NOW VOYAGER THE NEWSLETTER OF THE OFFICIAL KATE MULGREW APPRECIATION SOCIETY, INC. VOL. 5 NO. 1 * * * * THE BUZZ Once again this column is all business, but please read it as it's all important. First, I would like to remark again on our changing masthead. Mary Taylor and Lauren Baum have both had to resign from the board of directors of KMAS due to pressing career obligations. These women have been invaluable to this club: between the two of them, they completed our 1024 form for the IRS, obtained our tax-free status, and filed the Maryland tax papers for last year and the year before. I cannot express my gratitude in strong enough terms. I also want to welcome Cheryl Zenor, our longtime (and very talented) web page designer, onto the board of directors. Cheryl has been solely responsible for the HTML versions of back issues of the newsletter on the site, and has created pages with photos, pages giving information about Kate's charities, a graphically appealing filmography, and too many other goodies for me to list here. If you can get online, check out http://members.aol.com/nowvoy/. Sashi German, who has taken upon herself the enormous task of sealing, stamping, and mailing newsletters, has also set up a voicemail hotline which contains up to the minute news about Kate's appearances in the media and at public events. The news is available 24 hours a day at (610) 642-0652. Right now listeners can select Kate News, KMAS/Club News, and information about the club and how to contact it. In the future we will likely add an option that only deals with Kate's public appearance schedule. Since I'm thanking board members, I also want to express my gratitude to Jeanne Donnelly, who managed this year's auction which raised over $2000, and to Beth Schuman who has been answering all of our mail. **PLEASE NOTE THAT THE KATECLUB@AOL.COM ADDRESS NO LONGER WORKS. ADDRESS ALL E-MAIL TO KMASINC@AOL.COM.** Also, if you have not switched your address books from the old Chicago, IL address to the Carol Stream, IL address in the column at right, please do so. Joan and Donna put together most of the newsletter you're holding, so thanks to them to. The club still has t-shirts for sale, $10 plus a $3 priority mail postage-paid envelope, please tell us your size. People who sent button designs, thank you; we're working on getting back to you. Based on the number of phone calls, faxes, e-mails, and public posts I have received directly and indirectly over the past month, it is evident that most of you heard that Kate made some comments at a press conference which led reporters to believe she planned to leave Voyager before the end of its run. Kate later clarified those remarks, stating that she could not imagine not remaining with the ship for the duration of its voyage, but some of the entertainment publications which ran sensationalistic headlines claiming that Kate wanted to leave then failed to print her subsequent comments. I have not spoken to Kate about her long-term plans, but I believe that panicking over Janeway's possible demise is premature. Michelle KATEWATCH TECHNOLOGY FOR KIDS 4.0 22 OCTOBER 1998, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON By Barbie's Friend Midge Kate Mulgrew came to Seattle for the Technology For Kids annual gala dinner, which benefits the Alliance For Education. The event was held at the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, where the Alliance held a cocktail reception and silent auction in addition to a formal dinner with Kate as the keynote speaker. Resplendent in a long black dress with capped sleeves, Kate spoke for about half an hour on "Charting A Course for Our Children's Future." She emphasized the need to merge creativity with the scientific disciplines, and expressed gratitude that her sons are so fortunate as to attend schools with technology available to them. Having visited some of the schools in Washington which the Alliance benefits, Kate said she was saddened by the poverty and the lack of opportunity for those children. However, she seemed to enjoy visiting the schools, and unlike in the past, she sounded verypositive about the Internet. Kate attended the event with a man none of us then recognized but whom we now know to be Tim Hagan, her fiance. A group of Now Voyager members, headed by Lynda Foley, presented a check from the fan club as a contribution (funds raised over the Internet). Kate was very gracious, praising Lynda and the club, and chatted with us after her speech. The event raised $10,000 more than it did last year! RETIREMENT ROAST FOR TIM HAGAN 21 DECEMBER 1998, CLEVELAND, OHIO By Kristin Blake I awoke at 6:30 a.m. to begin getting ready for my road trip down to Cleveland, Ohio. Less than a month after hearing of Kate Mulgrew's engagement to Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan, I was on my way to the roast in his honor. I threw on some scrubby clothing and headed out the door. Andrew arrived in his new Taurus with Marshall, and we went to pick up my other friend Sarah, who came outside in her pajamas and a blanket in hand. She had told me that she was going to sleep on the way there and she wasn't kidding. After an uneventful three hour drive consisting of rain, wind, and more rain, we arrived in downtown Cleveland. We had no clue where to go next because the map we had was supposed to get us right to the hotel, but we ended up getting off of the highway one exit early. So, after driving around some more and asking for directions we found the Cleveland Marriot. We then made a quick McDonald's stop for food but I couldn't eat anything because I was so nervous. At about 11:30 a.m. we headed to the hotel. The traffic downtown in Cleveland on a Monday morning isn't horrible, but finding a parking place is. Although the hotel had valet parking, we weren't sure if this was complementary or not, and since we were seriously low on cash, we weren't going to check. We finally found parking on the sixth floor of a garage and walked over to the hotel. It wasn't much fun since it was raining and we were all dressed up-I'm sure we looked a little silly almost running through traffic. I was starting to get nervous when we got in the door of the hotel and I saw all the people standing around. By then most everyone was there. We took the escalator up to the ballroom, where we were seated at Table 55 with seven other people. After a moment of taking everything in, I decided that we should find Kate. It didn't take long. I saw a small concentration of people in the very front of the room but from where I was I couldn't tell why. Then I saw her, Kate Mulgrew, standing in the center of the people. Now, I don't know how you felt the first time you saw her in person, but I freaked out. It was almost like I wasn't there and that I would just wake up any minute. I had to leave the ballroom and go sit in the lobby with Sarah to calm down a bit. My face was flushed and my head was spinning, I thought I was going to faint. So, when I had composed myself, Sarah and I went back in. We made our to the front of the room where everyone was standing around Kate and Tim. Kate looked fabulous! She was wearing a black suit (jacket and skirt), a white blouse, black nylons, black high heels, and a pearl necklace. After about ten minutes of staring at her from a distance and Sarah saying to me "Go over there! That's why you came isn't it?", I did. She was talking to some people and shaking their hands. Every few seconds someone else snapped a picture of her. Then she turned towards us with a huge smile on her face. She stuck out her hand, we shook it and kindly introduced ourselves. I noticed her engagement ring right away: a simple gold band with a four or five diamond inlay. I said that I admired her work and that it was a pleasure to meet her. I went on to say that I wanted to take some pictures of her for an issue of Now Voyager and asked if that would be all right with her. She said "Oh, of course. Let me get one with my fiance." Well, she turned to get him and he was gone. I could tell she was disappointed that he wasn't there but I assured her that I would get some pictures later on. A man came over to her and said the roast was about to begin. Unexpectedly she introduced us to her future brother-in-law, Jim Hagan. However, she introduced us to him as members of Now Voyager even though we're not. Since the roast was about to begin, I quickly asked Kate if I could get a picture with her, and she said, "Well, all right." So, Sarah snapped the picture. It was a fabulous moment for me! I almost died! However, Kate asked Sarah if she wanted a picture with her too and she declined. Personally, I think she should have gotten one because I know people who would have loved to have been in Sarah's shoes that day. I thanked Kate before we headed back out into the lobby to find the guys. I told them what happened just now and they were pretty happy for me. So, we went into the ballroom, took our seats, and listened as the roast began. Tim's brother Jim spoke first. He said that Tim has always had the better end of the stick. Tim hangs out at the Kennedy compound, he hangs out at K-mart. Jim is married to a Scottish woman named Fiona so he said, "Tim's marrying Captain Janeway and I get Scotty!" The crowd laughed and they showed Kate on the big background screens, smiling away. Another man spoke who was a radio personality in Cleveland. He talked about Hagan and his political career, but went on to say something about Kate and the question of whether or not her kids are moving to Cleveland. He said "She has two sons who right now live in Los Angeles. They've got 'Baywatch' babes, big-breasted women and warm weather. Why are they going to move to Olmsted Falls, Ohio to shovel cow manure?" That caused a roar in the crowd as well. When he was done, Hagan's brother Jim got up again. He started talking about the wonderful woman that Tim was in love with and how Tim said, from the beginning, that he wanted to win her heart. He said that Tim was telling his friends that when Kate opened her front door in the morning to get the paper, he'd be there to give it to her. When Kate would go out to lunch he'd be there, waving in the window. And when Kate got home at night he'd be there with flowers for her. Tim said "I think she's my soul-mate." His brother added, "But Kate's telling her friends, 'He's there when I go to get my paper in the morning, he's waving in the windows when I go out to lunch, and when I come home at night he has flowers for me. I think he's my stalker!'" Tim, along with the rest of the people in the room were pracitcally on the floor. Jim also said that when he asked his brother whom it was that he was dating, Tim said he couldn't tell him, it was a secret. Jim said he wanted a clue and Tim told him that this person was on a TV series. Jim wanted another clue and so Tim told him that this person was a cast member on a Star Trek series. Jim thought, "He's dating LeVar Burton?" That had the audience going wild. Next, they showed a video made by Hagan's family. It was a biography of Tim's life done as a parody. They had the nieces and nephews playing Tim and other people in his life as children. They showed a clip of him speaking and then some of his friends (cut and added to the footage) falling asleep during his speech. Then they showed the opening scene of Voyager and the title. They cut to a scene from "30 Days" where Janeway is on the bridge with that ambassador from that water planet. Under Janeway it said "Kate" and under the alien it said "Tim." It was the line where she asks, "What is more important: the lives of the people down there on that planet or your political career?" The audience loved it and even Kate was laughing pretty hard. After all the people spoke, Tim got up. He introduced his family and friends and then said "And I'd like to introduce to you the woman I love and plan to marry, Kate Mulgrew." She stood up and people just cheered (I clapped so hard my hands hurt!) When they showed her on the screen again you could see that she was crying, both about what Tim had said about them getting married but also because he was saying goodbye to everyone and was emotional himself. And when Tim was done speaking the audience gave him a standing ovation (I noted that Kate was the second person on her feet.) The luncheon then concluded. People started to leave but there were many that stayed and went up to the front of the room to talk to Tim and Kate. I got up there right away, with Sarah and the boys in tow. I was watching Kate when she put Tim's face between her hands and kissed him several times. It was so sweet! Everyone could tell that they absolutely adore each other. They stood there hugging for a little while before they started shaking hands with everyone else. I asked her if I could take a picture of her and Tim together and she said "Yes." When I said "smile" Kate sort of laughed and said "Well, it's a little hard right now." She went on to shake more peoples' hands and Tim kept introducing her to family members and friends. I swear that practically everyone there had a name tag that said "Hagan" on it, but that must come from being one of fifteen children. Sarah, the boys, and I hovered some moreHagan shook Andrew's hand and thanked him for coming. That is when I made my move. I had this crazy idea about a week earlier while looking at the jewelry on my dresser. I have a necklace that has a Spanish coin hanging on it that I wear almost all the time. I thought "Wouldn't it be funny if I got a coin from Kate Mulgrew that I could put on a necklace?" However, it was looking like she didn't have a purse anywhere and I figured that maybe we should leave. Well, then she reached over to her chair and grabbed a purse from under her table, setting it on another chair behind her. People weren't crowded around her anymore, so when she turned towards me I gave that look like I was going to say something and in return she gave me that look like she knew I wanted to say something. So she was standing right in front of me, looking me square in the eye, practically toe-to-toe, and I said, "I know that this is a strange question, but do you happen to have a nickel?" She raised an eyebrow at me and said "A nickel?" I said yes, a nickel. She said very casually, "Let me see," and she went to her purse. Tim was standing next to her and she said to him something about getting money from him. I thought I was going to get a nickel from him and was about to be a little disappointed. But she pulled one out and said "Here's your nickel!" She placed it in my hand and I thanked her. Kate put her wallet away and said "You're going to hang onto that, aren't you?" I told her that I was definitely going to hang onto it. Before I walked away I congratulated her on the engagement and she said, "Oh, thank you so much!" And with that Sarah, Marshall, Andrew, and I headed out. All the way home, for three hours, I smiled and sat there quietly. Content as I've ever been. Mission accomplished. I got my pictures for the newsletter, I met Kate Mulgrew, I had my picture taken with her, and I got a nickel (which by the way, hasn't left my neck since the two days after the luncheon). It was great! Though when I arrived home my mother said that she could see a change in me, she said I seemed to have aged five years. She said I was different now, although I didn't feel any different. Even now I don't feel different, I just feel lucky. THROUGH A LITTLE GIRL'S EYES By Erin L. Blalock On December 11, 1998, I attended the premiere of Star Trek Insurrection like so many other "Trekkers" throughout the United States. As part of a local area Star Trek Fan Association, the USS Aeon, I appeared along with my crewmates to greet the fans and the media in the lobby of the Majestic here in Memphis, Tennessee. As members of the chapter, we were asked to appear in full uniform. So being the die-hard member of KMAS that I am, I walked through the lobby door in my Janeway uniform complete with communicator and long, red hair swept in a bun. To my surprise, I was greeted with great enthusiasm as Captain Janeway by the fans already in attendance. I even heard one man say "Captain on the Bridge" as I stepped behind the table of pamphlets and posters we were giving away. As the night went on, I met the fans on behalf of Star Trek and thanked everyone for coming. I passed out posters and pins and encouraged people to sign up for the door prizes. It was such an experience to meet the multitude of diverse people who were just as devoted to the ideals and creativity that Star Trek as instilled in so many of us over the years. Since this was my first premiere as a member of Star Fleet and the USS Aeon, I was not sure what to expect. I mean, I knew there would be stares and a few laughs, but the overall perception was very positive and encouraging for anyone that thinks being a "Trekker" automatically makes them weird. But the air of acceptance was not the memory that I will take with me as proof of the legacy Kate has built as Captain Janeway. I was standing among a group of people, talking to them about the Aeon and what we do, when the president of our chapter touched my shoulder. "Captain," he said. "There is someone here who asked to meet you." I looked at him puzzled somewhat as he stepped aside to reveal a little girl. No more than 6 or 7, she looked up at me as she stepped towards me and extended her hand. I smiled. She had her blond hair atop her head in a tiny bun with a red ribbon around it and a communicator badge made of paper pinned to her red turtleneck. I bent down to take her hand and her blues eyes lit up. "Hi," I said, still not quite sure what was going on. She turned to look at her mother and then back at me. "Hi" she replied, in the tiniest voice I think I've ever heard. "What's your name?" I asked. "Jessica." "Are you here to see the new Star Trek movie, Jessica?" I said, trying to think of what to say. "Yes ma'am." She replied. And then she got this serious look on her face. "But my mom already told me you weren't going to be in it because you were busy on your own ship." Then it finally clicked. This child thought I was Captain Janeway. She thought that I was the woman she watched every week, the woman whom dolls were fashioned after, the reason she loved Star Trek. What do you say to that? What can you say to a little girl who is standing before you wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear? I looked up at the other people standing around me. Then I looked at her mother with an obvious "What do I do?" look on my face." Jessica's mother stepped forward and bent down beside us. "Yes, Captain Janeway." She said, as she winked at me and smiled. "Jessica saw you and your crew when we walked in and thought you would be in it because you're here." "Oh." I said. "Well, your mom was right." "Where is Chakotay?" Jessica asked with only a little bit of a problem pronouncing his name. "ChakotayŠ isŠ on my ship taking care of it for me while I am down here talking to you." "I like him a lot." "You do? I like him a lot too." "When are you getting married?" "What sweetie?" "You and Chakotay." "WellŠ I'm not quite sure about that." I hesitated. "Are you happy that you are at home?" she asked. "Yes, Jessica. I am very happy to be home." "But you have to leave again." "Well, yes. After the movie I have to return to my ship." "Oh," she said, looking down. "Maybe I could come over and play with your dog sometime when you come back again." "Maybe." I smiled. Jessica's mother took her hand and told her that the movie was getting ready to start so they had to go. I stood and waved to Jessica as she said bye and they both headed for the long line to get into the theater. I turned around to take a sip of my Diet Coke as Ken patted me on the back. Well done, Captain." And then I felt a tug on the leg of my uniform. It was Jessica asking me to kneel so she could tell me something. As soon as my knee found the floor, I felt these two little arms wrap around my neck: squeezing so tightly. "I love you Captain Janeway." At that single moment, I was fortunate enough to experience a little piece of the love that we all have for Captain Janeway and ultimately, Kate Mulgrew and to see that love through the eyes of a child. This little girl's gesture had me nearly in tears and even though I was not who she thought I was, I will treasure that feeling she gave me so freely for a long time to come. It was precious. It was breath taking. It was such a gift. As I stood, I saw her mother smile and say thank you as she took Jessica's hand and disappeared into the crowd. And when I returned to the others around me, I noticed that I was standing a little taller, speaking with great ease, and smiling endlessly. What a feeling Ladies and Gentlemen, what a feeling indeed. On behalf of myself and Jessica, thank you Kate. Because of Kate's impending marriage, she has no current plans to attend any conventions. We will let people know when we have current appearance information. REVIEWZZZZZZZZ Note: The ratings shown in this issue reflect only the Wednesday night ratings for UPN, not the total ratings with other stations that show Voyager. ONCE UPON A TIME Nielsen rating: 3.4 Despite a slightly too-precious feeling during the holodeck story, "Once Upon a Time" is an emotional, well-paced episode with a superb performance from Ethan Phillips, who has never disappointed when asked to carry a storyline. His scene in Janeway's ready room discussing his lost family was very moving, pulling elements from the plots of "Jetrel" and "Mortal Coil" with an attention to continuity rare for "Voyager." I also appreciated Tuvok's reflection on his own lost family and Janeway's of-late-uncharacteristic warmth; this episode had the feel of a first-season installment, which I mean in the best possible sense. I like the concept of exploring childhood on Voyager and in this century overall; with the exception of the child prodigy Wesley Crusher and the very ill-used Molly O'Brien, we have rarely seen kids on the new generation of shows as anything other than nuisances. It makes sense that there would be classic holoprograms which everyone remembers the way we remember Disney movies, so I thought it was nice that Harry and the captain as well as the senior Wildman had grown up with this one. All of Neelix's concerns about children on starships were given short shrift, which is too bad. The question of how Naomi would be raised in the event of her mother's death is very significant, and could have been tied into the issue of why there aren't more children on Voyager. In general I think this series should have more of the family feel it had this week - not just in terms of Samantha Wildman and her daughter, but Paris' understated, emotional farewell to Torres and Tuvok's reflecting on the children he has not seen in years. There were a couple of jarring moments. I laughed aloud when Paris said he never expected to suffocate in the middle of nowhere when last season he almost suffocated in deep space, and I'm still not clear what the away team was doing out in the ion storm in the first place, let alone how they could drop shields to beam the Flyer up. But overall I enjoyed this episode as much as any "Voyager" installment of the past couple of years. I don't, however, understand Paramount. They market Wednesday as MENSday and then they show a family story like this? Not that I'm complaining! The performances were nicely nuanced and the action and emotion were very well-balanced. Next week the series hits its 100th episode. We can only hope for consistency. - Em Wycedee As someone who was introduced to the wonders of Voyager and its crew through terrific fifth season episodes such as "Drone" and "Extreme Risk," I was rather disappointed by "Once Upon A Time," which, despite some interesting scenes, was definitely a cut below the aforementioned episodes. If "Once Upon A Time" had aired on the day I relented to my husband's four-year pleadings for me to watch Voyager with him, I wouldn't be the dedicated fan I am today. Where were the characters I loved? Who is Naomi Wildman, and why should I care about her holodeck fantasies? At one point I thought that maybe the "Treeman/(Trevis?)