Zupancic! at the Disco

whoops, that's 5x20, not 21

But like I said, the episode never really comes out and says this. It's all there in the subtext, in the juxtaposition between Tuvok and Torres, and between Torres and the Malon. It's a beautifully layered, complex, and subtle episode, disguised as a monster of the week horror show. 10/10 episode.

We have the hope of overcoming our toxic emotions and becoming highly enlightened and productive people. We also have the tragedy of knowing that this level of emotional control comes with a cost. We have to celebrate the nobility of enlightenment while mourning the loss of our primal drives.

And I think that we see a glimmer of hope and a glimmer of tragedy. Rage is like toxic waste, and the Vulcans have repressed it to the point where, from a human perspective, they lose out on important experiences because of their need to deal with their rage.

We learn that they take their toxic waste to isolated areas at great personal cost to avoid contaminating populated areas. They carry their toxicity with them, even if it hurts, even if it kills them, to avoid spreading it to others.

We even get to see the Malon garbage haulers as heroic - even though we've seen them as villains before, we now learn that they sacrifice their own health and lives in order to provide a necessary service to their society.

I think it's admirable to behave like Tuvok, Janeway, and Torres - to develop the skill of controlling one's own emotional reactions in order to prioritize lifesaving missions, even if this comes at some personal cost. This is in some sense the essence of heroism.

In particular I have to contrast this with Discovery Season 4 episode 5, where the crew delays a life-or-death rescue mission to cater to emotional outbursts and have several heartfelt discussions about trauma, literally risking lives in service of the crew's feelings. I prefer the Voyager approach.

I also can't help but make the contrast between this approach - "control your emotions, put the mission first, don't let traumatic events slow you down" - and the approach of later Trek installments, where emotions come first and the mission comes last.

It reminds me of the end of Tuvix, where Janeway pauses for a moment outside sickbay, burdened by what she's had to do, and then simply shoulders the burden and moves on. I find these stoic acknowledgments of what the characters have to bear really powerful.

This is all very subtle. There's no moment in the episode where this analogy is spelled out. There's no discussion by B'Elanna of what meaning she took away from her encounter, or what her reaction to the violent memories was. Like I said, it's left somewhat open to interpretation.

That's what makes this episode powerful. There's no neat solution to rage. It's an ongoing battle to control and channel your anger without letting it control you. It can be a source of power, but also a source of toxicity. Just like the theta radiation that poisons the Malon.

We've seen her grow in this episode - she's used Tuvok's meditation techniques to maintain her composure on the mission. We also know the alien was an object lesson in what happens if you give in to the rage and let it go too far. But we've also seen her handed a setback.

Are the violent memories leaving her, like the toxic grime? Or is this a contrast? Perhaps she can wash the dirt off, but the rage and violence are not so easily cleansed.

Is she sighing with relief as she comes clean, or mourning another traumatic episode in a life full of violence?

In the final scene, we see her in a sonic shower, having flashbacks to the fight as the shower dissolves the toxic grime from her body. It's a very poignant and ambiguous scene.

But that wasn't how it went. The alien was too far gone, and couldn't be saved. Torres had to beat him unconscious in order to salvage the mission and save lives. Despite her progress in controlling her anger during the mission, she still has to resort to violence.

Later, she meets an alien who is so angry that he's trying to commit mass murder, and tries to talk him down. I expected this to work - it's the Star Trek way, after all - and that the theme would be "Torres uses her new anger management skills to defuse a crisis". All very neat and pat.

We start with Torres recounting to Tuvok why she broke The Doctor's holocamera. Then we get a story about a time she beat up a school bully. Tuvok points out that her anger has been with her for a long time, and has been a source of strength.

Voyager 5x21: Juggernaut. One of my favorite episodes of the season, but the reason is subtle and perhaps easily missed. I think the episode is drawing an analogy between B'Elanna's rage and the Malon's toxic waste, and it really works for me.

Anyway, Dark Frontier - great episode.

The eyeball scene in Picard is supposed to justify a violent revenge arc for Seven, which comes out of nowhere and feels weird and out of place for both the character and for a show which is supposed to be a quiet, character-focused reflection on aging or something.

The salvage scene in Voyager goes to demonstrate how detached the Hansens are - commenting dispassionately as two Borg drones murder and cannibalize a third - as well as how alien the Borg are.

This is what was missing from certain other installations of Trek that tried to explore emotional themes and darker, edgier situations. You can even directly compare the salvage scene in this episode (horrific yet meaningful exposition) with the Icheb eyeball scene in Picard (cheap shock value).

It's just really good writing. Good emotional stakes, character development, exploration of a theme through the actions and perspectives of multiple characters (Paris, Janeway, the Doctor, even Torres, who is unsympathetic towards Seven), enhancing the ensemble even while focusing on one character

I know the whole "explorers studying the Borg" thing was just a plot contrivance to get a new human character into the Delta quadrant, but the writers really did an excellent job of capturing the emotional implications of what that situation might do to someone - and without falling into melodrama.

I think it's clear that young Annika Hansen was in a traumatic environment even before she was assimilated - her parents were basically abusive, taking her away from all social contact and then neglecting her in favor of their obsession. No wonder she starts out ambivalent about humanity!

There's also an interesting, subtle comparison between the way the Voyager crew treats Naomi and the way Seven's parents treated her. Naomi is more respected, more included, and has more to do. Even though she's in an inherently dangerous situation, she's in a better environment.

Picard's treatment of Wesley Crusher has aged particularly poorly and it's one of the many reasons why I think early TNG is among the worst Trek. The way everyone respects, listens to, and makes time for Naomi is an extremely refreshing contrast.

Actually, building on that: Kirk was kind of weird with kids, and Picard was famously bad with kids, but Sisko and Janeway are both great with kids. I wonder if this reflects changing societal attitudes and expectations about how adults should interact with children.

Continuing on Voyager rewatch. I really enjoyed Dark Frontier, even though the episode title is kind of offputting. My favorite parts were how outraged the Doctor was at Seven's parents, and how Janeway never lost faith in Seven. Also really enjoyed Janeway's scene with Naomi Wildman.