunk of playing through the mini-game maybe six or seven times, but it was worth it for the time saved by access to the Jet-Pac. It became trickier each Level you played it on, but within that it was at the same difficulty so you could just keep replaying it, unlocking the less essential Power-Ups until you could get the Jet-Pac, and after that you could keep winning them. One of the last levels I needed three or four to have enough fuel to explore the upper regions. The Auto Solve wasn't necessary as I became used to the slightly abstract designs and it wouldn't take long to solve the tile puzzle, although there were still times when I got as far as the lift to the next level and then time ran out! The other game, the Holo-Sequencer, was much tougher (and in later levels with faster and longer sequences to keep track of), so I tended to stick to 'SPPAM.'

Some of those later levels were pretty demanding, though I always felt there was plenty of time in which to complete them (you're shown your game total at the start of each Subsection and my total at the beginning of Level 5, Subsection 3, the final 'proper' level, was 14 hours, 27 minutes, so I estimate the grand total at about 16 hours, not counting the many retries), it's really only the amount of time you die that causes time problems. That last level was a real challenge, mainly of patience as this part of the Construction Area is split into two halves, reached by only one central lift between them which takes an age to travel up to the top and back down to the bottom again, playing with your sense of urgency about the need to finish the level quickly, and if you fall or die you have to wait for it to come - most frustrating! An added wrinkle is no items to use, even though you have the option to play the two game terminals, as other than them and the code computer there aren't any others, meaning you can't select Power-Ups from an Inventory terminal or search out the level using the Locator terminal (a good way to explore the layout without actually travelling around). And the frequency of attack from the crosshair of doom is increased, so thoroughly nasty and a bit of a joke... But nonetheless a relief upon completion!

I haven't even mentioned the crosshair of doom: this was a small cross that appears on the screen and flies around until it either tracks you, going red and moving in for the kill, or travels across the screen getting lower and lower until you have to jump over it to avoid getting zapped. It's a thoroughly unwelcome visitor, especially if you're doing well in other aspects, a wildcard that suddenly appears at random to throw your plans into disarray. As if in revenge at this despicable and ignominious Sword of Damocles, you get to have your own crosshairs in the final final level, which is a brief and odd duel between you and Elvin dressed in a Mech suit where he flies around the screen and you have to keep shooting him (in first person). After that it's roll credits with a brief animation of the top of his skyscraper blowing up, but it was disappointing not to have any character-specific image, even if wasn't animated, as it doesn't give you that small incentive to replay (and annoying I didn't have time to take note of the total game time). Even so I was surprised that I ended up enjoying the overall experience, yet another classic Amiga game that I didn't get very far with in the old days that has now been conquered. It could certainly be a candidate for Surprise of The Year, a category I always award in my Retrogaming Review of The Year, simply because I don't remember a game where all the criticisms I had were turned around and which I came to accept, even relish some of them. (But I still prefer the original). Maybe I should have waited until next year to play it...

***

Epilogue

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Epilogue)

I can't imagine a much more fitting ending for the series than what they did in the last scene of this one: the final living member of the original Destiny crew, Camille Wray, gives a speech opening a new school and we fly up over it to see the whole town, which then changes over time as ages pass until finally they even have their own space ship. It isn't the real Destiny crew's destiny, but it's a beautiful possible conclusion to their lives and legacy. Maybe it wouldn't have worked as series finale, maybe they did still need to tie up a few things in the 'real' characters' lives - for all I know they weren't even sure whether they'd be coming back for Season 3 or not at this point and felt they had to work up to a cliffhanger. All I know is that there wasn't really anything pressing back on the 'real' Destiny that we needed to return for two more episodes to see. Not that I'm complaining, I'm glad there are more episodes with stories to tell, but I doubt they can retain the same level of poignancy as this episode showed when it touched on the lives of our characters and what might have been. There's something so sad, bittersweet about the sweep of a life. So short and yet so full to the person living it, the memories made, the people known, and I felt this story encapsulated that well.

