NCIEO Home Page (Map): Continuing Communications: Brash Reflections: Voyager Episode List:

"Random Thoughts"
Air Date: November 19, 1997
Star Date: 51367.2

11/24/97 Update
12/1/97 Update
12/8/97 Update

PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. I think we've done all we can on it. You're welcome to send in addition nits and I will keep them on file but I won't be adding to this file any longer unless something really spectacular comes in!

On the Mari homeworld, the crew of Voyager attempt some rest and relaxation. As a telepathic race, the Mari have outlawed all violent thought and live in a virtually crime-free and idyllic society. Then, a Mari man jostles Torres, almost knocking her to the ground and later that same man violently attacks a merchant. The Mari constable accuses Torres of planting the violent thought in the man's head. The proscribed punishment is extraction of the violent engram from Torres and the man--a procedure made somewhat unpredictable by Torres's alien physiology.

While Janeway pleads for time, Tuvok conducts his own investigation and eventually uncovers a "violent thought" black market. With all violent thoughts outlawed, some among the Mari have turned to the illicit trade of such evil intent. In fact, the man jostle Torres on purpose, desiring to trigger an impulse that he could then pluck from her mind. He did so but was unprepared for the intensity of the emotion. With this new evidence, the constable releases Torres.

Brash Reflections

Pretty good episode. Had a few nice turns in it and that's always refreshing!

I couldn't help but be reminded of the NextGen episode "Justice," however. Here again we have a situation where Starfleet personnel beam down and start fraternizing with the populace without any apparent understand of the populaces' code of law or punishment. Hmmm. That doesn't seem right, does it?

Not a nit but I'm sure that other notice the constable was played by none other than the actress who played B'Etor, sister of Duras.

Not a nit but a fun moment: "Why do you want me to tug on your whiskers?" This, friends, is why you do not date telepaths! ;-) (By the way, the October 1994 Issue of the Newsletter has a section called Humor Not Included and in that section there's a portion called Top Ten Reasons Not to Date a Betazoid. Neelix's discomfort after the "tug-on-whiskers" line reminded me a lot of that list!)

I gotta say that I was not impressed with Tuvok's "super-human" Vulcan strength in this episode. But, then again, maybe he was faking it to "get his man."

There's more but I leave it to you, fellow nitpickers.

Reflections from the Guild

(Note from Phil: I haven't verified these reflections but they sounded good to me!)

Heather B. Smith of Niagara, Ontario: I'm surprised that Chief Examiner Namira didn't go off and viciously attack and/or kill someone... It was obvious when she was passing out the sentence on Torres that Torres was thinking a whole bunch of REALLY nasty thoughts! Surely Namira would have been 'infected' by them. Or maybe she's JUST THAT GOOD.

And didn't you just LOVE the two useless yet obligatory 7/9 appearances?

And speaking of 7/9 -- Great Line -- 'I prefer to stand' (Maybe cause she's UNABLE to sit...?) (Note from Phil: Well, now, she did manage a *squat* in this episode! ;-)

Johnson Lai: Why do Tuvok and Namera (sp?) have to go to a "transport site" to beam up to the ship? Can't they just beam up from anywhere anyway?

Nate Greene, Louisville Ohio: During the Mind meld, we saw "recycled scenes from diffrent Star Trek episodes. One question though, about one scene which came from Star Trek Generations. My question is that that scene never happened! The Planet never got torn apart!

Chris Booton: The review of this episode in my tv guide made it sound like it was going to be boring and the preview made it look like it was going to be a blood bath, by using many of the violent thoughts from Tuvoks mind as the basis for the preview, I was glad to see that in both cases PAL is usually true and that the episode turned out good. Cool idea of an exchange of violent thoughts as a form of black market. Cool view of Voyager from above. As for the nits that I saw;

When Tuvok is transported back onto Voyager he has no communicator and I got the impression that he wanted to be transported at that time as he had accomplished what he wanted to.

one of the violent thoughts in Tuvoks mind is of a Doberman I think, that being a terrain canine I doughty that he would include it in his violent thoughts.

How did Janeway get currency from the planet? Did she sell them something?

Tuvok says his prisoner is in the brig, there are two brigs so would it not be more correct to say "he is in brig # 1 or brig #2) I wonder why only last week the fact that voyager has 2 brigs was revealed? And why two brigs, as I recall even the Enterprise only had 1, did voyagers designers assume the ship was going to get into trouble?

Tuvok says that for less than 1% of their journey has the brig been occupied? I know there has been less than 100 episodes so with that 1% would be 1 episode out of 100 and I can think of at least 2 episodes where the brig has been occupied, im sure there are more. (Note from Phil: Yes but we're only seeing the highlights of the journey and there are long boring stretches inbetween! ;-)

If the Nessari law person thinks imprisonment is barbaric then why do they confine Belana? Could they not put her on probation for a day?

Michael Apple: This was the worst episode of the season. I expected nothing when I heard what it was about and I got nothing. This ep was just a rehash of "Justice" and "Violations" and other TNG episodes with no originality whatsoever. This was an embarassment rife with nits. (Note from Phil: So, um, I'm just taking a wild stab at this but . . . I take you *didn't* like the episode! ;-)

And I hope I got the title of the episode right ("Random Thoughts") because when I tried to access the Paramount Star Trek page, the gatekeeper rejected my "incompatible browser." Now not only is Paramount purposefully alienating fans by stopping them from expressing any kind of enjoyment of the show on their web pages, but also by eliminating anyone who usess a text-only browser. I think they WANT to lose fans, so they won't get as much money. I hate corporate greed.

Anyway, here are the nits I found:

Since when did Tuvok become a full-telepath? I always thought that Vulcans were touch telepaths, yet he talks along mentally with the alien police officer. If this came from his contact with Kes, he should have mentioned something about it.

Why DOESN'T Janeway just pull B'Elanna out of there and book for the nearest star system? Does she just pick and choose when she'll break the prime directive? The aliens never remove B'Elanna's combadge, so just beam her up and get out of there!

Did you notice that the alien police officer's dialogue with Tuvok was extremely similar to stuff the Edo say in the TNG episode "Justice". The whole segment about there being no crime or hostility could have been lifted right out of the other episode's script. Also, did anyone out there not immediately tense when they said they eliminated crime? That's a sure sign that there's trouble ahead in any Star Trek show. Creativity: that's what those ST writers need.

Why does everyone on the show act like violence is natural in all intelligent beings? Vulcans have to suppress it, Humans and Klingons have to overcome it, and these aliens forbid even violent thought. Anthropologically speaking, people's natural state is as pacifists. People must be TAUGHT how to kill and how to ignore revulsion to violence. That's why boot camps are so tough on recruits, to break down the natural values they grow up with to replace them with anger and unremorsefulness. I took a class last year in which we studied violence in various cultures for several months. It is anthropologically sound to say that violent tendencies are a creation of environment (plus in a few instances in serial murderers, genetics like elevated nitric acid in the brain.) (Note from Phil: Um . . . that's interesting because I just finished reading a book called Dark Nature that was an extensive study in the pervasiveness of violence in our world and how it is an outgrowth of basic gene survival. Sounds like there's a difference of opinion in the scientific circles on this one. Personally, I would have a hard time believing that basic human nature is pacifistic. I've seen a bit too much of the dark side of humans to believe that. It's a nice thought but . . . )

How was B'Elanna able to break a mind meld just by pushing Tuvok's hands away? Wouldn't that do serious damage to her brain? Remember the original series? Mind melds were treated as serious, even dangerous. Here , Tuvok, who admits he isn't very proficient with mind melds, does it simply and easily. Much different than how it was treated in "Flashback." (How did B'Elanna break free? Valeris couldn't break away from Spock in ST6, no matter how much she struggled.)

Shane Tourtellotte: I'll dispense with my thoughts about the episode, as they may be illegal, and go straight to nits.

Once again, the Federation's "Money Isn't Real" philosophy brings problems. If they have no medium of exchange, how did they obtain some to pay for all their purchases? I imagine they could have sold something from Voyager to get a lump sum to play with, but what would have been that valuable to this apparently advanced society? Couldn't be technology. Remember how steadfast Janeway is about giving that away to anyone for any reason.

Neelix's intentions toward the grocer are also interesting. He tells Paris "I haven't been with anyone since Kes." When a modern American, such as the writer of the episode, says "been with" in this context, it invariably refers to sex. However, "Elogium" strongly implied with dialogue and context that Neelix's relationship with Kes was chaste, and without reproductive motivation would remain so. Neelix's meaning of "being" with a woman obviously involves the whisker-stroking we briefly saw fantasized. (Which adds oomph to a scene in "The Q and the Gray" when Q yanks out a tuft of Neelix's whiskers. Guess that's like a kick in a human's groin, or a box of a Ferengi's ears. Yow!)

