Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic
I was recently pleasantly surprised when I came across this episode quite by accident. I had no memory of this episode at all. Every now and then this happens, and it's always great. It's as if the Star Trek gods have served up a brand new episode just for me. I was only half paying attention when it was on, and as I was listening I was thinking what in the world is going on? So I went back and gave it the proper viewing that the occasion deserved.
Do you remember when Voyager stopped off at the
Demon planet and had to agree to let an alien make replicas of the entire crew in exchange for allowing them to leave? Neither did I, so first I had to go back and rewatch that episode. I remembered it, but had forgotten about the duplication part. Well anyway, we finally get to find out what happened to those copies, and I have questions. Somehow, they left the planet and resumed course to the Alpha quadrant. Now, I thought that the alien refused to let the original crew go because it no longer wanted to be alone. Why did it change its mind? In fact, the alien is now somehow so on board with the idea that it replicated an entire new Voyager in order for them to take off in.
I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why they don't know that they're the replicas. I mean, it wasn't kept as any secret from them. They were told that they were duplicates, created for the enjoyment of the ooze monster, and they all stood there at the end of "Demon" and waved goodbye to the original crew as they left. So why do they now all think that they are the originals? Well, fear not dear watcher, the writers have thought of a perfectly logical explanation for all of this. You see... they forgot. That's the solution to this obvious plot hole. It slipped their minds.
Anyway, now that they know they're biomimetic duplicates and all are going to break apart and die, they get to decide how to spend their last days. First they try to find another Demon planet, hoping that it will be hospitable for them, but are met with hostile miners that prevent a landing. Then they decide to just warp as fast as they can back to the original Demon planet, where they know they will be safe. Which once again begs the question, why were they permitted to leave in the first place? Now we know that not only would it leave the alien lonely, but it was also basically a death sentence for them.
The entire show, particularly the ending, is incredibly dark. We watch Tom and B'Elanna exchange wedding vows, only to be subjected to Tom having to watch her die moments later. We watch as every single character degrades and dies off. Even their noble effort to create a time capsule so that people would know that they existed once they perished fails. In the end, they are only a boring debris field, barely worthy of noting in the real Voyager's log. This is heavy stuff.
Mainly because of the refreshingly dark tone and a particularly gut wrenching ending, I think that "Course Oblivion" is still a darn Good episode of Trek, despite its obvious flaws. Not the least of which is Kate Mulgrew's awful impression of a sick person. But I still have more questions. Are Tom and B'Elanna now married on the real Voyager as well? Does the enhanced warp drive exist? Who had a baby? Have we been watching this crew or the other crew for the last entire season? Also there's another little nugget. We see Seven climb into a Jefferies tube, and I'm thinking that surely the camera isn't going to just follow her ass right in there, and it doesn't. It cuts away to... a close up of both their asses. Giggety. Stay classy, Voyager.
Published April 11, 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment