Season 6 Ep 20 /21 "Good Shepherd" / "Live Fast And Prosper"

Season Six, Episode 20 - "Good Shepherd"


Some rocks and a hard place


It is, I think it's fair to say, an unusual situation when it turns out that watching an episode that prominently features your lead actor feels somewhat refreshing simply because you're watching your lead actor, but that's what "Good Shepherd" is. It's a mark of how muddled (not bad, necessarily, but muddled) things have become in Season Six that even episodes which are ostensibly about Janeway don't really seem to be, you know, about Janeway (I'm glaring with great disapproval in your direction, "Spirit Folk"). So it's really rather lovely to see her emerge here, back to taking command and being front and centre of the show that she actually helms. And, lame link ahoy, helming is exactly what she does here, as she takes the Delta Flyer out for a spin to rescue her lost sheep. It's a perfectly good, solid set-up that allows for some perfectly good, solid character work, and it's nice to see Voyager making the effort to venture below-decks again. We've had a few below-decks characters, both good (Hogan) and somewhat less good (Vorik), but it's been simply ages since any of them were the focus of anything – indeed you probably have to go all the way back to "Once Upon A Time", and even then it's tough to say that Samantha Wildeman was the focus of the episode, per se, because really the focus was Neelix and Naomi, even though Samantha did some good work there. So yea – some more below-decks characters are always appreciated.

That sounds a little like I'm trying to hedge my bets here, but I'm not really. "Good Shepherd" is a straightforwardly-enjoyable episode and it feels like a rather long time since we've had one of them as well. The three stray sheep are pretty much made up of archetypes – the Arrogant One, The Neurotic One, The Hypochondriac One – but there's enough meat on the bones here that they develop beyond just a straightforward one-note stand-in. That makes these three – Mortimer, William and Tal – immediately more successful than, say, "Learning Curve", where each character really did just get one characteristic each and that was that, and the fact that there are just three characters means there's more time for each of them. There's a suggestion of complexity within each character, so when Tal Celes refers to the fact that the Bajoran conflict helped her get into Starfleet because she got a "sympathy vote", it's not just a gratuitous reference to the events of DS9 but instead actually says something about her character and background. The fact that she's the Neurotic One, and thus is clearly struggling, lends credence to these kind of character details being real, not just continuity points, and it helps give her more depth as a result. And as ever in this season, history is always flitting around the periphery, and here we see two of the characters have a friendship that extends noticeably further back than the events we witness here, but crucially one of them does not. Mortimer might be written as an arrogant loner, and it's clear the three of them are at least aware of each other, but there's no pre-existing friendship here, and that feels real too, because it's much more believable than everyone just conveniently having a relationship with each other for the sake of making the scripting a bit more simple. By taking the time to really draw the details of these three characters, they're able to have dimension and scope that makes it easy to care about them, even when they're being annoying or making bad judgements.

That matters, because if we don’t like This Week's Guest Characters, the whole episode is going to fall apart, but thankfully we're also gifted with three decent guest actors as well. That's something of a relief, and what's more there's a feeling of... well connectedness isn’t quite the right expression, but all three deliver performances that really make it feel like they've been on the ship for the last six years even though we've not seen them, rather than just seeming like they were parachuted in for this episode. That's not nearly as easy as it sounds, because of the things that's perfectly obvious about this episode is that it owes a clear, direct debt to TNG's "Lower Decks", but for "Good Shepherd" to succeed on its own it needs to not just be a carbon copy of that episode. It's not, which is great, and one of the reasons for that is that feeling that these are pre-established characters that we just haven't met yet, but who aren't indebted to, or copied from, "Lower Decks". Obviously the fact that they get off the ship makes an immediate difference between both episodes, but still – setting isn't necessarily enough to give this episode a ring of individuality, but the character work cements this as dealing with something similar but not just following exactly the same path. Indeed at one point it looks like it really is going to follow the same path (the Noble Sacrifice), only for that rug to be pulled out from under us as Mortimer's (rather silly) attempts at deflecting the whatever-it-is that's pursuing them are thwarted by his escape capsule just getting beamed up. It's quite funny, it doesn't invalidate any of the character work, and it gives this episode a degree of distinctiveness. Quite a feat.

But then, the question is, why go below decks? Why do this at all? Well, one reason is that it allows for a bit of a shift in perspective – Season Six has, let's be honest, been a bit indistinct in terms of clear-cut character work. Seven's had some, and the Doctor's had a bit, but overall there's not been a lot of character focus going on. By taking the time to concentrate on three people who exist outside our normal viewpoint "Good Shepherd" gives us a chance to do a different kind of character piece, one that's not dependant on plot (because "shuttle gets in to a bit of trouble, then it's all OK at the end" isn't much of a plot, though it is enough) or pre-established character traits, but allows us to poke around at the periphery. Established character traits are used here (Seven's "efficiency review", Janeway's desire to help her lost sheep) so we're not completely left without an anchor on the regulars, but though Janeway's leading from the front, she's not the principal focus, and that means we get to see a different perspective on fairly regular events. This has the same effect that we've previously observed in the way that Voyager is now very good at making this seem like a real region of space it's travelling through, not just a series of events that occur when Our Heroes drift on through, but here we see it from a character rather than a geographical perspective. Even though this is a one-of it widens the way we view the crew of the ship, so when the Kazon marooned everyone in "Basics" these characters were on the surface of that nameless planet, or when the Borg attacked in "Scorpion" their lives were endangered. Now we've met these three, it sheds a little light retroactively on past events but without being a retcon in any way. That's a pretty deft piece of scripting, and it's good character work that makes us reappraised those characters in those situations.

