S6 E03: Barge of the Dead

Torres is returning from a solo shuttle mission, and crash-lands in the hangar bay. When events start unfolding strangely upon her return, she's convinced that it is more than just the effects of the concussion she received when landing. These suspicions are confirmed when Klingon warriors enter the mess hall and slaughter the crew, and she awakes on the Barge of the Dead, the mythical ship upon which dishonored dead Klingons are ferried to Gre'thor (Klingon hell). She also isn't convinced that these events are real either, until her mother appears - and Torres revives in sickbay shortly thereafter. Paris and the Doctor inform her that she has been in a coma since an accident during her shuttle mission, and that what she experienced were likely to just be hallucinations. Torres remains shaken, and discovers, after reading up on her Klingon mythology, that if her mother were to die, she would be doomed to Gre'thor due to Torres' own disrespect of Klingon traditions. She finds a way that she could rescue her mother, and convinces Janeway to let her recreate the situation in which she first entered her near-death experience. Once inside, the captain of the barge is immediately aware of her intended deception, and her mother refuses her assistance, but Torres stands willing to give up her life for real in order to save her mother. After willingly walking the plank, and facing down her true feelings about living on Voyager, she is returned to life with a new perspective.

In the memory alpha annotations for Mortal Coil, it is mentioned that there is a perceived contradiction between these two episodes. Under the assumption that Mortal Coil indicated that there is no afterlife and that this episode purports the existence of one, I could see the possible contradiction; however, I dispute both of those assumptions. Mortal Coil is more about Neelix's fear that there is no afterlife - just because he didn't experience one doesn't mean it isn't there. Likewise, just because Torres experienced something like the Klingon afterlife doesn't mean it is real. In my opinion, these two episodes complement each other beautifully, approaching different characters' beliefs and assumptions and testing the strength of their convictions without taking a hard line stand. They are great companion pieces, and Voyager is richer for having both.

Torres needed this episode urgently. Her character had been in a slump, and this episode was a perfect way to move her story forward without closing the doors behind it. She acts maturely throughout, not displaying the regression of the previous season, while still showing her characteristic impatience. And without taking her a step back, this episode confronts her with a reasonable explanation as to why she's been acting extra, in a word, Klingon. Definitely the strongest scene of the episode is the one in which she is surrounded by visions of the Voyager crew on the Barge, while they deconstruct her behavior until she symbolically throws away her bat'leth.

Other characters get a chance to pop in too. Her lessons with Tuvok (from Juggernaut), juxtaposing his lessons in Klingon-side repression with judgment from an illusion of him for not being Klingon enough. That's actually the first scene that clues the viewer in to the possibility of her whole post-shuttle-landing reality being not so real, and it is a good choice for that role because (due to the way it builds) Tuvok's barbs have more of a sting that way. Also, this is one of the first Chakotay-Torres scenes in the last few seasons, and their mentor relationship is one that I miss. Once again, Chakotay is being used in a Kira-esque role, but it is bent into being distinctly Chakotay's style.

I thought the barge scenes were great, not only in terms of visual presentation, but also as a creative way to expand the Klingon mythos. The detail that went into the set and effects surrounding it reveal a richness of imagination that you don't see very often. Even just the short bit about the voices of friends calling out over a deadly ocean, a part that maybe filled twenty seconds, adds to the overall scope of the world that is created here.

Watchability: 5/5

Bottom Line: Finally some good progress is made with Torres, without an easy solution, and leaving room for more advancement. This is the last of the Ronald D. Moore episodes, and while you can see in Battlestar some of what Voyager would be if he were at the helm, it has been a treat to see it in Voyager itself.