| Paris and Kim are running a Captain Proton holodeck adventure, when (you'll never guess!) the holodeck malfunctions. Voyager has been caught in a ribbon of subspace, and no amount of power to the engines will get them out. In the meantime, the Proton story has been invaded by photonic life-forms who take the simulation at face value and have begun a full-scale assault on Proton's nemesis, Chaotica. They won't respond to the biological crew members, as they register as nothing but simulations to them. To end this war, the Doctor plays the role of the President of Earth in order to negotiate a cease-fire, while Janeway poses as Arachnia (queen of the spider people), aiming to bring Chaotica's lightning shield down. Once the opening is created, Paris/Proton comes in and saves the day with his death ray. The aliens leave and Voyager is no longer tied to the subspace ribbon. |
The photonic aliens are a stretch at best, but that's not really what this episode is about. This is a "just for fun" episode, but it is a very different kind of fluff from an episode like Counterpoint. Instead of intrigue fluff, this is outright comedy fluff, and though not all the jokes are home runs, I managed to have a good time. So far, the Captain Proton simulations have felt strange to me, much like Janeway's Gothic Romance simulation: they haven't seemed very interactive. The characters just seemed to be acting out a pre-determined part with a script they've memorized, but without the audience that one expects for that kind of performance. I found it odd that Naomi's program, Flotter, the one for children, seemed more interactive than the programs for adults. It's clearer in this episode that the program is adaptive, adjusting as new elements are added to the scenario by the aliens. So, instead, Paris is just LARPing - against mostly AI opponents.
I don't really have much to add to that. It was fun, and mostly funny. I do have one observation though: in the conference room scene, where Paris has to map out the events that have occurred and those that are yet to happen in the scenario, Tuvok looks pissed. Like, out-of-character angry. As mentioned previously, the memory alpha annotations this season are but a shadow of what they were for the previous four, so I'm going to have to make some conjecture here: if I were Tim Russ, I'd be upset too if, in the show in which I had more lines than my other eleven appearances in the season put together, I were still just a minor background guy. I mean seriously, what is up? Tuvok is great, why aren't they using him?
Okay, I did some research. Apparently, during the fifth season, Tim Russ took some time off to pursue his music career - a side gig that he took up in part because he was feeling a bit stifled by his role as Tuvok. And, while he and I may not share the same taste in music, he's got a decent voice. But this is a plea from me to Tim Russ in the Past: don't leave me here. Voyager can be a scary place. You're good at playing this Tuvok guy - hang in there for a couple more seasons. Please.
Watchability: 4/5
Bottom Line: Fun show, but we need some more Tuvok, please.
Tim Russ Quote: "I think it's going to be a little bit different coming out of the gate, but definitely from a network standpoint, they are still promoting Jeri [Ryan] to try to sell the show, which I never really understood. The show has its own audience; we're not going to be an E.R., we're not going to be a Cheers, it's just not that kind of show. The ratings have been the same since the show started."
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