Star Trek: The Way of the Warrior

Episode: "The Way of the Warrior"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2

Original Air Date: October 2, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

A Klingon fleet arrives at the station, preparing for an attack on the Cardassian home world.  They believe - correctly, as it turns out - that Founder infiltrators have staged a coup, overthrowing the military regime on Cardassia in favor of civilian rule.  The Klingons want to attack in order to prevent further incursions in the Alpha Quadrant.  They do not take kindly to the Federation's efforts to interfere with their plans.

"The Way of the Warrior" marks a major turning point for Deep Space Nine for a couple of reasons.  Recasting the Klingon Empire in their original antagonist role is one.  More important, at least for the fans, is the return of Worf.  Captain Sisko recruits the NextGen alum to help with the situation and fortunately for all of us, Worf agrees to stick around once the initial crisis subsides.  He'll remain in the principal cast for the rest of the series.

This presents an interesting wrinkle to my little game of drawing character legacies back to the original series (read here).  Clearly, Worf should get his own chair back.  So...

Chekov = Worf = Odo = Worf

But this leaves the question of what to do with Odo.  After all, he's not going anywhere and we still have four seasons to go.  For me, the best solution is to give Odo a chair of his own...

Odo (née Chekov line)

Two principals in particular will benefit from the addition of Worf to our story.  Already, we can see that his relationship with Dax is going to be an interesting one.  It also frees up Odo to be more than just the grumpy guy around the office.  Now that Worf can share in that responsibility, Odo's story can take off in exciting directions.  And what a tale it is, unique in Star Trek (so far).  

Food Notes

"The Way of the Warrior" includes one of the most popular individual scenes of the entire DS9 run, only tangentially related to the main plot.  Quark and Garak commiserate over their dependence on the Federation, a glass of root beer serving as the perfect metaphor.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

An important side narrative is the captain's effort to invest in a romantic relationship with freighter captain Kasidy Yates, played by Penny Johnson.  Johnson boasts 16 Trek appearances, including 15 as Yates.

Penny Johnson Jerald was born in Baltimore, March 14, 1961.  She graduated from The Julliard School in New York.  Her on-screen resume is absolutely stellar, particularly on television.  She has had principal roles on four high-profile shows: The Larry Sanders Show, 24, Castle and The Orville.  Films include Do the Right Thing, What's Love Got to Do with It, The Lion King (2019) and the upcoming Mufasa: The Lion King.

On the Road: Northampton in December

Just a quick overnight visit.  I'm so grateful this town has become a part of our lives.

Tea, coffee and pastries at Ana Bandeira Chocolates

The holiday decorations at Thornes Marketplace

Hungry Ghost Bread, one of the best bakeries in New England

Star Trek: Twisted

Episode: "Twisted"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 6

Original Air Date: October 2, 1995

via Memory Alpha

During a birthday party for Kes, Voyager gets caught in an inversion field.  What begins as a problem with the comm system becomes more serious as the very fabric of reality becomes physically twisted.  Will our friends survive?

This one's bad.  "Twisted" is the last of four episodes that were written and produced for the first season but weren't aired until the second.  It was the last of the four because it was considered the weakest.  It's cited by many of the principal cast as one so bad they were surprised it aired at all.  Such are the choices you make when you're under pressure to generate 26ish episodes each season.

Why is it so awful?  Weak writing is at the heart of the matter.  Then the story was too short so they had to tack on extra scenes last-minute, including a subplot with the Doctor being pursued romantically by Sandrine, the proprietress at a holodeck-replicated Marseille bar.  Jealous Neelix also rears his ugly head (supposedly for the last time).  

It's also part of an ongoing issue with the series: they go to the space-time anomaly well far too often, to the point where they can hardly be considered anomalies any more.  Can't we please get back to good old-fashioned, intelligent life encounters?

