Pangaea was a project I backed via Kickstarter for many reasons, a number of the authors included in this anthology were very familiar to me having read many of their other works both original and licensed properties and I find the idea of a central theme being shared amongst authors very appealing. In this collection the core idea is that the Earth has a single supercontinent and many of the environmental conditions which created our global society as it is never happened so how would mankind develop with say no huge tracts of water separating the evolution of species and development of technologies?
In this anthology we have a main story arc that is central to some of the stories and in others only mentioned in a single sentence but this method really binds the whole concept together. I'm not going to go into detail in regards to specific stories because they all offer their own unique appeal but I will say there were some fantastic tales being told and again not to repeat myself the fact that they are linked adds a level of enjoyment that pure stand alone anthologies can not offer.
The Enterprise approaches Sigma Iotia II a planet that was visited by a human crewed starship a century previously, fearing cultural contamination Kirk has been sent to investigate. They receive a signal from the planet from a man calling himself Bela Oxmyx with an invitation to visit, Kirk accepts and calls for Bones and Spock to join him.
They beam down onto a street which looks like a typical American locale with vehicles and outfits which match the late 1920's era, nearly everyone seems to be armed and soon two men approach and take the landing party captive. As they lead them away a car roars by and a machine gun opens fire, one man dies and the rest make their escape and proceed to Bela Oxmyx the "boss". He's overjoyed to see the "Feds" who are from the same organisation as those of the Horizon but he is not dealing in good faith, he demands a supply of "heaters" so he can remove the competition. Spock sees a large book on a pedestal entitled "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties" and indeed this book along with some basic text books have been used to shape this culture into what it is today, devoid of civil government but a number of organised crime families who run everything.
Taxpayers demanding their rights
When Kirk refuses Bela he tells his goons to put them away somewhere safe, they are taken to a warehouse under guard and Kirk ingratiates himself into the goons card game by mildly insulting them, he then goes onto to invent the mind boggling "Fizzbin" card game and once distracted the landing party subdue the goons, Spock and McCoy return to the ship and Kirk grabs a gun and heads back to Bela's office. He doesn't get far before being waylaid by a goon working for the rival boss "Krako" who then pretty much demands the same concessions from Kirk, he refuses again and is locked up but escapes. Spock and McCoy beam back down to negotiate with Bela who takes them prisoner again but Kirk turns up, disarms everyone and steals their suits. He and Spock then raid the officers of Krako, get taken prisoner again but Kirk is able to get Krako beamed onto the ship and during the confusion they escape and make their way back to Bela. Kirk then plays the part of a "boss" himself working for the Feds, he informs Bela and Krako that the Feds are taking over and if they play ball they could get a piece of the action. Bela calls each of the bosses in turn and Scotty tracks the signal and beams them into the room where Kirk lays down the law but when some goons turn up and questions begin to be asked he has Scotty use the ships phasers on low power to stun everyone around the block and demonstrating the power of the Feds. Bela is made boss with Krako second in command and Kirk promises the Feds will be back in a year to pick up their 40% of the planets profits.
Fizzbin is Addictive
Fuzzy hats but sharp suits
A Piece of the Action begins with the surprising news that the Federation has only just learnt about the cultural contamination by the Horizon a century after the ship was destroyed, standard radio signals had only just been picked up but you still have a small question over the reckless nature of the space fleet back then, we assume the fledgling Starfleet was still playing with a prime directive. More surprising is that the planet contacts the Enterprise, not quite sure how they managed that but not to worry this Bela guys sounds reasonable so much so Kirk doesn't take any security with him.
Always enjoyed the Paramount backlot this time in classic gangster era guise and my oh my the young woman certainly wiggled when she walked, I'm sure Kirk and McCoy were feeling right at home until of course the tommy gun wielding goons appeared. We then get a classic drive by which was done very well, a rather high energy dramatic sequence for the show and just to add the cherry on top two I assume ladies of negotiable affection accost the surviving goon demanding that the "percentage" they pay should be funding better street conditions etc. I've to admit that this "tax" in everything but name would work in theory, a good boss would make sure those who paid for his protection/favour got a return making the cost a worthwhile investment and allowing the local society to flourish. We then meet Bela who makes it a point to show off his "dame" and his well total lack of skill on the pool table but the clash of expectations makes for good drama and of course we see the "book" which has caused this culture to embrace this aspect of US culture. "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties" was left behind by the Horizon and it seems to have become the bible for this culture dictating how they should live and interact with each other, it hamstrings them in many ways but has certainly empowered the growth of this worlds technology. One thing you do quickly realise is that Shatner and by extension Kirk is having a lot of fun hamming it up, even introducing "Fizzbin" was a scene worthy of any comedy/drama of the time, it was inspired and shooting Kirk and the goon up close just added to the impact of the scene.
Spock and McCoy go to the radio station and yes as McCoy says Spock has got the nerve pinch down to a fine art although truth be told the actress was making the most of her time on screen but the humour of the scene continues with Spock being taken down a peg or two by his failure to get the Enterprise on the first retune of the AM station. Kudos to Kirk for doing a MacGyver long before that show every hit the screen and clever of the goons to realise that until the transporter beam stopped sparking they were safe. I'm not sure if we had two sets of suits one for the goons and the other for Kirk and Spock but they certainly seemed to fit well on the two Starfleet officers and they looked cool with hats and tommy guns:)
Brace yourself now, Krrk is going to drive a manual motor vehicle. The grinding of gears puts a smile on your face, the reverse and crunch has you laughing and then the stop/start progression through the streets is just ridiculously funny but we're not done there. Kirk is approached by a youngster who realises they are going to hit Krako and offers his services as a distraction for a piece of the action, nice touch that. The writers must have been on a roll, the guys return to the car and it's Spock deadpan saying when Kirk sees his is a little concerned that it's Kirk driving that is alarming.
The story begins to wrap itself up when Kirk is in full on gangster mode, he forces his personality onto the situation and the bosses and goons respond and only question the path they are being led down when the shooting starts outside. Lucky I guess the ship's phasers can be set for stun since it offers a very clear demonstration of the consequences of not playing ball with the Feds and so the deal is done by raising a glass.
A Piece of the Action is a fun episode, over the top yes in pretty much every aspect but played to perfection by everyone involved. I'm not sure if it just me either but Kirk's solution makes a lot of sense given the situation and by stating the 40% cut would be funneled back into the planetary finance market to fund development which would help correct the flaws in the society he pretty much covered his backside. Of course there would still have to be some sort of presence on the planet, the threat of Fed intervention may always be there but given the opportunity there will always be those skimming off the top when there is no one watching, it's the nature of the beast:)
Oh and McCoy left his communicator on the planet, clever piece of writing and who knows where the franchise would be if that loose thread had been pulled years later.