I don't want to give the impression that "Good Shephard" is flawless, but it is very good at what it sets out to do, and it manages to avoid most of the attendant clichés that come with this territory. It has a beginning, a middle and an end, and it doesn't just go for an "it's all alright" conclusion, though at least some of Janeway's efforts clearly bear fruit. The nature of the threat against the Delta Flyer could have done with a little more clarification. The "fade to white / cut to sickbay" ending is just a little too lazy (actually, it's one of my least favourite techniques). Perhaps it takes just a bit too long to get past the efficiency review and get to the point. But these are comparatively minor sins in an episode that really just gets on with the business of being what it is, and does it well. We're given three distinct, interesting people and it never feels like a waste spending time with them. Even if "Good Shephard" is a minor triumph for Season Six, it still feels like there's something really worthwhile here. And that's hard to argue against.


Any Other Business:

• Really terrific pre-titles shot, with the big zoom in on the Ready Room, then the PADD getting shuttled about the ship until it reaches Mortimer, before zooming out into space again. Very impressive indeed.

• Though... why is it necessary to physically take the PADD from Janeway to Seven to B'Elanna to Mortimer. Does Voyager not have eMail? Or a file server? Apparently not, so someone has to physically take the data. No wonder Seven thinks efficiency could be improved!

• The scene of Janeway struggling to find her way round Deck 15 are mildly amusing, but make no sense character-wise. We've repeatedly been told that Janeway knows absolutely every single inch of her ship, but she get's lost down there? I get what the script is going for, but it doesn't succeed.

• Though it does give us This Week's Gratuitous Guest Star, Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello. He's fine.

• Some really great special effects that deserve a mention here, especially the work done inside the ring system.

• Good effects, too, of the creature under Williams's skin.

• Personal admission time – I'm scared of flying. I love to travel, but I don't enjoy being in the actual air, and that line Williams has about "always being at red alert" until something genuinely life-threatening happened to him always stuck with me from the first time I saw this episode. Then I was on a plane that caught fire and had to make an emergency landing, and even at the time I remember thinking, "this is my red alert. We'll probably be fine, but something bad happened on a plane, and I'll likely walk away from it and maybe like Williams it will cure me of my fear – statistically this is extremely unlikely to ever happen again". It's funny how a relatively innocuous line like that can stay with you. Sadly, however, that incident did not cure me of my fear of flying, so let's all be grateful for the invention of wine and more on.

• Yea that fade-to-white ending, with Chakotay leaning into the shot is just a too pat, which is a shame. Janeway's ruefulness at "finding a wolf" is well played by Mulgrew, though.


Season Six, Episode 21 - "Live Fast And Prosper"


Dress-down Friday at Paramount


Covering much the same thematic ground as "Fair Trade" back in Season Three, "Live Fast And Prosper" is an attempt to do the same kind of "always tell the truth" storytelling wrapped in a veneer of comedy. It's better. It's a lot better. Now, as we know, "Fair Trade" was not exactly a highlight in any sense, so for "Live Fast And Prosper" to be better it didn't really need to try all that hard, yet the margin by which it is better is quite considerable. The funny bits are funny (mostly). The dramatic bits are dramatic (mostly). The guest cast is good (mostly). It's not an unqualified success, but it's largely entertaining, it retains yet another sense of history about it, this time the exploitation of history for advantage, and nothing goes wrong, really.

I sound like I'm hedging my bets again, don't I? This time I suppose I am, in a way, though the reasons for it are a bit unfair. "Live Fast And Prosper" is clearly a light-hearted episode designed to help see out the season (and there's only four standalone stories left in this season now) and do so with a sense of fun and entertainment rather than carrying any especially deep message or character work. There is a bit of both these things here – Tom and Neelix worrying about losing their edge on the character side; "don't rip people off" on the message side – but nothing too heavy-handed or overwhelming, just something to give the episode a little more bite. And that basically works as well – so why am I sounding a bit reserved? Well for one, the core of this episode is basically a heist, or a series of heists, but one that's rather less Oceans 11 and rather more Puddles 2. It's not a problem as such, but it never really rises above the level of predictable, so there's a few bluffs and double-bluffs, and all the usual bits and pieces that are needed, but this isn’t natural territory for Voyager and it kind of shows. So this is really going to end up being this season's Any Other Business episode because this is entertaining but there's not a vast amount of analysis to be done, and I'm at a bit of a loss as to how else to approach it. Therefore without further ado...