Namira goes on about her society having nothing so barbaric as jails for their criminals. I wonder where they put B'elanna while waiting to perform the engrammatic purge. Somewhere very secure, I'd assume, or she would have busted out, or tried. Sounding like a jail to me.

Chakotay encourages Paris to formulate a rescue plan that minimizes violence for the captain's consideration. Okay, how about beaming B'elanna up and warping away?

Tuvok's telepathic abilities are oddly strengthened in this episode. We've never seen him, or other Vulcans, reading aliens' thoughts before, not without a mind-meld or some extraordinary plot device. Could it be this receptivity only occurs with other telepathic races, his abilities 'piggybacking' on theirs?

I couldn't help Neelix noting that telepathy is bad for relationships. Sour grapes over Kes, perhaps? (Though I can't help thinking he's right.)

When his grocer girlfriend is attacked, Neelix rushes over, kneels, takes her pulse, then pauses dramatically and gasps, "She's dead." Not to commit aggravated insensitivity of thought, but my first words would have been, "Neelix to Voyager! Two to beam directly to Sickbay!" She had been dead no more than fifteen seconds. There was surely time for The Doctor to try something.

And am I deceived, or were there no 47s this episode?

Steve Perry: Well, it was a little boring, but it had a nice relevance to today I thought. Actually kinda hard to nitpick.

Chakotay, one week after collaborating with Annorax, supports Tom's plan to beat up the Mari?

Why oh why do they not scout these planets ahead of time?

I'm just glad the god of the Edo didn't intervene.

So, Tuvok investigates without reporting back to the ship. Ever heard of "reporting back in Tuvok"?

So, what happens to money launderers on Mari? Are their greed thoughts removed?

Why must B'elanna's thought be removed? If she leaves the world, what further harm can she do?

How do the Mari not think about crime? Conditioning? It was never explained.

Next week: Da Vinci learns a few tricks from the 24th century... namely, how to roast bad guys!

David C. Meiers of Owosso, MI: A typical Voyager episode - not particularly *good*, but at the same time, it had enough elements to keep from being totally bad...

The first part of this episode had me worried - for a while, I thought that they were stealing from the TNG episode "Justice"! Nothing like that, thankfully, and the plot actually had some things that kept me interested...not without some nits, though...

So this is a race of telepaths, right? Tuvok's Constable friend even expresses surprise that he actually bothers to talk! So we get the impression that these people are only talking for the non-telepathic crew's benefit. Yet if that's so, why do we see several scenes where there is "background chatter" in the town square, and no Voyager crew in evidence? And why does the old woman bother speaking to the fruit stand owner that Neelix likes? Is she "Hard of Thinking"?

I had to laugh when Capt."Time's Up" Janeway tells Paris that they don't get to pick and choose the rules of other cultures that they "respect"! What about "The Raven", where Janeway negotiated for safe passage through those people's space, then just gave up and plowed on through when they denied it to her? If that's respect, I'd hate to see "flagrant disregard"!

Does Neelix's "Whisker Tugging" fetish remind anyone else of Ferengi Oo-Mox? ;-)

Why does the Constable go running to Tuvok for help with investigating a violent crime? Granted, they might not have had to deal with it in a while, but there must be procedures and protocols for dealing with this sort of thing from the times when it *was* a problem!

Tuvok certainly seems like something of a wimp for a Vulcan security chief! He lets two guys pin him down and beat him up - we've seen how Spock can throw people around when he wants to, and he's not even in Security!

One thing I *did* like about this episode was how Tuvok handled himself - he entices Mr. Wil with offers of some *really* violent thoughts, then when he mind melds with him and gives him what he wants, Wil can't handle it!

Best Moment: the Constable scoffs at confinement in the ship's Brig as barbaric, and at the end of the episode, Tuvok informs her that that is exactly what he's done with Mr. Wil! Although it has been done before, it was good to see out heroes cut the "Smugly Superior Alien" down to size!!

David T. Shaw from Hamilton Ontario: So, a race of telepaths has evolved to the point that they actively interfere with each others thought processes? I have problems with that - being influenced by other's thoughts doesn't seem to be much of a survival trait to me - they either shouldn't have developed their abilities that far, or they should have simultaneously evolved a working 'shield' that would neutralize this problem. (What I am saying here is that the entire founding premise is faulty - such a race would never exist naturally - maybe if someone did some genetic engineering - then it could happen. However, I firmly believe that you have to accept a patently false premise for good science fiction {e.g. warp drive}, so I'll let this one slide)

However, assuming that they have this problem of being effected by others emotions - what about such things as lust? Do they have periodic orgies in the main square? (And wouldn't have that scene brought in that 25 - 34 male demographic....)

I thought that Seven's remarks about Star Fleet traveling in ignorance to be right on the money - whenever they come to a strange planet they just seem to send Shore Parties down willy-nilly without bothering to check any of the local laws (continuing the great tradition of Tasha Yar in TNG where on a planet of only one law {no trespassing} punishable by death, she is unable to discover it before someone breaks it)

When the Chief Constable talked about engram purges, Janeway said "That's a dangerous procedure.' How could she know? She doesn't even know the local laws and all of a sudden she's an expert on local medical practices? She is an experience explorer - she should have phrased her comment as a question. Something like "We haven't yet perfected that technique - are there any dangers?"

So Paris wants to bust B'Ellana out of jail. When Chakotay say talks about the reaction, Helmboy says "they are a planet of pacifists - they are no match for us." Confident talk - I wouldn't want to attack a planet of pacifists until I knew if they could influence my thoughts (imagine an elite tactical team suddenly feeling intense remorse, or even worse, suicidal despair...)

The Chief of Security - a Vulcan how has above normal strength - can be overpowered by three guys who grew up on a planet of pacifists? Does this seem unlikely to anyone else? (And whatever happened to the Vulcan nerve pinch?) I guess he went to the same security school that taught Worf how to shoot...

The chief constable said that they needed to purge Belanna's thought so that they can treat Frane properly - but later the Thought-Blackmarketeer (can't remember his name) said that Frane had already been purged (maybe he was trying to throw Tuvok off the track)

So - there is a black-market of violent thoughts? I don't suppose it ever occurred to anyone on this planet that they could get a similar effect by being made to eat the equivalent of Nelix's cooking while being called nasty names by others? Why all this business of collecting other's violent thoughts - why not just think them? (In the privacy of your own home of course.)

The last scene with Seven and Janeway, I think that an important point was missed. Janeway should point out that not only is looking at new races fun (that was her defense - she said they did it because they enjoyed it and the seeking out of knowledge) but should have made explicitly clear that the knowledge gained might be vital to the success of returning home. Some planet might have trans-warp technology, or know the location of a worm hole or something. They might also provide warnings - if Voyager doesn't talk to anyone, they might find themselves in the middle of the claimed space of some wildly xenophobic and violent race that would vaporize first and ask questions later.

11/24/97 Update

Matt Nelson: First of all, I must say, this was a very intense episode. I liked it quite a bit; it was nice to see more of Tuvok. In my opinion he is a sadly underused character with a lot of great potential.

But of course, it's not without its nits.

In the opening marketplace scene, Neelix's blonde girlfriend (ooo.. Shades of Kes) is sorting through some green-and-yellow lumpy "alien" veggies. They're Danish squash.

When Tuvok and Janeway are discussing B'elanna's case, they work on a pile of PADDs. The sound effects chaps dub in many blips, bleeps, and other noises, but nary a thing moves on the PADD screens; they stay the same! When Janeway says "Take a look at this," to Tuvok, I half expected her to finish the line with, "My PADD hasn't changed displays for five minutes; what do you suppose it means?!?"

When Tuvok is attacked in the alley, see how many times you can yell "Use the Vulcan Neck Pinch on him!" before Tuvok is clubbed into unconsciousness.

The very first scene of Tuvok's mindmeld is lifted from First Contact; it's a shot of three Starfleet officers backing away from a Borg.

Did anyone else besides me feel that Seven's last scene seemed really... tacked on? Kinda like an obligatory Seven shot. (Hey, a Glossary term! OSS-Obligatory Seven Shot, for whenever we focus on Seven for no reason.)

All in all, a pretty darn good episode! Any bets that next week's episode takes place entirely in the holodeck? I didn't THINK so.

Shinichi Evans of San Diego, CA: At first, this episode reminded me of TOS's "Wolf in the Fold" where Scotty is accused of a murder he didn't exactly commit. Torres's thought condemns her(circumstantial evidence just like what got Scotty). The only difference is that a supernatural Horla-like creature such as the Redjack isn't responsible.

At least the aliens didn't have funny facial features this time. I think funny faces get boring after a while (especially when each new alien looks human but there's something unusual like the temple nodes of the Kremin. And then there's the Cardassians...) How many ears, foreheads, noses, etc. can the make-up crew invent for new aliens?