It's not all about the alternate timeline, it also throws in some hard new truths for some of the crew, about who they may end up associating with, about death in the near future - the two most affected being Volker and TJ, the first because he's set to die from possible kidney failure not long into the future, and TJ develops ALS and dies a few years later. It would be hard to process that in a normal environment, but as some alternate timeline that could possibly be averted it makes it even more of a confusing challenge. I would never have heard of the disease when I first saw this episode a few years ago, but Kenneth Mitchell, the actor who played several roles on 'DSC' died from it only recently, which puts the magnitude of it in perspective. In the 'Universe' world of sci-fi there are always possibilities, though even there it looks bleak - the database of the people of Novus included cures for that and many other diseases, but they had to get out before they could retrieve this irreplaceable data, preserving only a mere third, which didn't include the cure. There's still the Ancients' own database aboard Destiny, maybe they could run into the generational ships making their way to this planet, but it's almost impossible. These developments made the seriousness of the story so much more personal.

Much is packed in, they're dealing with three different groups, namely our characters, the alternate timeline versions, and the people who remain from their descendants (though that latter group don't have much involvement in the episode, August Schellenberg again not used nearly enough, sadly). The story alternates between these disparate times - at first I found the reliance on the kino footage to be a slight irritation with the tinny sound and visual glitches here and there (I thought perhaps it was meant to be a bit fuzzy to help disguise the old-age makeup, which wasn't bad but never looks quite real, but Camille's at the end was very realistic, as was her performance), but eventually they show actual flashbacks (which in a weird way are also flash-forwards since our people have yet to experience those years of their lives), with vast contrast between the bare, cold interiors of the underground database archives, and the vivid colour and homemade livings happening on the planet of the past. It made the alternate more real in some ways than the present, which is as much to do with my perspective of the series gearing up to end, and why I felt it made such a fitting final scene for the series, as it is about how it was shot.

Amid all these weighty issues and revelations there's time for the occasional spot of humour in the 'Stargate' tradition (mostly at Brody's expense, it must be said!), but also good heroic moments, too - the biggest when the last remaining crew have to get out of the archive as earthquakes rock it, the only escape route being a rickety ladder straight up the wall. TJ's rung breaks and she plummets to her death, only saved by the quick and brawny arm of Varo, still sweet on her in spite of the knowledge she and Young ended up being a family (he ended up marrying James!). He's able to swing her across to relative safety, but in doing so his own rung breaks and he falls to what I assumed was his doom. But Young doesn't like to leave a man behind, perhaps why they keep showing his guilt at killing Riley in the opening recap, and goes back for the former Lucian Alliance man who is still alive though heavily injured. A good hero moment in an episode that was generally much more about the broad strokes of life in the community they made without technology. I found that to be fascinating and I almost wonder if that wouldn't have been just as good a watch as going back into space and all the technology we expect. Depressingly, it's all irrelevant as we come to the end, but it made for one last hurrah for the series if they don't manage that level of quality in the two episodes that remain.

When I first watched this I found it to be a bit too much of a time-waster, inconsequential to much of the ongoing story, but I see it now as a tantalising and more suitable final moment for the series than it was afforded in reality. It was amusing when they cut between all these babies being born amid the screams of childbirth, yet Parke naming her first child after Dale Volker was touching, plus there's a certain level of creepiness and yet fascination in learning what became of them all had they followed that path of enforced self-sufficiency, making a new home on a planet far from their roots, but it isn't what is in their futures, whether the series had continued for many years or not. Even though there is no future, or perhaps because of it, what happens to the alternate characters has more meaning. I found even the simple idea of August's character remembering running through the halls of this archive as a child to hold a certain poignancy to it, returning to a life that is entirely gone. It's shot beautifully, the sets look good, it's refreshing to spend almost the entire episode off Destiny, and it gives us a glimpse into how character dynamics could change, and for all that I felt it was one of the better episodes.

***

Muse (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Muse) (2)

The reviewer pauses and looks away from his screen, pensively, his thoughts gathering like clouds before the dawning rays of the sun. How can he relay his thoughts, yet he must not remain silent, the truth must be written...

