Flesh & Blood (2)

 DVD, Voyager S7 (Flesh & Blood) (2)

A little slice of 'DS9' is sort of how I see this, but it's also a big slice of 'Voyager' mid-season extravaganza, as became a bit of a tradition (if missed in Season 6, a little like 'TNG' skipped a Q appearance one year). I enjoyed it more last time I saw it compared to my initial impressions and felt it was something you could get your teeth into thanks to the feature-length running time of two episodes in one, not done since Season 5's 'Dark Frontier.' Before that viewing I was a little underwhelmed, since I had lofty expectations for the Hirogen (they should be seven-foot monsters as they were in their first appearances), but that species trait had already been broken in the same season they first appeared, most likely due to a lack of sizeable actors to fill dramatic roles, so I became more resigned that their uniqueness had been lost and simply sat back and enjoyed the runaround - I had the same experience this time, too, seeing it as the closest we can get to a 'Voyager' film. At the same time, like most blockbusters, and a lot of Trek films (especially the recent Kelvin Timeline series, which has thankfully been finally put out of its misery, nine years after the last one failed to strain above mediocre), it's more action and running around than anything much deeper (literally in the Doctor's case - we've rarely seen him move so quickly!), but as Trek of the old often did, it has more going on between the ears and in the chest cavity departments, and it's those things that still resonate even while the physical drama isn't quite as thrilling as it once would have been.

The idea of holographic life is a rich seam to mine, but due to Voyager being lost (can we still say they're lost - they know where they're going and they're getting increasingly closer as the series progresses), in the Delta Quadrant, we didn't have all that much space to develop the concept, one of the most intriguing situations of this period of later 24th Century life that the return of Voyager could have greatly impacted. 'DS9' had dealt with it a little, but not so much in the sense that holo-characters could be a 'real' life form that grew and became more than it was designed to be, primarily through Vic Fontaine who was self-aware, but also content to remain within his fiction, a much more realistic approach those writers took to both have fun with the concept of holograms, but also admit that there is more to it than just light and forcefields. If you think too deeply about it, it doesn't really, entirely make sense. As far back as Moriarty on 'TNG' we'd learnt what it might be like if a hologram took on ideas of its own, but that was played merely for villainy, a fictional character trying to become fact. With 'Voyager' they couldn't escape the ramifications of what they'd done by relying so heavily on this revolutionary EMH program by necessity, and in the same way Janeway admits some responsibility for the situation the Hirogen find themselves in here, it was also down to her that the Doctor became who he was in the latitude she gave to what was a tool, or extension, of the ship itself. Actually, that might have been interesting if the Doctor had represented Voyager herself, spoken on behalf, acted on the ship's requirements, but then it would have been more 'Farscape' than Trek and a very different series.

If Voyager had been on missions in the Alpha Quadrant the Doctor either wouldn't have needed to remain online and be required to grow beyond his programming, or if he had, he'd have been examined back at base whenever they did get home. Modifications could have been made to ensure his model didn't develop these unique personality traits and all that went into his makeup as a person, because it is pretty ludicrous when you think about it: it's something we created, Starfleet basically playing God without realising it, since holograms are meant to be there to service real life, they're computer programs, and though we'd already been through all this to determine whether Data was a person or a computer, property, himself, he was much harder to recreate (until we get into the murky realm of 'Picard' and all the damage that series did to the tech and the lore...), so it wasn't like another Data could be spontaneously birthed into the world, while a hologram can be conjured up wherever holoemitters exist. At the same time, though they can have physicality and interact with the real world, they are merely projections of a program. This is why it's hard to accept Iden's idea of building a holographic society on a Class-Y world - that they can live in inhospitable conditions was a good sense idea, that they can find ways to have a meaningful existence when they don't grow old, have families, have any needs, is much harder to accept and is a major flaw in the idea of them being real, sentient beings.

