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Exorcising Demon Course: Oblivion Review by Steve Perry Airdate:March 3, 1999 Written by:Bryan Fuller & Nick Sagan (Teleplay); Bryan Fuller (Story) Directed by: Anson Williams File Photo || Mission Log || Opinion Poll Short Take: Almost greatness Brief Summary:We see the lives, and deaths, of the Demon class duplicants of Voyager Review:Maybe you didn't like this one. I hate to sound haughty, but maybe you didn't get it. This episode had its problems. It made no sense that what copied DNA suddenly could copy a whole ship and give it warp power. It made no sense that these duplicants forgot they were duplicates. At best we can pretend for these problems to go away. And they do. Simply because the episode's story was good enough that these problems could be ignored. It dealt with so many issues - the nature of the individual, life, the grand meaning of it all. Little touches, like Janeway's old stubborness appearing in alt-Janeway, saying so much about the real Janeway, are almost forgotten in the wake of the powerful stuff this episode dealt with. On one level, it was simply a what-if scenario, a sort of road not taken for our Voyager crew. Obviously Tom and Belanna could get married.. but here they did, but on the "real" Voyager, they didn't. Why? Is life that happenstance? That argument helps the position that we are all different, that we all makes our own choices, even if by some weird chance we inherited our bodies and memories from another person out there. Yet at the same time, it suggests that we are not always in control, that fate, be it a sudden decision to marry based on a conversation taking a certain course or the fact you're going to die and you can't change that, is really that master. I could go on and on about this. I won't, because I doubt you wish to hear me ramble. Suffice it to say, I found these questions to be good ones, ones that Trek doesn't tackle enough. The ending is probably most controversial for many people. You may have found it manipulative, without realizing how true it is. Every day people die. You don't know them, I don't know them. Life is inherently ephemeral. The fact that even their accomplishments became nothing says a lot. It says that the cliche: "You live as long as someone remembers you" may not be the point, for you may be forgotten, and then what? I think Voyager never knowing about its double, passing it like two ships in the night, says much more. It's a bolder move than the usual "Oh my, I have a double - let me reevaluate my individualism." That and focusing it on the perspective of the doubles are the two primary reasons it worked so well in the first place. Thus, saying the episode was bad because it never happened is hardly the point. It did happen. Imagine "The Inner Light" ending with Picard forgetting what happened. How tragic! Planets die all the time in the universe - not all of them have the chance to send out a probe to give a life story for Captain Picard to pick up. What "Course: Oblivion" did was point out simple reality. With all of this said, the episode wasn't "The Inner Light." It felt... odd in spots. Perhaps I didn't feel compelled because I knew these weren't the real crew. Perhaps it was because I could care less about what happened to Neelix. Whereas "The Inner Light" left me broken, this merely left me a little down, probably because in "The Inner Light" a planet died and here blobs of silver goo that may not even be real life (that's another good question: were they alive, or simply automaton following DNA and memory plans? Ooh I loved this stuff.). Add into it those little problems mentioned above, and you don't have perfection. It's mean and cruel to use such an emotional standard to swat down an episode, even if it is a notch, but it's also ironic considering how mean and cruel the episode could be. Let's just say that fate made me give this episode an A instead of an A+. Some short takes: - Funny how they melt, but their hair doesn't! - Ok, it was odd Voyager ran into the ship, but consider that it back tracked, so maybe it would run into it. - At least the ships' destruction meant another cheap tech way of getting home got destroyed. Rating: A Next week: Rerun | |
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