Voyager finds their crew being replaced with confused aliens. Originally broadcast on May 7, 1997 this is displaced.
The Episode:
Captain’s Log Stardate 50912.4 Displaced.
Members of the Nyrian race begin appearing on Voyager as members of Voyager begin to vanish. Soon it becomes clear that these confused aliens are up to something…
The Story:
After Paris and Torres argue over Tom’s interest in Klingon martial arts, the two find themselves face to face with a confused alien who appears before them. Taking him to sickbay, the man claims to be a Nyrian who was walking in the street only to be transported to Voyager. They soon realize that Kes was transported away at the same moment and Janeway orders an investigation.
Soon it begins happening again with Ensign Kim along with over twenty others being swapped with Nyrians. Although the Nyrians maintain their confused nature giving no indication of hostility, Janeway is not convinced they are being fully honest.
Before long, the truth comes out and it seems that the Nyrians are indeed taking over the ship and have used this strategy many times before, swapping people out, one by one, until it is too late. Chakotay manages to transfer the Doctor to a mobile emitter before being taken himself and soon finds that the crew has been transferred to an environment that is really nothing more than a prison, despite all of the crew’s needs being taken care of. With the help of a neighboring alien, who is also being held against their will, Janeway and the crew manage to reverse the process and retake the ship.
Is this a ‘Good’ Episode:
While it is a really simple story with a very basic plot, despite my very brief overview of the episode, it is actually a pretty decent story. Not only do we get more of the relationship between Torres and Paris, playing off of a bet made between them in the previous episode, resulting in us seeing B’Elanna’s reluctance to embrace or acknowledge her Klingon Heritage. This reluctance becomes a growing issue that threatens their relationship as the series progresses making for some very great character development between the two.
The idea of a species quietly replacing a crew is not unheard of but this episode does it in a really cool manner even sweeping crew-members away as they are talking to others. While we never see the Nyrians again, they make for a fascinating, if rather subversive species.
Overall, good story, if not somewhat predictable. One of the rare instances of a solid filler episode.
Gleanings and Cool Bits:
- 0 photon torpedoes fired, 27 remaining.
- 0 shuttlecraft lost or destroyed, 3 remaining.
- The Rite of Tal’oth is established in this episode indicating a four month rite of maturity that Vulcans go through.
Thanks for reading the Retro TV Review, I look forward to discussing the rest of the series with you, one episode at a time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Next Review: Worst Case Scenario
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Late To The Game 8/31/2020
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