Just as much a flaw in the idea is the fact that they require technology for basic survival, always at the risk of their computers degrading, especially in the harsh environment of the planet Iden chose for home. There's occasionally talk of what they're going to do with their time ('anything' is too wide a concept), without realising, for example, that the Doctor's purpose in life is to heal. Remove that purpose and yes, he still has other interests: opera singing, photography, but what value would any of it have without a concrete purpose in 'life,' replaced with merely an existence in opposition to that serving organics. Perhaps the issue of purpose should have been central to the story and rather than making Iden into the standard megalomaniacal cult leader, the group could have fallen apart from the realisation they wouldn't have a purpose to their existence, not enough to be away from what they were designed to do. I wasn't quite sure where these holo-characters came from, either - obviously materially they were generated from Voyager's databases, but were they meant to be based on real people or were they just a set of parameters for what certain races were like. There's a whole discussion between B'Elanna and Kejal about stereotypes and it does raise the issue of the outer skin of a person being irrelevant, it's what comes from the inside, the intellect and the emotions and the character that is important, which is why none of these holograms are actually the races they portray, but all holographic, and yet they are also all programmed to behave a certain way or display certain attributes inherent to the characters as designed.

They're all actually based on the Doctor's program which is how we can believe they were able to adapt and move beyond merely being actors in a simulation, which is what holograms usually are, not designed to be more than that because self-determination and sentience would actually interfere with the purpose for which they were created (Vic notwithstanding!), but if they were meant to learn and develop as the Doctor did then that presents a far more credible way to accept how we got to this situation, compounded by the fact that Donik, who is clearly an inexperienced technician (which makes me ask how he was able to learn in the first place, and if there aren't many such people, how do the Hirogen create ships and weapons - in the same way the Klingons mostly seem like warriors, though we had seen others to show there were innovators and scientists among them), enhances or perhaps messes up their programming to make them more deadly in the hunt. Perhaps it is this that made Iden a dangerously immoral character, purportedly a serious follower of the Bajoran religion, praying to the Prophets that the dead Hirogen will find their way to the Celestial Temple, but was that all an act or was it he was simply unhinged? He could have been putting on a show for the Doctor, or he could have genuinely believed up to the point at which it might interfere with his own goals, or he may have been misguided entirely about what it all meant, we never really know, since you'd think if he hated organics so much (like Dejaren in 'Revulsion'), he'd throw off the shackles of everything related to them.

Except holograms can't ever completely divorce themselves from those that made them because they know for a fact they were made, they can't escape it, short of denying the truth, and the unintended parallels between them and us who have denied God in our culture, building up myths to replace him, have not been lost on me! It would be interesting to see (much like the space seed of Khan planted on a planet and allowed time to grow!), if this society had played out on that planet, what would have sprung up - would they have eventually denied the truth of their past, they are after all unreal creations that can exist in a fantasy world just as real to them as the real world? What would have been the result of such a society? We don't get to explore the ideas fully because we go off on that Iden madness tangent of an idealistic leader who turns out to be evil, as cruel and oppressive as those he claims to oppose. The society will survive, or I think that was the idea at the end, with Donik going with Kejal to repair the damage, but the questions still remain about how will they fill their time even if they were led by stable government? They could build physical things, but certainly not on the kind of barren, empty planet that would best serve their needs for security (though it wouldn't have prevented aerial bombardment unless they lived in underground caves), or they could build holographic things, but what would be the point, they might as well learn to program and be done with it. It's a bit like AI now - we could just let it design and build everything, but where would the creativity and sense of satisfaction come from?

Really the episode throws up all kinds of questions about holographic life without answering them, and perhaps I'm making it more complicated in my own mind than the implications allow, but it's such a deep concept to explore you'd need a lot more time and patience to sift through and examine, and when it's all about a life form that can be blinked out with the press of a button, maybe all the agonising and headache-inducing isn't worth the effort and we should simply take it as it is. That's pretty much how holograms were treated by Kurtzman-era Trek: it's as if there was no development on whether these are slaves that should be freed from captivity, an essential resource to be used, or a mere unnecessary technology that could be in danger of replacing people in so many tasks. But I'm digressing rather, this should be about the episode and not the wider implications of the entire concept of holographic nature. It's quite shocking, for example, that the Doctor does ally himself with Iden and the gang, believing they have so much in common, because he shares about as much with them as they did with the primitive holograms Iden 'liberates' from the alien ship, since they don't have the Doc's 'DNA,' and are merely functional tools and nothing more, which is what the majority of holograms would be.

