In the fifth episode of the fifth season of Voyager, Neelix struggles with his own traumatic past as he tries to protect the child of a crewmate. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.Â
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of trauma, grief, and anxiety.Â
There are a lot of moving pieces in “Once Upon a Time,” and in lesser hands, this might have been a mess. Yet there’s a genuine care spread across this story, one that exists in the holodeck scenes with Flotter and Naomi, while also showing us that Neelix’s history of trauma matters a great deal. And I’m fascinated that storytelling plays such a grand part in this all! The cold open to this episode is bizarre, but it’s a fitting introduction: what happens when problems seem impossible to solve?
I want to touch on the Flotter and Trevis element first, though, at least before I get into some of the heavier aspects of this episode. Earlier in Voyager, we got to see how the crew had become obsessed with holonovels, which still remains a true tragedy to this day. WHAT OTHER STORIES ARE THEY OBSESSED WITH. WHERE IS THE HOLONOVEL-WRITING COMMUNITY ON THIS SHIP. WHY ISN’T THIS A THING. However, “Once Upon a Time” introduces a cultural mythology in Flotter and Trevis that suggests that many people in the Federation grew up with their stories. The brilliance of this is that these narratives helped younger minds adapt to problem-solving. Why is that important? Because so much of this story is about adapting to the unknown and the scary! In the midst of Neelix’s attempt to distract Naomi from news of her mother’s away mission, she unknowingly chooses a holodeck story that is about loss and grief.
And look, the Flotter/Trevis stories are new to me, and I was still fucked up by watching Flotter burn up and evaporate. WHAT THE HELL. At the same time, many of the stories I’ve become attached to over the years – and I do mean from my childhood to like, three weeks ago – were those that addressed topics that were uncomfortable, frightening, and bewildering. Which is why it’s so sad to watch Neelix’s reaction to it. We understand it, given his history, but he didn’t view the story as a way to finally tell Naomi the truth. Instead, he saw it as a threat.
Again, it’s not like this is entirely inconceivable for his character. In that sense, “Once Upon a Time” also succeeds. The death of Neelix’s entire family long ago affects this story so much, and I appreciated the sympathy that this episode offered in that regard. Despite how obvious it is to everyone else that Neelix’s “distraction” plan is a bad thing that’ll surely backfire, the writers still take care to show us why Neelix’s trauma should be respected. And you know how I know that?
The scene with Janeway. Look, you do not yell at Janeway. EVER. I actually steeled myself for an angry reaction from her after Neelix shouted at her on the Bridge. Instead, she took him into her ready room, and she gave him understanding. It’s the most astounding scene in the entire episode. She empathizes with him, and then uses that to convince him that he should alter his treatment of Naomi. She sees how clever, capable, and courageous Naomi has been! It only made sense to her that Naomi be treated with respect.
Naomi is all the better from it, too. Yes, her conversation with Neelix after he betrays her is hard, but like Janeway, she understands why this was so hard for him. SHE IS JUST SO PURE AND GOOD, Y’ALL.
It’s possible that I’m feeling a lot of affection for this episode because it’s been weeks since I last saw a Voyager episode due to travel, but y’all, this was a fantastic episode to come back to. Bravo!
The video for “Once Upon a Time” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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