revulsion

  • 4V05

    The Doctor and Torres meet an unstable hologram
    Harry wrestles with romantic feelings for Seven
    Starring: The Doctor,Torres, Harry, Seven
    Co-Starring:-
    Featuring: Paris, Chakotay
    Cameo: Tuvok, Neelix, Janeway

    Type of Episode: Profiler episode! Samantha would have felt right at home with this guy!
    Pre-Credits Scene: Short but brutal. We see a corpse being dragged around, leaving a trail of (ugh!) blood in its' wake, then we see that the person doing the dragging is a hologram, who proptly sends out a distress signal. Yet, somehow, you still know he did it.
    How Does The Trouble Start?: Voyager gets a distress signal. That's all it took. Otherwise we would have witnessed an (apparently) uneventful trade mission thingie with some aliens Faceman, uh, Neelix buttered up.
    Impressive Characters: Torres impressed me in this one. She's face to face with ranting psycho, with not a trace of fear or worry. Then she goes and saves the day, while badly injured. Plus the lighting on the alien ship makes her hair look gorgeous.
    Impressive Acting: Leland Orser (the isomorph) gives a stunning performance.
    Conflict: Loads. All good-natured. We start off with Tuvok being teased by Paris and Kim, as they recount tales of teasings gone-by. Then we see conflict turning to bemusement on the bridge when The Doctor suddenly takes command. Likewise, he orders Torres around a lot on the shuttle. She throws her eyes up to heaven, but does as he says. So what does all that tell us. The Voyagers are comfortable and happy with one another, even when someone crosses the line and bugs the heck out of someone else, it's generally met with a smile.
    Teamwork: Hmm. We see two duos in action in this one. Torres and The Doctor work much better together, than poor-old-Harry teamed with Seven. Overall, teamwork comes into effect with Tom taking over as doctor while The Doctor is away (and having quite a bit to do, he tells us, so maybe it's wasn't an uneventful trade mission after all!). And we even get a short scene where Janeway compliments Neelix on his contributions to the team.
    Continuity: Loads. Janeways first meeting with Tuvok (nine years ago) is mentioned.
    Tom is back in sickbay as nurse.
    The Many Loves Of Harry Kim: "What was it last time? A hologram?" A reference to an earlier, brilliant episode.
    We're reminded that Seven was Bord "a month ago."
    Best Scene: Harry's misfired seduction of Seven. Absolutely hilarious, and what I think of first when I think of this episode.
    Best Lines: "The last time we worked together, I struck you at the base of your skull and attempted to contact the collective." "These things happen." Harry smooth-as-ever Kim as he goes head to head with Seven for the first time this episode. You know, as well as Torres, I have to say Harry kinda impressed me in this one. Scared beyond belief, totally out of his depth, he still made a play for Seven. 99 guys out a hundred will tell you they'd sooner face a nasty ol' isomorph any day of the week!!
    Who Saves The Day? Torres. She defeats the baddie, AND fixes The Doctors projector, all while badly injured herself.
    Closing Scene: Tom and B'Elanna and The Doctor in sickbay. They're very cosy together, (almost) swapping stories about their respective days. The Doctor is in a playful mood, acting like the isomorph and (rather incredibly) repeating lines of dialogue he didn't actually hear during the episode...
    Lingering Thoughts: May 14th, 1998: I suppose the most obvious contrast in this episode is the one between The Doctor and The Isomorph. However...
    Given the other events in the story, one cannot help but see other contrasts.
    The episode opens by contrasting Neelix with Tuvok.
    Tuvok is, probably, the loneliest character on the ship, although we have seen him making headway towards bonding with the people around him. It's clear, though, from the teasing sequence in this episode that he's still very much apart from the others on the ship, and intent on keeping it that way.
    Following Tuvok's promotion, Neelix is then shown being praised by the Captain and promised an official title. Since the middle of Season Three we've understood how Neelix feels about the ship and how much he craves being made part of its community. In a scene where Tuvok advances up the structural command ladder, we are also witness to Neelix being given an honorary position within that ladder. In this way, since this "honorary position" is more of a feel-good thing than anything else, we see the Voyager Community rewarding it's differing denizens in the way that best suits them.
    With Neelix, unlike Tuvok, we know how he desires to connect with those around him on an emotional level also. It's part of what makes him behave the way he does. Contrasting these two is easy - remember the pilot? Tuvok, all intellect, being hugged and squeezed by Neelix, all heart.
    In groups, we usually see the group as a whole forcing it's will onto Tuvok, while Neelix is usually shown trying to force his way into the group. In the years ahead, I'd like to see less and less of this. Tuvok should be respected more for who he is, and who he wants to be, while Neelix should be included more, and his cooking should be joked about a little less. As time goes by, it appears to be Neelix who is winning this race. He really does seem to be more and more a part of the crew. Season Three was a turnaround season for him.
    Next up are B'Elanna and Harry, as each one tries to come to terms with their feelings.
    B'elanna is shown on the verge of walking away from what she wants most. She loves Tom. She has said so. Yet, faced with the alleviation of the loneliness this unrequited love must surely be giving her, she still offers Tom a way out. So terrified is she of rejection and a deepening of her despair.
    Harry, meanwhile, has feelings for Seven and (in total contrast to B'Elanna) has decided to go after the object of his desire with all guns blazing. Not that it did him much good, mind you. Like the Tuvok/Neelix contrast, this is a contrast that goes right back to the pilot. Harry and B'Elanna were contrasted there too, when he came off as naive and she as worldly wise and cynical. Which is really how they come off here. Why on earth would somebody back away from the person they are falling in love with, the way B'Elanna does, unless that somebody had been hurt too much before and wanted to avoid a repetition of the same pain again. Likewise, Harry's seduction-technique screams of someone still very young when it comes to matters of the heart.