-looks-bad-but-is-really-okay" fantasy was related to Naomi's fear of Seven, and perhaps we'd see a bunch of interesting Naomi-Seven scenes. But that wasa false hope - at least for this episode. Maybe it is foreshadowing for the future. Anyway, I didn't see the point of the "Flotter-dies-but-gets-saved-by-clever-Naomi" fantasy, although perhaps by some stretch of the imagination it tied into the "Delta-Flyer-wrecks-but-gets-saved-by-clever-Janeway-and-crew" story line. Or maybe it was intended to show how resourceful Naomi is and by contrast how misguided Neelix was in trying to protect her so much. At any rate, it didn't do much for me. I thought the holodeck was ill-used and overused in this episode - unlike in "Extreme Risk," where it clearly illuminated the main storyline of B'Elanna's depression. Back to the question of who is Naomi Wildman. (An aside nit - how did a mere child have access to the bridge?) While she is cute and precocious, she just isn't a strong enough or complex enough character to warrant so much screen time and screen discussion time. Perhaps she served a purpose in helping us get to know Neelix better, but a little of Neelix goes a long way. I'd have preferred to see the Seven-Naomi relationship developed. I suppose a busy captain of a lost Starship wouldn't have that much time to spend with Naomi, but I'd have liked a scene with them. Naomi should be used to reveal meaningful things about the crew we love - and the fact that Ensign Kim and the Doctor feel sorry for Naomi's plight doesn't count - not featured in her own right. The Delta Flyer story line, in which the shuttle crash-landed on a planet under three kilometers of rock with Naomi's mother, Tuvok, and Paris, was unconvincing. There was never any real tension or any question of how they would be rescued. I wasn't 100 percent sure Naomi's mother would live, but in some perverse way, I thought it would have been more interesting if she hadn't. I did enjoy several scenes - Naomi and Seven's short conversation, the Naomi and Doctor scene, Tuvok's words of comfort to Ensign Wildman, and all scenes with Captain Janeway. It was interesting to see the gentle, compassionate way Janeway treated Neelix - even though he snapped at her on the bridge and yelled at her in the ready room. I guess she was confident enough in her authority to let Neelix air his grievance without demanding he do so in a more respectful way. Or perhaps she was so attuned to his grief that his method of self-expression didn't faze her. But this was quite a contrast to the rather intense Janeway who snapped at Seven in "In the Flesh": "You picked a lousy time for an ethical debate. The weapons array. NOW." I suppose Janeway really couldn't have taken Seven into her ready room for a heart-to-heart on why Species 8472 deserves compassion right before a big showdown, but Janeway does seem to have more patience with Neelix than Seven. Also, if Janeway planned to change her mind about Neelix deciding what and how much to reveal to Naomi about her mother, I think she should explicitly give a reason, such as, "Have you considered, Neelix, how Naomi might feel when she learns you've hidden the truth from her?" While I of course give Janeway the benefit of the doubt, others might find it arbitrary and capricious. Overall, this episode had the potential to be interesting, but didn't live up to that potential. The pace was WAY too slow. Not that every episode needs to be action packed! But if a show is going to go easy on the action, then it should compensate by giving us lots of insight into the personalities of or the relationships between the characters we love, or by raising interesting ethical or philosophical questions. "Once Upon a Time" didn't really do this. On a scale of 10 I'd give this episode a 3. - A. Goodhart Naomi Wildman returns! The long-lost child of Voyager finally reappears just when I thought she had contracted Star Trek's invisible character disease and, like Lt. Carey, had quietly disappeared into that big, black void filled with underutilized characters and lost socks. Due to her accelerated Katarian growth rate, Naomi is a much more versatile character at this point than she would be if she were entirely human. She's what? 4 years old? And already learning about mitochondria and cell structures. I wouldn't believe that she could understand such complex studies at her age, but I recall a boy near the age of 9 complaining about having to learn calculus on "The Next Generation," so due to precedent, I guess I can accept that our future kids are as technologically advanced as our future adults. At any rate, I was fascinated by her personality and what they chose to do with it. Samantha Wildman was right when she said Naomi was a smart kid; she's able to think for herself, create solutions and solve problems, yet still enjoy stuffed animals and fairy tale holonovels. She sets her ambitions high, opting for a position as the captain's assistant (what kid wouldn't want to be at the very top?), but she's childish enough to create an imaginary threat in the form of "the Borg lady," Seven of Nine. Where there is no intrigue, a child will make one up. She complains about school, like any kid, and likes to be the one in charge in her holonovel. In short, she's exactly what you'd expect a kid on a starship to be like. I look forward to seeing more of young Naomi Wildman, assistant captain and explorer of the unknown. As much as this episode highlights Naomi's character, it's also about Neelix and his fears. Neelix shines in several scenes, most notably the ones where he loses his cool and yells at Captain Janeway. (It's good to see that Chakotay's not the only person who's capable of that.) His desire to protect Naomi is realistic, especially considering his own family history, and even when he's so protective that he's overbearing, he never lets those emotions interfere with his relationship with Naomi. Instead they interfere with how he relates to everybody else, and that's what creates most of the drama in this episode. Because he knows what's at stake for Naomi, the loss potential in her situation, he lets his fear cloud his better judgment. He loses his cool with Ensign Kim, then really lets it rip with Janeway. Janeway's compassionate nature responds to Neelix's indiscretions (I knew she had it in her!) and that scene in her ready room is one of the best in the episode. She turns an emotionally explosive situation into a learning experience and a moment of real connection between two characters. This is the captain that I love! She could just as easily have pulled rank and ordered Neelix to bury his fears until a more convenient time and do his duty by telling Naomi that her mother might be dead. She reacted in this haughty, Starfleet manner with B'Elanna in "Extreme Risk," and I half expected to see it again in this episode. The fact that it didn't happen makes for good story-telling. Of course, neither the captain nor Neelix quite anticipates the magnitude of Naomi's precocious nature. When nobody will explain what's happening, Naomi takes things into her own hands and finds out. No, I don't think a child would have access to the bridge, especially during a crisis, but at the same time, it was nice to see her there. Realistically, Voyager should have more children on board by this time, and on such a small ship, the lines surrounding child-safe areas would start to blur, as would the roles of Starfleet officer and parent. This episode focuses on several themes that Voyager has all but ignored so far, and I hope we see further development of the family issues that they should all be struggling with as their journey home moves from the "maybe we'll find a wormhole tomorrow" stage to acceptance of their life in the Delta Quadrant. Quote of the episode: "I am Borg." - Naomi Wildman - Linda Bindner My favorite part of this episode was the continuity. I like seeing the Wildmans just because of the connection they represent. I like the idea of the Flotter and Trevis stories, to me the futuristic Dr. Seuss stories. I thought it neat that parents can pass them down to children, just like parents do now with books. Of course, I assume that this is what would happen. I can't figure out another reason why Flotter and Trevis would recognize Samantha and remember her as a child. The story that was there - the Delta Flyer getting trapped, Neelix coming to terms with his past which he allowed to affect his present - was handled pretty shallowly. Nothing was said or accomplished that would be really missed if not revisited. As a result, I couldn't quite get a focus on whether or not there was supposed to be a story. Once again, as in previous weeks, the episode contained some great scenes, a collection of little things. But, once again, those great scenes didn't really link themselves to form a tapestry. The scene with Naomi and Seven of Nine was cute, as was Naomi's tutoring session with the Doctor (it brought back memories of my year with Ms. Moffa). I loved Tuvok's speech to Samantha to comfort her about leaving her daughter orphaned. My heart sighed at Paris' final message to Torres. And Philips and Mulgrew made Neelix' and Janeway's "verbal altercation" in her office awesome to watch. Having Chakotay, Torres, and Kim run around trying to find the trio both on the ship and within the planetoid at least gave them something to do. Kim (because I don't see Chakotay's dad and Torres' mom having much to do with Flotter & Trevis) was the only one who caught my attention, even a bit. Any other crewman, besides the executive officer and the chief engineer, could have operated those phaser drills. I don't usually complain about Hair & Makeup, but I wish that Mulgrew had let them continue to use the wigs (second season's modified bun being my favorite - although I did like third season's ponytail). The show's staff doesn't seem to know what to do with her hair now that it has a year's growth on it, and with hair that is occasionally unmanageable. I can usually care less about it, but her "Dorothy-like locks" are distracting, and the lack of grooming is quite unattractive. - Rhonda E. Green TIMELESS Nielsen rating: 4.3 "Timeless" has the distinction of being Voyager's 100th episode, one which deserves a place in the Trek Hall of Fame. LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge) returns to the director's chair and plays a bit part as Captain LaForge, captain of a Galaxy class vessel. A faceless actress plays Chakotay's latest love toy, gratuitous and no real substitute for a very dead Captain Janeway. Before anyone panics, remember that most of this episode takes place 15 years in the future. The premise: Voyager is monkeying around with that experimental slipstream technology and ends up careening into a death spiral and crashing spectacularly on an ice planet (does Hoth from Star Wars come to mind?). The Delta Flyer, which is riding the wave created by the slipstream tunnel, returns its pilots (Chakotay and Kim) to the Alpha Quadrant. Starfleet gives up the search for Voyager after six years, and the gauntlet is taken up by our two heroes, who end up resigning their commissions. Fifteen years after the crash, they finally locate Voyager. Great special effects and wonderful character moments abound throughout this episode. For instance, did anyone ever think they'd see Seven get inebriated? And how about that romantic dinner with Janeway and Chakotay? I'm long past getting my hopes up for a J/C pairing, but it still made my heart beat a little faster when Kathryn laid her hand on Chakotay's cheek and mentioned something about home cooking. As a matter of fact, Janeway's warmth suffused any number of scenes, but none more so than that final scene with Harry Kim. If you go back to the very early episodes, you'll remember that Janeway held a special place in her heart for Mr. Kim. I'm glad that the writers have finally remembered this, and I hope they continue to write Janeway this way. Her return to form almost makes up for last year's character assassination. And what about Harry Kim? Boy, did I like his older incarnation. The cardboard standup of yore was replaced by a tough, unflinchingly honest man whose greenhorn ways were long forgotten. Garrett Wang chewed through scene after scene with amazing dexterity, and I have to applaud his performance. Not only that, but for the first time in a long time, somebody reanimated dead matter and brought Robert Beltran back to life. I don't know if the meaty role or the bimbo of the week or the return of his gray hair did the trick, but hell, there was definitely a spring in his step. Harry and Chakotay make a great team, and both actors were served well by this script. I especially liked Harry's comments to the EMH about Chakotay having sex with Tessa (Christine Harnos). Tessa was far too young for Chakotay and was only there to "sex up" the show. Her one redeeming feature is that she had the good grace to recognize that Chakotay's heart remained bound to Voyager and Captain Janeway. You can't have one without the other, can you? Janeway is as much a part of that hull as any steel cross-beam and her heart and soul are permanently linked to her Intrepid class vessel. Tessa could have been replaced by any capable crewmember and no one would have blinked an eye. The crash scene was worthy of the big screen and reminded me strongly of the crash scene in "Star Trek: Generations." The resemblance to a TNG episode was also cemented by the presence of Geordi LaForge. Did anyone wonder why he was captain of a Galaxy class vessel? If we accept that we're 15 years in the future, then shouldn't that class of ship be relegated to the graveyard? A Galaxy class ship is hardly on a par with the Prometheus. In fact, my husband commented that they usually assign aging vessels to captains who aren't so well regarded. In any case, despite the time-traveling plot device and Chakotay's little love slave, "Timeless" worked on a lot of levels. The "Voyager" writing team and Foundation Imaging did a bang-up job and have a lot to be proud of. If season five continues in this vein, then I have the utmost confidence that Voyager will finally dodge its Gilligan syndrome. - Elizabeth Klisiewicz This was a great episode! I just loved it. Even though the previews and TV Guide summaries gave the basic plot away - Voyager crashes, Ensign Kim and Chakotay survive and successfully go back in time to prevent the catastrophe - it was still suspenseful, with terrific surprises and, for the most part, wonderful character development. Garrett Wang gave an outstanding performance as Harry Kim (and the make-up people did a great job of aging him). He was utterly convincing as an embittered, haunted man. I really enjoyed the scene with the Doctor and Harry, when Harry messes up his phase variance calibrations and nearly disintegrates with the guilt and pain. It was so plausible, so easy to grasp how his mistake could transform him into the desperate, angry rebel we saw in the show. Chakotay, by contrast, was more of an enigma. He seemed to lack passion about changing the past, he didn't react (at least on screen) when he saw his dead crewmates, and he didn't seem to have any sense of responsibility for the accident. Okay, I'll concede that he did have a lovely, incredibly selfless girlfriend and he explicitly stated he was uncertain about going back. And maybe he was so focused on his mission to find Seven that he didn't have time for sobbing over Janeway. And finally, he did make a half-hearted effort to discourage the captain from using the slipstream drive. But I still think Chakotay was too dispassionate, and not very strongly drawn, especially at dinner with the captain. He so easily rolled over after he raised his reservations to her. He could have been more assertive, maybe even yelled at her for being reckless with the crew's lives. And during their reconciliation scene, he could have confessed his reluctance to leave the Delta quadrant because she wouldn't be in his life - oops, I digress, and I'm not even a J/Cer! But who could miss those very fond looks he gave Janeway during the celebration? Well, maybe Chakotay was supposed to be an enigma. Or maybe he was supposed to be emotionally wiped out by the catastrophe, although I'd question how he landed such an amazing girlfriend as an emotional zombie. At any rate, this is a relatively minor issue, because "Timeless" is really Harry's story. Scenes with Captain Janeway always interest me (Powers That Be take note!!!). I just love Janeway. The scene on the bridge when the crew was trying to deal with phase variances was great, Janeway was strong and decisive and quick-thinking as she fired off orders to try to save the ship, yet it was clear she fully recognized that her crew's lives were at stake. Kate Mulgrew played the scene beautifully and believably. Actually the whole crew did a good job here. Paris really seemed to be trying to keep his panic under control as he simultaneously tried to execute Janeway's commands and give her status reports. At other times, I am just astounded by the way the crew can stare death in the face and remain cool and calm. Like that scene on the Delta Flyer in "Extreme Risk" when B'Elanna is trying to prevent a hull breach, no one seems the least bit anxious that if she fails, they DIE. I suppose this is Starfleet valor and courage, but it strains credibility sometimes. Anyway, on to the Janeway-Chakotay dinner. I didn't quite get this. Was it intended to give Chakotay a chance to express his reservations about the trip home? I've expressed my views on how weakly he did that. Was it intended to satisfy J/Cers? But what were J/Cers supposed to make of it? Do J/Cers like all this subtext stuff? The way Janeway walked around the table and invaded Chakotay's personal space to ask if he was up for taking another "risk," I swear I thought she was going to grab him and kiss him even though it would have been so very out of character. And the way she touched his cheek - what was that supposed to convey? No matter, I still loved this scene in spite of how baffled I was. I'm sure Janeway knew what she was doing, even if I didn't! And it was fun to see Janeway in a social setting, joking about her cooking, being a gracious hostess, etc. Taken in its entirety, this episode was tightly woven. Flashbacks were effectively integrated with the main story of Kim's redemption. The fact that Kim and Chakotay were Federation rebels and thieves provided a nice level of conflict and tension. It gave Kim one chance to get his "fix history" crusade right, or it was off to jail. Then the stakes were raised - he had another chance to get it right, or it was off to a fiery death. And he got it! Yes!! So it was off to the past, to a Voyager that was 10 years closer to home. The best thing about the episode was the wrap-up. I loved the scene when the captain and crew learn that Harry didn't send Seven the new phase corrections through her cranial implant. That in and of itself would have been a good ending - to have them all wonder what the heck happened. But it got even better! Harry realized that he sent the wrong corrections and the ship would have been destroyed, had Seven not received new corrections. Then came the best revelation (and excellent acting by Mulgrew and Wang) - the captain told Harry he did in fact send Seven the corrections - from another TIME. He came through for them, somehow, somewhere, some way. And she left him with a message from himself, in the future, which we saw being filmed earlier. Sigh. I was a perfectly happy "Voyager" critic. That was such a satisfying conclusion, to have everyone know what happened even if they couldn't remember it. I would have felt so cheated if the clock had been completely reset and no one was the wiser. What fun would that have been, to have our crew go through such harrowing experiences without benefiting or learning from them at all? Well, I'd better conclude even though I haven't mentioned the other nice touches I enjoyed, such as the opening scene where we see an ice-encrusted Voyager, Seven being intoxicated, Tuvok's deadpanning "Mr. Neelix you are an unending source of astonishment," and the Doctor's overall performance. This episode was great - it had conflict, tension, character development, a strong plot, good acting, and an outstanding wrap-up. I'd give it a 10 but I'm new to "Voyager" and I need to give myself room in case TPTB come up with something even better. Besides, I had Chakotay nits. So I'm giving it an enthusiastic 9.0. - A. Goodhart This is the best episode Voyager has done in ages, and a fitting way for the series to celebrate its 100th episode. Garrett Wang hasn't given a performance this good since third season's "The Chute," and Robert Beltran actually looked alive for a change. He had no chemistry with his latest love interest, but that's getting to be typical, and I was perversely pleased by the suggestion that he left his heart in Janeway's quarters the night before she died. What was that all about, anyway - flowers, candlelight, music, her cooking for him and stroking his cheek? If I didn't know any better, I'd think her rush to get home had something to do with wanting to be alone at last with her first officer. Not that that would bother me. She's taken enough reckless risks for aliens - whether she took this one because she thought it was best for the crew or just because she's had it with being in the Delta Quadrant, it was a good risk, the kind Kirk would have taken. Of course for Kirk it probably would have paid off, but that's the difference between Classic Trek and this lost-in-space successor. If Harry had studied how Data sent himself a message to stop the Enterprise-D from blowing up in the future, he might have saved himself some time, too. Why rip off a plot device when they could have made it precedent, especially with the TNG tie-in already? This episode had a wonderful, morbid feel which almost but not quite made up for the flagrant temporal violation committed by Kim and Chakotay - I got very creeped out at the sight of Seven's eyeball in the Doctor's hands. Still, I could not help screaming at their actions; as LaForge pointed out, he might be tempted to do something similar to eradicate a timeline in which people he loved had died, but that doesn't justify altering the rest of the universe. We really needed to know that something AWFUL happened because Voyager never made it home, yet what we found out was that Starfleet seemed to be just fine. We didn't hear about any wars or any scary consequences of the stolen Borg temporal transmitter, which I'd think LaForge would have told Chakotay about right away. I don't like the depths of the denial of death on Trek series - bringing Spock back, keeping Tasha around, having Janeway un-die repeatedly just makes each death have less and less impact. And I really don't like the selfishness with which people decide to rewrite history for thousands. What if Voyager brought a deadly Ramoran disease back to Earth with them? Maybe everyone was better off dead. That's a philosophical quarrel, though. Really, I have no other criticisms. The directing was superb, with fantastic visuals of the ice planet and Voyager's crash, and the back-and-forth between the timelines was extremely well-paced. Chakotay's love interest was gratuitous, but otherwise this was a tight show with some twisted humor from the Doctor and rather nice crew bonding scenes which did not fall victim to the reset button. Let us hope the good parts start a trend, while the existential mucking doesn't. - Em Wycedee The first time I watched this episode, I didn't like it. Who wants to watch a whole bunch of people they care about crash into a glacier and die? It's unpleasant. The second time I watched it, I liked it a lot better, which just goes to show you that life is a lot easier to take when you know what's coming. I bet Harry Kim would agree completely! But then, not knowing is the point. We can only go through life using our best guesses and hope it all comes out right in the end. