Friday, May 16, 2014

Voyager, Season 2: Tuvix
Voyager, Season 2
Airdate: May 6, 1996
39 of 168 produced
39 of 168 aired


A transporter accident (again?) merges Tuvok and Neelix into a single person While the Doctor works to separate them, facing the possibility that he may never be able to do so, this new person begins to try to integrate himself into the crew.

Double breasted... paisley... cravat... yeah, I think the Heisenberg Compensator has failed and just given us fashion uncertainty.


Kevin: Let me get the criticisms out of the way at the start. The set up is silly. Obviously. It's just like its thematic predecessor "The Enemy Within," except the magic fairy dust combines things rather than divides them. The solution also further muddies the water of the what the transporter does. How was the blending not just a mash of organic tissue? I mean...even the clothing was combined into a function discreet unit. If tagging one set of DNA for the purpose of separating them works, that seems to favor the idea that the transporter builds a new object out of a set of instructions pulled from the original.

Matthew: I am very much in agreement on the stupidity of the setup. If the transporter could combine two bodies into a working whole, you would think that it could discriminate between the flowers, too, and keep them separate as flowers. Otherwise, why aren't their clothes also incorporated into their DNA? I see what you're saying about the transporter somehow following instructions - it is reminiscent of TNG S2's "Unnatural Selection," in which Dr. Pulaski is re-youngened by the transporter, while somehow still preserving her memories. Because, you know, DNA or something. The notion that a combination of two physical brains would result in the retention of the memories of each irritates me to no end. And when Tuvix is split back into his two constituent identities, do they both remember everything that transpired? It just makes no sense.

Kevin: I got the criticism out of the way because once you get past the silliness of the setup, the episode is actually quite good. Like previous transporter malfunction episodes, the episode lives or dies on the strength of one or two things: philosophical exploration or character development. "Enemy Within" explored the dualism of human nature and "Second Chances" gave us buckets of character growth. This episode gives us a lot of both, and that's a big part of why I end up liking it so much. On the character side, watching the new dynamic be established is interesting, and it's fun to see that both characters qualities are tempered by the other, and in a way the crew likes. It actually makes the eventual debate more interesting. Yielding to the character's own pleas to exist doesn't feel like a foregone conclusion since Tuvix had actually proven he can fit into the crew, maybe even better than the constituent parts. I do think Janeway should have reacted a little closer to Kes' reaction in the one on one scenes, given the history between her and Tuvok. They leaned a little more on her treating him like an improved Neelix than a missing Tuvok.

Matthew: The reason I think this episode succeeds, outside the excellent acting, is that the story raises the stakes consistently. They could very easily have copped out and said that Tuvix was going to die because of illness X. Instead, they gave him a desire to live. He could have been shunned, but they showed a montage of him fitting in and making friends. Painful but realistic choices were foisted upon the Janeway and Kes characters. The bridge scene in which Tuvix chastises his peers for not acting in his defense was harrowing. All of this is a really nice demonstration of that writing class axiom about raising the stakes for your characters. Drama comes when you actually confront issues head on and push for the most upfront demonstrations of conflict. This episode was dramatic, which is saying a lot for what is essentially an alien of the week.

Kevin: I enjoyed that they didn't chicken out and have Tuvix passively accept his destruction. There's a good balance of the mushy moral arguments. Tuvok and Neelix survive in a way in Tuvix, but by the same token Tuvix survives in them. Is the fact that two people would result make it more valuable than the one we have? Of course, from a "real world" standpoint, Janeway was going to opt to bring back the original two, but it clearly cost her something to do that, so even though the ending was a foregone conclusion, it didn't feel cheap as a result. Overall, for a transporter accident episode that could have gone crazy in an instant, we got a pretty good outing.

Matthew: Yeah, I would have liked a bit more explicit argumentation for the Captain's decision, indeed, for her right to make the decision at all. I think it may have been beneficial to give Tuvix an advocate on the crew besides the Doctor, too (I would nominate Tom, since he himself was a hard luck case given a second chance).


Kevin: It was far and away the best call of the episode to cast a third actor. Having either Russ or Phillips play the character would have taken it too far in one direction. Wright really did a good job investing the character with its own discrete identity but still pulling notes of Neelix's enthusiasm or Tuvok's intonation. There were a few places were the seams showed on the acting for me, especially in the early moments, but overall, I think he did a difficult job well.

Matthew: There has rarely been an instance when casting was so important to a story, and they absolutely nailed it. You're quite right, the actor's ability to recall both of the other performers was uncanny, and I really enjoyed Wright's scenes overall. He really sold the emotion, too, when Tuvix pleaded and then strenuously argues for his right to live.

Kevin: It was interesting watching the rest of the crew interact with Tuvix. Lien did a good job portraying the mix of emotions, and the scene where she says she wants both Tuvok and Neelix back was good. Janeway's final scene in Sickbay was also great. The episode doesn't really attempt to cleanly solve the moral conundrum, and that reads all over Janeway's face.

Matthew: Kate Mulgrew's quiet scene with Kes, describing her feelings over losing Mark, may just be her best work in the series so far. So many small gestures, facial expressions, really made this scene real and raw. Lien's breakdown near the conclusion was excellent, too.

Production Values

Kevin: They certainly didn't skimp on detail work here. The hybrid make up was well done. I think it gave the actor slightly too large a forehead, though. It made him look vaguely insectoid. As silly an idea that the clothes would also mesh completely but still functionally is, the outfit itself was really well achieved from a technical standpoint.

Matthew: I agree on makeup. One thing I noticed was a lot of creatively shot "pensive" scenes. I really enjoyed seeing Janeway looking out this or that window - it lent a nice sense of place to the ship. The staging of the finale scene was also very nice - good music, nice camerawork that gave things a sense of tension and buildup.


Kevin: As much as the episode may depend on a well-tread trope of the Trek universe, I think the choices it makes from there are basically very good ones. We get a good mix of character and ethical drama. The guest actor really threw himself into the part. In the end, I think the episode exceeds the creakiness of the set up, and lands in above average territory. I am going with a 4.

Matthew: The writing was a mixed bag, with a silly premise but some great raising of stakes. The acting totally propelled this one. We get three real standout performances, and an overall nice job from the entire ensemble. That makes for a total of 8. A definite, albeit unexpected, highlight.

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