{"id":5800,"date":"2016-09-16T13:00:55","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T20:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5800"},"modified":"2016-08-11T10:28:48","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T17:28:48","slug":"mark-watches-voyager-s03e13-fair-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/09\/mark-watches-voyager-s03e13-fair-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Voyager’: S03E13 – Fair Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the thirteenth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>, Neelix tries his best to contribute to the well-being of the ship, and that ends in disaster. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>.<\/p>\n

You know, I like a lot of the ideas in this episode, but the execution of it never quite felt as exciting as it could have been. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a neat examination of Neelix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role on\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0and the first serious appearance of drug smuggling, but I think all the secondhand embarrassment was a little too much for me.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll explain. At the core of this story is Neelix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s need to feel wanted and necessary. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an absolutely valid thing for anyone to feel, and given that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not in Starfleet, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always struggled with finding a place among the crew. A cook hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always been a necessary feature of the mess hall, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only rarely called upon to be a morale officer. Janeway mentioned the possibility of Neelix becoming an official ambassador in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Macrocosm,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but the events in this episode threaten that.<\/p>\n

See,\u00c2\u00a0Voyager<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has now reached the edge of Neelix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowledge of the Delta Quadrant. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be an advisor for Janeway if he has no information, and so he believes that the only way he can remain onboard is if he makes himself immediately useful. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the crux of it here: he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see if his fears come true, nor does he sit down with Janeway and express those fears. He just\u00c2\u00a0acts<\/i>, impulsively so, even when his gut is telling them this is a bad idea. But at the very least, I understood why he behaved as he did\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 up to a point.<\/p>\n

Part of the problem with dealing with intricate character studies in this format is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to build a rapport between a character we know well and one we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just met. The writers have very little time to develop Wixiban here, so he ends up being annoying or uninteresting most of the time. You get a sense for his past relationship with Neelix; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re told that Neelix worked in jobs that were most likely illegal; but without seeing any of that, the story never packs the punch it should. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a classic case of telling versus showing, and as Neelix doubles down on each terrible decision and compounds the lies he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s telling, he becomes less recognizable to the audience.<\/p>\n

But I could have believed this journey if it were about an unending bout of errors surrounding a failed bit of smuggling. Once someone\u00c2\u00a0died<\/i>, though, I stopped being willing to accept that Neelix would have lied so readily about what had happened. It made no sense to me at all! And I get Neelix feeling confused and desperate, but outright lying to Tuvok and Janeway, the very people whose respect he is trying to earn? I suppose that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the inherent contradiction here, and I would love it if\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0was explored a bit more aside from the scathing moment at the end of the episode. Ultimately, if I liked Wixiban more or had a better understanding of Neelix\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fair Trade\u00e2\u20ac\u009d could have truly surprised me.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the worst episode by any means. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m surprised we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen more episodes acknowledging a drug trade in different parts of space; that interstellar marketplace was fantastic, too. Janeway is, once again, one of the best things about every scene she is in, from her defense of Chakotay\/Tom to her justified disciplining of Neelix. I loved that she refused to kick Neelix off the ship because that would\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been too easy. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a\u00c2\u00a0family<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0now! And that means being responsible for the complicated things that happen aboard the ship, even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something you like.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fair Trade\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":"