(no subject)
I need to vent about some stuff that's really been bothering me lately. I just feel like there's no one near me I can talk to about this sort of stuff, so I end up just brooding over it. I need to get it off my chest, and I feel like there are some people who might read this and understand. I'm having issues with Star Trek Voyager.
I've been going through it episode by episode. I never really gave it a good chance before, and now I'm glad that I have. Overall, I like it a lot, but two specific episodes that are bothering me -- "Tuvix" and "Future's End". I'll put a spoiler alert and a cut here, just in case there's actually anybody nerdy enough to care about spoilers of random Voyager episodes, but not so nerdy as to have seen them already.
All right. First a synopsis of "Tuvix". If you've seen it, the name should be enough to remind you which episode it is. Neelix and Tuvok (and christ, isn't it about time there was a fully vulcan character?) are, through a transporter accident, combined into a single person. Nobody -- Tuvix included -- considers Tuvix to be Neelix and Tuvok. Everyone -- Tuvix included -- considers Tuvix to be a new person created by the deaths of Neelix and Tuvok (Tuvix considers them to be like his parents). They try and fail to reverse this event, shrug their shoulders, and go on with life. Weeks pass. Tuvix takes his place as a member of the crew, performs duties, makes friends with crewmembers, etcetera. Suddenly, the doctor discovers a way to reverse the process. Tuvix decides that he does not want to die, and will not consent to the procedure. Janeway FUCKING FORCES him to do it. Neelix and Tuvok restored, end of episode.
WHAT THE FUCK??? This dude was a sentient being, and a member of the crew at that. Nobody disputed that reversing the accident would mean killing him. I COULD NOT FUCKING BELIEVE IT when Janeway was even considering forcing it on him. And to be clear, dude didn't just object and then meekly follow her orders. He's yelling for help from the other crewmembers, scrabbling across the bridge to try to get away from the FUCKING SECURITY OFFICERS that Janeway sent to nab him. Then they STRAP HIS ASS DOWN IN A CHAIR and KILL HIM to bring back Neelix and Tuvok. WHAT THE FLIPPING FUCK? That's so blatantly wrong. Nobody besides Tuvix even objected! I was furious, and embarrassed by being furious at an episode of Star Trek, which in turn made me madder. Where did it become okay to kill one person, against that person's will, to save two? WEAK SAUCE CAPTAIN JANEWAY, WEAK SAUCE. Picard would never. Neither would Sisko, for that matter. Hell, even Kirk would probably have better sense than that.
Secondly, "Future's End". I won't bother with a synopsis; suffice it to say that it involves time travel back to the 1990's. And in the course of the episode we learn that the computer revolution was brought about by a dude who stole technology from a time traveler (a human from the 29th century). WAY TO DEGRADE EVERY TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENT HUMANS EVER MADE FROM THE 1960'S ONWARD. So now, in the Star Trek universe, humans didn't even invent computer technology! We stole it from our future selves. How cheap is that? Nobody invented it! Weak. However, it was cool to see Sarah Silverman in a Star Trek episode.
I've been going through it episode by episode. I never really gave it a good chance before, and now I'm glad that I have. Overall, I like it a lot, but two specific episodes that are bothering me -- "Tuvix" and "Future's End". I'll put a spoiler alert and a cut here, just in case there's actually anybody nerdy enough to care about spoilers of random Voyager episodes, but not so nerdy as to have seen them already.
All right. First a synopsis of "Tuvix". If you've seen it, the name should be enough to remind you which episode it is. Neelix and Tuvok (and christ, isn't it about time there was a fully vulcan character?) are, through a transporter accident, combined into a single person. Nobody -- Tuvix included -- considers Tuvix to be Neelix and Tuvok. Everyone -- Tuvix included -- considers Tuvix to be a new person created by the deaths of Neelix and Tuvok (Tuvix considers them to be like his parents). They try and fail to reverse this event, shrug their shoulders, and go on with life. Weeks pass. Tuvix takes his place as a member of the crew, performs duties, makes friends with crewmembers, etcetera. Suddenly, the doctor discovers a way to reverse the process. Tuvix decides that he does not want to die, and will not consent to the procedure. Janeway FUCKING FORCES him to do it. Neelix and Tuvok restored, end of episode.
WHAT THE FUCK??? This dude was a sentient being, and a member of the crew at that. Nobody disputed that reversing the accident would mean killing him. I COULD NOT FUCKING BELIEVE IT when Janeway was even considering forcing it on him. And to be clear, dude didn't just object and then meekly follow her orders. He's yelling for help from the other crewmembers, scrabbling across the bridge to try to get away from the FUCKING SECURITY OFFICERS that Janeway sent to nab him. Then they STRAP HIS ASS DOWN IN A CHAIR and KILL HIM to bring back Neelix and Tuvok. WHAT THE FLIPPING FUCK? That's so blatantly wrong. Nobody besides Tuvix even objected! I was furious, and embarrassed by being furious at an episode of Star Trek, which in turn made me madder. Where did it become okay to kill one person, against that person's will, to save two? WEAK SAUCE CAPTAIN JANEWAY, WEAK SAUCE. Picard would never. Neither would Sisko, for that matter. Hell, even Kirk would probably have better sense than that.
Secondly, "Future's End". I won't bother with a synopsis; suffice it to say that it involves time travel back to the 1990's. And in the course of the episode we learn that the computer revolution was brought about by a dude who stole technology from a time traveler (a human from the 29th century). WAY TO DEGRADE EVERY TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENT HUMANS EVER MADE FROM THE 1960'S ONWARD. So now, in the Star Trek universe, humans didn't even invent computer technology! We stole it from our future selves. How cheap is that? Nobody invented it! Weak. However, it was cool to see Sarah Silverman in a Star Trek episode.