Janeway and Chakotay, in a shuttlecraft returning to Voyager, are struck down in a planet's atmosphere, where Janeway nearly dies from her injuries. Vidiians then arrive and kill them both. After dying, they find themselves back on the shuttle in the middle of a previous conversation; the situation seems similar to a temporal causality loop but each iteration is slightly different from the last. Janeway eventually becomes disconnected from the action, and watches as the Doctor pronounces her dead. This time, she is not returned to the shuttle, and she desperately attempts to make her presence known to the crew. Kes is able to briefly sense her, but eventually gives up on her.
Her dead father appears to her, and informs her that she too is dead, and must come to terms with that. Despite attending her own funeral, and watching as her crew begins to move on, Janeway cannot accept what he is telling her. He becomes more insistent, then angry, and Janeway suspects that things are not as they seem. Her "father" turns out to be an alien who preys on the nearly dead, hoping to coax them into his "matrix" where he can feed on their souls. Janeway resists, and is resuscitated by the Doctor.
Honestly, for the first half of the episode I was just thinking to myself "Okay Braga, what are you up to this time?" I was surprised to find that it was actually a Jeri Taylor episode, but I'm still not sure what the relevance of the first half of the episode is. When I was watching it, it felt like the time was just being filled with bizarre stuff to put off getting into the meat of the episode - after seeing the whole thing, I am even more confident that that was what was going on.
The meat of the episode is fairly substantial in this case. It is an examination of grief, loss, and moving on, from the perspective of both the ones who have lost and the one who is lost. I believe that somewhere in this sea of text I call a blog that I've mentioned how much I like these elements in The Next Phase; if I have not, consider it done now. The "appearing at your own funeral" thing works its magic again here, but in its own way: no trombone solos.
The aliens are both sinister and oddly comforting. I mean, sure, he's going to feed on you in his matrix, but hey, you're dying anyways. As long as you're done with this existence thing, would it be so much of a hassle to help out some hungry aliens on your way out? Sure, he's kind of a jerk here for trying to keep Janeway dead, but you've gotta eat. The suggestion that maybe these aliens are responsible for all near-death experiences doesn't do much for me, but I guess it isn't really offensive either.
The Janeway-Chakotay relationship keeps getting nudged along here, and as much as they'd make a decent couple (Janeway does some of her most natural acting in scenes with him), I have to say the snail's pace is a bit tedious. Especially so because I also know nothing comes of it.
Watchability: 4/5
Bottom Line: Interesting, if padded, episode, that has some of the meat I've been waiting for.
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