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| The Immortality Trap: Q vs. Q |
THE PLOT
While analyzing an unusual comet, Janeway orders a piece beamed onto the ship for analysis. What beams aboard, however, is a man: More accurately, a Q (Gerrit Graham), who has been imprisoned within that comet for centuries. He was confined by the Q Continuum after repeated attempts to end his own existence.
When our Q (John de Lancie) appears to return him to his imprisonment, the man requests asylum from Janeway. The captain agrees to hold a hearing, and Q agrees to go along. After all, it might be amusing. Each member of the Continuum grants the other a concession. If Janeway rules in Q's favor, then the prisoner will agree to be returned to captivity for all eternity. If the prisoner wins, however, then Q will make him mortal - at which point, the man will surely kill himself!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Janeway: Her job as judge is made particularly difficult by her personal aversion to suicide. Knowing that the Q prisoner will kill himself if she rules in his favor, she sets the bar for such a ruling that much higher. She has compassion for his rights as an individual, but will not be a party to his self-harm unless he can show grievous suffering that isn't simply a result of his own punishment.
Riker: Though his role is little more than a cameo, called as one of Q's "witnesses," Jonathan Frakes is on very good form. By contrast with most of the Voyager regulars, he has an effortless screen presence. He doesn't have to do much (and he doesn't - though he does find time in his one scene to flirt with Janeway). He simply has to be in the room to provide the audience with a reassuring link to the larger franchise.
Tuvok: He agrees to represent the prisoner Q, and does a good job of it. He effectively shreds our Q's attempt to argue that the asylum-seeker is insane, even prompting Q to do a hilarious, disgusted double face-palm about "Vulcans!" Still, he confesses to his client that he doesn't actually believe in the position he's arguing, seeing "no logic" in a suicide apparently based solely on boredom. Tim Russ gives another exceptional performance. By this point in the show's run, he seems to have struck the right balance to show Vulcan reserve without imitating a robot. Between Meld and this, he's fast becoming one of the most reliable of the core cast.
Q: This episode is basically The Q Show, with two actors in starring roles as members of the Q Continuum. John De Lancie's Q represents the voice of authority for the Continuum. At first, this seems like a script flaw. How can the constantly troublemaking Q possibly be the voice of tradition? Then the script takes a particularly clever turn, by making that the entire point. "I miss the irrepressible Q," the prisoner tells him with sadness, extolling Q's former rebelliousness. It's very obvious from Q's reactions that he can't simply shrug off these words. The scene of life in the Q Continuum is a particular standout, and both De Lancie and Gerrit Graham are particularly good as they argue in front of this dull and barren shack.
THOUGHTS
OK, my one complaint first. Janeway dismisses Q's bribery attempt far too easily. As captain of the ship, she has a direct responsibility for every member of her crew. Here, she doesn't have to violate the Prime Directive to have the ship returned home. She just has to rule with Q and against the prisoner. Yes, that would perhaps be an injustice. But I think an argument can be made that her direct responsibility for the more than 100 lives aboard her ship outweighs her obligation to make a just ruling for an outsider. She should at least consider this offer and what it might mean for her crew, perhaps discussing it with either Chakotay or Tuvok. It should weigh on her when she makes her final decision, rather than being shrugged off in an instant.
That aside, Death Wish is an excellent episode, one of the best Q episodes of the entire franchise. It starts out seeming like a typical Q comedy episode, complete with a very amusing set piece as the prisoner Q tries to hide Voyager from our Q by taking the ship to the Big Bang, then to the inside of a living cell, before finally transforming the ship into a Christmas tree ornament. Once the courtroom section begins, we get a bit with Q duplicating himself so that he can question (and compliment) himself on the stand. It's all good fun, but also fairly typical material for Q.
Then, at Tuvok's urging, the prisoner Q shows us the Continuum itself. Here the entire episode falls into place in a way that's rather breathtaking to watch. Not only do we see the prisoner's argument, but we also see its impact on our Q. This story is about him as much as about Gerrit Graham's prisoner/philosopher, and de Lancie is wonderful as he reacts nonverbally to the other man's words. The tag is terrific, hammering home that Janeway's decision has implications. Not only will we see Q again, we are promised a Q who will be changed by this experience. By making the episode have an impact on him (as well as on Janeway), it brings that impact home to us.
It's almost against my better judgment to award full marks to an episode that is almost entirely about the two Q characters. It's notable that none of the regulars save for Janeway and Tuvok register as anything more than glorified extras. But if I put that aside and judge it simply as a "Q" episode, it's hard to imagine it being much better. Like the Q in the episode, I've seen and reviewed so much Star Trek at this point (more than 400 episodes as of this writing) that it's become increasingly rare for an episode to actually surprise me. Michael Piller's script here takes the very things I was mentally criticizing, such as Q acting as the Voice of the Establishment, and then turns them into assets. In the process, what was on track to be an entertainingly average episode is transformed into something truly special.
Full marks - but I hope that Voyager will at some point deliver a "10" that's actually about the Voyager characters. If they can write this well for Q, they ought to be able to do something equally noteworthy with the people who are on the ship every week.
Overall Rating: 10/10.
Review Index
I told you it would get better. Though, I have to say, I am a bit pleasantly surprised by the 10. The last half of the season will continue to prove to be much better than the preceding half.
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