In the twenty-third episode of the second season of Voyager, I WILL GET MY REVENGE. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For talk of coulrophobia / fear of clowns, torture, phobias in general.
What the unholy fuck have you all done to me.
I don’t like clowns. I just don’t. I don’t care what form they take, I don’t care what they look like, and I don’t care to hear a single justification or explanation for their existence. So an entire episode filled to the brim with clown-like nightmares who aid in tormenting people trapped in a virtually reality…
Yeah. This episode fucked me up.
But I really do want to look beyond the visceral horror of it all, though that’s an integral part of the experience of “The Thaw.†Three things take this episode out of being a mere horror flick, though I don’t mean to suggest the horror elements are a detriment to the story. Look, this episode honestly looks like a warped version of The Original Series, and that’s definitely one of the reasons I felt so unnerved. That set looked eerily familiar, and it plagued me the entire time. The bright colors, the nonsensical behavior of the background actors, and the absurdity of the script took me back to a number of stories from the second and third seasons of The Original Series.
Yes, this terrified me, but let me acknowledge a few other things before I yell at all of you.
Michael McKean
I HAD NO IDEA HE GUESTED ON THIS SHOW, AND NOW I’M GOING TO BE TERRIFIED OF HIS FACE EVERY TIME I SEE IT. It’s undeniable at this point that McKean makes this episode, and a less skilled actor would have taken this in a campy direction that wasn’t as frightening. But McKean’s face has a ferocity to it here, one that is able to communicate The Clown’s violent whimsy and his desperation. Because that’s the truth of his character: he is desperate to exist, and that manifests through his wacky sadism. His parties are an extension of the power he has over the people he holds hostage, and that’s a major reason why he’s so scary. He enjoys every second of this whole experience.
He’s one of those antagonists who is, at his core, incredibly sad. I wouldn’t say that makes him a sympathetic character, but we come to understand him through the way that interacts with the characters around him. I admit to deriving pleasure from watching B’Elanna, Harry, the Doctor, and Janeway besting him, too! They all, in part, expose his flaws as they methodically take him down. It’s satisfying!
Fear
And so is the theme of this episode itself. I adore that the script is so explicit about the complexity of fear. It is not a negative emotion in every context. Often, it can protect us, allow us to see things or people that might harm us, or motivate us to do things we might not normally do. The Clown is a corruption of fear, a manifestation of an emotion that can be good for people to feel. (Hey, I love ridiculous rollercoasters; the more terrifying, the better.) I imagine that for anyone who has been a victim of extreme fear, “The Thaw†presents a literal nightmare scenario. What if your worst fears were acted out in front of you over and over again? What if a being could then adapt to your fears so that even if you found a way to face them, it could then find a new way to torment you?
The great irony, of course, is that The Clown is riddled with fear. He is so afraid of losing his virtual reality that he can’t face any chance of it happening.
Sort of.
Janeway
I’m seriously never going to get over the image of Janeway walking into The Clown’s reality, that look of certainty on her face. I honestly felt like I was watching something special. It doesn’t happen all the time with Star Trek, but every so often, I realize I’m watching something iconic and important. Janeway’s defeat of The Clown – made by a clever trick that involves her facing her fear of him and allowing her conscious mind to be hooked to one of the pods – is one of the most cathartic scenes in Star Trek history. I just know it is. And what could be more iconic than Janeway telling The Clown that starship captains don’t succumb to fear?
The more I think about “The Thaw,†the more I come to appreciate the ambitious concept and the expert execution. To be honest, this episode should have been a terrible mess, but it wasn’t. It was frightening and revealing, and I am certain it’ll end up being one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.
ALSO: FUCK ALL OF YOU FOR THIS, THAT EPISODE MADE MY SPIRIT WANT TO SPILL OUT OF MY BODY AND EVAPORATE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.
The video for “The Thaw†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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