A rash of illnesses, genetic mutations, and general poor health is affecting many of Voyager's crew, and the Doctor is struggling to work out the cause.
This episode doesn't immediately sound like a particularly scary one from its description. It's about a bunch of out of phase aliens doing experiments on Voyager's crew, and includes an argument about vivisection and animal testing for medical purposes between Janeway and the alien leader. But the way the story is constructed and the way the episode is filmed come together to create a brilliantly horrific episode – when I put together my personal list of the scariest episodes of Star Trek for YouTube last year it came in at number three.*
Our first indication that something is wrong isn't actually the weirdly developing medical conditions, but an unknown and unseen presence scanning Paris and Torres to produce an x-ray-like image while they kiss. In addition to being a bit icky, this immediately tells us that there is an invisible alien presence on Voyager, and the way the unknown alien is examining a couple kissing also tells us straightaway that these are some creepy bad guys!
There's a mystery element to the earlier parts of the episode. The viewer knows someone is watching the crew, but not who, how, or why, and we follow the Doctor and B'Elanna trying to figure out what's going on, right up to the point the aliens attack B'Elanna and the Doctor has to hide in the holodeck, at which point it goes full horror movie.
The scene in which Seven of Nine has to walk around the ship looking for the aliens and the evidence of their work without showing that she can see them is just brilliant. The aliens themselves are wandering around all over the place unseen, crew-members are walking around with weird devices on their heads, and when Seven gets in the turbolift she has to stand still and pretend not to notice while an alien probes her in the face! And then it all culminates in that reveal of Janeway with literal hot needles sticking into her head, surrounded by two more of the aliens – an image that lives rent-free in my head every time I get a migraine.
The fact that no one – including the viewer – knows how long the aliens were on board, as Paris points out when realising the aliens might have been messing with his and B'Elanna's hormones, just adds to the horror. Kes would probably have noticed them while ascending to a higher form of life, and she moved the ship ten years closer to home as well, so they must have arrived some time after the events of "The Gift," but no one knows when.
The climax of this episode is also one of Janeway's most spectacular gambits, and she only gets a bit of a pass for this one (compared to some of her other more controversial decisions) because the aliens have been messing with her head and deliberately raising her stress levels. She flies the ship into a binary pulsar, risking "crushing it like a tin can," and when the aliens suggest she's bluffing, she denies it – and follows through, destroying one of the alien ships, shaking off the aliens and flying through the pulsars, giving the whole ship a one in twenty chance of survival. And she does it herself too, relieving the helmswoman of duty, because it's her decision and she will see it through. It is quintessential Janeway – completely insane, utterly bull-headed, punching her way through, but somehow she gets away with it and it works.
I love this episode, and I know you're all going to get sick of hearing that but the show honestly was firing on all cylinders throughout (most of) season four. It's so well written, the characters are so well drawn, and it's such a perfect combination of solid sci-fi horror with sheer relatability – who hasn't got carried away in a new relationship or dealt with a bout of headaches/migraines that feel like needles in your skull? And just check out the length of the quotes section – I had to resist the urge to list most of the script, the writing is so good here!
*It would be number four now because Strange New Worlds' "The Griffin Incident" has usurped Voyager's own "The Thaw" in the number one slot!
Bits 'n' pieces
- I feel B'Elanna's frustration so much in the cold open, in which Seven of Nine has gone off to do her own thing and disrupted what B'Elanna was trying to do!
- The shipping news: Tom and B'Elanna's relationship is now official and known all over the ship.
- B'Elanna feels like she and Paris are being watched (which they are) but puts it down to paranoia because they are under the (incorrect) impression their relationship is a secret – Paris gives all sorts of excuses to the Doctor, even though he knows the Doctor literally caught them a few episodes ago. I do like the detail that Harry knew all along, though. Tom and Harry are my favourite friendship in Star Trek (come at me, DS9 fans!).
- Paris forgets that Janeway only accepts "Ma'am" in a pinch – B'Elanna correctly calls her "Captain."
- Chakotay and Neelix grumbling and one-upping each other about their medical symptoms is honestly hilarious, even if the ageing make-up on Chakotay... not the best.
- This is an early example of what would become a common use of Seven of Nine's Borg implants, which provide a neat little technobabble bit of plotting when the story needs a crew-member to be immune to something, just as Geordi's VISOR and Data's whole nature were often used in TNG.
Quotes
Janeway: (on her headaches) "They're like hot needles driving into my skull" – which is because that's exactly what they are, and that's why this episode makes it so high on my "Scariest Episodes of All Time" list!
Doctor: (Janeway is about to walk out into the corridor in only a towel) "Actually I was about to suggest a change of outfit."
Tuvok: "Good morning, Captain."
Janeway: "That's a matter of opinion!"
Tuvok: (in response to Angry!Janeway) "Shall I flog them, as well?" (Vulcan sarcasm is the best sarcasm)
Tuvok: "I will join you for a glass of wine" (it's not the line, it's the beauty of Tim Russ' delivery – Janeway and Tuvok are my second favourite friendship in Star Trek)
Janeway: "I don't think you realise that you are not in control any more!"
Janeway: "I hope you were exaggerating about those odds, Tuvok!"
Tuvok: "I was not!"
Janeway: "I never realised you thought of me as reckless, Tuvok."
Tuvok: "A poor choice of words. It was clearly an understatement."
Torres: "Sometimes it's nice to be the chief engineer."
This episode is just brilliant from start to finish. Four out of four binary pulsars.
Juliette Harrisson is a writer and content creator. Check out her books here, or her Patreon here.
I don't remember a lot of Voyager episodes but I remember this one and yes, it was terrific. Juls, I wish I'd gotten you to review "The Griffin Incident." I don't like writing unhappy reviews.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's a terrific episode. Thanks for reviewing it! The most unsettling thing in the episode for me, was the calm, detached, rational mindset of the aliens that sorry, yes, it's unfortunate, but all of these experiments are really necessary, so we'll continue, it's all for the advancement of medical science, some sacrifices are necessary, you can see that right?
ReplyDelete