Thoughts
Thoughts on “Seven and Shakespeare”
By Thomas Lee
A common theme woven throughout "Seven & Shakespeare" is the similarities between Seven and the "Equinox 5" (and Marla Gilmore in particular). Both came aboard Voyager under circumstances that would leave a cloud of suspicion over their heads—and despite that, in both cases, attempts were made to befriend them and integrate them into the crew as equals. Very similar beginnings—but, as this story makes clear, Seven and the "Equinox 5" reacted very differently to the hands of friendship offered to them… and that alone made a world of difference, as emphasized by Harry’s interaction with Marla Gilmore (who Jim Wright dubbed "The Anti-Seven" in his synopsis of "Equinox Part 1").
Thoughts on “Breakdown”
By Thomas Lee
For some time now, those of us who had followed Jeffrey’s tales of the starship Voyager wondered how "The Disease" would fit into his timeline, if at all (Jeffrey told me that "Someone to Watch Over Me" simply didn’t happen in the "Parallel Voyage" timeline). Now, in his latest installment of his "Parallel Voyage" series, Jeffrey gives us a retelling of "The Disease" that not only answers that question, but also provides fans of the K/7 relationship a version of "The Disease" that they, Harry Kim, and Seven of Nine deserved as well.
Thoughts on “Marika’s Journey”
By Thomas Lee
Ever since Jeffrey’s "Survival Instinct" rewrite, I’ve been wondering how the former Three of Nine, Auxiliary Processor of Unimatrix 01, would have reacted to the events of "Getting Home." Now, in his latest addition to his "Parallel Voyage" series, Jeffrey has not only answered that question, but he has devised a unique version of Marika Willkara’s last days as well—one that was made possible by the direction he had taken "Parallel Voyage" in.
Thoughts on “Family Ties”
By Thomas Lee
There seems to be a pattern here—"Prodigal Daughter" was a direct sequel to "Getting Home," but the next story, "Homecoming," was also very much a sequel to the prequel of "Getting Home," "Quentin." Now, the story after "Homecoming," "Family Ties," in turn, addresses issues brought up in the prequel of "Quentin"—"Liaisons."
"Liaisons" was the story that first introduced us to Danielle Marcus. Back then, we learned that she was the granddaughter of James Tiberius Kirk—and that she never had the opportunity to meet him. Now that she has returned to the Alpha Quadrant, she has encountered those who have met her famous grandfather—and learned about what had actually happened to him on that fateful day in the Enterprise-B engine room.
Since "Liaisons," we have heard fairly little about Marcus and her famous ancestry—but now, she has made up for her absence in spades. Kirk had a good point about how Danielle Marcus took after him. The single-minded way in which Dr. Marcus pursued her self-imposed mission to retrieve her grandfather, heedless of the possible consequences to herself and her career, was reminiscent of how James Kirk went about his own self-imposed mission to retrieve Spock in "Star Trek III." That she could even bring herself to remember why she had entered the Nexus in the first place speaks very highly of her willpower and sense of duty (previously, the only people ever to deliberately leave the Nexus were Picard and Kirk). We even got to briefly meet Dr. Marcus’s mother—though I do wish that we could have learned a little more about her beyond the revelation that she is deceased.
Thoughts on “Scents and Sensibility”
By Thomas Lee
Shortly after Lesa released the finale of "Scents and Sensibility" to the RiF list, I had a discussion with another person who had recently begun watching Voyager episodes again (and who best remains anonymous for reasons that will soon become apparent). When the subject turned to how TPTB were messing up Voyager, I asked this person for an opinion about EMH/7 versus K/7—and was told that the EMH/7 pairing was far preferable to K/7 because, in that person’s words, "The Doctor and Seven deserve each other." The way "deserve" was said, however, prompted me to ask for an explanation.
It turns out that the aforementioned person hates both Seven of Nine and the EMH (Seven being the more despised, with the Doc as a very close second)—and that "deserve" was meant in the same way as "deserve punishment." In that person’s opinion, any relationship involving either the Doc or Seven was doomed to fail due to their "hopeless flaws"—and the EMH/7 pairing was not only the ideal way for both the Doc and Seven to get hurt by a failed relationship without harming anybody else in the process, but it was also the most hurtful relationship for both the Doc and Seven that the EMH/7 "proponent" could imagine as well.
Lesa’s "Scents and Sensibility" has been a story that shows how, barring a credibility-straining force-fit by TPTB, an EMH/7 relationship would be unsatisfactory for both the Doctor and Seven (if in a much gentler way than what the aforementioned EMH/7 "proponent" had in mind). But we’ve also seen how, in contrast, Seven can find happiness and contentment in a relationship with Harry—and as a bonus, we saw the Doctor find a social lifestyle he is happy with as well.
Thoughts on “Homecoming”
By Thomas Lee
Although "Homecoming" is described by Jeffrey as a "Sequel to Prodigal Daughter" (and it is, temporally speaking), in many ways, it is just as much a sequel to "Quentin." It’s good that Voyager‘s Q-sponsored visit to Earth in "Quentin" was humorously acknowledged by both Voyager and Starfleet personnel.