And once again, the seed for a more interesting story was right there for the planting.  As the crisis moment approaches, with Janeway incapacitated, there is tension over what to do next.  Torres has one idea, Tuvok another.  Chakotay makes the call in favor of Torres and the showdown between Chakotay and Tuvok is the juiciest moment in the whole episode.  This tension could have been the narrative driver - hell, it could have been worth a season or more.  After all, these aren't just any three characters.  These are all former Maquis and why not push on lingering resentment between them?  I'd have been all in on that story.  How disappointing that the writers didn't see it.

Can you tell I'm getting impatient with this series?

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Judy Geeson (Sandrine) was born in Arundel, Sussex, England, September 10, 1948.  "Twisted" was her second of two appearances as Sandrine.  She trained at the Corona Stage Academy in west London.  She performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Titus Andronicus and Section Nine, then later off-Broadway in The Common Pursuit.  

Geeson has a solid television resume on both sides of the Atlantic.  In the UK, she had principal roles on The Newcomers and Poldark.  In the US, she had recurring roles on both Mad About You (33 episodes) and Gilmore Girls (3).  Films include To Sir, with Love, Fear in the Night and The Eagle Has Landed.  

Squid Eats: On Tap Bar & Grill

On Tap Bar & Grill in Essex Junction, Vermont was our meeting spot at the end of a Christmas-themed scavenger hunt this past weekend.  This was our first time at On Tap and also our first time engaging in such a quest with our friends the Mocks and the Blue Liners.  For those unfamiliar, participants are sent out in teams to do things like sing "Jingle Bells" with strangers, take pictures with a Santa Claus and so forth.  We had a grand old time and came in second.  Let's talk about the food...

On Tap is mostly a bar.  As discussed in previous posts, Vermont bars are required by law to serve food.  Naturally, some are better than others.  

My wife and I each got a turkey avocado wrap and jalapeño peppers to share that never arrived.  I got a side salad.  Nearly everyone else got burgers.  Service was friendly but a bit slow due to understaffing.  The beer list was respectable and my salad just fine.

The wrap was okay - the flavor was nice but my avocado was under-ripened.  It was filling, too.  My wife didn't finish hers.  I took half home for dinner.  Others were dissatisfied with the doneness of their burgers, in both directions.  Everyone seemed happy with the fries and onion rings, though.

So, On Tap is a pleasant place to hang out for a while and have a beer but maybe not the most exciting stop for a meal.

Star Trek: Non Sequitur

Episode: "Non Sequitur"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 5

Original Air Date: September 25, 1995

via Memory Alpha

I just learned I've been spelling Sequitur incorrectly my whole life.  I had an o where the second u should be.

Harry Kim wakes up next to his fiancee, Libby, in San Francisco.  His assignment to Voyager never happened.  His best friend went instead and was lost when the ship disappeared.  Evidently, he has stumbled into an alternate timeline and must find his way back to the right one.

"Non Sequitur" was the result of Garrett Wang's complaints to the writers about the shoddy material he had been provided so far.  He wanted a shot at being an action hero, a story where they would "need a stunt double" for him.  It's a reasonable request.  As discussed in previous posts regarding ALL Star Trek series, principal characters are marginalized quickly if they don't get good material on a regular basis.  The actors had good reason to advocate for themselves.

The trouble is that apart from the "action" supplied, the story is awful and it could have been so much better.  It could have been a "Family" or "Inner Light" sort of tale: a glimpse of the other life that might have been lived.  I like those stories and the basic set up was ripe for it.  But there's no dilemma, no sense of regret.  Given the premise of Voyager so far, Harry should have been thrilled beyond measure to wake up in San Francisco next to Libby.  Even once the sense of needing to put things right set in, there should have been a grappling with the cost of having to give up his happy, simpler life.  Instead, he skips that emotional journey entirely.

Writer's fault, not the actor's.  

Voyager is like this over and over again.  So close to being good but missed opportunities abound.