Lt. David Wolfe the black sheep of a family that has incredible power and influence on a galactic scale has a problem, joining the military may have been to forge his own path but his superiors are justifiably worried if anything should happen to him so they rely on a tried and trusted solution. Lt Wolfe is given command of X-Ray platoon aka The Cockroaches a dumping ground for Galactic Defense Force misfits who have yet to be court martialed or just to be kept out of the way. Lt Wolfe is an idealist and no matter the reputation of his new command he is determined to bring it into shape and rival any regular platoon, well that's the idea anyway but it doesn't quite go according to plan:)
Strong Arm Tactics was a fun read, granted the bad guys of the story are certainly not very pleasant and our "heroes" are probably nicer than they should have been but the tropes of this type of story are well covered with the twist of being a space faring military force and the author's own humorous spin. Specifics are best left for the reader to enjoy but war games on a starship in and around the organic waste processing facilities has it's own inherent issues not to mention a simple mission to the galaxies most renowned theme park for a simple three day mission, what could possibly go wrong?
A highly recommend read for some good action, characters and humour.
Richard Johansenn as a boy watched along with the world as Apollo 8 missed it's trajectory which would have brought it around the moon and back to Earth, years passed and he built an empire which made him a billionaire and when the opportunity presented itself he reached for the stars to discover the fate of the three astronauts who have ventured into the darkness and never returned home.
Recovering Apollo 8 was included in a collection of science fiction offered by Storybundle, as is often the case I found novels and authors who I never would have come across otherwise and this quiet tale of obsession and courage struck a cord. The story has a lot of heart and you can feel the passion and drive which propelled the older Richard to risk his business, reputation even the wrath of his own government. It may be said that the story didn't quite finish as strong as it started which knocks a star off my rating but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Voyager has been in orbit around the Mari homeworld for the past three days resupplying and taking some R&R. In a local market Janeway and B'Elanna are negotiating with Frane (trader) for a part and making it a little more complex is that the people of this world are telepathic. Neelix is getting seriously interested in a native woman (who sells produce) and Tuvok is spending time with one of the few local law enforcement officials, violent crime has all been eradicated from this world mirroring Vulcan. As it happens a brutal beating takes place in the local market moments after B'Elanna has been bumped into and spoken her mind to the same man who took part in the beating. The investigation begins and includes telepathic probing of the memories of the Voyager crew as well as a technology based scanning of the brain to record memories and thoughts. B'Elanna is arrested not for actually beating the man but for having the initial thought which was then picked up and acted upon, in this world violent thought itself is a crime punishable by memory erasure.
Neelix does have a type...
There doesn't seem to be anyway around the law of the land but Tuvok is allowed to conduct his own investigation and learns that the man who did the beating has a record for having violent thoughts but records indicate he had been treated and cured. The next day an old woman approaches Talli ( Rebecca McFarland ) the young woman Neelix is interested in and stabs her to death, the same violent thought is at the centre of the act yet the two people originally involved were no where near. Tuvok has a thought and tracks down Frane and discovers that there is underground black market for the supply and trade of strong and violent emotions, he offers his own dark emotions/memories in trade for the truth behind the market attack and then reveals to the authorities the true depth of the problem that lies beneath the peaceful exterior of Mari.
Random Thoughts begins with Voyager in orbit and as always the CGI is very good for it's time, we learn the crew have been going down to the planet for the last three days and Neelix is sweet on a local girl, a nice moment with him and Tom in the transporter room. I'm quite surprised any non-telepath would be comfortable amongst a race who freely read eachothers minds, there does not seem to be any privacy taboos or strictures like on say Vulcan. An interesting concept as well in outlawing violent thoughts, I would imagine the social upheaval three generations past must have been a very troubling time and while Nimira the city's Chief Examiner (copper) seems to consider prison cells and associated methods to be barbaric when we hear the flip side of their culture it certainly proves their methods can be just as draconian. Wiping memories of people who have violent thoughts even if they don't act of them is extreme to say the least and we learn later some people are being conditioned this way time and time again, it may be cleaner on the surface but this culture is just as broken. Infact unlike Vulcan whose people have learnt to master their darker impulses having a population with no experience of them it comes as no surprise when exposed to negative emotions they go off the deep end. The biggest issue of course is that Tuvok in three days should have learnt all of this from Nimira and had Voyager drastically limit the interaction of the crew who have no control over their own thoughts. Later after Janeway has recalled the crew we still see Neelix and Seven on the planet which may have been a continuity error but the second murder finally gives Tuvok a glimpse at another avenue to explore. The trade in negative/dark emotions and thoughts obviously fills a gap in this culture, easy to "steal" anothers thoughts and pass them on again, no practical mental shielding for this race and it makes you wonder how long telepathy has been in their DNA. There was some intense scenes as Tuvok investigated Frane and went off the grid but it was a bit of a joke how easily he was subdued or maybe that was part of his plan to ultimately be in a position to overload Frane with real world negativity. In many ways it was a simple overdose for an addict who gets hold of some pure drug after being used to heavily cut product, the only real issue is they could have played up the effects it may have had on Tuvok, extra meditation sort of thing but they chose to have a mildly humourous Seven confronting the Captain ending.
Random Thoughts wasn't an episode I was looking forward to watching but it wasn't as bad as I seemed to remember, I won't be going out of way to watch it again just to kill an hour or so if only so that my mind is never scarred again by Neelix having his whiskers tugged.
Perhaps this isn't what MGM and Pioneer originally considered the discs fate but I think it looks pretty smart. Way back in the day when I actually owned a Pioneer Laserdisc player and paid in hindsight what was an enormous amount of cash for the privilege of AC3 audio and Letterbox presentation of movies I did actually own Stargate, it was sold along with the player when I transitioned to DVD. To this day it's still the only movie that ever came close to blowing up one of my speakers:)
The Enterprise is doing a little routine planet mapping and is on approach to Pollux IV an unremarkable world with no records of being populated but they detect an object approaching them in the shape of a giant human hand. Spock says it's pure energy but it tracks the ship's efforts to evade and grabs hold of them in the manner of a very powerful tractor beam. The optical scanners pick up an image of a human face, audio is also being broadcast towards the ship and the entity welcomes and praises them for the journey they have undertaken and being so far from their homeworld. Kirk is a little put out but nothing seems to phase this being and he invites the Captain and his officers (not Spock though) down to the planet.