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't. By the end of this particular adventure, Harry knows what it's like to live both scenarios, one consumed with guilt, and one consumed with half guilt and half confusion. In fact, Harry's guilt is the force behind this episode, just as Janeway's guilt gave focus to her character in "Night." I have to think that Harry's guilt is worse. Janeway just consigned the crew to a life in the Delta Quadrant - but Harry killed them all. That must have been a horrible burden to carry for fifteen years. Even the amount of guilt he's suffering at the end, when everything turned out OK, is considerable. That scene in the mess hall between Janeway and Harry is beautiful. He is so sickened and angry with himself, and she is so forgiving and gentle with him, much more so than she ever is with herself. It's as if she knows what he's going through and feeling. She probably does. (One would think they're both Galaxy Catholic.) As both of these characters know, guilt is one of the most damaging emotions to suffer long term - it's affected Janeway's character to such a degree that I occasionally think she's becoming the Captain Ahab of the Delta Quadrant. Just as Ahab is obsessed with killing Moby Dick, Janeway is obsessed with getting the crew home. That obsession encourages her to make faulty command decisions, decisions she is so insecure about that she must have constant verbal reminders of Chakotay's support. Her decision to use the quantum slipsteam drive despite the obvious risks killed the crew as surely as Harry's miscalculation. I'm not sure I buy such a plot manipulation, but if she had chosen to postpone the flight, we never would have gotten to see that incredible, wrenching moment as Voyager careens into that icy planet, ripping off portions of the nacelle and killing everybody on board on impact. Man, that was cool! Horrible, but very cool. Chakotay and the doctor seem to be the only crewmembers who keep their heads during this episode. The fact that the future Chakotay has managed to move on in his life to some degree is perfectly consistent for him. He was never one to moan about the past. His heart may belong to Voyager, but there's always enough left over for him to give a portion of it to someone else. His ability to turn something bad into something good always impresses me. I'm glad that he hooked up with this Tessa person. Not only did it show his character's sense of balance, but it gave him someone to share the experience with. The way Tessa played off his reactions allowed the audience to experience his emotions without the need for him to voice his feelings. The looks he gives her and the way he treats her attests to a much deeper relationship than the base, sexual fling that Kim says they are sharing. It was obvious that he cared about her, and the fact that he was willing to sacrifice that bond illustrates the strength of his bond to Voyager. That was very well done. There are many other aspects of "Timeless" that I thought were equally as strong: Seven getting drunk; the many allusions of Voyager's plight to the Titanic's (right down to B'Elanna "launching" the slipstream drive with a bottle of champagne amid a rain of confetti); the wonderful irony that Harry's future calculations don't save the ship, just as Chakotay's time-fix attempts didn't work in "Year of Hell." (You can't fix time, only re-work it). However, I think the most hopeful moment came during Janeway's voice-over at the end. She laments the dismantling of the new drive system, but admits, "It no longer seems a question of if we get home, but when." Maybe this is Janeway's turning point as a character, a place where she can finally let go of that guilt and move forward at last. Perhaps she has a "renewed sense of momentum" in life as well as the crew does for reaching home. We can only hope, and wait, and see. Quotes of the episode: "Boom. They were knocked out of the slipstream and sent to an icy death - thank you, Ensign Kim." - a very bitter future Harry Kim. "To aid an honorable thief or to spend eternity in cybernetic oblivion... let's tempt fate." - the Doctor, a hologram of infinite finesse. - Linda Bindner This episode did have a story, in addition to having the usual memorable moments and scenes. It's just that the story had so many problems. I expected more from a network Trek's 100th episode. I'm going to ignore the obvious questions: If Harry could send a message back through time, why not have a longer lead time than four minutes? If Harry has been working on this for nine years, why wasn't he able to tell Voyager the correct phase variance connection? Why wasn't he able to tell them the exact way to get home - the way he and the Challenger got there - instead of using those phase variances things? Instead, I'll talk about the good moments. I liked seeing a drunk Seven of Nine. I thought that that idea was very cute and it was handled nicely. The party in engineering was cool to see as were Janeway's and Chakotay's exchanges. I liked FutureKim's mature cynicism when placed against the Doctor's unchanged personality. I liked the fact it was Paris who discovered that there was a problem with the slipstream drive - not the hotshot chief engineer, not the all-knowing Borg, not their protégé, Harry, but instead the partying, 20th century-loving pilot. Let's go back to Harry for a bit. Yes, I thought that having him have a crush on Seven of Nine was predictable, but I found their working relationship very interesting and fun to watch. What is this? Harry can't have a workmate? Remember Torres? Personally, I was surprised to see Tom and Harry hanging out in "Night." Tsk. File this topic along with the forgotten Janeway and Tuvok friendship. I'm not even a fan of Tuvok, but I would love to see something, anything! Oh, wait a minute, according to hearsay from the show's outline, Janeway doesn't have close friends. She's a loner. I guess the only relationship worth exploring is that between Janeway and Seven of Nine as exasperated mother and headstrong daughter. The visual effects were excellent, but I wouldn't expect any less from a Star Trek series, seeing as how they are what Trek is known for, if the "Star Trek: Insurrection"commercial is to be believed. I see that Geordi wanted to command a ship so badly, he took one out of the clunker pile. Couldn't they have given him a newer ship? If not a newer class, then maybe an Intrepid- or Defiant-class? Would that have been that difficult? Because I like the character, I was almost ashamed at my thrill at seeing Seven of Nine's frozen carcass littering the deck of the Voyager. Later, though, I felt justified with my annoyance at having the answer to the problem lie in using the deceased Seven of Nine in the present to contact Seven of Nine in the past because only she had the useful cranial implant. How convenient. This whole situation just stinks with the Wesley Crusher wunderkind aroma. It solved a bunch of problems by having Seven of Nine take Kim's place at the ops console outright, but didn't Chakotay schedule other crewmen to take Kim's place in the event of his absence? I realize that she, because of her past, knows a lot about a lot; and, I realize that Voyager is understaffed. But this treatment of her is hardly fair to the crewmen who have spent the past years being of use to the survival of the crew. Whatever happened to her manning astrometrics? Wasn't that lab her idea? I had a problem with Janeway in this episode. Unless they plan on using this at a later date, which I doubt, I find Janeway's recklessness distressing. I would have thought that discussion of the slipstream flight would have ended upon Kim and Paris' report about the 23 simulations, benamite crystal degradation or not. - Rhonda E. Green WOW! "Timeless" was - timeless! As the 100th episode of Voyager, it came through wonderfully with emotion, drama, action, and suspense. The special effects were an excellent bonus to make it even better. I felt for the characters greatly, especially the older Harry Kim. It was heartbreaking and sad to see Voyager buried under ice and the long dead crew (Janeway, etc.) frozen in preservation forever. I was right there with Harry and Chakotay as they walked through the frozen ship seeing the pain in their faces, which reflected their souls. Even back on the Delta Flyer, with the revived Doctor, Kim's enormous guilt surfaced with heart-gripping lighting as he told the tragic tale. With fine acting and emotional suspense, this was Garrett Wang's (Harry Kim) hour to shine and he came through in spades! Holes in the plot? None in sight. Dull moments? The entire hour flew by with eyes open and me sitting on the edge of my seat. The story was greatly written, panning between the past and future beautifully. The writers had done a remarkable job. The special effects? Top notch! The scenes were done superbly down to the details - the slipstream flight, Voyager's crash on the ice planet, the teaser showing Voyager buried under the ice, etc. Great credit goes to the studio for the freezing effect on the sets to film scenes of the elder Chakotay and Kim walking inside the frozen ship, seeing ice everywhere. Those scenes really gave me the chills in my deep in my heart. Brrrrrr! However, I can't shake the feeling that the story was just one giant excuse to get the ship and crew 10 years closer to home as seen at episode's end. The story made it look like the crew built the quantum slipstream drive without regard to testing it first in simulations as Tom Paris did. That also led me to think that Torres and/or Seven should have found the problem, not Tom, who is not an engineering wizard like the other two. I know the writers did this in order to provide an excuse to have Chakotay and Kim in the Delta Flyer, but the plot could've been done a tad better regarding the building of the slipstream drive. For example, the Flyer could have been needed for Voyager to go into slipstream and only during flight did they find the phase correction flaw, too late to prevent Voyager from losing control. In my opinion, this would've made the 'Plot toward disaster' scenes work better for the overall story. Despite this feeling, I still think "Timeless" belongs in the Top Five Best Voyager episodes list. Which rank is still in question, but I know it belongs there. -George Padovan INFINITE REGRESS Nielsen rating: 3.3 Score two for two on Borg episodes this season. There were a lot of little internal inconsistencies in here (assimilated Krenim, assimilated Ferengi, assimilated human children - Seven could not have been everywhere in the galaxy in her short life even with transwarp drive), but Jeri Ryan gave excellent performances as the various multiple personalities, and the Doctor and Tuvok were well-used. I got a huge kick out of Seven biting Torres, even if it was an obvious titillation ploy for the boyz in the audience, and I liked the little-girl persona even if I groaned inwardly at Naomi's "I want to be you, and then I want to be the captain" speeches. Didn't we get enough of the precious-kid thing with Wesley, Molly, etc.? The last thing Seven needs is hero-worship, and I REALLY hope someone explains to Naomi that she does NOT have to endeavor to have a body which can wear that catsuit, nor those heels which necessitate a runway walk. While I was impressed both by Seven's plight and by the scientific rationale for it - though a similar problem was used to greater effect in the excellent Pocket Books novel "Seven of Nine" from earlier this year - I didn't like the Doctor using the phrase "multiple personality disorder." Considering that he didn't appear to believe that either Janeway or Torres was suffering from depression earlier this season when they were both despondent, I'm surprised to learn he has any training in mental health at all. Also, given the lightness with which mental illness has been treated by this series, I really did NOT think it was funny for him to joke about an alien suffering from such a condition. I was therefore pleased that both Janeway and Tuvok ignored him completely when they elected to try a meld. The Doctor has objected to every meld Tuvok has ever proposed, and while the one in "Meld" in fact had unforeseen consequences, the ones in "Ex Post Facto" and "Flashback" turned out to be life-savers. One meld a season is about all that's plausible, so this device from Classic Trek has actually been used really well by this series. It was very odd that Janeway told Chakotay - on the bridge, not even in private - that she was willing to give up on Seven so quickly. Chakotay didn't give up on Seven or Kathryn nearly as fast, which was nice to see given his general level of apathy this season. Torres came across as smart and competent in her limited scenes here, and I VERY much like the new aliens. I suspect that both they and their weapon may recur later this season when the Borg return for a sweeps two-parter, though it was bizarre that Janeway let them keep a weapon designed to destroy the Collective one ship at a time, after Picard rejected a similar plan on TNG. On the other hand, Picard was not lost in the Delta Quadrant and this was an indigenous weapon, so the Prime Directive might have dictated noninterference even if Voyager got there first. Obviously I'm still thinking about this episode, which speaks very well of the ideas it generated. It probably got eaten alive in the ratings, being aired the night before Thanksgiving. I don't understand why "Once Upon a Time" showed up in mid-November and this gem got buried. - Em Wycedee Voyager encounters a malfunctioning vinculum within the wreck of a Borg cube, and as a result, Seven erratically exhibits the personalities of those the Borg assimilated, endangering her 1-year-old sense of self. To save Seven, Voyager must take the vinculum off-line. As a plot complication, unfriendly aliens threaten to destroy Voyager unless the vinculum is immediately returned to them, as they have infected it with a virus they created to destroy Borg cubes. In a B story line, Naomi and Seven bond. The malfunctions in Seven's Borg nature allowed many facets of Seven's human nature to manifest themselves more readily. Seven experienced the fear of losing her individuality; the horror and pain of the assimilated voices in her head; vulnerability and powerlessness in spite of her Borgness; heartfelt gratitude to the Doctor, Janeway, and the crew; growing affection for winsome Naomi; remorse and perhaps guilt for what the Doctor and the crew were going through to save her; and reliance on others to help her through her crisis. In addition to giving Jeri Ryan a chance to impress us with her acting versatility, Seven's metamorphosis into the various assimilated personalities provided nice glimpses of the crew and their relationships with Seven. B'Elanna angrily refused to take the Klingon Seven seriously until Seven bit her in an apparent mating ritual. But shortly thereafter, B'Elanna jokes with Seven about their second date, and does everything she can to disable the vinculum to help Seven. Naomi took the child Seven at face value and played games with her. When Naomi realized Seven was sick, she drew Seven a picture to cheer her up. Tuvok was all business rounding up child/Vulcan/Klingon Seven after she attacked B'Elanna, but was willing to put his sanity on the line to try to save Seven. The Doctor and Captain Janeway showed wonderment, compassion, and wariness as they tried to coax Ferengi Seven to sickbay. Whenever Seven was herself, they did an outstanding job of trying to comfort her and help her. One of my favorite scenes was when Seven admitted her pessimism and her fears to Janeway and said her courage was insufficient (to fight the surfacing voices and personalities). At this moment, Janeway kept her own doubts (which we would hear about later) completely at bay in order to be a source of strength for Seven. In a voice that practically WILLED Seven to be brave, she said, "Your job is to keep trying. To hold on, even when you think you can't. Leave the rest to me and the crew." And when they turned to meet each other's eyes, Janeway met Seven's fear and tried to subdue it. It was a very nice scene. Unfortunately, sheer willpower wasn't enough for Seven to fight off her emerging personalities, and her condition worsened. While B'Elanna worked furiously to try to neutralize the vinculum, the Doctor frantically told Janeway he doesn't know how to help Seven, he's tried everything medical science has to offer and can't stabilize, let alone find, her neural patterns. So Tuvok, at great personal risk to himself, volunteers to mind-meld with Seven to try to reach her within her internal chaos. The filming of this meld was rather cheesy, with its distorted lens and terrible Borg green lighting, but the idea was effective. Seven did hear Tuvok, and they called out to each other, so it's safe to assume that Tuvok bought Seven some additional time although he wasn't her sole savior. B'Elanna's engineering genius finally succeeded, the assimilated voices recede, and Seven is restored to Voyager. I was glad to see a lot of Janeway. I suppose some might say she was a bit indecisive, because there were at least three times that Janeway changed her mind about a course of action. But I view this as a good thing, that she was able to adapt her opinion and decisions accordingly when she received new data or faced new circumstances. For example, she was not happy about the idea of bringing the vinculum on board Voyager. "We're talking about the heart of a Borg cube. I'd rather not bring it into my ship." When Seven pointed out the less appealing alternative, she changed her mind. Her reluctance to allow Tuvok to meld with Seven was also overcome when she was assured it was the only alternative left. She also changed her mind fairly quickly from an adamant "Get rid of that vinculum the minute it poses a threat - the crew is my first priority," to risking the destruction of Voyager by refusing to turn the Vinculum over to the aliens until B'Elanna tried one more fix. This seemed credible because the benefits and risks had changed considerably - during the latter incident they were much closer to saving Seven, and the aliens weren't as much of a threat as the Borg. Janeway showed a bit of strain in actually second-guessing her decision to individualize Seven based on Seven's erratic behavior due to a malfunctioning vinculum, especially after Seven has been a valuable part of the crew for a year (saving their lives numerous times apparently), and has actually expressed an appreciation for her own humanity. But I guess this gave Chakotay another opportunity to be a supportive commander. The Doctor was great, as always. He adds so much to Voyager, with his acerbic wit, his immensely expressive face, and his controlled passion. He provides levity or intensity to a scene as needed, in a completely believable, in-character way. Naomi was a delight in this episode, as she didn't hog all of the screen time and her character was actually useful. She was a witness to Seven's personality change; she provided an engaging contrast to Seven's Borg efficiency, and her disarming honesty and admiration elicited a very human, affectionate response from Seven. I enjoyed this episode a lot, and I'm giving it an 8.5. - A. Goodhart Yawn! Another Seven of Nine episode! What is the world coming to anyway? Can't these writers think of anything more interesting than giving Seven multiple personality disorder? And why does Tuvok have to meld with her when the other crewmembers solve the vinculum problem at the 11th hour? Oh, I know those were cool, hallucinogenic effects as Tuvok searches the crowd for Seven, but they were totally unnecessary. Everyone knew that at the very end, they'd press the giant Trek reset button where all is forgotten and forgiven. Voyager fanatics who are reading this are no doubt saying, "Why does she bother reviewing the show? She obviously hates it." Well, guess what? Nothing could be further from the truth. If I didn't care about these characters, I wouldn't waste my time watching the show every week. In addition, I think season five is MUCH better than season f our, though that's not saying much when Brannon Braga is still in command. So, we don't have a terribly original plot, and they're victimizing one of the women AGAIN. First, it was Janeway, then Torres, and now it's Seven. Sigh! You can really tell that men are writing these scripts. I can almost see the thought bubbles as they sit there in their writers' meetings and plot out those many camera angles that focus on Seven's boobs. "Ooh, let's put her down on the biobed and shoot from the chest up. That'll be sure to please that all important male demographic." With all that said, I have to commend Jeri Ryan for an excellent performance. She was believable in every guise, and her Ferengi character was particularly amusing, especially when you consider her great height compared to the Ferengi general population. I also enjoyed the scenes with Naomi Wildman, who is currently one of the best written characters on the show. The technical aspects were a bit preposterous, and I wasn't entirely sure whether those personalities were part of the Borg vinculum or were embedded in Seven's psyche. I am guessing that the latter is true, since the EMH mentioned how they would always be with her. And let me say one last thing. Aren't they supposed to be out of Borg space? Yeah, I know, those transwarping dudes can travel wherever they want, but if Voyager keeps running into them at every turn, then what was the point of having Kes send them out of Borg space? I bet the Kazon are just over the horizon, and Voyager has been traveling on a giant Mobius strip. The only thing that remains to be seen is just how many Trek plots the Voyager boys can recycle before their audience dies of terminal boredom. Look forward to seeing the Borg queen in the near future! Never mind that she was killed off in "First Contact." Brannon plans to find some way to reanimate her in time for February sweeps. - Elizabeth Klisiewicz Seven of Nine comes into close proximity with a new piece of Borg technobabble and suddenly she's suffering the effects of multiple personality disorder, Borg style. Switching from personality to personality must have been quite a challenge for Jeri Ryan, especially since she probably hasn't had much experience with several of the races she portrayed: a stiff and stout Vulcan, a Klingon warrior in full warrior mode, and a Ferengi who was - well, very Ferengi. Seven's interpretation of the Ferengi may have been a bit too groveling and greedy, but it gave a nice sense of levity to an otherwise serious story line. What could have been another alien-takeover-of-a-crewmember's-body episode was instead a fascinating character study, and only cemented into my brain what I've known all along: Jeri Ryan is one hell of an actor. She makes the transition from personality to personality extremely well - each flip is fast, smooth, and wholly believable. My favorite personality was the little girl who played a game with Naomi Wildman. Jeri didn't oversimplify the young girl she was portraying, and she didn't make her overly sweet, either, a trap that many adults fall into when emulating children. The dynamics between Seven and Naomi were fun to watch in this episode. I find it interesting of Naomi to want to imitate the perfection of a person whom she slightly fears. However, a bond between these two characters is realistic: Naomi and Seven are both children in many aspects, particularly in their efforts to navigate the social and militaristic society of Voyager, which must be confusing at the best of times. It is only natural that they should learn from each other. I enjoyed several other aspects of this episode, most notably the mind meld sequence - it was perfectly chaotic and wild and horrifying, like watching a migraine headache - and I liked Janeway's character in this one. She was reassuring and protective and businesslike in handling Seven's dilemma. She didn't waste time on being overly sympathetic with Seven. She simply went with the flow of Seven's personality flips - the way she handled Seven's rendition of the Ferengi was excellent - and gave her a mission to occupy herself while captain and crew solved the actual problem. Janeway's bridge scene with Chakotay was nice; she voiced doubts about Seven of Nine, but didn't wallow in guilt as she has previously this season. She just looked weary, a very understandable reaction at this point. All in all, a good bit of Voyager entertainment. Quotes of the episode: "We haven't had the best of luck with the Borg." - Janeway "Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman." - Seven of Nine - Linda Bindner NOTHING HUMAN Nielsen rating: 4.1 Morals and ethics versus saving someone's life. Morals and ethics versus saving your own life. The needs of the many versus the rights of the one. These are the conundrums of the week, all blended nicely into an episode that probably kept most fans talking late into the night. The best part is that all these main conflicts don't even touch on the catalyst for everything: Janeway rather rashly beams a wounded alien that she doesn't know anything about onto Voyager, and this alien then attaches itself to B'Elanna, sucking the life out of her in order to keep itself alive. Since the doctor is no expert on exobiology, he decides to create a holographic assistant. Enter Crel Moset, the Cardassian version of the Nazis' Dr. Josef Mengele, and with his activation the debates begin. Crel is endearing and charming, making it that much harder to hate him when we find out he really is the "nastiest man who ever lived." I found it a bit too convenient that the doctor didn't have any problems working with a possible Dr. Jekyll until somebody else had a problem with Crel, making the following ethical dilemma come off as a tad contrived. The fact that it was so easy for the doctor and Harry to create Crel in the first place makes me wonder at the necessity of all those ethical debates. If they felt badly about using Crel's knowledge garnered by inhumane practices, why didn't they just create a hologram of the second-best exobiologist and use that doctor as a consultant? Plot points aside, the debates were interesting, though they were also moot, as all medical knowledge is based in some way on barbaric and questionable beginnings. B'Elanna's reaction to Crel brought up another hot topic - that of a patient's right to refuse treatment. B'Elanna's decision to refuse to let Crel treat her, inviting almost certain death, mystified me. I must have a stronger sense of survival than she does. However, she does have that right, and the intense argument between Chakotay and Paris in the conference room illustrates how controversial this issue is. I have to say that I sympathized with poor Tom; he was angry and afraid and fighting for B'Elanna's life as passionately as the doctor. The fact that he lashed out at Chakotay, getting in some of the best Maquis slams in years, is perfectly reasonable. It was the most realistic fight scene on Voyager in a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed it - three cheers for writer Jeri Taylor! Janeway's ultimate choice to allow Crel to treat Torres was also very realistic and within her character's personality. The thought of losing her chief engineer must have been a chilling one, yet the thought of facing that engineer afterwards must have been equally as chilling. It's the same kind of decision she was forced to make in "Tuvix," and it was no easier for her this time than it was then. To Janeway, the future needs of her crew outweighed B'Elanna's right to refuse help. It was the right decision, but as with most hard choices, it was not without consequences. That brings me to the final scene between Janeway and B'Elanna. Janeway was very strong throughout the episode, until this point. At a time when B'Elanna should be handled carefully, if nothing else, Janeway gets scared. She retreats to the safety of protocol, proclaiming that she's the captain and tough noogies if B'Elanna doesn't like her methods, and that the crew as a whole is more important than an individual member of that crew. It's not just what Janeway says, it's how she says it. If a superior treated me with that much contempt and condescension, I would seriously consider resigning as chief engineer. I would have a loooong talk with the ship's first officer at any rate! I don't see how B'Elanna can continue working for a captain who clearly has no respect for her. Where did this scene come from? This is not Jeri Taylor's writing style. She's known for wonderful moments of characterization, practically the only person who has contributed to any amount of believable character growth since Voyager premiered. So this scene is quite a puzzle; Janeway was uncharacteristically hostile. In "Extreme Risk" Janeway treated B'Elanna with the same undercurrent of hostility. Yet at the end of "Timeless," she treated Harry Kim with understanding and sympathy. Last week she at least took the opportunity to talk encouragingly to Seven of Nine. Now here she is with B'Elanna again, being the Captain Ahab of the Delta Quadrant. It doesn't make sense, but it certainly makes me wonder if this is not a contrived piece of some bigger story arc still to come that we're not yet aware of. B'Elanna and the Bajoran officer may be the first wave of