In the sixteenth episode of the seventh season of Voyager, THIS IS SO RELENTLESSLY CREEPY. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of consent and nonconsensual drugging.
Oh, there’s so much more I need to know, y’all. The nature of “Workforce is such that the majority of information is hidden: from us, from these characters, from the massive workforce that the Quarren authorities have collected from all over the quadrant. It’s designed that way, and each new fragment revealed to the audience inspires a thousand more questions.
I don’t want my review to be just those questions, as I imagine I’ll get some answers in the second half of this story. At the same time, this is a heinous and brutal mystery, one that’s built on the idea that these characters have all been chemically brainwashed into believing that they are happy workers. That seems so absurd on the surface because, as far as I can tell, this planet is a great place to work! Jobs aren’t particularly horrible; there’s employee housing that’s decent and livable; people are treated well by security staff and other senior employees. Why can’t the Quarren authorities attract workers based on this alone?
It’s got to be an issue of numbers. Even if they could attract a sizable workforce through traditional AND ETHICAL means, it’s not enough. So what have they resorted to? As far as I can tell, here’s what the Quarren people do: they set up radiation mines nearby that force people to evacuate their ships. They then “rescue” these people, and under the promise of curing them of the effects of radiation (which they were responsible for in the first place!!!), they “inoculate” them. Now, there’s been no explanation thus far as to how those injections block people’s memories and transform them into “happy” workers, but we know that’s how it’s done. These inoculations still allow people to retain some sense of identity, at least their names and key elements of their personality. However, their memory of time before they were kidnapped? Well, it’s a nebulous existence. No one seems to remember anything, yet there are vague things people to refer to. Like B’Elanna knowing she doesn’t admit she’s wrong often, or that she’s historically kept her guard up. Then, we’ve got B’Elanna and Tom drifting towards one another, as if they were destined as a couple. Which is fascinating because it feels like a commentary on how memory can work, how things can be burned into our core identity. Maybe??? I don’t actually know where this is going, but y’all, it seems excessively cruel for the Quarren to wipe the memories of a married couple who are expecting a child. They couldn’t keep that part of their minds??? Maybe the technology isn’t that specific or exact.
Regardless, debating the details overlooks the fact that ALL OF THIS IS WRONG AND HORRIBLE. Gods, remember at the opening of this when I thought they were all undercover? The horror creeps into “Workforce” once the audience realizes these people are being held against their will due to being drugged and brainwashed, which is precisely why I can’t feel anything but abject revulsion towards Janeway’s budding romance with Jaffen. Look, I need to know: is he a brainwashed worker, too? Is the entire workforce under control? If so, then that makes their courting unfortunate and uncomfortable. It is downright despicable if Jaffen knows what’s going on and is still pursuing this relationship. BUT I DON’T KNOW. I don’t know what to do with this! So it’s harder to comment on this story because by the time the cliffhanger rolls around, I’m still waiting on more things to be revealed. I’m guessing they’ll be able to de-program B’Elanna, but what about Chakotay? Is he going to escape capture? ALSO, TUVOK MIND MELDED WITH SEVEN AND THE AUTHORITIES DON’T KNOW WHAT HE STARTED IN HER. She’s the next to break the brainwashing, isn’t she???
So, I think I’ll wait to see how this is resolved before I save more. In short: oh my god, this is so deeply, deeply unsettling, y’all.
The video for “Workforce, Part I” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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