It's a good thing that the "feelie" featured in "Brave New World" hasn't been invented. I don't think I'd want to be subjected to Neelix's cologne.

The marketplace set looks a lot like the town set used in TNG's "Pre-emptive Strike." Is this a case of where the production crew recycle sets? It was hard to place this set in matte painting of the Hong Kong-like skyline.

This episode seemed to be a commentary on legislating morality - that laws do not necessarily make people moral. They tried to eradicate violence by making thoughts of it illegal but there were people who were seeking it out as if it was drugs or pornography. O, brave new world, that has such people in 't (The Tempest V.i.185-186)

Craig Cicero: Pretty good. Better than I though it'd be, judging from the previews (which teaches me to not read the preview/synopses on the Ofiicial Website!).

Only a few minor nits in addition to the ones Paris and Seven raised:

Make-up department had an easy time this week! I though that the creators had learned their lesson about very-human looking aliens with "Nemesis."

Why doesn't Tom EVER refer to Chakotay as "sir" or "Commander"? It's always "Chakotay." Hmmm???

Somehow, B'lanna's brain-scrambling gets delayed by more than one day (mention is made of "a couple days").

Once again, characters just "know" that an ALIEN is dead after a couple seconds. (Neelix checking his girlfriend's pulse or whatever he did.)

One GOOD Changed Premise: Neelix didn't call Tuvok "Mr. Vulcan"!!! (Although he did during the Year That Didn't Happen- maybe it's a tough habit to break.)

One last question- (I raised this on an earlier ep- "Rise," I think) why do aliens use "Mr."? Is it just the Universal Translators?

Next episode: "The man you'd least expect in the 24th Century" (approximately): Santa Claus? No, wait, da Vinci. (He LOOKS like Santa, doesn't he?) PAL- I expected him. He WAS featured on previous episodes!

David C. Meiers of Owosso, MI: One last thought - Seven is absolutely *RIGHT* in the final scene, and Janeway gives the standard speech about how humans MUST explore the unknown, yada, yada, yada...is Janeway this *smug* and condescending with the rest of her crew?!

Daniel Gunther, Grovedale, AB, Canada: After reading this page, I noticed that no one else picked up on the fact that the badge worn by the Examiner is the same as the communicators worn by the terrorists that were attempting to steal trilithium resin from the Enterprise-D in the TNG episode "Starship Mine."

David D. Porter: The brig has been occupied for less than twelve days? Suder, 7/9, the head experimenter, a Kazon, spent a total of less than twelve days in that brig?

When Tuvok returns to V-ger, why is only Gwyll with him? Aren't the other two also guilty of illegal activities?

Incidentally, it seems Tuvok's comm badge was left behind. I thought Cap'n J was dead set against allowing Fed technology to spread.

Jason Gorell: Seemed to start out as a typical predictable episode but had a pretty good finish.

Looked to me that the chief examiner herself was harboring some pretty unpleasant thoughts herself during the investigation, almost a loathing for Voyager (except Tuvok, boy did she kissed some Vulcan tush).

Loved that overhead shot of Voyager in orbit! Beats the same old ship 'round the planet.

Ron Saarna: A neat little episode. But a few little nits...

I guess Kes still did (does) exist in the current timeline, as Neelix makes a reference to her at the beginning of the episode...so why didn't Voyager know about the Krennim?

How did Tuvok signal a beam up after he had subdued Will, just in time to prevent Torres' lobotomy when he had thrown his communicator away?

After beaming up he is shown without his communicator, and also in the next scene while discussing his findings with the Maari Police Officer. One could rationalize that he wandered out of the alley and found a public com-link (phone booth), but unless he's got a long-distance card, how could he transmit to a ship in orbit. Okay, one could again rationalize that the Maari are a spacefaring culture, and that every public com-link has access to ships in orbit, but we saw no evidence of their being space worthy, and frankly if they were, you would think that they would have run across this random hostility thing earlier after meeting other cultures.

Now some not really nits, but just rants...

This whole Prime Directive thing has to be hashed out properly. Just a few episodes ago we saw Janeway saying "forget it" and barrelling through other's space, yet this episode she (and the rest of the crew) understand that they must obey the wishes and laws of the cultures they approach. More like they must respect the wishes of those they get along with, but if they get in the way, move over buster!

Ross A. Fillmore, Columbus, OH: Previous episodes that come to mind: TNG: "Justice" "Sarek" "Violations."

When I was in junior high we read in our Language Arts class a short story called "The Forgotten Door." It was about a young boy who came from another world where the people were telepathic and lived and idealic life of happiness and joy, where there was no violence or crime because the people were so telepathic the perpetrators would be discovered quite easily. Here we have somewhat the same situation and yet there still is crime and it is something that apparently they still struggle with. Sounds to me like these people need to work on their mindreading skills, especially if they can do it so freely.

For instance, in the beginning of the episode after B'Elanna is "bumped," Gwill asks her, "Are you all right?" You're the telepath! You tell us!

And another for instance, how can a totally telepathic society have a black market? Especially one so devious that it deals in negative thoughts? Where are the thought police? Where's George Orwell when you need him?

Just how telepathic are Vulcans? Tuvok's portrayal was almost that of a Betazed and yet I don't remember any other Vulcan communicating telepathically in this fasion.

Again, they are in the Delta Quadrant. Where are all these human-looking humanoids coming from? Just how far reaching were those characters in TNG: "The Chase"?

I like the matte work of the city. The thought that came to me was: This is how Miami Beach will look in the future.

When Dr. Pulaski did her memory purging techniques, I don't remember any discussion about brain damage other than the procedure would be completely safe. Then again this is a completely different race (or so we're lead to believe despite their looks) and we are in the Delta Quadrant.

Remember when Vulcans had the strength of 12 men? Either Tuvok must have forgotten this or these three guys are really strong. And what happened to the Death Pinch? He has been around humans too long.

Why did I get the feeling several times that the moral of the story was "anti-Communism"? Free thinkers who were not allowed to be free thinkers?

One last one, Seven strolls right into Janeway's quarters. No knocking, no beeping, no locked door... anyone can walk right on into the Captain's quarters without so much as a warning or alarm. The doors must have sensed that she is still new to the ship and does not understand protocol, so they let her in.

Dustin Westfall, of Fullerton, CA: Well, this one was pretty good. I didn't see that black market bit coming, that's for sure. Whoa!

Why is everyone using the rear transporter pad in the beginning? Both Tom when he arrives, and Neelix as he beams down. Also, the lighting is really bad. You'd think they'd give them something to light the back part of the transporter pad.

Apparently, the creators haven't forgotten about Kes. I was worried for a while there.

How is this guy so good at haggling? This is a society of telepaths who have no qualms about reading each other's thoughts. You'd think they'd come to a pretty quick agreement.

When Belanna is first arrested, the constable said that the captain could review the evidence for a day. Then later, when talking to Tuvok, she said that there was no use proving Belanna innocent, the case was closed. So what was the purpose of allowing the captain to review the evidence? Just to get her off her back? And, in the end, when presented with new evidence, she released Belanna anyway. Doesn't sound too closed to me, huh?

When looking for Tuvok, Janeway orders a "multiphasic life-form scan" of the planet. Why? Does she think he has been phased somehow? Or did some writer pull out the technobabble generator for no reason?

Finally, a comment. I think Tim Russ did an excellent job in this ep. After the first thought transfer, he showed Tuvok trying hard to contain all this violence and retain that Vulcan calm. Well played.

Peter Heckman of Atlanta, GA: Just wanted to express that I am impressed with Tuvok's knowledge of 20th century Horror-Sci-fi Films. In the episode of Voyager that aired on 11/19/97 (I missed the title), Tuvok passed along telepathically feelings/thoughts of past events that contained strong anger. Several of these memories were FAKE...maybe. ALL of the floating corpses seen in the 2nd of Tuvok's mind-melds were from EVENT HORIZON, ya' know the horror/sci-fi film released earlier this year. I saw the film and did not classify it amoung the most angst ladden thoughts I contain BUT it could be that Tuvok was merely placing these FALSE images into the thought-dealers head to throw him off the course or was so sickened by that the most horrible thought Tuvok had was remembering a film released 400 years ago on Earth, and not a very significant one at that.

How could have Tuvok seen (mindmeld same as above) the destruction of Veridian III from Stat Trek:Generations? First of all he was no where around, Tim Russ was on the Enterprise-B and second, the event never happened because time was changed by the end of the film. Weird. Can Tuvok see alternative time lines as well???