Stage plays in Trek have come to be perhaps my favourite sub-genre, so when a literal play as a platform upon which various themes take root and blossom comes along it must not be taken as a surprise that I consider this to be one of the best episodes of the season, if not the best. It's an absolute delight from opening act to closing curtain, thanks largely to the central guest role of good-natured Kelis, paired with the much missed B'Elanna Torres. Was 'Barge of The Dead' her last substantial role in an episode, way back at the beginning of the season? I feel like I've been starved of her character so this was a joy on more than one level as it's unquestionably a B'Elanna story, in more ways than one! A Trek character crash-landed on a planet, trying not to draw attention, fighting for survival... it's another Trek sub-genre, so we have a fusion of two great story styles, building on some of the most memorable, like 'The Galileo Seven' from 'TOS' or 'The Ascent' from 'DS9.' This is sparse and simple, no high budgets required, which is why they must have been able to build a reasonably sized theatre set and have a crowd of extras for the audience to make it more real than can always be achieved.

Yet it doesn't suffer from the lack of special effects, and that's one of the points Joe Menosky makes in his beautifully crafted script: you can't take it any other way than that he's talking about the state of the industry when he has Kelis say audiences want excitement, the driving force of entertainment, and 'all that kissing' (as B'Elanna describes it in suitably macho Klingon outlook!), while the idea of the 'truth' of the story (which does admittedly sound a bit hippyish, but I took it to mean having something to connect to, or learn from), when thoughtfulness and revelations can be just as potent, if not more so. The test of time has proved such sentiments correct as nothing has changed, we still get served up fireworks as the main course in most things, and especially in Trek's modern attitude to drama - it's fallen into the same traps I feel the 'Voyager' era and its contemporaries often managed to avoid. This is the perfect episode to hold up as great drama that relies on the interpersonal, with a Trekkian message of peace and goodwill to all men. Perhaps that last bit was a little too simplistic, but we're dealing with a Medieval culture here, or even earlier - they've managed to move away from Pagan sacrifice, but are still quick to take offence and go to war, and if a play can change the mind of the man in charge, so much the better. Blessed are the peacemakers...

In the previous episode we had aliens impersonating our characters and so we have again, only this time it's legitimate use, you could say! I didn't notice at first, but the half-face masks of this alien theatrical production are actually in the image of the characters they're playing, you can recognise Janeway's distinctive hair, or Seven's short cut and that just added an extra level of enjoyment. The very concept is a joyful one: imagine the Voyager crew's situation if it was interpreted through an ancient people's eyes. High concept if ever I heard one and great fun to see played out, even without the commentary on the state of the industry or an observation of the power of entertainment to affect people's thinking (both for good, as in this case, but often for bad as we see so much nowadays, culture has shifted so much). It couldn't have been improved if it had been a Seven story, or one for the Doctor, or Janeway. B'Elanna was the perfect choice for this scenario: the short-tempered half-Klingon versus the good-natured (through necessity), of this alien playwright whose existence is always on the edge of destruction from the decisions or punishments of those in power to affect his life. I loved how we see he and B'Elanna meet for the first time - he seems quite nice until he goes towards her with a knife and we see he's already cut her arm a few times before. But it isn't what it seems, he thinks he's doing her good out of lack of medical knowledge where bleeding is seen as helpful!

Their interactions were delightful, everything interpreted into a level of understanding that this 'primitive' can understand, and yet he's also shrewd enough to deal with her and get what he needs, showing no fear of her powers which are beyond him. In her turn, B'Elanna comes to understand the value of this man and his work to influence for good, and though she strays dangerously close into Prime Directive territory I never felt she was unreasonable, it was always in the context of what Kelis' people believed of 'Eternals.' Of course we could argue whether it was appropriate for her to even be impersonating a god-like being, reinforcing whatever beliefs they had, but I was too busy enjoying the interactions to worry about that. While I'm on the subject of problems, I only noticed a couple of others, namely that Kelis was able to operate the Delta Flyer's console to get at the logs, when even the concept of touch screens would be far from his wildest imaginings, and at the end when he sends a written note: I thought the Universal Translator could only adapt speech into the user's tongue, not change how they see writing... Otherwise I simply loved it and it has extra poignancy and pleasure for its guest cast who take so much of the load: Joseph Will is superb, such a nice character, yet still commanding the respect of his troupe. I love that he and Kellie Waymire both had recurring roles on 'Enterprise,' both even appearing in an episode together, though Waymire sadly died shortly after.

