S2 E25: Resolutions

Plot 1: Janeway and Chakotay have contracted an incurable disease, which will only lay dormant if they stay on the planet where they contracted it. Janeway orders Tuvok (who is now in command) to quarantine them there, since the Doctor can't come up with a cure, and continue home without them. She takes enough research equipment to focus on finding a cure day and night, while Chakotay sets about making a life for them there. When a plasma storm destroys all her research, she is forced to come to terms with her new life there, and she and Chakotay discuss what direction their relationship might take. Oh, and she makes friends with a monkey.

It is hard not to look at Janeway and Chakotay in terms of Roslin and Adama (from Battlestar). They're both leaders with difference spheres of influence who followed very different paths to the predicament in which they've found themselves. In both cases, a relationship would be very unprofessional, but they are in situations where standards for professionalism are set by them. I could fill pages (and probably will at some point) about the ways in which Battlestar is "Voyager done right," but now's not the time. Suffice it to say, it takes effort for me to not judge things in Voyager as bad because they did something similar in an awesome way in Battlestar, but as a separate entity.

Janeway and Chakotay, despite being awkward together, show more chemistry than I'd expect they would. Mulgrew gives some of her most natural acting in this episode, aside from the ridiculous pose she keeps taking when approaching the monkey. When she's not being the condescending captain, she's actually kind of likeable. The thing is, if the writers are going to do an episode like this so early on, they've got to have the courage to at least deal with the fallout. While I haven't seen most of the rest of the series directly, I do know that this relationship is simply dropped. It's a shame too, because the start it gets here makes it feel almost normal.

Plot 2: Even though Janeway had ordered Tuvok not to risk the ship and crew by asking the Vidiians for help with their medical problem, many crew members (led by Kim) object to that decision. Kim stops just short of organizing a rebellion against Tuvok, who eventually relents and agrees to meet with the Vidiians. The bad guys act like bad guys, but the Doctor's Vidiian girlfriend sneaks the cure to him, and then escape to go rescue Janeway and Chakotay.

I'm a little disappointed with Kim's behavior here, and also with Tuvok's leadership (he was better with the kids on that planet than he is with the crew), but more so I am disappointed with the Vidiians. This was their last chance. There are no more Vidiian episodes. Here they're just the Romulan stand-ins, springing an obvious trap. I mean, Kim made an excellent point, that Voyager has some very good bargaining chips, and even the gruesome Vidiians from their first appearance would have rather traded for what they want rather than fight for it. Just... disappointing.

Watchability: 3/5

Bottom Line: Even though the "resolutions" of this episode aren't built on later, it's still a decent show. Even though they leave the monkey behind.