Voyager Re-Watch: The Q And The Grey

Alright. Guess who's back in California! (Me. It's me. I've been gone a while)

The last month's been a little lopsided. I really felt like I was doing such an amazing job holding it together through all of the stress and crises and whatever else my south east roots had in store for me. Then, I got back, thought I'd lay down for a nap, and slept for twelve hours. Twelve. Hours. Out cold. I spent the remainder of the weekend eating cheeseburgers, watching cartoons, and reading the first third Watership Down. I felt like I had "recovered." I had my mind set on getting back to work bright and early Monday morning. Which is precisely when I got a somewhat snarky review for my latest book. Folks, I'm not gonna lie. I cried.

Here's some background and you can skip it if you're more interested in the actual Star Trek part of this Star Trek blog: 
The thing is, I don't think I was shedding major tears over this review. That kind of thing just goes with being an author and putting yourself out there. No. What actually happened is that for the last three months or so I've been writing a novel about a woman losing her father. Then, sort of out of the blue, the idea of losing my kind-hearted, amazing, flesh-and-blood father-in-law was suddenly a real possibility. I spent a week in the hospital with him and the family who've so lovingly made me their own and then two more weeks at their house. While there, all I wanted to do was go see my own big, weird dad. So I did. And then I didn't want to leave. All I could think about was the possibility of losing my dad. How suddenly this is a real thing. But I had to leave. I had to come back here to my real life and work on my book about a woman losing her dad and maybe get it published and maybe people will like it and then maybe my big, weird dad will finally think I'm somebody. Holy crap! But the whole time I was gone, I didn't cry or freak out. I felt some feelings but (with the exception of dumping them here--which is where most of my feelings come to live/die) I pushed them all down. And then I got up on Monday morning, ready to face one more edit on this new book before sending it out and... I got that review. And many tears were shed. And then I wiped my face off and resolved to buck up and keep going. Because, really, isn't that what it's all about? So that's what I did the last three days. Work. Get caught up. Etc.

And now I'm back!

Ok, so, Q And The Grey. I actually watched this one last week, while I was still in Kentucky so I might be a little fuzzy on the details but basically Q shows up on Voyager and is all, "Hey Kate, let's make a baby!" And, of course, Janeway is all, "GTFO!" And this goes on and on until a LADY Q shows up in the form of the wonderful Suzie Plackson and is all, "That's my man. WTF!?" And then Q snatches Janeway away and into the Continuum where Janeway comprehends her surroundings as a battle in the American Civil War. There's some blood. Some gunshots. Some near-executions. And then Q and Lady Q are reunited and have weird Q sex with their fingers and then Q shows up a little while later, back on Voyager, with a tiny, adorable Q baby.

Basically all I can think about with this episode is, were I in Janeway's place, whether or not I would voluntarily produce offspring with Q (or anyone) to save my ship. Since i've been meaning to write this post for about six days, I've had a lot of time to consider the question and, like Janeway, I'm going to have to say no. I've gone into this before (probably a lot) but I don't want kids. Not even with Q or, maybe, especially with Q. Now, if it had been like Vash and Q was like, "Wanna go on some amazing dates across time and space?!" I'd be like, "Yes." Because then you're basically a companion on Doctor Who except probably there's a lot less running.

My favorite stuff about this episode:
-When Suzie Plackson (who played Alexander's badass half-Klingon mom) tells B'Elanna how she always liked Klingon women.
-Paris and Tuvok dressed up in Civil War duds.
-Janeway's monster dress. She totally pulls off the disgruntled Southern Belle look.
-I know this is probably lame but I actually like it when Chakotay admits to Q's relentless pursuit of Janeway bothering the hell out of him.
-I love the idea that when Qs are at war, the whole cosmos begins to rip itself apart
-Q refers to Neeliz as "bar rodent"

I know this episode is kind of a mess and a little bit all over the place but I think it's tremendous fun. Also, I'm glad Janeway stuck to her guns. There's nothing more tempting for her than the idea of going home but that doesn't mean you have to give a baby to an omnipotent being just so your crew can have a free ride.