‘PARALLAX’ (VOY)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
In the second episode of ‘Voyager’, we see the starship of Starfleet and Maquis crewmembers making their way back home from the Delta Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant. Not all is plain sailing.
There are tensions between the Starfleet and Maquis crewmembers, as brief hostilities occur. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay try to keep the tensions down as best as they’re able to.
One of the hostilities that occurs is B’Elanna Torres breaking another engineer’s nose in a fight. The engineer in question is Josh Clark as Lt. Carey, who briefly appeared in ‘Caretaker’, the first episode.
This is difficult, as Chakotay recommends B’Elanna to the position of chief engineer aboard Voyager. Janeway is hesitant about Chakotay’s recommendation, since B’Elanna is a pretty outspoken person.
It’s also revealed that B’Elanna was a former Starfleet cadet and didn’t pass to be an officer. It was very intriguing to learn more about B’Elanna’s character compared to her introduction in ‘Caretaker’.
This episode also introduces Martha Hackett as Ensign Seska, another member of Chakotay’s Maquis crew and a Bajoran woman. She wears a green/blue uniform here, but she later wears a yellow one.
Previously, Martha Hackett was in the ‘DS9’ two-parter ‘The Search’ where she played a Romulan character. Seska would become a pretty prominent character in ‘Voyager’ as the series progressed. 🙂
In the episode, Voyager passes near a quantum singularity. They also detect a ship stuck in the singularity’s event horizon. Voyager tries to make contact with the ship, but doesn’t get an answer.
Attempting to get closer to the ship, Voyager soon ends up having her systems damaged. Janeway orders for Voyager to seek help from a nearby planet to get the trapped ship out of the singularity. 🙂
But in moving away, the Voyager crew finds themselves back at the singularity. They soon realise that the trapped ship happens to be Voyager itself. It does get a little confusing when watching this.
My Mum was reminded of the original ‘Star Trek’ series episode ‘The Tholian Web’ when watching this ‘Voyager’ episode. I don’t think there’s any similarity between the two episodes in terms of plot.
But it’s interesting how my Mum thought of ‘The Tholian Web’ in comparing it to ‘Parallax’. The Voyager crew soon find a point in space where the ship crossed into the singularity in the first place.
The point has shrunk since then and it’s too small for Voyager to escape from. Eventually, through getting to know B’Elanna, Janeway takes her on a shuttle to the opening to expand it even further. 🙂
I like how Janeway and B’Elanna have been getting to know each other in this episode. Janeway grows to like B’Elanna more. She grows to accept her being her new chief engineer aboard Voyager.
In the process of expanding the opening, Voyager’s communication systems get damaged and Janeway and B’Elanna find two versions of the ship. They both appear real to the shuttle’s sensors. 😐
Despite having a heated debate about which is the correct Voyager ship, Janeway makes the ultimate decision and picks the right vessel. I like that B’Elanna was able to put her trust in Janeway.
I was a little puzzled as to how Janeway and B’Elanna ended up on the right ship. Watching the episode again, it became clearer once the shuttle had landed firmly in the correct ship’s shuttle bay.
In the episode, Voyager leaves the singularity safely and the crew soon repair the ship. Janeway also follows through with Chakotay’s recommendation and B’Elanna becomes the ship’s chief engineer. 🙂
There is a subplot involving the ship’s holographic Doctor, whom Kes get to know when she asks for soil samples to help her build a new hydroponics bay. It turns out the hologram Doctor is frustrated.
Apparently, the Doctor has the expertise of many physicians over the years. He wasn’t expecting to last longer than intended. His program is on an emergency basis and it’s being used more than usual.
It was funny when the Doctor kept shrinking as a result with Voyager being in contact with the singularity. It helps B’Elanna in coming up with a solution, but it annoys the Doctor as he’s getting smaller.
‘Parallax’ (VOY) rating – 7/10
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