VOY- Basics Part I

Plot – The first half of this episode plays out like your typical Voyager episode with the investigation into the baby and the story of the escaped Kazon but with his shock suicide it soon shifts into high gear and never looks back. I like the slow build up because when the fireworks start it has lulled you into a false sense of security and punches you in the gut with its developments. What’s great is how the Voyager crew are never written as a bunch of easily convinced monkeys – even when all the evidence points to the fact that the Kazon defector is telling the truth – they continue to investigate and be suspicious of him. Chakotay, who is often written as a mug, voices his doubt throughout.

Character – Can you believe that Voyager grappled with the idea of a serial killer for a crewmember and gave that part to an actor like Brad Dourif? This is ripe for drama and conflict and Dourif plays the part with such precision and awkwardness that I would have thought he would be a shoe-in for the rest of the series. It would take the work of somebody actually attempting to sabotage the potential of the show to remove this character from its core cast. The fact that they went there at all is one of the reasons why I would inch Voyager ahead of TNG when it comes to discussing them as TV series (rather than an exercise in nostalgia, in which case TNG often wins through entirely).

Seksa remains the best villain on Voyager (move over, the Borg Queen) because she is so good at manipulating our people, especially Chakotay and provoking a reaction from them. They are no longer a squeaky clean Starfleet crew when Seska is around because they all want to do terrible things to her for different reasons (Janeway for betraying her, Chakotay for seducing him, Torres for pretending to be her friend and the crew for pointing the finger at them with suspicion when she was behaving nefariously).

Production – If Janeway’s hair gets messy, things are serious. And it gets really messy here.

Best moment – Kate Mulgrew’s twitchy performance when Janeway goes to visit Suder’s quarters. By all accounts Jeri Taylor did not want Suder to continue on Voyager and how anybody could reach that conclusion after watching this scene is beyond me.

The suicide scene that sabotages Voyager remains one of the most striking scenes in Voyager’s run. It’s tensely directed and it kicks the narrative in a whole new direction. It’s the best kind of action because it answers some questions, provides a visceral thrill and guides the episode in a shocking direction.

I really enjoy the moment when Cullah walks onto the Bridge and relinquishes control from Janeway. Not because he is a particularly riveting character (he really isn’t) but because it feels like something momentous is happening. It’s the ultimate expression of ‘you really should have shared your technology with us’, which he makes sure Janeway knows before tossing her entire crew off the Ship. I love the image of them being rounded up like animals on the Bridge. Truly, we haven’t seen anything quite like this before in Trek. It feels serious and it feels real.

Hooray for the last ten minutes which sees things going from bad to worse for the Voyager crew. The Ship lands on a volcanic planet and they are left to rot on an inhospitable world with nothing but their wits about them whilst Cullah and Seska fly away into the sunset with Voyager. Scorpion managed to feel climactic and powerful but the show never had a cliff-hanger that felt this desolate and personal again. It’s one of those rare occasions that the show seems to suggest that Janeway’s ideology is wrong, that failing to negotiate with the species of the Delta Quadrant has backfired and her face as her crew are roughed up says it all. It’s not the look of an arrogant woman who is clinging on to what she thinks is right but the look of desperation for a situation that has spiralled out of control and perhaps never needed to have happened in the first place.

Worst moment – Neelix attempts to deliver Leola Root soup with a smile to a convicted and pissed off murderer. The fact that he lived to see another day is very unsatisfactory.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Chakotay’s bizarre native American traditions that were entirely made up by a hack who wanted work at Paramount. To have this element to the show suggests a forward-thinking attitude, but to fudge it so spectacularly is pretty offensive.

The possibilities that could have occurred following the end of this episode are endless. Enticing. What we actually got is abhorrent, but that’s for another day. Piller leaves Voyager in a striking position – that’s all that really matters.

A reason to watch this episode again – Unbelievably, this is one of the last times that Voyager would flirt with serialisation with all the elements of the first and second seasons (Seska, the Kazon, the baby, Suder, Chakotay’s father) all come together to create something ambitious in scale and arresting to watch. It feels like the successful application of serialisation here justifies that approach on Voyager and it is startling that from the very next episode the show would abandon pretty much all of the elements above and set course for one-hour no impact entertainment shows. It would gain more of a chance for the average Joe to switch on but lost its identity to become something TNG lite. Basics Part I is bold, dramatic, satisfying and full of terrific moments. It’s about as climactic as the show ever got and it’s at the end of the second season. It feels like it is reaching for a ‘how the hell are they going to get out of that?’ cliff-hanger and for the most part they succeed.

**** out of *****

Clue for the next episode: