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| Tom Paris is demoted. |
"Hey, Dad... Bad news: I'm in jail again!"
Tom Paris has been demoted to ensign, and has been sentenced to thirty days of solitary confinement. While serving his sentence, he writes a letter to his father, recounting the events that led to his latest transgression.
It started when Voyager encountered a water world - not technically a planet, but rather an ocean artificially contained as a planet-like sphere of water. It has been settled by the Moneans, who live by growing vegetables and mining oxygen from the water. Their way of life is threatened, not from outside aggression but from the slowly advancing failure of the containment field holding the water.
Tom is fascinated by the idea of an undersea expedition, and offers to modify the Delta Flyer to investigate the source of the problem. When he discovers the failure is being caused by the very oxygen mining around which Monean society is built, it becomes clear that the government will do nothing to change. Containment failure is inevitable... Leading Tom to a rash action that goes against the Prime Directive Janeway holds so dear!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Janeway: She is happy to indulge Tom's enthusiasm for going 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, regarding his delight with amusement. She is initially sympathetic to his findings, and tries to urge Burkus (Benjamin Livingston), the Monean Deputy Consul, into making changes. Even then, she (quite rightly) upbraids Tom for being overly aggressive in her meeting. When Tom takes his rogue action, she is visibly angry - And it's clear that she's willing to fire on him if he doesn't stand down.
Tom Paris: For his part, does not intend to stand down. He believes he is doing the right thing, and has the fig leaf of a request for help from Monean scientist Riga (Willie Garson) to at least pretend he isn't violating Starfleet law. Of course, he's ignoring the spirit of the law and completely disregarding Janeway's orders. All of this strikes a convincing balance between Tom's growth since Season One vs. his ongoing character flaws. He's now acting for something he believes in rather than just rebelling for the sake of rebellion - But he's still impetuous, and still does not respect authority when it disagrees with his worldview, even when that authority is Janeway herself.
Torres: Responds to his brooding over Burkus' rejection of suggested reforms by asking what he, Tom Paris, can do about the situation - effectively giving Tom permission to rebel. This fits perfectly with her character. As a committed, unrepentant Maquis, she is sympathetic to rejecting authority for the right cause. It would have been nice to have done more with this, to see Torres perhaps standing up for Tom to Janeway or at least reacting to his sentence, but her few scenes in the episode are at least good ones.
THOUGHTS
"Tom Paris takes matters into his own hands when Janeway refuses to act" sounds dull on paper, and the weakness of the last few Tom-centric episodes did not have me looking forward to Thirty Days. Tom was one of the stronger members of the ensemble in the first two seasons, but has been steadily reduced to little more than a bit player since the introduction of Seven (and honestly, was fading into the background for a while before then).
So it's a pleasant surprise to find that the Tom Paris of this episode actually seems like the same character from the first two seasons. He's impulsive, allowing his emotions to overrule his judgment. I'll note that I don't agree in any way with Tom's choice in this episode. The Voyager crew have shared the information with the Moneans; Janeway is quite right that it is that civilization's choice what to do next, and not their place to impose action on them. But I can believe that Tom would take this action. The episode also fairly presents both Tom's and Janeway's viewpoints, allowing both to make their cases - Tom the emotional one, Janeway the rational one.
Production values are high under director Winrich Kolbe's sure hand, and the planet-sized ocean is instantly striking. Kenneth Biller's teleplay is also good, with effective nods to Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, complete with a scene in which Tom's craft is attacked by a sea monster. Finally, I very much enjoyed the character interactions between Tom and Janeway, Tom and Torres, and Tom and Riga. While all are friendly interactions (well, until Janeway punishes Tom), each has a different tone based on his relationship with that character. Janeway is his superior and mentor figure; Torres, his lover and effectively conscience; and Riga, a colleague who looks to him for action.
Ultimately, this is a well-made, well-scripted piece, with sharper character work than many episodes have managed. Very enjoyable, and the best Tom Paris episode in a long time.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Previous Episode: Nothing Human
Next Episode: Counterpoint
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