S1 E03: Time and Again

And we have our first Voyager Reset Button (VRB) episode! In fairness, the first TOS Plot Rehash episode of TNG was episode #2...

For the most part, I'm trying to avoid too much plot synopsis in these reviews, sticking instead to my reactions. In this case, however, here's a little background: The Voyager detects a cataclysmic explosion on a nearby planet and goes to investigate. They find a lifeless planet and beam down to investigate. Janeway and Paris are transported about 1 day into the past, before the planet was destroyed, and the rest of the episode consists of an attempt by the crew to rescue them, and an attempt by them to be rescued.

I went to the memory alpha page on this episode, hoping to get an idea of what the writers were thinking. I found this:

"The original pitch was what if you were in Dresden twenty-four hours before the fire bombing and knew it was coming? What would you do? That just seemed like an irresistible kind of a premise... It was just a compelling story with a high-concept idea that we couldn't resist." - Jeri Taylor

What? What?! They hardly explore that premise at all. Paris suggests, reasonably, that they should try to stop it, but Janeway shuts him down, citing the Prime Directive, and that's the end of the story until the plot makes them think that their presence is what made the explosion happen. This is probably my least favorite use of the Prime Directive - also to be found in Homeward (TNG 7x13). It just feels like the writers are using the Prime Directive as a cheap plot trick to tie the characters' hands and fill screen time. I mean, look at Pen Pals (TNG 2x15). Instead of just saying "oh we can't do that", the senior staff sits down and has a thoughtful discussion about it, and then decides to break with the directive in that case. But here and in Homeward, it is just used as a source for character conflict, and reflects poorly on a rule that was put in place for the protection of less technologically advanced peoples, not as a way to say "let them die". Oh well.

So that's part one of my beef with this episode.

Part two has to do with the resolution. Basically, to spoil the rest of the plot, it turns out that the crew's rescue attempt is actually what causes the explosion, and Janeway changing her mind and going to the source to try to stop the explosion is actually what brought the crew to that area to try to rescue her. Awesome so far, right? How are they going to cope with being ultimately responsible for the destruction of an entire civilization, even if they didn't mean to? They could even have worked in some defense for the interpretation of the Prime Directive as a way to not help the doomed.

But, instead, Janeway figures out what's going on, and closes the rescue rift with her phaser. Magically, everything gets undone, the planet reverts to normal, and only Kes has any idea what happened (but is Guinanly vague about it). This episode had so much potential it hurts. If they had stuck with the ending where the crew had mistakenly destroyed the planet, it might have been a bit too heavy for episode #3, but instead we're left with no lessons learned, everyone ready to make the same mistakes again.

Watchability: 2/5

Bottom Line: Its worth is not in what they did with the plot, but what they could have done. Good to think about afterwards, but not during.