dissatisfied crewmembers who have a bone to pick with Janeway's recent command performance. It may be the downfall of Janeway. On the other hand, I may be completely off my rocker. But it does make you wonder, doesn't it? Quote of the episode: "Ethics are arbitrary." - Crel Moset - Linda Bindner This was an absolutely brilliant episode, but it was on the wrong Trek series. On "Deep Space Nine," Dr. Bashir could have contacted an actual Cardassian doctor who had abused Bajorans to save Kira's life, thus making immediate and excruciating the dilemma of a Cardassian torturer treating a victim of the Occupation. But on "Voyager," I kept being bothered by the niggling question of why the Doctor made Crel look like a Cardassian in the first place - especially since they barely had enough energy to keep the program running. If he'd incorporated Crel's expertise - which was already in the Starfleet database, thus benefitting hundreds of Federation doctors - into a program wearing Dr. McCoy's face or no face at all, I doubt there would have been any ethical dilemma about using Crel's research. I rather like that the issue was muddied, but it made the ending seem somewhat sanctimonious. Crel Moset was taken seriously enough by Starfleet to have been invited to a conference where he suggested the use of isomolecular scanners. It's a good bet that his research has already "corrupted" Federation medicine. No one on Voyager suggested that the Bajorans should stop using his immorally-obtained cure to treat the devastating fostosa virus; no one asked the Doctor to please remove all information about that vaccine from the database. More importantly, this hologram is NOT Crel; it's a program based on a small subset of his work. It might have had his ruthlessness programmed in just as the Doctor has all the vicissitudes of his original, but those could have been removed without the entire program being destroyed. It's hard for me to fall for the all-or-nothing choices presented because so many gray areas already exist in this plot. The contrived circumstances in which the Maquis met the future version of the Nazis' Dr. Mengele seriously weakened the issues for me. That said, the issues themselves are compelling enough to have made this episode engaging, particularly with the long-dormant Maquis problems roaring to the surface. The scene in which Paris calls Chakotay a hypocrite as both a Starfleet officer and a member of the Maquis was a stunner, which I wish we'd gotten four seasons ago. It was a much-needed reminder that Chakotay was once a terrorist who undoubtedly committed atrocities Starfleet would have deplored, but now he's hiding behind Starfleet ethics to justify his own aversion to taking aid from a hated Cardassian. Chakotay vacillated quite a lot in this episode, but for once that was a logical character decision; he IS both Starfleet and Maquis, a reluctant terrorist with a deep and abiding hatred of Cardassians which warred with his affection for Torres. He both wanted to save her life and to obey her wishes, but couldn't do both. Paris was not nearly as conflicted. Though he is also both Maquis and Starfleet, and could have served as a reminder of their common prejudices, instead he kept his focus. His only priority was saving B'Elanna, to the extent that he barely even looked at the Cardassian when they were introduced, caring only about whether the hologram could help her. Paris and Torres had nice chemistry here despite her passivity. His jokes about rock and roll and his panic were both well-played, though I thought we needed a concluding scene between the two of them as well as the one between Torres and Janeway. I am trying to decide how I feel about the captain's decision-making processes, and coming up with ambivalence. One could argue, as Paris did, that she didn't believe Torres was in her right mind to be making such a decision. Certainly she wasn't strong enough for Janeway to have debated it with her, though I am disappointed she didn't at least try. I thought it was gutsy for her to follow her feelings and take full responsibility as she did with Tuvix, but I am again chagrined at how little independence her crewmembers seem to have over decisions affecting their own lives and deaths. Picard once let Worf choose to die. Is it standard procedure for military officers to be able to order medical procedures on unwilling patients? Could Janeway force a crewmember to have an abortion in order to stay functional for duty, or make an officer donate a kidney to save another? Her actions were just a hair too close to what Crel was accused of doing for me to be comfortable. Once again, too, she showed extreme compassion for an alien who attacked one of her crew, putting everyone at risk on a hunch. I'm glad her instinct is to help the aliens, but one day she, like the Doc, should sit down and assess her priorities. I did like the fact that Janeway did not venture a single opinion of her own on the ethics of using the hologram, though I thought perhaps she should have, especially in the end when she left its fate to the Doctor. With the exception of the Maquis, Janeway has more reason to hate the Cardassians than anyone on the ship. She has been tortured by them, and they were indirectly responsible for the deaths of her father and fiance. I'm a little annoyed that ALL the anti-Cardassian sentiment came from Maquis and Bajoran victims rather than from any Starfleet officers, who are surely as capable of gut-level prejudice as the Maquis. The fact that Tabor was portrayed as a hothead in the initial scene with Seven didn't make him particularly sympathetic later on, which is unfortunate. It's ironic that the title of this episode is "Nothing Human." Consider that Janeway forced her own human values on a half-Klingon Maquis and that the Doctor deleted a Cardassian hologram for "inhumane" behavior when, as Crel rightly pointed out, various human ailments from tuberculosis to smallpox to polio have been treated by injecting animals and people with the diseases in order to study them. Since we never saw firsthand the horrors Tabor described and we had very little corroborating evidence, it was all too easy to assume that the hologram really was not identical to the monster upon which he was based, despite his willingness to let the cytoplasmic alien suffer and die. This willingness was shared by Paris and much of the crew when the creature first attacked Torres and they pulled their phasers. I'd think there would be some sort of regulation against punishing offspring for the crimes of their parents, which in a sense is what this is about. Crel's values were radically different from those of most of the officers on Voyager, but tell me the Klingons and even the Maquis don't have similar barbarism in their recent pasts? We have seen the genocidal Jetrel forgiven on this series. Where does Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations leave us now? - Em Wycedee This was a good episode, although definitely not a "feel good" episode. Quick summary: A wounded alien uses B'Elanna as a life preserver. A hologram based on a Cardassian surgeon who committed wartime atrocities in order to advance medical science is used to save both B'Elanna's and the alien's life, in spite of the fact that B'Elanna expressed her ardent opposition to benefiting in any way, shape or form from the Cardassian's medical knowledge. This morality tale was nicely paced, and raised a number of thought-provoking questions. How wrong is it to use knowledge gained from immoral sources? Was the captain right to disobey B'Elanna's wishes? Was the Doctor right to destroy the Cardassian surgeon's programs? To answer the easiest - for me - question first, the doctor was right to delete the Cardassian's program in the context of Voyager. It would have been far more trouble than it was worth to keep that program in the files. But was it really so horrific to use the Cardassian's knowledge to save B'Elanna and the alien? I'm just not sure. And when I try to make up my mind, I just come up with more questions. If the Cardassian had been severely punished for his crimes, instead of becoming famous, would that somehow make using the knowledge less objectionable? And how far down does moral culpability extend? The students at the Cardassian's school are benefiting from his expertise and knowledge, building on it perhaps, and may go on to make very important contributions. Should those contributions be tainted by the Cardassian's crimes? To go one step further, every single person who took that vaccine benefited from the Cardassian's immoral methods. Were they morally culpable, were they wrong to take a vaccine with such an ignoble background? And what about us? If we think Janeway and Paris were so wrong, do we have any idea how much of our own medical knowledge was gleaned from unethical methods? In this enlightened century, there have been reports of reprehensible experiments on blacks, the mentally ill, prisoners of war and Jews which may have yielded some fruit from which we benefit without knowing - or taking the time to know - the source of that knowledge. Another question: whose ethics should carry the day? There are people who believe that experiments on animals - from lowly rats to highly intelligent chimps or at some other point in the food chain - are unethical. Some people think that experiments on people who consent to them in exchange for financial compensation are immoral. And human embryo research is deeply troubling to many, as is research on aborted fetuses. And if we are troubled by unethical medical knowledge, are we hypocritical if we fail to look at the origins of ALL knowledge - or wealth, or power? I seem to remember that Mother Teresa was criticized for accepting millions from some rich sinner. And America's present prosperity has some of its roots in - well, brutal imperialism and slavery. But I digress. The point is, as the Cardassian surgeon Crel noted, we all draw lines somewhere, and sometimes those lines do shift - rightly or wrongly - based on extenuating circumstances. Most of us could probably be hard pressed to defend our line faced with a creative hypothetical. Having said this, in no way do I think it an exercise in futility to draw lines. In fact, it is imperative that we draw distinctions between the acceptable and unacceptable, and think about those distinctions, and engage in healthy discourse about them, because nothing is more horrific than a widespread complacency that says "anything goes." One question I haven't gotten to yet in my little rant is the question of whether the captain was right to disobey B'Elanna's wishes. Janeway values her crew above all else. She feels acutely responsible for them, she got them lost and she wants to bring them ALL home. Even if she has to use ethically debatable means. Even if her senior officers disagree with her. Even if she has to face undesirable consequences. Janeway said as much in the staff meeting. This came through clearly in her conversation with B'Elanna: "I hope you can understand why I went against your wishes-losing you was unacceptable-you're my crewman, I did what I thought was best." But Janeway was clearly troubled, I think, by her decision, and this influenced the tone of her conversation with B'Elanna, which, I have to admit, I didn't really like at first. I was expecting sensitivity such as that shown to Neelix in "Once Upon a Time," or warmth and wisdom such as she imparted to Harry Kim in "Timeless." Instead she was so stern! But this would have been a difficult conversation for Janeway to have, given her inner turmoil per her anguished expression after the staff meeting. Janeway probably didn't want to approach B'Elanna in a more open-ended fashion, i.e., "I know you're angry. Would you like to talk about it?" She didn't want be stuck defending the morality of her disturbing choice. This would have been challenging for her, to say the least, given that she basically agreed with Chakotay and Tuvok. However, she also thought that Paris was right. Fundamentally, Janeway is a captain who doesn't want to lose a crewman, a surrogate guardian who doesn't want to lose her charge. She really couldn't have made any other decision; it was instinctive, like breathing. And because her decision was based on instinct, not logic, her best defense against an extremely difficult and emotional scene with B'Elanna was to avoid a debate on the ethics and pull rank - "I'm the captain-" to justify her choice. On the other hand, while Janeway may have avoided an unpleasant scene, she didn't really help B'Elanna any, which was the purported purpose of her visit. My rationalizations not withstanding, I'd still have preferred to see a less defensive approach from Janeway. She certainly didn't need to add her curt little "Understood?" comment after she said "We need to put this matter behind us." This changed the whole tenor of their encounter from one of concern to one of control. And she needn't have responded in the affirmative to B'Elanna's "Is that an order?" She could have made the same point by saying, "I'm ordering/asking you to TRY." Even though Janeway explicitly stated that she accepted the consequences of her decision, she sought to avoid some of those consequences by demanding that B'Elanna get over it quickly. Well, I do have a life and a family to feed, so enough obsessing about my beloved Voyager and Janeway for now. I liked this episode and it gave me a lot of food for thought, but its just not going to find its way into my VCR as much as other episodes (and my ratings aren't about logic - they're about instinct!), so I'm giving it a solid 7.0. - A. Goodhart B'Elanna, the other Maquis and the Starfleeters are all hypocrites. If they think that their Federation medical database contains no knowledge that came directly or indirectly as a result of unethical experimentation and research on humans, then they're historical ignoramuses. I applaud Jeri Taylor for her good intentions and the episode was a strong one in a lot of ways. I do agree with Siubhan and others about the lapses in science and logic regarding the holodeck; none of that made any sense to me. But Taylor, like most folks, seems to think the good guys ("us") are pure. If I were Janeway, I would've shouted to B'Elanna: "Ok, sweetie, you don't want to be saved because of this unethical research. Fine, we'll just deny you any future medical treatment because you never know where it came from. And we'll have to check up on any past medical treatment you've had and maybe undo it because you probably benefitted from some unethical research. So get off your high horse and do some serious self-examination about your own history of violence and atrocities." Not to mention Siubhan's excellent point about the convenient dismissal about animal research. (Sorry, I've never bought the sentience-means-better argument). I DESPISE MORAL HYPOCRISY and B'Elanna was thoroughly contemptible in this episode. Of everyone, I thought Tom came off the best in this episode. He was absolutely correct, the most genuine, the most level-headed and practical. As for Janeway overriding B'Elanna's wishes, maybe it's politically hypocritical of me, but I couldn't become upset by her decision at all. Her entire position and attitude rang true and reasonable to me - she felt overwhelmed, wanting to please both sides of the issue, knowing that was impossible, frustrated, obviously very disturbed by the issue itself. When she put her head down, I identified fully with how she was feeling. I felt she wished to be relieved of the responsibility to resolve the issue, because it is an extremely complex, difficult issue to deal with. And there simply is no correct answer. Given B'Elanna's unreasoning bigotry and hypocrisy, I suppose I didn't care all that much if her wishes were overridden by her commanding officer. Of course, I don't buy the either/or scenario posed by this ethical conflict either. That's a bit of a trope or red herring. I doubt that situations in which you have to choose between using unethical research or letting a patient die are common. I'm no scientist but I assume that there is some room for alternatives. I was glad to see that the old Maquis-Starfleet conflict revived, of course. I was disappointed though not surprised at how little Chakotay seemed to be affected by it. I don't expect much passion from him on anything anymore. I have to say, though, as a Cardassian fan, I'm sick and tired of them being the latest Trek whipping boy. Roddenberry wanted to bring dimension to the Klingons because TOS dramatized them mostly as one-dimensional. Fair enough. We got that with Cardassians early on but now all that's gone. And I'm tired of the cliched Nazi parallel the writers have committed to so intensely just recently. I agree with Siubhan about these tired Holocaust parallels - they're shallow, easy, pat, tired. Previously the Cardassians were written generally, and the Nazi parallels were not really strong at all, despite what the writers may have said in interviews. What they showed on screen didn't match their words. Many Cardassian fans argued they saw greater parallels with the Soviets while I saw greater parallels with European colonialists, the Spanish conquistadores, the white South Africans, the ancient Romans. However, the actor who played the Cardie doc was great. And I certainly have no trouble believing a Cardie doc would've done what he did on Bajor. Anyway, at least it's an episode that generated thought and discussion. - Sandra Necchi "Nothing Human" should be subtitled, "Too Little, Too Late." Our Intrepid class friends have been lost in space for five years, and we're still getting plots that focus on the Maquis and their hatred for Cardassians. If this had aired in season one or early in season two, I would have given it two thumbs up. But now? It causes me to wonder why these remaining Maquis don't just get on with their lives and get over it already. They know their Alpha Quadrant brethren are gone and they also know that world class medical facilities and starbases aren't around the corner. Therefore, B'Elanna should be a little more grateful that the Doctor came up with a way to save her life from that lobster that invaded her system. She should also be a little less snippy toward the captain, who needs every crew member she can get. Janeway and company might be able to clone those Class 2 shuttles like there's no tomorrow, but I doubt they can replicate a chief engineer at the drop of a hat, especially one with B'Elanna's talents. Seven might be competent technically and might be able to take B'Elanna's place on some level, but she has a long way to go in the personality department. In fact, she makes B'Elanna look like a freshly minted Dale Carnegie graduate by comparison. The big question that arises is: Why did the EMH conjure up a Cardassian scientist? He should have known there would be hard feelings on B'Elanna's part. He's come a long way, but maybe not as far as we think he has. In addition, why was it so easy for Harry to come up with Moset when he AND Tom couldn't replicate the EMH during crunch time last season? And finally, how did the lobster jump through the force field and attack B'Elanna? What was the point of having a force field in the first place? To demonstrate that alien crustaceans are far more advanced than the Voyager crew and their Trek writers and can slice through any force field with a single claw? I don't care if Jeri Taylor wrote this one; it was silly nonsense. I'm going to bypass the whole Cardassian/Bajoran death camp scenario because it's been done to death on DS9. There are a lot of issues that could be raised, but I'm staying away from that discussion. Trek usually fails on the heavier issues, and "Nothing Human" was no exception. On the positive side, the guest star did a good job and had great chemistry with the Doctor. In addition, Paris and Torres had believable dialogue and worked as a couple for a change. I also liked the tense little scenes in Janeway's briefing room where Paris jumped down Chakotay's throat and Janeway ended it all by making the tough choice we knew she had to make. You can blame her for killing Tuvix, and she herself said she may have been wrong to let Seven on board, but the bottom line is that you can't turn the stars of the show into red shirts. Now, if this were the B5 universe, its creator would have no problem in killing people off and recycling the cast, but that's another argument for another forum. Finally, I enjoyed the fact that Voyager had no idea what the aliens wanted and could not translate their buzzing dialogue. For once, that great Federation technology failed miserably. In summary, this was an eminently watchable episode with yet another lame premise. Next time: Voyager joins Captain Nemo (or is it Proton) in battling a sea creature in a torpid remake of "20,000 Leagues under the Sea." - Elizabeth Klisiewicz 30 DAYS Nielsen rating: 4.1 I wear a Star of David. I am not Jewish. Rather, it was an engagement present from my sweetheart. Having studied abroad in Israel, my sweetheart knew I held a special place for that symbol. The small, gold star that never leaves my neck has come to mean more to me than merely a reminder of a beloved land and people. The charm serves as a reminder of the tens of millions of people who have been mindlessly slaughtered - Jews, Chinese, Russians, Cambodians, Bosnians, Rwandans - as much of the world sat by and honored treaties and ignored intelligence reports in an effort to maintain the status quo. I don't have a lot of patience for the status quo. My charm serves to remind me that sometimes conscience must take precedence over reason and law, even at great expense. These thoughts crossed my mind as I spent late Wednesday night, curled up on my couch taking in the latest episode of "Star Trek: Voyager." From the opening scene with Captain Janeway removing Paris' lieutenant pip until the final moments in Tom's quarters, I was riveted. "Thirty Days" is the term Tom Paris was sentenced to serve in the brig for defying Janeway's orders, stealing a shuttle, conduct unbecoming an officer and violating the Big Kahuna of all Trek Law: the Prime Directive. Unapologetically, Paris took his lashing, strode off to the brig, head held high, satisfied with the consequences of his actions. How Paris got there is the bulk of the episode, told in flashback format as Tom records a letter to his father, the notorious Admiral Owen Paris. The call of the sea is Paris' siren's song. He grew up intoxicated by the same mystery that has drawn brave, passionate young men to the ocean as long as humans have been seafaring. The discovery of an "ocean" suspended in space, captured by the force of an ancient reactor, excites Paris boundlessly. