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| Harry Kim looks out onto the surface of a Demon-class planet. |
Voyager is running out of gas.
The ship's deuterium supply has run low. Even with the strictest rationing of energy, they have less than a week's worth of travel remaining. In desperation, they travel to a planet that is Class Y - also known as a "Demon class" planet, because it is the most inhospitable environment possible. The planet is rich in deuterium, however; the only challenge is actually getting down there to retrieve the precious substance.
Harry volunteers himself and Tom to go down in a modified shuttlecraft, with environmental suits, to locate and mine the fuel source the ship requires. However, they have only barely located a deposit before their suits are breached, leaving both men unconscious and probably dying.
Chakotay and Seven search for them, and are shocked to discover both men not only alive, but walking around without their suits in an environment that should be instantly toxic to them. They take them back to the ship for a medical examination... But as soon as they beam into Voyager's oxygen-rich atmosphere, both men collapse, gasping for breath. Somehow, in a way that no one can explain, the planet has "bio-formed" Tom and Harry so that now the only environment in which they can live is that of the Demon planet itself!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Janeway: When Tom and Harry fail to report back, she insists on landing Voyager in order to send out a search and rescue team. This means that instead of risking another shuttle, she risks the entire ship - and the jeopardy of the landing is seen in how many systems are damaged by the time they reach the surface. Janeway gets a chance to play scientist again when she and Torres study the silver fluid in Tom and Harry's blood. When the fluid touches Torres and reacts, she starts to realize what has actually happened to her crew members.
Chakotay: Characterized as someone who recognizes good ideas from subordinates and champions those ideas to the captain. He acknowledges Seven's logic in not passing up the Demon class planet's resources, and is able to sell Janeway on making the attempt. When the first attempt to simply transport the deuterium onto the ship fails, Janeway is (somewhat uncharacteristically) ready to fly away. When Harry offers an alternative, Chakotay again champions the plan to land a shuttle and make a direct effort. This is a good note for his character, one I would encourage the series to continue with.
Harry Kim: Demon is the annual Harry Kim episode. Harry observes that after four years in the Delta Quadrant he now has quite a lot of experience and no longer feels the need to be quiet and stay out of the way when the more experienced officers are speaking. This is a hint of character development I expect to last... Oh, until the next episode. Assertive Harry also fails utterly to be at all likable. Whether the fault lies in Kenneth Biller's script, Garrett Wang's performance, or a bit of both, when he volunteers Tom to help him, then smirks at Tom's objections, he isn't coming across as a friend engaging in banter - He's coming across as a jerk.
The Doctor: Robert Picardo has proven time and again that he can salvage just about anything... Except, as it turns out, an irritating sitcom subplot in which the Doctor behaves petulantly in response to crew members bunking in sickbay. When the Doctor protests, Chakotay half-jokingly says they can always save power by shutting down his program until he's needed. Which, given the circumstances, would actually seem like one of the first things they should have done, and something the Doctor would probably have volunteered as a suggestion were he not Sitcom Doctor in this episode! Picardo is better in the second half, once the Doctor is doing his job instead of griping about sharing living space, but this is among his worst showings in the entire series.
THOUGHTS
Ever since Unity, my opinion of Kenneth Biller's writing has been creeping upwards. His late Season Three and Season Four outings have been consistently interesting, and often quite good, and I've ceased to dread his name on the credits.
Demon isn't going to change my revised opinion, as every writer will deliver some duff episodes here and there; if I can forgive Ronald D. Moore for co-writing the truly dire Aquiel, I can forgive Kenneth Biller this. Still, it's a reminder of the kind of writing that had me cringing at his name on an episode: Slapdash, unfocused, and lazy.
Let's start with Janeway's reluctance to approach the Demon planet. Once there, it seems to be perfectly navigable. Some extra shielding and environmental suits, and the crew can go out into this environment with minimal problems. Sure, there's danger. But these are the choices for the crew: (1) Risk a chance of injury or death recovering the fuel from a planet easily within reach; or (2) Fly off into the infinite vastness of space and hope to encounter another fuel source within a week - Something that's basically a statistical impossibility. And yet Janeway, who should certainly be well-versed enough in basic science to know that the choice is between a risk of death and a virtual certainty of it, reacts as if even trying to get fuel from the planet is a blatantly bad idea.
Then there's the question of her allowing the ship's pilot and backup medic to go with Harry on this very dangerous mission. Doesn't this ship have a crew of 90+ people? Janeway OK'ing Harry is something I have no problem with, as both B'Elanna and Seven are more skilled in Harry's area of expertise than he is; but he should be accompanied by someone a little more expendable than Tom is, which might also allow the show to remind us that this ship has more than ten or so people on board. This might have the side benefit of allowing another recurring character to emerge, to give a face to the ordinary people on board for the first time since late Season Two.
Credit where it's due: I did not guess what had happened to Tom and Harry, even though clues were there to make it guessable. Credit also to the scene in which Janeway confronts the intelligence behind all this (the "demon," I suppose), which is a well-written scene, very well-performed by Kate Mulgrew. That scene adds a point to the overall score in and of itself.
Which leaves it still a pretty bad hour... But at least it's nowhere near the worst of the series, or even of the season.
Overall Rating: 3/10.
Previous Episode: Living Witness
Next Episode: One
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