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 EPISODE REVIEWS | ||
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Voyager Fever - Catch It The Disease Review by Steve Perry Airdate:February 24, 1999 Written by:Michael Taylor (Teleplay); Kenneth Biller (Story) Directed by:David Livingston, We Presume Short Take: It wasn't an embarassment to Trek - isn't that enough to ask for? Brief Summary: 24th century herpes leaves you glowing on the inside and the outside Review:I'm going to surprise a lot of people with this review. "The Disease" wasn't half-bad. A little cliched, for sure, but hardly "Favorite Son" from two years ago., with its knocking wood stick phalluses and labial doorways. I like "The Disease" because it shows how much Voyager has improved. Voyager has changed in a lot of ways aside from dropping the hormonally imbalanced Lisa Klink, writer for "Favorite Son." The fact that "Disease" was a relatively well-written character piece that wasn't sopping wet with sexual ratings ploys is proof in itself of that claim. You have to remember - this is Trek. No one cusses or ogles a woman, so Tom talking relationships with Harry is pretty bold, even for Brannon Braga. A character feeling genuine lust for another character is a big deal. One reviewer totally forgot to review the episode, opting to parodying it because it dealt with a lot of sex, echoing the attackers of Ken Starr by suggesting that it was an attempt to slap Kim on the back of his hand for having any interest at all in the opposite sex. Folks, I hate to sound like Henry Hyde, but it's not about the sex. I knew this episode was doomed from the start in the eyes of some because it had a little bit of flesh in the preview. "Tee-hee" went the schoolgirl giggles of many as the preview for it rolled following "Dark Frontier." But if you bothered to watch it, it actually showed how much Harry has grown, and how much the writers care about these things. Add a nice sci-fi subplot, and you have a decent hour. This is not to say the episod didn't have such oversexed moments. The bedroom scene at the start was one of them, but i can't say that I minded seeing those exotic alien curves. Considering that we've now had Seven for a year and a half in Saran Wrap, that was hardly anything to be embarassed about. I found the regulations quoted by Janeway, however conveniently ignorant of previous continuity, to actually make sense. This isn't a Starfleet that's abou rum, buggery, and the lash. It's a professional organization that often serves as diplomat in dangerous sectors of space. Sleeping with the local second-in-command not only risks the threat of disease, but also carries great political risks. I wish Taylor had explained that clearer, but the episode had other nice touches to make up for that lapse. Thus the nice touch where Tom keeps Harry out of trouble, and then follows it up with a "You owe me" in a well-done scene in the cargo bay as Chakotay lectures. Or Kim asking Seven to leave while talking to the Doc, possible because he may still have a thing for her, but more likely because he's just plain embarassed. Or where chakotay questions Janeway's motivations in coming down hard on little Kim. The episode just didn't play with a plot and wrapped it all up with technobabble - it took a story and let us see how each character reacted to it. We needed that, because that combined with the sudden surge in confidence on the part of Enisgn Kim gave us something fresh up to keep a stale story afloat. The real difficulty with the episode is not sex, but that it is yet another Trek romance dropped by the end of the episode. It never was actually explained why she couldn't stay with or him, or he go with her. I can think of reasons, but they weren't mentioned. You got the impression that they both realized that their relatonship could never rise above a fling, but takes way from the supposed romance of it all. That romance was handled fairly well, I thought. Taylor has a good pen - refer to Belanna'sl ine about Tom playing Chopin after demonstrating an adroitness with the computer pad. Kim's big scene with Janeway only had a few moments to wince by, and that's saying a lot given Wang's subpar skills as an actor and the nature of the discussion. I liked Kim's description of his night with Tol to Paris, too - "it was like touching an open plasma conduit." Sign me up. I liked Seven's perspective concerning love, but it also felt a bit too predictable and Spock-like. Of course she won't like love because it impairs normal function. Of course she'll come around by the end. Give us a little more, Seven. Say love bring together two people for irrational reasons, and that irrational reasons can't keep a relationship together. Or something, besides the standard. I may be a little partial to this episode because of its comely vixen and its ability to rise above the sex. It certainly wasn't as layered as DS9's Chimera, but considering what Voyager use to be, we'll certainly take it. Some short takes: - Anyone wonder why Tuvok would say over an open comm channel that Kim needed to come back so he could have his girlfriend arrested? - On the subject of the b-plot... it was nothing special, but it mirrored the main story nicely. Here, we see what a world where Janeway goes mad turns into - no freedom of dissension at all, i nthe name of the ship's good. An interesting thought. - Foundation once again showed why it is paid the big bucks for FX work. Rating: B- Next week: Of Course, it's Oblivion. | |
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