Lineage (2)

 DVD, Voyager S7 (Lineage) (2)

It's so refreshing to see a B'Elanna story this season, she's one of the characters to have been pushed to the back, much like husband Tom, so it was very pleasant to get an episode devoted to them. Of course if this were 'DS9' we'd have had such things ongoing, woven in between the larger plots, but in this case the Paris' baby troubles are the A-plot and there is no B. That's a shame as these things can sometimes benefit from shifting attention away only to hit you smack in the face when we return to it, but B'Elanna's underhand tactics are quite shocking enough when she goes to the extent of forcing the Doctor to perform an operation to 'correct' the DNA in her unborn baby so it doesn't have to go through the trials of being an outsider in the way B'Elanna did. It's actually a very touching story that shows even someone as intelligent and developed as her can still have deep emotional issues related to the past, to the extent she genuinely believes her Father left her and her Mother because in a fit of pique, her child self told him to! What a burden to carry through into adulthood, and may explain a lot about how she ended up in the Maquis (though fortunately it being Trek, it's led to a happy ending with a fulfilled life aboard Voyager). Her Dad was right, though: you have to learn to be a little less sensitive. It's a great lesson, especially for today as every little difference that isn't immediately accepted is now basically a crime and the pursuit of some kind of mythical perfect mental health is overturning reality and the safety net of democracy to become an ideological dictatorship.

Such a world where no one ever gets teased is also a world where no one ever grows a thick skin and every little feeling is magnified and deified into being something we all must bow down to, so I suppose it's just another form of idolatry, but all because of a simple inability to stop taking ourselves so seriously and relax! The perils are shown starkly here because while B'Elanna is developed and accomplished, she's been dragging around emotional turmoil her whole life, a guilt she didn't need. It probably is hard enough to be Klingon in a more 'genteel' human setting as it is, let alone to be living with the lie that you're responsible for the splitting up of your parents. Usually Klingons are the life and soul of everything, no compunction about cutting loose and saying or doing whatever they feel like, though also with a strict honour code governing their ways and society. At least in theory - as Worf showed, trying to live a truly honourable life has great pitfalls and troubles, and rather than take on such an approach, B'Elanna's always had the opposite view: to avoid Klingon nature as much as possible. No doubt Starfleet of old Trek would be considered restrictive to alien natures by the fact that they have their own strict code of discipline and obedience to structure that Klingons would find distasteful and 'soft,' and if aliens in modern Trek weren't exactly the same as humans, there'd be outcry that their alien needs are being ignored, and this just goes to show the strength of how old Trek did things, and the real lessons and values that can be learned from it in consequence of that.

Inclusion is one of the things that worked best about this episode as all the main cast have something - Neelix is still the most underused of the crew, but we know now that Ethan Phillips was suffering from the makeup so they deliberately used him less, which was a sad development as he was one of my favourites in the earlier seasons. But it's Tuvok, the Father of four, who Tom gravitates toward for advice, while of course the Doctor eagerly and immediately puts together a ninety-point plan (or whatever), to cover training and preparation for every aspect of the birth and parenthood, something the couple should have foreseen! I loved that Tom goes to see Seven and Icheb whom he trusts, to question the Doctor's change of mind, and it's the young man who realises the errors in the hologram's data - as an aside, I thought B'Elanna was joking when she sternly tells Icheb she didn't give him permission to work on the upper level of Engineering after she'd been all sweetness and light prior to that, and maybe she was just putting on a playful remonstrance, but later you realise she's suffering mood swings as a result of pregnancy so it all makes sense. I'd forgotten all about the baby coming, and it's for the best that Neelix didn't get awarded Godfatherhood status since he'd not even be aboard the ship when the little tyke was born in the finale! It makes you realise how extreme his decision to leave the ship would be since we're reminded here that he's the Godfather of Naomi Wildman, and he wasn't going to be much use in that role separated from her by so much! (Makes you wonder if the Doc becomes Godfather to each generation of Paris descendants now we know he's still active a thousand years later in 'Starfleet Academy'!).

