Green Alligators and Long-Necked Beasts

"Distant Origin" Plot Summary:

Two reptilian-looking scientists from the Voth examine the remains of Voyager crewman Hogan recovered from Hanan IV (the planet from "Basics"), and conclude that his species was closely related to their own. This supports their "distant origin" theory - the notion that their race did not evolve in that part of space, but emigrated there from elsewhere - and they determine to find Hogan's ship. They sneak aboard Voyager using a cloaking device, but the crew detects them and stuns the younger scientist while the older one escapes, taking Chakotay as a hostage.

Janeway and the Doctor use the holodeck to come to the same conclusion the Voth have already reached: the Voth are from Earth, direct descendants of dinosaurs. But when the scientists are taken into custody by the Voth leaders - which sieze Voyager as well - they are accused of heresy against doctrine. Threatened with the punishment of Voyager's entire crew as well as their own families for their crimes, they renounce the distant origin theory. Voyager leaves Voth space, but not before Chakotay gives one of the disgraced scientists a replica of Earth, so that he will remember where he comes from.

Analysis:

I thought this episode was great. I don't mean that I loved it like "The Cloud" and "Deadlock," which were mediocre science fiction with great character development, and I don't mean that I thought it was great science fiction like "Tuvix." I mean I loved it the way I loved Classic Trek, where Kirk pontificated in all his glory while Spock spouted plausible-sounding scientific explanations for aliens with cheesy makeup and big, silly technical devices.

"Distant Origin" was a fine successor to episodes like "Bread and Circuses" and "Return to Tomorrow." Where but Trek could we get Galileo and dinosaur duplicates in one place? This show did several things right. The first was the distant origin of the story: we didn't see a familiar face, not counting poor Hogan's skull, for the first quarter of the episode. I liked seeing the humans as the aliens, especially since the point was that we're all similar at the genetic level anyway.

The Voth leader was superlative - talked like T'Pau of Vulcan, thought like an Inquisitor. And the combination of religious fanaticism and political agenda she spouted, resonating with everything from Moral Majority narrow-mindedness to Klan racial ideology to U.S. manifest-destiny policies, was wonderfully evocative. I thought Chakotay's speech to her about her people's true heritage of glory was very Kirkian; perhaps if he had over-acted it in Shatner style, he would even have convinced the aliens of the errors of their ways, as Kirk always did.

I'm sure there are people with the scientific background who will criticize the dinosaur evolution theories, which were mumbo-jumbo at best...but this is the show which suggested that people are going to evolve into salamanders, after all. One might wish there had been something resembling character development; Paris and Torres playing already-tiresome Klingon mating games doesn't count (Tom got to be a hero, but will we ever see B'Elanna be something other than his girlfriend again?)

Nonetheless, I have no real complaints. This was a thoroughly enjoyable hour of TV which did not trash characters in the name of action as "Unity" did, and which offered enough of a plea for tolerance and open-mindedness that I wasn't sorry I watched Voyager instead of Ellen's coming-out party, which aired the same hour.