Rise
Stardate: Unknown
Original Airdate: February 26, 1997
By Christina Luckings
The Story
Voyager is assisting the Nezu to save one of their colony worlds
from an asteroid bombardment, but things are not going to plan.
The asteroids are not breaking up as they are meant to, and the
observers on the bridge – Sklar and the Ambassador - are
not pleased when two fragments hit the surface of the planet.
This time the area of impact was uninhabited, but the next one
is expected to hit a populated one. Doctor Vatm hails from the
surface and announces that he has discovered that the asteroids
are not what they seem. Sklar insists that they should give up
and evacuate the colony, while the Ambassador asks for help finding
the Doctor. Chakotay tells B’Elanna to get a sample of
the last asteroid to find out why it wasn’t vaporised by
their phasers, and Tuvok puts together three search teams.
Neelix comes dashing into sickbay demanding medicines. The EMH
suggests a tranquillizer to calm him down after the Captain agreed
to let him join Tuvok’s team, and advises him just to watch
and learn. Vulcans are very hard to impress. Sklar goes with
them in the shuttlecraft, and is very alarmed by the turbulence
they encounter on the way down. Kim monitors their problems as
they crash-land, and Chakotay orders the other teams to be informed
of their status. Then he goes to engineering with the Ambassador
to examine the fragment of asteroid Torres has beamed aboard.
Tuvok opens the shuttle door to discover Doctor Vatm and Hanjuan
have come to investigate the crash. The Doctor refuses to tell
of his discovery to anyone but the Ambassador, much to Sklar’s
annoyance. The shuttle is damaged, and Tuvok sends Neelix outside
to check on the antennae so that they can contact Voyager. Out
there he notices an orbital tether in the distance which links
the planet to an orbital station. Vatm tells him that the induction
coils were damaged in the last impact, but Neelix has prior experience
of mag-lev systems and is sure he can rig something up to get
them above the ionosphere where they can contact Voyager with
their comm. badges. Tuvok thinks through the pros and cons, then
agrees.
The base of the tether is home to Lillias, and she holds a knife
to Neelix’s throat until she is assured that they do not
want her supplies, and that they can fix the carriage to get
them all off the ground. She doubts if they will have enough
air for 6, but Neelix persuades her that they do not need to
go the whole 12 hours to the station, and she releases him, agreeing
to help.
Close scans of the asteroid debris reveal traces of an alloy,
and Chakotay breaks it open to reveal a guidance system control
node. The bombardment is not a natural occurrence after all.
Repairs to the mag-lev carriage are proceeding well, given that
Neelix is the only one who seems to know how things work. Tuvok
however is not pleased with the amount of time he spends just
talking to the others, and is scathing at his naming it Alixia,
after his adventurous elder sister. Lillias confides that she
hasn’t heard from her sister since the first impact three
weeks ago, and shares some water with him. The group are still
working when Doctor Vatm tries to launch the carriage without
them. They manage to break in, and start heading skywards before
the tether base collapses in rubble, but the ascent is not stable
and they begin to lose mag-lev cohesion. In danger of falling
back, Neelix decides that they need to speed up, and he gets
it up to 47 kph which solves their immediate problem. The early
lift off has damaged the oxygen converters and caused some microfractures
but when Tuvok asks Neelix about some of the systems he discovers
that the carriages that the Talaxian worked on were actually
models. Then an argument flares between Lillias and Vatm, and
when Tuvok steps in, Hanjuan demands to know who put him in charge.
The Vulcan is forced to demonstrate his physical superiority
in order to keep things under control.
Paris reports back to Voyager that there is no sign of either
Vatm or the shuttle, while Kim announces that a huge asteroid
is only two hours away from impact. In the carriage, the air
is beginning to get thin, so Tuvok injects everyone with tri-ox
compound to help their breathing. As a Vulcan, he is adapted
to breathing thin air naturally, so Neelix decides that he had
better show him how to fly the carriage. Doctor Vatm distracts
them by attempting to open the door, saying that there is something
on the roof that is important, then he collapses and dies. Tuvok’s
tricorder reveals that he was poisoned by fluid from the tether
couplings in his water supply. As that system is sealed, it must
be murder. As Tuvok and Hanjuan argue, Neelix announces that
they must go outside and find out what the Doctor was talking
about. Tuvok is dismissive of his instincts, so Neelix stops
the carriage anyway, and lashes out at the Vulcan. Lillias backs
Neelix up, saying how dismissive Tuvok is of him. Tuvok denies
having feelings for Neelix, which is precisely his point, he
has no feelings for, but plenty of feelings against. The carriage
will not move until they have searched the roof. Tuvok announces
that he is the logical choice as he can breath out there, and
goes to look for Neelix’s instinct. Perhaps it will be
marked, he comments.
