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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