463. ParallaxFORMULA: Time Squared + Hippocratic Oath's Klingon integration program
WHY WE LIKE IT: B'Elanna's story.
WHY WE DON'T: Technobabble of the worst kind.
REVIEW: The best thing about early Voyager is without a doubt seeing how the crew makes do with their situation. The worst thing about early Voyager is the nonsense plots framing those elements. Here, it's a totally nonsensical, technobabble-driven plot about a quantum singularity in which a ship is trapped and asks for help. Turns out, it's Voyager itself calling from moments in the future, luring itself to its doom. Yes, it's a paradox, and it doesn't really make sense when you examine it, nor is it particularly interesting to look at on screen. Worse still, instead of the usual babble about fictional particles and whatnot, it uses words like "event horizon" that have a definite meaning, broadcasting on all bandwidths that the writers have no clue what those words actually mean. At least there are real world allusions (like the icy pond) to help you follow along.
But admittedly, not a lot of the episode is spent on this. The real focus is on B'Elanna being considered for chief engineer at Chakotay's behest. He makes a good point in this that to properly integrate the Maquis into the crew, some need to be in officer positions. It's hard to side with Janeway on this point, especially since she's saddled the Maquis with different-looking pips. Does she actually consider them second-class crew members? And yet, B'Elanna's already broken someone's nose. Nonsense though it is, the plot at least provides B'Elanna with a proving ground, one that shows that she and Janeway are a lot alike. The scene where they complete each others' thoughts does this brilliantly. They're both quick and original thinkers. I've got to give props to my man Lt. Carey however. Not only does he lose the post, he loses it to an upstart who beat him up, and still he's a big enough man to sincerely congratulate her at the end. Now that's what Starfleet should be all about.
Someone else Janeway doesn't seem to respect much is the EMH (hey, he's not a person or anything), a character further humiliated by having him shrunk to midget sizes by a malfunction. Slightly amusing, though the effect doesn't work. It's like a funhouse mirror more than anything. One might also question the choice of Tom Paris for field medic. Is there no one aboard better suited, even if it's not a member of the senior staff?
Other bits include Kes setting up a hydroponics bay, Seska appearing in science blues rather than engineering gold, and Maquis telling Chakotay they're all up for a mutiny. They don't share his sense of honor, certainly, and this may set up later events as much as provide impetus for his crusade to get B'Elanna promoted. We also learn that the holodeck is on a separate, incompatible power system, which is just one big cheat to allow for holodeck episodes despite the ship's stated low power levels.
LESSON: Your ship is the ship that isn't the ship that it used to be, unless it's not the ship that it's going to be.
REWATCHABILITY - (to my surprise) Medium: B'Elanna's audition is compromised by that technobabble plot. More entertaining than I remembered, but I still zone out in spots.
Comments
On the other hand, the interaction between Starfleet and Maqui was off to a good start setting up many potential plot threads to be squandered.
And while I'm fine with "mad science", Parallax doesn't even respect its own rules. If you try to understand the final dilemma of which ship is which, it doesn't make sense with what's been said before.