6-09. The Voyager Conspiracy.

Seven becomes convinced of a conspiracy theory.

Original Air Date: Nov. 24, 1999. Written by: Joe Menosky. Directed by: Terry Windell.


THE PLOT:

In the interests of increased efficiency, Seven of Nine has installed a cortical processing subunit in her alcove. This will allow her to download Voyager's data as she regenerates, effectively letting her "learn while sleeping." This initially seems to work out, with Seven able to pinpoint a minor insect infestation by drawing conclusions from related pieces of information.

At the same time, Voyager encounters Tash (Albie Selznick), an alien who was also displaced by the Caretaker. Tash has built a space catapult to send him home - technology that Voyager can use to cut time off its voyage as well. Janeway agrees to assist with final repairs, with the understanding that she can use it after Tash takes his journey.

Seven's next regeneration allows her to identify the catapult as using a tetryon reactor, the same type of technology used by the Caretaker. Tash reluctantly admits to this. The revelation doesn't really change anything, and the alien makes his test flight the next day.

Seven, however, becomes fixated on the idea that Tash's reactor is not just the same type of technology, but the same reactor that was used by the Caretaker. She contacts Chakotay and asks to speak with him privately. While regenerating, she has analyzed "over thirty million teraquads of data," leading her to one inescapable conclusion. Voyager isn't in the Delta Quadrant by accident. Janeway stranded the ship here on purpose, as a prelude to a large-scale invasion by Starfleet!


CHARACTERS:

Capt. Janeway: Though she's eager at the prospect of shaving years off the voyage home, she doesn't ignore Seven's warnings that Tash's catapult uses Caretaker technology. She's ready to pull out of her deal with Tash if he doesn't provide details - but once he's given reasonable explanations both for the technology and for why he lied about it, she is satisfied and continues assisting him. She's supportive of Seven's alcove alterations, particularly after Seven is able to demonstrate the advantages of processing data so quickly.

Chakotay: The episode is bookended by scenes of him having dinner with Janeway, which shows how relaxed they've become around each other over the past five years. He's initially dismissive of Seven's claims about Janeway. When Seven continues bringing up the captain's stranger past decisions, however, he decides it's worth investigating. Even then, he limits himself to sharing the suspicions with B'Elanna, his most trusted former crew member. Oh, and being blatantly obvious in his wariness of Janeway until the misunderstanding is cleared up.

Seven of Nine: Jeri Ryan has some fun playing Seven the bonkers conspiracy theorist. As she lays out her "evidence" to Chakotay, she paces back and forth, agitated, shouting out dates and incidents as if each is a smoking gun rather than just a stray bit of data that she's selected to fit her pattern. By the point she's accusing young Naomi Wildman of being in on it - even asking who the child is working for - she's reached the stage of full paranoid delusion. I half expected her to start ranting about fluoride in the ship's drinking water.


THOUGHTS:

The Voyager Conspiracy is the series' X Files style "conspiracy" episode, with Seven of Nine thrust into the Fox Mulder role. Obviously, there's no chance that the viewer will ever buy into her increasingly convoluted theory, but it does allow writer Joe Menosky to play with some of the bizarre decisions Janeway and her crew have made over the years. I'm surprised Seven didn't fold in Janeway's botching of a path home in False Profits, though, as that would practically qualify as a smoking gun.

Menosky structures his story well. Seven's new alcove is introduced in the teaser, as she explains its workings to Naomi Wildman. This scene also emphasizes how Seven has changed since her introduction by reminding us of the bonds she's made with the people on Voyager. Can you imagine early Season Four Seven making time for a weekly board game with a child?

Her first use of the alcove sets up the rest of the episode. She wakes up from her regenerative cycle and urgently contacts someone to speak to them - in this case, B'Elanna; in later cases, Janeway and Chakotay. She believes there is an insect infestation inside the ship's sensor network, and she quickly relates the many individual pieces of data that led her to that conclusion. The crew checks the sensor node, and the insects are indeed there. Both viewer and crew sees that the alcove works, and that Seven draws conclusions from multiple individual pieces of information.

Her second use alerts Janeway to Tash's use of a tetryon reactor in his catapult. Seven is again correct. At the same time, the viewer sees her fixating on the idea that this is the same reactor the Caretaker used. We recognize that she's starting to behave irrationally, but the crew has mostly just seen that her alcove has twice delivered correct conclusions. This helps to sell Chakotay taking her seriously when she accuses Janeway in the second half.

