Author, Author (2)

 DVD, Voyager S7 (Author, Author) (2)

A fun dance across genres, this was one of the last Doctor-centric stories of the series, so it's fitting that it has both comedic and dramatic elements worthy of such a standout character. They were realising at this point the end was nigh and there were certain plot threads to do with this disparate crew's personal circumstances on an individual level that pointed to the ramifications of their eventual destination at journey's end: some, such as the Maquis were no longer going to be an issue or Starfleet would have brought it up in their occasional communications with Voyager, but others had more pressing issues: the Doctor was merely an advanced hologram Starfleet's eyes, Seven's only connection to Earth was a lost childhood, and Neelix wasn't even from that region of space, and to a lesser or greater extent all these are explored here. It's always been difficult not to look at the series in the light of how 'DS9' finished out its run with a huge ten-part story to wrap up the many plots and arcs, and while some parts of that were questionable or didn't quite work (Dukat/Winn, Ezri/Worf, for examples), on the whole it did justice to what was the most complex and satisfying Trek series ever made. With 'Voyager' they tended to react to the shadow of 'DS9' by trying to do the opposite, and while I'm not going to get into the series finale here, it's nice to see they didn't entirely drop the ball on the story-lode of potential, even if perhaps they were introducing solid developments a little too late to be able to capitalise on them.

The major change for Trek's universe is quite clearly the idea that holograms could be classed as people in much the same way as Data drove forward the issue of whether he could be considered life and had personhood (a deep cut reference to 'The Measure of A Man' comes with the Doc's publisher saying he could be the next K'Ratak, a Klingon author first mentioned in that episode!). The situations aren't quite the same because although both androids and holograms were designed to be tools, something humans could use for their benefit, the former was designed with the plan of developing innate desires to become more like his creator, while the latter was a computer program. The line between recreational holograms and their status as sentient life had been blurred for some time thanks to the Doctor, but he was existing in a pocket of the universe and not having any effect on wider society, and though 'DS9' had also played with the issue thanks to Vic Fontaine, who knew his own limitations and had no wish to exceed them, there was no serious attempt to examine what the essence of holographic life was and they'd remained tools perhaps due to the ease of creation - you can make endless numbers of holograms, there isn't actual physical manufacturing involved, it's all much more ethereal and the use were mainly for fictional creations rather than beings that would learn and grow. Of course any hologram could have that potential, just as any mechanical device could be developed further, but the spark of life has to be more than mere data (no offence, Data!). The Doctor was unique because he'd been allowed so much latitude (eventually), had the benefit of technology from the far future, and the necessity to develop rapidly for the survival of the crew more than himself.

All this is just skirting the issue, I don't think holograms would have become generally sentient or why have them at all, there has to be a reason for their existence in the same way animals bred for food would have little purpose without that end goal. At the same time it did throw up all kinds of questions about the future of the 24th Century and what it would be like, one reason why I always hoped for more Trek post-'Voyager,' and had to make do with jumping back in the timeline for 'Enterprise' (as much as it was pleasing to have the 22nd Century fleshed out), and reboots/prequels the only successor until the coming of the questionable 'Picard,' which pretty much ignored any interesting in-universe plot threads and continued on with its galaxy-destroying serial of the year as pioneered by the weak 'Discovery.' I notice even 'Lower Decks,' set only a few years after 'Voyager,' almost never shows any holographic crew, I can't even remember an EMH aboard. Does this mean Starfleet pulled back from developing such useful tools due to the Doctor, or is it simply the case the writers didn't know what to do with the idea and decided to leave it alone? Thanks to 'DS9' and 'Voyager' you'd have expected holographic assistants to have become more prevalent as the technology improved, but there's not really much to be gained by looking for answers in modern Trek, for all its pretty effects it's often largely quite vacuous and the opposite of satisfying intellectual exploration of ideas.