Acting Notes

via Grey's Anatomy Universe Wiki

Louis Giambalvo played the role of Cosimo, Harry's Clarence/Morpheus-like guide in the alternate timeline.  Giambalvo was born in Brooklyn, New York, February 8, 1945.  He attended Harpur College (now Binghamton University) for both undergrad and graduate school.  He was a founding member of Colonnades Theater Lab along with Danny DeVito and Peter Scolari, among others.  Television credits include The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote and ER.  Films include Airplane II: The Sequel, Real Genius and Weekend at Bernie's.  

On the Road: Thanksgiving 2024

As has been our tradition for many years, we traveled to spend Thanksgiving with our friend English Prof in Massachusetts.  It was a quiet and peaceful week filled with great food (of course) courtesy of EP and my wife, board games, movies and long walks.

The meal:

Worcester isn't exactly brimming with famous landmarks but I like the First Baptist Church: impressive-looking in that way that New England churches can be:

As Massachusetts is south of Vermont, it's not unusual in late November for it to still feel autumnal:

Then we drive home to snow on the ground.

It was nice to get away for a while.  It's also wonderful to be home again.

On the Coffee Table: Kate Beaton

Title: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Writer and Artist: Kate Beaton

via Amazon

Trigger warning: sexual violence

Comic artist Kate Beaton hails from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, a gloriously beautiful part of the world but evidently a difficult job economy.  After she graduated from university, she did what a lot of Maritime province young people do: she left for a better opportunity elsewhere so she could pay off her student debts.  She landed in the oil sands of Alberta, a remote society where men outnumber women 50-1.  Not exactly ideal but the pay is good.  Her story also includes a year spent in Victoria working at a museum but the oil sands experience is the focus.

Rather predictably, by her own admission, Beaton and the few other women at each camp become targets of attention, not all of it exactly friendly or welcome.  She acclimates over time, eventually feeling more like "one of the b'ys" but she never loses the sense of otherness and vulnerability.  During her tenure - and mostly towards the end - she struggles with the impact of the oil industry on both the environment and the local indigenous populations.  

She's raped twice.  As a reader, you see it coming and you pray it doesn't.  She offers no graphic details about the incidents themselves but spares nothing in describing the long-term emotional impact for her.  In her afterword, Beaton reflects on the unhealthy working conditions for the men in such a high-stress, high-danger, isolated environment.  She stops short of forgiving her attackers, instead condemning the situation that enabled them - or as she describes it, created them.

The titular "ducks" have double meaning.  There are literal ducks: the flock of ducks that made world headlines when they landed in the oil sands, got covered in oil and died.  Duckies is also one of the more endearing euphemisms the male workers use to refer to the few women in their midst.

I am grateful for the new perspective on the Maritimes, even though the vast majority of the book is set in the Canadian west.  We've spent two amazing family vacations in the Maritime provinces, absolutely falling in love with that region: see here and here.  It's important to remember people actually live in such beautiful places and day-to-day living is not always so pretty.  

Overall, I'd say Ducks is good, not great.  I'm glad to have read it.

Star Trek: Elogium

Episode: "Elogium"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 4

Original Air Date: September 18, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes encounter a swarm of spaceborne creatures, evidently engaging in mating rituals.  Their proximity triggers spontaneous sexual maturity for Kes and with it, her only chance to have a child.  This stage for Ocampa is called the Elogium.  Kes and Neelix must make a decision about their future quickly.

Okay, so it's time to talk about Neelix.  To put it bluntly, Neelix is one of the least liked principals in the history of Star Trek.  In a word, he's annoying.  We've all had that overly enthusiastic coworker and he channels all of them in his self-assigned morale officer role.  As for myself, I'm not always anti-Neelix.  Voyager can get heavy and occasional levity from Neelix is often welcome, much as his equivalent Quark provides on DS9.  However, stories that focus on Neelix can feel like a lot of work.  In "Elogium," his jealous boyfriend to anxious father journey is not a good look.  

via Memory Alpha

The unfortunate cost of an annoying Neelix is what he detracts from Kes who is certainly one of Voyager's more interesting principals.  The short lifespan of the Ocampa provides rich narrative opportunities.  Some complain about the skeezy relationship between the adult Neelix and the sexually immature, though adult-seeming, Kes.  To be sure, the writers created a difficult situation for themselves with that one.  Lolita implications aside, this intimate glimpse into an accelerated life cycle is fascinating.  The shame is that it turns out to be a false alarm.  

