Counterpoint:
Voyager is traveling through Devore Space and they're harboring a bunch of telepaths--who the Devore totally hate. A certain Devore captain (Kashyk) kind of has a thing for Janeway and he defects from his government and suspiciously offers to help Voyager smuggle their secret crew to safety. Along the way a sort of cagey romance blossoms between Janeway and Kashyk and, at the last minute, when Kashyk reveals himself to be a double agent, Janeway lets him know that she was never fooled.
Guys, I love this episode. I love Janeway here. She is all things in Counterpoint. Powerful, calm, collected, sensitive, sexy, secretive, smart. She never loses her bearings, never lets down her guard, yet some part of Kashyk's advances get through just enough that she sincerely offers him a place on her ship and she's remorseful (but resilient) when he shows himself to be a fraud.
The episode itself is tense and dangerous. The stakes are high not only for the people Voyager is carrying to safety but for the telepathic members of her crew as well. In Devore space, if they're caught, they'll be thrown into camps without remorse and never heard from again. If they stay hidden in Voyager's transporter buffer for too long they'll suffer cell degradation and possibly die.
I love that we're thrown straight into the action. From start to finish, Counterpoint is filled with the kind of dramatic rise and fall, the harmonic meeting and parting of the episode's namesake. I always get excited when this one comes on even though I always forget to list it among my favorites. But I suppose it is pretty high up there. For all of its quiet, sub-surface tension, Counterpoint is thrilling.
Counterpoint is a really good episode. It's one of my favorites. I recall Kate Mulgrew talking about how this was also one of her favorite episodes because it really gave her a lot to work with as an actress.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on 30 Days would be... the water world itself is the star of this episode. It's a lot more awe-inspiring than the whole concept of Paris completely disregarding the prime directive because he wanted to be a sailor. Surely those people would be inclined to change their ways with the possibility of a five-year deadline looming over them, no? (perhaps they're human then) So yeah, the water, and the giant electric eel monster were beautiful to see, and a whole planet of water: completely qualifies as a strange new world that sticks out!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said about Counterpoint too. Janeway and Kashyk have some genuine chemistry and Mulgrew really plays the caution and just a hint of that loneliness of command to show at the very least she's intrigued and even attracted to this man. You really get the feeling she was entertaining the notion of hope that he could be legitimate and become a part of her life. This episode stands out as one of the very few times that Janeway gets to touch the fringe of a romantic relationship, on par with the later episode "Workforce"... and "Resolutions" from season two for those who "ship" Chakotay and Janeway - also a really romantic what-if for Captain Kathryn.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be me if I didn't notice a continuity error in Counterpoint though. The final minutes in which the telepathic aliens are absconding in two of Voyager's shuttlecraft... Tuvok is on the bridge and Vorik did not appear to be with the aliens. I would think the Devore would still have a case against our crew!! (But maybe that's a deleted scene somewhere.) :)