S7 E19: Q2

Q is back, and he's brought his insufferable son with him, hoping that the Voyager crew can be the parents that he isn't. He first leaves his some behind with his powers intact, but rectifies that mistake on the second try. Now at the mercy of the crew, and under the threat of being turned into an amoeba if he doesn't behave, he begins to fit in. A third visit from his father, who is not happy with the humanization of his son, sends him into despair again, and he steals the Delta Flyer and Icheb on a mission to find babes. Icheb is mortally wounded on this excursion, and even the Doctor cannot repair the damage, so he has to ask forgiveness from the aliens he offended in order to save Icheb's life. The aliens are actually his father in disgueise, and with this new evidence of his son's maturity, he gets the continuum to agree to not turn him into an amoeba.

This episode adheres to the Deja Q formula very closely, only with Q's son instead of Q and Icheb instead of Data. That's not necessarily a bad thing; I didn't automatically dislike Nemesis just because it followed the Wrath of Khan formula. I disliked Nemesis because it didn't have much to add to that formula, and what it did change wasn't good.

The major change here is the addition of the parenting elements, which are all kind of awkward exchanges between Q and Janeway the non-parent. Well, awkward in parenting advice content - as always, I love the way those two interact. Q's complete disregard for what Janeway wants, the way he calls her Kathy, the way he throws all of her negative character attributes back at her and she reacts with disgust, those are things I've loved about every Voyager Q episode.

Q's son is played by John De Lancie's actual real-life son, and that was a good choice as far as I'm concerned. He has inherited many of his father's delightful mannerisms, even if he also reminded me of the earlier, terrible Q episodes for the first third of the episode. See, here's the thing: I've heard people complaining about what a bad actor the guy who played Anakin (I can't be bothered to look up his name) in Star Wars episodes II and II was. I've always maintained that he probably isn't a bad actor, he's just really good at portraying exactly what the producers of those films wanted out of him: an insufferable, angst-ridden, cripplingly dour waste of screen time. The problem is that whether what I think or what they think is true is irrelevant because, either way, it was a burden to have to make my eyes follow him for hours.

And when you compare this episode to Star Wars episodes II and III, this is Oscar material. Sure, it was derivative and the boy was obnoxious most of the time, but at least he worked well with Icheb. The banter those two had going here was fun and natural, and not painful to watch.

Watchability: 3/5

Bottom Line: Well, as always they needed to contrive a way for Q to be happy with them at the end and yet still not send them home, but this episode wasn't as bad as I'd feared.