Rob Melton: A couple of responses to other's nits. First of all, this race were not full telepaths, they are "receivers". Apparently unable to send thoughts, only receive. Otherwise, they would probably do less talking than they do. The TV guide says able to "manipulate their every thought." This brings to mind the Talosians from the original pilot. They obviously are not able to manipulate thought except through the use of machinery. (Note from Phil: Was the fact that the people of this planet were only "receivers" in the dialogue of the show or are we just guessing?)

Tuvok and vulcans are not necessarily touch-telepaths. In an episode of the original series, a telepath was trying to tell Spock what he was thinking, and Spock replied, "You are mistaken. Although I am aware of your attempt to contact my mind." Touching makes the mental contact deeper and clearer.

I did have a nit on Tuvok's lack of the use of the Vulcan neck pinch, choosing instead to resort to fisticuffs. The vulcan neck pinch was invented for the original series because the writers thought that it would be out of character for the vulcan Spock to hit someone hard enough to knock them out.

One would think that in a race of receiving telepaths, along with violent thoughts being outlawed, it would be difficult or impossible to lie or keep secrets. The tendency for doing so would simply not be evident. At the very least, it would be easy for a telepath to tell that a secret was being kept. On Betazed, for instance, the telepathic abilities created a "custom of total honesty", according to Lwaxana.

Walter Czarniecki: Also, the idea of Tom formulating a rescue plan was quite silly. After all, B'Elanna still had her combadge. All they had to do was bring everyone up from the surface, lock onto her combadge and BEAM HER UP! Then again, if they did that, the show would be woefully short.

Now an observation. It looks like the costume department was scrounging around for this one. Our friendly neighborhood ex-Klingon was wearing not only the comm unit used by the terrorists in TNG's "Starship Mine," but her shoulder patch looked like it was from San Francisco's Sanctuary District A in DS9's "Past Tense."

Brian Lombard: The shots of the ship are looking faker and faker every week. That opening shot during the captain's log was an obvious cgi.

A lot of people have asked why Janeway just didn't beam up Torres and warp away. I think it's because the Mari might have warp drive themselves. Remember that Janeway and Torres were buying a plasma conduit, or something to that effect. They could probably pursue the fleeing Voyager.

Robert Donahou: The episode wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good. On To The Nits!

Janeway must be some genius when the head police officer gives her a PADD with the crime infromation on it she looks at it and seams to understand it (she could be acting to prove federation supperiority).

In the last scene 7 barges in on the captin and she acts startled whyshould she act startled the chimes went off. Was she going to let whoever it was stand outside.

Why hasn't the crew taught 7 any starfleet protical she sould wait untill someone says enter before she comes in.

Zeb Highben of Navarre, Ohio: Not a bad episode, but nothing to write home about, either. Here's an episode that could've been done completely without Chakotay, Kim, 7o9, Harry, and the Doctor, but I guess they all needed their 5 seconds (or less) of fame.

Something really bugs me about this episode...aren't Vulcans touch-telepaths?! I'm sure there has been mention made in previous episodes (of ST and TNG) that Vulcans need to be in physical contact to "exchange" thoughts. In the TNG episode where Sarek is diagnosed with Bendaii's Syndrome, he loses control of his metal abilities, yet even then it is his emotions that are projected onto the crew; they don't receive his thoughts. Also, if Vulcans can communicate telepathically without mind-melding, why haven't we seen this before? Surely it would be a useful tool for Tuvok, Spock et al. They could do a Troi-thing, or maybe even project their thoughts to the captains in the presence of an enemy. (Note from Phil: Spock *was* able to manipulate the mind of a guard in "A Taste of Armageddon" from another room but it took some effort and he did touch the wall!)

Of course, there is a way around this whole thing. We can assume that Tuvok's mental chats with the constable were merely a result of Tuvok controlling his thoughts, and the constable reading them. (They were merely played out loud for our benefit.) And as for the spot where tuvok told Guinn (sp?) that he could sense great hostility, yet wasn't in physical contact with Guinn, maybe he was bluffing! :) Sorry for rambling; this whole thing just really bothered me!!

Other nits: After the first beating, we have a brief scene where Chakotay orders that all VOYAGER crew return to the ship as soon as they can. First of all, given the possible danger caused by their presence on the planet, shouldn't he have said get back here NOW?

Secondly, a few minutes after this we see Neelix, Seven, and other crew down on the planet, just before the second attack, and they sure don't seem to be in a hurry to leave!!

Matthew Chiappardi: This one was good, very classic science-fiction like. I also admit it shares a lot of similarities with "The Next Generation"'s 'Justice', but the theme of the two scripts are pretty different.

The thing that bugs me about this episode is how does the Mari communicate with the Voyager crew verbally. The chief examiner expressed surprise that Tuvok prefers to speak aloud. That would seem to indicate the Mari communicate telepathicaly. Now, I'm no linguisist, but I would assume that a culture that only communicates telepathicly would have no need for speech, hence no need for oral language. They would probably only telepathically transmit thoughts and images which would convey their message much more effeciantly that words can anyway.

Why did they suddenly start speaking in a language for the universal translator to decifer so they can communicate with the humans. I would think this sort of communication would be obsolete. Maybe they are using an old form of language, you say, to be polite to the new found aliens? Well, maybe so, but the language would probably be old and dead. I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence, but I doubt that most people out their are conversational with, say...middle english, latin, or ancient greek, even gaelic. Just a thought.

Tuvok's method of investigating offers an interesting insight into his character. He will go to great lengths for his investigation. It's no wonder Janeway chose him to infiltrate the Maquis.

And finally, what a contrived piece of blocking to stick Paris in the captain's chair...just so Chakotay can say the line 'you can sit in that chair, but SHE'S still the boss' or something to that effect. Pretty cheesy if you ask me.

Well, speaking of cheese...doesn't next week's episode look like it has lots of it. DaVinci...please :)

Joshua Truax: As I suggested last week, "Year of Hell" was a very tough act to follow. "Random Thoughts" was a valiant effort, but as expected it doesn't come close to topping that two-parter. Even so, I would place it among my 15 favorite Voyager episodes. This was a skillfully written (with one exception; see below) cautionary tale about the futility, and even counterproductivity, of a society's attempts, however well-intentioned, to suppress its destructive elements.

The ban on violent thought in this alien society - and the shady underworld that has developed as a result - could be a metaphor for anything from Prohibition or the "war on drugs" here in America, to modern Germany's attempts to stifle its neo-Nazi movement by outlawing it. The consequences of the alien society's ban on violent thought is all too familiar: instead of eliminating violent thought, the ban merely forced it underground, where it is now beyond the society's control and often leads to actual violence - an evil far worse than the violent thought itself - as "dealers" and "users" of violent thoughts alike are effectively liberated to use any means necessary to get it. But... that's enough pontificating for now. On with the nits:

I'm sure everyone immediately recognized Gwynyth (B'Etor) Walsh's name in the guest credits. It's hard to tell that Chief Examiner N'Mira is portrayed by the same actress who gave us the younger Duras sister... but definitely not impossible.

At one point Neelix says he's never been a big fan of telepathy. If that's the case, how did he ever fall so madly in love with Kes in the first place? [At least now he knows how Janeway must feel. She's said that her goal in life is to avoid getting caught up in a temporal paradox, and she's been through two of them ("Future's End", "Year of Hell") already!]

I said that this was a well-written episode, with one exception. In fact, the exception illustrates a new entry I'd like to propose for the Nitpicker's Glossary: MORN. This is not a reference to the barfly at Quark's, but rather an acronym for Missed-Opportunity-Raising Nit. This is the opposite of an ICBN (Intercontinental Ballistic Nit). Whereas an ICBN cannot be corrected without killing the whole premise of the episode (such as the conveniently missing transporter biofilters in "Resolutions"), correcting a MORN could actually have introduced new and intriguing possibilities to the storyline.

Case in point: After placing Torres under arrest, N'Mira explains that Torres will undergo a risky "engramatic purge" to excise the offending thought from her mind. Once removed, that thought will be used as a sort of template to remove the same thought from Frane's mind. This is necessary, N'Mira says, to prevent the thought from spreading to others and thus causing an epidemic of violence. However, after hearing Tuvok's account of the violent thought dealers and how they provoked Torres's thought, "stole" it and passed it on to others, N'Mira is apparently satisfied that Torres is not at fault, and releases her without completing the purge. How, then, does she expect to purge Frane of Torres's thought, or for that matter, the old woman who killed the shopkeeper? Remember, she had said that Torres had to undergo the purge first, before Frane could be purged.

This is a MORN because, had it been addressed in the story, it would have left N'Mira and Torres with a major dilemma at the end. Since Frane and the old woman cannot be purged until Torres is purged, they still carry Torres's thought, meaning they may spread it, resulting in widespread random violence. On the other hand, in light of Tuvok's investigation, purging Torres would be a potentially dangerous punishment for a crime for which even N'Mira finally agrees that Torres is not responsible!

