Natural Law (2)

 DVD, Voyager S7 (Natural Law) (2)

The final scene between Chakotay and Seven in the Cargo Bay is really like any final scene from the series: the two people who've just gone through an experience together reflect on it in some way, mutual understanding results. But it's the only mildest hint in the episode of the direction the pair were heading in, and that's probably the most surprising thing about the episode when you know how they end up at the conclusion of the series. You could say the shared experience, coupled with Seven's already seen interest in the Commander (to the audience), in 'Human Error,' as out of the blue as it was, is what jogged things along after this, but I was somehow heartened to see there was some kind of development rather than the impression of instant change in their affiliation that I tend to think of. That said, this is hardly the most important outcome of the episode, nor is it played up at all, it's most definitely a subtle alteration. The big issue is that of the treatment of primitive natives, and strangely it's left far too late to give it any really strong examination. I often think of this as one of the weaker instalments of the season, and the season as one of the weaker of the series, perhaps because there's very little development for the characters or addition to the lore when they should have been going out big, bringing back recurring characters, showing the community that was missing on screen (slightly mitigated by Carey popping up in the previous episode and the Bolian Chell getting a reference here), and increasing the connection with home that would become so crucial at the very end.

Instead, this could just as easily be a Season 1 story: a couple of characters trapped on an alien world with something of the Prime Directive issues at play, while the B-story features Tom Paris having to learn diplomacy when he makes a minor traffic violation in alien space and is forced to go through a pilot training scheme. As amusing as it is (and his friends clearly have a whale of a time ribbing him about it in one of the few scenes showing multiple characters on Voyager), it doesn't really have much bite to it, Paris is hardly going to become Mr. Humble, so the story doesn't go anywhere other than giving us the enjoyment and/or dismay of seeing him failing to navigate this crusty old test instructor. It's thrilling when he's called back to reality when Janeway orders him to beam out the 'invading' Ledosians from the Ventu safe haven, and pulls off some piloting excellence to do it, but it also undermines the lesson of his story, which would be that to comply with their own values Starfleet sometimes has to be humble and accept the rules imposed by alien cultures - instead, once it becomes inconvenient Paris is off the hook and can go back to boy racer in the cause of the greater good! Satisfying, but not entirely in keeping with the Starfleet ethos on display. At the same time the Ledosians didn't exactly give them much choice, turning hostile and attacking, so their rules were no longer the issue when they're behaving in a warlike manner.

The episode was far too much taken up with the minor adventures of Chakotay, and especially Seven, on the planet's surface - not in the sense that this wasn't of interest, but if you're going to introduce a strong moral component into the story, waiting for the last few minutes doesn't allow for much latitude of exploration! I enjoyed the pair of them together, it's a setup we didn't often see, and as the series wound down it makes you long for more of that kind of thing that they should have been doing throughout the series, but suffered when the series 'opened up' and tended more toward bigger action stories rather than the more intimate two or three character situations of the early seasons. In those days you needed such situations to explore these new characters and get to know them, but I don't feel they've been explored as much as they should have been across the entire series. Therefore it's a difficult quandary, as I want these kinds of stories, yet this one doesn't really go anywhere and so appears insubstantial as a result, being neither an in-depth character piece where we learn new things about our people, nor a serious social commentary, and suffers in both cases.

The real meat was the idea of an alien race forcing a segregation between a more advanced culture that was fighting a more primitive one. We never learn who these aliens were, though not advanced enough to defy the Borg as it's suggested they may have been assimilated (which is the reason Seven knows how she might deal with the unique forcefield preventing all entry and exit into Ventu territory), and it recalled a sci-fi book I once read about a tribal culture, Mayans or Inca, something like that, who were preserved on an asteroid. It's a fascinating idea, the preservation of a culture, but at the same time it throws up questions of whether it's right to 'protect' something at the expense of the people within it - for example, it may be that these Ventu were expert healers, but what of things they couldn't heal? If no one 'interfered' and helped them to develop in education and knowledge, they could die out. I suppose that would be considered acceptable as 'the natural order,' but while knowledge can (and often does), bring more trouble, even destruction, we have to remember that we're seeing this idea from within our own culture so we're no better to judge than the aliens who performed the segregation. I suppose Starfleet's general idea is to avoid getting involved because they could just as easily mess things up and make their lives worse, as better, and if they make it to warp level then fair enough (again, even that point of view is flawed when you realise warp travel isn't the final development that makes humans perfect, it's just an arbitrary cutoff point for convenience!).