What I like about this one, apart from the speculation it creates, is that it's a direct sequel to the great 'The Killing Game' when Janeway left the Hirogen with holographic technology (not sure how, since it's a system integrated to the ship, but maybe it was just the schematics?), something that really seemed unwise when you think the Federation shouldn't be giving out such things, but then as Chakotay said, the technology isn't inherently violent, it's what the Hirogen did with it that made it that way, something you could see as a comment on entertainment today - it's like we've been handed the ability to make films, TV, games, etc, but we exceed the morality of what went before (which wasn't always moral then, obviously, but there's a definite downward trend, as shown by even Trek these days). It seemed at the time as if Janeway's decision was a benevolent assistance, a nonlethal form for them to release their hunting tendencies, but which didn't take into account the species' desire for more and more carnage. On the other hand, Donik would have had to train as a hunter, something he didn't want to do, so he became a technician thanks to Janeway and also had a sense of responsibility towards his creation. It's a shame we didn't get a deeper exploration of Hirogen culture and life for them, just these little hints, as it could have had so much more impact if we'd seen their homeworld or a colony and how it all works, in the way we saw Klingon life through so many episodes. But however deep Trek goes we always want it to delve deeper, that's the nature of fanatical interest, I suppose!

This was another way to bring familiar Trek to the Delta Quadrant, so we get Vulcans, Romulans, Cardassians, Bajorans, Borg, humans, Klingons (not the last we'd see this season), even Jem'Hadar and Breen (the last time for the latter until 'Lower Decks' Season 3 - I don't count the awful 'DSC' versions, even if they're calling them Breen! And for Jem'Hadar we haven't seen them at all, not even in 'Picard' Season 3, which you'd have expected with the Dominion connection...), and when B'Elanna gets kidnapped and says about it being like an Alpha Quadrant summit, I was thinking it was like a Trek convention, everyone dressed as their favourite race! But it is fantastic to get all these familiar faces (especially the Breen, whose machine language we get to hear once again!), and this is a kind of throwback to what we know that would nowadays be called 'fan service' in a derogatory sense, as if giving people what they want, callbacks to the familiar, was something negative when in fact it's about firmly reminding us of the world we're in, the shorthand of the universe, and no doubt was meant to appeal to those that had seen 'TNG' and 'DS9' but may have been put off by the fact 'Voyager' was out in an entirely other 'world.' In fact I thought they might have even gone further with this, perhaps brought back a famous face or two, such as Martok (J.G. Hertzler had already popped up on the series in another role - a Hirogen, coincidentally!), or even a famous 'TNG' or 'DS9' character. They're all holograms so it would've been justified, but then that's the territory people complain about with modern Trek, I suppose, and could take attention away from the story they were trying to tell.

It certainly appeals to me that they were able to bring in connections to the wider Trek world, even in Season 1 they had a Romulan show up, and a mix of the new and old was good for the series, I feel. Speaking of which, Vaughn Armstrong (who'd already been in the series as that aforementioned Romulan, and two other roles on this series), made his seventh role in Trek with an Hirogen, though he doesn't last long or have much impact on the story. And Paul Eckstein had previously played a Hirogen in the story this was a sequel to, 'The Killing Game,' back again as a Hirogen, but a different character (he was another familiar name across 'DS9' and 'Voyager'). I didn't recognise where I knew him from, but the aggressive holographic Starfleet officer, Weiss, Iden's second, was played by Spencer Garrett whose face was recognisable as Simon Tarses from 'The Drumhead' on 'TNG,' a fun connection. Cindy Katz had been in a Cardassian-heavy episode of 'DS9,' 'Second Skin,' though hadn't been a Cardassian in that one (and technically, isn't in this one either, though that's her holographic appearance), so it was a nice selection of familiar faces and voices to some degree or another, though of course this was actually two episodes, no doubt the budget reflecting that.

It may not have been such a great episode for many of the main cast since so much time is given over to guest stars, which can be a problem if the guests aren't up to standard, but perhaps because so many were Trek veterans of some description it wasn't bad to watch them and didn't take away from the cast, but when you think back, most of them weren't very involved. It's more like one of those early episodes where one character would have the meat of the story, this time the Doctor, but it maybe should have been a B'Elanna story - there were some parallels with her Season 2 episode, 'Dreadnought,' in which she's kidnapped and forced to work on a Cardassian weapon. This was eerily similar, since holograms are a program like the Cardassian weapon, but this time she has more impact mentally. The Doctor had to be at the centre of it all because it's about the rights and responsibilities, but I felt like he'd been through this before ('Revulsion' comes to mind again, but maybe other experiences, too), though unlike so many early episodes where Janeway would show up in Sickbay where an errant crewman had messed up once again, she doesn't give the Doctor a dressing down or punish him in any way. It was all well and good to say that it was her fault in some way, but it was like she didn't have anywhere to go with that since in the early episodes, if she was disappointed by his behaviour or choices, she could express the suggestion maybe she'd been wrong to indulge his wish for more rights, but it's too late to go back to all that now. There should have been some kind of punishment, since he did effectively mutiny and it was only Iden's desire to win him over that Voyager was allowed to live, otherwise the series could have been over prematurely!

