| Review : |
A classic 'haunted house' story with an ecological theme. It also shows a good deal of character development for B'elanna Torres, who seems to be slipping back into her old ways early on (probably while recovering from her depression) but trying to change for the better. Roxann Dawson put in a convincing performance just when one was needed. As for the Malon, they seemed less arrogant and self-interested here, but still defended their way of life. You got the sense that the revelation of what that life could do to some of the crew may have hit home somewhere. Still, this leaves a few unanswered questions. Will the Malon authorities rethink Janeway's reprocessing scheme? Will they ever change their ways? We never see them again, so we will never know. However, we can add a few more. Does Starfleet not issue anti-radiation suits? Why didn't someone adapt a few normal spacesuits? Does Malon territory really stretch to over 30,000 LY (taking the "Timeless" and "Dark Frontier" leaps into account)? Maybe this should have been broadcast a few episodes earlier. Still, the storyline holds up very well, and we should forgive these. A decent episode. |
| Review : |
All I want to point out here is once again, the EMH is not deployed for use in an exceedingly toxic environment. Also, if the environmental suits we see Kim and Paris use on the Demon class work there (at least for a while), then why could they not work here? I could even imagine how this could be an important diplomatic tool for Janeway: "In addition to the waste cleansing technology we showed you a couple years ago, we can also show you how to make better radiation-opaque suits that your freighter workers can use until you get a handle on your toxic wastes." I can also imagine the Delta Quadrant's general opinion of Voyager going up once word gets around that the Malon are no longer the ecological threat they used to be, thanks to Voyager. Overall, a good episode, but I would have liked to see some loose ends tied up before the Voyager finally moves out of the Malon's surprisingly expansive realm. |