Upon arrival they are greeted by a scaled down version of classic Greek architecture and the being now in standard human form lounging on a what amounts to a throne. He greets them and introduces himself as Apollo the very same from classic mythology, again he is pleased by the development of his "children" and especially the beauty that is Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas but soon he shows his impatient side as the crew refuse to automatically bow down and worship as their ancestors did 5000 years ago. Scotty feels the brunt of his anger when he takes exception to Apollo's interest in Carolyn but she agrees to go with Apollo and learn some of his secrets. Back on the ship Spock is driving the crew hard to break through the communications interference and the energy field that is holding them, slow progress is being made but they eventually succeed. Kirk and the landing party have deduced that Apollo is drawing his energy from the environment and more importantly via the temple, he has the ship phasers targeted on the building ready for the right moment. Kirk orders Lt Palamas to spurn the advances of Apollo to anger him and when he is drawing upon his power to punish her they destroy the temple and with it the hold this "god" like being has on them. Apollo is devastated and calls upon his fellow travellers to embrace him as he fades from this reality.
The episode kicks off with a standard bridge scene along with the character of the week one Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas ( Leslie Parrish ) but soon goes off the rails as the behaviour of well the human males is not exactly up to modern day standards nor I expect of the military at the time at least when on duty. Scotty calls Lt Palamas by her first name and asks her for coffee even though she is currently in the middle of doing her job which probably doesn't take her to the bridge too often. McCoy and Kirk both talk about her openly on the bridge and even mention the cringe worthy aspect of her eventually settling down to married life and leaving Starfleet to be a wife and mother. Anyhow as they near the plant the energy field is detected and everyone stands and stares at it, it takes way too long for Kirk to order evasive action and then it's too late. I did like the idea the energy field was adaptive enough to mimic a hand and apply direct pressure but I wasn't quite sure why when pressure on the hull was increased it made any practical difference to the well being of the crew, the air processing in a starship should be pretty bullet proof or so I would have thought. So they are invited to the planet, no Spock though who is probably grateful he won't have to put up with the sounds of the pipes:) I found it hilarious when Palamas asked why she was in the landing party, she does realise what she actually does for a living or was it more to remind the viewers why she was there, either way attractive women studying ancient societies etc are almost as at risk as a red shirt! So we meet Apollo, pretty good looking dude although it looks like his nipple has been powered/foundationed over to avoid inflaming the ladies but when he does his impressive growth spurt the simple trick of having the actors maintain eye contact with the camera as it rises worked very well, nothing fancy just let the actors sell the surprise and awe. We also see a very disturbing look on Kirk's face as he realises he may have just bitten off more than he can chew but then crash bang as Apollo says Palamas is "wise for a woman". Oh yeah no question she is a woman when he with a wave of his hand changes her outfit, nice touch to do in front of the statue with a similar outfit and kudos to the costume department for creative use of sticky tape/glue to keep Leslie's bits hidden from view:)
We also get the notion that the Greek gods were indeed a space faring species that came across the Earth and "fed" off the worship of the primitive peoples in and around Greece at the time, say what you like the modern world owes an awful lot to the ideas and concepts that came out of that region regardless of who the people at the time considered deities. Of course one of the myths is how a few of the gods dabbled in the pleasures of human female flesh and Apollo has taken a serious shine to Carolyn and well not to make too fine a point she seems interested and I think we are supposed to believe that something happened between them, After the fact it came to light that one missing story element was that she ended the episode pregnant, a bit advance for US network tv back in the day it seems. I loved Spock and Sulu as they discussed scanning the planet for the energy source, scan where it isn't, there was some good chemistry between the two actors, pity it was never really developed. Kirk finally hatched his plan and and while the first attempt failed (thanks to Palamas) when he finally convinced her to turn her back on Apollo she did a real number on him and to be fair Palamas did a good job exploiting the attraction Apollo had for her, a lot of exposition was given as she talked to him. Uhura also got to flex her muscles with actually working on her communications board, we know she is more than just a switchboard operator but often the show doesn't do her justice so despite some dodgy dialogue in terms of what women were considered to be back then we also got two female characters performing well.
Finally Kirk and Spock are communicating, the ship's phasers are targeted on the temple yet the guys are casually standing in the structure, that's pretty stupid and I really think it was set up that way for Kirk to do a run, jump and roll as he commanded Spock to fire. Oh and credit to everyone involved in creating the storm that Apollo launched towards Carolyn, all on stage of course but it looked pretty good.
Who Mourns for Adonais? is one of original series stories that gets a lot of respect upto the point of being the kicking off point for the Star Trek continues movie “Pilgrim Of Eternity” and not forgetting the episode itself draws upon an established mythology that permeates western society. It's an interesting concept that the Greek gods were space faring beings who used their knowledge and technology to set themselves up as divine beings who like humans eventually could not put aside the base elements of some of their natures. In this episode Apollo seems impressed by the strength of character of his "children" but doesn't seem to realise how much they have changed perhaps because he hasn't in the 5000 years since being on Earth. For all the negative aspects he sees in Kirk and company he too expresses them with arrogance, indifference and anger combined with a fragile ego.
Overall this could have been rather cheesy but good acting and some good effects worked in the episodes favour.
Kira and Odo are returning to DS9 after a mission to a remote Bajoran colony on the border of the Cardassian neutral zone, they detect a ship being attacked by the Maquis and give chase. The fleeing ship crashes into a moon of a gas giant and they land and investigate a cave complex, time is short so Odo and Kira split up. Odo then hears Kira calling and he finds her trapped in a crystalline structure which resists damage and phaser fire infact the crystal grows as it absorbs the energy, transporters and comms fail while Odo attempts to figure out a solution to freeing his friend.
Meanwhile back on DS9 Nog has approached Sisko with a request to be his apprentice (Ferengi tradition when a boy becomes a man), he offers a bag of latinum and makes it clear he wishes to join Starfleet. Sisko is a little confused but agrees to think about and then asks Dax to assign him to an inventory of a cargo bay full of valuable cargo as a test. Nog completes the inventory with no problems at all but Sisko while accepting his talents needs to understand why Nog wants to join Starfleet and when he refuses to write the recommendation letter Nog finally opens up. It turns out he knows that business is not for him (same for his father) but he has inherited the engineering skills of his father and the never say die attitude of his uncle and Sisko agrees that Starfleet could indeed use such a person in it's ranks.
