Plot – The teaser and the premise are the best things about this episode, where the shock of what is happening is fresh and funny. Somebody is posing as Janeway, Tuvok and Chakotay to make a profit and conning the species of the Delta Quadrant. I particularly like how the teaser feels like it could be the cold open of a bog-standard Star Trek episode and it pulls the rug out from under you almost immediately. It’s a funny premise because it gives you a chance to see how these character might have turned out if other actors had played but it also affords the writers to poke fun at the strengths and weaknesses of these three characters when they are parodied so blatantly (‘We’re doing all we can for the children…’ is a line that the real Janeway could say in another episode).
Character – Trust Neelix to hear the word orphans and fall for anything that Sister Dala tells him. If anyone is truly naive here, its him. It’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that anybody would ever know that by informing a nun of the premise of Voyager and the central Command figures on a ship that they would create a con in that image…but perhaps he should have been a little less forthcoming about all of the details.
I found Neelix and Paris lamenting that they were taken in by such an obvious con and worried that they have lost their touch very amusing. Has living in luxury on Voyager dulled their wits? The Doctor outfoxing both of them as they try and make him their mark is the best scene in the episode. That sort of suspense and surprise is what Live Fast and Prosper should be aiming for.
Performance – Gregg Daniel is particularly convincing as ‘Tuvok’ but then Tim Russ has one of the most distinctly different characters on the show so capturing his stoic emotionless Vulcan nature was perhaps the easiest task of the three. Kaitlin Hopkins is fine as ‘Janeway’ but sometimes it is the look that convinces me more than the performance. It would have been hilarious had she adopted a cod-Kate Mulgrew accent, especially since it is such a distinct one to mimic. The Chakotay impression could have been far more over the top (I would have mocked the ‘Native American’ angle to the high heavens) but instead we have to make do with a seriously overdone tattoo.
Production – The ridiculous, enormous comm badges made me howl.
Best moment – The application to the Federation scene. The fake Janeway offers membership willy nilly to whatever race that they stumble across as long as they are willing to commit considerable resources to the cause. It’s such a deliberate parody of those TOS and TNG episodes about dodgy representatives that want to join the Federation that I had to chuckle.
Worst moment – Are Tom Paris and Harry Kim responsible for reprogramming Tuvok’s holodeck programme so that a spiritual Vulcan historical figure is wearing pyjamas? Is this the most riveting thing that is happening in the Delta Quadrant right now?
I wish they hadn’t done that – I could cite the scene where Janeway informs her counterpart of what she will face in Telosian prison as precisely why the tone of this piece is all wrong. She prompts Tuvok to exaggerate and he doesn’t get it and so she’s reminds him and he over eggs the pudding and fake-o Janeway falls for it hook line and sinker. Both the script and the performances are so obvious and earnest. This should be so much sharper. If I as the viewer can see through their obvious code of deception then for this master criminal to be taken in exposes her as a weak villain.
Suggesting that Neelix is a better character for having his roguish traits ironed out makes me laugh. He talks about being accepted into the Voyager crew and how that has made him a better person. A more gullible one perhaps. That’s what I love so much about Quark, exposure to the Federation might have made him softer, but he was always a Ferengi and he always had his wits about him and was ready to squeeze anyone for some extra profit. Neelix has been neutered and his survival habits have deserted him and that’s not exactly what I would call positive development.
What is the bizarre scene where fake Tuvok and fake Chakotay argue and wind up adopting the roles that they have taken on all about? One is pure logic and the other is a hothead and they discuss Janeway as though she is the real thing. It feels like the script has lost the plot of what is really going on at this point…and it really isn’t terribly complex.
A reason to watch this episode again – Not half as fun as it should have been, Live Fast and Prosper should have spent much more time with the imposters than it does the Voyager crew attempting to track them down. They are going for an episode of Hustle but it plays out like a bog-standard episode of Voyager. What we needed to see was Mission Impossible style production values, a glossy, fast paced espionage piece with three fraudsters pretending to be members of Voayger’s crew involved in glitzy high crime. Janeway (as usual) is the best character; she gets a real spark in her eye as she picks through the details of the scam and determines to track down the imposters and bring them to justice. There are fun parts of Live Fast and Prosper and it is still a brilliant idea, I just felt the execution was far too mundane and the characterisation far too simplistic for what could have been a standout piece.
**1/2 out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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