Season 7 Ep 23 / 24 "Homestead" / "Renaissance Man"
Aug 18, 2016 6:47:20 GMT -5
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Post by Prole Hole on Aug 18, 2016 6:47:20 GMT -5
Season Seven, Episode 23 - "Homestead"
Rollin, rollin, rollin...
Wherein Our Hero, Neelix, leaves for better, or at least different, things. For it is true, the tale of the Brave Little Talaxian Who Could now endeth, though he leaves the crew behind on their onward journey towards Earth, his own journey continueth in a different direction. For the heart, it knoweth no bounds, and the bond to ones kith and kin runneth deep.
Ahem. Anyway, yes, Neelix is off. Who saw that coming? Well almost certainly you knew that already, but at the time of transmission this really did come as something of a surprise. Two episodes before your big conclusion and one of the major characters of the show gets written out. What are we to make of this? Well for one, obviously, this gives Neelix his last moment in the spotlight, and he makes a pretty good fist of it. Everything we see him go through here is character-consistent – he's brave, reliable, resourceful, but also given to self-doubt and uncertainty – but the way he's used is slightly unusual. Even when Neelix has had episodes to himself they've tended to follow a certain pattern, more often deploying him as someone who encounters a situation and muddles through it, but here he's written pretty straightforwardly as the hero of the events we witness. He's the protagonist, in other words, not someone being buffeted along by events, and it's really rather great to see him actively caught up in the defense of the Talaxian colony. This is the kind of engaged behaviour the rest of the crew have all had before, from Tom's insubordination in "Thirty Days" to Seven's defence of "Unimatrix Zero" (and obviously many more besides), but it's rare indeed for Neelix to be used in this way. Yet the episode is smart enough to allow him the opportunity to prove himself, but still give him enough emotional depth to worry about his own place in the world, and to acknowledge the huge debt he owes to Voyager and Janeway. So while he gets to be the hero of his own story here, it's not simply pushing him into a role in order to put him in a situation where leaving seems like the right thing to do, it also allows this to grow out of what we already know about the character and how he responds to certain situations. We've seen him flare up and jump to the defence of someone when he feels them to be threatened (not least, his initial rescue of Kes) so when he does the same thing for a colony of his own people, it's really rooted in the experiences he's had, while still being a moment of forward momentum for him, not just defending an individual this time, but a whole society. And he's good at it! Tuvok's right when he points out just how resourceful and tenacious Neelix can be, and it's such a breath of fresh air for the character to actually be written that way, given the chance to show off his skills at adapting to a changing situation rather than just being told that he's good at being able to do that. It makes the character more relatable, it draws out a great performance from Ethan Phillips and it gives the character a focus that he so often lacks. This might be his final outing, but "Homestead' really finds a way forward for him.
Forward off the ship, in this case. The fact that Neelix leaves for both personal reasons – his own feeling of redundancy and his attraction to Daxa – and for pragmatic reasons – the defence of the colony – means we get to see the character functioning on both the micro and the marco level. That also helps give the script a little extra depth as well because, although his relationship with Dexa does develop pretty fast (over the course of a few days, it seems reasonable to suppose), the fact they're written with enough in common to make this seem plausible helps paper over the disparity of the timeframe. Significantly they've both lost someone dear to them in the past – Kes for Neelix, Dexa's husband for her – but even though she's not named here, Kes's ghost haunts the narrative of this story, and there's a real sense in which Neelix is finally getting on with that part of his life again. He's had the odd dalliance here and there – not least with that Klingon warrior a few episode's back – but here he really gets some proper emotional maturity and forms a real bond with someone else. In addition to which, we also get the relevance of Naomi – it means all those episode's with Neelix looking after her really add up to something, so his experience with helping to raise her really means that he feels ready to take on the responsibility of looking after another child. Of course Naomi is used here to help show Neelix that he's in a position to be able to move on, but on another level she's also a symbolic representation of what he's learned on Voyager, not just tactics or security experience, but something much more personal as well. By having someone to look after, Neelix has been able to demonstrate a degree of emotional development and responsibility which now, at the end of his time with Voyager, may well prove to be the most valuable part of the journey. It allows him to find a home of his own.