Kira is close to death as the crystal has nearly covered her body and Odo is no closer to freeing her but they continue to talk and bit by bit Odo is opening up until he finally confesses that he won't leave her to die as he loves her and she admits that she loves him. Still the obsessive side of Odo seeks a solution until he realises nothing really makes sense and what he knows simply doesn't add up and at that point he realises that this being is not Kira and behold the Founder appears before him and admits this was a rouse to break the link between Odo and the solids.
Starfleet will never be the same
Heart of Stone kicks off with Odo and Kira on a runabout, not quite sure why the Bajorans are so keen to colonise worlds close to the Cardassian neutral zone but ok we'll go with it but when they came across the Maquis why didn't they immediately call for assistance or at the very least notify DS9 of the intentions after all they were going towards the badlands. It was also fortunate that the moon had a suitable atmosphere and a cave structure which protected them from what was supposed to be a pretty harsh environment which blocked comms and transporters. I wasn't quite sure why the beacon Odo launched would take two days to get a signal to DS9, maybe it had to be well clear of the gas giant but as a mayday device that sort of delay could be critical. I had no problem with Kira getting stuck as I think the cave system was a lot darker than it looked on out screens and the interaction between the two of them was interesting. I do not know if it was deliberate but the close ups on Odo's face showed some flaws in his mouth/lips which made me wonder how close to his regeneration cycle he was, it was never mentioned but it would seem to be relevant. The confession of his love for Kira was of course no surprise to Odo but on second or third viewing has lost a lot of it's impact but again the fact that this is a setup and Odo finally figures it all out makes it worthwhile.
Nog of course has his own reasons for wanting to join Starfleet and I liked the test that Sisko gave him although I expected Dax to be more supportive of Nog but he passed the test and finally Sisko got to the truth and that was very satisfying, nicely done by Aron Eisenberg.
Heart of Stone has two very definite plots but both are pretty much covering the same situation, the main characters are being forced to admit to themselves and others the core emotions that are driving them and you know they both work especially the Nog story. Highpoints were the whole performance by Aron Eisenberg, the explanation of why Odo was called Odo and daft as it sounds the best line was from Quark in his very brief appearance, "You're both insane".
So as you may know I've been buying a lot of little items to fill some shelf space, once the books are positioned there are a few inches that are just crying out to be filled by pretty little things. It's mostly been Pop Vinyl figures but this model of the classic '66 Batmobile just cried out to be sitting on the shelf and so it was:)
The Triumvirate advance their plans to take control of the human sphere of influence by a number of incredibly complex operations across many worlds but first Darius Cain and his Black Eagles the single foremost military force has to be eliminated and the trap has been set on the planet of Eldaron ruled by "The Tyrant". Darius knows it's a trap given the unexpected rise of forces equal to his own but with the lure of his father still being alive seventeen years after his ship was destroyed nothing is going to stop him and the men and women under his command never hesitate in offering him their support. Elias Cain is also beginning to realise the threat posed not only to his own world but the whole human race as he investigates very well organised and equipped pirate activity indicating support from his own government and by extension an unknown third party and separately the forces who have fought for freedom and survival mobilise to counter the threat as yet unspecified.
This is the second novel in the series and is everything a fan of Jay's writing would expect, hard fought and well written military scifi, a healthy dose of political intrigue and characters that on the surface could be very shallow but all fleshed out to give the reader the ability to truly react to the failures and success within the story as it unfolds.
The Prisoner of Eldaron was a pleasure to read and I await the third book.
I've been looking for a decent X-Wing model to go alongside some of my other scifi themed shelf taking up space decorative items and nothing seemed to be just right. I did see this Bandai self assembly snap fit model on Amazon (sourced from Japan) and the price was reasonable and it got some good reviews for quality and ease of assembly so I took a chance and I think it came out rather well. I would say however you need a much more patient and gentle touch when it comes to applying the various decals, after a few basic additions to the model I just gave up and called it a day.
Doctor Lewis Zimmerman arrives on DS9 with the intent to use Julian Bashir as a template for a new long term holographic doctor (LMH) to replace the current EMH which as we know is modelled upon Zimmerman himself. Bashir seems a little uncomfortable but his friends are delighted for him so he goes with Zimmerman who tells him he'll need lots of background information from friends, family and colleagues as well as psych profiles to build the holograms AI. Julian asks him not to contact his parents who he claims he is estranged from and Zimmerman understands but immediately makes a note to contact them. Julian is then quite surprised when his parents turn up on the station, in fact they get delivered to Sisko's office during a meeting so there is nowhere to run for the good Doctor and we see that while his parents seem open and friendly their son is very uncomfortable.
Zimmerman continues to work on the LMH while being smitten the Dabo girl Leeta who he gets to interview since she is a former "friend" of Julian and it may not be totally professional but he asks her out during the interview and she says yes. Rom who has designs on Leeta is shocked but still unable to truly express his desires for her and so the "b" plot of the story continues.
The truth behind the estrangement of the Bashir's is revealed when we learn that as a boy Julian was having issues in terms of mental and physical development, his parents took him to Adigeon Prime where genetic manipulation was performed resulting in a highly advanced human which is illegal since the times of the Eugenics wars.
The proverbial hits the fan when his parents confront Julian but it turns out they are talking to the hologram and being overheard by Miles and Zimmerman, Miles and Julian have a frank chat and Julian is convinced his time in Starfleet is over. Meanwhile Zimmerman is continuing his pursuit of Leeta by offering her the position of running the cafe on Jupiter Station while she is fresh out of the shower, flowers were involved which could not have been cheap so credit where it's due.
Julian goes to see Sisko with the intent to resign his commission only to find that his parents are already there along with Admiral Bennett (JAG) via hologram and it's revealed that Julian's father has confessed to his crime and accepted the consequences on the condition that Julian retains his commission. Rom finally speaks his heart as Leeta is getting ready to leave the station on the arm of Zimmerman and she agrees to stay so he has to find a new plaything and a new template for his LMH. The episode wraps with another heart to heart between Miles and Julian and the realisation that Miles shouldn't really be winning any physical event between the two even if it's darts:)
The life of an actor...
Doctor Bashir, I Presume? is a great little episode, not a lot is going on to be honest but we get the beginning of the unexpected romance between Rom and Leeta and the background to Julian along with some good character building between him and Miles. It is a very low key episode with focus on some of the secondary characters which is one aspect where DS9 really stomps all over the other Trek franchises.