She's really good as this jealous girlfriend - I thought from the moody lighting and the way it was shot (much the same way as Kelis coming towards Torres with a knife), that she was going to attack her, it seemed that sinister, but she wasn't evil or violent. To round out the cast we also have a veteran of Trek in John Schuck as one of the Chorus, who would also go on to appear in 'Enterprise' (and is best known for being the Klingon Ambassador in two Trek films), and a major 'Stargate' recurring star in Tony Amendola (Bra'tac). Neither of them gets much to do, but you feel more weight to what amounts to practically background roles, and it's nice to see them both in Trek, Amendola in his only entry. Kathleen Garrett was also previously in Trek as a Vulcan Captain in 'DS9' ('Vortex'), playing Tanis here, the woman portraying Janeway in the plays (with a suitably deep voice). I can imagine her being a good Vulcan, the one she played in Season 1 of 'DS9' a rare example of the race on that series, and which I always think should have been kept in mind for how Vulcans are best portrayed, even though it was only a small role. Vulcans are so rarely played right, especially in recent years, Tuvok being the last great one. He gets a moment to show the qualities of his species in this episode when we're reminded of the endurance and resilience they have, going without sleep for ten days in unceasing search for the two missing crewmen, supported by the sympathetic Neelix with strong tea on standby. Another tiny appearance for Neelix, but reminding me of his ever-present generosity of spirit and role as supporter of others so much.

Harry Kim, too, is given his dues - he may not appear a great deal in the episode (another pairing, like Tuvok and Neelix, or Tom and Neelix last episode, that goes back to the early days), but he was able to make the right decisions to follow B'Elanna in the Escape Pod (seen only last episode!), which saved his life. It's brushed over without comment but he is The Survival King, using all his Starfleet training to walk a vast distance over many days, and though it was only mentioned in dialogue since this wasn't Harry's episode, I was impressed with his success and very happy for how far he's come as a person. It isn't all praise and awards, we also get a little indignity for Tuvok which used to be a running theme in the old Treks simply because Vulcans were so different to others they were often ostracised due to rubbing people up the wrong way from their inherent superiority and lack of affectation being threatening to some. So I don't mind the occasional puncturing, and in this case we see Tom at Helm suddenly hearing a noise, he looks round and it's Tuvok in command, snoring on the Bridge! It jumped out at me that that's exactly what happened with Worf in the final episode of 'Picard' Season 3. In that case I found it a little off-putting that this proud, superior warrior should be ridiculed in that way, but at the same time it was true to his character in 'TNG' and the films, it's just that 'DS9' had shown him more respect. He and Tuvok are of a kind (how I wish they'd met!), so it makes sense, even if I generally prefer Trek not to poke fun at its characters, but to give them dignity.

B'Elanna had great dignity in this episode, she's reduced to minimum technology, her position visualised by being stripped to her undershirt, but if there's anyone you'd want on a crashed ship, it's a Starfleet Engineer! They missed a trick - they could have had her say she's an Engineer, not a poet, but the episode is very much about not falling into lazy ways or dramatic tricks so it wouldn't have been in synch with the episode's message. It's a brave writer who comments on writing and making entertainment, in his episode or film, you're immediately laying yourself open to easy criticism for anything you fail on, but Menosky did a superb job, rose to the task with aplomb (no wonder he didn't fit in on 'DSC'!). Having characters say such things as 'poets' have become lazy, relying on manipulation to move an audience, well, you better get it right, and he did! I love many of the little nuances of the story, like the way the characters are spoken of, or acted on the planet (such as Janeway and Chakotay kissing, much to B'Elanna's bemusement - that has to be poking fun at vocal viewers hoping it would happen for real!), and then cutting to the actual people to provide natural contrast. Like all the best Trek, it's this warmth you feel in the writing, a positive, inspiring joy to proceedings that isn't cynical, depressing or miserable, no matter how bleak the outlook, something that has been greatly lost. Then there's the fun adaptation of the concepts so an alien from another stage of technological development can comprehend, B'Elanna fitting things in to his story to allow herself a way out, and yet she's not creative in that way, she's a tech person, creative in problem solving, not forming narratives.

