{"id":5787,"date":"2016-09-05T13:00:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-05T20:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5787"},"modified":"2016-08-08T11:01:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T18:01:32","slug":"mark-watches-voyager-s03e09-futures-end-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/09\/mark-watches-voyager-s03e09-futures-end-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Voyager’: S03E09 – Future’s End, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, Janeway and crew race to stop Sterling. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

I really wanted to like this more than I did. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entertaining on one level, but I ultimately found this to be an unsatisfying story. The pieces are here for something great, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re haphazardly thrown together, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Future\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s End, Part II\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ends up feeling disjointed. So many stories are attempted here, and they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever gel together. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk!<\/p>\n

Sterling<\/b><\/p>\n

This is a good example of why one-note villains are hard to pull off. For someone as brilliant and savvy as Sterling is, he comes off as entirely absurd at the end of the episode. The man recognizes the power of time travel, enough to see an immediate gain for himself, and yet, the show portrays him as stubborn when it comes to the ramifications of what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a particularly frustrating exchange where Janeway insists that Sterling will destroy the 29th century if he travels there, which includes him destroying himself. He asserts that this is a risk worth taking because the 29th century is 900 years away. But\u00c2\u00a0you<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going there<\/i>, sir! It won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0be<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0900 years away! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the whole point!<\/p>\n

This kind of dense logic permeates his characterization, and we never get an in-depth explanation of why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like this. Well, we get\u00c2\u00a0close<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0when he insists that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a savior of humanity through technology, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get how someone this bright can be so ridiculous at the same time. The writers try to get us to understand that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s operating with a limited knowledge of time travel, which is a sensible thing, yet his idea to travel so far ahead in time, makes no real sense to me. Maybe if Janeway had tried to explain how the timeship crashed in the first place, Sterling would have been receptive to the idea of\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0time traveling, but again, not much is developed here.<\/p>\n

Pacing<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the other major problems I saw here is that the show jumps from one absurd conflict to another without spending much time addressing why these plots are so important. Once Sterling is beamed to\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s snatched away as soon as it appears that the writers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to do with him in captivity. Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the clumsy attempt to kidnap Sterling, which just came off as awkward. Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the absolutely bizarre set of scenes in Arizona, which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk about in a bit, as well as the unnecessary Rain\/Tom romance. We jump around so much in forty-five minutes that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very little focus, and I felt spread out while watching this.<\/p>\n

Arizona<\/b><\/p>\n

WHAT THE FUCK,\u00c2\u00a0VOYAGER<\/i>. Look, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of me that appreciates the bizarre attempt at realism here because there\u00c2\u00a0are<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0tons of gun-toting, paranoid, government-hating racists who live in Arizona. SOME OF THEM ARE ON MY MOM\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SIDE OF THE FAMILY. But what were the writers thinking here? Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stick two of the characters portrayed by Latinx actors in a situation where angry white men with guns threaten them while also being obviously racist? Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not exactly entertaining, but even if I ignore that (I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t), the story exists just to pass time. There is no point to it. B\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Elanna and Chakotay crash, are captured and tied up, threatened, and then the Doctor rescues them. The end.<\/p>\n

Rain<\/b><\/p>\n

I suspected that the show was going to push her and Tom together, which is disappointing because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just such a common story in the\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0universe. I\u00c2\u00a0do<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0believe that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an awesome character, one that I would have loved to see more of, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing this is her only appearance. But look how great she is in this scenario! Much like I theorized, her keen observation skills helped her to completely refuse the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153story\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Tom and Tuvok told her. That dynamic was great because I felt it was a direct commentary on how often people assume that in a fictional scenario like this, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be able to trick people.<\/p>\n

Not Rain, though. And gods, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a cool thing to watch that I would kill to see her onboard\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>. For a second there, I thought Janeway was going to invite her! All she wanted to do was play amongst the stars, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what this crew did.\u00c2\u00a0Every day<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Wrapped Up<\/b><\/p>\n

Yet I understand the constraints here. I tend not to like episodes that erase all the growth and development with an easy fix, so I was sad when Braxton came back through the rift to announce that he was repairing the past. Gone were the sightings of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0or the shuttle craft, and gone were all of Rain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experiences with this group of people. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little too clean for my tastes, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entirely a negative ending. The Doctor got to keep that amazing piece of technology that allows him to be anywhere outside of Sick Bay. YES. YES. GREAT DEVELOPMENT, A+. And as hard as it was to watch it, I thought it was bold of the writers to deny\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the chance to cut off some of their return journey. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a sad scene, and you can see the defeat in their faces, but\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0had to happen.<\/p>\n

This is not at all the worst episode of this show, and I certainly wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bored by it. It just could have been better.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Future\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s End, Part II\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":"