A shame because the incident sparks an important conversation between Janeway and Chakotay about longterm considerations.  At this point, there is no guarantee that Voyager will make it back to the Alpha Quadrant within the lifetime of the current crew.  While the ship isn't well-equipped for families or children, procreation will become both inevitable and necessary for ultimate success.  For the moment, they appear to be let off the hook regarding any decisions, until...

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Nancy Hower played the role of Ensign Samantha Wildman, a xenobiologist who reveals to the captain in the final scene that she is, in fact, pregnant.  Hower was born in Wyckoff, New Jersey, May 11, 1966.  "Elogium" marks her first of eight appearances as Wildman.

Hower graduated from Julliard, after which she embarked on a stage career.  Films include Insomnia, Blackout Effect and The Last Man on Planet Earth.  She guest-starred on Suddenly Susan and The Sentinel.  Voyager was probably the high point of her acting career.

Hower has had an impressively varied career off-screen.  She has fronted two alternative rock bands, including STELLA which opened for Meat Loaf on his 2001 UK tour.  She wrote music for a play called Momma.  She has written, directed and produced for both film and television.  Work includes Memron, a darling of the film festival circuit in 2004, and series 10 Items or Less and Quickdraw.

On the Coffee Table: Saga

Title: Saga, Volumes One - Four

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan

Artist: Fiona Staples

via Amazon

Saga is an ongoing space opera comic book series, one of the most critically acclaimed titles in the industry, having won multiple Eisner, Harvey and Hugo awards.  The series has been running since March 2012 with 69 issues so far.  Apparently the goal is 120.  These four trade paperbacks cover the first 24.  

via Amazon

The story follows the adventures of Alana, Marko and their child, Hazel.  The parents are from two races who have been waging interstellar war for generations.  The family is being hunted by mercenaries from both sides, neither wanting the interracial romance exposed to the public.  Saga has drawn comparisons to Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and Romeo and Juliet.  I see it as a Tarantino tale set in space with a lot more sex.

via Amazon

And yet, amid all of the violence, gore and lust, Saga has a lighter and relatable side.  Alana and Marko are, at their core, lovers desperately horny for each other, willing to risk it all for the sake of their love.  Once the child is born, they are protective and stressed out parents.  Their in-laws and exes complicate matters.  Set aside the fact that Alana has wings, Marko ram horns, their nanny is a ghost and their ship is a magical tree and it's just like real life.

via Amazon

The series is wonderful.  The art is vivid.  The writing is compelling and the story moves at a satisfying pace.  I have several more volumes on my TBR shelves as my wife has already read them.  So I'm definitely with Saga for the long haul.  Because of the quasi-pornographic sex and the shameless violence, it's not a series for children.  But for adults, it's good stuff.

On the Coffee Table: City of Light

Title: Berlin, Book Three: City of Light

Writer and Artist: Jason Lutes

via Amazon

It's been 11 years since my last post about Lutes's extraordinary comic book series, Berlin.  In the time since, he has finished the series.  City of Light compiles issues #14-24.  We saw him give a talk at a local bookstore and he signed the copy I just finished reading.

Overall, the stories follow a group of characters - many of them only tangentially connected - from 1928-33, an extraordinary time in Berlin's history.  The tensions playing out on the streets will spill over to the battlefields of an entire continent before long.  The central character is Marthe, managing two romances: one with a woman, Anna, one with a man, Severing.  Neither works out, nor does her art career so by book's end, she gets on a train back home to Cologne - her story started on a train arriving, now ends on one departing.

