Neelix is annoying, incompetent, and jealous, some walkers make a cross-over guest appearance, and Kes gets a promotion. "Phage" has it all. There's a theme early in season one with Neelix, and it's him inserting himself where he doesn't belong. He's in senior staff meetings, he's on the bridge, and now he's in the captain's private dining room. But instead of proving himself useful once he's forced his way in to situations, he always screws it up. So instead of using the captain's space to merely set up a prep kitchen, he has a bumbling mess of cauldron's and inedible food. I guess it's funny? I don't know.
But soon they're called to the bridge because they've found signs of dilithium in a nearby planet. A dilithium shortage is what's causing their replicators to go down, so they put together a team to retrieve it. Neelix inserts himself into that team where he clearly doesn't belong as well. But since the captain's not going and won't have to put up with him, she allows it. Once they get down there, they find no dilithium. It's clearly some kind of trap, but Neelix has wandered off, ignoring every command that Chakotay gives him. This guy just seriously doesn't listen. An alien shows up an zaps him, and BOOM! He's got no lungs. |
| "OMG just go!" |
While Neelix is flopping around like a fish out of water, The Doctor comes up with an ingenious, if inevitably temporary, plan. He programs the computer to create holographic lungs for Neelix. The upside is he can breathe, which is necessary for life. The downside is his whole body is in a tube that prevents him from moving even two microns in any direction. Oh, and even worse, he can still talk! He uses this skill to immediately begin acting like a jealous dick to Kes when she has a simple conversation with Paris. You know, I think I might have figured out where they were trying to go with this. I think it's supposed to show Neelix's vulnerability. He has a loose grip on Kes, and as we see later on he does in fact lose her. He knows that she will outgrow him, and he kind of is anticipating that moment and attempting to delay the inevitable. Now, he's strapped to a bed in sick bay and cannot possibly meet her needs, so he knows she'll be moving on. I think this side of his personality could have been done more sweetly, showing insecurity and a lack of confidence, which is a stark contrast to what he normally projects. I think based on Kes's reaction, we can assume this is what was intended. She doesn't get upset with him, she thinks it's cute. I guess we're supposed to too. But blech.
Next Neelix does what we would expect a person in his situation to do, he completely freaks out. He starts thinking about his situation and hyperventilates, forcing The Doctor to sedate him. Neelix has good reason to be freaking out. I know The Doctor was just thinking on his feet to save his life, but what were the long term implications of this arrangement? Let's see, he can't move from the neck down. At all. And his body that can't be moved is inside a tube. Including, you know...his butthole and stuff. So what's the plan there? Sorry for bringing that up, but I can't imagine I'm the only one that was having the thought.Anyway, they track down the aliens. They're led into some kind of chamber of mirrors, and have to try to determine the real ship from the reflected images using a low-power phaser beam. This part is dumb, but it's over quick enough, and before you know they're beaming aboard a whole new alien species for interrogation. They are the Vidiians, and they look like zombies. Their skin is patched together with what appears like skin graft over rotted skin graft all over the place. They are suffering from the Phage, a disease that eats their bodies and for which there is no cure. Their only means of maintaining life is to scavenge the body parts they need from others, which is why they swiped Neelix's lungs. One of the Vidiians is a successful artist, and the other is a paid guide to help him find the parts he needs to replace his own worn-out ones. Unfortunately they've already made use of the lungs, and putting them back is not an option. This is all very intriguing and fresh, and the alien's appearance is creepy as all get-out. The only thing I don't like is the way they talk. Their speech patterns are slow and they sound like someone who is speaking a foreign tongue and is constantly having to pause to think of the right word to use. But there's the universal translator, of course, so that can't be it. It's just an odd choice.
The Vidiians turn out to be people that we sympathize with. They are constantly fighting a horrible disease, and are just doing what it takes to stay alive, and what has become unpleasant but acceptable in their culture over the millennia. Janeway is forced to deal with the reality of her isolation from any sort of justice system or help of any kind. Here they are, caught red-handed, with a full confession, and yet....where do we go from here? There's nowhere to turn them in, and she can't keep them. I don't know if the dramatic confrontation is supposed to make us think that she's contemplating executing them, but if so I think we all knew that's not what was going to happen. There's no choice but to just let them go. It's a sobering realization, and a good moment in the show.
Because she treated the Vidiians with such compassion, they decide to help fix Neelix. Their medical knowledge exceeds the crew's, and they are able to transplant a lung from Kes and make it work. She insists, and we can assume that this further strengthens their bond. The Doctor suggests that Kes begin learning medicine with him, as a back up or even replacement for Paris, and she is excited about this prospect.For introducing a truly interesting new species, and having a storyline that was unique, "Phage" is Good Trek, especially for a Neelix-centered show. We have to suffer through seeing Neelix at his worst bumbling and jealous self, but the ending makes it worthwhile.
Published May 21, 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment