126 – Riddles

Grade: A

Summary

Tuvok and Neelix are on an away mission together. When they return to Voyager, Tuvok goes into the back part of the Delta Flyer. There he finds evidence of an alien intruder, and he gets zapped. This causes severe trauma to his brain, but he starts to recover. The only problem is that his brain starts to make new connections and he becomes a completely different type of character. He enjoys music, displays cooking skill, and starts to develop a real friendship with Neelix.

Commentary

OK, finally, a really, really great episode from Voyager. I absolutely loved this one. OK, so there’s use of the reset button, as we all have come to expect. And yes, we know it’s coming – it’s obvious. But still, it’s not so much the Reset Button that I hate. What I hate is when there are no consequences for what happened in the episode. We don’t have that here, because the relationship between Neelix and Tuvok is going to be different forever.

I loved seeing the new Tuvok. I think this is Tim Russ’s best work in this series. It’s unbelievable how different he is after the accident. Would I be willing to do the same thing he did, if I went through a similar situation? Who knows? Honestly, I think this could have worked very well as a movie. We don’t need to have aliens and explosions and space battles and etc. every single week. We really can have a great character-driven episode from this series. And that’s what I’ve been wanting to see for a very long time from this series. In terms of character development, I don’t think any previous Voyager episode even comes close to this one.

I really loved how this episode ends. Several characters have to make different sacrifices in order for this outcome to take place. The alien investigator on the ship actually turns out to be a really good person. He could pursue or continue with his investigation, but he gives up what he really wants in order to help save Tuvok. Neelix also makes a huge sacrifice in order to save Tuvok. And finally, Tuvok himself makes a big sacrifice in order to help the ship and crew.

Of Note

Roxann Dawson directed this episode, and I have to say she did an excellent job. I believe this is the best directing that this series has produced so far.