In a secondary narrative, we follow 12-year-old Sylvia, orphaned by the May Day Massacre, taken in by a Jewish family.  She runs the streets with a group of Communist toughs who scuffle with both the police and the Nazis, an increasingly meaningless distinction.  As readers, we know those tensions won't completely resolve until decades later.

As Hitler rises to power, life is getting tougher, especially for the Jews.  Sylvia's foster family boards the same train as Marthe in the end.  Again, as the reader, we know more about what's coming than the characters do.  We're more worried for the Jews than they are for themselves.  We worry, too, for Anna and other homosexuals, knowing the persecution coming for them.

Over 24 issues, the tension gradually builds for the reader and the tension is never fully released, because we know what comes next.  Safer is not the same as safe.  That's life.

Berlin is excellent.  I wouldn't say it's on the same level as Persepolis, Maus or Showa but it's a solid addition to any historically-based graphic novel collection.

Squid Eats: Pie Empire

Jericho Ale & Bean is a shared storefront for Brew House Coffee Company and Lucy & Howe Brewing.  They offer a few snacky foods for anyone who cares to linger (in Vermont, you have to serve food at a bar), including the pickles in the photo.   From time to time, they'll host a vendor to provide something more substantial.  Such was the case this past weekend when Pie Empire paid a visit.

Pie Empire sells hand pies, ubiquitous in Australia and New Zealand, a growing trend here in the States.  Sweet pies exist but the standard is a meat pie.  We got three in all: curry chicken for my wife, chicken and bacon for me, steak and ale to share.  All were comforting and delicious.  My wife won this round.  The curry chicken is definitely one to remember.  Other intriguing options include Buffalo chicken and chipotle beef and chorizo.  Plus they have seasonal specials like an Oktoberfest pie made with saurbraten.  

Breweries seem to be their thing as the next several events are all at brew pubs.  Beer and meat pies are a natural pairing.  Thinking about them makes me hungry.  I guess we'll need to hit their next event.  

Star Trek: Projections

Episode: "Projections"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 3

Original Air Date: September 11, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Barclay episode!

The Doctor finds himself in an alternate reality.  Here he is no longer a holographic projection.  He's the real, flesh and blood Louis Zimmerman (the EMH's human creator).  Meanwhile, it's the ship and the rest of the crew that are the holograms.  Dwight Schultz returns as Barclay - or at least a character who looks and sounds like Barclay.

"Projections" does well with critics but I found it tedious.  As a rule, I don't care for it-was-all-just-a-dream narratives.  Occasionally, there's a really good one like "The Inner Light" but "Projections" is nowhere near that level.  Pet peeves aside, I can acknowledge the story provides meaningful development for the Doctor, quickly emerging as Voyager's most interesting character (for now).

In my initial Voyager post, I put the Doctor in Data's chair and I stand by it.  Among the new show's principal's he's the best fit.  However, with this episode I've come to realize our favorite android is actually not the Doctor's best TNG parallel.  Particularly in the exploration of how the EMH might have an existence beyond sick bay, the Doctor is the realization of Moriarty's ambitions to have a life beyond the holodeck.  Fortunately for the Voyager crew, the Doctor's motivations are more benevolent.

The Creators

As discussed in this post, Rick Berman had become the leading creative force behind the Star Trek franchise by the third season of The Next Generation.  Two of his fellow executive producers took on more prominent roles with the next two spin-off series, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.  Michael Piller had co-creator credit for both shows.  Jeri Taylor had co-creator credit for the latter.  

via Memory Alpha

Michael Piller was born in Port Chester, New York, May 30, 1948.  He was born to professional writer parents.  His father Gene Piller was a screenwriter.  His mother Ruth Roberts was a songwriter.  Michael graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Piller's career started in television journalism for which he won an Emmy.  He developed his first TV show, entitled The Doctor's Office, in 1987.  His work on Trek began in 1989 with the episode "Evolution," on which he served as co-writer.  Soon after, he became showrunner for the series.

