3-8, 3-9. Future's End.

Voyager visits 1996 Los Angeles.

THE PLOT

A 29th century Federation Time Ship appears and, without warning, begins firing on Voyager. Some quick maneuvers buy enough of a break for Janeway to communicate with the ship's pilot, Captain Braxton (Allan G. Royal). Braxton claims that Voyager caused a catastrophe in his century, one he is here to avert by destroying the starship. He attacks again, Janeway counters, and both ships are pulled into Braxton's temporal field when he tries to escape.

Voyager's crew finds itself in orbit around Earth. Not their Earth, however, but the Earth of 1996. Subspace readings reveal technology that should not exist in this time. Janeway and Chakotay beam down, along with Tom and Tuvok. They find Braxton - a much older Braxton, whose ship was thrown by the rift to 1967, where he lost his Time Ship to a man named Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr). Starling introduced computer technology based on the Time Ship two years later, and has build an industrial empire known as "Chronowerx Industries," releasing breakthrough technology every few years for the past two decades. 

But Starling is prepared for visitors from the future, and he is determined to protect his stolen Time Ship - a ship whose systems are hundreds of years more advanced than Voyager's!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Informs Starling that she is quite prepared to have her ship disintegrate his headquarters, even with her inside, to end his contamination of the timeline. Starling is fool enough to think she's bluffing. Maybe the Doctor should have gone ahead and given him Janeway's psych evaluation when asked - That would have put some fear into him! Kate Mulgrew looks fantastic in the plain suit she wears through most of Part One, incidentally, and it's actively disappointing to see her return to the red Starfleet outfit for the second installment.

Chakotay: Crashes another shuttlecraft. How many does that make now? He says he trained as a pilot, but I don't think I'd trust him with a paper airplane at this point. Aside from that and a tedious encounter with an anti-government group (whose leader, naturally, refers to him as "Chief"), Robert Beltran actually has a pretty good episode, giving a performance that's actually relaxed and likable for the first time since Resolutions. I think getting away from the ship-bound setting does him good. He gets a nice scene with Torres in Part Two, as they reflect on having to get jobs if they end up stuck in the 20th century, and it's good to see the writers remember that these two characters are friends.

Tom/Tuvok: Make an engaging "odd couple," as circumstances lead them to team up with naive SETI astronomer Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman). Tom tries to cover by telling her that they are "secret agents," but his attempts to blend in with the 20th century go awry. As Rain observes, he keeps getting things "not quite right." Meanwhile, Tuvok reacts with disapproval to Tom's every word and deed, making for some entertaining exchanges. As the episode goes on, they come across less like colleagues and more like older and younger siblings, bickering and annoying each other while still managing to work together effectively.

The Doctor: He's slowly but steadily reconstructing his memories after the data loss. It's nice to see that actually get addressed, even if it is only to hand-wave it away again. I honestly didn't expect to ever see even that much follow-up. More significant is the mobile emitter with which Starling equips the Doctor. Robert Picardo wonderfully plays the Doctor's wonder at truly being outside for the first time ever, selling just how life-changing an event this is for him. 

Cute Earth Babe of the Week: Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman) is the naive astronomy nut who becomes an ally for Tom and Tuvok. A little of Silverman goes a long way, and I was already weary of her by the end of Part One. She may be cute, but she isn't a particularly good actress. In an otherwise very well-acted two-parter, Silverman's line readings are noticeably forced and artificial. An attempt to create a would-be romance between her and Tom falls utterly flat, thanks to a complete lack of chemistry between the two actors.

Villain of the Week: Ed Begley, Jr.'s Henry Starling is a far more effective denouncement of "capitalism taken to its extreme" than the Ferengi ever were. He is a man of brilliance - He would have to be, in order to successfully adapt ridiculously advanced technology for consumer purposes. Had the Time Ship never crashed, he probably had it in him to do great things all on his own. But the Starling we meet is an absolute vulture, a man who has built his entire corporate empire by cannibalizing the work of others for his own gain. He has no empathy, casually ordering murders and shrugging off the prospect of causing billions of deaths as a simple business risk. Begley is terrific in a very atypical role, and the story gets a considerable boost from his presence.


THOUGHTS

"We could have worn our Starfleet uniforms. I doubt anyone would have noticed."
-Tuvok, commenting on the outlandish denizens of 20th century Los Angeles.

Future's End is unapologetic fluff that is basically Voyager's answer to Star Trek IV. The time travel plot is a thin mixture of paradox and Technobabble, and for all the talk of Starling's machinations leading to an Apocalyptic event, there's never much sense of jeopardy. All of which is beside the point. This two-parter isn't about the story. Rather, the story is an excuse to get the regulars out of their Starfleet uniforms and out into a few Los Angeles area locations to have some fun.

Judged on that basis, I liked Future's End. For a while, I liked it a lot.

Part One is particularly good, maintaining a fast pace and a breezy tone. All of the performers seem to be having a great time, with the two-part format allowing the writers to give every character at least one amusing moment, be it Harry finally getting to sit "in the big chair" or Kes and Neelix getting addicted to 1996 soaps.

The first part is also wonderfully paced. There are a lot of gags and character beats, but they are all slipped neatly into scenes which move the plot forward. There's a real sense of energy here, something Voyager all too often struggles with, and the first episode ends with a lovely visual of Voyager against the L. A. skyline and an effective cliffhanger.

That momentum lasts until about the middle of Part Two, with the complications involving Starling's "capture" of the Doctor leading to several good moments. Unfortunately, writers Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky just can't quite keep the pace going to the end. About halfway through the second episode, the plot starts to run out. After Janeway and Chakotay escape, Starling then captures the Doctor and Rain. They escape, then Janeway captures Starling, who escapes. Capture/escape/capture scenarios - A time-honored television padding technique.

This is all easy enough to take, since all of these captures and escapes result in some sharp exchanges and good character beats. But it doesn't stretch the story quite far enough, so we also get a rather pitiful and desperate "C" plot near the end, as Chakotay and Torres have a run-in with an anti-government group. This bit has nothing at all to do with the story, and seems to be there just to wring ten more minutes out of the episode.

Judged as separate episodes, Part 1 would get an "8," while Part 2 would likely squeak by with a "6" on the strength of the material with the Doctor. Averaging it out, therefore, leaves me awarding a solid score for a fun - if thin - two-parter.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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