Plot – It’s one of the few Star Trek stories that was initiated by somebody who has a presence in the world of Doctor Who, in this case James Swallow. It’s a very well-structured episode; presenting a disturbing off kilter effect on various crewmembers, exploring the content of those visions, dealing with the psychological ramifications, piecing together the mystery and then shifting location to where the horror took place. Burger has written a strong teleplay, one that has a constant sense of momentum and feels like a picture that is coming together. That picture isn’t complete until the climax where a choice has to be made, which adds the sort of dilemma that Trek excels at. It finishes the episode on an uneasy and yet satisfying note. Ultimately it all makes perfect sense but you have to watch the whole thing to get there. I especially like that the Voyager crew have to live with the memories of the massacre even if they choose to shut down the beacon. These adventures should have lasting effects and my one regret is that we don’t see any further consequences down the line. Voyager’s sixth season veered from the ridiculous to the sublime but the best episodes featured some of the best concepts the show ever put out. Memorial is one such episode.
Character – You have to wonder what Torres sees in Paris sometimes when he would rather watch an old cartoon than fall into bed with her after being away for two weeks. If I had had two weeks away from my beau, watching television would not be my first priority.
The regulars on this show are always so happy go lucky that to see them deprived of sleep, behaving irrationally, sweating and panicking is quite an experience. Ensign Eager (I mean Kim) is suffering anxiety in enclosed spaces, Neelix is snappy and quick to react with an enormous meat cleaver, Chakotay is dirty and panicked (also very handsome when roughed up a bit) and Paris struggles with the psychological intensity of what has been poured into his brain. This is a rare Voyager ensemble show in the latter seasons, where the show enjoyed focusing on one or two characters (usually the same one or two characters at that) and it’s nice to see everyone getting a fair share of the action.
Performance – What’s interesting is that Memorial exposes those who have the real acting chops on Voyager, and those who try and attack this kind of psychological exercise and don’t make the grade. Kate Mulgrew is as terrific as you might imagine, and Robert Beltran and even Garrett Wang show some aptitude for this kind of drama. Ethan Phillips struggles to convince and Robert Duncan McNeill has always had difficulty acting intense emotion and things are no different here. It’s a regular cast of variable ability on Voyager and it’s when they are delivered powerful material that that is most exposed. It’s the scene in the conference room that sticks out the most, some of the actors delivering the exposition off camera and haunted and others merely shouting and shouting unconvincingly. What’s really interesting is that of all the strongest performers on this show (Mulgrew, Ryan and Picardo) only one of them gets to indulge in the murkier material and even then only for a few scenes. This is an interesting exercise in giving the other actors a chance, even if this would have been a much stronger episode if the best actors on this show had been afforded the challenging roles.
Production – The teaser is very nicely handled in how it all starts out so normally and soon takes on all the insidious signs of a nightmare. The transition between Tom Paris watching a conflict on television to actually appearing in the fight itself is very effectively directed and I love the simplicity of the flashes on his face that plant him straight in the action. Those scenes are so dark I would have gone the whole hog and filmed them in black and white.
How vivid is the reveal of the obelisk? Voyager features quite a prolific amount of location work for a Star Trek show but it is rarely used as successfully as it is here.
Huge kudos to David Bell who provides an unusually brooding score which never threatens to overwhelm the atmosphere but works with the direction of the episode to create a constant sense of unease.
Best moment – In a way it is a shame that the flashbacks to the Nakan massacre are a conflict that the Voyager crew never truly participated in because these are some of the most intense and visceral action sequences that the show ever presented. There’s a chaotic and intensity to the fight scenes that Voyager rarely attempts, it feels ugly and desperate. Very un-Trek which is precisely how I like it.
There’s a sweet moment between Seven and Neelix where she tries to comfort him. Voyager can really sneak up on you with moments that melt your heart like this.
Worst moment – Too much shouting. Histrionics rarely impress me unless they are being delivered by extremely capable actors and Duncan McNeill and Phillips in particular really struggle to suggest the disturbing consequences of PTSD and instead just make a lot of noisy commotion. They make for some awkward scenes.
I wish they hadn’t done that – There is something very telling about the idea of a four-man away mission that has gone wrong and everybody is desperate to get back to floating hotel in space that is Voyager to enjoy its luxurious comforts again. This really should not be the case. In fact, dramatically, if this show was utilising its premise it should be precisely the opposite.
A reason to watch this episode again – I admire the bravery of any episode of Star Trek that depicts the massacre of men, women and children so boldly, even if it did happen long in the past. I wish there were more Voyager episodes with this kind of psychological intensity because it is challenging viewing and it exposes the acting chops of some of the regular cast. Garret Wang in particular responds well to this dark material and it makes me long for Harry to suffer psychologically on a regular basis. Allan Kroeker is precisely the sort of risky director to attack this kind of story because he refuses to shy away from the truth of war and murder and the disturbing mental side effects of going through that kind of nightmare. What I find funny is how I long for Voyager to have disturbing moments like this because it is usually such a happy go lucky show. It’s the opposite of the DS9 effect. I long for that show to have laughs and light relief because it spends so much of its time exploring dark themes. Memorial stands out as a particularly memorable episode of the last two years of Voyager, very Star Trek in its ideology and very un-Star Trek in its presentation.
**** out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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