Structurally, this is all sound, but I think the episode takes a little too long to reach the accusation. There's dramatic potential in making Janeway and Chakotay suspicious of each other. I appreciated that Chakotay confided in B'Elanna, his most trusted former crew member, but I'd have liked to see this taken further than just B'Elanna snapping at Harry (who's probably so used to that sort of thing by now that it likely didn't even register).

I think the episode makes a fundamental error in making its main character Seven instead of focusing more on Janeway and Chakotay. The real interest isn't in watching Seven turn into a ranting conspiracy theorist, but in seeing Janeway and Chakotay take her seriously. I'd love to see that amount to more than a few sideways looks. Chakotay confides in B'Elanna; maybe go further, with the crew starting to take sides. As it stands, the whole thing is reduced to a sitcom-level misunderstanding that's resolved far too quickly and easily.

I will say that I like the climax, with Janeway attempting to talk Seven down from her mania. Janeway appeals to Seven by mimicking her own "evidence" of rattling off stardates and events that happened on those dates. Unlike Seven, she draws on key emotional moments, milestones in the ex-Borg's evolving humanity and in their personal relationship, and there's a decent emotional tug there.


OVERALL:

Despite my issues with it, The Voyager Conspiracy is well-structured and highly watchable. For the second episode in a row, I think dramatic potential is left untapped by a decision to focus on Seven when there was more interest in seeing the other characters' reactions. Still, judged on its own merits, this is enjoyable, even if I think it had the potential to be a lot more.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: One Small Step
Next Episode: Pathfinder

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6-07. Dragon's Teeth.

Voyager is forced to land on a planet that
turns out to be less dead than it first appears.

Original Air Date: Nov. 10, 1999. Teleplay by: Michael Taylor, Brannon Braga, Joe Menosky. Story by: Michael Taylor. Directed by: Winrich Kolbe.


THE PLOT:

Voyager is pulled into a subspace corridor, which they escape only thanks to the intervention of the Turei. The Turei are not friendly, however, demanding to board the starship to purge its records. When Janeway refuses, they attack, and Voyager has no choice but to hide on a nearby planet whose radiation will discourage pursuit.

They land in the midst of a ruined city, destroyed in what appears to have been a nuclear war. Surprisingly, there are life signs, which they trace to an underground chamber filled with stasis pods, many of which still function after 900 years. Seven impulsively revives Gedrin (Jeff Allin), the occupant of the first pod they find.

Gedrin reveals that this was once the home of his people, the Vaadwaur. He describes them as a race of merchants who mapped out the subspace corridors to trade with distant planets, including Neelix's ancestors. He agrees to help Janeway navigate the corridors to shave decades off Voyager's trip in return for reviving the rest of his people and helping them find a new home.

Neelix uncovers hints in ancient Talaxian literature that the Vaadwaur may not be the peaceful race they claim to be. That may be a moot point, though, as the Turei have started orbiting the planet in force, determined to either board Voyager or destroy her.


CHARACTERS:

Capt. Janeway: Seven commits a massive breach of protocol by reviving Gedrin without permission. Janeway deals well with this. She shows sympathy for Seven's reasons, but she also makes clear that those reasons are no excuse for what she did. Her interactions with Gedrin show a similar balance. She's empathetic as he stares out at the ruins of the city. However, while she agrees to help his people resettle, she flatly refuses to give them Starfleet weapons, growing steadily frostier when Gedrin's superior, Gaul (Robert Knepper), attempts to insist.

Seven of Nine: As a Borg drone, she participated in the assimilation - and destruction - of many cultures. She sees the revival of Gedrin and his people as an opportunity to rebuild a dead culture. She earns appreciation from the Vaadwaur for her efficiency and even her bluntness, a quality that's often been criticized by her fellow crew members. However, when Neelix approaches her with his findings, she takes him seriously enough to cross check the mentions of the Vaadwaur in Talaxian literature against historical data she retains from being Borg.