Once out in the cold thin wind, Tuvok discovers a data storage
device and scans it to discover it contains tactical information
on a alien starship. He informs Neelix of his find, and Sklar
heads off to the roof, hitting Neelix and injuring him. On the
roof, he struggles with Tuvok, and the Vulcan falls, fortunately
grabbing a handhold on the way down. Safely back inside, Sklar
orders them to get the carriage moving, waving Tuvok’s
phaser and kicking Neelix to try and make him get up. He does
not, so the rest have to try and work it out for themselves.
Voyager has the large asteroid in visual range, and discover
that it is a ship of the Etanian Order disguising itself with
its shields. Janeway refuses to back away, and orders battle
stations.
While Lillias struggles with the controls and Sklar orders Hanjuan
outside to check the couplings, Neelix opens his eyes to see
Tuvok at the door. Slowly, painfully, he reaches for the controls
and opens it. With air rushing out, Tuvok comes in and fights
Sklar for the phaser. Finally, Sklar loses his footing and falls
out of the carriage, back to the planet. With the door closed
again, Tuvok sees to Neelix’s injury, and thanks him for
his assistance, but confesses that he does not know enough about
Talaxian physiognomy to treat his concussion. However, when he
exhorts Neelix to try and pilot the ship, for Alixia, the little
man struggles to the controls and gets the carriage moving once
again.
Voyager and the Etanians are exchanging weapons fire when the
carriage breaks through the ionosphere and Tuvok is able to contact
the ship. As Voyager’s shields begin to fail, Tuvok uses
the data in the storage device to remodulate the phasers and
cut through the Etanian defences to destroy their weapons.
After the staff briefing, Neelix joins Lillias in the mess hall
to explain about the Etanian’s unusual method of gaining
possession of planets for their own colonies. If Voyager hadn’t
been there and trying to help, the planet would have been evacuated
by the time they had arrived. Tuvok comes in to tell her that
the Ambassador has located her sister, and she leaves the two
alone, as Neelix is informed that he has been given a special
commendation for endurance and bravery in the mission report.
The Vulcan insists however that logic is far more reliable than
gut feelings, even though they were correct in this instance.
Neelix playfully asserts that one day he will get Tuvok to trust
his instincts, and notes that he always has to have the last
word. Tuvok disagrees, and when Neelix suggests that he hates
to lose an argument, comments that losing is irrelevant. ‘See
what I mean?’ says Neelix. ‘No, I do not’.
Review:
Spot the cliché. Dumb alien, Vulcan in charge and alienating
everyone, emotional outburst from unlikely hero, a murder mystery,
hand to hand fighting in the most dangerous location possible,
bad guy plummeting miles to a nasty thump, devious villains hiding
behind a cunning disguise to try and bully the nice guys off
their land. This episode has just about everything. Yet it works.
Once again we are reminded that the only people Vulcans are
any good at being in charge of are robots and other Vulcans.
Tuvok makes as good a job of leading his motley band as Spock
did on the Galileo 7. Neelix, however, comes out as a far more
rounded and capable individual. More insight into his past (just
how old is this guy, he’s done a lot of living before joining
Voyager), his character, and why he makes such a good Morale
officer. He knows people.
Voyagers Odd Couple are a close match for McCoy and Spock in
this episode, especially at the end. It’s the sort of sparring
McCoy and Spock did, especially in Journey to Babel. The scenes
where the dialogue is in the background as Neelix listens to
his gut feelings, like before he stops the carriage, are unusual
and well done. We really get to feel with the little man as he
works through the situation and comes to his conclusions.
The Rise of the title isn’t just the carriage rising up
to safety, it’s the rising of Neelix in Tuvok’s estimation.
From the moment Neelix bursts out his anger that Tuvok has no
feelings at all for him, yet he has great respect for the Vulcan,
there is a step change in the relationship. Understanding begins
to dawn. These two should have a great future working together.
Grade: 7/10
Cast:
Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran as Chakotay
Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Tuvok
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim
Jennifer Lien as Kes
Guest Cast:
Gary Bullock as Goth
Kelly Connell as Sklar
Lisa Kaminir as Lillias
Alan Oppenheimer as Nezu Ambassador
Geof Prysirr as Hanjuan
Tom Towles as Dr. Vatm
Creative Staff:
Director: Robert Scheerer
Teleplay By: Brannon Braga
Story By: Jimmy Diggs