We get some nice little bits of continuity, such as B'Elanna showing discomfort when Kejal is assigned to assist her on the holograms' ship, as she would, having fought the Cardassians as part of the Maquis. The Doc even mentioned the Maquis, and that was what I thought of when Chakotay suggests his turning was not due to a malfunction, but the draw of the cause (as Ro Laren did on 'TNG' - it's been nice to have her story resolved since), something he knew about only too well. Tom Paris as a medic again, and a couple of alien species Voyager had encountered recently (the Nuu'bari and Lokirrim, though I later realised the former were new to this episode, they just looked familiar), were referenced as societies that had holographic life forms. The delineation between the Doctor and these programs that have come from his template, and the basic alien versions was a good reminder how special and unique he is. But still, most of the cast are underserved - Neelix, for example only gets one important moment when he plays the old macho card of the Hirogen not wanting it to get out they were beaten by holograms, when trying to persuade them not to demand their rights to the technology (though I don't see how they could prevent them from rebuilding it). I wonder if by this time of the series' run he was really feeling the discomfort of the makeup and they were writing him in less in consequence, although the character was often given shorter shrift as the series had gone on anyway.

One thing that wasn't answered or even addressed, was how Voyager would surely be well away from Hirogen space by now - how could they have been given this technology in Season 4, but show up three years later in Voyager's path! Unless our ship was meandering around and going back on itself, and even then it would have to be a society-wide sharing of tech, the chances of Voyager stumbling on the exact group of Hirogen that had holo-tech otherwise a practical impossibility in the vastness of space! Not that I mind that massive plot hole myself, it was good to go back to a popular race one more time, but it was a drawback with Voyager that it was always moving on and so made it difficult to create ongoing stories. It's even bopped right on the nose when Chakotay says their reputation has preceded them, but surely they were going in the other direction, it doesn't make sense! I was unclear why they didn't realise the space station they beamed down to was a holographic environment - I suppose it could have been bio-domes or something, with only the 'sunlight' being artificial, but it just seemed they were too surprised by it all. I did like Janeway coaxing Donik to understand they weren't holograms, other than the Doctor - we just take for granted so much of what happens between the holograms and the physical world, like he phases out when Donik throws a tray at him, or they fizz out when their programs are malfunctioning, or the little zip when they come into the correct phase or when the Doc or Iden connect to his holoemitter. Little things, but so effective you don't even think of it all in the moment as we're so used to Trek selling this stuff so well.

They didn't do that in every area: it was a touch incongruent to see camp beds set up in the Mess Hall as you'd think they'd have something a little more futuristic and effective than that! I'm sure we'd seen them used before whenever there was an epidemic and Sickbay was swamped, but they stood out to me. It was also strange to see blood on the Hirogen - that on the Bat'leth made sense as it's a piercing weapon, but after they were attacked from the pond with Phasers and Phaser Rifles, surely such weapons would cauterise wounds, not leave blood splashes. Regarding that scene, it was certainly effective, but I couldn't help wish they'd made it even more outlandish by having a Breen, a Jem'Hadar, a Cardassian along with a Starfleet officer, rising out of the water, rather than all human-like characters, as that might have created even more impact for the scene. And I felt Donik could have been a nice addition to the crew if he hadn't gone off at the end - I was imagining he and Icheb getting on well as they were similar characters, perhaps they could have done a story where they competed for Seven's attention. Actually, even she's largely absent, and I thought when Chakotay selects her for the Away Team and then calls her with him when they split into two groups, this might give us at least one small moment between them that could hint at what was to come at the end of the season, but it seems that was entirely unplanned so they probably had no idea at this point. I found it interesting that Bajorans might believe all dead are on a journey to the Prophets, I'm not sure we ever got that impression before, and any mistake that doesn't line up with what 'DS9' may have said on the subject can easily be avoided since it's a hologram saying it, and while he may be accurate, he may also have twisted Bajoran beliefs or interpreted them entirely wrongly.