Any Other Business:

• Nicely directed pre-credit sequence when we see "Janeway" and "Tuvok" beam in but we cut away just in time for us to not see that these are the impostors.

• I like the hilariously over-sized comm-badges on the fake crew's uniforms and the fact that none of their uniforms quite fit properly, so they look like cos-players on a weekend in Atlantic City.

• The idea of Neelix and Tom worrying about losing their edge isn't a bad idea, and the idea that Neelix's basic decency was what led to them being duped in the first place is quite believable. In fact there's something vaguely reminiscent of "Sacred Ground" with Neelix apparently violating a sacred place, so it makes sense that he's keen to repair any potential damage given what happened in that episode. There's not a lot of weight behind the "losing our edge" material though.

• Still neither Tom or Neelix come out of this episode especially great, and fooling the Doctor at the end with the cup-and-ball routine isn't persuading anyone they've "still got it".

• The "things go wrong on the ship, because comedy" is a bit tired at this stage in Star Trek's history, and Janeway's malfunctioning sonic shower, or the dodgy food in the mess hall don't manage to raise a smile.

• The Doctor outsmarting Neelix and Tom's "find the bean" does raise one though, because it really looks like they're going to play into the Doctor's naïveté, then immediately subvert it.

• There's something a bit discombobulating about seeing the familiar LCARS displays on some tatty old freighter, a good little piece of design.

• And another episode where there's a pleasing chance to meet more than one alien race per outing. There's nothing particularly distinctive about any of them, but it's good to have a little diversity.

• All together now: "Nice hair".

• I quite like the way Mobar gets a bit lost in the role of playing Tuvok. It doesn't really go anywhere, except as a demonstration that when he comes up against the real thing he's clearly found to be lacking, but his clear affection for Tuvok is really rather sweet.

• Kaitlin Hopkins does a decent enough Janeway, though it's not really a standout performance (though neither is it bad - it's fine).

• Though the confrontation between the two of them in the brig doesn't do Hopkins any favours, not just because (obviously) Mulgrew is better at doing Janeway, but she's just demonstrably a better actor overall.

• We only get to see Chakotay impersonated in one scene. I think, on the whole, that's probably a good thing.

• And I am deeply glad we are spared a Seven Of Nine impression...

• There's a bit more "but I ripped you off" / "yes but we forgive you" material than the episode can really sustain. Once was enough, but we get variations on the same lines about four or five times. It's fine, really, we got the point.

• A lot of the "but I had to surrender to my enemy!" conversations are pretty clunky as well.

• The little speech Neelix gives about him originally hanging about on Voyager because he could get a warm meal and safe passage is quite a nice bit of clarification about his original motives for joining the crew. The add-on about him finding depths of kindness is a little less well handled, but its good when they give these little extra background details simply because it broadens out understanding of the character.

• I'm glad that Neelix falling for the old "whoops I spilled my tea" routine was part of the plan all along, because otherwise it would have been unforgivably stupid. It does, instead, rather play into the idea that all the ruses we see in this episode are old and hoary (the cup and ball, the "orphans need our help", the spilled tea etc) and that falling for them is more about gullibility of the person than the sophistication of the ruse. Why that's a message that's necessary I don't know, but it does seem to be what the episode is going for.

• The use of the Doctor is pretty well done though, because it seems for all the world like the point of him being there is that he doesn't have any life-signs, but actually it's because he can be the perfect Trojan horse. That's pretty well done.

• The scene where he transitions from "Dala" back to the Doctor is a nice mirroring of the way Dala's been playing at Janeway, but it's also shot in an unusual way. Any other time we see a character with the mobile emitter, it's always on the "outside" of clothing (even da Vinci wore it round his neck as a pendant) but here, presumably so as not to tip off the audience, it's not visible until the original version of the Doctor Is restored.

• And then Janeway gets everybody's stuff back and off we fly into the sunset. It's a pretty pat resolution, and that speaks broadly to the problems that this episode has.

So yea, this is all pretty inoffensive stuff, light-hearted fun and little more. There are some attempts at twistiness but despite that this is all just a little bit too straightforward to really convince. In fact, there's a nagging feeling that, with minimal retooling, this could quite easily have been a Ferengi episode, and that's never a good thing. It's not a Ferengi episode though, and that's something to be grateful for, and we do at least get a little bit of an extended canvas for the bit of space. Inconsequentiality isn't the worst sin an episode like this can commit, but that doesn’t render it any less inconsequential. Time has been called on this season so to be faffing around with this feels like a bit of a waste. If what had preceded this had been of a higher standard the existence of "Live Fast And Prosper" would be easier to justify and explain, but as it is we have a reasonable, light slice of not very much in particular. I'm not going to end this review by doing some "it's not fast, and it didn't prosper" pun. But. You know.