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of this ocean, the Moneans, have corrupted the waters to the point of threatening the reactor's containment ability. Without radical changes to the Monean industrial complex, the ocean will gradually dissipate, destroying all forms of plant and animal life that have existed within it for millennia. In perfect Starfleet style, Janeway and Company come up with technological solutions for the Monean reactor problem. But with the Prime Directive firmly in place, Janeway will go no further - even if Voyager has the capability to force the Moneans to fix the problem. Enter Tom Paris, Rebel With A Cause. With B'Elanna's encouragement, Tom decides to steal the Delta Flyer and head down to the ocean, single-handedly deciding to coerce the Moneans into modifying their lifestyle by destroying their oxygen extraction plants. He proceeds, at great risk to his own life, despite Janeway's threats of retaliation ("Don't think you aren't expendable, Mr. Paris."). He forces Janeway's hand and she sinks a photon torpedo on the Delta Flyer, scuttling Paris' attack on the polluters. For punishment, she demotes him and sentences him to 30 days solitary confinement. What on the surface appears to be a pretty straightforward episode is a richly drawn character study of the complex moral issues facing the young, idealistic malcontent Paris and his commander, Kathryn Janeway. Both characters are justified in their choices. Paris is justified because he follows his conscience and he willingly accepts the consequences of his actions. In a day where the leader of the free world refuses culpability on a "narrow definition of the facts," I found Paris embracing his punishment mature and compelling. No excuses. No apologies. He stands on his principles and doesn't back down. He may whine for pizza and make first-grader type excuses to get him a note from Doc, but in the end, he emerges more sober and thoughtful than when he entered. Janeway, on the other hand, has the burden of command. That Tom is like a favorite son to her - that he represents a personal victory of hers as she reclaimed his soul and brought him back from the brink of apathy - matters nothing when the heart of Starfleet law is threatened. To keep order and maintain control, Janeway has no choice but to execute her responsibilities as captain to the nth degree. Poor Harry Kim learns a hard lesson on the bridge as Janeway prepares to bomb the Flyer. Tom Paris or not, you violate orders, you accept the consequences. Mother doesn't love unconditionally, Ensign Kim, and if that were you down there, she'd fire with the same grim, angry resolve that she now launches at Paris. What intrigues me about Janeway is not what she says, but what she feels. The embers of an angry inferno simmer behind that liquid nitrogen glare. Fire and ice. Tom owes his present good fortunes to Janeway. From the beginning, she saw his potential and she gave him the opportunity to prove himself worthy of her affections. And he has. He followed her with unfailing loyalty that she reciprocated. Just last week in "Nothing Human," Janeway risked alienating her Maquis crewmembers by choosing a controversial treatment for B'Elanna Torres. Mostly, it was because it was "the right thing to do," but Tom Paris' passionate pleas for B'Elanna's life didn't fall on deaf ears. She gave Tom a gift in taking responsibility for B'Elanna's treatment, allowing Tom to maintain his loyalty to Torres and save her life in the process. So what does Tom do to thank her? Some gratitude, Mr. Paris. Janeway is angry, in part, because Tom forced her to take action that she didn't want to take. He betrayed her trust. Tom's brash disobedience is a much more bitter pill to swallow because of the affection she holds for her pilot. Had he meant less to her, her clear anguish at his choices wouldn't have been nearly as vivid. The irony of all of this teeth gnashing is that without Janeway's mentoring, Tom probably would never have had the courage to stand by his convictions. In Jeri Taylor's "Pathways," pre-Voyager Tom Paris envies Maquis B'Elanna Torres' clear commitment to something honorable and noble. He basically joined the Maquis to have a chance to pilot and pay his bar bills. He laments his lack of purpose, his need for a cause. Until Janeway fished him out of jail in New Zealand, Tom lived day to day, resigned to a lackluster fate. Voyager offered him a way out. Under Janeway's command and with her belief in him, Tom matured, becoming a capable senior officer and the "best damn pilot" for 60,000 light years. Tom seemed to have reached the potential that had lain dormant for so many years. He developed a self-confidence that his father had nearly drummed out of him. Virtually all but a small piece of this newfound sense of self came as a gift from Janeway, either directlythrough the opportunities she provided him to learn or indirectly through her patience with his antics and her tacit approval of his relationship with Torres. This self-assurance, this ability to follow through and do the right thing when the choices became impossibly hard, is something Tom never could have done without Janeway. When he defied her, even if she agreed with him in principle, it made the betrayal that much more painful. And yet, that defiance came as a direct result of all she had taught him. She taught him how to "finish things." Robert Duncan McNeill carried the show honorably, at long last given a script worthy of his acting skills. Many times in lackluster scenes, McNeill's charisma has infused tired scenarios with sparkle. Being front and center is something McNeill has earned and with "Thirty Days" he has proved he deserves the chance to do it again. Mulgrew captured Janeway's tempest-tossed agony with her usual finesse, speaking volumes with her eyes and facial expressions. As much as I sided with Paris, I respected Janeway's decision, just as I believe Tom did as well. Mulgrew made me believe in Kathryn's choices. The Paris/Janeway dynamic in this episode rates as one of my favorite character pieces of the season. Appropriately, Janeway serves as both Paris' surrogate mother and a stand-in for his father, representing the one who nurtures him and the one who castigates him. The supporting cast worked effectively, without taking away from the larger drama. Jeri Ryan's few scenes integrated Seven nicely into the conflict without being distracting. Garrett Wang's Harry had two critical moments - one in the brig with Paris and one on the bridge when Janeway elected to torpedo the Flyer. Both of those scenes brought emotional resonance and poignancy to an already electric atmosphere. The brig scene provided Paris a much-needed epiphany and Harry Kim provided the ammunition. Finally, Roxann Dawson played beautifully off McNeill's Paris. Having already been the focus of two episodes this season, Dawson shows she has skill in supporting roles as well. This season's Paris/Torres dynamic has developed a sweet, tender subtlety that surpasses any of the coy teasing of last year. While the romance isn't in-your-face-Days-Of-Our-Trek, this week's episode, combined with "Nothing Human," leaves no doubt about the depth of this relationship. With Torres' angry confrontation with Janeway still ringing in our ears, Tom's joining her on the Janeway dung heap only solidifies their union. "Thirty Days" now holds a place among my favorite Trek episodes. While I could enumerate various weaknesses that I found in the episode, these nitpicks are so minor that they fail to detract from the overall weight and depth that this episode carried. I'm not so far out of my WW II French Resistance phase to be completely immune to the passion that bubbles up and swallows people when they discover a "good cause." Convictions or not, we all can't run off, breaking rules and defying authority to defend the causes we believe in. When people do, chaos ensues. A fine line is drawn between idealism and selfishness on both sides. A step to the right and passion for the law becomes Javert. Step to the left and defying authority becomes Bin Laden style terrorism. Was Janeway nobler for protecting law and order, preserving the peace? Or was Paris more honorable, acting on conscience, refusing to stand by and witness an environmental genocide when he knew he could possibly prevent it? As long as we choose to examine our motives and maintain a willingness to act on the courage of our convictions, both in fiction and reality, we will succeed as a species. It is when our fictions fail to express this introspection that we need to fear. - Heather Jarmann I really liked this episode, but I have to admit it momentarily dampened my ardor to work for Captain Janeway on Voyager. I was in the Harry Kim camp, wondering in shocked disbelief if the captain was really going to fire on Tom. What happened to "Target their weapons array"? I was so relieved to see the Voyager missile intercept the Delta Flyer's missile instead of destroy the Flyer. Now why couldn't Janeway have simply told Harry the missile was their target? Maybe she was trying to make a point, but "Timeless" aside, Harry doesn't seem like the next in line to defy Janeway and steal a shuttle. I just didn't think we needed to have our faces rubbed in the fact Janeway would take a crewman's life if she felt it was necessary. My only consolation is that at least Janeway was right and undeniably in command in this episode. And I liked the way she bested her renegade crewman by sabotaging his mission. I've read enough of "Uncle Jim's" fabulous reviews to know TPTB made her look weak and irrational far too often in season four. So was Tom justified to thumb his nose at protocol, the Prime Directive, and the captain? I think not. His actions might have resulted in an armed conflict with the Moneans and thereby jeopardized Voyager and its crew. He stole a shuttle for an explicitly forbidden mission. And he didn't really have the strongest case for circumventing the Prime Directive - not that I have a clear idea what the Prime Directive is. In fact, Paris had extremely limited data on what the aliens would do with the information, and he had no evidence that innocent lives were at risk. He really was an outsider trying to impose his vision of how the ocean should be saved - and this ocean was an alien-created ball of water to begin with. Paris was basically over-reacting in part to Captain Proton fantasies and a childhood passion for all things oceanic. For a character development episode, which is how I'd categorize this one, Paris didn't seem to experience any real growth. I saw nothing to indicate that he'd think twice about doing the same thing in the future. He was utterly unrepentant in the brig. He behaved as if the captain were unjust in punishing him, as if he had no grasp of the sheer audacity, of the magnitude, of his disobedience. I wanted some concrete sign that some internal reflection or angst was taking place in Paris. I thought perhaps he should have worked in an apology to Janeway, "I'm sorry, Captain, for letting you down, but Riga's people weren't going to do anything!" Or, he could have told his father, "Well, Dad, it might not have been the smartest thing I ever did, but I haven't felt so passionate about anything since (you shot down) my childhood dreams of a naval career." Instead, Paris showed no remorse, although he had the grace to hang his head when Janeway reminded him that she gave him a fresh start on Voyager, and he did dream about his father and Janeway chastising him. But the very fact that he wanted his father to know about the incident indicated that he thought he was right, or noble, or courageous, or SOMETHING good, and that somehow his father would view him more favorably when he heard the tale. I just didn't follow this line of reasoning. There were lots of good scenes with Janeway. I liked her immensely in this episode, expendability of wayward non-Borg crewman aside. I loved how warm and relaxed she was when she encouraged Paris' passion and allowed him to indulge his longing to explore the oceanic planet. I liked her first contact with the aliens, the way her face lit up when she said, "We're explorers_." I liked the conference room scene, her pride in B'Elanna's expertise and her delight in being able to help the aliens (although this confused me about the Prime Directive, because doesn't sharing technology violate it?), and her growing displeasure with Paris' outbursts. But my favorite scenes were near the end where Kate Mulgrew portrayed an enraged captain containing her fury. Most women I've known just don't express anger very well - and yes, that includes me. But not Janeway. Her face became a deadly serious mask; her voice became low and ominous and was endowed with complete conviction and authority; she never, ever lost her self-control; and she looked completely gorgeous rather than like a screaming banshee. Very effective. Regarding Paris's punishment of demotion and 30 days in solitary confinement, I thought it was tough, but appropriate. Janeway had to come down hard to demonstrate the unacceptability of crewmen going off to pursue their own unauthorized agendas. I was surprised, however, by the formality of the discipline scene. Janeway must have felt very let down by Tom; she must have been pained that he could abuse her trust so recklessly and place her and the crew in such a lousy, precarious position with the Moneans. But she kept any negative personal feelings and accusations to herself and instead followed protocol as she leveled the damning formal charges against him. I guess it makes sense that she would want impersonal distance between them after what Paris did and given what she was about to do to Paris, but I would have liked to have heard her internal thoughts. Once again Janeway showed her ability to make difficult, disturbing decisions under enormous pressure and follow them through. She betrayed in only the smallest of ways that she'd rather be dealing with a radically different deck of cards - the barest trembling of her chin as she watched Tom being escorted to the brig; the tone of her voice when she said "Fire"; the angry daggers her eyes flashed at the councilor when he said, "And I presume you intend to take radical measures to stop them"; and the slightest relaxation of her body language and her softest hint of a sigh when Tuvok told her the Delta Flyer was disabled and its missile deflected. She does what she has to, like it or not. Balancing this strength of will and character is the fact she also tries to do what is right, and she has the intelligence and moral center (as well as the input of a pretty talented crew) to try to determine what "right" is in a given set of circumstances. Yet underneath her commanding exterior, I have no doubt that she really loves and values her crew. I'll watch this episode often. I liked the bad boy Tom story line (Tom is still one of my favorites in spite of his lack of contrition and the fact he can't tell the Delaney twins apart), the water/fish special effects, the characterization of Harry Kim (especially when he stuck up for Tom), and the high number of Janeway scenes. So it gets an 8. - A. Goodhart Well, this is an interesting spin on Tom Paris - sort of the return of the rebel from first season, and sort of not. I didn't particularly find his actions out of character except for his betrayal of Janeway. That's something I never expected from him, but she was so resolutely Starfleet in this episode, such a switch from the woman who wanted to work with Torres in "Remember" to help her crewmember right a wrong in another society, I understood why Paris felt he had to work behind her back. I thought Janeway's reducing his rank was completely appropriate, but 30 days in solitary? Exactly whom was that supposed to benefit if she intended to return him to the bridge, as it seemed at the end of the episode that she would? As Paris pointed out during the brief real-time battle, he is the ship's best pilot, and now he's a month behind in all ship's business. Clearly Janeway doesn't expect him to flee or try sabotage, so I found the punishment both harsh and a little silly considering that she'd already shot at him. Confining him to quarters during non-duty hours and revoking his holodeck and replicator privileges would have made more sense, for Tom and for the ship. We didn't learn much new about Paris' relationship with his father, either. The flashback sequence seemed gratuitous and forced, especially since we heard Admiral Paris say similar things to Tom all the way back in "Persistence of Vision." So on the one hand it's redundant and on the other hand there's some continuity going there. I did like Paris and Torres' relationship development, both in response to his confinement and when she encouraged him - none too subtly - to break Starfleet rules and follow his cause. It makes sense that Torres might have some contempt for Janeway's position now, given the way Janeway treated her lastweek. Though once more I must wonder why the writers are eroding the captain's authority this way. As in "Timeless," I thought Harry Kim had a good episode. I thought it was Jenny Delaney rather than Megan whom he was after all the way back in "Prime Factors," but I guess maybe he switched sisters, just as he seems to have gotten over Seven of Nine (hey! there's hope for Harry yet!). Having finally seen the Delaney sisters, I was none too impressed. I was hoping the casting would break with the expected stereotype rather than reinforce it. And again, I don't much like Captain Proton, despite the cheap laughs. Can't Tom play with himself, or at least parody himself and his boy-toy genre, without involving the rest of the crew? Visually, this was an interesting episode, though there wasn't nearly enough underwater footage to satisfy my hopes when they encountered the water planet. Also, I found the technobabble gimmicks explaining its existence to be annoyingly vague. The scenes of the Flyer hitting the surface and submerging were very well done, as was the tantalizing glimpse of the underwater city. It's too bad the budget didn't permit for more of that. It's also too bad that it didn't permit Voyager itself to submerge. In addition, I have a hard time believing that Janeway - faced firsthand with the evidence of what would be lost - would have permitted the Moneans to leave without a fight. As they pointed out, there were other species living in the oceans, plant and animal life which presumably exists nowhere else. Does the Prime Directive that permitted her to fight for the Ocampa against the Kazon forbid her from trying to protect them? It's the sort of muddled question brought up by this week's "Star Trek: Insurrection" as well as this episode, and it's worth noting that metaphasic energy, the new wonder particle which keeps the ocean contained, is also the most coveted substance in the galaxy in the new movie. Maybe if Voyager could harness some, it could send the ship home. - Em Wycedee Tom makes a huge gamble and loses. He's reduced in rank to ensign and spends 30 days by himself in the brig. His only release from the monotony and glaring lights is a letter to his father detailing the events leading up to his current ignominious situation. The story that unfolds in a series of flashbacks is engaging, full of some long-awaited character growth and development, and even manages another environmental theme to boot. This was quite simply an excellent episode. The overall plot is admittedly a bit predictable. Come on, confess, did any of us really not know that the aliens of the week were mining their ocean to death? But that didn't take away from the impressive cathartic growth that Tom undergoes while waiting out his 30-day sentence. The sentence itself was impressively realistic for Voyager. Tom's reasons for his disobedient actions supported those actions rather than made excuses for them, and Janeway's sentence was a proportional response to what was basically complete insubordination on Tom's part. The sentencing scene in Janeway's ready room was tense and intriguing and kept my complete attention not once, but twice as the episode not only opened with that scene, but closed with it as well. Tom's behavior was consistent with the Tom Paris of old: he's brash, rash, vocal, speaks his mind, and delights in taking action, as either Captain Proton or the savior of the ocean. (I just love Captain Proton - that whole concept is just so hysterical!) Janeway acted in a more captainly fashion than we've seen from her in ages, and I never felt that she resorted to the extreme behavior that she's fallen back on in the past. The storyline was fast-paced and well balanced with special effects and character development. The CGIs were incredible, and I would watch this episode over and over again just to see that shot of Voyager in orbit above the roiling waters of the ocean. That was as good as the ship crashing in "Timeless"! The colors were beautiful! I only have two picky comments. If this ocean had been sucked up from its planet and contained by this newest form of containment technobabble, shouldn't there have been remains of the original planet? Debris, an asteroid field, something? Harry said the containment device was 100,000 years old, fairly young in space years even if it is a long time for a machine to continue working. (This is a minor point, I know.) My other comment pertains to the mysterious and previously invisible Delaney sisters. It's so cool that they finally gave them some screen time! As an identical twin myself, I have naturally been interested in the Delaneys. Mostly, I'm just glad that they were both stationed to Voyager in the first place and have survived the dangers of the Delta Quadrant so far. I can only imagine how awful and empty it would be if one had been left behind. However, my gratitude doesn't extend to unconditional acceptance of continued twin stereotyping. Tom's general stereotype of thinking of Jenny and Megan Delaney as interchangeable entities was irritating enough, but Harry's more specific stereotype of Jenny being the aggressive, obnoxious one while Megan is the quiet, creative one was too much. I have to say something, not so much as a criticism but to give everybody something to think about. Twins aren't automatically divided into the camps of outgoing vs. introverted. They don't have to be compared and sized up and categorized in order to have personalities. It would have been really refreshing if Harry had simply said that Megan and Jenny were two completely different people and left it at that. Still, I'm all for having twin officers on board, and I hope we get to see more of the mysterious Delaneys. Now, I wonder how long Tom will remain an ensign? And will anybody remember this demotion in the future? Should be interesting finding out! - Linda Bindner COUNTERPOINT Nielsen rating: 3.4 What an interesting episode! Janeway's alien of the week turns out to be an alien who bites. What's more surprising is that Janeway bites back. Not only does she bite, but she does it with grace and finesse and just enough of an undercurrent of harshness and vulnerability that her actions are completely believable, and fully enjoyable to watch. I'm impressed. I liked "Counterpoint" a lot. This is tight story-telling, with action, characterization, and human drama molded together in a nice balance. This is the kind of story I expect from a show with as much potential for excellence as "Voyager" has. This doesn't mean I want to watch this episode time and time again. After both viewings I was left with a general sense of unease. That's probably how the audience was supposed to feel. It's certainly how Janeway must have felt as the inevitable events played out around her. Like the captain, I could never quite trust the inspector, and I couldn't resist the foreboding that assailed me every time he was on the screen. He was arrogant, harsh, contemptuous, and hard. A perfect defector. Who would want to trust someone like him? Though I liked seeing a vulnerable Janeway, and I was glad that she finally connected with someone - anyone - and appeared relaxed and happy, it was hard to watch her make these connections with a possible traitor rather than a member of her own crew. Still, the war that must have been waging between her emotions and her "gut instincts" was fascinating to watch. Kate Mulgrew does such amazing things with her expressions! Without saying a word, she lets us know that Janeway's view of Kashyk vacillates back and forth in their every encounter; to trust him or not to trust him. She wanted to be able to trust him, but she was prepared to be disappointed by him. And disappointed she was, as well as hurt, but she didn't let that affect her command. She used him just as he used her. She was a worthy opponent of the inspector. But we have to wonder how much was play-acting and how much was real for both of them. This was a tight, multifaceted episode. It gave me something to think about, that's for sure. Besides, it's nice to know there's hope for Janeway. She can be a warm, sensitive, emotional woman and a captain at the same time; she really is alive behind that mask of command. By the way, did anybody else notice that Chakotay was as conveniently absent from this episode as Janeway was conveniently absent from "Unforgettable"? Quote of the episode: everybody listen to Mahler's symphony #1, second movement - that says it all. - Linda Bindner Quick summary: Captain Janeway hides a group of Brenari telepaths from a Devorean inspection team headed by Captain Kashyk while traveling through Devorean space - a big no-no according to the Devoreans. She is helping them reach a wormhole that will carry everyone safely out of Devorean space. Shortly thereafter, Kashyk seeks asylum on Voyager, claiming he wants to help the Brenari as well as escape from Devorean space himself. Janeway agrees to help him, they form an alliance as they listen to classical music and solve problems, they kiss, and then Kashyk betrays Janeway. However, our resourceful captain one-ups him and thereby saves Voyager and the Brenari. "Counterpoint" gave us Janeway in many guises: Janeway as intelligent scientist, who solves a transporter problem Seven was having and solves the wormhole mystery after a late night with Kashyk; Janeway as affectionate friend with warm embraces for Neelix, genuine smiles for Brenari kids, and kindly concern for Brenari leaders in sickbay; Janeway as compassionate captain who violates the Prime Directive to help the Brenari and who provides asylum for Kashyk; Janeway as a cunning, resourceful leader who outwits Kashyk with her contingency plan; Janeway as a rapier wit who volleys one-liners with Kashyk; Janeway as an attractive, sensual woman who lounges around in a grey turtleneck and ardently responds to Kashyk's awkward kiss; Janeway as a straight-faced teller of falsehoods (I can't bring myself to call her a liar) who tells Kashyk "I'm not harboring telepaths," "Tuvok is dead," and "The wormhole is over there"; Janeway as a con artist who dupes an alien scientist into trading his knowledge of the wormhole; and the list goes on. Was Janeway simply using Kashyk to protect the Brenari? Possibly. After Kashyk informed Janeway that he knew she was harboring telepaths, Janeway must have realized that to deny him asylum was to invite the Devoreans to storm Voyager and do whatever it is they do to telepaths and those who help them. So she had little choice other than to pretend to trust Kashyk, and to convince him of her trust. On the other hand, it is also possible that Janeway wanted to believe Kashyk and was attracted to him, perhaps even in spite of her better judgment. Perhaps part of her grew to trust him as they worked together and discussed the finer points of classical music, coffee, and celestial phenomena. This is plausible. Kashyk was present in senior officer meetings, Janeway shared her revelation about how to locate the wormhole (which he can apply in the future, I suppose), and even Tuvok gave Kashyk the Vulcan blessing. Kashyk was strong, intelligent, curious, witty, confident, and mysterious. Plus he was a good-looking alien with a nice build and a deep, sonorous voice. Her succumbing to Kashyk's charms doesn't diminish Janeway because her heart never ruled her head. She was cautious, she prepared for the worst, perhaps even expected the worst, while she hoped for the best. Now, what about Kashyk? Clearly he tried to use Janeway, but what exactly did he think of her? It is possible that he didn't care about her at all, that he was simply playing a role to gain her trust and betray her, and that he let Voyager go solely because he was concerned about any blemishes on his military record. He was quite menacing when he betrayed Janeway in the ready room, and he seemed to relish what he thought would be Janeway's anguish and humiliation on the bridge. But perhaps he did feel some attraction for her. He certainly felt a lot more respect for her after she bested him and thwarted his