I couldn't help but think of the state of Trek then and now in the Doctor's line about how his holoprogram exploring the life of a hologram aboard a starship was a serious attempt at social commentary, while Paris' parody of his work was an 'insulting farce,' because that really does sum up the situation very well! But enough about Trek as it is (despite the Doctor being the last old-Trek regular to join a modern series in 'Starfleet Academy'), let's enjoy what it was and should have continued being! It is a delight to see the Doc back to his insensitive ways as he always used to be, and it makes another pertinent point that resonates with today: not just the rise of artificial intelligence and what that might mean for humanity, but the victim culture we're all encouraged to subscribe to. In this case the Doctor expresses feelings of being hard done by through his literary outlet, whether it be the limitations of his life or dismissing the great gift that he should never have had for its damage to the timeline in the mobile emitter (think of how much he's done thanks to that - how could he possibly not have altered the timeline since it wasn't supposed to be invented until the 29th Century!), a boon he's presenting as a burden, the constant reminder of being different - it's all a matter of perspective, and in our modern culture where we have so much that we're constantly ungrateful for, as opposed to poorer parts of the world where people appreciate the little they have, it really shows where modern society has gone, the example of the Doctor's ingratitude only increasing.

Rather than celebrating the fact he exists at all, and that he was allowed to progress into sentience when at the start he was merely an emergency addition, he chooses to focus on the negative side of things, and that's not usually the Trek way, perhaps a hint of the darker path it was to tread in the 21st Century productions (I know, technically it's already being made in the 21st Century, but I'll always think of the series as being of the 90s). You can see they're trying to draw parallels with slavery and oppression, but it's not wise to be putting your idealistic futuristic heroes in the shade unless you really are making the point that even 24th Century humans aren't actually the 'evolved' beings Roddenberry wanted them to be, and accepting that even in fiction we can't really paint humanity as being Good. In one sense I'm fine with that, because I believe we're fallen beings, not an ever-improving group of animals that have somehow got to the level of 'civilised' and are only going to get better. Human nature doesn't change. The difference is that I view Trek as escapist drama, not that I believe in its reality as a signpost of our actual future (for the best in some ways: World War III is due this century...), so while I'm open to seeing individuals grow and change, overcoming prejudices or whatever, I wouldn't want the world to be considered inherently wrong in itself, as it would if holograms really were slaves. The stark difference is that humans were there already, while holograms were designed to be an addition.

There might be a case to answer for the humaneness of allowing holograms to develop as Doc and Vic had, but then they were special cases rather than what all holograms were designed to be. The shot at the end with all the Mark I EMHs (Emerging Menial Holograms?), breaking rocks like they're in some kind of penal colony, doesn't seem quite realistic to me - if they'd given it some context, like they're in an important Dilithium mine to keep Starfleet's ships running, then it might have seemed likely, but just using them for the sake of it smacks of writers trying to make a point. There's the impression there could be some kind of holo-revolution brewing as they tell each other of the Doc's holonovel, and that could have been a direction to explore had Trek continued in this era. Otherwise it leaves too much hanging and uncertain, and we already know the Mark I's were meant for short term medical assistance, so what would they be doing as miners? It doesn't make much sense so there is that slight irritation of a thread that was going to go nowhere. The issues at hand are as much about free speech and the value of reputation, and the defamation of such: whether it's fine to write a thinly veiled social commentary on those you work with on a day-to-day basis that will give readers (or viewers, or participators, however you describe a holonovel user!), a skewed idea of reality.

A far bigger question once again goes to the use of personal image! The crew really don't seem all that bothered about their bodies being co-opted for a holoprogram that anyone can see, it's more about the inconsistencies. On one hand I can understand they're much more relaxed about such things in the future (at least in Starfleet and in reasonable circumstances - Kira was furious to be the object of Quark's nefarious holoprogram back in 'DS9'), because they don't think cynically as a rule, but at the same time your face is yours and it's just always seemed wrong and an invasion of privacy when Holodecks recreate a living person, as far back as Reg Barclay in 'Hollow Pursuits.' They missed a trick here, since Reg is actually in this episode, but never has any scenes with the Doc where he might have reminded him of that time and how it didn't help endear him to his crewmates (although there are plenty of other good references to past Trek, such as the Doc's publisher also doing the Dixon Hill series that goes back to Season 1 'TNG'). In fact, other than the idea that Reg is behind the now regular communication with the ship, he was redundant, which is a waste of Dwight Schultz's talents in his penultimate appearance, as much as I like to see the little gang back home, though this time it's only he and Admiral Paris. I wish they'd developed the Starfleet HQ side of the series more, giving them their own stories that integrated with Voyager - to be fair they usually did that with Barclay, but not so this time.