Thoughts on “Survival Instinct”
By Thomas Lee
Jeffrey was right on in how, in his Parallel Voyage series, Harry and Seven would have reacted to the events and revelations of "Survival Instinct." Harry’s disappointment with himself for not being around to support Seven fits with what we know (and like) about him, and Seven’s magnified self-disgust is almost certainly a result of her relationship with Harry – which has given her a more personal experience with what she realizes that she had denied her fellow drones eight years before, and what they have lost in their bid for freedom from the slavery that both the Borg and Seven had subjected them to.
While it’s good to see that this ugly revelation about Seven’s past didn’t cause Harry to shirk away from her at a time when she would need his support, I wonder how Marika reacted to the events of "Getting Home." She now knows that Voyager is on its way to the Alpha Quadrant – but she is also aware that she will die only a few months before she would have had the chance to see Bajor again. What’s more, Seven is now pregnant and engaged to be married – glaring evidence that Seven is now living and enjoying the kind of life that was stolen from Marika at Wolf 359 and then later denied her by Seven. I wouldn’t be surprised if Janeway isn’t the only one on Voyager who was embittered by how Seven’s personal life has changed in "Getting Home." Still, I hope that Marika’s last days were made happy ones by the efforts of Harry and Seven (just as we saw in Mike’s masterpiece "The Hierarchy of Needs.")
Thoughts on “The Hierarchy of Needs,” Part III
By Thomas Lee
When I reviewed Parts 1 and 2 of Mike’s "The Hierarchy of Needs," I had started by remarking:
"This is how Voyager OUGHT to be written."
IMHO, if Mr. Braga and company could write Voyager episodes as well as Mike has written "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "The Hierarchy of Needs," Trek fans everywhere would be demanding SEVENTEEN seasons of Voyager instead of just looking forward to the end of Season Seven (or hoping it ends with Season Six). Mike’s K/7 masterpieces make the canon Voyager episodes look downright amateurish and shallow by comparison—especially when Mike does his take on a canon episode. The "Before and After" image of a slug of crystallized carbon next to a cut and faceted diamond comes to mind.
IMHO, Part 3 of "The Hierarchy of Needs" lived up to the expectations set by Parts 1 and 2. Mike, I think I speak for the RiF list when I state that THoN does justice to IOHEFY—and then quite a bit too. IMHO, we’ve got a sparkler in THoN that Mike has made much bigger than the original stone TPTB have given us (THoN is more than twice as large as Jim Wright’s full-spoiler, line-by-line synopsis of "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy"). Superior quality AND quantity.
As for Mike’s frets about the flaws found in THoN, well, what I told Lesa in response to the errors in the original "One Giant Leap" bears repeating:
As for the errors in the original version, I’d like to apply a quote of L. Sprague de Camp (editor of the original Conan stories by Robert E. Howard) to the enjoyability of a story—if the story has that quality, "…we can forgive many other faults; if not, no other virtues can make up for this lack, any more than gleaming paint and shiny brass fittings on a boat can make up for the fact that it cannot float."
And IMHO, THoN is definitely among the most "seaworthy" of all Voyager fanfics.
Thoughts on “Prodigal Daughter”
By Thomas Lee
"Prodigal Daughter" indeed.
Jeffrey has certainly chosen an apt title for a story about the return of Kes. Quite a few changes have come about since Kes has left Voyager (at least in Jeffrey’s timeline), and it’s good to see her reaction to them. The Kes & Janeway interaction was bittersweet, especially given the high regard that Kes had held Janeway in. (It was Janeway, after all, who had stranded Voyager in the Delta Quadrant by ordering the destruction of the Caretaker’s array in order to protect the Ocampa.) Perhaps it was just as well that Kes had not been around to personally see Janeway’s fall from grace.
It was unfortunate that Kes’s return wasn’t as permanent as the story title might have implied, but the ending that her second departure made possible was moving. It also righted a major deficiency of how TPTB handled Kes’s first departure—the lack of a memorial service with all of the Senior Staff and/or a concrete reminder of someone who had been part of the Senior Staff for three years.
Thoughts on “The Hierarchy of Needs,” Parts I & II
By Thomas Lee
Upon finishing parts 1 and 2 of "The Hierarchy of Needs," I thought, "This is how Voyager OUGHT to be written."
IMHO, if Mr. Braga and company could write Voyager episodes as well as Mike has written "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "The Hierarchy of Needs," Trek fans everywhere would be demanding SEVENTEEN seasons of Voyager instead of just looking forward to the end of Season Seven (or hoping it ends with Season Six). Mike’s K/7 masterpieces make the canon Voyager episodes look downright amateurish and shallow by comparison—especially when Mike does his take on a canon episode. The "Before and After" image of a slug of crystallized carbon next to a cut and faceted diamond comes to mind.