The episode opened up with a longish shot of Leeta and her spectacular costuming which emphasises her cleavage, being a Dabo girl distracting and enticing players is part of her job but Leeta is a very open spirit and she never comes across as being exploited or too easily manipulated. I have to admit I was impressed how Chase Masterson with some simple body flexing and expression made it clear how "welcoming" should would have been to anything positive Rom had to say but he blew it. Quark was wicked in his comments on his brother and Leeta but that's Quark for ya. We also learned later how Rom has taken a five year marriage contract, got his son out of the deal and then failed to read the contract extension and lost all his money so perhaps his reticence can be excused.
It was great to see Robert Picardo on DS9 playing Dr Zimmerman I can understand why he used himself as the template for the first generation EMH but what I never quite grasped was why a human template was being used in preference to any other species. Yes for television the bulk of onscreen characters are going to be human or at least humanoid but I don't believe Starfleet as a whole is predominantly human. It would make more sense to have a base medical template that could be built upon for species specific traits thus tailoring a LMH to ships/stations where a human may not be the optimal Doctor. I liked Sisko pointing out that DS9 wasn't equipped to handle an EMH but hey they retrofitted a lab for the use of LMH so that little hurdle was overcome pretty smoothly and talking of smooth Zimmerman was laying it on thick to woe Leeta and credit he didn't fall to pieces when she appeared naked before him:)
I did have issues with how easy Julian's parents got access to what should have been a restricted lab, the secret had to be revealed somehow so we can let that go I guess and in return we got the excellent chat between Miles and Julian, bros for life. Ultimately this episode is about taking control of your own life, Julian wants to resign before his future is taken out of his hands but is beaten to the punch by his father finally taking responsibility for his own actions. Rom finally gets a backbone at the last second before Leeta leaves DS9 and takes control over his immediate future and while you can say Leeta and maybe Zimmerman were allowing others to set their course they both had made decisions, maybe not great ones as it turned out but they had been made.
This is one of my favourite episodes, some great acting from everyone involved especially the guest stars and a good mix of drama and humour. My only real issue is that for the crime committed two years in a penal colony was a little on the light side but I wonder if it was all being hushed up, the Federation wouldn't want anyone to know genetic engineering had achieved a very positive result.
In the final novel of the Dire Planet series the story picks up from the end of Strange Gods with Mellifis having to deal with the events in Orastus and bring the trade caravan back to Ledgrim. As the city continues to recover from the last battle with the exiles the powers within and without continue to attempt to usurp the Dire clan who through Garvey have huge amounts of influence on the council. At this point we learn much more about the very secretive Technopriests and the lost tribes who have been rallied by forces unknown for the objective of destroying Ledgrim. Lost Tribes was an easier read than the previous book even though there is a lot of information being put into the narrative at such a late stage but it works very well. The threat to Ledgrim and of course Garvey the "hero" of the tale escalates yet is kept in check by some well written set pieces and characters and at the end you will come away very satisfied.
In the aftermath of the assault against Ledgrim and the tragic losses incurred Lana Dire is accused of murdering Selah Shaw who refused to accept the warning Lana brought to the outer guard posts. Garvey now the chief of the council of elders offers restitution in line with the traditions of the tribe but this accusation is not about justice, there are elements at work who want to bring down the Dire clan and the trial and execution of Lana would be a good start.
This sets the tone of this fourth novel in the series, politics, greed and ambition are all in play amongst the various tribes of Mars and Garvey is finally getting a full taste of his adopted world. The narrative itself splits into a number of plot lines featuring the various characters both in present day and events in the past. It did get a little confusing if I am honest but all the events covered merge into the whole quite well yet leave a number of avenues open for the next book in the series. If nothing else Strange Gods really opens up the Mars that Garvey is living in both the world itself and the tribes and individuals. Traditions and religions all clash and well the blood certainly flows freely, life can be cheap on this world.
A good addition to the Dire Planet series but a tad confusing on first and second read and definitely not a good place to start if you're new to Garvey's adventures on the red planet.
Neelix is leading a scavenger hunt on a world which is abundant in vegetation, restocking the kitchen is vital but a ship is detected in orbit and it turns out to be Kazon, as the away teams are beamed back Chakotay goes in search of Seska and finds her in a large cavern where Kazon are sneaking about. After a brief firefight they escape and return to the ship safe and sound. Later that evening Seska ( Martha Hackett ) visits Chakotay in his quarters bringing some mushroom soup, he's appreciative but when he learns she and a few others stole ingredients from the kitchen he puts them and himself on restricted rations. Voyager detects a mayday coming from the same Kazon ship, Neelix advises caution but they go to help and find only one survivor, the rest of the crew seem to be fused with the very structure of the ship and more mysterious is the console on the bridge which seems to have Federation technology incorporated into it. Janeway orders the engineering crew to remove the device in order to confirm the source of the tech and Seska being alone on the planet is viewed with suspicion however Chakotay defends her. As the investigation continues it turns out that Seska does not have her blood type/spec on file but she then attempts a risky procedure to recover the console, she is hurt and is taken to sickbay. Another Kazon ship arrives demanding to see the survivor of the other ship, when they visit sickbay First Maje Culluh ( Anthony De Longis ) provides a distraction while his officer injects a neurotoxin into the man who then dies very quickly. Eventually they remove the console from the Kazon ship despite the threats from Culluh and it is indeed sourced from Voyager and another surprise is that Seska does not have any Bajoran blood factors and is much close to Cardassian. Chakotay confronts her with this and she informs him of an illness she had as a child and being saved by a bone marrow infusion from a Cardassian woman, it seems to satisfy him and he goes onto tell her of the status of the investigation. It was however a ruse, they are monitoring the computer and they detect the manipulation of the data and they know that she has implicated herself to throw suspicion on Lt. Carey. Alas she was still one more step ahead and when confronted she blames Janeway for stranding them here and riles against Federation rules, she then beams off the ship to the nearby Kazon vessel and it warps away.
Hands up I never liked the Kazon, as a recurring threatening villain they never made much sense even when their backstory was fleshed out, they stuck around far too long given Voyager was constantly heading towards the Alpha quadrant and well they looked stupid. This is pretty much my first return to the Kazon episodes, I watched them on first broadcast but never really wanted to watch them again especially compared to some of the much better episodes later in the series.