Surely a reference to 'Arena,' the famous scene where Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn, his deadly enemy, and throws the makeshift knife away, when here, it's the fictional Janeway tossing her spear aside when Borg Queen Seven (something so ridiculous, they actually did that on 'Picard' at one point - and so meaningless it was undone in no time!), is at her mercy. And you can tell Kelis is a born writer, he has his pitch which he's ready to sell to Torres: help him and it will prevent war itself. It also shows the immediacy and adaptability of theatre as opposed to filmed productions which often take a long time to come to fruition - Kelis has but a single week to bring his next play to life. I loved the idea that it had been a temple of 'human' sacrifice that was converted into a theatre which somehow ended such a barbaric practice, in the same way as Voyager journeys on, always to an Earth where 'peace reigns and hatred has no home,' such a poetic and effective way for the episode to make its final bow. When you think about it, this could have been a disaster: a story about aliens doing a play about Voyager? Are you serious? But instead it becomes this lovely creation with serious consequences for both B'Elanna and Kelis' clan, they need each other, despite such vast differences, a message of hope and perseverance. Amazingly, they even managed to score over 'DS9' - an episode on that series called 'The Muse' was one of its weakest, while this 'Muse' is one of the strongest. As Kelis tries to explain Vulcans to one of his actors, 'beneath an unfeeling exterior is a heart that's breaking silently,' one of the keys to great drama. This one is complete amusement, musical beauty, and no museum piece. Muse on that!

****

Common Descent

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Common Descent)

It's Randolph from 'Free Willy'! Having August Schellenberg guest star is about the most exciting thing in this episode, especially as in the years since he's sadly deceased. If you want someone to play a noble elder type then why not get him? Not that he has all that much to do - he's the leader of a group of humans that had led an expedition to this planet Destiny visits, the planet they came from having been settled by the crew of Destiny two thousand years ago (the other Destiny, the one where they assumed everyone died except Telford and Rush). It's that old sci-fi chestnut of a ship going to a planet and finding their own descendants, done best in 'DS9' ('Children of Time'), but also seen in 'Enterprise' ('E2'), and probably at least one 'Stargate' episode along the way. This can't be the first time such a long-running franchise has tackled such a traditional story and I feel like I've written about this before, so maybe it was in 'Atlantis'? I don't know, but if they were trying to make the series more traditional 'Stargate' then the previous episode and this one would both fit the template of the familiar. We even get a forest planet where flying ships blast the fleeing humans below which calls to mind the Darts of The Wraith in 'Atlantis' or going back even further, the Death Gliders of the Goa'uld in 'SG-1.'

In that respect it's not as interesting as some of the recent episodes, since the series hasn't relied on the kind of imagery and storytelling that goes beyond familiar into derivative of itself in previous 'Stargate.' 'Universe' and its choices haven't always worked - obviously not with audiences if they weren't getting a big enough one to be renewed for Season 3, but I've broadly liked the series and would have loved to see where they took it. The old-style 'Stargate' episodes could be a bit simplistic action-adventure, and even as far back as 'SG-1' I always preferred the high concept sci-fi tales more than soldiers shooting armoured baddies. Something that didn't come through here was the age-old conflict between the scientists and the military, as you'd think if there were factions that's what the descendants would have broken into, but it was more along the lines of those that believed Rush would bring Destiny back to save them, and those that didn't. But the whole scenario is a bit hard to accept in a functioning way: the humans all talk as if they stepped off Destiny yesterday when in reality language would grow and change to reflect their own unique situation over hundreds of years. But the conventions of TV storytelling mean we need to get to the core of the story as quickly as possible.

Even though it's a two-part story (at least), ending with them finding the 'home' planet the expedition started off from years ago, and finding it's now uninhabitable after major volcanic activity, no signs of life, the episode rattled through quite a lot that could have been more interesting to explore. For example, we know Scott, Greer, Camille, Eli and the others left behind after a drone ship blasts a hole in the planet's Stargate (wouldn't that cause a major chain reaction that would blow up the 'gate and cause a massive and devastating explosion?), won't be stuck on a planet for the rest of their lives, we've seen too many instances where people were stuck with no chance of ever catching up to Destiny again and yet a way was found. So it's not that there was any great tension in that regard, only that it might have been better to have that hanging for a little while, especially if the story is continuing next episode. Instead we have an admittedly triumphant moment of a shuttle arriving to pick up the last survivors with that great music, then it's fast forward to having Destiny packed out with all the colonists, then they're at the home planet... It was all rather rushed. I liked the simple method of communicating that Eli uses: a 'gate signal which he can only turn on and off to send Morse Code, ingenious.

