"STAR TREK VOYAGER" RETROSPECT: (5.24) "Relativity"
"STAR TREK VOYAGER" RETROSPECT: (5.24) "Relativity"
I am sure that many fans of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" remember the late Season Five episode, (5.24) "Relativity". In it, the Seven-of-Nine character is "recruited" by 29th century Federation time cops to prevent the destruction of Voyager by an illegal time traveler.
In this episode, Seven-of-Nine is recruited by Captain Braxton and Lieutenant Ducane of the 29th century timeship, Relativity, to stop a time traveling saboteur from placing a temporal weapon aboard Voyager in order to destroy it. Seven eventually discovers that a future version of Braxton is the saboteur. Suffering from temporal psychosis, the older Braxton wants to destroy Voyager in order to prevent Janeway and her crew from committing three temporal inversions that he had to fix . . . events that eventually led to his illness.
As much as I found this episode mildly entertaining, there are two about "Relativity" that I found questionable. First of all, I had a problem with Braxton’s memories. He should not have had memories of Voyager's trip to late 20th century Earth in the Season Three episode, (3.08-3.09) "Future's End". By preventing Henry Starling (guest star Ed Begley Jr.) from accidentally destroying Earth, Janeway and Voyager’s crew managed to change the timeline. When Braxton appeared to take them back to the 24th century Delta Quadrant, he had NO memories of his 29 years on Earth. And the Braxton of ”Relativity” should NOT have had those memories. And yet, he mentioned his time on Earth in this episode.
But what really irritated me about this episode was the fate of the younger Captain Braxton, who commanded the timeship, Relativity. To understand what I am talking about, read the following scenes:
BRAXTON [OC]: Seven of Nine, report.
SEVEN: I have located the saboteur.
BRAXTON [OC]: Who is it?
SEVEN: It's you,
[Relativity]
SEVEN [OC]: Captain Braxton.
BRAXTON: Me?
[2372 Jefferies tube]
BRAXTON: More accurately, a future you.
Once everyone realized that the future Braxton was responsible for trying to sabotage Voyager, the following occurred:
[Relativity]
BRAXTON: Can you get a lock on him?
DUCANE: Negative. He's activated a dispersal node. I should say, you've activated a dispersal node.
BRAXTON: Don't be absurd. I have no wish to sabotage Voyager.
DUCANE: Not yet.
BRAXTON: Remodulate the transporters. Find a way to cut through the interference. I gave you an order, Lieutenant.
DUCANE: I'm sorry, sir. I'm taking command of this vessel, and I'm relieving you of duty for crimes you're going to commit.
BRAXTON: I haven't done anything.
For some reason, Captain Braxton’s first officer, Lieutenant Ducane (Jay Karnes) thought it was necessary to arrest him and assume command of the timeship. Why? What was his purpose? The younger Braxton was right. He had done nothing wrong. Not yet. Ducane should have been more concerned with the future Braxton, not the younger one. The first officer had no excuse to arrest someone who had not yet committed a crime. What on earth were screenwriters Bryan Fuller, Nick Sagan and Michael Taylor thinking? That it was okay to arrest someone for a crime they might commit in the future? This was their idea of prevention? Ducane's actions only ensured that Braxton will eventually become a criminal anyway. As much as I liked this episode, this is sloppy writing of the worst kind.
What else can I say? "Relativity" started out well. But once the older Braxton was revealed to be the saboteur attempting to destroy Voyager, the story went downhill. As I had pointed out earlier, Braxton should have never had memories of his 29 years on Earth. Even worse, the first officer of the timeship Relativity really had no excuse to arrest the younger Captain Braxton, who was not guilty of anything. What a waste of a potentially good story!