plans. As ruthless as Kashyk was, and as terrible as he would have been to Janeway and her crew if his plans were successful, his combination of respect and affection could also explain why he didn't take her ship and allowed her (presumably) safe passage through Devorean space. If he were indifferent to Janeway, then wouldn't he have been angrier with her for outwitting him? Wouldn't he have sought revenge by torturing her and her crew? And even though the Brenari escaped, wouldn't he have gotten brownie points from his leaders for capturing their ship and its remaining telepaths? So it is also possible that Kashyk let Janeway go in part because of the relationship he established with her. In my view of the world, I prefer the scenarios that they both had some sort of feelings for each other. It would be a shame to call their nice smooch manipulation rather than genuine feeling. I loved their kiss. I liked the awkwardness of Kashyk's original attempt, and the warmth and passion with which Janeway responded. And Kashyk was a quick learner, as he pressed Janeway close to him and delectably kissed the palm of her hand and her fingertips. The last scene was mystifying. Janeway's expression as she watched Kashyk leave the bridge definitely betrayed some real longing, and her glance at the floor showed some reflective sadness. Even if she had some feelings for Kashyk, I'd expect them to go right out the nearest airlock once she knew his true, ruthless and uncompassionate nature. Oh well. I still liked this episode a lot. Any Janeway episode has an advantage in the Goodhart rating system. There were other nice touches I liked the smirking guard/Janeway scene for its entirely natural portrayal of human nature; you know that guard is going to gossip with his buddies about the alien hitting on their captain. I liked the way the nose of Torat, the alien scientist, puffed in and out when he was agitated. I even liked gentle Neelix telling stories to the kids and feeding the captain, although I'd rather see her eat something more substantive than clear broth! So this episode gets an 8.5. - A. Goodhart The last shot of this episode ruined it for me: Janeway sitting in the chair of the second in command, looking depressed. Once again we have the either-or in full color on screen. She can be the person in charge in the captain's chair, or she can be a woman with emotions, but not both at the same time. The image of her reduced in stature was miserably blatant, but really it was the theme of "Counterpoint" - a cautionary tale like virtually every other Voyager love story. Does it matter that she went in with her eyes wide open? I don't think so. In fact, I think this is the best argument we've seen yet for Janeway to get it on with Chakotay or just about anyone else in the crew. Bad as that might be for protocol, the risks are considerably worse if she gets too close to an evil alien, or even a good alien who wants her to stay with him in the Delta Quadrant. I keep thinking about the smirking guard who overdid protocol to Janeway's face after catching Janeway's expression when she left Kashyk's quarters, and realizing that that, too, was a cautionary message. How many times have we seen characters fall in love with aliens who turned out to be using them for their own selfish ends? It's bad enough that one of the guys does it every few episodes, but there's no excuse when it's the captain. The previews for this one said "sleeping with the enemy," which is NOT an image I would have wanted for Janeway at all. At least, as per usual with the previews, it turned out to be false. Not only the sexual suggestion bothered me, but the idea that she was actually attracted to an evil man knowing that he WAS an evil man wasn't too pleasant. But I liked most of "Counterpoint" because I didn't believe that Janeway had any real feelings for Kashyk, not until that last shot. She knew what was coming, same as we did, given the cliched nature of this script. Oh, she kissed him nicely, but after all she's kissed no one who wasn't a hologram or a phantom in nearly five years - why waste the opportunity? On the other hand, I find myself wishing that we never had to see that she felt anything at all. I don't think this miniscule inkling of smoldering sexuality was worth that conclusion. It was nice to see Kate Mulgrew getting to show some range. I loved seeing Janeway relaxing, flirting, laughing, pacing in her turtleneck, grabbing Kashyk around the neck for a far more serious smooch than the one he gave her. And I thought Kashyk was reasonably good-looking, plus they looked good together and had good chemistry and he seemed genuinely attracted to her. Plus his body looked good in military leather, and he sported a nice hairy chest peeking out from under those civvies. A fine bit of casting and writing for Janeway's strengths and weaknesses. He was so over-the-top in explaining why he wanted to defect that Janeway's later emotionalism seemed appropriate instead of excessive. Really, I liked the development of their rapport a great deal, especially her distancing humor, because I assumed she was as certain as I was that he was lying. And she was. She was brilliant in hiding her refugees, though I laughed and laughed about her giving away two shuttles - hey, what's two more when you've already lost a few dozen? Janeway was tough and smart and used her brain, unlike Torres who has generally deferred to Paris even in matters of engineering since they started dating. The way she dealt with Prime Directive questions was quite interesting too; I'm never sure if it's even relevant with warp cultures such as these, but there's no getting around the fact that she interfered and risked her crew. Then again, Tuvok and the others might have been more at risk without the Brenari to warn them about the Devore. If she'd just gotten back up and sat down in her damn chair with a satisfied smile on her face in the end, I would have said this was a near-perfect Janeway outing, even though I still think she deserves some entirely enjoyable sexual relations with someone who's not using her. My other complaint with the ending - the fact that Kashyk let them go, though they had a lot more Devore space to cover based on what he'd said - was fairly minor compared to the sexual politics. I found it a little silly that the aliens could scan for Vulcans and Betazoids anyway. Wouldn't it have been easier for Janeway to have altered the computer database than to put them in suspended animation? And I want to know when the Betazoid pilot Stadi from "Caretaker" got wiped out of the "Voyager" writers' crew manifest, and how come Kes wasn't mentioned in the crew manifest of telepaths. Plus I want to know where the Betazoid, Tuvok, and Vorik hid during the last inspection - in with the veggies? Those are nits, though. I guess when it comes to evaluating this episode, I'm of two minds. Watch it for the acting, the way I watch second season's "Persistence of Vision" (terrible Janeway episode, fabulous Mulgrew performance). Enjoy the cat-and-mouse game but don't expect any great revelations of plot or character. And turn it off the minute Kashyk leaves the bridge, while Janeway's still ahead. - Em Wycedee LATENT IMAGE Nielsen rating: 3.8 "Voyager" has simply not moved me or reached me for quite some time, until last night. Putting on hold for a moment the fact that Mulgrew was simply EXCELLENT and the whole story was handled really well (this whole mystery setup the first half), scenes and dialogue that could have been disasters turned into the most terrific and thought-provoking material Star Trek has spouted since "Insurrection." I'm talking about life, decisions, conflict about who you are, regrets and making that leap of faith. These are ALL elements in our lives that can very often be difficult to deal with, and can destroy the weaker people in this day and age. But "Voyager" flew in the face of that and pulled out a terrific story that could have gone so wrong. Someone was paying some very heavy attention to dialogue and delivery during the writing and producing of this episode and I just wish we saw this kind of thing more often. I guess one of the things that made me think this episode could go so wrong was because I am simply so sick of Jeri Ryan and Seven of Nine. I'm simply tired of her. Period. And every time I see her on screen I see her now as no more than eye candy, contributing very little to what is really going on. Well, that was not the case at all in this episode, at least not at first. Every conversation she and Janeway had, especially the first late-night chat in Janeway's quarters, started out rocky but ended so STELLAR, I was thinking people could hear me scream in Maryland I was so pleasantly surprised and pleased! Truth be told, I probably would have enjoyed this episode better had I not read a major spoiler for it a month ago - that Janeway was the one who was responsible for deleting the Doctor's memories. Had I not known that from the beginning, I would have suspected Tuvok or someone else, but NEVER Janeway. It would have been a great moment had I not known. But let me get to the guts of this episode that grabbed me so much. I guess I'm just rejoicing at the thought that I finally cried at the end of an episode. It's been forever since "Voyager" has reached me like that, and I know I'm gonna have a migraine just getting through next week's ridiculous B&W episode. The fact is that Janeway made a harsh decision 18 months ago - to delete the memories of the entire shuttle incident and the crewwoman as well. That must have been a hard one and I truly felt for Janeway on that one. And here she was, 18 months later, with Seven of Nine and others questioning whether she did the right thing, although it was comforting that Torres, toward the end, stuck with the original decision and believed in it. She made a great sounding board with Janeway in sickbay. The discussion of the Holodoc as being more like a replicator than a human brought to mind the line from the famous TNG episode "Measure of a Man"-"Data is a toaster." That was a fantastic discussion late at night in Janeway's quarters about the coffee, the replicator, and then Seven of Nine talking about how she is still Borg and could be akin to the replicator, making her like the Holodoc, making her less of an individual who could someday fall to Janeway's decision and lose her individuality of freedom to choose! That one had me screaming - I loved that! The issue never even crossed my mind and I was stunned into silence - after I finished screaming. What about Seven of Nine saying she had always looked to Janeway for guidance on the issues of individuality and perhaps she had been mistaken to do that. OH that HURT! That must have hurt Janeway in a major way. How could it not? This whole conversation spoke to the heart of how Seven of Nine first joined the crew - and I wish we had seen more of this issue in the last year and a half. I kept waiting for them to come back to this in the series and thought it had been forgotten. Now it has been resurrected in this terrific episode! Hooray! I want more! Let's talk about the huge, larger issue of living with mistakes. Living with something horrible they feel they have done and either they cannot deal with it and go mad or try to learn to live with it somehow. I think it was a brilliant, humane and truly beautiful move that this time, Janeway gave the Holodoc the benefit of the doubt and gave him the chance to live with his decision. This harkens back to other Trek episodes where the choice or the opportunity to delete unwanted memories has been given because the memories are too painful - but the adult and mature way to deal with them was to live with them and maybe become a better person. A tortured soul is a difficult thing to live with. Trust me. I know. I found this whole line of thought in Trek to be so sad and so fascinating. I can't sit here and pretend that I haven't gone over the issues in my own mind time and again - would I forget the last 10 years if I could? Would I be the much better person I am now if I hadn't gone through the Hell I have the last 10 years? If I had a choice to change my past - would I have done anything differently? All of these issues were just so beautifully brought up in this episode and made me sit up and take notice of how I have had similar thoughts like this in my own life. To me this is what so much of Trek has been about: teaching me to look at my own life and the life around me in a different way - teaching me about myself and how to expand who I really am and how I think of myself and others around me. About damn time a Trek episode did this! Been too long! Here's to the winning new "Voyager" episode of 1999! May many of the rest of this season be as good! -- Sashi German I enjoyed the episode's structure as a mystery/detective story that evolves into a morality tale. It retains interest and raises issues without being too heavy. And I liked the theatrical starkness of the final scene, with two characters conversing on an empty stage, free of distractions, forcing us to focus on the dialogue. The character development was quite strong with both Janeway (she made a decision 18 months ago, wants to stick to it, gets more feedback and reconsiders) and the Doctor (coming to grips with his grief and his guilt about a traumatic incident). Excellent performances from Bob Picardo and Kate Mulgrew. Picardo has a wonderfully expressive face and was very effective as a tortured soul - tortured first by the mystery of his programming changes, then by his discovery that the captain was behind them, then by his fear of being reprogrammed, and finally by his role in the terrible incident. Mulgrew was also impressive, at various times portraying steely authority, poignant self-doubt, and compassion, with her typical conviction. And Scarlett Pomers, in her brief appearance, was an engaging cutie, not cloying and very real. Janeway was as complex and interesting as ever. But, for the first time in my Voyager-loving life, I flat out objected to something that Janeway did. I accepted the captain's ability to order life-saving medical treatments on a crewmember against his or her will - she's done this before, most recently with Torres in "Nothing Human." Janeway generally does what she believes is best for Voyager, and her judgment is generally defensible. I wasn't put off by the captain's original decision to reprogram Doc either. What would become of Voyager without its EMH? Would Neelix step up to the plate? That scenario alone justifies Janeway's decision! Besides, the Doctor's situation was very close to her own in Jeri Taylor's book "Mosaic," where her failure to choose between saving her father and her fiancé results in her losing both of them. In order to function and escape the paralyzing pain, she repressed that memory for years. Maybe this subconsciously colored her decision regarding the Doctor as well. Furthermore, this ethical debate centers on the Doctor being more than just a computer program. But fundamentally, the Doctor IS a computer program. He is inorganic. It will be a long time before I view an interactive Furby - no matter how cleverly programmed - as having rights equal to a pet cat, let alone a human, so I can understand Janeway's bias. Nevertheless, I was pleased to see her reconsider that decision. I also wasn't bothered by Janeway's ruthlessly stern conversation with the Doctor in her ready room. Of course I always prefer to see Janeway being a bit more empathetic to her crewmen, but she's the captain, she doesn't have to tolerate outbursts, and she can make decisions as she sees fit until she is no longer recognized as the captain. At times Janeway's been as hard on Paris, Seven, and Torres, so I don't think she was discriminating against the Doctor because he wasn't human. And later, she does relent regarding the Doctor's wishes, and she does so with grace and wisdom and humility. What didn't sit well with me was the last scene, where Janeway lounges in a chair and reads a book while she is on "vigil duty." I can tell you that if my husband were to read a book while I was trying to make sense of a traumatic experience, he'd be eating it in about two seconds flat. (You can probably guess that he defended Janeway's action here). If the captain must read between the Doctor's rants, she should at least sit up and look interested and attentive rather than bored and exasperated when he decides to talk. Yes Janeway hadn't slept in 16 hours, yes she had a headache and fever, so in my humble opinion she should have let Tuvok - who at least seemed interested in the Doctor's musings - take over the vigil. First issue: When should individuals be allowed to make decisions for themselves and when should there be limits? Even self-aware adults who don't harm others have their rights curtailed by the state. For example, those who take illegal drugs or sell their bodies might end up in jail; those who practice self-mutilation or try to kill themselves might end up in therapy or a mental institution. In the real world, no one has absolute rights to individuality. Seven's thinking was too absolute. She declares the captain's conclusion to "fix" the Doctor wrong, but she fails to acknowledge that in some circumstances, particularly on a lost starship, an individual's rights might need to be overridden by the needs or rights of the entire crew. Seven also fails to acknowledge the obvious fact that she wasn't around for the original breakdown in the Doctor's programming - she simply thinks she knows it all. So she confidently asserts that Janeway doesn't have the right to "save" the Doctor against his wishes - when in fact, Janeway arguably does. Seven does have a good case, however, for asking Janeway to reconsider her decision to exercise that right. Seven justifiably believes Janeway gave the Doctor's individual rights less consideration because he was a piece of technology, and she is concerned that Janeway will someday treat her individual rights similarly because of her own technological components (although this seems a bit uncharitable of her given what Janeway and crew went through to save Seven in "Infinite Regress"). In spite of Seven's - unique - way of raising her concerns, she convinces Janeway to rethink her decision and weigh the rights of the Doctor as if he were sentient, self-aware, and organic, not merely a programmed replicator. Second issue: How does one deal with severe trauma? Repression is one technique, although rarely a healthy one. Janeway has personal experience with repression, and it's the mechanism she forced upon the Doctor 18 months ago. Most people have different coping mechanisms, gleaned from years of experience, as they've learned to deal with setbacks from the day they were born. Another way people cope is by opening up to others and listening to their experiences, knowing how others have dealt with similarly painful experiences can be helpful. Unfortunately, the Doctor is 0 for 3 here - he lacks life experience, he doesn't get much feedback from fellow crewmates about their own experiences, and he rejects Janeway's attempt to repress his torturous memories. So what does he have left to help him cope? Two things - he is cared about, and he is needed. These are the factors that eventually bring him back from the brink. When the Doctor realizes that Janeway is ill, he is able to step outside of his agonizing mental loop to react to her needs. And a two-week, 24-hour-a-day vigil speaks volumes about how he is valued by the crew. The final scene when the Doctor reaches into the past to seek enlightenment through literature and art is yet another coping mechanism available to him. We know he'll be alright. Third issue: What exactly did the poem fragment mean? "In that book which is my memory, on the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, appear the words, "here begins a new life." Does it mean that we can start anew, have a fresh chapter whenever we like, as we are the authors of our memories? Is it a comment on how profoundly our lives can be changed by someone we know? Is it meant to help us view our lives as a whole, a series of chapters, some joyful and some painful, with new chapters continually being added? I wonder what it meant to the Doctor, as he sat down to finish reading the poem, and whether it meant the same thing to Janeway. Other nice touches: Janeway looking in on her sleeping Borg, staring at her thoughtfully before waking her; tough boy Paris' kindness to Doc in sickbay when he said he agreed with Janeway; B'Elanna's dispassionate, engineer-like view of the Doctor as a program (although her view of Crel in "Nothing Human" wasn't nearly as dispassionate); and the special effects showing the crew from the inside out. A small nit: Seven is still a little too abrasive for my tastes. For example, she sounds a bit insolent when she says "Your conclusion is wrong!" Can't she say, "I disagree with your conclusion?" Surely she has learned the subtleties of the English language by now. She can challenge the crew and put thorns in their sides without being disagreeably rude. Anyway, I give this episode a 10 for lots of Janeway, interesting story and strong acting, and because it passes the VCR test with flying colors - I've watched it four times in the last two days!! -- A. Goodhart "Latent Image" was a thought-provoking episode in the tradition of season two's "Tuvix," where Janeway makes the controversial decision to end Tuvix's life to save Tuvok and Neelix. In "Latent Image," Janeway is once again taking the hard line without thinking through all the circumstances. Rather than deal with the Doctor and his guilt over losing a patient, she decides to reprogram him so he forgets everything. This event initially takes place 18 months earlier, but the Doctor stumbles back over the problem when he discovers some scar tissue on Harry Kim's holo-image but can't remember performing the surgery. His questions lead to more short-term memory loss, and only the Doctor's quick thinking reveal that Captain Janeway is the culprit responsible for wiping his memory banks. What's more, she intends to do it again to prevent the same situation from spinning out of control. You see, in Janeway's mind, the Doctor is no different from a replicator and his feelings have no bearing on the matter, and after all, her decisions are always final. It's only after some tough dialogue with Seven of Nine that Janeway rethinks her decision and decides to give the Doctor a chance to work through his problem, much as she'd do with any other sentient being. Despite the fact that we saw some major character growth on both Janeway's and the Doctor's parts, and despite the fact that Mulgrew and Picardo were excellent here, I still had some problems with this episode. For starters, the episode seemed as though it could have been shot way back in season one, when Janeway definitely treated the Doctor as little more than an appliance. However, after all this time, we know he's a sentient being, and you'd think Janeway would know that too. Where does she get off with her arrogance and treating the Doctor so shabbily? She really annoyed me at first, and I was convinced this would turn into yet another "Scorpion" or "Tuvix" where she gets her way but isn't necessarily correct in her thinking. I also kept asking myself what Picard would have done in this situation, and I realized that he would have gone to bat for Data if something went wrong, not relegated him to the status of a replicator. Yeah, I know, Janeway is no Picard and she's far more like Captain Kirk than any of the other captains, but that doesn't excuse her initial actions. Furthermore, as sick as I am of the Seven of Nine character, I thought her scenes with Janeway were superb in every sense of the word. The dialogue was sharp and the acting was spot on. The best part about this episode was that they didn't seem to hit the big old Reset button at the end. Doc was still mulling over his problem, and Janeway left him alone to contemplate his problem. Trouble is, can we expect to see any future mentions of this episode or will it merely be business as usual in the Voyager universe? In summary, this was a very good episode that gave the viewer a lot to think about, and I hope to see more episodes in this vein. - E. Klisiewicz "The captain's acting like she's allergic to me..." So accuses the Doctor near the beginning of this episode, and I was inclined to agree with him. Further along, it appears that she's not only allergic to him, but conspiring against him. She's cold, unapproachable, in short, she's inhuman, and turns out to be a bit inhumane as well. Or at least she was 18 months ago. But thanks to some well-timed personal slams from Seven of Nine, there's hope for her yet. Janeway actually starts to question herself. What started out as another "you must comply" episode turned into a fascinating story full of tough choices, soul-searching, and character growth. From the doctor's outraged cry of "It isn't fair!" during the wonderful scene with Janeway in her ready room, to Janeway's weary entreaty of "I'm having trouble...." to Seven in her cargo bay, this episode resonates with characterization. Eighteen months prior to these events, Janeway took the easy way out of an unpleasant situation. Instead of helping the Doctor deal with his newly evolved self-loathing, she rewrites him so that he doesn't remember and so that she doesn't have to deal with him. It's simple, clean, and extremely convenient. If only we could all do that to loved ones who are going through rough periods, just think how peaceful life would be! Peaceful, cold, and stagnant - just as the doctor had become; just as Janeway had become. Personally, I was surprised that Janeway would ever do such a thing as delete the Doctor's memories, especially after she refused to let the Doctor rewrite his own programming