Next week: Leonardo da Vinci borrows Doc Hologram's mobile holoemitter and goes for a little stroll. [Advance doppelganger alert: Whoever programmed the da Vinci hologram is obviously of Russian descent. Specifically, he must be a distant descendant of Gen. Leonid Pushkin, a Soviet general who joins forces with James Bond in "The Living Daylights". (If you hadn't already guessed, Pushkin was portrayed by John Rhys-Davies, who plays da Vinci here.)]

Gina Torgerse of LaCrosse, FL: Most of what I thought of when I watched this episode has already been said, but I'd like to suggest a glossary term: SAGL "Seven Always Gets a Line."

The Constable (speaking of whom, Tuvok looks like he's about to fall in love with her) must be a really good telepath. I assume that these telepaths can shield their minds from each other, since that guy has to ask Wil (Gwil?) who Tuvok is (or else he's just too polite to dig into his thoughts and find out). So the Constable must be able to overcome any shielding when she interrogates other telepaths. Either way, these telepaths are really taking advantage of these Starfleet nontelepaths who can't shield their minds and aren't used to having people know what they're thinking.

Lis Solinas: Best Voy episode so far this season. Give the writers a kiss.

After the guy smacks into Torres, it looks like she curls a fist. If hostile thoughts are against the law, shouldn't someone notice?

Numira would make Odo cry.

"I sense you are very interested in my subconscious." Since when does Tuvok utter Troisms?

The Vulcans developed disciplines against the violent thoughts of others? I thought it was against their violent tendencies.

Hold it.... didn't I see Numira somewhere else? On Trill? Trying to keep the secret of Joran Dax?....

There are instances of Torres's violence? Only one! Smashing Carey's nose. (Note from Phil: Given what we know about Torres, there have probably been others!)

During Tuvok's flood of nasty memories from the black-marketeer, I saw a Dobermann. A Dobermann? [If there's a chihuahua, there's a dobermann....]

In "Meld" Tuvok is exposed to some very nasty thoughts. Afterwards, he becomes a maniac. Here, he seems to be fine after those violent thoughts.

Most powerful line: "You don't understand the truth of violence. It's darkness. It's power."--Tuvok. Brr.

Are those CRICKETS I hear when Tuvok is dragged off.

When Tuvok melds with the BM, he makes the guy choke himself. There are two other BM's nearby, but they don't try to stop the meld.

Nice touch: the paintings and sets look all new. Very nice.

When Torres is dragged in for the purging, they sedate her, then drop her into a faux leather-topped chair. Which looks very familiar. A dentist's chair. [Do I sense a message here?]

To pursue this point, those look like very thin straps they use of the chair. Not very securely tied either.

Note: If you look VERY carefully, you can see a bulge on Torres's belly. Watch her as she walks out of sickbay at the end.

Is it just me, or did Tuvok just give Numira a whopper of a compliment [for a Vulcan]?

I think Tom needs a reality check. He's asking CHAKOTAY to help B'Elanna? I mean, Janeway SAID no. Does Tom actually think that Chakotay will seriously agree?

One of the BM's holds Tuvok down while another punches him in the face. Waiiiiiit a min. Tuvok should have a bruise, a black eye, a swollen lip, or SOMETHING later on....

Next week: the return of Leo [and his hang-glider]

Gina Torgersen of LaCrosse FL: How come when Tuvok mind-melded with B'elanna he was talking like a hypnotist and using second-person pronouns?

Gilles Duchesne, Jonquiere, Quebec: Is it me, or is many people in Starfleet suffering from the "Tempus syndrome"? Tempus was a character in "Loic & Clark". He was obsessed by TV and usually made the same comments viewers of the show would make.

In "Time and tribblelations" (sp?), people ask Worf about the old Klingon look. In "Resurrection", this week's DS9, Dax asks Bashir why he brought the PADD himself instead of just uploading the info. And in "random thoughts", 7o9 tells Janeway it doesn't make sense stopping at every planet if they want to get home fast.

Anyway, I just have a counternit about Tuvok. Some nitpickers complained about the images that we saw. But those are almost unconscious thoughts, they don't need to be explained! The dobberman? Maybe he saw one before and got "scared" by it. (Well, as scared as a Vulcan can be.) The exploding planet that never exploded? Well, he just thought about a planet exploding. We saw Tores attacking the guy in her thoughts, though she never touched him in real life.

Roland Spickermann: Nobody seems to have commented on it yet, but there was a bit of recycling in this episode. The patch on the Mari constable's left arm -- the eagle with the "A" in the wing -- is identical to the symbol on the security officers' uniforms in the DS9 episode in which our intrepid gang gets accidentally beamed down to 21st-century San Francisco right before the famous "Gabriel Bell Riots". It seems there is a connection between the Mari and the Sanctuary program in America's near future... :-)

Scott McClenney: Let's see had a problem with the audio on Random Thoughts yesterday so didn't get all the dialoge. As far as it goes:thought it was cool to see Gwnyth Walsh on Trek again minus her Klingon make-up from the STNG Companion I see that she played B'tor. Too bad the Duras sisters are no more as they made the BEST villians on Star Trek. Ok why didn't Tuvok mind meld with Torres after she was accused? I know:THE EPISODE WOULD BE SHORT!!:) (See I am paying attention.) Took them long enough to get Seven into the action though. Anyway it looks like Neelix isn't over Kes yet. Loved it when Seven walks in with out asking and then after she leaves Janeway goes"Dismissed!" Next week the SLIDERS Slide into Voyager and Quinn falls in love with Seven while Wade and Maggie help Kim fight off the Invisible Man...Oh!Wait!just John Rhys-Davies as Leonardo Da Vinci!!!:) Gotta go and watch Earth:Final Conflict. Ciao!!:) Until Seven starts dating Iron Man.

Tony H Forbes: This is another one of those episodes where our friendly crew beams down to a planet before reviewing The Rules. Once again it gets someone into trouble. 7/9 is right, Voyager is not really good at First Contact.

Tuvok seems to really be having a problem with his throat. His voice is a bit raspy throughout the episode.

After a commercial break we see Voyager hovering above the planet (I'll get to that later), then there is a jumble of images, then we learn that Quill(?) is giving Tuvok dark thoughts. First, several of these scenes seem to come from 20th century Earth. Now, of course, we could say that the thoughts came at a time when the Mari were at Earth's present technological state ('cause they really look a lot like us, huh? ;-), but that would have been a long time ago. The Inspector said that the purging violent thoughts started "four generations ago". Hold that thought. It IS possible that the images of riots and such came from generations past, but shouldn't they have been eliminated four generations ago? Now, I don't want to flog a dead horse here, but there is more. In the same image montage, we see a couple of scenes that look suspiciously like they would have come from Tuvok's mind. These are the green plasma exploding, and the other large explosion. Now, the former could have come from the episode where they uncover the traitor who had been working with Seska, I can't remember the name of that one. It also could have come from "Fair Trade". Both of these episodes had plasma explosions in it. Now the second image could have come from anywhere but I'll single out "Scorpion" and "Year of Hell Part II" as candidates. But wait! There's more!! (Flog, flog) Later, when Tuvok shows some of HIS memories, we get several scenes of things that might not have happened while we were looking. This is good. However, we also get a scene of people fleeing from a Borg that looks like it came from "Star Trek First Contact" This is not good. How can I tell? Well, it was only on for a second, but we see three Starfleet officers with phasers and they are backing up rapidly. The camera angle is the "warped" perspective that we always get from Borg eyes. The first time we saw this was in "First Contact", and the only other place it has been used in since is the episode "The Gift", and that was only briefly. It did not include people running away. Ergo...

Whew! Glad I got that over with! But there is still more. When Tuvok and the Inspector leave the Brig, the door says "Brig I". This would imply that there is more than one brig on Voyager. So why don't they ever specify which brig a suspect is in? They will specialize transporter rooms and holodecks, but never brigs. Of course, they hardly ever use those suckers, right? ;-)

One last thing before I start to ridicule next week's premise. In this episode, the planet in the orbit shots looks like a bunch of differently colored evergreens. Seriously! Oh well. At least we got to see the new overhead shot of Voyager, which I thought was a good change.

Next Week...Janeway and Leonardo Da Vinci verses a horde of alien invaders! I know who I'm placin' MY money on!

Joe Griffin: I don't often say that, but this episode was a real letdown.

If you were a race of telepaths and you had to control any stray thoughts, violent or otherwise, because they may be harmful, wouldn't you have some sort of protocols in place to insure that aliens who were not so psychically advanced wouldn't spread their mental cooties all over the place? It's obvious this isn't the first time these folks have traded with visitors from space. Seems to me this kind of attempt at mental maintenance would require either complete isolation or some sort of mental virus protection.