Piller is often credited with bringing order to chaos.  The first two seasons were tumultuous for the writing staff.  Piller focused on building a strong sense of team and the result is the beautiful, more cohesive show we all know and love.  When Paramount asked for a new series, Berman turned to Piller to lead.  He wrote the pilot and took charge as showrunner.  With Piller moving on, Jeri Taylor took over his job with NextGen.  

Piller passed away in 2005 from head and neck cancer.

via Memory Alpha

Jeri Taylor (born Jean Cecile Suer) was born in Evansville, Indiana, June 30, 1938.  She went to Indiana University as an undergrad, then got an MA in English from Cal State-Northridge.  Before Trek, she wrote for Little House on the Prairie and The Incredible Hulk.  She directed and produced for Quincy, M.E. and Jake and the Fat Man.  

She joined NextGen in Season 4, initially as a supervising producer and co-writer for "Suddenly Human."  Two years later, she was promoted to co-executive producer.  After NextGen ended, Taylor joined Berman and Piller in creating Voyager.  By Season 3, she was the showrunner.  

Jeri Taylor passed away just last month at the age of 86.

On the Road: MASS MoCA

As discussed in previous posts, our frequent visits to MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) hold numerous advantages.  Once we're there, especially if we stay at Porches Inn across the street from the museum, everything is within walking distance: a hot tub, several enjoyable restaurants, book stores, coffee shops, bars, concerts and, of course, the largest contemporary art museum in the United States.  Highlights from our most recent visit...

From Osman Khan's Road to Hybridabad exhibition:

From Jeffrey Gibson's Power Full Because We're Different exhibition:

From Amy Yoes's Hot Corners exhibition:

Among the museum's more permanent features is the work of James Turrell, one of the most prominent artists in the Light and Space movement.  The two highlights - for us - are Hind Sight and C.A.V.U.  

For Hind Sight, two people follow a guided path into a dimly lit room.  Very dimly lit.  Essentially pitch black.  You sit for 15 minutes, just long enough for your eyes to begin to adjust.  I've done the experience twice now.  By about minute 10, I start to perceive the faintest light.  My wife describes it as greyish.  I think I saw a few more shapes the first time.  In both cases, I felt I needed maybe five more minutes.

C.A.V.U. was created out of a repurposed concrete water tank.  One can visit any time of day but the experience is most gratifying at dawn and dusk.  In the ceiling are two concentric circles, the larger one taking up the entire ceiling, 40 feet across, the smaller one maybe 10 feet across.  It's sort of an eyeball/iris relationship.  The colors of the two circles change depending on sunlight.  Most of the time, the smaller circle is darker but occasionally that switches.  We lied on the floor.  I found that if you relax your gaze enough, the two circles blend together.  Your eyes fight against it, of course, and it's hard when the people around you are whispering.  Ahem!

Both pieces require patience.  There are many ways to approach an art museum, of course.  My own default is to move relatively quickly from one piece to the next.  With Turrell's work, the time invested is essential to the experience.  If you're impatient, you'll miss the whole point, which is to connect with your own experience of the vision process.  I like that.

Our excuse to visit last weekend was a concert: the Kasambwe Brothers, a trio from Malawi.  MASS MoCA's concert organizers evidently have strong connections in the African music scene.   We saw Seun Kuti, a more established star, over the summer.  In 2023, we saw Kaleta and Super Yamba Band - technically Brooklyn-based but with strong ties to the Afro-funk scene.  The Kasambwe experience was more novel.  Saturday's concert was their first performance outside of Malawi.  They're taking part in a residency at the museum where, in addition to their live show, they will be recording their first full-length album.  

Their music was downright joyful, much needed in these difficult times.  Referring to the photo, the instrument in the middle is a babatoni, essentially a bass banjo: four strings with a bass drum body.  As far as I can tell, it is unique to Malawi.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.  We'll definitely be back, and we'll be keeping an eye out for that new album.

