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Over the Top, but not Overboard Bride of Chaotica! Review by Steve Perry Airdate: January 27, 1999 Written by: Bryan Fuller & Michael Taylor (Teleplay); Bryan Fuller (Story) Directed by:Allan Kroeker Short Take: Much better than expected Brief Summary:It certainly wasn't "Latent Image" Review:The whole Proton bit looked clunky in "Night." It seemed a bit dry, as if everyone involved was taking what they were doing seriously. It had promise, but it also seemed a bit one-note - basically the whole gag was "Look, they're in funny costumes." The holodeck has given Trek a lot of episodes, some good, some bad, all with expensive production values. What they don't usually give us is a story that feels relevant to Trek. "Chaotica," because it explored how we view the future while peacefully resolving a dilemma, was just that. Of course, what the episode needed to work was that it needed to be funny. And it was. It was very reminescent to DS9's better comedies, like "Trials" or "Our Man Bashir," where the situation is wacky and everyone just eats it up. The great robot Satan, bugging everyone and just asking to be hit, is a great example of this. The funniest thing about this is that shows (namely, Lost in Space) use to be exactly this way. The best jokes, however, were the ones that sent up Voyager: making fun of the caves, for example. The writers had fun with the bad jargon of the program too, all while using bad technobabble. And Janeway was quite nicely written, I thought, in her conversation with Chaotica, where she complained about how she always had to have aLL the power, since her subordinates were so lacking. With that said, the comey wasn't quite on the level of "Our Man Bashir," though before I should porceed further I should say that I am heartened that Voyager has done so well in its first real comedic attempt (The next I suppose will be "Disease.") The great difficulty in being creative and breaking the typical molds is that a little of it isn't enough. There were times when I didn't find "Bride" to be quite zany enough. It actually stalled a bit in spots. I think that's mainly because the plot goals were poorly stated and not that interesting. Janeway had to lower down the shield while Proton rushed in to take out the gun while the Doctor as President stalled... it was interesting in that it didn't make the relationship between Voyager and the beings automatically adversial, but it also didn't make for a lot of plot twists. As soon as the love potion is revealed and then by good fortune is right there for Janeway/Arachnea to grab up, the plot basically deflated. It took no skill for Janeway to uncork a bottle. The ending had no tension and Janeway did not have to weave a spidery web of deceit to actually win. I suppose that was the point... most of those campy shows had pretty stupid endings, didn't they? "Bride," from the exclamation point in its title to the little recap it used, did I pretty good job of mirroring those types of shows without it getting way of the story. I was worried that, after commericals, we'd get a cheesy update on how the plot has proceeded so far. It didn't to be zany, but it didn't need a sledgehammer, either. Finally, I want to comment on the acting. Martin Raymer as Chaotica was great , as was Nicholas Worth as the bumbling Lonzak. McNeill seemed comfortable in the pretty boy role and Mulgrew clearly relished Arachnea. Another reason why, after so much seriousness, it is nice to have a change of pace. Overall, I have to go soft on "Chaotica," because it was mostly funny, a welcomed change of pace, and, even though it was fluff, it had an odd sort of relevance to it. Much better than DS9's recent attempts at Ferengi comedy. Braga, just don't stretch it too far, like DS9 did. If it bends, it's funny. If it breaks, it's Battlestar Galactica. Some short takes: - I know very little about the old camp, but they did seem to have a lot of cliffhanger endings that got blown up to gigantic porportions by the time next week's show roled around. Nice of the writers to point that out. - Didn't Galactica have a robot called Lucifer or Satan or something? - I thought Seven was suppose to be Tess? I can understand why she'd decline... Rating: B+ Next week: Ok, it's Tuvok and Tank Girl... | |
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