Neelix: He only vaguely recognizes the term, "Vaadwaur," when Gedrin first talks to him, connecting it to its most common usage among Talaxians: "foolish." But when Naomi Wildman is uncharacteristically reluctant to socialize with the Vaadwaur children, he is perceptive enough to listen to her reasons. This prompts him to look more closely into the Vaadwaur in his people's literature. He also is intelligent in handling his discoveries. He makes no accusations, tacitly acknowledging that it may be nothing; he just asks Seven to cross-reference against her data before they jointly take their findings to Janeway.


THOUGHTS:

Dragon's Teeth has an arresting opening. Gedrin and his wife, Jisa (Mimi Craven), run to the stasis pods as the city above them is bombarded. Gedrin calms her before the two enter their pods, planning to wake in five years. This teaser immediately establishes him as a sympathetic figure, and it's the single most effective way the script tries to steer our initial impressions of the Vaadwaur.

There are interesting ideas in this episode. Gedrin presents his people as merchants; Neelix's legends indicate that they were conquerors. When confronted about this, Gedrin admits that both versions are true. I like this, because societies don't tend to have one set of values that never changes. It makes perfect sense that the Vaadwaur may have been merchants and eventually developed into conquerors (or vice-versa). I also found the way Neelix and Seven cross-referenced mentions of the Vaadwaur in literature with actual data to be an intriguing idea, even if the tight screentime in the episode leaves this to be heavily simplified.

"Heavily simplified" is the episode's biggest problem. By reviving Gedrin and his people, the Voyager crew effectively bring a race back from extinction. There are a few lines dealing with this, mainly in exchanges between Seven and one of the Vaadwaur or between Seven and Janeway, but it's a concept the script never completely engages with. The Vaadwaur both intellectually and emotionally process being so far out of their time with ridiculous ease. Even Gedrin accepts his new situation very quickly, and he's the only Vaadwaur to be even shown grappling with it.

Dragon's Teeth was initially intended as a double-length episode, like the previous season's Dark Frontier. It really should have remained as such, because 43 minutes just isn't enough time for everything this story is trying to do. I still like this episode, which moves along quickly and is never less than entertaining. At twice the length, though, I think its ideas might have been explored more thoroughly, and I think the story would have had some much-needed time to build. It's a good episode of Star Trek: Voyager - but with that extra time, I think it might have been a genuine highlight.


OVERALL:

Dragon's Teeth suffers from being a single episode. The plot is rushed, and the most interesting ideas are shallowly glossed over. That said, it at least has interesting ideas. It's also well made, with director Winrich Kolbe providing some decent visual moments, such as Voyager sat amidst the ruins of a bombed-out city.

It could have been and should have been more. Even so, I enjoyed watching it, and I'd rate it as an above-average episode.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Riddles
Next Episode: One Small Step

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5-15 - 5-16. Dark Frontier.

Seven is tempted by the Borg Queen (Susannah Thompson).

THE PLOT

An encounter with a Borg probe leaves the Voyager crew with an opportunity, when they recover two data nodes from the probe's wreckage. The data leads the ship to a damaged Borg sphere, where Janeway hopes to recover a transwarp coil - a piece of technology that has the potential to get Voyager much closer to home.

The plan is to stage a heist of a coil from the sphere. They will disable the sensor grid, then during the two minute window that will ensue, beam in a small team to retrieve the coil and beam out again. The logs of Seven's parents, researchers who studied the Borg in the Delta Quadrant, allow her to create bio-dampeners to extend that window, enabling the Away Team to evade detection.

But on the eve of the mission, Seven receives a communication from the Borg Queen (Susannah Thompson). The Queen knows of Janeway's plans. If Seven does not turn herself over and rejoin the Collective, then the entire Voyager crew will be assimilated!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Her frustration at still being stranded, and likely her feelings of guilt, lead to a gamble that the Janeway of the first two seasons would never have considered. The infiltration of the Borg is risky and reckless, but the prize - shaving decades off the long trip home - is impossible for her to ignore. She refuses to give up on Seven, even when Seven appears to have returned to the Collective, and resists suggestions by Torres and Chakotay that such was always inevitable.

Seven of Nine: Hope and Fear established that she no longer wishes to return to her old life - But Dark Frontier tangibly presents that choice, making her rejection of the Collective something more than theoretical. Not that her choice is ever in doubt; Seven has become too integral to the series at this point for it to survive without her. But watching her struggle with the temptation, the familiarity of the Borg and the safety of the Collective, is effective, and Jeri Ryan's performance is excellent.

Torres: Her hostility toward Seven remains unchanged, and in her one scene of any note she insists to Janeway that the former drone was never really one of the crew. This antipathy supercedes any rationality by now - Particularly when you consider that Seven saved the entire ship from the digestive tract of a space monster exactly one episode ago! It's almost as if the fictional Torres realizes that the introduction of Seven made her redundant, turning her into little more than a better-acted Harry Kim.

Naomi Wildman: Shortly after Seven is taken by the Borg, Naomi visits Janeway to beg her not to give up on Seven. This scene should have been unbearable, with the Cute Moppet prodding the captain to decisive action. But once again, the writing staff shows a deftness in scripting Naomi that has eluded past Trek writers in making a child character likable and halfway believable. Kate Mulgrew is also at her most likable in this moment, showing the most appealing aspects of Janeway's character. The result is that a scene that should be awful is instead very human and rather charming.

The Borg: With Alice Krige unavailable (and probably not terribly interested in reprising the Borg Queen on the small screen), television veteran Susannah Thompson takes over - and that's a good thing. A different actress emphasizes that this is a different Queen without the script having to take time to explain that. Also, Thompson's performance hits different notes. Whereas Krige was a seductress, Thompson comes across as a dark maternal figure. This leaves Seven torn between two mother figures - Janeway guiding her toward individuality, the Queen trying to make her see how weak and flawed individuals are.


THOUGHTS

I've heard Dark Frontier described as the Star Trek: Voyager action movie. The description is not too far off. From the opening shots, it's clear that this episode was designed to look as close to a feature film as a television budget could manage - And to the producers' credit, it manages that very well. Cliff Bole, who directed the Borg's definiting two-parter, TNG's The Best of Both Worlds, does a particularly effective job with the first half, though director Terry Windell does a fine job maintaining the overall look, tone, and feel in Part Two.

In my review of First Contact, I noted my appreciation that while it was clearly a Star Trek action movie, it wasn't a dumb action movie. Dark Frontier isn't on the same level, and there are some lapses in logic - Notably, that Seven doesn't simply inform Janeway of the Queen's ultimatum as soon as it occurs, as there is clearly time to do so and head off the entire chain of events. And though the scenes of the Borg assimilating the people of a conquered planet are suitably creepy (though not a patch on a similar scene in Doctor Who's Rise of the Cybermen), the two-parter overall makes the Borg weaker than they have been, a little too easily outmaneuvered by the ragtag Voyager crew.

But I will say that it's never less than engaging. The main characters behave believably in context, with character work and Janeway and Seven particularly good. Janeway is pushing her luck in attacking the Borg, but we understand what motivates her - Her guilt at stranding her ship was established in this season's premiere, and her strong desire to return everyone home was a major factor in the last episode. And while I pokes some fun at Torres' scene with Janeway, the exchange is prompted by Torres going over Seven's logs - something which yields useful information. Meaning that even a scene of character conflict fuels the episode's plot at the same time.

Also well-used are the flashbacks to Seven's parents and their ill-fated expedition. The flashbacks enhance Seven's internal conflict, reminding us (and her) that she was a normal child before the Borg assimilated her. There's also an effectively nasty sting to the flashback strand, when the Borg Queen shows Seven that her father still serves the Collective and then produces him for her... the vital scientist of the flashbacks now reduced to an expressionless drone.

Overall, Dark Frontier is a well-paced, effective feature-length story, with production values clearly meant to evoke those of a feature film. It does reduce the threat of the Borg somewhat, something Scorpion very carefully avoided, and the whole thing is basically action fare... But it's pretty good action fare, and it never loses sight of the characters of Seven and Janeway.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Bliss
Next Episode: The Disease


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5-14. Bliss.

Voyager, in the belly of the beast!

THE PLOT

Seven of Nine returns from a shuttle mission to learn that Voyager has detected a stable wormhole leading straight back to Earth. The entire crew is giddy with excitement, particularly when they start receiving messages from Starfleet - Every message containing good news for every member of the crew. A little too much good news, which makes Seven suspicious.

When she reviews Janeway's logs, she learns that the wormhole was giving off "deceptive readings," though the very next log entry sees Janeway brushing those concerns aside. Seven continues to investigate and manages to make contact with a ship inside the wormhole, whose sole occupant - an alien known as Qatai (W. Morgan Sheppard) - warns to stay away.