Star Trek: Initiations

Episode: "Initiations"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 2

Original Air Date: September 4, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Chakotay has been granted the use of a shuttlecraft so he can perform the pakra, a (Star Trek-invented) memorial ritual for his father.  I don't understand why he couldn't have done it in his quarters but it's as good an excuse as any for what comes next.  He accidentally stumbles into Kazon territory.  Once there, he has a hostile encounter with a young Kazon who sounds awfully familiar...

One of the asks of the writers for Season 2 was better development for Chakotay - a good call.  On NextGen, despite second-billing, Riker definitely suffers in the competition for quality material with Data and Worf.  The same could easily have happened with Chakotay (and may yet) without deliberate effort.  "Initiations" is a good start.  However, I always get nervous when they lean too heavily on the Native American heritage angle.  For starters, they would have done well to give him a more specific ethnicity.  The producers saw him as Sioux in the beginning, later Hopi.  The tribe wasn't named on-screen until a fictional one was invented for him.  Also, they could have cast a Native actor.  There were plenty of good ones around in the mid-90s.  Robert Beltran is technically Latino.  Why not tap into his actual cultural identity instead?

The biggest mistake regarding Chakotay, though, was not letting the Maquis story play out for longer.  Once Seska was gone, his character lost dimension he never quite got back.  Now, Beltran is quite frank in his own assessment of the situation.  I recommend David Wharton's piece on Giant Freakin Robot.

But at least for a while in Season 2, they were trying.

One of the most frequent criticisms of the episode has to do with the guest star who played Kar, the young Kazon.  Before we dig into it, let me emphasize that I find the criticism entirely unfair and I'll explain why.

Kar was played by Aron Eisenberg, better known as Nog on Deep Space Nine.  While the makeup is completely different, the voice is instantly recognizable.  Some critics found this off-putting, complaining that it took them out of the narrative.  I dispute this criticism for two reasons:

• Eisenberg had to audition for the part.  It's not as if they created the character for him.  They made him earn it.  And he did.
• 29 years later, it's entirely possible someone might watch the series in the opposite order.  I did.  When I first started digging into NextGen-era Trek back in the DVR days, Voyager episodes were available to me while DS9 ones were not.  So, I saw this episode first and never would have realized the connection.

Furthermore, Eisenberg is great in the part.  Evidently, he and Beltran had loads of fun working together.  Beltran likened it to working with comedian Don Rickles.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Patrick Kilpatrick (great name) played the role of Razik, First Maje of the Kazon sect Chakotay encounters.  It's the first of three Trek appearances for the actor.  Kilpatrick was born Robert Donald Kilpatrick, Jr. in Orange, Virginia, August 20, 1949.  He graduated from Richmond University, then attended NYU for grad school.

He's earned his living as an action film villain.  Movies include Class of 1999, Minority Report and The Presidio.  Beyond Trek, television appearances include Babylon 5, ER and The X-Files.  

In 2021, Kilpatrick ran in the California Governor recall race.  The recall failed.  Kilpatrick won 1.2% of the vote.

On the Road: Pioneer Valley

The Pioneer Valley is the portion of the Connecticut River Valley contained within Massachusetts.  It is generally understood to include Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.  We have visited often over the past few years.

The main impetus for visiting this particular weekend was to catch Judge John Hodgman's stop in Turners Falls on his Road Court tour.  I imagine many of you are already familiar with Hodgman's comedic work.  For those who aren't...

We first got to know Hodgman from his appearances on The Daily Show back in the full-time Jon Stewart era.  These days, among other projects, he has a highly successful podcast, Judge John Hodgman, on which he "dispenses fake internet justice" upon relatively low-stakes matters for his listeners.  At our show, he passed judgment on a man wanting to take flying lessons despite a friend's concerns, a man blowing his nose at the dinner table and one professional wrestler wanting to stage a bout with a friend.  Stuff like that.  Good family fun.  We were not disappointed.  Both Hodgman and his bailiff, Jesse Thorn, are seasoned pros at this point who thrive with a live audience.  