So knowing what happens to Carey it's funny to actually see him front and center in an episode but his introduction acting like a little kid rather than a seasoned officer who would surely scan an organic substance even before picking it up makes him look a little foolish. We do get the famed Leola root but they pushed the joke over it's taste and appearance too far, actually I would have preferred an explanation as to why huge groves of the other "fruit" existed since there is normally a reason why an organic develops poisonous effects, just as likely it wouldn't affect humans IF they had done a full scan. Tom is a freaking god, he saw the alien starship before the sensors on Voyager could detect it and why did the landing party gather in one place, surely the transporters could cherry pick everyone up on the fly. Of course it gives us the Seska aspect of the story which falls apart pretty quickly, I didn't quite understand why after Chakotay was hit by weapons fire he was not dead or stunned, alarms bells were already ringing. I really liked the theft of the food from the kitchens, that one act pretty much underlined Seska was not playing ball and ultimately in any group or organisation you may stick it to the man but you don't steal from each other, second tick on the Seska as evil checkbox. A lot of credit to Chakotay for disciplining himself and those involved but no word if he put it fully into the log, I suspect he still covered for "his" people and well they made it plain there had been a relationship between the two of them. I liked the nod towards Scotty as B'elanna made it clear she did not exaggerate her time estimates and we got a bit more bad vibes from Carey and Seska which worked pretty well to add weight to events to come. Of course we get the unexplainable blood issue with Seska, I don't believe for a second the Doctor would have let that slip, after all he is the computer and gaps in essential medical records would be paramount for him to do address, it was his duty. Sticking with this I liked the fact the Seska had a viable explanation for not having native Bajoran elements in her blood, it was designed to buy her time to engineer an opportunity and if it wasn't for the Doctor being the Doctor she may very well have got away with it. It was also excellent use of the Cardassian mindset and forward thinking for their operatives and her motives made perfect sense in the context for the show and before it being placed within the Maquis. The line of the whole episode was delivered by Chakotay "Was anyone aboard that ship working for me?" and said towards Tuvok made it even better:)
Ok were nearly done, let's say the Kazon had some cloaking tech which close to a planet gave them some protection but how in the universe does a Kazon ship sit 14 kilometers off of Voyager undetected and in a position to accept a transport beam and get away before the automated defence protocols on the ship reacted? I know Seska had to escape, she was too good a character to discard but it was so stupid how it was done or allowed to happen, perhaps Tom was looking in the wrong direction this time.
State Of Flux is a pretty good first season episode of Voyager and a lot better than I remembered it to be, the Kazon are still ridiculous though but we've just got to put up with them for the time being.
The shuttle pod after scanning one of the spheres in the expanse is tracked by a mysterious ship, soon after the same ship sends a distress call and the Enterprise offers to take the crew onboard as the alien vessel has lost life support. The crew of the ship give thanks to Archer and explain they are on a pilgrimage to one of the spheres, it seems they worship them as divine and while this proves a little awkward especially with T'Pol everything seems to be ok. Their leader D'Jamat approaches the captain and demands that they turn the Enterprise over to his people, an explosion then rocks the ship as one of the visitors triggers an organic explosive, threatened with the destruction of the ship Archer surrenders. It turns out that D'Jamat wants the ship so he can return to his homeworld of Triannon and use it's firepower to end a civil/religious war between two factions one who believes the Chosen Realm was created in nine days the other in ten days.
D'Jamat offers mercy to the crew of the Enterprise for the sacrilege they have committed by visiting the spheres and demands just a single death, Archer has to choose and in the mean time the database that contains all the information the Enterprise had collected gets wiped. Archer chooses himself to be executed and convinces them that the transporter is used for such requirements, T'Pol "executes" Archer who is now free to sabotage the ship. As a side note one of the women in the alien party approaches the Doctor about her pregnancy, a note of discourse is present in the group and Yarrick and Indava prove to be instrumental in undermining the hold D'Jamat has on the ship. The Enterprise is approached by four Triannon ships which are crewed by the opposing faction, a firefight breaks out and in the midst of this Archer puts his plan into motion. Phlox puts a compound into the ventilation system which will nullify the organic aspect of the explosives in the aliens bodies and Archer starts pulling plugs out of sockets.
"Some things in here don't react well to bullets."
The ship is eventually retaken and Archer contacts the surviving two ships, together they return to Triannon to find the cities and population decimated, peace has been achieved as no one is left alive to argue.
First off I've never liked tv or movie plots where the antagonist is driven by dogma over reason, it's a little too easy to create a bad guy that way and it requires an awful lot of work to make said bad guy and his actions work in the framework of the whole. Chosen Realm is no exception, the source of the religious war between the two factions makes no sense at all unless it's within the realm of blind devotion to dogma. As for their overall faith raising the spheres as the work of deities that also takes some accepting, a warp capable science based world to be driven by this level of faith based existence makes little sense.
Ok then specifics, it's a pity the Enterprise sensors can not detect the alien ship which seems to have no active cloaking technology but gold star to Archer for ordering full security but a bit pointless if unknown aliens can sidestep scanning on religious grounds, that was sloppy. It's not long either before the science and faith start to butt heads, it's clear to the extreme that D'Jamat ( Conor O'Farrell ) has no time for reasoned debate and Archer at least moves the conversation onto other things. Alas by this time these unscanned aliens have had the free run of the ship including main engineering so when their plan is acted they catch security and the Maco's totally off guard. Archer and Reed really have to have a good chat but as we know in decades to come Starfleet continue to open their ships to one and all and suffer the consequences. So with a few button presses D'Jamat is able to wipe the database of all references to the Spheres, how the hell would he first learn how the system works and side step any security designed to prevent this sort of action. The question is raised once again how much access and instruction are the crew giving to these aliens and don't they believe in ancillary off site backup or hard copy for such critical data? Granted there are limits, if the central computer gets written off the likelyhood is that no amount of data would allow them to finish their mission but it was just too easily done and only there to let the plot continue. I would have liked to believe that D'Jamat respected Archer for volunteering to die but I think it was more the point he expected him to sacrifice a lesser member of his crew just as D'Jamat would have done, I doubt he would have sacrificed himself if there were others to do the sacrificing. Onto the fire fight, seriously the phasers hardly left a mark on the structure of the ship, I guess that's handy when you are shooting like crazy in and around the warp core but at least we had the Maco's front and center with what looked like much better or useful weapons. It's at this point we get perhaps my favourite moment of the episode as Archer over the coms twists the knife into D'Jamat who still believed he held the upper hand with his suicide bombers "Try to blow yourself up, I'll wait".