Forgetting the personal problems the crew have with seeing doubles, it's great fun for us viewers when we get alternative versions of our familiar characters: 'Mr. Marseilles' with his ridiculous moustache (they never look good!), Chakotay as the Bajoran Katanay (which sounds right for the race), sporting a different large facial tattoo, B'Elanna gets to be human Torrey for the first time since Season 1's 'Faces,' I believe, and Harry is 'Kymble,' more like the evil Voyager crew as seen in 'Living Witness,' only this is a reverse of what happened there because the EMH was the one defending his crew's reputation rather than playing with it! Even Seven, in the guise of Three of Eight has blinky Borg lights that are deliberately excessive, and of course Tuvok is Tulak and gets to wear the evil goatee beard of the Mirror Universe, which probably explains why I'm always surprised when the actual Mirror Tuvok was beardless in his one appearance on 'DS9'! At the least, the issue of personal privacy and image is addressed, since the Doc claims the physical parameters were merely a starting point. Perhaps we can accept them as placeholders? The weird thing is that the episode skirts with parodying real life since here both the Doctor and Neelix are interested in writing, and in real life both actors did release a book based on their character, though I don't remember if that was before or after the series for either the Hologram's Handbook or Neelix' cookbook.

Neelix is, as generally the case, one who doesn't have much to do, but what he did made an impact - he's so diplomatic, giving up his precious comms chip where each person is allowed three minutes a day to contact someone on Earth, based on a queue of the higher number being closer to the front. On reflection, Neelix wouldn't have anyone to contact so it makes sense for him to give it up, but at the same time, neither did the Doctor until he got in touch with the Bolian publisher (another episode, another Bolian in a suit!), and it would have been interesting to hear whom he may have got in touch with - someone from Starfleet asking to support him in entering the Academy? Permission to live on Earth? Who knows, he certainly didn't expect to leave the ship, but the dissolution of Voyager's crew would have been one more fascinating aspect of returning home that would have given ample drama to mine. Another generous character is Seven. In her case she's somewhat afraid to make contact with her Aunt Irene, but when Harry graciously refuses to take her chip when offered she boldly takes the Borg by the horns and is delightfully apologetic to this long-lost family member (once again, a far cry from the embittered, hard-drinking misery of 'Picard' - touchingly, Irene calls her by the name Annika, an identity she rejects in the stupid later series, full of its cynical, negative destruction of characters). Torres, too, has a moment of healing with her Father (or at least the promising groundwork for it), a brilliant touch to get him back again after he'd appeared only a few episodes ago in flashback. Not forgetting Kim's parents (his Mum wants to know when he's going to be promoted and he makes a good point that it's a small ship and there's only so many posts aboard), whom we'd heard about from day one - it's all such pure delight that it makes you realise how much the series has been missing by being stranded so far from home.

The live image of Earth Admiral Paris sends Voyager was surprisingly moving since it's the first time they've seen Earth where it's not an alternate timeline or the past, but the genuine, real, contemporary Earth, many of the crew's home planet and the base of operations for the Federation and Starfleet, and it's momentous for them to finally be within 'touching distance,' almost. That's the quality of the episode, that it can jump from poignancy to comedy to commentary and has fun along the way. By the end we've had broad comedy, sensitive drama and finish up with practically a trial episode, so they crammed a lot in and my only complaint would be that it seems to rush by far too quickly. The characters are used well, Tuvok, for example getting his usual role of impeccable legal defence of a crewmate, and quite the gall of the Arbitrator (Joseph Campanella who died in his 90s in 2018), to tell a Vulcan his logic was flawed! But the right result came through in the end, both allowing the Doctor the value of an artist, while also leaving his personhood to be determined in future, a touch of what life would have been like for him had we been afforded time to sit with the characters back in the Alpha Quadrant. A mere taster, you could say, but what was there was very tasty indeed. There are some great links back to other guest roles: Barry Gordon (Broht), had been a Ferengi in 'DS9' (Season 1's 'The Nagus'), and Kim's parents had both appeared before, Robert Ito as another character, again way back in a first season, this time 'TNG' ('Coming of Age'), while Irene Tsu had previously played his Mother in Season 3's 'Favourite Son,' so a very nice touch they had her return. Just a shame they couldn't get the actor who played Dr. Zimmerman to reprise his role!