Because the other thing that works about "Homestead" is that this isn't posited as the end of Neelix's journey, but rather the next phase of it. One of the aspects of his character that's worked best over the last seven years is that he's had a story which extends out beyond the time we've spent with him, so we've seen him have a past, and met people he's interacted with, and seen a demonstration (at least in the early days) of local knowledge. Indeed, there's a real sense that, when we first came across him in "Caretaker", he's already in the middle of his own adventure. He's trying to rescue Kes, then Voyager then turns up and intrudes upon his story, so the sense that he carries on with his own story here, settling down to build a family and find a place in the community, feels appropriate for a character that's come so far, but who always had his own story, part of which happened to align with Voyager across these years. And the crew's reactions to this are important if we're really to be sold on the magnitude of the decision he makes here to leave. In this, it's Janeway and Tuvok who get the most important reactions to his choice to go. Tuvok gets to be direct with Neelix in a way he should have been much more often, admitting that Neelix has his flaws but that he also has strengths and abilities which put him far above the image he has of himself. But it's the conversation with Janeway, shrouded in darkness in the mess hall as Neelix gradually comes to the realization of his own decision, that's the best scene in the whole episode. You can feel Neelix slowly questing out his own options and finally reaching the conclusion he needs, and Phillips is never better than he is in that scene, everything underplayed to the point of practically whispering. It allows the character some real dignity, acknowledging everything that's happened during his time on board but also allowing that time to, finally, come to an end. Janeway's obvious pride in him, and her offering him the ambassadorship to the Delta Quadrant as a get-out, is equally well-played by Mulgrew, and I honestly can't think of a better scene between them in the whole show. But of course the scene that really sticks in the mind is that final walk down the corridor as Neelix takes his leave of the ship and the friends he's made. It's all the more remarkable for being almost entirely silent, an acknowledgement for the crew that a good friend has his own stories to go and explore now. It's a deeply moving scene – surprisingly so – and gives the character respect and dignity he didn't always get over the course of the show but which he completely earns here. And then, just when you think it can't get any more emotional, Tuvok gives him a little dance step. Quite wonderful.
So enjoy your new life, Neelix. You've earned it.
Any Other Business:
• It seems obvious to point out, but if every Neelix episode had treated the character this well, and really understood what could be done with him as "Homestead" does, he'd be a great deal more liked. Phillips really is terrific here, and this demonstrates exactly how the character should always have worked.
• However, the expense here is the plot, which is pretty by-the-book. It's not bad, but it's clearly there to hang Neelix's emotional journey off rather than because it's riveting in its own right. That's OK, because the emotional journey is what's important here, but it's still pretty straightforward.
• We don't get an explanation as to how this colony of Talaxians got so very, very far from Talax itself, nor any real comment on the massive co-incidence of Voyager strolling through the right bit of space to find them in. Probably... uh, a wormhole. It's usually a wormhole, right?
• The effect of the Delta Flyer crashing on the surface of the asteroid has... not aged well.
• There's a nice little spark between Neelix and Dexa which also helps sell the relative speed of their relationship. It's not a love to span all time, but at least they look like they're into each other and get on well, and there's a natural rapport between Phillips and Julianna Christie that works well for the characters. And she's pretty great as Dexa.
• Very sweet moment on the bridge when Brax asks where Neelix's station is, he hesitates, then Chakotay and Harry step in and save him. It's really rather charming.
• The whole "miners want to talk our homes" aspect of the script is obviously patterned after any number of Westerns where someone wants to ride roughshod over the native population, and calling the episode "Homestead" just re-enforces the Western feel to it. Even the asteroid field functions as a wilderness of sorts, which makes Neelix the Sherriff that rides into town to clear everything up.
• There's not a lot of threat as the miners try to push the Talaxians off their asteroid, but the little space battle at the end is pretty well staged. And it's really interesting that it looks for all the world that Neelix is ready to sacrifice his life to allow the shield grid to come on-line and protect the colonists until the Flyer turns up and saves the day.
• That corridor scene really is amazingly effective, and very much a demonstration of less-is-more – I was tearing up watching it, and Neelix isn't exactly my favourite character on the show. Astonishing how good writing can make all the difference.