If this society considers the Brig "barbaric," where do they take B'elanna when she is arrested? Does "we have them in custody" mean something entirely different here? And for a society with no crime, they seemed to have handcuffs pretty readily accessible.

They're in a section of space they've never been to, the Federation has never been to, and B'elanna is purchasing a piece of gear for Voyager? And it's just exactly what she needs? I can't even get parts for a foreign car around here.

[Concerning Chakotay's willingness to suport Tom's plan one week after collaborating with Annorax,] Bad nitpicker. No donut. Big Reset Button, remember? Never happened. ;)

Next week--Kirk and Abe Lincoln fight Yarnek...oops, sorry, it's not that at all, is it? It's something fresh, new and exciting, like all the other "holodeck creates a historical figure for the regulars to meet" stories where the computer supposedly is able to replicate this person's _personality_ as well as physical attributes and humorous moments result from the "fish-out-of-water" aspect of putting a pre-20th century earthling into the 24th century. ("8 p.m. EST: Printing press inventor Gutenberg arrives in the 20th century from Rennaissance Europe and his eyes bug out when he encounters Word for Windows. Hilarity ensues.") Yawn.

Kevin Spenst of Moscow, ID: Watched the new Voyager episode on Wednesday... When it got to the end credits, I watched the preview for next week (with Da Vicni etc). As always, like a true nitpicker, I watched closely. Wouldn't you know it, but yet again we have an example of PAL. During the preview, they imply that they found Da Vinci alive after all these centuries. Well, if you look closely, pay atterntion to his lapel. Lo and behold, he has the Doc's good old portable holo-projector thing. Cought em red handed trying to trick us. :)

Jeff Carpenter of Springfield, VA: I'm tired of everyone complaining about the demographics! Specifically, the male 18-26, or some variant of that. (Like 27's too old!) Listen, this is a TV show and if it doesn't get ratings, it goes off the air! OK... so if they do something blatent (like Seven) we can note it and then move on, but hitting them with it every single week is really starting to get to me! Sorry... I'll go away now. (Note from Phil: Actually . . . the demographic is 18-35 because by the time a guy is 35 his hormones have started to settled down a bit! ;-)

I. E. Zawilski of Thornhurst, PA: I don't think anybody else mentioned this - why would telepaths need to sell each other violent thoughts? Couldn't they just read each other's minds for free?

Ross A. Fillmore, Columbus, OH: A correction for you, Phil, on a comment you made in your Brash Reflections of this episode. Gwynyth Walsh played B'Etor. Barbara March played Lursa. (Note from Phil: Thanks for the input! I have fixed it above.)

Mike Leinoff of Queensbury, NY: Just one nit today. David T. Shaw almost hit it on the head when he asked why people didn't go home and just think these thoughts, if they were so desperate to have them. The impression I got was that they couldn't, because their natural instinct was to suppress them. My take on all this is, "Why should these people *pay* for the violent thoughts?" They could just as easily evoke them by themselves by bumping into people in public places. Or, if they were really desperate, they could bop themselves over the head a few times until they went nuts!

Simon Crowley: I see V'Ger on Thursday nights, and usually don't get around to submitting my nits 'til Friday, so other people ususally beat me to it. And now, I'm writing this on Saturday, because Hotmail was upgrading my account yesterday! Ugh. But enough about me, let's get to the nits (some of these may be repeats, I just skimmed through the file before e-mailing):

Vulcan's are ~mild~ telepaths. Both the original series and TNG established this. This creates loads of nits, not the least of which is that Tuvok and Nimira communicate telepathically.

Is it just me, or are we seeing a lot more exterior city views lately? Not that I mind, actually I like them. TNG stopped in the first season, and DS9's attempts are pathetic. Kudos to the art designers!

Another thing that ticked me off was the casual use of units. "Hours", "minutes", and "years" should have no meaning...unless (cue ominous music) it's the Universal Translator! AARRGGHH! (I hate that thing!)

Whoa, this was a real free speech episode! I'll bet all those Blue Ribbon folks loved this!

Is it smart to have such a conversation on the bridge ("break her out")?

Barbie-Borg still has Borg views on collecting knowledge. Uh-oh.

Would that be a violation of the Prime Directive: dropping and abandoning his combadge?

Tuvok lied! Tuvok deceived! Tuvok is a violent person (albeit deep down inside)! Tuvok is a weakling! Tuvok-- oh, never mind.

You'd think that Guill's henchman would help him out when he was getting the mental tar kicked out of him.

It seems to me that whenever Barbie-Borg "prefers to stand", Jeri Ryan has had the too-tight catsuit painted on. (Note from Phil: Well . . . she did kneel in this episode, didn't she?)

And lastly...at some point during this episode, my syndicated channel put a marquee across the bottom of the screen: "On Tuesday...see the Voyager ep' that has never been seen!" And it's not the Da Vinci one, either. If Phil lets me, I'll send my nits for that Wednesday. (Note from Phil: Send away!)

George: is it me or is the crew of voyager taking janeways role as captain a little to lightly? recent episodes have shown (mostly paris) mouthing off, disobeying orders, and the like. this weeks episode showed paris questioning the captain in front of the leader of the other race ( I cant remember their name), a definite no no. and seven just stomps right into the ready room, and basically yells at janeway. I hope the writers are going to take care of this, if they dont, eventually the crew HAS to mutiny.

Jacob: In general, one of the more average Voyager episodes with elements taken from TNG and even previous VOY and enough nits to make a person go nuts. It seemed that this episode was trying to do a character story like DS9. It won't work for Voyager because their characters have no substance. They're not as believeable as the DS9 characters are.

The first nit is in the area of Tuvok's rank. The man was PROMOTED from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander. The only person who gets it right is Kim when he says "Bridge to commander Tuvok". The others call him Lt. Tuvok. I assume you can either abbreviate it by saying Lt. or Cmdr, but it is generally accepted to use cmdr. Worf is always called commander as is Data, why not Tuvok. Calling him Lt. makes no sense now that he's not one anymore.

The next nit/comment is........When Tuvok is sharing his experiences with the black market thought dealer, he starts to strangle him with his thoughts. Who does Tuvok think he is? Darth Vader? (For everyone who is not familiar with this, Darth Vader used the Force to nearly kill an officer of the Death Star in SW4: A New Hope by strangulation and he strangled Captain Needa in SW5: The Empire Strikes Back for losing track of the Millenium Falcon.)

Finally, the uniforms that the Mari security officers wear are VERY reminiscent of the Rutian uniforms from TNG, with a few adjustments.

Murray: Awful episode. A few good points (Seven's closing scene reminded me of Neelix's "Natural Born Idiots" speech in "The Cloud"), but it generally had little going for it.

It sure took a long time for Tuvok and his friend to be notified of the fight (they were all ready well into the tour).

Neelix was "inspecting the produce"? Interesting chocie of words...

So a well placed knife can still kill you in the 24th century! Wow! So much for advanced medical technology...

This Gwil (sp?) guy must be incredibly dumb to go on as long as he did with Tuvok and not suspect that he was being investigated. (Tuvok did introduce himself as a security officer earlier)

Anthony Neff: Not a bad ep. Loved seeing Gwynyth Walsh [aka B'Etor -- I think ...]. She's a favorite actress of mine.

J. Andrew Keith, Greensburg PA: With all due respect to those who thought the episode was poor, I couldn't help but think that this was an episode the Great Bird of the Galaxy would have liked. It did what Trek has been doing from the very beginning -- held up a mirror to some aspect of our society by using an alien culture as an example of where that aspect might lead. Perhaps it wasn't the best possible example, but it reminded me of "Return of the Archons" from Classic Trek for showing the dark side of what many would consider a paradise.

That said, I want to cite what I think is a monumental nit. If Torres is to be condemned for unwittingly passing on a stray thought, how come Tuvok doesn't even get a warning for deliberately sharing lots of nasty thoughts? Seems to me like he should be purged of a few dozen engrams.

It was a pity that they didn't do a little bit more with Tuvok's past experience in this area from "The Meld." Or did the Year of Hell erase that? I lose track.

Finally, I'm a little disturbed by the inconsistancies in this race's treatment of telepathy. They don't seem to be concerned with individual privacy -- consider how the girl is lifting Neelix's daydreams about whiskers, or the casual way the merchant uses telepathy during negotiations with Janeway. So apparently they're all comfortable snooping around (and being snooped upon) all the time. How, then, can this black market ring flourish? And how can the police really be assured that they've wiped out all wrong thinking unless they have some kind of "thought police" that actually monitors the citizenry closely at all times . . . in which case, they must be the Keystone Thought Police because they managed to miss such a major crime ring in their midst.

Telepathic societies are hard to write about. Many years ago I worked in the universe of the SF role-playing game Traveller, and never liked it when I had to work with the telepathic society they introduced. But if the Powers that Be are going to bring in telepaths, they jolly well ought to try to make them reasonably consistent!