****

Q2 (2)

 DVD, Voyager (Q2) (2)

That's the answer to the change in Trek's quality and tone in the modern era: it's been taken over by a juvenile Q (although, does that mean Alex Kurtzman is omnipotent...?). It occurred to me when Q2, as the title calls him (even though no one in the actual episode calls him that), expressed disinterest in playing Kadis-kot because there aren't any explosions in it. That on a microscopic level is what Trek is now all about: style without substance. Another key line to my understanding came when Janeway tells Q he needs to make Q2 understand their are consequences to his actions, a valuable lesson for Kurtzman - or is he the Daddy Q and Akiva Goldsman the errant child, glorying in his anarchic manipulation of Trek? If only it were that simple, the Q can at least be appealed to... I jest, but the truth is, the Q are difficult to deal with. Not because they're omnipotent or omniscient, because they clearly aren't all-knowing, nor can they do anything at any time (witness Q2 being stripped of his powers or our Q being subject to the Continuum's decisions), but they're still capable of doing almost anything and that tends to strip away a coherent story or sense of investment or stakes. In other words they make episodes nonsensical! I suppose enough is kept vague about them that we can never really understand what they're about, but it also means they're so beyond the confines of storytelling that they make stories pointless, and that's a problem.

The times when Q worked best was when he was teaching humanity, or more specifically Picard, a lesson, and while it's fun to hear more about their society, if you can call it that, or get developments on such, just being about the Q doesn't get us anywhere because they're beyond us, they're like their own separate dimension or universe, akin to the Mirror Universe, another running history that ended up a little bit pointless from overuse and under-thinking. It's almost like this series itself doesn't quite remember what the Q are, Chakotay claims one of their responsibilities is to maintain order in the Universe. Since when, I don't remember that ever being a likely course of action? Maybe our Q is a bit of a renegade and a rebel, but it all seems rather petty to be getting involved with such 'lower' species at all. A good reason why he never whisked Voyager home - at least Janeway does ask why he won't do that this time and he has a fine excuse that he wouldn't be leading much of an example for his son, plus it would have been a major disappointment that they used this 'god' card, small 'g,' for want of a better analogy, to end the series after all these years - if that were the case why not have Q come in at the end of every Trek series and solve the problem, or even better, be there at the start so nothing went wrong in the first place!

You can see they were really trying to create a worthwhile story that brings development without breaking the bank - they probably didn't want to go down the route of the last Q episode, Season 3's 'The Q and The Grey' with all its expensive location shooting and antique costumes, etc. But if you're going to shoot for developing the Q then maybe they should have delved into the history a bit: bring back some other Q characters we'd seen across their appearances, at the very least Suzie Plakson for one last showing as the Female Q. As it is they're trying to deal with Q's son who has all the same lack of care for other life forms his Father demonstrated, but where Q seemed somehow purposeful in some of those 'TNG' stories, in 'Voyager' he tends to come across as frivolous (not as frivolous as his lone 'DS9' appearance which is more of a curio than a serious entry!). How can you teach an adolescent if you have no power over him? That could have been an angle to head down, somehow outwitting his destructive tendencies and playing on his weaknesses to curb them, but then they'd have had to be really clever in the writing, it would have had to be a much more psychological study and experience, and this late in the season, on this series, and a TV show, you weren't likely to get the depth necessary to make all this worthwhile.

Perhaps what hurts the episode is that it's meant to be a Q story, but it turns out to be more like half a Q story since John De Lancie doesn't appear for many scenes (I enjoyed the shot where he appears at the Turbolift door, Janeway shuts it and walks down the corridor, only for Q to pop in from the other side - De Lancie must've run round the set, and did it without seeming out of breath!). It does take the story on from the baby he had in Season 3, and again, the 'peace child' angle, living up to the weight of expectations for an entire species' survival (and with it the Galaxy at large), could have been explored and deepened rather than merely being one line. It becomes a simple tale of a son acting up, threatened with punishment, rebels even harder, experiences consequences, then sees the error of his ways. I suppose for our puny human minds (and puny human TV series'), to grasp the Q it has to be simplified, but somehow that doesn't make it one of the more satisfying stories. Back when I originally saw it I thought it was great, simply because it had been several years in real time since Q had appeared, and he's one of the few Alpha Quadrant races or established characters that can easily show up, having the run of all space. And for many years this was the last Q episode - he never returned for any of the films or 'Enterprise,' so it was a sort of trivia experience to watch: the last ever Q story. But even that's changed with 'Lower Decks' featuring a cameo, then 'Picard' bringing him back a little more substantially (though to even less effect than this episode!). If the 'Legacy' series happens with Picard's son and Q there to guide/annoy him, De Lancie could be back, but at this stage I feel the character (and maybe Trek itself), has run its course.

