Star Trek 491: Threshold

491. Threshold

FORMULA: New Ground + Genesis + Identity Crisis

WHY WE LIKE IT: The exploration of Tom Paris' character.

WHY WE DON'T: The exploration of Brannon Braga's stupidity.

REVIEW: Here we go, the worst Voyager episode, bar none. The number of nonsense premises stacked on top of each other don't just strain suspension of disbelief, they kill it, throw it in a hole, bury it, then nuke the planet from orbit before leaving for another dimension. Stupid ITEM #1: With no outside resources, Voyager's motley crew (specifically an ex-con, a promising ensign and a Maquis engineer) succeed in sending a ship to Warp 10 (a theoretical impossibility) when no one back home has ever been able to even come close. Stupid ITEM #2: The episode uses the same definition for Warp 10 the Tech Manuals do, i.e. it represents infinite speed, which in turn means you would be everywhere at once. It's not like breaking the warp barrier for a few seconds then throttling back to see the Earth far behind you. You could probably not hope to get your pilot back from such a flight. Even so, after the events of Threshold, the whole things is scrapped because it's not safe. But why can't you just go to Warp 9.99 or whatever? You don't need to go to Warp 10 to hit record velocities.

Stupid ITEM #3 (the big one): Existing everywhere at once makes you evolve a super speeds, and our ultimate form is that of a salamander. Not only does the script not understand how evolution works, but the conclusion it reaches is anti-Roddenberrian. Star Trek has always taught us that humanity would one day evolve into a higher plan of consciousness, indeed that all species carry the potential for it. Seems to me a god-making experience like the one Paris had would bring him closer to that. Perhaps there's something akin to the Traveler's means of travel in this metaphysical endeavor. As it is, it's a good opportunity for body horror reminiscent of Cronenberg's version of The Fly. Not very palatable tv. But things get worse! Paris kidnaps Janeway, turns her into a salamander and mates with her. Prime Directive be damned, they even leave the hatchlings behind. Not only is this all very dumb indeed, especially the lack of reaction from those two later, but it's yet another indignity for the Captain. The show seems set on not allowing us to respect her. Anyway, don't worry, there's a big DNA reset button at the end, because you know, it's that easy to rewrite someone's genome. It'll even give you back the haircut you had before mutating into a gross (actually, the puppets are rather well made) lizard thing.

I do give props for the early scenes of Paris desperately trying to prove himself, especially when the Captain tries to take the mission away from him. This need, not just to prove himself, but also be on record as something else than a screw-up and rogue, is what's been driving this entire "second chance", and there's pathos in the idea that the one he's really trying to prove it to (his father) may never know. Unfortunately, it all ends with a Family Matters-style lesson about not caring about others' opinions.

Brannon Braga did go on record regretting writing this mess, but whether that's because of fan backlash or seeing the result on the screen is anyone's guess. It seems like a bad idea is a bad idea on the page, long before real money's spent on it. This is where Braga joins an illustrious group of negligently clueless producer types, among them George Lucas, John Nathan-Turner and Joe Quesada.

LESSON: I'll be a monkey's uncle.

REWATCHABILITY - Low: Even if you look at Voyager like it's Lost in Space: The Next Generation, this is still a pretty awful episode of Lost in Space.

Comments

The worst Voyager episode bar none? The most stupid, definitely, but when it comes to just straight up bad, just wait until you get to season five's The Fight, which has even superceded Threshold as worst Voyager episode ever; according to the voters over at imdb, at least.

Still (trying to see the positive here), I guess the good news for now is that things can only get better, no?
Ok, I only just realised how stupid my above comment sounds. How can things only get better when the worst is still to come? :s
Marc Burkhardt said…
The salamander incident was a huge WTF moment for me and pretty much threw me off of Voyager and just about any other Trek related stuff for quite some time.

Boy, was that bad!
Siskoid said…
Well, Jay, I can't speak for later seasons, but the show gets immediately better after this. In the short term anyway.
Jack Norris said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jack Norris said…
I know I've been a pretty solid anti-Voyager commenter here on your fine blog, but here I'll be the first to say something positive about this episode:
At least it made me laugh.
Which, funnily enough, none of Voyager's few actual attempts at comedy ever did.

(deleted & reposted to remove a typo)
mwb said…
Not only one of the worst ST:V episodes but in the rarefied air that is the worst of the whole franchise.

Along with "space hippies" in ST:TOS and the ST:TNG where a virus devolves everyone.

They should hire me, I can write crap like that for only a fraction of their normal writers' cost! ;-)
Siskoid said…
Hard to fire the writer on two of those stories, since he's a producer!

Actually Mwb, I suspect neither you nor I could do much worse than Threshold even if we tried.

That said, I have a measure of campy affection for Space Hippies.
Anonymous said…
I seem to recall disliking 'Demon' more than threshold, myself. Although Threshold didn't spawn a far-superior sequel episode, so Demon gets hate for being very bad and yet quasi-essential...
Siskoid said…
The thing about reviewing episodes in order is that I may yet hit something that makes me go "Well, they've gone and beat Threshold for sheer stupidity!"