Immediately after, Janeway orders astrometrics taken offline, denying Seven the chance to make contact again. The Doctor's program is also shut down, and Seven is ordered into stasis. Realizing that Janeway and the entire crew must be affected by some outside influence, Seven must now work against the people she's come to regard as friends, with only young Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers) as an ally!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Essentially cast as the (human) villain of the episode. At first, it seems as if she and the rest of the crew are blinded to inconsistencies by their desire to return home. But as Janeway actively thwarts Seven's attempts to investigate the wormhole, it becomes clear that she's under an alien influence. Kate Mulgrew only shifts her normal performance very slightly, but it's enough to make her effectively sinister as Janeway works against Seven, using all her resources to make sure she's not stopped from steering Voyager into the trap Seven is struggling to avoid.

Seven of Nine: As shown by last season's finale, she has no particular desire to arrive on Earth.  This makes her immune to the "wormhole's" effect, as you can't tempt someone with something they don't want. She sees right away that there's something artificial in the flood of good news that the crew is receiving. She initially tries to raise her concerns with Janeway, then Tuvok - But when they are unreachable by reason, she takes action to save the ship.

The Doctor: An early sign that the crew is actively under an outside influence is that the Doctor knows nothing about the supposed wormhole until Seven tells him. Had the crew truly been themselves, someone would have let him know. But as an artificial intelligence, he's entirely immune to the effect, and therefore is a danger. No sooner has Seven talked to him about her suspicions than he is shut down, and Seven isn't able to reactivate him until well past the episode's midpoint - At which point, he becomes critical to the ship's escape.

Naomi Wildman: Scarlett Pomers continues to impress as Naomi, who shows more personality than at least three of the regulars do. This time last season, I'd say the last thing Voyager needed was a spunky child befriending Neelix and Seven - but Naomi works, and makes Neelix and Seven better characters by virtue of her interactions with them. The reason for her immunity to this episode's alien influence makes every bit as much sense as Seven's immunity, and Robert J. Doherty's teleplay balances the story's need to have Naomi be a competent assistant to Seven against her being a vulnerable child.


THOUGHTS

At first glance, the setup for Bliss isn't promising - The crew's hopes are raised by yet another promise of a path home, with us left to wait for those hopes to be dashed by virtue of there still being 2 1/2 seasons left. But the script takes a canny turn into paranoid territory as it becomes clear that the crew members aren't acting mormally, leaving Seven effectively acting alone against the rest of the regular cast.

The pace is terrific. The first part of the episode sees Seven trying to prove that something is not right with the wormhole, to find evidence that will persuade the others. The Second Act then shifts into a riff on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with Seven trying to outmaneuver the crew in general and Janeway in particular as they act not quite like themselves. Just when you're expecting this to be the core of the episode, it transforms yet again for its second half, with Voyager now having to escape the literal belly of the beast. You'd expect with so many shifts, it would feel fragmented - But each phase of the story flows naturally into the next; despite the changes in story focus, it all feels unified.

Guest actor W. Morgan Sheppard helps raise the fun factor in the second half. Sheppard's not exactly the go-to guy for subtlety... But subtlety isn't what the explicitly Ahab-like Qatai calls for. Sheppard's wild-eyed scenery-chomping adds zest and humor, particularly when playing off the stoic Seven and the dryly sarcastic Doctor.

A final fakeout is easy to see coming, but still allows a last bit of tension that keeps Voyager's escape from feeling too easy, and the episode ends on an effective note. All told, a satisfying episode in what's shaping up to be Voyager's strongest season.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Gravity
Next Episode: Dark Frontier


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5-5. Once Upon a Time.

Neelix uses a holo-novel to shield his goddaughter from reality.

THE PLOT

Neelix has been entrusted with the care of his goddaughter, young Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers), while her mother, Samantha (Nancy Hower) is on a mission with Tom and Tuvok in the Delta Flyer. In a transmission to Neelix, Samantha reveals that the ship has been damaged by an ion storm and that another storm is approaching. When that second storm leaves the shuttle limping off course, Voyager prepares a rescue mission.

