VOY Season 1, Episode 10 (Netflix S1 E9): Prime Factors
Rating: 4
This episode has an interesting premise at its foundation that for the most part doesn’t go to waste. The episode showcases the characters well, along with illustrating real conflict among the crew. The fallout at the end of the episode is one of the main reason it deserves a 4.
There are things that really bother people making them dislike this episode. These things have their merit, but ultimately they aren’t too important to me. One is that this episode presents yet another apparent opportunity for Voyager to get home within the first season. This kind of thing might come to annoy me in the future, but I can’t say I would take away either this episode or Eye Of The Needle. They’re two of my favorites from the first season. A decision made by Janeway to not take technology through unofficial channels also makes people angry. I agree that Janeway’s perspective could’ve been presented better, and it did bother me, the positives just outweigh the negatives.
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Notes:
This may have been inadvertent, but this episode really makes the crew seem close, aside from Janeway. This is probably a problem, but sooner or later I’m just going to have to accept that there won’t be the Maquis/Starfleet conflict I hoped for.
These aliens are introduced as hospitable, inviting the crew to be their guests, but I can’t picture a person I would want to hang out with less than this guy
The character Eudana explains to Harry how important stories are to her people. I like the idea of a society that finds stories enormously important, but I find it a little funny that these lines were written by someone who writes stories for a living.
Janeway is a bit flirty for someone who is engaged
I was wondering why there hadn’t been more “other side of the fence” stuff for the Prime Directive.
File under: Prime Directive
Lt. Carey is back, and he is teaming up with B’Elanna and Seska
Although they make it clear that the Starfleet characters are best buds with the Maquis characters by now, the conflict between obeying starfleet principles and getting closer to home is exactly the kind of situation that would cause a rift. They do a decent job of showing this through Seska, who seems like the last true Maquis-minded person at this point.
File under: Martha Hackett (Seska)
Janeway handled the last confrontation with Gath really poorly. While he may be a weirdo, her insults still seemed uncalled for. When bartering for what could be 40 years of your life, you may want to hold your tongue
I like B’Elanna’s role in this episode. Her struggle seemed real and rational, which typically hasn’t been the case prior to this
This was also a good episode for Tuvok. I love Tuvok
Although I won’t claim this as a great episode for Janeway overall, I really like her in the final scene dealing with B’Elanna and Tuvok
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