Second priority was the Fall Mum Show at The Botanic Garden of Smith College in Northampton, which runs through November 17th.  The Mum Show is one of two big, student entry events at the Garden, the other being the Spring Bulb Show.  Simple concept: students create hybrids which then get judged by visitors to the show.  Whoever gets the most votes wins.  

Smith has been holding a mum show since 1920 but this will be the last year - I believe this is it for the Bulb Show, too.  The plan for future years is to do smaller events more often.

Someone added an extra adornment to one of the plants:

I voted for entry #86.  

Unfortunately for #86, it was not a successful week in voting for me.

The Smith College Museum of Art is hosting a year-long exhibition of Moroccan artist Younes Rahmoun.

There's plenty to enjoy in their regular collection, too.

Chattering Girls in Spring by Takano Miho

Pink Man vs. Ayudhaya Buddha by Manit Sriwanichpoom

Ejiri in Suruga Province from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai

The Forbes Library, across the street from Smith College, also hosts art exhibits.  I was drawn to Ben James's photo essay Life on the Connecticut - summer '24, chronicling a bike trip along the Connecticut River.  I especially liked this photo:

And, most of all, its caption:

Our final stop before heading back home was the Do Plants Know Math? photography exhibit by Mathematical Sciences Professor Christophe Golé.  

Top view of a Romanesco

A closer view of the same photograph

Golé also wrote an accompanying book: Do Plants Know Math? Unwinding the Story of Plant Spirals, from Leonardo da Vinci to Now.

Star Trek: The 37's

Episode: "The 37's"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 2, Episode 1

Original Air Date: August 28, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes happen upon a 1936 Ford truck floating around in the Delta Quadrant.  One bizarre encounter leads to more when they discover eight earthlings in cryo-stasis on a nearby planet, all from 1930s Earth.  Craziest of all, one of them turns out to be legendary aviatrix Amelia Earhart.

"The 37's" generally gets mixed reviews.  Some, including Tim Russ (Tuvok) love it for its original series, classic sci-fi hokeyness.  Kate Mulgrew (Janeway) enjoyed the relationship between the captain and Earhart.  Others find the episode disappointing.  Guess which camp I'm in.

You see, beneath all of this, a far more interesting subplot develops.  The eight preserved "37s" were not the only survivors of 20th century alien abductions.  The others managed to break free of their captors, revolt against them and build their own flourishing society on the new world.  After initial mistrust and phaser fire, everyone is able to make friends.  The Voyager crew is invited to visit the settlers' three cities and furthermore, to remain on the planet if they wish.

So begins Janeway's dilemma: does she give people the choice?  Starfleet regulations would say no.  But Starfleet's a long way off and Voyager ever making it back home is far from guaranteed.  Could the journey back to the Alpha Quadrant even continue if too many of the crew leave the ship?  Despite the possibly dire consequences, she gives everyone the choice.  Anyone who wishes to leave Voyager is to report to the cargo bay at a given hour.

Decision time arrives.  Janeway and Chakotay hold their breath as the cargo bay door opens.  It's empty. Everyone has chosen to continue on.  The sense of relief is real, for both the characters and the audience.  Nobody wanted the story to end.  It's a genuinely moving moment and the emotional payoff could have been so much more.

This secondary story feels tacked on because, essentially, it was.  We never see the fabulous cities the settlers built because by the time that part of the story was added, it was too late to film it.  Voyager can feel this way often: great ideas that are never fully realized.  

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Sharon Lawrence (Earhart) was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 29, 1961.  She went to UNC Chapel Hill where she got a degree in journalism.  She debuted on Broadway in a 1987 revival of Cabaret.

By the time the Voyager job came along, Lawrence already had a regular role on a bigger show: NYPD Blue, on which she played Sylvia Costas for six seasons.  Since then, she has also had principal roles on Fired Up, Ladies Man, Wolf Lake and Hidden Palms.  Films include Gossip, Middle of Nowhere and Solace.  She's had six Emmy nominations but has never won.