Chakotay has some nice moments and shows his tact, just when B'Elanna needs a friendly face, or when it's difficult for her and Tom to talk. And Janeway is similarly wise and Motherly in her approach to the various situations, staying out of the marital discord rather than taking a side. But it seems to me there was a very clear side to take in Trek lore since we know genetic modification is banned in the Federation, and while they aren't technically in the Federation, at the same time they are, because like an embassy in a foreign country, they carry the Federation with them, their ship representing it in this far-flung Quadrant of the Galaxy. I suppose it's never been minutely spelled out exactly what is and isn't deemed acceptable under law - we know eugenics is off the table and enhancements are also a big no-no, but it makes sense there's some allowance for genetic adjustment for a clear defect as in the case with mini-B'Elanna's curvature of the spine which will have a detrimental effect on mobility, etc. But surely erasing racial DNA from a baby would be more than merely frowned upon, that seems entirely wrong since, as Tom argues, they'd be changing who she is, it would no longer be simply adjusting a problem, but taking an ideological stance, like Nazi's demanding blue eyes and blonde hair, and that's quite horrible and creepy to think. Yet Janeway is willing to go with the Doctor's recommendation and he, even before the modifications to himself, is merely 'dubious' rather than outraged as Tom rightfully is, so it seems they hadn't quite tied down how Trek should deal with such things, which is obviously a much greater issue in our modern times.

Genetic modification in Trek has become yet another 'minority rights issue,' which means we're supposed to have sympathy and support for those who have been enhanced, despite the fact they've been given an unfair advantage in life, simply because it's a mirror of other minority groups that have come about because scientists can do a thing, so they don't stop to consider whether they should. Fortunately, the kind of political twisting seen in modern Trek (most obviously in Number One's court case in 'SNW'), isn't really an issue here, so it retains it's strong anti-tampering stance and remains a good, positive lesson for today. You could accuse it of being almost a soap storyline, except that while messing about with a baby's genetics was still sci-fi back then, it's all too possible now and will only become more common as sense goes out the window. And it is a powerful story, mainly thanks to showing flashbacks to B'Elanna's childhood, meeting her Father, and discovering more about the place she was in at the time her parents separated, and repercussions of some casual words dropped in confidence that she overhears. It's a showcase to, and warning of, the damage the tongue can do to a person's psyche. We'd already seen B'Elanna's Mother in Season 6 so it was a nice symmetry that we got to see her Dad, John Torres, too (especially good that we'd see him once more before end of season), and he comes across as a sensible, sympathetic guy with family troubles given a Trekky twist since it's about living with a Klingon wife when you're human.

Trek lore continues to be added to, and it makes sense: the Doctor says Klingon traits remain dominant for several generations, which is exactly what you'd expect from such a forceful race, and we also get discussion of their redundant organs and how this can be an advantage, not something you'd willingly take away. Then we get a return to the old buddy-buddy scenes between Paris and Kim, when the former goes to stay in his Quarters after the falling out with B'Elanna - Harry's suggestion that perhaps pregnancy taking so long has its purpose in giving you time to let it sink in, was quite profound, although I think it's also about anticipation and looking forward to an event in the future where you're forced to wait rather than having everything now, as in today's culture. I liked that there's never even a mention about the possibility of not having the baby, something I feel certain in today's world we'd be forced to consider, but here life is simply to be celebrated and when I watched it in the past I'd never have even thought of such a thing, which shows yet again how ideological our times have become. It's amazing that this is only the second baby on Voyager (not counting the Borg baby), you'd think there'd be quite a contingent by now, but I suppose they had to be careful from both an in-universe perspective (can't have too many crewmembers off or the ship won't run), and production side (babies are difficult to film with), so I suppose it's somewhat unsurprising.

It's a very singular story, there isn't much going on beyond B'Elanna's inability to handle what's happening, and in consequence not a lot to write about, but while I wouldn't quite say it's a classic episode, I do think it's quite a strong one, and the fact they were able to bring in such a characterful story this late in the series is something to applaud, though as I mentioned, the series would have been improved if they'd managed to weave in their everyday lives more with the big, sci-fi plots, as they used to do much more in earlier seasons. Instead, it tends to be either/or when it comes to development which makes the tone of the season less consistent and loses that extra layer that it could have had. Flashbacks weren't something common to Trek, so it was a useful device to be able to show how things were for B'Elanna rather than merely tell us, as it brings her past alive and fills in some gaps. That it has a satisfyingly happy ending (even though it's not the end, but it is the end of this 'segment' of their life that we see), only improves the episode and makes it a joyful experience.

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