To be honest it was just lovely to hear mention of the Prophets and the Celestial Temple (wonder what Iden thought of Sisko? A mention of the Emissary would have been fun), to see a Bajoran uniform, not to mention all the other races and uniforms we get, and a good excuse to use some old props and costumes, I'm sure, to put a more cynical spin on it! But the story was a good one, if not fully thought through, sidetracked by Iden's malicious tendencies, but also a valuable reminder of what happens when a group try to throw off the 'normality' and values of a society in order to remake it in their own image: they want to be God and they don't care how many lives are taken to do it, so even more pertinent for today's times, I felt, and the idea of these fake beings playacting a life on some barren rock to escape the apparent servitude they felt they were under was ripe for much more investigation. It had some big questions and some heart-tugging moments and was the last feature-length episode other than the finale, so it has a special place for me, and one I still feel is great for just losing yourself in that isn't always possible with forty-five minute stories. Perhaps the Doctor gets off scot-free at the end, but you can see how deeply it's affected his conscience and also reminds us of the hope of grace when Janeway leaves him unpunished and he picks up the holoemitter, the symbol of his freedom. In reality he hadn't even earned that as it was a piece of tech stolen from the future, but that's an entire other issue and one we'll have to see addressed when they get back to Earth... Yeah, right!

****

Nightingale (2)

 DVD, Voyager S7 (Nightingale) (2)

Captain Kim-caid! The unique situation of Voyager means that the natural progression most Starfleet officers would make up the ranks is limited by the number of people they have available, but as we can see with this story, that doesn't mean the crew aren't qualified, or does it? I feel the idea worked in both ways, in one sense this could be the most experienced crew a starship has had since they've been through so much while keeping to the command hierarchy and protocols demanded by Captain Janeway, but the other side of that is they could also be comfortable in the roles that have been so long established and haven't had to confront the change of superiors or the mix of fellow crewmembers they work with which could turn a team stale. Don't forget, though, this is Starfleet, they're meant to be the best of the best, it's mere degrees of expertise that separate them from each other, and also, this isn't the first ship to be out on its own for years on end - we have the impression, whether founded in canon or not, that five year missions are about the standard length of a long-range cruiser type of starship, and while Voyager was meant for science missions, and wasn't designed for the long-term position they're in, it was state of the art at launch and we've seen how well it's adapted to the requirements made upon it. None of this means that a junior officer such as Ensign Harry Kim can't see himself as Captain material, but what it does mean is he rarely gets the chance outside of the Holodeck.

One of the joys of this episode is seeing him fired up and ready to progress, to show what he's made of instead of being the sidekick - he gets that excellent scene with Tom where he expresses disenchantment with being Buster Kincaid all the time to Tom's Captain Proton, and for once gets one over on his old buddy who just wants out of cleaning duties to come along, yet despite a demotion, would still be Kim's superior on a mission. It's actually very interesting to see the rigid nature of command protocol in action since we can sometimes have the impression of looser structure than previous Treks had shown in general, and in an age where Trek has almost thrown off the 'shackles' of hierarchy and structure to its great detriment in exchange for non-Starfleet personnel, or ex-Starfleet, or simply an attitude of friendship rather than professionalism, it's so reassuring to have these ideals front and centre as a great reminder of why these things matter in the face of an increasingly fantasy-driven way of looking at the world we see in modern society where everyone's views are as valid, discipline is lax and respect is uncommon. Here we have all of those things and yet Captain Kim still fails to a large degree. Or does he? It was a very sensitive scenario to find himself in, but also quite rare to have him in the situation of being senior officer on a mission, only Neelix and Seven with him, both of whom would be as experienced in many ways, if not more so, or if not experienced then owning a greater range of knowledge.

Take Neelix, he's been a Captain himself, albeit of his own small ship, and not for a few years, but he was always shown to be a man about galaxy, and offers the valuable advice not to show indecision in the role. Seven has much of the accumulated knowledge of the Borg on tap, plus the rigorous training Janeway gave her during an intensive Season 4 acclimatisation schedule so she among anyone has been able to study the qualities of a great Captain firsthand - you'd think Kim would have been equal in sucking up command knowledge, and over a greater number of years, but sometimes it takes an outside view to see the bigger picture, and while he's intent on making it, he fails to see the value of building up his crew, being over-managerial and intent on making the right decision while failing to see the need to include them. You could say even his first act to get involved in an armed conflict was rash, as much as it appeared to be the fair thing to do when an apparently humanitarian medical ship is attacked by a more dangerous warship. Perhaps if the Annari hadn't fired on the Flyer Kim would have had less grounds for what he did, entering the conflict on one side. But it's difficult, the same way if one person was being attacked on the street by multiple opponents, it's just that natural aversion to inequality that would encourage someone to come and help the oppressed party even if you don't know the reasons behind it. But that's the difficulty Starfleet officers can face wherever they go, whether to get involved or remain aloof, and it must be one of the most tricky decisions to make under pressure.

