Fissure Quest

 Blu-ray, Lower Decks S5 (Fissure Quest)

Before the modern era of Trek [checks... we can still call it modern, can't we? Yes, there's still some new stuff coming out, so it's still current for a little bit longer...] there were a number of people that were unlikely ever to come back to reprise their characters: Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Brent Spiner as Data, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, and yet they all returned, but some were even less likely. Other than Avery Brooks bringing Sisko back, the most unlikely returnee was probably Jolene Blalock as T'Pol, and here they achieved that in their wishlist (even if she preferred to be credited as 'Jolene' - it sounds more personal, like a sign-off akin to the signatures at the end of 'Star Trek VI,' but she probably just didn't want her new surname to be widely known and perhaps didn't want to use her old surname). Blalock had been part of what was considered during its time the least successful Trek series, 'Enterprise' cancelled after only four years where all the other Treks of the Berman era made it to the magic seven. She was criticised for wearing catsuits, moaned about for being too emotional (for a Vulcan), and I get the impression, judging by her relative lack of involvement in either acting or Trek since that time, she wasn't best pleased by the experience overall. She appeared a couple of times in 'Stargate SG-1,' but otherwise she went pretty quiet, married into another sphere and all but disappeared, so it was a lovely surprise that McMahan was able to bring her out of retirement to voice her famous character once more.

It really was a coup to get her, and though it's slightly disappointing we're not treated to the real T'Pol (this version had been married to Trip Tucker for decades, which is a nice thought), since William Boimler's crew are made up of denizens of many quantum realities (mostly Harry Kims for some reason!), her distinctive Vulcan tones were exactly as they had been and should be back in the day: none of this Jeri Ryan messing with the voice and the character claiming she didn't remember how to play it! And it does give us the opportunity to see a variety of classic Berman-era characters interacting, and since the series was coming to an end, throws in as many of them as they could afford, I imagine (I do wonder if the Dax part was written with Terry Farrell in mind, but with so many signed up they couldn't get her?). So we have the aforementioned Kim(s), Dr. Bashir, Garak of all people, and even a fun return for Lily Sloane almost thirty years after Alfre Woodard last played her (if only we could've had James Cromwell back as Zefram Cochrane, but they'd already used him in Season 3). The season had been light on cameos and classic appearances, presumably as they were saving it all for this episode and it almost makes it worth watching just for these voices... almost.

I'm not complaining, the storyline of the quantum fissures had been a more subtle and muted ongoing plot for the year so it hadn't played itself out, but I can't say the story of the episode was among the better ones. It's more about the novelty value of all these characters from different times and places serving together (I almost wish they'd been plucked exclusively from the 'Prime' Universe as it gets called now, so we could have the original versions of characters, but that's beside the point), and they do at least prevent it being yet another villain deliberately interfering in realities for nefarious purposes but merely the well-meaning, if misguided intentions of a different version of Starfleet accidentally messing up all known reality! Lily gets a typical humanist speech about how they're all about exploring humanity and how it has no limits, aren't we just grand, etc, but ironically were almost responsible for the total destruction of the multiverse which unintentionally proves exactly the opposite of the kind of message Trek really wants to convey! It reminded me so much of the scene in Lily's film, 'First Contact,' in which Picard distractedly explains to her how 'evolved' humanity has become that they don't even use money any more and everyone works to 'better themselves.' The way Patrick Stewart played it, it sounded like he really didn't believe what he was saying - I know the reason is all the while they're creeping down corridors half expecting Borg to pop out any moment, but I always found it quite hilarious that such a pro-humanist speech was said with so much distraction and so little conviction, in reality a hollow philosophy that, while seemingly good, is actually a lie about the state and direction of humanity.

But enough about the confused and failed heart at the centre of Trek, its ideas generally allow for it to create fine, upstanding and optimistic stories of professionalism and heroism so I wouldn't be too down on it for what it is (plus that attitude had been largely ripped asunder by the Kurtzman-era's preference for grim, misery Trek or cartoonish buffoonery Trek), and for all this series' flaws it had still somehow managed to stay truer to what Trek was when it was good, than any of the other recent iterations, so in some way it is quite sad the series was ending. At least on this viewing I understood better what it was doing: one last push into the past when Trek was so great with a Defiant-class ship accurately and lovingly portrayed in every way, from sound effects to Viewscreen, setting up the story for the final episode. When I first saw it I wondered if Wilbo's (as I'll call William Boimler - member of the organisation he's not authorised to name which features a silly black badge, one of 'DSC's stupidest ideas!), crew were going to join forces with our characters and we'd see more of them in the final episode, or even just the renegade Kim who steals the ring ship Beagle (surely named in honour of Archer's love of the dogs?), but it's much clearer to me now that it was all setup for the Cerritos crew to deal with one last massive problem (and Kim clearly explodes!), so of course it wasn't going to be about stunt guest casts, it had to rely on the crew of the series. I like what they did there, having the cake of a Trek guest star flurry and then setting it up for our crew to take it on next, and last.