Guided by his own devastation at the deaths of his family members, Neelix decides not to mention the situation to Naomi - at least, not until they have a clearer picture on how much danger the shuttle crew is in. Janeway initially supports this, and Neelix happily distracts Naomi with a fairy tale-like holo-novel set in an enchanted forest. But as the Delta Flyer's situation grows ever more serious, Janeway starts pushing Neelix to tell the child the truth - finally stating that if Neelix doesn't tell her, then she will!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Clearly does sympathize with Neelix's feelings, both his protectiveness of Naomi and his identification with the girl's situation. That doesn't stop her from insisting Neelix reveal the truth when she decides his actions are less for the child and more for himself - But she does deal with him as gently as possible, while still making it clear that she expects him to follow her instructions.

Neelix: His relationship with the Wildmans is carried forward from last season's Mortal Coil. I give points to the show for remembering and building on that. Neelix dodges Naomi's questions about his family, but his grief is evident in both face and tone even as he pretends to the young girl that they're simply "far away." That same sense of loss, remembering how much it hurt him when his family was killed, leads to him shielding Naomi from the truth about her mother's situation, long past the point at which he should be telling her.

TuvoK: Receives one of the episode's most effective moments. When it looks all but certain that she, Tuvok, and Tom will run out of air before rescue comes, she worries about what will become of Naomi. Tuvok, the other parent in the shuttle, manages to be genuinely reassuring without in any way compromising his Vulcan reserve: "My youngest child has been without a father for four years, yet I am certain of her well-being, that I conveyed my values to her before leaving... You have been an exemplary mother to Naomi, and she is in the hands of people you trust. She will survive and prosper, no matter what becomes of us."


THOUGHTS

Glancing around the Internet, it's clear that Once Upon a Time is a badly-regarded episode. I can't argue with many of the criticisms. The holodeck fairy tale, clearly the basis for the episode's title, all but vanishes in the second half; far more interesting narrative use could have been made of continuing the fairy tale through the episode and intercutting it with the Delta Flyer plot. It also is blatantly emotionally manipulative, to the point that you can almost hear writer Michael Taylor (who penned DS9's far superior The Visitor) urging you to be affected, dammit!

All these complaints are valid, and I can't deny them in the slightest. But I have to admit, I enjoyed this episode in spite of that. The manipulations are blatant and heavy-handed... But enough of it does strike a cord. While watching, I found myself rolling my eyes at an extended recording of a deathbed message, but still being affected by the scene even as a part of me mentally mocked it. And the episode's central dilemma - Neelix's emotional turmoil wrestling with a situation that hits so close to home - is perfectly consistent with his overall characterization and is well-played by Ethan Phillips.

I will say that a big part of me wonders if it mightn't have been more interesting had Samantha Wildman died during the mission. That would leave Neelix having to act as a father to Naomi, perhaps allowing his character to develop under this new responsibility - And would also give real emotional consequences to his refusal to tell Naomi the truth. This being Voyager, however, such does not occur, nor does the viewer ever really believe there's any danger of it.

Overall, I can't argue with the episode's poor reputation, but I also can't condemn an episode that I genuinely enjoyed. For all its faults, the story kept me engrossed enough in the character drama to overlook the heavy-handedness. It's too flawed for me to label it a good episode - But I liked it too much to label it a bad one.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: In the Flesh
Next Episode: Timeless

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4-12. Mortal Coil.

Neelix ponders the afterlife, or lack thereof.

THE PLOT

Neelix is dead.

While helping to gather a sample of protomatter from a nebula, he is struck by a beam of energy that kills him instantly. However, with no underlying damage to his brain, Seven believes she can revive him using Borg nanoprobes. Janeway authorizes the procedure, and the operation proves to be a success. Neelix is revived, with minimal side effects.

But he is shaken when he learns that he was not merely unconscious, but actually dead. Per his beliefs, he should have seen all his loved ones waiting for him in The Great Forest, at the Guiding Tree. Instead, he experienced... nothing. Leaving him to wrestle with the increasing certainty that his beliefs, which have kept him going cheerfully through war and loss, are nothing but myths.

"Like a hologram, we just disappear into nothing."


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: She authorizes Seven to attempt to revive Neelix, but only after a significant hesitation as she weighs the potential harm. Beyond that, Janeway is very much in the background of this episode.

