‘COLD FIRE’ (VOY)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This episode is a follow-up to what the Caretaker said before he died in ‘Caretaker’. The episode actually begins with a recap of ‘Voyager’ narrated by Majel Barrett with the Caretaker’s last words. 🙂
In the episode, after Kes has a mind-meld session with Tuvok to improve her telepathic abilities, she and the Doctor in sick bay witness a change in the Caretaker’s remains that they’ve brought aboard.
The remains seem to be resonating in response to an unusual energy source. Remembering the Caretaker mentioned a female of his kind before he died, Janeway wonders if she could be close by.
If so, a meeting with the female Caretaker could be Voyager’s ticket home. Tuvok develops a precautionary toxin in order to debilitate the female Caretaker should she pose a threat to Voyager.
As they follow the energy trail, Voyager soon comes into contact with a space station inhabited by Ocampa. The Ocampa fire upon Voyager before Kes comes along and acts as a liaison to her people.
This episode is actually a Kes-focused episode. I like that this episode has Kes meeting others of her kind who, unlike her, have journeyed out into space and discovered more of their telepathic abilities.
Kes meets the Ocampa’s leader – Gary Graham as Tanis. This is Gary Graham’s first association with ‘Star Trek’, as he would go on to play Vulcan Ambassador Soval in the ‘Star Trek’ TV show ‘Enterprise’. 🙂
When meeting with Tanis, Kes assures him that the Voyager crew come in peace. Tanis tells Kes that the female Caretaker – called Suspiria, who is a Nacene, is nearby and she’s taking care of his group.
Apparently, she’s taken care of Tanis’ group for 300 years. She has taught them to develop their psychokinetic skills and he shows Kes a sample of the powerful abilities that she has yet to tap here.
When Tanis returns to the space station, he communicates with Suspiria, who demands that he deliver Voyager to her. It seems that Suspiria isn’t as benevolent as the Voyager crew hoped she be.
As Tanis helps the Voyager crew to meet up with Suspiria, he tutors Kes on her telepathic abilities. This all involves making a cup of water boiling hot when she’s in the mess hall with Tanis and Neelix.
The trick is successful, but when she tries to demonstrate this skill to Tuvok, Kes inadvertently boils Tuvok’s blood instead and he collapses, writhing in agony. This begins to become a horror film here.
This is especially when Kes screams her head off at the sight of Tuvok boiling up. Was Jennifer Lien in horror films before she did ‘Voyager’? 😀 Thankfully, Tuvok is okay once he’s recovered in sick bay. 🙂
When she meets up with Tanis again in the aeroponics bay, Kes realises the full potential of her mental powers as her mind causes the plants to burn up. This seems to signal a very bad sign for Kes.
Tanis urges Kes to leave Voyager and to live on the Ocampa space station where she’ll be embraced by Suspiria and surrounded by her own people. Kes however is rather indecisive on what she should do.
She does offer Neelix to accompany her, but I don’t think Neelix would be welcome among the Ocampa aboard the space station. Eventually, the Voyager crew do get to meet Suspiria in the story.
Or rather Janeway does when she finds her as a little girl in engineering. Unfortunately, Suspiria is convinced about the lies spread by the Kazon and other aliens that Voyager had killed the Caretaker.
Suspiria attempts to destroy Janeway and her crew in retaliation for the Caretaker’s death. 😐 Thankfully, Kes becomes aware of Suspiria’s monstrous plot once she’s attacked several of the crew.
This includes Tuvok and B’Elanna in engineering. Kes, in turn, attacks Tanis with her expanded psychic abilities, especially after he attacked Neelix who tried to assist Kes when Tanis was pressuring her.
Kes’ attack on Tanis caused him pain, which temporarily incapacitates Suspiria. Janeway fires the toxin that Tuvok created on Suspiria, which subdues her. Soon, Janeway allows Suspiria and Tanis to leave. 😐
Kes stays with her friends on Voyager and we don’t see Suspiria again. I wonder if there was meant to be a future Suspiria episode in the ‘Voyager’ series, but it didn’t come about in the end, which is a shame.
Overall, ‘Cold Fire’ has been an enjoyable episode in the ‘Voyager’ series. It was interesting to see how Kes’ character was developed in this story and how she met another of her kind in outer space.
‘Cold Fire’ (VOY) rating – 8/10
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