{"id":4834,"date":"2018-03-26T06:26:19","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T06:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/113-Cathexis"},"modified":"2018-03-26T06:26:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T06:26:19","slug":"113-cathexis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/26\/113-cathexis\/","title":{"rendered":"1.13 — \u201cCathexis\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.13 — \u201cCathexis\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Tuvok and Chakotay return from an ambush with injuries including Chakotay’s brain death. It emerges that a disembodied alien intelligence has entered Voyager<\/em> which operates by taking over the brains of the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> It’s a brain drain, all right. We are in \u201cSpock\u2019s Brain\u201d territory this week, from a teleplay whose author, Brannon Braga, should know better. We begin with totally cavalier treatment of the brain death of Chakotay. His brain has been drained of energy! By the sentient nebula which is conniving to suck the brain energy out of all the other members of the crew! Because braaaaiiiins<\/em>. This is pure Plan 9 From Outer Space<\/em>-level swill, without the campy aesthetic of Ed Wood (or even \u201cSpock\u2019s Brain\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCathexis\u201d seems to cycle through homages to better Original Series episodes, never committing to one for long. After the invocation of \u201cSpock\u2019s Brain,\u201d the repeated failures of efforts to approach the nebula recall the approach to the Talosians in \u201cThe Menagerie\u201d \/ \u201cThe Cage.\u201d The disembodied consciousness jumping from body to body is Jack the Ripper in \u201cWolf in the Fold.\u201d Suddenly Voyager<\/em> is drawn into the pursuit between two alien consciousnesses, and it\u2019s \u201cLet This Be Your Last Battlefield.\u201d Only the thin illusion of depth is conjured with each reference, a momentary distraction from the lack of logic underpinning the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I will concede a few moments of effective suspense (aided by inexplicably shadowy lighting, such as in Janeway\u2019s ready room), but this is a lame effort. These comments quoted on Memory Alpha sum up my feelings well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Michael Piller: \u201cI was not comfortable with the logic of a lot of the things going on. . . . there’s not a lot of logic to the way people were acting in the show\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brannon Braga: \u201cIn the end […] it’s really not about anything. Not my greatest shining moment. It’s got tension and action at a point when we needed an infusion of that, but that’s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Janeway\u2019s holonovel is diverting, hot on the heels of Harry Kim\u2019s Beowulf<\/em> experience last week. The Jane Eyre<\/em> pastiche is fine, but a little obvious for a female captain. Why not actually use characters and situations from Jane Eyre<\/em>? Or better yet, Treasure Island<\/em> or a swashbuckler from Alexandre Dumas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I notice that Chakotay, Tuvok, and others receive bloodless injuries, but not Kes, who is the first recipient of a Vulcan Neck Pinch to be bruised on the neck. Why is it always physical violence against women? Fetishising strangulation of a young woman is not worthy of the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2 out of 5 spread beam hand phaser blasts.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Cathexis<\/a>