In the twenty-third episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, I WILL GET MY REVENGE. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For talk of coulrophobia \/ fear of clowns, torture, phobias in general.<\/b><\/p>\n
What the unholy\u00c2\u00a0fuck<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0have you all done to me.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like clowns. I just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care what form they take, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care what they look like, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
Yeah. This episode fucked me up.<\/p>\n
But I really do want to look beyond the visceral horror of it all, though that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an integral part of the experience of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Thaw.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Three things take this episode out of being a mere horror flick, though I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean to suggest the horror elements are a detriment to the story. Look, this episode honestly looks like a warped version of\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series<\/i>, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Yes, this terrified me, but let me acknowledge a few other things before I yell at all of you.<\/p>\n
Michael McKean<\/b><\/p>\n
I HAD NO IDEA HE GUESTED ON THIS SHOW, AND NOW I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M GOING TO BE TERRIFIED OF HIS FACE EVERY TIME I SEE IT. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable at this point that McKean\u00c2\u00a0makes<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0this episode, and a less skilled actor would have taken this in a campy direction that wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as frightening. But McKean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face has a ferocity to it here, one that is able to communicate The Clown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s violent whimsy and his desperation. Because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a major reason why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so scary. He enjoys every second of this whole experience.<\/p>\n
He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of those antagonists who is, at his core, incredibly sad. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Elanna, Harry, the Doctor, and Janeway besting him, too! They all, in part, expose his flaws as they methodically take him down. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s satisfying!<\/p>\n
Fear<\/b><\/p>\n
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\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0be 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, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Thaw\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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?<\/p>\n
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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t face any chance of it happening.<\/p>\n
Sort of.<\/p>\n
Janeway<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m seriously\u00c2\u00a0never<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0going to get over the image of Janeway walking into The Clown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reality, that look of certainty on her face. I honestly felt like I was watching something special. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen all the time with\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>, but every so often, I realize I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m watching something iconic and\u00c2\u00a0important<\/i>. Janeway\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defeat of The Clown \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is one of the most cathartic scenes in\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0history. I just know it is. And what could be more iconic than Janeway telling The Clown that starship captains don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t succumb to fear?<\/p>\n
The more I think about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Thaw,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. It was frightening and revealing, and I am certain it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll end up being one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.<\/p>\n
ALSO: FUCK ALL OF YOU FOR THIS, THAT EPISODE MADE MY SPIRIT WANT TO SPILL OUT OF MY BODY AND EVAPORATE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Thaw\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here 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 twenty-third episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager, I WILL GET MY REVENGE. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.<\/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-5734","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\/5734","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=5734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5734"}],"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":"