I don't buy that they'd leave the colonists behind in the first place, or the colonists would simply accept it without any animosity in return. I understand they have limited resources, air, food, etc, but why can't they simply pop along to other planets more regularly to keep replenishing? In this case the drones have caught up with them again, and it's theorised it was by tracking 'gate activations, but surely if they're travelling that fast, as long as they plot a haphazard course these pursuers would take much longer to catch up, wouldn't they? The point was moot when the colonists have to be evacuated at top speed, but what will become of them on Destiny? As it stood, the episode wasn't a bad one, but there weren't enough character moments (like we see Young and TJ become parents again when archive kino footage shows his affection for her as she gives birth), it was mostly plot, things happening, and all fairly conventional things for a series like this. I wouldn't say it felt like another wasted episode when we're so close to the end, it doesn't matter either way, but I'd have liked them to go out on more of a high, seeing as how they've managed a few runs of strong episodes. This held the interest, was a case of hitting the old 'Stargate' beats, and I'm interested to see how they solve the joint problem of too many people and the drones coming after them, but it also doesn't make me think there was great potential going further. Even so: it's Randolph!

**

Live Fast and Prosper (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (Live Fast and Prosper) (2)

From the title you know this is going to be self-referential, fun and entertaining, twisting Trek's most famous phrase into a criminalised state which perfectly reflects the trio of imposters who trade on Voyager's reputation or background in order to dupe others out of various commodities. But for all the fun I somehow didn't find this to be the classic I used to consider it. It may be that there was less to get the mind's teeth into, less to examine and discuss from a reviewer's perspective and that can sometimes lessen the impact of a previously loved story, or even improve the engagement with one not much appreciated before. It still has its moments, and I very much warm to the idea of an episode about Neelix and Tom Paris grappling with losing their touch as the resident street-smart men of the world that was once their schtick, perhaps realising their time on the good guy team has dulled their edge, maybe even an examination of the downside of a moral, unselfish mode of life having the effect of failing to maintain a healthy distrust of strangers, or the possibility of becoming soft in the technologically advanced environs of a state-of-the-art Starfleet ship... But this isn't really that. Anything to give the fun more depth would have been appreciated. But in this case there wasn't much more to it than knockabout, which is what Trek can do just fine and I have absolutely no problem with - that was one of the parts of Trek style that's been largely lost in the modern era where rather than do whatever story you think best week to week, you're more often forced down a specific path due to serialisation.

Even more when each series has to have a specific tone when it could be different every week. That's how it used to be, so it's not hardship to go from a character building exploration of the lower decks personnel one week, to a hunt for criminals posing as our heroes the next. Talking of lower decks, perhaps that's one thing that affected my enjoyment of this episode as well: 'Lower Decks' the series, has even wackier, sillier premises than this or any Ferengi episode one cares to conjure up, not that I'd say the series shows this up or anything along those lines - no, I like 'Voyager' many times more than I could ever feel towards 'LD,' but it's extended the boundaries of what can be done in a Trek series, to the general Trek universe's detriment, I fear. And I say this as someone who has largely come to accept that series, and would have to say it's the best of a bad bunch in terms of what's been made over the last almost-decade. I'm not even suggesting 'LD' makes episodes like this less special, I'm not sure what I'm saying, maybe I've seen too many Trek comedies in recent years and the balance is out of whack for taking things seriously (though I never felt that way with all those terrific 'DS9' comedy episodes). The misdemeanours are taken seriously here, though, it's just something didn't impress me as much this time, that's all I can articulate in that direction.