    Next, we come to Seven and B'Elanna, and how the cope with the same "problem". Seven has just been abducted by Voyager. She's the only Borg on the ship and she's very much alone. This is the episode where she injures her hand. Harry comforts her, and later chides Tom for not doing the same. It's also the episode where she lets her guard down enough to show Harry her "subtle" sense of humour.
    In this episode, we have already seen Tuvok and Neelix being accepted and rewarded for what they do on the ship. Tuvok is promoted. Neelix is promised a title. We know from previous episodes that both are lonely characters, yet their reactions are completely different. Tuvok, because of the teasing he has to endure, seems to go through the entire dinner as if it is a chore. Neelix embraces the prospect of advancement with the same evident enthusiasm that Neelix embraces everything, and everyone.
    In this episode, we see Seven and B'Elanna being romantically "accepted" and "rewarded" for who they are on the ship (not "what they do" as in the case of Tuvok and Neelix). Tom has feelings for B'Elanna based on the person she is, he "accepts" her and her "reward" in this case is his declaration of reciprocation. It's a case of, for merely being the person you are, somebody out there goes and falls in love with you. Harry, too, is interested in Seven for who she is. His heart accepts her, and he attempts to do something about it. The similarity between Seven and B'Elanna is that both of them have difficulty with the attention. B'Elanna offers Tom an escape route, Seven quickly defines it in terms she can more easily cope with and attempts to move forward within these parameters. Harry can't cope. And flees.
    It's all about people, isn't it? How we relate to them. How we are accepted by them, how we cope with their attentions, how we cope with our own feelings for them.
    The biggest contrast of all is probably between the two ships. One devoid of live, the other resplendent with it. It's a contrast driven home. We never see The Isomorph's crew alive. They are already dead when the episode opens. Our first glance is of a ship without people, without community, a ship unlike Voyager. Our second scene shows us Voyager's crew, together, in one place, interacting and living together as a community.
    Why kill the crew before the episode starts? It's certainly not to create a mystery, since we know the Isomorph did it, and we're not being entertained on a simplistic who-dunnit-level, or even a did-he-do-it level. No, it must be something else.
    Perhaps we never see the crew alive for the simple reason that, to the Isomorph, they never were alive. He was never, we assume, made part of the community, the way the Doctor has been, so he never got to experiences the highs and lows that the other characters in this episode get to. The things that befall Tuvok, Neelix, B'Elanna, Harry and Seven in this episode are the trappings of real life that soothe the loneliness in all of us: being promoted, being teased, being loved, falling in love (whichever way it goes), etc. are the responses in us, and of others to us, that remind us that we are not, in fact, as much alone as it seems. The Isomorph never got that. He was always alone.
    But was he "mistreated"? Open to debate. We never see it. We never have it described in any detail. Maybe their mistreatment of him took the form of excluding him. Maybe that was all it took to push him over the edge.
    (It is also true that we, as viewers, are more likely to sympathise with a character when we don't see him brutally smashing some skulls in. Right?)
    Small wonder The Doctor gave no thought to The Isomorph's offer. What was in it for him? Nothing. And he knew that. He didn't need to think about it. I, for one, would have felt a little cheated, if The Doctor actually did start to wonder whether to stay or not. It wouldn't have felt right. For him, for me, for Voyager.
    So, in conclusion, I don't see it as just an episode that contrasts hologram with hologram. Otherwise, why do the others events happen? Why are the other characters there at all? The episode is called Revulsion. This points us towards The Isomorph's speech, about flesh and blood beings living out their disgusting little lives. And what do we see throughout the entire episode? Why, "flesh and blood living out their disgusting little lives," of course!!
    Star Trek, good Star Trek, isn't about spaceships, quadrants, continuity or multi-episode-wars that piss all over what has gone before. It's about people. The human condition. Loneliness, friendship, acceptance. The themes that genuinely, honestly effect all of us on a day-to-day basis. When you watch it, see yourself in there and recognise the truth of the emotions on screen, you've got something special. And it's called "Voyager."
    Three Things I Really Liked About This Episode:
  • The sense of community. The first thing we see after the credits is the crew together as Tuvok gets promoted/tortured. It's a lovely scene, one that really captures a sense of family among the crew. Across from Harry and Tom you have Torres (ex-Maquis), The Doctor (hologram) and Neelix (Delta Quadrant being), three more different beings it would be hard to imagine. And here they are, side by side, clapping and cheering to see one of their friends being rewarded. In fact, that whole first act (until the distress signal comes in) is a joy to watch from this perspective, as we flit from conversation to conversation, as everyone mills around. With an environemnt like this behind him, it's no great surprise The Doctor felt no desire to join the Isomorph on his travels.
  • The guest star's performance. I really felt for the little guy. Who knows HOW badly he was treated? It was bad enough to do that to him, you have to feel sorry. And he met a swift sad end.
  • B'Elanna's hair.
    Three Things I Really Didn't Like About This Episode:
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    Last Watched (by me): May 4th, 1998