in the episode "Retrospect," though his revisions then had uncomfortable results similar to those portrayed 18 months ago in this episode. However, the initial decision was necessary, or Janeway would have had nothing to question, and all that personal growth for her and the doctor would not have existed. The Janeway at the beginning of the episode was unfriendly, a captain capable of de-evolving a crew member for the supposed good of the ship. The Janeway at the end is a captain less certain of her decisions, but ultimately one who sparks more sincere affection from a crew and viewers alike. She's again a captain who can make mistakes, and who owns up to them once they're made. This captain has been gone for a long time, ever since "Scorpion." I've missed her. I hope she's back for good. Quote of the episode: "Doctor, I'm a little busy right now...helping a friend." - Janeway -- Linda Bindner Like "Nothing Human," this season's previous excellent Doctor episode, "Latent Image" had a number of structural problems, but the drama and pathos of the situation made them seem irrelevant. This episode provides an interesting counterpoint to Classic Trek's "Requiem For Methuselah," in which Captain Kirk was devastated by a guilty memory until Spock used a Vulcan mind meld to make him forget; Janeway made precisely the opposite decision for the Doctor, though her instincts as well were to choose blessed oblivion for her friend and for the good of the crew. It's difficult to fault her logic, since the Doctor became non-functional twice after having to deal with the ethical conflict. I am sure that by next week he will be back to normal with no more memory of this dilemma than Janeway had this week of her similar decision to override Torres' ethical refusal of medical treatment in "Nothing Human." The denouement seemed incomplete, but it was also far more satisfying than a deletion command would have been. "Latent Image" is an inverse of sorts of the TNG episode "Clues," in which Data alone possessed a memory which had been wiped from the minds of all the organic crewmembers. In Voyager's case, because the entire crew was in on the conspiracy to keep the artificial crewmember in the dark, it was a bit easier to believe that the secret could be kept. But how in heck did they wipe Ensign Jetal out of every file in the computer that the Doctor might access? Did they replace Jetal's name with Megan Delaney's in every single report concerning a ship's function in which Jetal participated, or did she simply never do anything of note before that fateful shuttle trip? It doesn't make much sense that they would try to wipe her entire history out of the ship's databases, or to restrict the Doctor's access to most of the mission logs. One would think he would remember the woman, just not the birthday party or the other events of the day she died. The Doctor was stunning in this episode, both in his conviction that he could handle whatever they were hiding from him and in his subsequent breakdown (both in flashback and in series time). Robert Picardo is just about the only actor on this series who can play an emotionally over-the-top scene without ever getting out of character. Given the number of unemotional people on Voyager (Tuvok, Seven, often Chakotay), that's a wonderful thing, and it's no wonder the writers keep coming up with great Doctor stories. (One would think they would also remember that Janeway had long hair for several weeks after Seven came on board, but that's neither here nor there.) I'm more ambivalent on Janeway's actions in this episode, in part because once again she came across as authoritarian, though we are led to believe by the crew's complicity that they concurred with her decision. All did except Seven, who was not there for the original occurence and whose confrontation with the captain was annoying as usual but made a lot of sense considering the similarities between the Doctor's situation and the ex-Borg's. If anyone on the writing staff had bothered to remember "Mosaic," which detailed the deaths of Janeway's father and fiance also mentioned in "Coda," they could have had a powerful moment in which the captain explained that she chose as she did for the Doctor because of her own experiences in making such a terrible decision. But these writers don't seem to remember three episodes back, let alone two seasons' worth. Because it never came up as a matter for discussion and because Torres herself argued that the Doctor was non-sentient, it seems unfair to Torres that Janeway refused to let her make her own decisions in "Nothing Human" but granted the Doctor that right, on the grounds that she didn't want to be seen as discriminating against a hologram. If it's the captain's prerogative to make decisions for the good of the entire crew by choosing to keep the chief engineer or the Doctor functioning even if doing so meant violating their own desires, I'm not clear on why Seven's challenge gave her an ethical dilemma in this case. Maybe Seven would have had the same effect had she argued so passionately for Torres' rights as an individual. Or maybe Janeway feels more maternally about Torres than she does about the Doctor. I don't like the double standard, nor the inconsistency in the captain, but I am glad Janeway chose as she did; maybe she's learning. One thing I did have to laugh about when the scans started resolving from the skeleton through the muscle layer to the flesh and then the uniform: Harry has no genitalia! Well, neither does Janeway, but that's less of a surprise. I'm not even going to talk about what the Doc could do with those intimate scans of crewmembers if his mind were as unscrupulous as, say, Quark's. Let's just say that if he could get them to a Star Trek convention and sell them, he could retire a rich hologram. And hey, Janeway reads antique paper books, just like Kirk with "Moby Dick." I liked the way "La Vita Nuova" was used thematically through this episode, though I raise an eyebrow at her choice of material: Dante's chronicle of the only love affair in history more chaste than Janeway and Chakotay's. Heh heh heh. -- Em Wycedee KATHRYN JANEWAY, FEMINIST HEROINE SCHIZOPHRENIA AND "STAR TREK VOYAGER": THE REALITY OF GENDER ROLES IN A STAR-GLAZED VISION OF THE FUTURE By Rachel Chaiah Gluck To the untrained viewer, it may seem as though there is no need for concern and that all is well in the Star Trek universe. After all, that universe is now being explored under the expert guidance of Star Trek's first female captain. Star Trek: Voyager has "gone where no 'man' has gone before" by building its series around a female lead character. In theory, this is a tremendous opportunity for Star Trek's production staff to write beyond traditional female and male stereotypes and explore new gender roles for the cast and its audience. However, this has not proven to be the case. I have found, based on my regular observations of the show, that while there have been some positive portrayals of the genders, it is also plagued with stereotypes, leading to a "schizophrenic" image of both sexes. In particular, the stereotyping of psychological characteristics associated with the intimate relationships between its crew members is particularly disturbing. I attribute this to the fact that this show was launched, and is owned, by a network rather than having syndication distribution. This, coupled with a hasty series launch and the lack of a true guiding vision, has led to the schizophrenic behavior of Voyager's crew; most notably, her captain and first officer. In the end, the viewer is left to struggle with confusing and conflicting images. The effect of such images is general confusion, both on the part of the producers trying to determine what their audience wants and on the part of the audience, which is attempting to close the gender gap by watching shows such as Voyager. Star Trek is an international phenomenon that one could say has influenced more people around the world than many international leaders, including America's presidents. It is an integration tour-de-force, mixing the strengths and weaknesses of women, men, and children of all races, religions, and cultures into a popular science-fiction spectacle that has spawned four television series, an animated television series, and, with the upcoming release of "Star Trek IX," nine motion pictures. From Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura's first on-screen interracial kiss in 1968, to the casting of Kate Mulgrew as Voyager's captain in 1994, Star Trek has paved the way in the entertainment industry's portrayal of American life. How is it, then, that one can say that a Star Trek series has a psychological problem? Of all the shows on television, should not Star Trek be receiving more praise than any show for its respect of human diversity? Star Trek's diversity in casting has been unquestionable. Every cast has included people of at least two genders, races, and religious affiliations. Voyager's main cast is indeed reflective of the largest population: male, female, European, Hispanic, Asian, African, Native American, and, of course, scores of various humanoid alien life forms. On the production side, however, every executive producer but one, Voyager's own recently retired Jeri Taylor, has been both male and European. Moreover, Voyager was created at a time when people were busy. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller were concentrating on Deep Space Nine. TNG went out on a very high note; its final episode, "All Good Things," garnered a Hugo Award following the season's conclusion. Topping it off, the film Generations was in production. Two series and a movie in the same year should have been plenty for anyone, but Paramount was looking to launch a new network, United Paramount Network, and wanted a new Trek series to be the hub of the launch. Character and story arcs are the key elements in guiding any successful series. They should remind the viewers of the chapters in their favorite novels, building the suspense and adding detail until the climax, or finale, of the series. They also create "rules" affecting how the characters are written and set up almost automatic guidelines suggestive of how to deal with the problems that most surely will come later as more episodes are written and the audience reacts to the series. The most important goal should have been to lay out these fundamental developments of the "senior staff," as the main cast is often called, through at least a three-year series run. The extra weeks that were spent looking for the perfect woman captain could have gone to better planning of the arcs of the series. Voyager debuted extremely well. It was the highest ranked Star Trek series debut ever, but the main planning of the larger arcs continued to be from episode to episode. The principal vision of the series changed at the end of every season. There must have been burnout from the other projects still clouding the necessity to dedicate that much time to the new series. By reading Taylor's novels Mosaic and Pathways, and by looking at some of her best-known episodes such as "Resolutions," "Coda," "Hunters," and even "Caretaker," one can see that there was the intent to go beyond traditional stereotypes of past series and engage this series' captain in a serious romantic relationship with a fellow high-ranking officer. The audience, especially female viewers, noticed the chemistry between Kate Mulgrew's captain and Robert Beltran's Commander Chakotay almost immediately. When "Resolutions" aired, in May of 1996, it spawned a slew of commentary and fan-fiction and excited many fans at the prospect of an equal partnership in the stars. The network, however, did not pick up on this trend. According to their market researchers' analysis, the percentage of the audience in favor of an open romantic relationship was too small. Even as the number of chat rooms and fan-fiction sites grew and questions about the relationship mounted at conventions, they chose to downplay the importance of the relationship. This, though, was the Internet sampling. Had their researchers asked questions of their general viewing population that went beyond traditional sampling, they might have come to very different conclusions. Also, UPN feared two main things. Number one, if they placed their two leads in a relationship of this nature during the progression of the series, Janeway and Chakotay would be depleted of other stories, and other romantic "liaisons." Second, some viewers would come to see Chakotay as an indecisive character giving in to his captain. The problem with this, however, is that UPN did resort to two "alien of the week" episodes, featuring Chakotay, as a method of boosting ratings. This action contradicted the popular second season episode "Resolutions" and is a good example of a situation that allows for the creation of schizophrenia. "Unity" was an episode about humans trying to return to their pre-Borg humanity which featured a B, or second, story that ultimately became a main focus of the episode. In the B story, Chakotay has to be linked to a dozen "collective" humans in order to heal a wound he suffers on their planet's surface. In the process, they send him the memories of their lives. Chakotay has a romantic scene with Riley Frasier, the cunning doctor from Texas who has been tending to him. The impact of the other 11 people in the link is never mentioned. In the end, the relationship turns out to be part of a plot to get Chakotay to destroy their Borg cube, and he does it, but not without an interesting response from Janeway at the end of the episode. The second episode, "Unforgettable," dealt with a species who erased the memories of those with whom they came in contact while returning rebels to their home world. Here, too, there is a B plot in which Chakotay "falls in love" with the main alien, Kellin. At the end, Chakotay writes down what happened so that he will not forget, but it is basically assumed by viewers that this will not be brought up again. "Resolutions" is the main episode, taking place at the end of the second season, that set up the main sexual tension between the captain and the commander. Due to an incurable virus, they give up command and are forced to live on a planet, letting Voyager resume her course. In the episode is a passage where Chakotay basically states his love for Janeway. Because Janeway is still having trouble accepting her new life, and letting go of the ship and its crew, she resorts to "defining parameters" in their relationship. All too soon, Voyager returns to cure them and it is as though the romantic elements have never happened. Looking at the backgrounds of Janeway's and Chakotay's characters, one should wonder why he has never gone to Captain Janeway since then, and confronted her to look at her life. Is it his own indecisiveness, or fear? Both seem unlikely. Chakotay is Native American and has been painted as placing the importance of principle over organization. He left Starfleet to join the Maquis in defense of his home world, Dorvan V, after a loose treaty left it open to attack by the Cardassians, Starfleet's main adversary. Where Kathryn Janeway was raised by Starfleet blood and is a staunch supporter of Starfleet and its regulations, and an absolute scientist, Chakotay is her opposite. He is the spiritual force of the crew, supplying intuitive viewpoints to difficult situations, and originally sought out Starfleet because he had a natural celestial curiosity that was necessary to explore. Chakotay's emphasis of spiritual balance, and his dedication to commitment, should allow him to overcome any difficulty he has in being honest with Janeway, but for network reasons he continues to stay away from the issue. Captain Kathryn Janeway is the main focus of most of Voyager's female viewers. She has been scrutinized and criticized on everything from her hair (the famous, but no longer worn, "bun of steel") to her stoic isolation and self-imposed loneliness. The latter characteristics are the focus of incalculable debates among audience members. As was discussed earlier, Janeway has built walls around herself in an effort to deal with the changes in her life. These walls are viewed by many people as psychologically unhealthy because she has repressed much of the grieving and reconciliation that would allow her to move fully beyond Starfleet regulation and into her present reality. Recently, a friend of mine observed that these walls also could be seen as a threat to the delicate balance of the integrated Starfleet and Maquis crew created four seasons ago. Thus far this option, a potentially intriguing one, has not been addressed in any episodes. It could be argued that Janeway's pursuit of such a relationship with Chakotay is detrimental to the safety of Voyager and her crew. What if the relationship does not work and they are always fighting? What will happen to the woman who places duty before self-fulfillment? Will not such a relationship deprive Janeway of some of the time necessary to do a decent job of running the ship? Will this make it more difficult for Chakotay to argue against Janeway if he feel this is necessary? These arguments could all be true, but it should be taken into account that Janeway does not have a permanent confidant, someone with whom she is especially close and who would understand her need to let go every once in a while. It has been stated to the contrary, but her own behavior has proven this to be non-existent. It should be argued then, that with Janeway so far from Starfleet, 60,000 light years away, and being the sole head of the ship, that her own happiness and security should be of prime importance to her crew. One of the biggest problems associated with any science fiction series is that while it is a representation of a "future," it has to be written to accommodate the current audience. For example, in the "real" 24th century, women and men might not need to worry about relationships and the safety of the affected command decisions. By this time, human military culture simply might have evolved to accept the fact that certain human beliefs and practices, such as love, are the sole responsibilities of the participants. People would not be convicted for homosexuality, they would not be discharged because of adultery, and they would be allowed to form relationships with whomever they chose. For better or for worse, this is not how a large percentage of contemporary America views its personal life. During the course of the series, the audience has seen glimpses of the best that Voyager has to offer. Captain Kathryn Janeway is one of if not the most personable captains of the Star Trek franchise. Even though she has not fully dealt with her own needs, she remains generally compassionate and open-minded within the hierarchy of command. Janeway thinks quickly, is a decisive command officer, and takes care to give all who serve under her the chance to live up to their potentials. Her first officer, Commander Chakotay, helps bridge the gap between his former Maquis and her Starfleet crew. He has served as a confidant for Janeway and has used his Maquis unconventionality to create innovative solutions to tough problems. The future of Star Trek: Voyager is mixed. Certainly, Voyager has the potential to break more new ground in gender roles and relations. Now that Voyager is being written by an all-male production and writing staff, there is room for concern as to how the characters will be handled in future seasons. Can Captain Janeway come to see Voyager as her home and accept the need to move forward in her life? Can Commander Chakotay resolve within himself that he will stand by her decision to move on when it comes, or have the courage to help her accept a new direction? Can male audience members open their minds with regard to the Star Trek legacy and accept that there are different ways to lead the same vessel? Can the producers write a relationship that follows a convincing, dramatic, and productive course? Can Janeway and Chakotay come together to lead Voyager as they appear so destined to do? Only time will reveal the answers to those questions. Until then, it will remain apparent that Star Trek: Voyager is a show filled with the contradictions of 20th century reality and the potential of a star that shines brighter than any television set. This article was originally written fo a communication studies class at Mills College. WHY VOYAGER SHOULD RETURN HOME By Elizabeth Klisiewicz Will they or won't they? That is the question that many Voyager fans are bandying about, and we're not talking about Janeway and Chakotay getting together, because that's about as likely as a believable plot from Brannon Braga without any scientific inaccuracies. The big dilemma this season is whether they'll return Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant at the end of this coming season, especially since Deep Space Nine will end its seven-year run. I think they'd be mad not to take advantage of this opportunity, because frankly, the Delta Quadrant has not offered up any truly fascinating scenarios or hatched any interesting alien races. Alpha Quadrant aliens have been recast and reshaped for duty in the DQ, with the only variation being their noses, hair, and brow ridges. They've given us the Borg, but they haven't really given us anything close to the caliber of scripts like Michael Piller's "Best of Both Worlds," and this is no surprise. After all, look who's writing and running the show now? Guys whose idea for boosting the ratings is thrusting a shapely woman in our faces at every turn. Anyone who's taken a close look at the ratings between last season and this season knows that Jeri Ryan didn't do much to bolster a sinking ship, just as Michael Dorn didn't add a great deal to DS9. In my opinion, the Defiant saved that show, not Worf. With Voyager, one of the few saving graces has been the spectacular special effects from Foundation Imaging, but how long can explosions and the fire of battle mask the gaping holes in nearly every plot? How long can we excuse the hatchet job they've done on Kathryn Janeway and the rest of her senior staff? It says a great deal when we like the crew's alter-egos ("Living Witness") better than their actual characters. You see, bringing the ship home can't do anything but help the franchise's remaining show. If they keep the war with the Dominion alive, it can generate countless stories for our intrepid adventurers. What about the Maquis and the ramifications of keeping them on board? Finally, we have the familiar Federation background to rely on, and there are still many tales to tell on that front. Heck, you can just as easily send Voyager on deep space missions in the Alpha Quadrant as you can in the Delta Quadrant. So what's the problem? Well, I suppose nobody wants to admit the whole thing may have been a flawed concept to begin with. Unless they do something drastic this season, Voyager will never shake the Gilligan's Island comparisons that continue to foul its plasma streams. So, everyone cross their fingers and hope the franchise makes the right decision. THE FUNNY PAGES CHAKOTAY'S THEME By Sr. Mary Kathryn Starfleet started out in San Francisco tootin' on a trumpet loud and mean Suddenly a voice said go for Starfleet, spread the picture on the wider screen. And the voice said Kathryn there's a million aliens waiting to be hooked on our Directive Hit the road Kathryn, leave the cornfields behind spread the religion of the Prime Directive And the Prime Directive is a powerful beat there's a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet rhythm on the bridge, rhythm in the 'fleet Yes the Prime Directive is a powerful beat To spread the Prime Directive to feel the powerful beat to feel the tingle in your fingers to feel the tingle in you feet Kathryn spread the gospel in Delta Q took her to photon torpedo to the array Blew her way past Kazon then the Borg 'til she landed in that darn dismal void. Kathryn was a real sensation got herself a fast depression cloistered in her quarters with the lights dimmed low Ensign Harry Kim tooting while security was listening all the crew were go go going on the bridge. Flip your wings and fly for Starfleet flip your wings and fly for Starfleet flip your wings and fly for Starfleet fly fly fly to Starfleet hit the floor and crawl for Starfleet hit the floor and crawl for Starfleet hit the floor and crawl for Starfleet crawl crawl crawl to Starfleet Now we got the rhythm Kathryn now we got the beat we feel it in our fingers and we feel it our feet when we first heard the message we all answered to the call now we all got the rhythm and the rhythm's got us all flip your wings and fly for Kathryn take a dive and swim for Kathryn hit the floor and crawl to Kathryn now we got the rhythm let me hear it can you feel it take me home The End - yeah . HAIRSAY By Cybermum My guess, and it's only my own speculation These thoughts have no actual factual foundation... The whole situation that's dogged UPN Began very innocently, way back when The Powers That Be sat down at the table To toss some ideas around, and were able To ruminate, cogitate and conclude, in effect Their new little 'netlet be politically correct. "Now what gets them watching?" the execs asked their aides Who panicked and puzzled and consulted 'the trades’. "We don't really know what seems to be working But we’ve done lots of research and Internet lurking. We’ve been to the Newsgroups and checked out web pages. We’ve consulted with experts." (They asked their teenagers.) And so those brave souls decreed "What the heck." And decided to give us another Star Trek. But Trek is a show - we've all heard this refrain – That's had more incarnations than Shirley MacLaine. There's been Sisko, Picard, and of course Captain Kirk. So how could they make this newest one work? Well those creative boys thought