(1997) 9 June 2013
In a lot of ways, I agree with "Quantum Freak" but the things they cite that made it non-enjoyable for them, I enjoyed.
But I will not refute what they have said, because they are correct in everything they said about not only this Ep, but the state of the show at this time, and the Main Producer of the show, one Brannon Braga.
Voyager did not have the Braintrust which Next Generation had for the first 6 years, nor the Writing Team which turned Deep Space Nine into a full Universe-Spanning Epic.
And it does seem that for the first 2 1/2 years, Voyager was lost not only in the Delta Quadrant, but in a mist of lagging and non progressive story lines.
It was as if - As much as Janeway is loathe to avoid neglecting The Prime Directive, so too were the Writers of Voyager, being way too careful to avoid breaking the Prime Directive for the first two and a half seasons. Janeway's response to situations was inflexible and religious- Not at all Like Picard, who would not act UNTIL he had heard all of the options laid out on the table. But Janeway would never call for conferences of this sort, and she had only one rule, never BREAK the Prime Directive. This is a recipe for bland story lines and lack of progress.
Usually, a show takes a full season of episodes (or less) just to establish itself. Why Voyager took two and a half, could be assigned a number of reasons: UPN was an Infant Network, and Voyager was a Network Show. This Infant Network (Now a Deceased Network) went from being "Dramatically Different" to being nothing but off colour ethnic comedy in One Season.
Look at the shows which came and went: Legend, a Western Macgyver (With John Delancey)- Marker. Deadly Games. And the best - Nowhere Man. All GONE in the second year of UPN's existence, and all great shows, all replaced with lame comedies which themselves would not last a whole season Like "Moesha". It was as if Paramount was BET-Mount for a while. So every other Non Voyager show was a Race show. Now I love Martin Luther King Jr as much as anyone, as a human, but I'm for balance, not complete assimilation- Which is what happened to UPN.
It was as if some universe-upheaval shook down the offices of UPN and did a Major Universe-Alteration from one season to the next. From the second year of UPN on, UPN only offered Ethnic Comedies, and Voyager. It was not that the Ethnic Comedies were Ethnic comedies, it's that they were BAD Comedies.
So Voyager stood alone in this vast wasteland of television dren. Not only was Voyager a Trek show, it was Also a NETWORK show - It was no longer Syndicated. And due to this flaw, it could now be micromanaged - AND, Threatened with Cancellation.
So while Next Generation and Deep Space Nine enjoyed a full seven years unhindered by Network Executives, Voyager was probably henpecked by these infestations from the start. Ergo, there was NO Straight Line Voyager took from Delta Quadrant to Alpha Quadrant.
This is why I like this episode - It Established a FUTURE HISTORY. We know now, The Kremin and The Year of Hell is on the horizon, and soon.
We also see microscopic changes in the timeline - Kes no longer has her Pixie haircut, she now has long flowing Tresses, and looks much better like that.
Really, Kes was a good character, we only got to know her fleetingly. She was unceremoniously KICKED off the show, despite Strong performances- And she never worked again after Voyager instead actually becoming a real Doctor in real life.
The best Kes episode was when she gets taken over by the Warlord, that was some range revealed there. Jennifer Lien was in fact the best Actress of the whole Voyager Cast, I felt a Method approach. Also, the character showed the most growth of all of the Voyager Crew, she was innocent, left the show with a streak of Darkness.
So this episode, despite being weak in it's narrative, is in fact something that was used to put Voyager on more of a Straight Line to the Alpha Quadrant. And as we know now, the Year of Hell changed the WHOLE timeline- As well as Janeway's Haircut.
Which was a bold move, but it had to be preceded by this episode, this one poorly written episode, written by tired writers. Oh, I agree with that 100.
But if you look at the details of the episode, many of these details show up in the next 4 and a half seasons of Voyager, all the way to the end of the series. So this episode paves the way for the changes that made Voyager a much better show for the rest of the series. And, Season 3 is a look up, it is a good season, a season that ended strongly. But I still feel badly for Jennifer, she did not deserve to be treated that shabbily, and by Trek People, who are supposed to represent an "Enlightened" way of acting and treating others. The Prime Directive was Definitely BROKEN when it came to Jennifer Lien.
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