{"id":5743,"date":"2016-08-02T13:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-02T20:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5743"},"modified":"2016-07-18T12:29:26","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T19:29:26","slug":"mark-watches-voyager-s02e24-tuvix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/08\/mark-watches-voyager-s02e24-tuvix\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Voyager’: S02E24 – Tuvix"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, a transporter accident thrusts a terrible moral dilemma upon the crew. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of consent<\/b>.<\/p>\n

I thought this would be a wacky and silly episode.\u00c2\u00a0I was so wrong<\/i>. Indeed, the very idea of the transporter smushing together Neelix and Tuvok into one person is hilarious. Who else exists on such polar extremes as these two? Hell, the cold open definitively demonstrates that these two characters are utterly unlike one another. (I really think in another universe, Tuvok has already murdered Neelix. IT HAS HAPPENED.) So the concept of them existing in the same body is just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 bizarre? Unthinkable? Surely an absurd buddy caper of some sort?<\/p>\n

Yet it is the incredible acting power of Tom Wright, Jennifer Lien, and Kate Mulgrew that elevates this story \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which on paper sounds like too much \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to something transformative. And to be fair, the second half of this script deserves praise because it goes to a place I never expected. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the logical conclusion of this story, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to combine Tuvok and Neelix into a single character, then you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to separate them by the end of the episode, at least by the terms which\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0dictates its stories follow. This show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do the same kind of serialization that we get on\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space Nine<\/i>.<\/p>\n

So, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tuvix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asks an incredibly uncomfortable question: what does it mean to ask for these characters back? If we return Neelix and Tuvok to the show, what are we actually\u00c2\u00a0doing<\/i>? It seemed to be a simple enough conflict. All the team needed to do was discover a method of separating out the DNA of their crewmates from the local orchid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s DNA that caused the symbiogenetic fusion. Right? So, science! And in the meantime, things would be awkward, and Tuvix would get into ~constant shenanigans~ and then everything would be fine in the end. Oh, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be some angst from Kes, which would be understandable, but by the time the credits rolled, this\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a grand ol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 adventure.<\/p>\n

And then this episode turned to me and whispered,\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u009dNo.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/i><\/p>\n

I appreciate this episode for a number of things \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the casting, the acting, the writing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hone in on one thing. The writers follow through on what they create. It would have been so much easier to have Tuvix bumble about the ship, unable to fit in, and demand to be returned to his two separate identities. Instead, Tom Wright\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s portrayal of this composite character is an eerie amalgamation of the best qualities of Neelix and Tuvok, so much so that\u00c2\u00a0we begin to like him<\/i>. Not just the audience, but the crew itself comes to enjoy Tuvix as a person! He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s charming and funny, but Tuvok\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s logic tempers that humor. On the other side of the coin, Neelix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sense of humor and whimsy brings Tuvok\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s devotion to logic to a more grounded place. That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that the original characters are awful people, of course; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re polarizing characters.<\/p>\n

Even when it comes to Kes, who has the most complicated journey out of anyone else on the crew, she eventually accepts that Tuvix is someone she can be friends with and possibly more. The depiction of that is honest and real, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why this episode hits as hard as it does. Kes loves Neelix, and even if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great deal of Neelix in Tuvix, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the same. But oh my god, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES IN ALL OF\u00c2\u00a0STAR TREK<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0IN THIS EPISODE. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I adore that moment where Kes reaches out to Janeway, and Janeway delivers poignant, sympathetic advice. She draws a heartbreaking parallel to what the original crew have been going through: whether or not to have hope that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see their loved ones ever again. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d not even considered that angle, but then, from just one scene, MY HEART WAS READY TO EXPLODE.<\/p>\n

Except it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tuvix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was saving one last punch to my emotions for the final act. Tuvix, over the course of this episode, became a person.\u00c2\u00a0Was<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a person. He had his own identity, his own life, his own experiences. He successfully found a way to settle in on\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, and he affected people. He became an advisor for Janeway, and he improved the cooking in the mess hall. He mattered for the few weeks he was here, and it was in his every right to want to live. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the uncomfortable place we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re taken: Why should Tuvix sacrifice his life? Does his consent matter?<\/p>\n

I imagine that this was a\u00c2\u00a0very<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0polarizing episode, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame people for being horrified by this ending. But Tuvok and Neelix had to come back, and that meant that without Tuvix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consent, Janeway would have to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153kill\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tuvix. It is an absolutely heartbreaking sequence, from Tuvix trying to appeal to the moral sensibility of\u00c2\u00a0anyone<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0on the bridge to the Doctor refusing to do the procedure. But Wright fixes a sober look on Tuvix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face just before Janeway herself activates the transporter beam, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a total condemnation of what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing, a quiet refusal to give his willpower to anyone else. This is something\u00c2\u00a0everyone<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0will have to live with. Yes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great to get Tuvok and Neelix back, but there was a cost to do so, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tuvix\u00e2\u20ac\u009d doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shy away from portraying that.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tuvix\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>
\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\u00a0 Mark 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":"