• Oh, one last thing. This was directed by LeVar Burton, his final outing on Voyager. He does perfectly well with the material, and never lets the direction get in the way of the emotional journey being told.
• Oh OK, one very, very last thing – this is also Naomi's last appearance on the show. Given that Neelix has gone now, that feels not inappropriate.
Season Seven, Episode 24 - "Renaissance Man"
Forty-seven heads are better than one
"Renaissance Man" is a bit of a palette-cleanser. Lying in between the big emotional departure of Neelix and the season (and indeed series) finale of "Endgame" it's mostly just a light-hearted romp, giving a little moment to almost everyone, but principally letting Picardo and Mulgrew have a final moment in the spotlight before everything wraps up next week. Which is all fine and lovely, but yes, this is a romp, simple and straightforward, and it allows a direct reconnection with Voyager's action-adventure aesthetic, which we've had surprisingly little of in the back half of this season, before the show bows out on one of the biggest expressions of that aesthetic. Not that this is a shadow or precursor to "Endgame", but it's clearly using the same kind of aesthetic considerations but for comedic rather than dramatic purposes.
Still, if you're going to have a romp, especially as the last "normal" episode of your show, you might as well have a good one, and "Renaissance Man" is mostly that. There's plenty of nods to events which have gone on this season – the Doctor alleging his superiority because he's a hologram only to have that be his weakness, his ego etc – which don't get in the way but provode a sense that this is still a part of the span of episode's we've been watching, a loose feeling of continuity. And yet even with that there's a marked development of the way the Doctor can function as a hologram which still feels like its pushing forward. The fact he can take on the physical parameters of other crewmembers' isn't all that remarkable, but things like him jumping through the walls of sickbay to escape Tuvok, or running in gravity-defying The Matrix-style around a corridor, all help to give some definition to what it is the Doctor means when he says he's different. It's not always just because he can hit the high notes on an aria. These effects have a bit of ambition to them, and work as an expansion of the palette of what can be done with the character. In one sense it's just making literal what was always pretty implicit, but on the other it is actually nice to get to see it, and the special effects are done well enough that it feels like it was worth doing where crappy special effects would have made it seem a bit pointless (and it's certainly a nice change from the usual the-Doctor-just-stands-there-and-gets-shot). And it's an interesting choice to have Janeway stuck in a cell, given the chance to escape her situation with guile and cunning rather than phasers and corridor-running. Which of course she does. She's smart enough to work away at the one weak spot until she can crack open a fissure, and it's in doing this that she's ultimately able to effect their escape. The Hierarchy (or rather, two people from the nameless race the Hierarchy consists of) don't really feel like they present a lot of threat in physical terms, but there's a certain wily cunning to Zet. This at least does make him like he's a credible enough threat to pull of this kind of heist, even if this is relatively small fry in terms of the danger the ship has faced in the past, and even if his companion, Nar, is a bit on the, shall we say, gullible side. And Zet is wily enough to adapt their plans beyond the initial warp core theft once he realizes what the Doctor is capable of, which at least goes some way to imbuing him with a degree of cunning.
But still, that's what this is, really. It's a heist, but its unusual in the sense that we're seeing it from the perspective of the people who are being robbed rather than, as in a traditional heist movie like Oceans 11, from the people carrying out the heist. Actually, that's not strictly accurate, since there's something of a blending of perspectives here, as we get to see the Doctor carrying out the actual robbery, but also the efforts and increasingly ludicrous lengths he has to go to to try and pull the whole thing off while the crew slowly come to the realization that something's up. The Doctor's impersonations of the crew are generally pretty funny, and everyone seems to be having terrific fun playing their characters as the Doctor doing an impersonation of them, but it never tips over into self-indulgence (one of the plusses of each character just having a short time being played by the Doctor). His/Dawson's B'Elanna is the best, both because of the performance and the Doctor not quite being able to get into character enough to hide his displeasure at the lack of nutrition in fried chicken, but Mulgrew talking to herself on the bridge deserves a special mention as well. It's all very silly, of course, but it's good fun, and because it manages to be properly funny it gives the episode a bit of a hang-out vibe and means that everyone gets something to do as the curtain gets ready to descend. Though that's the other thing about this that's worth noting – it's a tremendously fun romp, but there's absolutely no sense that the show is about to come to an end. There's no summing up going on here, no character conclusion (for a point of comparison, TNG's final episode is "Pre-emptive Strike", which brings back Ro to give her a conclusion and final outing), and there's a sense, especially in that final scene between the Doctor and Janeway, that there will be plenty more adventures going forward. We know, of course, that there's just one, but it's to the episode's credit that it never feels the need to be come maudlin, introspective or self-indulgent, but instead keeps pushing. In keeping with the general feel of this season it's still keeping up that forward momentum, right to the point where even in the final moments of this episode we get the start of a new and more developed friendship between the Doctor and Janeway.
