Voyager S1E2 "Parallax" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

ME SO ANGRY!

The episode opens with Torres punching a crew member in the nose because she is, apparently, an angry bitch. Afterward, she is shown pacing back and forth like a caged animal in her quarters, and when Chakotay comes in to see her, she launches an ashtray or something at him. This all seems way oversold. Torres often blames her temper on her Klingon half. Look, we all know that Klingons are known for their aggressiveness, I get that, but I just don't buy this whole angry Klingon routine. I don't think of Worf as a loose cannon. In fact it's quite the opposite as he shows extreme discipline in his training in both Star Fleet and Klingon matters. He teaches martial arts classes, and meditates regularly. He takes part in sacred Klingon rituals in a revered manner. So don't show me Torres flying off the handle and just expect me to accept that it's her Klingon nature. It's not that, she just has problems.



The other drama being played out simultaneously is a growing Maquis/Star Fleet rivalry. Tuvok wants to court martial Torres for her behavior, but Chakotay pulls rank and tells him that he will handle it internally. There is quite a bit of tension between the two, dating back to Tuvok being a spy on Chakotay's ship, and the renegade former Maquis somehow becoming second in command on the Star Fleet ship. Seska and another former Maquis fill in Chakotay on some rumors flying around that the Maquis are all going to be confined to quarters, and placed under other restrictions. They tell him that if he wants to take over the ship, they are on his side, and he immediately excoriates them for even mentioning it. Watching this, I can't help but reflect on the enormous missed opportunity to play out some of these scenarios throughout the series. The whole premise of the show, which is two crews formerly at odds being thrown together by circumstances out of their control, is just dropped after about three episodes. They all get along fine from here on out, and the whole thing fades away as they become just another regular crew. What a shame that such a unique aspect of this Trek series is never explored.

After butting heads in a major way, Chakotay convinces Janeway to forgive the violent act of Torres and even to consider her for the position of chief engineer. Remarkably, she invites Torres to her ready room to discuss it, and it erupts into Torres shouting that she didn't want anything to do with Star Fleet back when she dropped out of the academy, and that she is sorry that she is forced to now. Wow, apparently she missed the class on interviewing skills.

Even though this show is really solely about Torres, there is a token plot line about a space anomaly. A quantum singularity has appeared, and there is a ship getting sucked into it that has called out for help. Soon they find themselves stuck as well. In a meeting to discuss the issue, Janeway's favorite for chief engineer, Carey (the guy that got socked in the nose), is there as well as Chakotay's Torres. In the end, Torres's technobabble > Carey's technobabble, and Janeway is pleasantly surprised at her knowledge.

Also present at the meeting are Neelix and Kes, who didn't understand that the meeting was for senior officers only. Janeway graciously allows them to stay, and then they contribute nothing to the scene from there. The Neelix and Kes characters are literally inserted where they don't belong just so that we don't forget about them. In another scene on the bridge, Neelix is standing between Janeway and Chakotay, and she looks annoyed as she brushes him out of the way. Wow, they really have no idea what to do with these characters.

Plot twist: the other ship is voyager. It's a temporal reflection or some garbage. Paris points out that this makes no sense, because the whole reason they approached the ship was a distress call. If that ship is voyager, how do you reconcile the paradox that they hadn't even made that distress call yet? Janeway blows off this argument by saying "one of the more difficult concepts to grasp in temporal mechanics is that sometimes effect can precede cause." Eh, what? It's as if the writers knew that their story made no sense and would be criticized, so they just threw this crap out there to head it off at the pass.

"Warp particles!"

Anyway, while discussing potential ways out of the situation, Janeway and Torres become besties and even start finishing each other's sentences. Next they fly off together in a shuttle to blah blah blah and save the day. While in the shuttle, Torres apologizes for her earlier behavior. All is forgiven. After they've fired a beam of whatever to open up a way out, they are confronted with the decision of which ship is the real Voyager and which one is the reflection. They disagree on this, but go with Janeway's pick. According to her, they need to pick the one that seems to be the furthest forward in the timeline. So much for all that "effect before cause" bullshit, I guess.

You know how it all ends: Torres becomes chief. Fences are mended. Carey becomes a background character until they need a redshirt to kill off in a later episode. Also The Doctor is tiny because no one cares enough to fix his projector. I guess they were using The Doctor as comic relief here, but the gag falls short.

Because the whole episode is about Torres winning over the captain after acting like a complete psycho, and for a temporal situation that makes no sense, and for using Neelix, Kes, and The Doctor in strange ways, this episode is merely just Meh. 

Published Mar 20, 2017