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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