In truth, I don't really have much negative to say about "Renaissance Man", so I can't really present a balance on the other side of the scales. It's absolutely true that it's just a silly little adventure to close the season out, and there's not really a lot of redemption necessary here because the episode sets out to be that silly romp and nails it. Could the show have gone for something a bit more heavyweight? I suppose so, though as we've previously discussed Voyager more often than not takes a lighter approach before the big season finale, and that's a tradition that's very much kept alive here. Sometimes that silliness informs the plot, as in the-Doctor-as-other-crewmembers, and sometimes it's just silly for its own sake, as with the Doctor's death-bed confession. Both the Doctor and Picardo get to ham it up to the max, but it's entertaining enough in a why-so-serious sort of way, and of course there isn't the remotest sense that the Doctor is going to suffer any real or permanent damage, so it can just stand as a moment of comedy for him while his crewmates/fellow actors all get to roll their eyes (Dawson takes the prize for doing this, for what it's worth). This also means, of course, that it's a rather less serious outing than the Doctor has had of late, but that also feels fine – while it's been nice to see the character treated much more seriously and with much more respect this season there's a reason why the Doctor get's a lot of comedy episodes – he's really good at it. So here he is, getting one last whirl at it, and everyone gets in on the act, as well they might (though if you want to level an accusation of self indulgence, this is where you can take aim because it certainly wouldn't be entirely untrue). I realize that, over the course of this review, I've mostly ended up resorting to just stating the things that happen in the episode and commenting on whether they really work or not, but in truth there's not a lot more to do with an episode like "Renaissance Man". It sets out to achieve one thing – to be an entertaining romp – and that's exactly what it is. There doesn't seem a lot of point to criticizing something for not being something it was never meant to be, so the fact that there aren't really any big thematic developments or deep emptions going on here is pretty much besides the point. It's a last hurrah of the old series before it all ends, and in this, "Renaissance Man" works absolutely fine. And that's it.
Any Other Business:
• The Doctor singing opera – very loudly – at the start on the Delta Flyer sets a suitably silly tone for the episode, yet as with the daftnes on display elsewhere it never quite tips over into being stupid.
• Obviously, this is the last appearance from the Hierarchy. They've been a very minor recurring race, but they've also been loosely intriguing. And the fact that they've mostly been on the periphery of the episodes that they've appeared on feels appropriate for a race apparently much more given to sitting back and observing rather than getting directly involved.
• "You wouldn't shoot a pregnant woman, would you?" Ha!
• Nice touch, having the Doctor wearing his holo-emitter strapped to his boot to hide the fact he's impersonating other members of the crew. At least they thought through his impressions.
• Is there any other episode we get to see Tom sitting in the Captain's chair? I can't remember one. He looks a bit odd sitting there, to be honest.
• No Neelix in this episode, for obvious reasons.
• The Doctor's, "Voyager can survive without it's warp core, but not without it's captain," is tenuous logic, to say the least...
• One last outing for the Emergency Command Hologram...
• Crewman Alaya gets a line!
• In truth the Doctor's "death-bed confession" is a bit overdone, even though it's often quite funny, but Seven saving his dignity after he declares his love for her by informing everyone that cognitive subroutines are malfunctioning is a really lovely way of her helping to cover his embarrassment, and in a tiny moment shows just how strong their friendship really has become.
