A team of imposters is impersonating Janeway, Chakotay and Tuvok for their own gain and the Voyager crew must put things to rights.
You know, I used to look forward to every episode of Star Trek. But I'm really losing my enthusiasm for this show (such as it was). Many of the episodes this season are making season one look impressive and this one's no exception.
Another poorly-judged piece of scripting sees all the wrong angles being played as far as the story is concerned and a series of time-wasting scenes that have no connection to the main story and seem to be present to plug the gaps in the plot. Where did this whole Paris/Neelix 'we've lost our edge' thing come from? What edge? I don't recall a single time when they outwitted a criminal together; most of the time Paris and Neelix have barely been on screen together. Their attempts to outwit the Doctor seem pointless, as they are indeed proven when the hologram sees right through their trick. Quite why he doesn't see what they've done at the end is unknown.
Once you've got past the fact the comedy value of another Janeway and Tuvok with ill-fitting uniforms and over-sized comm badges, you realize the whole episode is being played completely seriously, thereby making it dull and uninteresting rather than the fun comedy episode it could have been. There's no real threat to Voyager, Janeway seems completely in control throughout (even after telling Tuvok she doesn't have any idea what to do to resolve the situation) and the focus is on the wrong aspects.
Once we find out that the monks weren't monks at all, we never get told who they are, where they come from or what they're doing with all their ill-gotten gains. From the episode's end, it seems they're putting everything in a room and looking at it. Oooh, good plan. We needed more in-fighting and bickering, more of the thieves slipping into character and suddenly realizing. There were once again so many obvious ways to make this story better and they have all been ignored. It's a basic story that fails to hold the interest after the first five minutes. What has gone wrong?
**
Would you like to go to the Star Trek: Voyager Season Six guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, read older reviews in the Reviews Archive or return to the front page?
Get your own Free Home Page