Saturday, May 10, 2008

6.14 memorial

Returning from a seemingly routine away mission, Paris, Chakotay, Neelix and Kim begin to experience fragmented memories of having taken part in a battle, a horrible massacre in which they killed a number of innocent civilians (a la Mi Lai). The doctor confirms that they are not dreaming or hallucinating; the memories are real. Janeway investigates, and, as the ship draws near to the system where the away team had visited, everyone on the ship begins to have the same memories. Was the entire crew coerced into fighting a war? Investigation of the planet’s surface reveals that the actual massacre took place 300 years ago; a sophisticated memorial is emitting brain waves so that passers-by will experience the event and learn from this experience, and ensure that the victims will not be forgotten. Chakotay, Paris and Kim argue strongly that the monument should be destroyed, but Janeway decides that she stood by and did nothing once (while experiencing the memories), and she won’t do it again. She orders that the fading power cells on the monument be repaired, and she leaves a warning beacon so that other ships entering the area know what to expect.

This in a dramatic episode, going out on a limb to have our favorite characters act out of character: Neelix holds Naomi Wildman hostage because he is reliving the slaughter of the colonists. But there is some dramatic tension lacking, because we know that there is no chance that the writers would allow our much-loved cast to kill innocent people, even if coerced, even though we see scenes of them doing it. Still, the scenes of Paris yelling at Torres, of Janeway yelling at the soldier who is vaporizing the bodies, of Neelix cowering in fear – of Kim killing two innocent people just because one of them moved – very intense.

One Nit: first Janeway says that they should repair the beacon so that the memory of the incident should not die, so that the monument should continue to transmit for another 300 years. Then she said they should place a warning beacon in orbit so that ships know what to expect. So how will this ensure that the massacre is not forgotten? How many ships are going to encounter a warning like, "Warning! If you continue into this area of space, all of your crew is going to become psychotic", and then continue into the area? How about….none? So will the memory of the massacre really live on?

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