I will give credit for Seven of Nine largely being absent as I can see how easily she could have been inserted instead of any other character. It's true it builds on the trend I keep mentioning of featuring the Doctor and Janeway more heavily than most, although the Doc isn't in it that much, and Neelix gets as close to his due as I can remember him getting this season. He's not exactly the main focus, but he'd be in the top two. My favourite moment for him is when he visits Dala in the Brig. I picked up fairly quickly that this must be part of Janeway's plan, mainly because you never see Neelix wearing a Phaser, it wasn't very sensitive of him to go into the cell with one so prominently displayed to such an ardent opportunist as their prisoner has shown herself to be, and to cap it all he gets closer and closer to her in his speech about how he used to be like her and how Captain Janeway and life aboard Voyager changed him and gave him a new outlook. I believe what he says, which is why it was a clever scene - clearly they're preaching the typical Starfleet humanist stuff to the extent I was almost starting to doubt my initial impressions and wondering if this was a trap for Dala to mount an escape or the scene really was about espousing Trekky values that are going to somehow appeal to her, as unlikely as that would seem. It goes so far that I was expecting her to grab the Phaser when he's sitting next to her and she doesn't make the move until they're messing about with the tea, so I'd give that scene in particular top marks for misdirection and deftness. Even if my suspicions were proved correct by the end of it.

I wasn't as keen with the way they show Tom and Neelix to be so easily duped, even if it was fun to mentally flashback to the last time I can remember the two of them alone in a cave: 'Parturition.' Those were the days when they both had more of an edge to them and beef between them, and now that I think of it, it would almost have made more sense for this pair to have had as deep a friendship as Tom and Harry, both having a background in crime and worldliness the other characters on the ship didn't share. A lost opportunity? If there had been more of a history between them this would have been a much deeper callback in the same way that 'In The Cards' on 'DS9' flipped the old Jake and Nog dynamic in a far superior comedic episode that built on what had gone before. In comparison, this one comes across as somewhat shallow (though I'd still rather watch it than any given episode of 'LD'!). I can't understand why such a sly old Talaxian as Neelix wouldn't have spotted a kindred spirit in Dala during their interactions, but it does seem that his compassionate side has been emphasised so much to the extent he almost always thinks the best of people - quite a turnaround from the suspicious, troll-like figure we used to know, so over-protective of Kes to the point of jealousy. I'm not complaining, it's nice to see him become a better version of himself over the years, but I also miss the more unpredictable (or should that be eminently predictable!), Neelix of old.

At least it was acknowledged on screen between Tom and Neelix that they felt they'd lost their touch (but it begs the question how they thought they could fool the Doctor with the shell game, which you imagine he'd know about, and they should have remembered he has superior visual acuity, too!), which raised the story a little more than if they'd never addressed our resident conmen being conned. The Doctor's role as part of conning the con artists was good fun and I never suspected he was camouflaged as Dala as she returns to the fake Delta Flyer because I don't remember him ever being shown away from the ship without his Holo-emitter. That was a bit of a con in itself because I don't believe we'd ever seen it hidden under some kind of holographic cloak before, though it makes sense - it doesn't have to be seen so it could easily be in a pocket or even inside his own head since his whole person is a construct, but it's always been a useful visual reminder of his holographic nature. So that felt a bit like a cheat, though changing his appearance to impersonate someone else would be used again (most prominently at the end of the series in 'Renaissance Man' where he doubled several people).

There was an example of why people need to be schooled in Starfleet protocol when Neelix causes all kinds of ship-wide viral problems (I was disappointed I didn't notice mention of the bio-neural gel packs - it's almost like they ignore that aspect of their technology after the first couple of seasons when it could have been a rich vein of story potential), stemming from a heating coil he got from 'Sister' Dala - he installed it before performing a diagnostic on it, something no Starfleet crew would fail to do. Again, while sometimes Starfleet may seem draconian or overly cautious this is exactly why they have to stick to protocol. Funny to see someone in a dressing-gown two episodes in a row - this time it's Janeway herself, and interestingly her sonic shower is shown to be around the mirror rather than a cubicle you walk into. It was nice to be reminded of some of her history when Neelix recounts it to Sister Dala on the Flyer. I don't know if we knew before that her time as Science Officer on the Al-Batani (under Admiral Paris, of course!), was where she was immediately before assuming captaincy of Voyager. Unless she rose to Captain on that vessel after her science career? She's exactly the sort of Captain to be perfect at the Poker face exchange, manipulating Dala with the improvisation of Tuvok at her side that took us back to their friendship and closeness of early days on the ship, something else to like about the episode. Though I'd question Tuvok's statement that he's not good at improvisation - out of anyone I'd say a Vulcan is the master at such a skill since they're in complete control of their emotions and have an aura of truth over all they say!

