Star Trek 499: The Thaw

499. The Thaw

FORMULA: The Neutral Zone + Cost of Living + Hard Time

WHY WE LIKE IT: The very end (no, that's not a dig).

WHY WE DON'T: Oh surrealism, we don't care about you very much.

REVIEW: What if the Matrix was run by Michael McKean instead of Hugo Weaving? That's what Voyager finds out when they blatantly break the Prime Directive by trying to resuscitate people who have plugged themselves into an artificial environment while their biosphere recovers from a disaster. No mention is made of the big P.D. despite the fact that Janeway is usually a stickler for it (or for at least saying she is). No, here it's not an issue somehow, and the crew seems overly concerned with reviving this culture (how only three survivors can do that is not our problem).

McKean brings a lot of energy to the screen as the embodiment of Fear, and his festival, though reminiscent of those in Cost of Living and Fascination, is colorful and has some original character designs. The Earth-centric stuff is no doubt due to Harry and B'Elanna's presence in the Matrix, and seems to show Harry's deep fear of France (mimes, the guillotine). So there's plenty of stuff happening on screen, and as far as surreal landscapes go, this one isn't half bad. I wouldn't say the gags are necessarily funny, but they keep your attention. And I have to commend the director's flourishes: the way the Doctor's appearance is a nice surprise, and the very end, sad and creepy as the lights go out.

Plot aside, this is an episode to help us understand Harry Kim better. We've got a scene with a clarinet that shows he's ready to forget Libby, for example. I don't believe for a moment he fears getting old (this is not proper psychology for such a young man), but the make-up looks good. Much better is Harry as a Starfleet baby. Now THAT'S funny. The rest is the usual courage and conviction you'd expect from any character on the series.

It's also Janeway's show as she tries to psychobabble her way out of a tight spot. That's one of the things wrong with The Thaw. Treating the Clown as Fear is fine, but they don't apply actual psychology to the problem. They use idioms. Fear is there to be conquered, for example. I've learned to trust Fear. Yes, nice expressions, but they're plays on words that this manifestation of actual Fear falls for. It's clever and all, but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny and it bugged me. Especially since the episode had a real danger and raised the stakes properly. At least the ending is a clever twist (if a bit of a technological deus ex machina).

LESSON: Fear is the mindkiller.

REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Some nice elements, fair tension and clever direction, and of course, a good guest-star. Motivation is lacking for the crew to get into this dangerous situation though, and that's a problem the self-motivating (no Starfleet orders) Voyager crew has to be careful about.