long and hard about this And decided on something they knew couldn't miss. "Let's try it, let's do it, let's give it a whirl..." "Oh my god" cried head office; "The captain's a girl." The outcry was great and extremely long lasting. And even more difficult was "captain casting." They auditioned by hundreds, by thousands, I'm told. They finally settled on Genevieve Bujold. But as in many a saga there was a slight hitch – An eleventh hour captain switch. And who warped in to lead Voyager's crew? It was Mrs. Columbo, a.k.a. Kate Mulgrew. She put on the uniform and the three-inch heels And the Starfleet bra (lord knows how that feels). She immediately took command of her ship, Her phaser at ready, her hand on her hip. Her crew gathered 'round her in total support. They snapped to attention when she called "Report." The Powers That Be were thrilled with her flair. Until someone noticed - this captain's got hair. Now what were those red-faced execs going to do With a captain who actually needed shampoo? For if we remember each previous leader, To whom Captain Janeway was a natural succeeder, They had one common and noticable characteristic. Their pates were exceedingly militaristic. And so it began with the first set of rushes. They started to chase after Kate with hair brushes. "Let's leave it alone in a natural way..." "No, flip it under, perhaps it will stay." "What will we do with this girl at the helm?" "We'll try something else, and then we'll re-film." They pinned and they curled and they combed and they teased, But nothing they did kept the bosses appeased. Until they came up with a 'do most surreal -- The infamous, torturous, great "bun of steel." That lasted a while, much to our surprise It turned into a viable compromise. But once the hair came down to reveal The captain had a bit too much sex appeal. It might scare that sacred demographic If the captain began to stop space traffic. So the hair got twisted up again And there for a time it did remain. But once in a while throughout the seasons, And never for any obvious reasons, The hair thing would surface much to our dismay, And discussion would rise round the 'cooler’ next day: "Last night was a braid, now we liked that a lot... Did it really help to progress the plot?" "And what about the ponytail? Was that a tiny bit downscale?" And now we have the shorter style, So changeable it makes us smile, It's long, it's short, it's puffed, it's flatter, But are these the things that really matter? We tune into Voyager every week What is it that we really seek? To watch her steadfast crew in action? Or gauge our latest hair reaction? The Powers That Be should be aware That sometimes captains can have hair. That even in a space pursuit, It is okay to be hirsute. So let her be and let her act Or perhaps one day Kate will react. And then we'll hear she's up and called And said "Next year I'll be back -- bald." VOYAGER-THE LOVE BOAT By Tim Russ Sung to the tune of the old Love Boat theme song. Mr. Russ sang this at Fedcon and United Fan Con. (We are still waiting for Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran to acknowledge their victory in UPN's poll to determine the couple viewers would most like to see get together on the Love Boat, and do guest appearances...) Space, exciting and new, Won't you come on board? We will transport you. Fun with alien ships, They've got plasma rays at their finger tips On Voyager it seems like there's always something wrong, On Voyager we've been without sex for far too long. See life in away teams of five, We can't promise that you'll come back alive... Oh no, we've lost our warp drive, Shields are down again, well, that's no surprise! On Voyager we won't get home for so many years, On Voyager nobody goes to the bathroom here... Come on board! Sex and the Single Girl By: Sr. Mary Kathryn (Warning: May offend the easily offended!) Tuvok hadn't anticipated when Captain Janeway spit her coffee across her desk onto his chest that it would appear to come at him in slow motion. He was able to watch the dark liquid globules disperse and reform themselves into smaller missiles, but he was at a total loss at how to defend himself against the offensive and somewhat hot ammunition. No, this was definitely not the reaction he had hoped to get from his captain. "You want me to what?" It had taken Captain Janeway a few moments to cough up the coffee that she had inhaled before she spewed the rest onto Tuvok's uniform, but she was able to speak again and there was no way in hell she was going to agree to what Tuvok, the Doctor, and Chakotay were suggesting. "I haven't had sex for five years and it hasn't killed me. Surely you can just meditate through your pon farr, Tuvok." Chakotay's hand hid his mouth, but Janeway was sure she could see a smirk behind his fingers. The Doctor took a step closer to Janeway's desk. "Actually, Captain, that's exactly the reason this is the only way." The Doctor looked to Chakotay for support, but Chakotay quickly shifted his eyes toward the ready room carpet. "Just exactly what are you saying, Doctor?" The Doctor took another step closer to her desk and reached for her coffee cup then carefully handed it to Tuvok for safe keeping. "Captain, you've been a little keyed up lately. Guilt ridden. Depressed. You need a cathartic release. This procedure would be beneficial to both of you." "Procedure?" Janeway walked around her desk. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. We aren't talking about a medical procedure, Doctor. We're talking about me having sex," Janeway paused and looked at Tuvok then back at the Doctor, "with Tuvok." Chakotay snickered, but was saved from Janeway's wrath when her ready room doors opened and Neelix strutted across the room, a wide grin on his face and his hands filled with holodeck programs. "I've gone through the data base, Commander, just like you asked," he handed most of the chips to Chakotay, "and there are a lot of possibilities. Here," Neelix raised one he still held high in the air for all to see, "is an English manor program. And this one, is set in Italy. This one," he continued to shuffle through the programs he still held, "is of an automobile on Mars." He shoved the rest into Janeway's hands, closing his over hers and gave an encouraging squeeze, then grinned and tapped his chest. "So," Neelix looked around the room at the others, "when do we start?" Janeway thought a moment, evaluating her situation and her surroundings. Clearly she was outnumbered. No amount of protest was going to do her any good. She decided to try another tactic and put the disks Neelix had handed her on her desk, then turned back to face her jurors. She gloried in the melodramatic moment she took to push up her sleeves and put her hands on her hips before addressing them. "I think, Mr. Neelix, the more appropriate question at the moment is where do we start." She scanned the room, making eye contact with each, her eyes coming to rest on Chakotay. "Why don't you just close your eyes and grab a program, Chakotay. We'll all reconvene on holodeck two in thirty minutes. Tuvok breathed a sigh of relief and raised an eyebrow, wondering what Captain Janeway was going to spend the next thirty minutes doing. The other two men and the holodoc eyed each other warily. "Actually, Captain, it will be just you and Tuvok who will need to report to the holodeck," the doctor smiled, confident he'd be able to get the rest of them off the hook. He had already made plans to monitor their progress from sickbay. "Just Tuvok? I don't think so, Doctor. It's been five years. Five long years. I'm a perfectly healthy woman in my forties. Tuvok isn't going to be enough to shake this depression. It's going to take all of you." Janeway smiled at the doctor and continued, "You can't tell me you wouldn't like to add this to your database. Just think Doctor, first-hand knowledge. No having to spy from sickbay." Captain Janeway put a hand on his chest. Neelix and Chakotay flinched at the electric crackle that spilled across the room just before the doctor started waving his arms and shouting danger warnings. Neelix stepped back as Janeway walked up to him. "Neelix." Janeway rubbed her hand down his cheek. The fear she saw in his eyes was unmistakable. "With you it will seem so," Janeway paused then smiled and purred into his ear, "incestuous." Neelix dropped to the ready room floor. Chakotay watched him jerk for a moment, his yellow skin turned a bright orange and he quit breathing. It wasn't pretty watching a Talaxian die of fright, and Chakotay grimaced. "Chakotay," Janeway turned again, drawing his attention from Neelix to her, as she reached a long, slender, inviting arm in his direction, "you can't tell me you haven't wanted this as much as I have." Chakotay's hands flew to his chest, still clutching the holoprograms. Janeway watched as a string of saliva rolled down his chin and his eyes glazed over. "Stop right there, Tuvok." She turned to face her security officer who was quietly attempting to make his way to her ready room doors. "If you don't mind, Captain," Tuvok scanned the carnage in her ready room, "I think I would prefer to try meditation to solve my problem." "As you wish, Tuvok. Dismissed." Janeway's ready room doors swooshed shut behind Tuvok and she looked around her ready room and let out a long, loud, frustrated sigh, then smiled to herself. It sure was lonely on top. Good thing she could handle it. Quickly she stepped over Neelix and began to gather the holoprograms she could now happily explore at her own pace. The End COPYRIGHT VIOLATION CORNER DAUGHTERS by Amy Spagna Captain's Personal Log, Stardate 51107: It wasn't intentional, bringing Seven of Nine on board. Actually, we didn't have a choice in the matter - it was either bring her on board, or face destruction at the hands of Species 8472, or at the hands of the Borg themselves. But being myself, I've been determined to make the best out of the situation. And what's become of it? I've watched a fully assimilated Borg drone transformed into a beautiful young woman. Actually I suppose she's more like a young teenager, a child in a woman's body. I remember going through that, how confusing it all was, and how much I hated it. I hated not knowing what was going to happen next - what tricks my body was going to play next - or how to react. But we live and learn; with a little guidance, we make it through OK. Seven scares me. I suppose it's because she reminds me of myself at 13. I also suppose it's because in the short time she's been with us, she's become another one of my daughters. B'Elanna, Kes - they were both quite different. B'Elanna needed someone to believe in her; Kes needed someone other than Neelix to look to for advice. Each of them gave her own unique and quite unexpected gifts to me in return: B'Elanna has become one of the best engineers I have ever known, and Kes was one of three people on this ship I could truly have called a friend. I miss her so. But Seven is not B'Elanna, nor is she Kes. She doesn't fully understand the bounds of society, nor does she even have so much as a clue as to who she might become. Her knowledge is incredible, to say the least, but what she chooses to do with it is entirely her decision. All I can do is nurture her, and help her along the way as best I can. What does not cease to amaze me about this whole situation is that I never thought I'd feel anything other than rancor and suspicion toward a Borg. After Wolf 359, witnessing the carnage, seeing so many of my friends and colleagues killed, it's hard. But one individual is not responsible for the actions of the Collective, and Seven certainly is not representative of the Borg Collective. She said "you're welcome" to that Katati today. I guess I must be doing some good. "DILITHIUM?" By Susan Olexa Captain's Log: Stardate 48759.3.: Voyager has been experiencing problems with failing dilithium crystals. Previously we have had a power shortage but now, the crystals are on the verge of de-crystallization. If we don't locate a dilithium deposit in the next few hours, we will have to land to conserve impulse power and send out shuttles to continue the search. The problem created is this: without access to a starbase, we probably will not be able to raise Voyager again. The situation is reaching critical. Lieutenant Torres informs me that, at most, we have eight to ten hours left before we must land. Kathryn Janeway, Captain of the U.S.S. Voyager, walked from her command chair to the tactical/sensor station at the back right of Voyager's bridge. Speaking to her Chief of Security, she said, "Report, Mr. Tuvok." "Captain, at this time we are approaching a star system with a Sol type star; three planets, two uninhabitable, the third is Class M," the Vulcan security officer reported. Voyager's first officer, Commander Chakotay, turned in his chair to face Janeway, "Sensors suggest a pre-warp civilization, and a major dilithium deposit, Captain." Glancing back at his console, his face fell, "But it's only ten miles from the settlement," he finished. "Commander," Janeway replied sternly, "they are a pre-warp civilization. You said so yourself. We can't reveal our presence. The Prime Directive forbids it." "But Captain, we urgently need the dilithium. What if we don't find another deposit here in the Delta Quadrant?" Janeway slowly nodded. "You have a point, Commander." She thought for a moment, her normally stern features softening. "Maybe there's a way to get the dilithium without being detected by the natives." She stepped forward authoritatively. "Mr. Paris, take us into standard orbit." "Aye, Captain. Moving to standard orbit," replied Voyager's helmsman, Lieutenant Tom Paris. Janeway turned to her left to the operation's officer, "Mr. Kim, can you create a holo device capable of shielding us from the native's detection?" "I believe so, Captain," replied young Ensign Harry Kim. "Let me check the computer manifest for the necessary equipment." Looking down at his console, the Asian pressed the necessary buttons to check. He looked at her again, "Yes, Captain, we have the necessary components, but I'll require Lieutenant Torres' assistance." "Very well. How long will assembly require?" Janeway asked. "About three hours," Kim replied. Janeway nodded, and stepped down to the command level to stand by her command chair, tabbing her combadge, "Janeway to Torres." Kim headed for the turbolift. "Torres here." "Lieutenant Torres, meet Ensign Kim in the main cargo bay. He requires your assistance to assemble a portable holo-projector." Before Torres could sign off, Janeway added, "Oh, and, B'Elanna, get your dilithium refinery on line. You're going to have a chance to use it." "Yes, Captain," she answered exitedly. "I'm on my way." Settling in her command chair, Janeway leaned her arm on the side of her chair, reaching down to access her console. It slowly rose out of the divider between the command chairs. After a moment of study, she looked up, regarding her first officer. Feeling her gaze, he turned to look at her. "Commander," Janeway said softly, so only he could hear. "I hope I won't regret this decision." "I'm sure you won't," smiled the former Maquis confidently. He returned his gaze to his console, brushing his close-cropped dark hair away from the triangle-shaped tribal tattoo on his forehead. Janeway raised her tone to normal speaking level, "Commander, I want you personally to lead this away mission." Chakotay looked at her in surprise. "Captain, you won't be leading this mission?" he asked. "No, Commander. I just thought that under the circumstances, this could be a potentially long away mission, and I had better stay with Voyager," she said. "Yes, Captain, I believe that is a wise decision." * * * Two-and-a-half hours later, Janeway tabbed her combadge. "Janeway to Kim." He responded immediately, "Kim here." "Ensign, how much longer?" "Almost finished, Captain. About fifteen more minutes should do it. But, Captain. We're going to need some holo-images of the landscape where we'll be in order for this to be effective." "All right, Ensign. Janeway out. Tuvok," she turned to him, "can you get a detailed scan of the surface?" "Captain, there is an unusual atmospheric disturbance that prevents me from getting an accurate scan," the dark-skinned Vulcan answered. Janeway considered this information for a moment, nodded her head, and then replied, "All right, Lieutenant, you and I will beam down as close as the storm will allow us and take tricorder scans of the area." She turned to Chakotay, "I would like to see the planet myself," she added. "Captain, I do not believe that is a logical decision at this time. The same storm that is preventing the detailed scans, is also preventing accurate life sign readings," Tuvok interjected. "Well, Lieutenant, that's a risk we will have to take in order to save Voyager. " She turned to Chakotay, "Commander, you have the bridge." She headed for the turbolift. Tuvok followed reluctantly. "Transporter Room 2," she ordered, and the doors obediently slid shut. * * * On the planet's surface, Janeway and Tuvok rematerialized. Janeway turned to Tuvok. "Mr. Tuvok," she said. "Let's get finished here as quickly as we can." Opening her tricorder, she started scanning the area. The dry, barren, landscape reminded her of an area of Arizona she'd visited on Earth several years ago. The thought made her suddenly homesick, and she wished for a way to return to the Federation faster. But, they were still seventy- five years from home at the highest warp speed. Abruptly, she turned, closing her tricorder, and said, "I think that's enough material for Mr. Kim. We don't want to be here any longer than we need to be." Tuvok nodded his head in acknowledgement, and snapped his tricorder closed. Janeway tabbed her combadge, "Janeway to Voyager. Two to beam up." They disappeared in a column of light. * * * Thirty minutes later, armed with equipment and the portable holo- generator, the away team, Kim, Torres, and Chakotay gathered in the Transporter Room. Chakotay tabbed his combadge, "Chakotay to Bridge. We're ready to go." "Be careful with my coffee." Janeway admonished impishly. "Captain?" Chakotay raised an eyebrow in confusion. "The dilithium." "Oh," Chakotay laughed. "Power for the replicators. We will, Captain." he acknowledged, smiling. He stepped up onto the pad, and motioned the away team to join him. Turning, he nodded to the transporter technician, "Energize." The away team materialized on the surface. Chakotay directed, "Kim, Torres, get that generator running." As Kim and Torres assembled the holo-generator, he unholstered his tricorder and started scanning for the best place to mine the dilithium. Kim shook his short black hair out of his eyes with excitement. "It's up." Chakotay looked at him and said, "Good work, Kim. Come on, Torres, let's get to work. Kim, stand guard and watch your tricorder for lifesigns. If any natives come close, we'll have to be ready to get out of here in a hurry. Even with your generator, we don't want to take any chances. We don't want any possibility of contact occurring." "Aye, Sir," responded Kim, taking out his tricorder, starting to scan. Chakotay picked up a piece of equipment, and pushed it into the ground, setting it to extract the dilithium. Torres followed suit. As they worked in silence, Kim scanned the horizon both visually and with his tricorder. He knew he had to be on the alert, because if some unforseen problem developed with the generator, they would need to beam out quickly. Suddenly, breaking the silence, Janeway's voice could be heard over Chakotay's combadge. "Voyager to Away team. Come in please." Tabbing his badge, Chakotay responded, " Chakotay here, Captain. We'll finish up in about fifteen minutes." "Very good, Commander, because we are experiencing problems here, and an ion storm is approaching. We can't be sure if it will come close enough to cause more damage to Voyager, but I would like to be able to move quickly if necessary." "Understood, Captain. We'll hurry. Chakotay out." Turning to Torres, he said, "Let's get finished." Suddenly, the sky darkened, lightning flashed across the sky and arced toward the away team, catching the holo- generator causing it to crackle and spark. "Commander," yelled Kim, "We've got to get out of here! The generator's going to go!" "Chakotay to Voyager." He stabbed his combadge frantically, "Voyager, come in." He received no response. * * * Meanwhile, on Voyager, "Captain, the ion storm is approaching our position at this time," announced Tuvok emotionlessly. "Voyager to Away Team. Come in." No response. She tried again. "Janeway to Chakotay. Respond please." "Captain, we're receiving no response from the surface." reported Paris. "We've lost contact." She tabbed her combadge. "Transporter room, can you get a lock on the Away Team?" "Negative, Captain. There's too much interference to get a positive lock." The brown-haired helmsman interjected, "Ion storm will envelope Voyager in five minutes." "Janeway to Engineering." "Engineering. Lt. Carey here." "Do Voyager's engines have enough power to get us out of here?" "I'm sorry, Captain. Warp engines are failing and impulse are being affected by the storm. We only have enough for shields." "All right, Mr. Carey. Bridge out. Shields up, Mr. Paris." The ship lurched at the storm's impact, throwing Janeway from her command chair to the floor. "Shields up, Captain. They're holding for now, but I don't know how long they can stand this stress." Climbing to her feet, she returned her shoulder-length brown hair to her usual bun. "Keep them up as long as possible, Lieutenant." she ordered. "Aye, Captain." * * * On the surface, Chakotay ordered, "Kim, Torres, down behind these rocks," as he scrambled for cover. Immediately, Kim and Torres followed him. Just as the holo-generator exploded, Kim's tricorder indicated life- signs approaching. "Commander, look at this. Natives are approaching our position." Chakotay tried his combage again. "Chakotay to Voyager. Voyager come in, please." Again, he received no response. He turned to look at Kim. "How much time do we have before the natives can see us?" "Commander, we're shielded by the rock formation for now, but if the natives notice our equipment and come over to investigate..." his voice trailed off as he considered the implications of what he had said. "But Commander, if we move quickly, we can move our equipment behind these rocks, hiding it before they see it. They'll be in visual range in approximately ten minutes," he added already moving to collect equipment. When the team finished, Kim returned last to their hiding place. He climbed over the rocks, then noticed the natives approaching. At first, it appeared that they would pass on by without noticing anything strange, but then the away team heard excited conversation begin. "What's that?" the universal translator rendered the native man's speech. "What's what?" asked another native, a woman. Behind the rock, Torres growled, "No." "What?" Chakotay looked at her inquiringly. "My tricorder. I left it on a rock. It must be what they're looking at," she answered fiercely. Chakotay looked shocked. "You didn't?! Torres, the Prime Directive..." "I know. It was an accident." She scowled; the heavy bone ridges in her forehead deepening with frustration. He barely contained his anger. "Hopefully, they'll leave it and go away. Maybe it didn't catch their attention." "Commander," Kim whispered, "they are headed this way." Chakotay glared at Torres, furiously tabbing his combadge . He whispered, "Chakotay to Voyager. Come in please." "Voyager here." "Three to beam up, immediately. Energize." He felt the familiar tingle of the transporter beam. Transport completed, he turned to the transporter technician, "Did you get the dilithium and equipment?" "Yes, Commander." Stepping off the platform, Torres turned to Chakotay, "What about my tricorder?" "Hopefully, they won't be able to figure out how it works. I'll have to inform the Captain," he said shortly "I'm sorry, Commander." "I realize that, Lieutenant. However, it doesn't change the situation." * * * "Captain, that's what happened. It's all in my report," Chakotay finished. He sat in front of Janeway's desk in her ready room. "Thank you, Commander, I reviewed it, but I wanted your impressions first hand." She sighed as she stood from her desk chair. She walked around the desk, and up the steps to gaze out the view port. Turning back to him, she leaned against the bulkhead beside the replicator. She crossed her arms, and said, "The one thing I still don't understand is how B'Elanna left her tricorder." She shook her head thoughtfully. Considering her comment, Chakotay offered, "We can at least delete the tricorder's memory so if they do access it there won't be anything there." "Do it. Dismissed." Chakotay stood and exited to the bridge. "Ensign Kim, establish a computer link to Torres' tricorder. "Aye, sir." He looked down at his console establishing the link. "Done, Commander." "Delete the tricorder's memory." "Done, Sir." "Thank you, Mr. Kim." Captain's Log: Supplemental. With the discovery of dilithium, we are now able to continue our journey homeward. I know that no matter what else we may face on this long journey, this crew can handle it. They are a good crew and I am proud to have them under my command. ALL ABOUT NOW VOYAGER Greetings from the Kate Mulgrew Appreciation Society, KMAS Inc., a Maryland non-profit corporation. We're at P.O. Box 88341, Carol Stream, IL 60188-8341, and online at KMASinc@aol.com. KMAS Inc. is Kate Mulgrew's official fan club. Current yearly dues are $25/U.S.-Canada-Mexico, $40/Overseas (U.S. bank funds only). Send Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope for information, or $5 for a sample issue of Now Voyager, or e-mail for the electronic edition of this quarterly newsletter. 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