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| Harry tries to survive a desperate situation. |
THE PLOT
In an underground chamber, there is a chute. A klaxon sounds, the chute opens... and Harry Kim drops to the ground, at the feet of a horde of vicious prisoners. He is beaten mercilessly, until he comes to a familiar face: Tom Paris. He gasps out, "Tom." Tom looks at him a moment. Then punches him, hard.
They are in a maximum security prison on the planet Akritiri, convicted of a terrorist bombing that resulted in 47 deaths. Janeway attempts to negotiate for their release, but Ambassador Liria (Robert Pine) of Akritiri instead targets Voyager, forcing the starship out of the system.
As Janeway prepares to prove that her crew had nothing to do with the bombing, Tom and Harry work to find a way out of the prison. There is only one possible way to the surface: The chute. And it is guarded by an electrical force field!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Janeway: Much as when Tom was arrested in Ex Post Facto, Janeway is determined to act in her people's interests and to see them freed. She tries trusting in justice, believing that if she simply proves their innocence that she will be able to secure their freedom. When that fails, however, she does not hesitate to engage in more forceful methods.
Tom Paris: We once again see Tom's leadership skills in action. His well-placed punch in the teaser may sting, but it stops Harry's initial beating from turning into something much worse. When the worst of the prisoners tries to "claim" Harry, Tom protects his friend fiercely, and keeps him protected for the first part of the episode. It's his calming influence that guides Harry to his goal of escaping through the chute - all of which makes it that much harder for Harry when Tom's protection is removed. Even then, the injured Tom still tries to protect his friend before he takes a bad turn, urging Harry to save himself over Tom if it comes to a choice.
Harry Kim: He is content to follow Tom early on, and would probably remain so - He is more follower than leader by nature. When Tom is wounded, his first instinct is to find a new protector in Zio (Don McManus), an eerily calm prisoner who has written a manifesto about this installation. When Zio proves to be dangerously unstable, however, Harry is left to rely on himself. The last we see before Janeway's rescue, he is standing over Tom, prepared to take on all comers to protect both himself and his friend. It's not a fight he can win, but there's a certain dignity in his willingness to make a fight of it. Garrett Wang's performance is extremely good, reinforcing the impression made in The Thaw that he could make Harry into a strong character if the writers would simply give him more opportunities.
THOUGHTS
The Chute has a few big things going for it. Chief among these is the direction. The ever-reliable Les Landau makes sure that the prison is as visually interesting as a redress of the Star Trek cave set can be. The lights are kept low, the characters are presented as dirty, disheveled, and desperate. The entire look adds an edge to the prison scenes which brings them to life in a way that doesn't happen with the scenes on Voyager.
Kenneth Biller's script also makes some smart choices. No time is wasted setting the scene, no opening "shore leave" Act or even teaser before Tom and Harry get into trouble. The episode just opens on Harry dropping down the chute into the prison, with Tom already there. The rest is gradually filled in as backstory, with it taking most of the First Act before we really have a clear picture as to what has occurred. The combination of Tom and Harry's desperation and our own eagerness to puzzle out what has happened to bring them here makes us lend the episode that little bit of extra attention.
Points also to a genuinely clever plot turn about two-thirds of the way through the show. We have been led to believe one thing about the prison for most of the running time. Then Harry clears some dirt off a hatch, and something is revealed which upends our expectations. Voyager hasn't traditionally been very good about surprising me, but this twist - one that in retrospect I should have seen coming - was a surprise, simply because of how good a job Biller and Landau did in concealing it.
Things do run down a bit after that reveal, with the last 10 - 15 minutes basically moving through the plot as quickly as possible, right down to the rushed and overly-easy ending rescue. Still, there remain some effective moments. A scene in which Harry is handed a knife, and contemplates killing Tom and relieving himself of that burden, is particularly good, as we see the moment of temptation on Harry's face before he finally drops the blade.
Plus Harry standing over the wounded Tom, shouting that Tom is his friend and that he won't allow anyone to harm him, with Tom echoing that moment in the tag... Well, it's just good to see the friendship of these two characters, a centerpiece of the series' pilot movie, has been remembered and even built upon this far into the series proper.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
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