elogium

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    Kes must conceive, and Neelix is reluctant to help.
    Starring: Kes, Neelix
    Co-Starring: Janeway
    Featuring: Chakotay, Tuvok, The Doctor, (Wildman)
    Cameo: Paris, Kim, Torres

    Type of Episode: Medical Crisis. Space Anomaly. Ship In Peril.
    Pre-Credits Scene: From the get-go this is a troubled episode. All that stuff between Neelix and Kes in the kitchen fails to generate any interest. It's sub-standard.
    Cut to the bridge. And the scene between Janeway and Chakotay is like a scene from a different show. A good show. Tragically, we were to return to Kes and Neelix too often as the hour progressed.
    How Does The Trouble Start?: Voyager detects "a strange energy configuration off the port bow" and they investigate.
    Impressive Characters: In this episode! Are you kidding?
    That said, I suppose they are all very impressive in they way they respect alien life. When Paris says early on that "one burst and we'd be outta here." Chakotay responds by saying that "our exhaust could seriously damage the creatures." On Star Trek Voyager, respect for all forms of life is a foremost concern.
    Impressive Acting: Jennifer Lien is good, but she's wasted here.
    And Tim Russ does a lovely job as Tuvok tells Neelix about his children.
    Conflict: Neelix vs. Kes (over Paris).
    Neelix vs. The Doctor (over Kes).
    Teamwork: None really. They try lots of things and Chakotay eventually saves the ship, getting it to roll over. (In space, which way is up?) This is only fair really, since he was the one wanted to go in, in the first place.
    Continuity: Kes says "I'm not even two yet."
    Janeway confides in Chakotay, which leads to the line "Who've thought we'd be considering a generation ship when we were ordered on a three-week mission." (...a three-week mission. ...a three-week mission. Yes, it's Gilligan's Voyager!)
    Best Scene: Possibly Janeway's conversation with Chakotay while he blows on his soup. This, like their earlier scene on the bridge is typical of the scenes we get on Star Trek Voyager every week. I also liked to see Tuvok speak of his family.
    Best Line: "If it is all you are serving, it would stand to reason." Tuvok to Neelix, upon being told that the stew he is getting, the only thing ready to eat, is quite popular. A moment of pleasure amid the tedium.
    Worst Scene: Neelix vs. The Doctor, in sickbay. An awful scene.
    Worst Line: "You mean there's a connection between what's happeing to Kes and those creatures!" (Duh!!)
    Who Saves The Day? Chakotay.
    Closing Scene: A voiceover of Janeway's personal misgivings about children on Voyager, followed by the revelation that Ensign Wildman is pregnant.
    Three Things I Really Liked About This Episode:
  • - Tuvok's funny line about the stew.
  • - Tuvok's short speech on parenthood (the steve martin movie!)
  • - Um.. Tuvok didn't do anything else. Sorry.
    Three Things I Really Didn't Like About This Episode:
  • - The Ocampa mating ritual seemed absurd and badly thought-out by the writers. Logically, the Ocampa will soon die out because they only have one kid each meaning that each generation has less and less males and females to continue. Uh-Oh.
  • - Neelix was positively annoying in every one of his scenes.
  • - Several times, the characters behaved as if it were a farce of some kind. Kes kicking her legs as she was carried out, for instance.
  • - Nobody mentioned love. Nobody. Do Kes and Neelix love one another? Nobody seemed to care?
    Last Watched (by me): Nov 5th, 1996

    Miscellaneous Comments: Elogium is a very poor episode. One with very little to reccommend it.

    The Kes-Neelix scenes are embarrising to watch. They seem badly-played or ill-conceived. For instance, when Kes tries to stop Neelix snooping, her move is like something out of a farce (and I, for one, was not laughing!). Of the two Neelix, in particular, is never realistically written. Never. Through-out this entire episode he reacts as a sit-com character would. If this was Perfect Strangers and Larry was debating having a child with Jennifer, I would love it, written and played that way. Being a sit-com Perfect Strangers has its own way of dealing with such subject matter. And it works. It entertains. In a sit-com. Star Trek Voyager is a different show. And Neelix should be different to Larry Appleton. Should be.

    The whole short-life-span of Kes needs work to make it work for the character. And the series. this was a chance to do that. A chance botched. Botched by the absence of simple logic.

    The Ocampa die at age nine, and give birth at age four and a half, right? So, when Kes describes the massaging ritual as "a time when parent and child move into a new kind of relationship" she must be referring to the fact that the parent promptly dies!! Certainly a new kind of relationship.

    This inattention to detail is silly.

    And how about this? Once upon a time there were twenty Ocampa females and twenty Ocampa males. They reproduced. Each couple had one child. So, next time there were... ten females and ten males. And they reproduced. And next time... there were only five of each sex available to mate. And on and on. And eventually the Ocampa died out. The End. Dumb.

    And how about this?!

    Now, the crew could have warped out at any time, right? Yet, they chose not to. Because it could have harmed the creatures. Admirable. Except... that it endangered Kes. Fair enough. If this was used as part of the story. But it was totally ignored. Did they actually investigate to see how harmful? Or did they all just assume that it could be harmful? And why didn't Neelix put up a fight for them to use warp and get away? Why? Why? Story material all. Worthy story material. And all ignored.

    At the core of this tedious episode is a wonderful dialogue between Kes and The Doctor about the biological urge to mate vying with the rational minds instinct to think things through. That's what the whole episode should have been like. Kes as biological urge, and Neelix as rational mind. It fails. Let's face it, Neelix should be nobody's first choice as a representative of the rational mind.

    I think of Elogium as a weak installment. It has no entertainment value, and is capable of greatly embarrasing any fan of the show.

    It's a rare, rare Star Trek Voyager that leaves me unentertained.

    And this is it!

    GRADE: C

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