In the twenty-first episode of the sixth season of Voyager, the crew deals with a set of impostors wreaking havoc in the name of the Federation. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
I truly don’t think I’ll ever get over how weird this show is. More so than the other three Star Trek entities, Voyager is willingly to go to incredibly bizarre places. Part of the reason for that is due to the fact that the writers set this entire show in a quadrant unexplored within canon before. It’s allowed them to stay weird this whole time. But the story in “Live Fast and Prosper” is as old as the cons that the “fake” Voyager crew pulls. Even thousands of light years from home, people are still willing to take advantage of those who are kind and generous. In that sense, there’s nothing new within this story, but the writing for this episode gives us a glimpse into something that felt like it was bound to happen. Seriously, how had Star Trek not explored this concept before?
For what it’s worth, both the script and Levar Burton’s directing exploited the obvious comedy in this situation right from the start. Part of the humor here is based on how close Dala, Mobar, and Zar were to the original while being COMPLETELY NOT RIGHT AT ALL. That contrast was a lot of fun, and I thought it was smart of the show to open with such a jarring sequence. I was immediately reminded of the absurdity of the cold open of an episode of The X-Files which, I just realized, aired only eleven days after “Live Fast and Prosper.” (Seriously, the opening of “Hollywood A.D.,” in season 7, is remarkably similar in tone to this one.) Where that episode was meta-textual, though, this story highlights why Tuvok and Janeway are such a good pair. Indeed, throughout this, Mobar and Dala are always trying to capture the dynamic that Tuvok and Janeway naturally have. Spoiler alert: they can’t do it. At all.
The characters themselves – or at least what little we saw of their true personalities – were also fascinating! Dala, if that’s even her real name, was unapologetically a thief and a grifter, and I appreciated that the show didn’t really bother redeeming her or anybody. She was much more interesting as someone with the simplistic backstory that she gave Neelix. (And you know what? Even that could have been fake!) She learned to exploit others before they exploited her, and hey! It had gotten her that far. Zar is far less developed, so he felt much more like a fairly traditional con man.
Mobar, however… oh my god, y’all. I don’t think it’s exactly a stretch to suggest that in studying Tuvok’s file, Mobar developed an obsession with the Vulcan. HE GENUINELY WANTED TO BE HIM. Look how often Mobar stays within character! There’s absolutely no need for him to do that, yet he does it every single time. He refers to Dala as captain, he behaves as much like Tuvok as he can, and he immerses himself in this role as if there was nothing he’d rather be. I wanted backstory on him SO BADLY. Did he do this every time? Did he always improvise too much? Was he always the conman who took things way too far?
If there’s anything to complain about here, it’s just that final switch between the Doctor and Dala. Part of what’s fun about grifting and cons as entertainment is getting to see how a group pulled off said con. Here, we get all the details but a crucial one: When did the Doctor switch places with Dala? It’s a bizarre thing to leave out! I understand not showing it in real time, since the audience needed to believe the trick as well, but there’s not even a flashback to clue us in to what actually happened.
Otherwise, this was a lot of fun! Which probably means the rest of this season is going to hurt a LOT.
The video for “Live Fast and Prosper” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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