This episode is really about Q's son, however, ably played by De Lancie's actual offspring, Keegan, another fun trivia fact. But then that's what the episode is, really, and does remind me a lot of modern Trek with its references and general impression of inconsequential storytelling. It was great fun to see many of the main Alpha Quadrant races sat round Voyager's Briefing Room table (the Nausicaan played by Anthony Holiday who'd already been in this season as Rulat in 'Shattered'), even if it does remind us of the more interesting stories we could be getting if Voyager had got home already. It's even more fun that the Cardassian apologises for the Occupation to the Bajoran (even if we're shortchanged and don't see it actually happen, only the aftermath). There's lore galore with what may be the first time we'd ever seen a Bolian in his own race's uniform rather Starfleet's, representing the species rather than the Federation. The fact we get references to both Kirk and Picard early on, in those days would have been a coup as we weren't living in constant Nostalgia Factor Ten where it's relied on in lieu of great writing or exploration - indeed, those kind of references are par for the course. It's lovely to get actual onscreen confirmation that 2270 was the year Kirk's five-year mission ended, as heard in Icheb's report, the first time it had been said on screen, I believe. Even the old training uniforms Tuvok used to wear when exercising Maquis recruits, are back when he takes Q2 for a jog round the corridors! And what about Janeway's bath, have we seen one in her Quarters before? And of course the rare opportunity for Majel Barrett to inject personality into the Computer voice, probably not since 'TOS' (the Replicator replying to an order with the retort to 'make it yourself').

These are all fun and entertaining parts in their own right, but not enough to sustain such a basic story, and one that relies far too heavily on the guest cast. That mistake was made in 'Q-Less' on 'DS9,' and that put this episode in the same category of not using the Q to the best of their potential (sort of the theme of the episode in a way), while sidelining the people we really want to see interacting. Sure, you get little cameos from various characters, Paris taking Icheb and Q2 out for piloting lessons on the Flyer, B'Elanna aghast at her Engine Room being turned into a rave for barely dressed women (Q2's references to the attractiveness of humanoid women at odds with his low opinion of 'bipedal' species, but it's just one of the many contradictions about the Q, I suppose, and only follows his Dad's interest in procreating with Janeway...), although it certainly put a new spin on 'observing humanity' when he strips Seven of her clothes! Another contradictory statement was Q reminding his son that the Q Continuum's rule is not to provoke the Borg - this once again suggests they aren't omnipotent after all (if there was ever any doubt), but true to the consistency of their being inconsistent, provoking the Borg was exactly what Q did with the Enterprise, unless he's tacitly admitting that was a mistake seeing what it led to between the Borg and humanity over the years (another sign of lack of omniscience!). Was De Lancie actually in the great alien makeup he used as a disguise? Seems not, Michael Kagan's credited, which is a shame, it would have been fun to have De Lancie disguise his voice. And what about the Doctor claiming only Q can restore Neelix' vocal cords, surely a small matter for 24th Century medicine?

Levar Burton was fine as Director, but I don't tend to associate his style with flair, and maybe that would have assisted this episode. I'm not saying it was drab or dull, but it wasn't exactly suited when it should have at least been dynamic and experimental enough to take our minds off the lacking story (think of the boxing match in 'Q-Less' - the episode wasn't up to much, but that moment stands out). Keegan was fine, De Lancie was fine, but it never left me with the regret at how much we'd lost by not having more Q episodes. It really is a case of needing to have a terrific and worthwhile story for Q and then seeing him milk it. The cast need to be fully involved, especially as we're running out of time - Icheb, for all he's a great character, wasn't well suited to the excitable, bad boy exuberance of Q2 (a shame he wasn't used to his best in what was his penultimate appearance), and the episode seems to be mostly Janeway casting her eyes to the heavens in despair. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a bad episode, as I mentioned there are curios and nuggets (though another area where they seemed to forget the history is when the Q judges appear decked out in what were supposed to be 21st Century robes, since in 'Encounter At Farpoint' he was recreating a court from the post-apocalyptic horror period in Earth's 'history'!), but it doesn't gel well and can even be a little tiresome at times. Yet I'd still watch this multiple times rather than sit through 'Picard' Season 2 again!

**