A great moment was Mobar finally coming face to face with the real Tuvok, a man his public persona is minutely modelled after so that he's practically awed and starstruck despite being in opposition - Gregg Daniel was the real standout who helped to make this episode what it was. Kaitlin Hopkins is the main guest star as the fake Janeway and she was very good, too, but Mobar was absolutely delightful in the way he got totally lost in his character to the extent he starts quoting logic at a Vulcan! I totally loved his performance and can't say enough about how well he aped Tim Russ' mannerisms, speech patterns, and the lines he's given to say, that he really was a perfectly comedic version of the same character! It's amazing that he never appeared in any other role in Trek after such a terrific interpretation, and feel it was Trek's loss. Hopkins had previously appeared in 'DS9' as a female Vorta, Kilana, and that was equally as superb a contribution to Trek's legacy as Daniel's was here. I didn't feel she stood out as much in this one, but that's only because Kilana was so memorable, and I certainly felt her performance was strong, quite similar to the real Janeway (and I agree with the Captain, the hair was great!). The third member of the trio, Zar, had much less to do, though I enjoyed his brief turn as Chakotay with the hastily hand-scrawled (I imagine), tattoo, and black block of hair, though I feel they missed a trick in not making more of each characters' mannerisms (other than Tuvok). And it's great to have Guinan in 'Voyager'! Okay, the actor's name is Francis Guinan, it's not quite the same, but like Hopkins he'd appeared before (in 'Ex Post Facto,' way back in Season 1 of this very series!), and unlike Hopkins would be back (in 'The Communicator' on 'Enterprise').

Another area the episode excelled was in the makeup department. The other returning face from previous Trek was Dennis Cockrum as Orek of the Telsians (he'd been a Corvallen in 'Face of The Enemy' on 'TNG' and would also return in 'Enterprise,' weirdly also in 'The Communicator' - I wonder if it was a mini-reunion!). The miners were quite bumbling and comedic (though I didn't feel Levar Burton chose the best shots all the time - the bit where they both move to copy Mobar's Vulcan salute and their hands collide was quite darkly shot and indistinct, messing up the visual comedy since you can barely notice what was a great idea), very much characters that would have fitted into 'LD' (they love bringing back minor characters - how about it?), but Orek was a more serious role. I loved the prosthetic design with the translucent eyebrow horns. He even gets to do something never done before - sliding his alien PADD along the trench down the middle of the Conference Room table, a real claim to fame! His wasn't the only great look in the episode: aside from the simple vertical incision on the foreheads of the villains that told of their common origin (I presumed Zar was the same, though he had a more pronounced ridge), even if they were reminiscent of Bolian bifurcation of the face, the work that must have gone into Varn's head was impressive, and I especially loved the attention to detail that had his ship ape the oval mottling or cratering of his skin on the hull: you notice on the nacelles they have similar ovals through which the green insides show.

There are always nitpicks to make and this episode is no exception, but there weren't many that I picked up on. One was that I believed Dala and her cronies would be familiar with the Borg (everyone knows the Borg!), and the Hirogen (even though they must be well out of that territory by now), but Species 8472? For a start that's a designation given by the Borg which Voyager only knew because Seven told them, and for another they didn't make many incursions from Fluidic Space so how would anyone know anything about them? Ah, but I can answer my own query: I'm forgetting the villains stole Voyager's database and that's where they got their information... But how can you explain Voyager having so much opposition from Varn's ship when he seemed so impressed by the weaponry shown in the presentation from Zar, which he didn't embellish? Yet he reduces Voyager's shields in no time. They weren't fighting back, though, intent on catching the imposters rather than dealing with him, but still, you'd think he'd be little more than a nuisance to them. It was intensely ironic that Janeway talks of truth-telling to Dala right after having had Tuvok make up a load of rubbish about how bad Telsian justice is! And Neelix' Grandmother's saying about it being nice to be nice wasn't much of a counter to the deep-rooted cynicism of Dala's quote: "Most people will exploit you if they can, so it's best to exploit them first." I know it was part of the ploy, but the former sounds like the kind of thing Neelix would believe. I just wish the stuff about him changing his life around had been an important part of the episode. Did we hear what was to be the fate of the criminals, did they turn them over to the Telsians? I don't know, but there was nothing wrong in this episode, it was pleasurable, tasteful entertainment.

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