Clearly in this case the Ledosians, while they gave the impression that they'd learned from the past and regretted what they'd done (and I'm sure it wasn't all one-sided, even then - no culture is immune from 'human' nature, after all), it was really only because they couldn't get into the territory and as soon as they have the slightest inkling of a chance they charge in and plan on carving it up or whatever, no doubt lucrative minerals, oil, or whatever resources are of value to them, could be in abundance, and even if it's unknown, the potential is there! So we see that high ideals don't necessarily last longer than the forceful implementation of them, which is maybe a more truthful moral of the story than the slightly vague idea of non-interference. But again, why leave it so late to approach the topic - there was even the obvious parallel of Chakotay's own culture's history on Earth. They could have tied in the Sky Spirits and how this alien species affected his ancestors, or at the very least shown his consideration of the parallels, but the closest we get to that is Janeway's oblique reference to Earth having it's own, similar problems. I will say that if there were two people most suited to being stranded with, it would be Chakotay and Seven. On his side, he's always been remarkably patient and adaptable to such situations - I think of 'Basics' or 'Resolutions.' Maybe he's too quick to accept the new reality, but it also shows he'll happily keep living, content wherever he is. Seven is the opposite, on her side intent on using every technological solution possible to extricate them from their prison, but slow to accept the natives.

Together then, they made an excellent team and I enjoyed their simple interactions. Perhaps drama was missing, ire and two different points of view contesting with each other, as in O'Brien and Bashir when they were trapped in 'Hippocratic Oath,' but it made for a gentler experience. I'm not quite sure how Chakotay sustained his serious leg injury unless part of the shuttle hit him just as they beamed away, but we didn't see that, he's just suddenly injured. I'm not sure it would have made all that much difference if he'd been in perfect health, except it adds a little more danger to Seven's position when she's forced to search for shuttle parts alone, in turn learning to depend on her young native friend, and of course they might never have come into contact with these natives in the first place. After a night out in the wilds Seven gradually becomes more and more dishevelled, eventually looking like her future self from 'Picard' - fortunately she doesn't talk or act like that unpleasant future version! It was actually quite nice to see them using one of the shuttlecraft since the Delta Flyer was so often the craft of choice in these latter seasons (but of course they had other plans for that and needed to shatter this vessel, too). You might think the natives being impressed by Chakotay's facial tattoo was surprising and wouldn't make much difference, but you have to remember it's a new symbol to them, and in such a simple culture would be a major dramatic difference in their lives.

Both Chakotay and Paris seemed to hark back to the early days, with the latter presenting a bit of a maverick attitude in the face of all these rules and regulations, while when the Impulse engines go offline above the planet, Chakotay orders Seven to go to warp, when surely you can't do that in a planetary atmosphere, so it seemed a bit of a Maquis course of action. But it was a good Starfleet trick to punch through the barrier with Phasers in order to beam through the hole as the shuttle exploded! They must have saved a packet on the actors as the Ventu never speak which presumably means they only get paid as extras despite having that interesting gestural language (although a couple of them were given titles). It means they can have a few other speaking guest stars, I suppose, including one of my favourite names: Ivar Brogger (he'd also appeared before as one of the former Borg drones in 'Unity'). Neil Vipond was also good as Tom's instructor, Kleg - he'd previously played Darok, the old manservant of Martok in 'Once More Unto The Breach,' a very memorable performance, so it's nice to see he had another Trek role in him. Ultimately the episode isn't bad, it has nice sets or location work (so good it was difficult to distinguish), but is almost a placeholder story, a slot that could have made better use of the impending closure of the series.

**