Matthew McLauchlin: Have you noticed that whenever there is an establishing shot of a very lovely city on a planet, there is always a negative side to it which is going to play a major part in the episode? See "A Taste of Armaggeddon" and possibly (read: haven't seen it) "Wolf in the Fold" (TOS), "Justice" and "Angel One" (TNG), "Homefront" and to a lesser extent "Shadowplay" (DS9), and "Prime Factors" (Voy).

I have seen many of the "alien" veggies in Tali's shop in many of the veggie shops in my neighbourhood! This phenomenon can be seen also in "M_nage _ Troi" (TNG) where Riker and the counselor chow down on flowering kale.

What does Tuvok mean, there are few telepaths in the Fleet? There seem to be various Vulcans and Betazoids on most ships in the Fleet. We know from "The Immunity Syndrome" (TOS) that the Intrepid had an *all-Vulcan* crew. There has been a Betazoid and a Vulcan commandant of the Academy. ("First Duty" (TNG)) The Vulcans are one of the founding members of the Federation, and they and the Betazoids are probably not the only telepaths in the Federation.

7 is right about the first contact procedures. (No pun intended.) The good ship Voyager tends to waltz into first contact situations with no understanding of the factors involved! B'Elanna's problem in this episode is exactly similar to Wes' problem in "Justice" (TNG) and is caused by the same lack of knowledge on the part of the security officer. However, 7's statement at the end is incorrect; in fact they are *not* following Starfleet first contact protocol! Compare the first-contact procedure in this episode with that in "First Contact" (TNG). This required months of covert surveillance before first contact was initiated! Do our heroes even know if the Mari are warp-capable, which I believe is the minimum requirement for first-contact initiation?

Did anyone else think that Gwill was coming onto B'Elanna when he put his hand on her *opposite* shoulder?

Why does B'Elanna say that her foot hurt when Numira is interrogating her? What's-his-name in the blue suit didn't step on her foot, he knocked into her shoulder!

After B'Elanna is arrested, Chakotay orders everyone off the surface of the planet. However, Neelix is still there to witness Tali's murder!

How does Neelix know to feel for a pulse in Tali's wrist? (Of course, since they look *exactly like humans*, they must have veins in the exact same place!)

You could really hear B'Etor's voice when Numira says "The case is closed!"

Harboring violent thoughts seems to be a crime on Mari. So, why aren't blue-suit (the batterer) and the old woman guilty? After all, *they were harboring violent thoughts*! Also, see below for more on telepathy.

Several times, "dark" is used to mean "evil". I will not comment on the racism in this; I will merely express my wonderment that both the Vulcans and the Mari use the same dark/light imagery as Judeo-Christian humans. For that matter, the only people we've ever seen on Trek who use any other set of assumptions were Lokai and Bele in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" (TOS) and the people who built the comet computer in "Masks" (TNG).

Similarly, Gwill talks about going home for "dinner". Does everyone use a three-meal system as well? Not everyone on *Earth* uses a three-meal system; it was invented by Louis XIV. (Note from Phil: [speaking in a dazed chant,] "Universal Translator, Universal Translator . . .")

Gwill and Mallit are really, really dense. Tuvok tells them he is investigating B'Elanna's problem, and they discuss violent-thought-trafficking with him anyway! What Tuvok does is tantamount to an undercover narc going up to a drug pusher and saying, "Hello, I'm an undercover narc, will you sell me some crack?" Come on.

Okay, these people's telepathic abilities are subject to very great confusion. Apparently, these people are very similar to the Betazoids. Numira sends to Tuvok and mentally probes B'Elanna, Gwill can read B'Elanna and Janeway, Tali can read Neelix, and Gwill speaks of "stealing" thoughts from people. However, Tuvok, Gwill, B'Elanna, and the guy in blue must touch to send and receive thoughts, Tali couldn't sense the violence in the old woman, and nobody seems to sense the violent thoughts in B'Elanna, Tuvok, Gwill, other Voyager crewmembers, and other thought addicts! What is going on here?

Will someone please check that Tuvok is sans combadge the whole time after he removes it? I would, but I didn't record the episode.

Not a nit - there is a lovely dorsal shot of Voyager - all pearly white- orbiting the planet. I think it was made special for this episode.

When Numira calls Voyager, it seems that Janeway asks all the questions. Was Numira merely answering a page?

When Janeway calls Numira and tells her to stop brainwashing B'Elanna, the captain says she has "new evidence". That didn't work before; why should it work now?

So much for enlightenment. Tuvok offers B'Elanna a blatant racial insult right to her face. If I was her, I'd slap him with an official complaint! Remember from "Caretaker"... "The Federation Council can expect to receive an *official* *query* about this..."

Brent Morris from Colorado Springs: I enjoyed this episode. however much the previews wanted me to skip it I tri to watch every new episode. Here is a nit why does'nt Janeway beam B'laana up. Or why didn't Paris sneak into the Transporter Room at 2AM and beam her up, then the next morning have Janeway make him scrub toliets.

Derek Moffitt and Melanie Koleini: This episode confirms that Kes still existed! We therefore would assume that everything except "Before and After" still happened, and that episode didn't happen because it was caused by a Krenim torpedo that won't hit the Voyager in this timeline.

So Chakotay doesn't think Janeway would mind Paris sitting in her chair? We'd've loved to see the good captain walk in during that conversation.

Since when has Janeway decided to go back to following the Prime Directive?

In several scenes, Tuvok sounds like he has a head cold. This is especially true while he's talking to Neelix in the corridor.

Tuvok tells B'Elanna that a mind meld poses no danger. Since when? (On the other hand, maybe this is just another example of the Doctor's statement that Vulcans always overestimate the safety of melds.)

What does Tuvok think he's doing, sharing thoughts with this alien? Doesn't he remember what happened with Suder? Even though it all turns out to be part of his plan, isn't this more than a little risky?

In the final scene with Seven and Janeway, why doesn't Seven realise how important it is to contact planets for their resources? She's been going on all season about how assimilation is a superior means of acquiring new knowledge and technologies, so she certainly understands that the Voyager *wants* to acquire new technology; she just disagrees with their methods. In the final scene, she seems to be discounting the whole idea of obtaining technology from anyone. Also, why is Janeway so absolutely unconcerned that Tuvok and B'Elanna were almost lost? Of course she'd realise that there are risks to being a Starfleet officer, they understood those risks, etc., but she would also care about losing valuable personnel. The crew of Voyager is developing an alarming habit of exaggerating when talking to Seven just to make a point. (Remember "The captain is always right"?)

All in all, this was a pretty good episode--so much so that we don't even mind the *MORAL*. It was great to see Tuvok and B'Elanna have a scene together for once; there are interesting possibilities there. We only regret that Seven didn't have more of a role in the plot; it'd be interesting to see how she'd interact with telepaths after her experiences in the Collective. But look at the bright side: this episode REALLY HAPPENED!!

And a few anti-nits:

Guill and his accomplices need others' violent thoughts because, on a planet where violence is unheard of, they haven't the imagination to think of more than a few violent acts. Witness how overwhelmed they were by B'Elanna's *minor*annoyance*, not to mention Tuvok's lifetime of experiences.

As several nitpickers pointed out, Tuvok has super-human strength. That doesn't necessarily imply that he has super-Mari strength.

One possible explanation for the way B'Elanna broke the mind meld so easily is that it was a very low-level meld. Tuvok said he would restrict himself to thoughts that directly related to the incident in the marketplace, and he didn't seem to know what she was thinking until she told him--it's almost as though he was just increasing her mental clarity so she'd be able to recall more, without actually going into her mind (like the telepaths in "Violations").

Oh, and we think Phil's right about humans being naturally violent. (Whether any other species are is, of course, open to question, but it's not at all unlikely.) (Note from Phil: By the way, Kirk himself makes this claim at the end of Requiem for Methusela, " . . . but I'm not going to kill . . . today! Or something like that! ;-)

Matthew Chase Maxwell of San Francisco CA: Why does Janeway originally assume that memory extraction, when performed by the aliens, is dangerous to Torres? Perhaps the aliens have perfected the technique. Of course, we later learn from the chief examiner during her conversation with Tuvok that she is in fact scared of hurting Torres during the procedure.

If the aliens normally communicate telepathically, why do the old woman and the young receiver of Neelix's affection use spoken words regarding the purchase of fruit before the murder?

Why didn't any of the alien investigatory scans of the two attackers uncover the thought-selling scheme which was at the root of all the trouble?

The aliens would certainly have no need to probe the thoughts of Mr. Paris. He seems to have a need to vocalize every thought that enters his mind, and is in desperate need of a lesson in discretion.

