In the eighth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, THIS IS A LOT. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of unreality and hallucinations<\/b>.<\/p>\n
This is one of those\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0episodes that I normally designate as An Experience and not much more, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something about Jeri Taylor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script that haunts me. Nothing is erased by the end of this story, and what these people witnessed might actually play a part in future storylines! Plus, Taylor just goes IN. She figures out what would most distract or disrupt these characters, and then she RUINS THEM.<\/p>\n
And up until that point where \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Persistence of Vision\u00e2\u20ac\u009d just goes completely ridiculous, the episode\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0follow a fairly predictable path. Well, somewhat. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m used to the\u00c2\u00a0Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0canon giving us a story where one person on a ship experiences a weird thing that no one else does. In Janeway\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the bizarre glimpses of her holonovel story, WHICH I WILL MAINTAIN IS ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING THINGS IN THIS ENTIRE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, hundreds of years in the future, self-insert fanfiction and roleplaying is still alive and well, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goddamn\u00c2\u00a0beautiful<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that this is a MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED STRESS REDUCTION TECHNIQUE. Anyway, while Janeway tries to use her Jane Eyre-esque story to relax, the characters in her holonovel start to appear outside the holodeck.<\/p>\n
CUE THE CREEPY EXPERIENCES. CUE JANEWAY FREAKING OUT. CUE SHENANIGANS. I admit I was entertained by this episode, even if it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the most groundbreaking story I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d seen. Once Kes was able to see Beatrice, though, I began to see \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Persistence of Vision\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as something more than just the Experience. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got another update on Kes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abilities, though I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see her get her own story that is based solely on that. (NO MORE LOVE TRIANGLES.) The telepathic nature of the Bothan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attack was fascinating, too, but even then, the script still stuck to a familiar pattern.<\/p>\n
I suppose that even in the end, it still does. But getting to see what it Taylor came up with to unravel these characters was by far the best thing in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Persistence of Vision.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sometimes, it was obvious. I understood why Tom Paris was waylaid by his awful, unsupportive father, or why Harry obsessed over his fiance\u00c3\u00a9. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a depth to what B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Elanna, Tuvok, and Janeway experience that utterly surprised me. Janeway missed her husband and her dog, yet why was she tormented by images from her holonovel? BECAUSE SHE WAS FEELING GUILTY THAT THIS CONSTITUTED HER BEING UNFAITHFUL TO HER HUSBAND. Oh my god, I had never even\u00c2\u00a0considered<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this as a possibility. Yet it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that eats away at Janeway, despite that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s able to resist it for so long.<\/p>\n
Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tuvok, who I expected to be the only person immune to the Bothan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powers. However, even his logical mind can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t resist the pull of his wife. TELL ME HE DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T HAVE EMOTIONS AGAIN, HE TOTALLY DOES. Also: Oh my god, I hope we somehow see more of T\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Pel. Please?<\/p>\n
And look, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m\u00c2\u00a0surprised<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Elanna is attracted to Chakotay. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not! It makes a lot of sense, given how close they were. I just did not expect that attraction to be so\u00c2\u00a0intense<\/i>. (What was Chakotay seeing, by the way?) And if the final scene is any indication, B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Elanna can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore this any longer. SO WHEN IS IT GONNA HAPPEN. IS THIS A REAL THING. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M COOL WITH IT.<\/p>\n
I must also give props to Jennifer Lien, whose performance here is SO GODDAMN GOOD. I already want to see her telepathically battling aliens week after week, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Kes ends up being the one to save everyone, though some credit goes to the Doctor for helping Kes stay grounded as she fought the unnamed Bothan. As for the Bothan? Well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re given another ambiguous ending, though I felt less critical of it than recent episodes. This could have been a diplomatic mission and a learning opportunity, but the Bothan attack prevented that from happening. Thus, it all ends as a mystery. Nothing was exchanged between the Bothan and the Federation, and hopefully, if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another contact with them, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go this terribly.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Persistence of Vision\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b> In the eighth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager, THIS IS A LOT. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[614,656],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-5649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-star-trek","category-voyager","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"