The Defiant, as much as it was called the Anaximander (a play on Axanar?), was just beautiful, a guest character in its own right, reminding just why that ship from 'DS9' was so wonderful: it looked incredible soaring through space like an eagle, the Bridge, Engineering, Sickbay, all lovingly recreated - but they didn't stop there, they also gave us the ring ship which showed how superbly designed it was in operation, the rings folding down horizontally for planetary landing, and you really get a sense of how impressive such a design could have been had it been realised for live action, a fitting tribute to an earlier era while taking it even further - fitting also the internal design is just like the NX-01 Bridge and corridors since it's meant to be a similar era. Featuring Lily Sloane as the Captain of a human and Vulcan mixed crew was a great extrapolation for the time it's from, even if it is an alternate reality we can imagine something similar in the pre-NX-01 period. 'LD' has always been good at acknowledging Trek's rich history and playing with it, unlike the other series' that so often trampled over it for whatever easy, lazy options they could get. I wondered if Wilbo's line about how his Starfleet goes out into the galaxy and explores strange NEW worlds was a dig at 'Strange New Worlds' and its general lack of exploration? I wouldn't be surprised. We also get his universe-weary attitude to the multiverse idea, that it's all lazy, derivative remixes - that's got to be directed at the Kelvin Timeline films, though it could just as easily be aimed at the myriad superhero films of our time!

One little joke that worked very well was the latest Kim addition to the crew - when they're talking about multiple dimensions he expresses surprise there are more than two. Because of course animation is a two-dimensional medium. So they're breaking the fourth wall. Or is it the second wall in this case? I noticed their version of LCARS is called DCAF (very good, well done), and when wondering what they'll find next, Wilbo suggests Neelix with a crew cut or a really big Spock (one last 'TAS' Trekference?). They had some fun with all the Kim stuff and 'Voyager' - he expresses disgust that every other Kim is still an Ensign, mirroring Garrett Wang's own feelings, I'm sure, since other characters on his series were demoted and promoted again, yet he never made it past his original rank. You hear some asking if his Voyager made it home, he asks what they did with their Tuvix', it's all fun and affectionate and coming from the fan queries and comments over the years, I recognise a lot from podcasts and message board comments. But the Kim with two pips proves promoting him might not have been a good idea since he becomes a megalomaniacal version (and gets himself blown up in the process when he tries to take the Beagle through another rift). We see the white-striped racing uniform of 'Drive' (which had already been seen on this series previously), the clarinet, and the general sticking to the rules Kim was so careful about.

The one thing missing was Tom Paris being there as Kim's best mate (especially as Robert Duncan McNeill had been in two seasons, first as Paris and second as his original character, Nick Locarno), but then we did have Garak and Bashir... That's one choice I didn't like, they really messed with those characters, and once again, though they aren't meant to be the people we knew, it makes you wish we could have returned to the great friendship and respect shared between Garak and the good doctor. This Garak is a surgeon, while Bashir is a medical hologram (which he'd been seen as on 'DS9,' too), and the voices were still distinctively and clearly those original characters, but I can't help feel disappointed they were misused. In fact, I almost wished we'd had the best mate thing again with O'Brien and Bashir (Colm Meaney being another of the least likely actors to return to their character), or alternately, bring in all three actresses who voiced Tora Ziyal and pair them up with Garak, which would have been a terrific joke. Woodard definitely sounded old, but then it had been almost thirty years and when you realise 'First Contact' marked the 30th Anniversary of Trek's actual debut (or, technically, was first shown on TV), it's stunning to think we're now another thirty years on, and counting. It's lovely we could still get actors from the Golden Age of Trek now, in today's world, but with the end of 'LD' and even the Kurtzman-era, it probably means we won't see any of those people ever again, and, if the world's still spinning in another thirty years, I doubt we'll still be harking back to those actors, if any are even still alive.

It's a sad realisation, but I suppose one of Trek's mandates was to get people to think. Nowadays it's more about curbing people's thoughts in certain directions, or subverting the positive qualities of Trek past, something even this series has been more than guilty of. Which is why I wasn't actually that sad to come to the end (it was almost more that I was relieved it was all released on physical media which seems to be once again on the wane if gaming's plans to go digital-only is any indication...). To return to this episode, however, it was a functional tale, fun, but gimmicky, nothing the series has done in its last two seasons came close to its Season 2 finale which stands as the high point for me. It remains to be seen if the series finale will improve for me on second viewing, but it will at least have been a pleasure to make it through and review every episode of a Trek series, since that hasn't been the case for any other modern Trek, so 'LD' was unique in that way. Was the episode title a play on 'SeaQuest,' by any chance?

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