Chakotay: One has to wonder at his tactlessness in showing a recently-revived Neelix a holodeck recreation of his death! Other than that, this is another good showing for the most surprisingly improved character of this season. Chakotay, a character who has had minimal previous interaction with Neelix, acts as a surprisingly good friend. He listens as Neelix describes his crisis of faith. He accepts Neelix's request to help him take a Vision Quest, but only after exacting a promise that the Talaxian will discuss what he has seen afterwards (a promise Neelix doesn't live up to). Refreshingly, Chakotay treats the Vision Quest in psychological terms, telling Neelix that it's hardly surprising that his doubts are so strongly reflected by the experience.

Neelix: The three items he selects for his Medicine Bag are very revealing: A pendant made by his sister, killed in the war against the Haakonian Order; a flower from Kes' garden - the garden of the lover who first left him and then left the ship entirely; and a model of The Guiding Tree, a representation of the faith he no longer has. All three represent things he valued but lost. He brings nothing to his Vision Quest that is truly part of his present. We see in his relationship with Ensign Wildman's daughter Naomi that he does still have strong bonds. But he is so shaken by his crisis of faith that he cannot appreciate them. Ethan Phillips is stunningly good throughout, and Neelix's emotional pain during his final conversation with Chakotay is so raw that it's uncomfortable to watch. It continues to bewilder me that an actor capable of this level of emotion (showcased as early as Season One's Jetrel) is so often reduced to bad comedy relief.

Seven of Nine: When she states that Neelix's "function in this crew is diverse," there is the sense that she's delivered a genuine and meaningful compliment. She cannot fully grasp the crew's fear of death, in part because Borg never truly die. "When a drone is damaged beyond repair, it is discarded, but its memories continue to exist in the Collective consciousness. To use a human term, the Borg are immortal." She seems very slightly shaken, however, when Tuvok reminds her that she is no longer linked to the Borg. If she dies, all that she has experienced in the past several months will die with her - something she seems to be digesting as the conversation ends.


THOUGHTS

After finishing Mortal Coil, I scanned the Internet to see what overall audience reaction to it was. From what I can glean, it appears to be a generally respected episode, but not particularly more than that.

For me, however, this is probably my new favorite episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Bryan Fuller's script is emotional but intelligent, a meditation on faith and doubt that refreshingly doesn't attempt to provide an "answer." There's no endorsement of religion here, nor is there a denunciation. Even the Vision Quest scene isn't presented as an answer; Chakotay frames it in terms of dream therapy, a look at Neelix's subconscious, which of course reflects the doubt that dominates his thoughts.

It may seem strange that this episode was done as a Neelix story, as he's never been presented as spiritual. But it works, because it ties in perfectly with Neelix's established background. He's probably not as invested in all the trappings of his people's religion - But the Guiding Tree, the place where the people he's lost will be restored... That is something that has meaning because, as we saw in Jetrel, he lost so much so violently. His pain when that is taken away from him feels real because there is genuine emotional truth in it.

Director Allan Kroeker, usually a reliable hand, surpasses himself with striking visual direction. There's a moment in which we see Neelix watching as the crew celebrate his return to life, clearly feeling distant from them. We get a point-of-view shot of the crew, through Neelix's eyes, just distorted enough for us to really feel that separation. Kroeker also is judicious with closeups. Many of Neelix's most emotional moments are in tight close-ups, where the camera is just a bit further back when focusing on other characters or conversations, visually emphasizing that this is Neelix's story and keeping us firmly with Neelix.

I do have some reservations about the tag, which sees Neelix recovering a little too much, a little too quickly. I would think he'd be under close observation after his suicide attempt, and I would tend to believe he'd be fighting bouts of depression on and off for a while. But that's part and parcel of 1990's episodic television: No mid-'90's Star Trek series was going to willfully give a regular an ongoing psychological problem. Neelix's recovery here doesn't feel so much like a total reset as a determination to keep going, which helps it to avoid feeling insulting, and the way in which he moves on has been woven into the episode from the very beginning... and if I can blink at O'Brien suffering no lasting effects after a mental life prison sentence, then I can also accept that this personal crisis of Neelix's will almost certainly never be mentioned again without docking the episode for it.

Others' opinions may vary as they will. For me, at least, this was a genuinely great episode, a challenging and intelligent character drama in a series that has had far too few of them.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Concerning Flight
Next Episode: Waking Moments


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