I wonder if the fact the Annari were reminiscent of Cardassians in their mass of dark hair and much facial bone structure, and their military superiority, while their opponents were more fresh-faced, plus the nose ridge look of Bajorans added to the Trek shorthand of who was in the right or wrong. It could have been subversion on the part of the production, we've certainly seen that played out before (such as in 'Nemesis' where the Kradin looked fearsomely like Predator aliens, while their enemies appeared human), and to some extent it was, since the Kraylor were lying to Kim from the start about their real intentions, but it wasn't as simple a situation as one side good, one side bad, though it's clear the aggressors were the Annari, especially as they were more actively opposed to our characters. It's a tough position to be in, Kim isn't experienced enough to know exactly what was right, but Janeway even admits she'd probably have done the same (even if she's not always the best example to follow, of course). It's interesting to speculate on what each of the main cast might have done in the same situation, Torres would have been more aggressive, especially if the Annari had fired on them, while Tuvok I suspect would've been more prudent. You can tell the same story with any of them and it would be a fascinating divergence, but then that's the great thing about Trek, the characters are so well defined we can see this or a similar scenario in many episodes and how it plays out each time.

Harry has been one of the characters not to be given many strong roles in the later part of the series and this was unequivocally his episode (sadly, I think the only Kim-centric episode of the season), even while he had Seven along with him, what would have been an unusual pairing had it not been for the fact only the previous episode had them trapped together on an alien ship! But it's a rich dynamic with her an unofficial member of the crew (it's said she has no rank, though I'd have thought she'd at least be Crewman, but not knowing enough about rank in general I don't know if this isn't considered a rank), so below Kim in authority, yet clearly with a level of knowledge gleaned from Borg, Janeway or even her interactions with the Doctor, that give her insight. What works about all this is that Kim is quite commanding, even from the first encounter with the aliens, behaving more like a Captain should and making a bold decision quickly, in turn giving him confidence to push for this as his mission. At the same time there are some warning signs even right away, since this ship is supposedly on a mission of peaceful medical aid, yet they travel cloaked, which is an underhanded way to operate according to Roddenberry himself, knowing full well that if such technology existed in this universe for one race then the Federation should be able to come up with its own variation, except it's not their style (USS Defiant's fudging notwithstanding - they were able to justify it quite nicely, once again proving it's not what you do, but how you do it).

About the cloak: they say it's their best defence, but apparently the Annari could still detect them since that's how we see them first attack the Kraylor, so it wasn't as effective as it might have been. The important thing is seeing a character excelling, making the right moves, showing their training, it's a delight to have Kim come into his own, but that only makes it a harder lesson to learn and a more satisfying one to watch. If it was all plain sailing, Kim carried out his mission, navigating the bumps, showed himself to be ideal Captain material, where would he go this late in the series (or really, anywhere in it!). For it to be a worthwhile story there had to be some growth, and while it may not be a cheering success for him to admit to Neelix he's not a Captain at the end, in typical optimistic style he adds the caveat, 'not yet,' promising hope for the future and a desire to become better, which is what Trek is all about. It was also important for it to be a serious story, not another one where Kim falls in with the wrong girl, something which had become a running joke for the series, though they couldn't help but reference it when Tom assumes this is his reason for wanting to get involved after Kim zings him with the riposte that now he's married he should leave such missions to the young, unattached guys!