• The final scene between the Doctor and Janeway, when she tells him the only rules on the holodeck are to leave your rank at the door and "no opera" is sweet and charming.
Rollin, rollin, rollin...
Wherein Our Hero, Neelix, leaves for better, or at least different, things. For it is true, the tale of the Brave Little Talaxian Who Could now endeth, though he leaves the crew behind on their onward journey towards Earth, his own journey continueth in a different direction. For the heart, it knoweth no bounds, and the bond to ones kith and kin runneth deep.
Ahem. Anyway, yes, Neelix is off. Who saw that coming? Well almost certainly you knew that already, but at the time of transmission this really did come as something of a surprise. Two episodes before your big conclusion and one of the major characters of the show gets written out. What are we to make of this? Well for one, obviously, this gives Neelix his last moment in the spotlight, and he makes a pretty good fist of it. Everything we see him go through here is character-consistent – he's brave, reliable, resourceful, but also given to self-doubt and uncertainty – but the way he's used is slightly unusual. Even when Neelix has had episodes to himself they've tended to follow a certain pattern, more often deploying him as someone who encounters a situation and muddles through it, but here he's written pretty straightforwardly as the hero of the events we witness. He's the protagonist, in other words, not someone being buffeted along by events, and it's really rather great to see him actively caught up in the defense of the Talaxian colony. This is the kind of engaged behaviour the rest of the crew have all had before, from Tom's insubordination in "Thirty Days" to Seven's defence of "Unimatrix Zero" (and obviously many more besides), but it's rare indeed for Neelix to be used in this way. Yet the episode is smart enough to allow him the opportunity to prove himself, but still give him enough emotional depth to worry about his own place in the world, and to acknowledge the huge debt he owes to Voyager and Janeway. So while he gets to be the hero of his own story here, it's not simply pushing him into a role in order to put him in a situation where leaving seems like the right thing to do, it also allows this to grow out of what we already know about the character and how he responds to certain situations. We've seen him flare up and jump to the defence of someone when he feels them to be threatened (not least, his initial rescue of Kes) so when he does the same thing for a colony of his own people, it's really rooted in the experiences he's had, while still being a moment of forward momentum for him, not just defending an individual this time, but a whole society. And he's good at it! Tuvok's right when he points out just how resourceful and tenacious Neelix can be, and it's such a breath of fresh air for the character to actually be written that way, given the chance to show off his skills at adapting to a changing situation rather than just being told that he's good at being able to do that. It makes the character more relatable, it draws out a great performance from Ethan Phillips and it gives the character a focus that he so often lacks. This might be his final outing, but "Homestead' really finds a way forward for him.
Forward off the ship, in this case. The fact that Neelix leaves for both personal reasons – his own feeling of redundancy and his attraction to Daxa – and for pragmatic reasons – the defence of the colony – means we get to see the character functioning on both the micro and the marco level. That also helps give the script a little extra depth as well because, although his relationship with Dexa does develop pretty fast (over the course of a few days, it seems reasonable to suppose), the fact they're written with enough in common to make this seem plausible helps paper over the disparity of the timeframe. Significantly they've both lost someone dear to them in the past – Kes for Neelix, Dexa's husband for her – but even though she's not named here, Kes's ghost haunts the narrative of this story, and there's a real sense in which Neelix is finally getting on with that part of his life again. He's had the odd dalliance here and there – not least with that Klingon warrior a few episode's back – but here he really gets some proper emotional maturity and forms a real bond with someone else. In addition to which, we also get the relevance of Naomi – it means all those episode's with Neelix looking after her really add up to something, so his experience with helping to raise her really means that he feels ready to take on the responsibility of looking after another child. Of course Naomi is used here to help show Neelix that he's in a position to be able to move on, but on another level she's also a symbolic representation of what he's learned on Voyager, not just tactics or security experience, but something much more personal as well. By having someone to look after, Neelix has been able to demonstrate a degree of emotional development and responsibility which now, at the end of his time with Voyager, may well prove to be the most valuable part of the journey. It allows him to find a home of his own.