    Miscellaneous Comments: The kiss is great, just great. One of the best of it's kind I have seen. Like much of Voyager's writing it comes across as very honest and believeable (her reaction to what happened last time, his reaction to her reaction, and so on). And best of all: they get interrupted. Hilarious scene. MacNeill excels. Poor Tom. But it really is funny, B'Elanna scurrying away, and Tom looking after her, then trying to cencentrate on what The Doctor is saying. I half expected him to hit the hologram, playfully, but still I thought he had it coming. Especially the way he kept prattling on, as if he had seen nothing. But, of course, as B'Elanna finds out in the shuttle, he does know what's going on.

    That teasing banter between The Doctor and B'Elanna in the shuttle is wonderful. The way he just wouldn't give up. Again, the writing was very honest. This is the kind of thing that happens in office situations all the time: gentle, persistant torture.

    There's a lot of that, in this outing. Tom and Harry are teasing Tuvok to terrifying extremes in the opening scenes. The Doctor teases B'Elanna, and later he teases both Tom and B'Elanna, both about their romance and his apparent displeasure at the state of his work space. You could also say that Seven, very new to the crew, has gotten in on the act. There she is, in all her Silver Glory ("Do you want to see me?" she says. "Cos you damn well can in this outfit!!") scaring poor-old-Harry into a nervous breakdown. And let's not forget Chakotay. That twinkle in his eye, in his final scene, shows us that there's no flies on him. He's sussed out what's going on. And he's going to torture Harry, if he can.

    That's definately one thread in this episode. All the gentle needling that these people do. That people really do, when they're fond of one another, and comfortable with one another.

    And The Doctor fits right in. He really has earned his place as an equal.

    With respect to Chakotay, it's hard to figure out where his head is at. To see him here you'd think he was Seven's biggest friend on the ship, urging closer harmony between her and Kim. Is this the angry warrior at work? Doing his Captain's bidding, with silent misgivings?

    GRADE: A+

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