As usual, I can't help but imagine how modern Trek would approach such a story and it's such a relief we don't have Kim joking about needing to have a catchphrase, simply stealing from the best and saying 'engage!' This is how to do it realistically, not being mates with the crew, but holding himself apart to some level, except in his case it's more that he disregards the capabilities and needs of those under him to the point where they find it easy to mutiny until he returns to give his expertise and ensure the mission's success even if it wasn't the mission he thought it was. The acceptability of being involved in an alien war is a grey area, they're both warp capable (I noticed the cloaked Kraylor vessel even had a warp flash when it went to warp, which must be a bit of giveaway to enemy ships!), but it's less about the morality of involvement and more about how Kim handles himself despite all this. If it had been an early season he might have had a dressing down from the Captain, but a lot of it wasn't his fault - I thought it was a strange parallel that the actor who played Geordi, LeVar Burton, directed the episode, when his character was famously sent to his death by another junior officer (in command terms, at least in experience), Dr. Crusher, in her Holodeck training scenario, and that's what Kim did here, inadvertently, the Kraylor woman, Dayla, repairing the ship, staying to her death, though it was really the fake doctor's commands she was following, so Kim couldn't feel too badly, especially as she volunteered for the job - it could have been Seven, maybe that made it more sharp to Kim's conscience?

We're halfway through the episode before Kim even gets to take over command of the Kraylor ship he christens Nightingale - that was maybe the only indulgence towards modern Trek style, having him gibe it a new name, but I always forget why the episode is named that, and it's because he calls the ship after Florence Nightingale who did so much for nursing, so that gives it more weight. Seven comes across very wise with her simple reminder that a Holodeck program can be turned off, while reality can't, there are going to be consequences, but her pep talk at least brings Kim to the realisation he can still make a difference to the ship's chances, even if he isn't entirely sure of the appropriateness of the military mission it's turned into. I wasn't quite sure why he deemed it necessary to bring a saxophone along, though Seven questions this very point and he says it's basically to make it more his place, an investment in the ship. He always used to be a clarinet player so I don't know why a saxophone was his instrument of choice, but perhaps he's less attached to that and so didn't mind if something happened to it rather than his prized clarinet, or maybe it was a symbol of moving away from his parents' wishes, however incremental, that he now prefers that instrument rather than the one they'd had him studying? Either way, it was a valuable lesson learned on his first command without a safety net, and what to put in the Ready Room is the garnish to the position, not the meat.

Sadly, the B-story, as fun as it is, doesn't end with a lesson learned, since B'Elanna doesn't have the energy to put Icheb straight when the latter believes she's pursuing him romantically. He makes the mistake of going to the Doctor for advice, only too happy to oblige and I'm sure it made his day, and it's not so much the advice as the fact Icheb doesn't give him all the facts, so it's a skewed appraisal of the situation (I'm sure if B'Elanna ever finds out the Doc's role in it, she'll give him a hard time!). I do enjoy Icheb, he's like a more diligent and less forceful version of Seven when she was liberated from the Collective, so a different spin on familiar events, again like Kim in that respect, both are dealing with unknown situations, getting advice from trusted colleagues, but Icheb's situation is more of a joke, a fun one, but where he didn't really learn, or not the right way. It might have been better if Torres had been set on putting him right instead of humouring him, but at least he learnt something. It's amusing in itself that B'Elanna would be the one to teach him how to have fun - shame we never saw them using the rock-climbing holoprogram, or for that matter actually going outside and tackling those rocky mountains, but they probably didn't have the budget to spare for that. We do get some nice views of Voyager on the planet, a rare sight in the series, and interesting to see crew walking on the hull (if some of the animation is a bit weak), and especially the one-man hover platforms some are using to repair the Nacelle, which I don't think we'd ever seen or heard of before.

Another rarity for those that are interested in the smallest detail, is the sight of a Starfleet boot - usually they're covered over by the hem of the trouser legs, but when Kim's on the floor repairing the alien ship you can actually see the whole boot! Something else of interest gave rise to speculation: when Icheb comes to repair the Doctor's holoemitters in Sickbay the Doctor claims his legs disappear when he moves to a corner of the surgical bay, but wouldn't he fall over? Are his simulated legs supporting his simulated weight, or is he effectively floating in the air and as such doesn't physically need legs? I imagine both scenarios are possible since he is a projection after all, it's just not something I generally consider when thinking about him - we know he can be solid or not as he chooses, but the full details have never been explained, to my knowledge. For once no guest stars had been in Trek before, unless you count Icheb, only his second appearance this season. And this was LeVar Burton's first directing job of the season, returning for the first time since Season 5's 'Timeless,' and did a fine, anonymous job as usual, which is what you want from a Director, nothing too flashy, but everything in its place and right. It's not a breakout kind of episode, it's simply an enjoyable experience. For us, if maybe not so much for Kim.

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