The episode wraps with the people's return to Triannon and we get the not so subtle message delivered with the proverbial sledgehammer, the planet is devastated thanks to the intolerance of it's people. I suspect the writers stayed away from condemning faith outright rather they targeted conflict within a faith which led to the extremes taken by at least one element, we really never found out what the other faction actually did over the century of conflict.
The Chosen Realm was not as hard to get through as I remembered but the character type as portrayed by D'Jamat always annoys me to the point where I actually put more stock in the blatant browbeating message as delivered by the original series "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".
The ancient technologies of civilisations past hold the key to the rescue of the Muvari people subjugated by the Exile forces and Garvey Dire with a few companions makes his way to the recently discovered city of Caladrex but with one or two distractions. His much extended family have fled from the massacre of Ledgrim and are wandering the wastelands pursued by an Exile tracking party and to make matters worse a traitor is at work and is willing to do anything to protect herself even at the cost of the fall of the Muvari.
Into The Dire Planet continues the events as told in "Exiles" with multiple storylines at play within the overall events in the piece of Mars. The Exiles led by Stechter the only other human on Mars are making a huge power play with no mercy shown, the city of Caladrex is looking to be reborn in fire and the survivors of Ledgrim look for allies even when faced with scepticism from those who can not believe the city could fall, treachery is everywhere.
The Dire Planet series is great fun to read, the world it creates is full of wonders but life is very cheap and always precariously balanced yet full of unexpected surprises.
The Enterprise investigates a wrecked freighter and discovers that a number of escape pods could have reached a nearby system and the inhabited planet of Angel One. The planet is pre-warp and on par with mid 20th century Earth in terms of technology but has a global single state under a matriarchal leadership. Picard has Troi lead the opening contact and after some issues they are allowed to beam down a party which includes Riker, Data, Troi and Yar. They are taken before the ruling council which comprises of six "mistresses" and the "elected one" named Beata (Karen Montgomery) who is the voice of the planet, she allows the Enterprise to search for survivors on the promise of removing them. Meanwhile back on the Enterprise some of the crew fall under an infection, it looks like a severe cold or flu but it's rapidly spreading and the Enterprise is on a schedule to finish it's mission on Angel One then warp to the Neutral Zone to aid in a Romulan issue.
On Angel One the landing party are shown graphic examples of the dominance of the female half of the native population but still Riker asks for a one on one meeting with Beata and dons the traditional male garb and well she enjoys a man that knows what he wants...
Beata with her man toy.
The Enterprise sensors track down the survivors of the freighter (all male) via the platinum they were carrying, the metal being absent from this world's ecology but it turns out they don't want to leave, they have wives and families and their crime is that they won't live as second class citizens and they don't want that for their make children either. The twist is revealed that one of the mistresses of the planet is secretly married to Ramsey the "leader" of the survivors but when Enterprise prepares to leave being unable to force repatriation Beata arrests the radicals and when they refuse to leave they are sentenced to death.
Back on the Enterprise Crusher is having no luck, Picard and Worf are down for the count and Geordi is in command but more and more of the crew are sick and the pressure to get to the Neutral Zone is increasing. Data beams back to the ship and takes command but there is only really him running around but he won't leave until it's impossible for the crew to be cured and to make it on time to the Neutral zone. This leaves just enough time for Riker to make an impassioned plea on behalf of the condemned citing that martyring these people will not help in the long run and that the issues with Angel One are down to the culture evolving which would happen with or without the arrival of the male survivors of the Federation ship.
The Patented Riker Stance
Angel One reminds me quite a bit of a Buck Rogers episode where Buck ends up on a Female dominated world although that was down to war rather than cultural development and the same theme was used in a show I watched as a kid which for the life of me I can not remember the name of. Neither example of this sort of story really worked even though at times the message being conveyed comes through with some clarity and logical presentation. To be fair Riker's speech in defence of Ramsey and his people was spot on, the global culture of Angel One was beginning to be pushed and poked by those with a more encompassing world view. Funnily enough I didn't make half as many notes for this episode as a few more recent Trek episodes, my attention may have waived if I was being totally honest:)
First off what is with the Federation and Starfleet taking seven years to look in on the Odin and if Angel One is pre-warp why are they even visiting now let alone 60 odd years earlier (the Federations last visit). I thought it was also a stretch that a civilian freighter would have warp capable escape pods, you know the Enterprise doesn't even the saucer is only impulse.
So Picard is spot on letting Troi lead the communications with the ruling government but then sends Riker down in the landing party and he is argumentative and judgmental from the word go, that was bizarre and I don't buy a lack of development for the 1st season. We did get one of the Data not knowing something he should in this case perfume, that gets old pretty quick and never made much sense given his pre Enterprise history. So they find Ramsey and his people via the platinum in his wings, wow they are good sensors to pick up a few ounces of a metal from orbit yet why didn't they just seal the deal by beaming everyone up, stripping them of weapons and job done. By going in person they not only get talked out of their promise to the elected one but also lead the government to the revolutionary element. That said score one for the boys when Trent (Leonard Crofoot) the personal assistant(?) of the elected one gets to press the disintegration beam button, just the once because Riker saved the day and not with his man parts but with reasoned logic.
Deep breath, Wesley what a useless waste of time, the infection showed how useless Crusher was and what the f**k is the Enterprise doing looking into a 7 year old incident when the Romulans are on a war footing in the Neutral Zone?
This was not a good episode, we did get Riker doing his patented leg up which is always worth a point and Troi was pretty useful even if she was sidelined but overall not a favourite.
Tom is once again spending time in the Holodeck tinkering with his latest project when he is called to duty when a mysterious vessels emerges close to Voyager. Tom identifies the malfunctioning drive system on the ship and offers a solution to contain the imminent explosion and saves the day. The pilot of the ship introduces himself as Steth and informs them he is a test pilot and pushed the ships as yet perfected engines beyond their limits. Tom asks Chakotay to assign him to the crew fixing the ship and despite some reservations with Tom's attitude he agrees. Steth and Tom get on great and it seems Steth is living the life that Tom really would want to, no ties to friends and family, go anywhere and fly anything but it's not all that it seems. Seth when unobserved is accessing Voyagers computers and his appearance seems to be fluctuating as confirmed by his own ships DNA scans. When the ship is fixed thanks to Tom and his idea of a carburetor to control the flow of energy to the engines "Seth" flies away leaving "Tom" to pine for his "friend" but "Tom" isn't acting quite himself. He seems unfamiliar with the layout of the ship, knows little of her close interpersonal relationships and his general attitude seems to be devil may care to the point of laying hands on both B'elanna and Seven.