Because the other thing that works about "Homestead" is that this isn't posited as the end of Neelix's journey, but rather the next phase of it. One of the aspects of his character that's worked best over the last seven years is that he's had a story which extends out beyond the time we've spent with him, so we've seen him have a past, and met people he's interacted with, and seen a demonstration (at least in the early days) of local knowledge. Indeed, there's a real sense that, when we first came across him in "Caretaker", he's already in the middle of his own adventure. He's trying to rescue Kes, then Voyager then turns up and intrudes upon his story, so the sense that he carries on with his own story here, settling down to build a family and find a place in the community, feels appropriate for a character that's come so far, but who always had his own story, part of which happened to align with Voyager across these years. And the crew's reactions to this are important if we're really to be sold on the magnitude of the decision he makes here to leave. In this, it's Janeway and Tuvok who get the most important reactions to his choice to go. Tuvok gets to be direct with Neelix in a way he should have been much more often, admitting that Neelix has his flaws but that he also has strengths and abilities which put him far above the image he has of himself. But it's the conversation with Janeway, shrouded in darkness in the mess hall as Neelix gradually comes to the realization of his own decision, that's the best scene in the whole episode. You can feel Neelix slowly questing out his own options and finally reaching the conclusion he needs, and Phillips is never better than he is in that scene, everything underplayed to the point of practically whispering. It allows the character some real dignity, acknowledging everything that's happened during his time on board but also allowing that time to, finally, come to an end. Janeway's obvious pride in him, and her offering him the ambassadorship to the Delta Quadrant as a get-out, is equally well-played by Mulgrew, and I honestly can't think of a better scene between them in the whole show. But of course the scene that really sticks in the mind is that final walk down the corridor as Neelix takes his leave of the ship and the friends he's made. It's all the more remarkable for being almost entirely silent, an acknowledgement for the crew that a good friend has his own stories to go and explore now. It's a deeply moving scene – surprisingly so – and gives the character respect and dignity he didn't always get over the course of the show but which he completely earns here. And then, just when you think it can't get any more emotional, Tuvok gives him a little dance step. Quite wonderful.
So enjoy your new life, Neelix. You've earned it.
Any Other Business:
• It seems obvious to point out, but if every Neelix episode had treated the character this well, and really understood what could be done with him as "Homestead" does, he'd be a great deal more liked. Phillips really is terrific here, and this demonstrates exactly how the character should always have worked.
• However, the expense here is the plot, which is pretty by-the-book. It's not bad, but it's clearly there to hang Neelix's emotional journey off rather than because it's riveting in its own right. That's OK, because the emotional journey is what's important here, but it's still pretty straightforward.
• We don't get an explanation as to how this colony of Talaxians got so very, very far from Talax itself, nor any real comment on the massive co-incidence of Voyager strolling through the right bit of space to find them in. Probably... uh, a wormhole. It's usually a wormhole, right?
• The effect of the Delta Flyer crashing on the surface of the asteroid has... not aged well.
• There's a nice little spark between Neelix and Dexa which also helps sell the relative speed of their relationship. It's not a love to span all time, but at least they look like they're into each other and get on well, and there's a natural rapport between Phillips and Julianna Christie that works well for the characters. And she's pretty great as Dexa.
• Very sweet moment on the bridge when Brax asks where Neelix's station is, he hesitates, then Chakotay and Harry step in and save him. It's really rather charming.
• The whole "miners want to talk our homes" aspect of the script is obviously patterned after any number of Westerns where someone wants to ride roughshod over the native population, and calling the episode "Homestead" just re-enforces the Western feel to it. Even the asteroid field functions as a wilderness of sorts, which makes Neelix the Sherriff that rides into town to clear everything up.
• There's not a lot of threat as the miners try to push the Talaxians off their asteroid, but the little space battle at the end is pretty well staged. And it's really interesting that it looks for all the world that Neelix is ready to sacrifice his life to allow the shield grid to come on-line and protect the colonists until the Flyer turns up and saves the day.
• That corridor scene really is amazingly effective, and very much a demonstration of less-is-more – I was tearing up watching it, and Neelix isn't exactly my favourite character on the show. Astonishing how good writing can make all the difference.
• Oh, one last thing. This was directed by LeVar Burton, his final outing on Voyager. He does perfectly well with the material, and never lets the direction get in the way of the emotional journey being told.
• Oh OK, one very, very last thing – this is also Naomi's last appearance on the show. Given that Neelix has gone now, that feels not inappropriate.
Season Seven, Episode 24 - "Renaissance Man"
Forty-seven heads are better than one
"Renaissance Man" is a bit of a palette-cleanser. Lying in between the big emotional departure of Neelix and the season (and indeed series) finale of "Endgame" it's mostly just a light-hearted romp, giving a little moment to almost everyone, but principally letting Picardo and Mulgrew have a final moment in the spotlight before everything wraps up next week. Which is all fine and lovely, but yes, this is a romp, simple and straightforward, and it allows a direct reconnection with Voyager's action-adventure aesthetic, which we've had surprisingly little of in the back half of this season, before the show bows out on one of the biggest expressions of that aesthetic. Not that this is a shadow or precursor to "Endgame", but it's clearly using the same kind of aesthetic considerations but for comedic rather than dramatic purposes.
Still, if you're going to have a romp, especially as the last "normal" episode of your show, you might as well have a good one, and "Renaissance Man" is mostly that. There's plenty of nods to events which have gone on this season – the Doctor alleging his superiority because he's a hologram only to have that be his weakness, his ego etc – which don't get in the way but provode a sense that this is still a part of the span of episode's we've been watching, a loose feeling of continuity. And yet even with that there's a marked development of the way the Doctor can function as a hologram which still feels like its pushing forward. The fact he can take on the physical parameters of other crewmembers' isn't all that remarkable, but things like him jumping through the walls of sickbay to escape Tuvok, or running in gravity-defying The Matrix-style around a corridor, all help to give some definition to what it is the Doctor means when he says he's different. It's not always just because he can hit the high notes on an aria. These effects have a bit of ambition to them, and work as an expansion of the palette of what can be done with the character. In one sense it's just making literal what was always pretty implicit, but on the other it is actually nice to get to see it, and the special effects are done well enough that it feels like it was worth doing where crappy special effects would have made it seem a bit pointless (and it's certainly a nice change from the usual the-Doctor-just-stands-there-and-gets-shot). And it's an interesting choice to have Janeway stuck in a cell, given the chance to escape her situation with guile and cunning rather than phasers and corridor-running. Which of course she does. She's smart enough to work away at the one weak spot until she can crack open a fissure, and it's in doing this that she's ultimately able to effect their escape. The Hierarchy (or rather, two people from the nameless race the Hierarchy consists of) don't really feel like they present a lot of threat in physical terms, but there's a certain wily cunning to Zet. This at least does make him like he's a credible enough threat to pull of this kind of heist, even if this is relatively small fry in terms of the danger the ship has faced in the past, and even if his companion, Nar, is a bit on the, shall we say, gullible side. And Zet is wily enough to adapt their plans beyond the initial warp core theft once he realizes what the Doctor is capable of, which at least goes some way to imbuing him with a degree of cunning.
But still, that's what this is, really. It's a heist, but its unusual in the sense that we're seeing it from the perspective of the people who are being robbed rather than, as in a traditional heist movie like Oceans 11, from the people carrying out the heist. Actually, that's not strictly accurate, since there's something of a blending of perspectives here, as we get to see the Doctor carrying out the actual robbery, but also the efforts and increasingly ludicrous lengths he has to go to to try and pull the whole thing off while the crew slowly come to the realization that something's up. The Doctor's impersonations of the crew are generally pretty funny, and everyone seems to be having terrific fun playing their characters as the Doctor doing an impersonation of them, but it never tips over into self-indulgence (one of the plusses of each character just having a short time being played by the Doctor). His/Dawson's B'Elanna is the best, both because of the performance and the Doctor not quite being able to get into character enough to hide his displeasure at the lack of nutrition in fried chicken, but Mulgrew talking to herself on the bridge deserves a special mention as well. It's all very silly, of course, but it's good fun, and because it manages to be properly funny it gives the episode a bit of a hang-out vibe and means that everyone gets something to do as the curtain gets ready to descend. Though that's the other thing about this that's worth noting – it's a tremendously fun romp, but there's absolutely no sense that the show is about to come to an end. There's no summing up going on here, no character conclusion (for a point of comparison, TNG's final episode is "Pre-emptive Strike", which brings back Ro to give her a conclusion and final outing), and there's a sense, especially in that final scene between the Doctor and Janeway, that there will be plenty more adventures going forward. We know, of course, that there's just one, but it's to the episode's credit that it never feels the need to be come maudlin, introspective or self-indulgent, but instead keeps pushing. In keeping with the general feel of this season it's still keeping up that forward momentum, right to the point where even in the final moments of this episode we get the start of a new and more developed friendship between the Doctor and Janeway.
In truth, I don't really have much negative to say about "Renaissance Man", so I can't really present a balance on the other side of the scales. It's absolutely true that it's just a silly little adventure to close the season out, and there's not really a lot of redemption necessary here because the episode sets out to be that silly romp and nails it. Could the show have gone for something a bit more heavyweight? I suppose so, though as we've previously discussed Voyager more often than not takes a lighter approach before the big season finale, and that's a tradition that's very much kept alive here. Sometimes that silliness informs the plot, as in the-Doctor-as-other-crewmembers, and sometimes it's just silly for its own sake, as with the Doctor's death-bed confession. Both the Doctor and Picardo get to ham it up to the max, but it's entertaining enough in a why-so-serious sort of way, and of course there isn't the remotest sense that the Doctor is going to suffer any real or permanent damage, so it can just stand as a moment of comedy for him while his crewmates/fellow actors all get to roll their eyes (Dawson takes the prize for doing this, for what it's worth). This also means, of course, that it's a rather less serious outing than the Doctor has had of late, but that also feels fine – while it's been nice to see the character treated much more seriously and with much more respect this season there's a reason why the Doctor get's a lot of comedy episodes – he's really good at it. So here he is, getting one last whirl at it, and everyone gets in on the act, as well they might (though if you want to level an accusation of self indulgence, this is where you can take aim because it certainly wouldn't be entirely untrue). I realize that, over the course of this review, I've mostly ended up resorting to just stating the things that happen in the episode and commenting on whether they really work or not, but in truth there's not a lot more to do with an episode like "Renaissance Man". It sets out to achieve one thing – to be an entertaining romp – and that's exactly what it is. There doesn't seem a lot of point to criticizing something for not being something it was never meant to be, so the fact that there aren't really any big thematic developments or deep emptions going on here is pretty much besides the point. It's a last hurrah of the old series before it all ends, and in this, "Renaissance Man" works absolutely fine. And that's it.
Any Other Business:
• The Doctor singing opera – very loudly – at the start on the Delta Flyer sets a suitably silly tone for the episode, yet as with the daftnes on display elsewhere it never quite tips over into being stupid.
• Obviously, this is the last appearance from the Hierarchy. They've been a very minor recurring race, but they've also been loosely intriguing. And the fact that they've mostly been on the periphery of the episodes that they've appeared on feels appropriate for a race apparently much more given to sitting back and observing rather than getting directly involved.
• "You wouldn't shoot a pregnant woman, would you?" Ha!
• Nice touch, having the Doctor wearing his holo-emitter strapped to his boot to hide the fact he's impersonating other members of the crew. At least they thought through his impressions.
• Is there any other episode we get to see Tom sitting in the Captain's chair? I can't remember one. He looks a bit odd sitting there, to be honest.
• No Neelix in this episode, for obvious reasons.
• The Doctor's, "Voyager can survive without it's warp core, but not without it's captain," is tenuous logic, to say the least...
• One last outing for the Emergency Command Hologram...
• Crewman Alaya gets a line!
• In truth the Doctor's "death-bed confession" is a bit overdone, even though it's often quite funny, but Seven saving his dignity after he declares his love for her by informing everyone that cognitive subroutines are malfunctioning is a really lovely way of her helping to cover his embarrassment, and in a tiny moment shows just how strong their friendship really has become.
• The final scene between the Doctor and Janeway, when she tells him the only rules on the holodeck are to leave your rank at the door and "no opera" is sweet and charming.