It's Bulldog !
Janeway confronts Tom about his recent actions and then a call for security prompts Tuvok to rush to the ready room where Tom is strangling his Captain, he is restrained and taken to sickbay where the doctor discovers from peculiarities which they think may explain Tom's strange behaviour. Meanwhile in some distant part of the quadrant the real Tom awakes in the body of Seth and finds himself under attack, a woman beams onboard demanding her body back and everything falls into place. Together they attempt to release the locks on the ship's systems and when it's done the two set off to find Voyager and get their own bodies back. They arrive and the Janeway imposter shoots Seven and steals a shuttle, gloating and she flies away confident they won't fire and risk killing her but Tom targets the newly installed carburetor and disables the ship. Tom and Janeway are returned to their own bodies along with the alien woman "Steth" leaving her former body inhabiting the identity thief. The two of them return to their own star system leaving Tom to make amends to B'elanna and the crew for his recent behaviour prior to not quite being in his own body.
Vis À Vis was a fairly straight forward body swap episode which relied on Tom and his inherent wanderlust to make it work, to be fair it would not have worked if Tom had been more settled in the first place. One of the issues with dipping into shows in a random way is that you miss out on any character build up which would pay off in an episode like that but for now well Tom was a dick and luckily for Voyager so was the alien entity which was stealing other peoples bodies.
I still find it ridiculous anyone would spend serious time "fixing" an holographic vehicle let alone where all the energy overhead is green lit along with crew privileges, seems some of the crew get a lot more time recreating than others. That of course begs the question why Tom was called to the bridge when he was off duty, so the helm officers on the other two watches were incompetent? Miraculously it works out as Tom is able to identify a piece of blue sky technology, diagnose the problem and offer a solution based on classes in a theoretical subject, he was still a dick. We then get it plastered on with a shovel how unsatisfied Tom is with his current duties and relationships and how lax security is when a visitor roams the ship with no oversight and strangely enough Seven didn't seem to check the logs for what Seth was up to nor report it. Tom of course fixes this alien engine in the grand tradition of Starfleet engineers throughout time, hang on a minute Tom is a helm officer with a passing interest in ship design how the f*"k did he fix such a theoretical piece of technology!
Lucky for us he did and that's when Seth makes his move, he takes over Tom's body and sends him on his way then we get the out of place stranger whose weird behaviour gets little attention until he manhandles two of the female crew and Janeway confronts him. To be fair no way they could foresee what would happen but even when Tom finally turns up in Seth's body Janeway is still capable of throwing a smoke screen and flying away despite any restrictions onboard. On a side note, although we didn't see a great amount of detail the designs of the two large alien starships were really good, looked like a lot of work was done for a small payoff.
Anyhow back to Tom as he convinces Chakotay he is who he says he is and defeats the enhanced shuttle (not even going to ask how they built the coaxial drive on one of them) and hey presto we're all back to who we were apart from the female alien, not to worry she ain't important.
The best thing about Vis À Vis was Dan Butler who unfortunately for the actor will always be Bulldog from Frasier to me even under a layer of prosthetics:) Alas the story relied too much on convenient actions and reactions as well as leaps of plot for everything to work, it's watchable but not a good episode.
Kes is being tutored by Tuvok in her mental abilities and it seems Kes is a little impatient and when she arrives late for her duties in sickbay the Doctor isn't pleased with her. They are distracted by a resonance coming from a storage closet and inside are the remains of the caretaker and we are reminded that another of his species is somewhere in the galaxy.
Voyager attempts to track the energy signature to it's source and eventually finds a space station modelled on the caretaker's Array but when they approach they are fired upon and then warned to stay away. Kes is informed that there are Ocampa on the station and their leader Tanis agrees to come to Voyager after seeing Kes on the bridge. It turns out that they have heard Voyager was a "death ship" and has raided planets, waged war against the Kazon and killed the first caretaker but Kes seems to sway Tanis towards the truth and he opens up to her about the Ocampa and their extended lifespan and mental powers. Tanis tells them that in time they will meet the caretakers companion "Suspiria" but in the meantime he teaches Kes some mental exercises with some mixed results and less than ethical intent.
Tanis continues to drive Kes in her embrace of the enhanced mental abilities despite almost killing Tuvok when she was showing off her new skills but eventually Tanis gives Voyager the coordinates of an area of space where Suspiria will meet them. It is perhaps fortunate that Tuvok has been working on a way to nullify and contain the being if she posed a threat because when she eventually turns up it goes poorly. It's not surprise given that she believes the same as the Ocampa that Voyager killed the caretaker who was her mate but after she is contained Janeway releases her and Suspiria leaves the ship intact and takes Tanis with her. The episode closes with Tuvok and Kes once again discussing her abilities and his wish to continue to instruct her.
Feel the Burn
Cold Fire didn't really do a lot for me, I wasn't never that invested in Kes and as it came to pass neither were the writers and producers but it's not that bad an episode and it did give us some possible avenues to explore as Kes matured and her abilities grew.
A few issues with the episode, the exposition at the beginning was a little much and where were the privacy issues when training a telepath, pretty sure Tuvok should have addressed the inappropriately in listening in to someone else's thoughts. The Doctor seemed a little jealous of the time Kes was spending with Tuvok, that was interesting or maybe it was just the more cantankerous character of the Doctor in the early seasons. I'm not sure Voyager was even attempting to approach Suspiria in good faith, oh no we didn't kill your mate but we just have weapons and containment tech if you so much as flinch. The mental powers of the Ocampa were impressive although a little too powerful as it seemed more Q like to cause vegetation to bloom just like that. So we know modern Federation medical science is very advanced and that Vulcan's are tough nuts but no way Tuvok should have survived the rapid rise in internal temperature nor after that regaining his outward appearance, totally took me out of the narrative they were trying to create.
I did like the idea (if that was the intent) of the Ocampa being Space Vampires draining the lifeforce from other sources to fuel their manipulations and well throw out the ethics and morals of how you deal with other lifeforms then there are no limits, come to the dark side young one! Suspiria finally turning up and presenting herself as a young female, clever manipulation but she didn't need that edge it only provided Janeway with the option to capture her, didn't like the writing for that nor how quickly this uber powerful alien just left and life went on as if nothing happened.
Cold Fire at best is an average episode, it didn't really do enough to flesh out Kes or at least it didn't lead to her character having more growth and that was certainly not Jennifer Lien's fault and is too often the ship sails on with little consequence.
Pangaea by Michael Burstein