I wanted Tuvok to wipe that smug look off of the chief examiner's face by pointing out that while the Vulcans solved their problems with base emotions by conquering them from within, her people are losing the battle by fighting from without. Tuvok would of course point out that my base emotions are alive and kicking...

12/1/97 Update

Michael "Grumpy" Gurwitz of Washington, DC: I loathed this episode. It took an interesting idea -- black market for negative thoughts (as in the film "Strange Days,"), and plopped it into the [GOOFIEST] plot on Voyager since "Threshold."

My gripe: The Mari Constable practically shook with panic at the idea of Belanna's violent thought plunging Mari society into violent upheaval. Well, if Mari society is that susceptible to disruption from outsiders, then you would think that before allowing any aliens to visit their planet, THEY WOULD WARN THEM ABOUT THINKING VIOLENT THOUGHTS. Either that, or say sorry, but our society is so fragile, we can't let you enter it. Naturally, this obvious precaution was not in place for this episode.

Second gripe: Janeway needs a good kick in the rear, preferably from Belanna. Okay, so you're the captain, and your crewmember has inadvertently broken an alien race's law. Now that alien race threatens your crewmember with a possible lobotomy. Do you rescue your crewmember and get out of there, or surrender to some masochistic notion of morality which just happens to apply in your home space a gazillion miles away? Janeway was ready to let Belanna get lobotomized! What if the Mari insisted she be executed by being boiled in oil? Would Janeway simply sigh and say, oh well, guess there's nothing we can do?!

And on that note, I think it's time for the Voyager crew to mutiny and install 7 of 9 as captain. Aside from the fact that she is a babe, she is also the most rational member of the crew. She would never let Belanna fester in an alien prison. She would focus on Voyager's main goal -- getting home. Besides, she's a babe.

Clay: Ross A. Fillmore, Columbus, OH, says that he wondered how Dr. Pulaski could purge memories and not be in danger of harming her patients as was possible in "Random Thoughts". Well she did not purge them. She took them and stored them in another part of the brain as some kind of protein sequence or something. She did not remove them from the person's mind. (Note from Phil: Umm . . . I don't seem to recall that piece of dialogue!)

Gina Torgersen of LaCrosse FL: When Seven is talking to Janeway at the end of the episode, the stars out the window aren't moving! What, they're still hanging around that planet? Next shot shows Voyager at warp.

Dave Pack: Just had one thought on this episode, "Justice." That's all it was. :)

Marty Hecla of Slidell, LA: During Seven's "complaint" at the end, she mentions something along the lines of "your chief engineer and chief of security were almost lost today." I don't think that Tuvok and Torres's lives were ever really in danger here. Torres just stood to lose a few memory engrams and I doubt Gwyll and his associates were ever going to actually kill Tuvok.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but another one of Tuvok's brain flashes featured the Nexus. (?!)

Allan W. Fix of Warehousing St. Paul: So why did EVERYBODY refer to her as "the old woman"? She wasn't just an extra, she actually had some lines and was integral to the plot. Didn't she have a name? Or was she the only old woman on the planet?

William LeFeavers, Conover, NC: anti-nits:

Ron Saarna: Just because Kes does/did still exist doesn't mean that she necessarily had her little trip through time. Remember it is a different timeline than what we started out with.

Rob Melton: I don't see where you get that the Maari are "receivers". The cop and Tuvok were communicating telepathically in the marketplace. Seems like she was "sending" to me.

Jeff Carpenter: Right on!! :)

Derek Moffett and Melanie Koleini: Don't assume anything. It's possible that a lot of events never happened or occured differently because of Year of Hell events.

Shinichi Evans: In this episode, we get some insight into why the crew thinks Neelix's cooking is so scary. When he is in the marketplace courting the lovely grocer (is it any coincidence that she's blond and telepathic like Kes?), Neelix tastes a fruit and reveals he likes it because it tastes tart when she asks him about its sweetness. Neelix's "cuisine" must taste horrible because of his warped tastebuds! (Note from Phil: Just a little joke!)

Alvin L. East Jr. of Las Vegas NV: I found this an interesting episode, it reminded me of TOS with it's moral mirror aspect! Below is some of my food for "Thought";-) about it.

After examining the crew and finding B'Elanna's violent thoughts, the Chief Examiner arrests her for breaking the law against violent thoughts and says they "MUST" purge the thoughts so they can be used as a template to cure any infected individuals, including Frane the guy who went nuts after bumping into B'Elanna.

Later Tuvok finds out that Frane has a "criminal record" for previous violent thoughts (more than once), but the Chief Examiner indicates that he'd already been "cured" of those thoughts and it was "impossible" that he was the culprit in this case.

Wait a minute!?! A criminal investigator completely dismisses a "known habitual offender" in favor of an unknown perpetrator just because "he already did his time"! Where did she get her training, the Sears school of criminal science!!;-)

If Frane was previously found guilty of violent thoughts why wasn't he questioned along with the Voyager crew when he was found to be involved in another violent thought crime?

Oh. I'm sorry he was the victim here wasn't he! That Poor man, being subjected to B'Ellana's big bad thoughts! It's just to horrible to even contemplate. WHAT was I thinking!;-)

Why didn't the Chief Examiner mention his prior treatment when she originally discussed the case with Tuvok, and why did she dismiss it so casually when Tuvok finally found out about it?

Was she just overwhelmed by B'Elanna's violent thoughts? Is this a case of Mari prejudice against outsiders? Are the Mari just ashamed of the fact that they still have to treat people for violent thoughts? Are they trying to hide the fact that they actually "DO" have a violent thought problem from "outsiders"??

**********

H-u-m-m-m-m-m, some interesting thoughts there. Did the writers want us to actually have to "think" about the plot line? Is there some sort of underlining message here that we're suppose to pick up on? Some sort of devious comment on our own society? Should we look at this whole episode in a different light! Are these really nits or did they "deliberately" leave out some of these things? H-u-u-u-u-m-m-m-m-m-m!?!

**********

Anyway. When Frane was arrested previously we can only "assume" he was subjected to the same interrogation as the Voyager crew was. How did the Chief Examiner overlook the source of those thoughts when they "MUST" have the originator's thoughts in order to cure infected individuals?

If Frane wasn't the originator of the thought, how did they cure him? Where did they get the original thought template for their "cure" to work?

If he was the originator, and thus guilty of multiple occurrences of violent thought crime, why wasn't he being watched for possible future infractions?

After all we have a guy here who's been convicted of the only crime his society still has! More than once! Who's been "cured", but still committed the "same" crime again!

I'd say this guy bears very careful watching indeed!! What self respecting Chief Examiner wouldn't want to keep an eye on such a criminal! I mean he's already proven he's a multiple offender and what else have I got to do except slowly go nuts from lack of something to occupy my time in this "no crime" society!;-)

Regardless of any of this, and how the episode actually ended, B'Ellana "was" still guilty of a violent thought crime under Mari law! She did think those violent thoughts! Why wasn't she treated! What about the "Prime Directive!" Did the Captain reach a plea bargain with the Chief Examiner? Was she let off light because she led them to the "violent thought" suppliers (the bigger fish)? I mean a known criminal, self confessed, was let go by the authorities; with "no" explanation!! (Note from Phil: Yup! Yup! Yup! Yup! Yup! Yup! ;-)

Kevin Daly of Simsbury, CT: First of all, I find it very hard to believe that Tuvok played all of those mind games with the planet's natives. In previous episodes, and even at the beginning of "Random Thoughts," Tuvok had only been concerned with hard evidence. (Note from Phil: Of course, Tuvok *was* an undercover agent while in the Maquis!)

More importantly, why didn't Torres get purged at the end? It was her thought that caused the problem.

Jeffrey M. Hall: Maybe I missed something, but didn't Janeway (as well as the Doctor, op. cit.) tell Tuvok, expressively, _NOT_ to use the mind meld without her permission.

AND has technology gone so radically downhill since TOS:"Tomorrow is Yesterday" when Bones was able to erase NCC-1701 from the memory of the jet pilot (Captain John Christopher, Classic Guide, pg. 76ff) - now Janeway says it's too dangerous.

12/8/97 Update

Matthew Chase Maxwell of San Francisco CA: I had one more thought concerning this episode. How did Nimira and Tuvok communicate telepathically? Presumably the Mari and Tuvok speak different languages and the Universal Translator allows them to get around this communication problem when speaking aloud. Surely, the UT doesn't operate on a telepathic level as well. (Note from Phil: No doubt the creators would like us to believe that everyone in the universe has the same telepathic wiring. ;-)

Clay: The episode where Dr. Crusher tried to "wipe" the memories of the Mentakens that came aboard the Enterprise D is where I found the dialogue concerning my earlier comment on how Dr. Pulaski did her memory procedure. Dr. Crusher and Picard talk about it and she says she studied Pulaski's notes on the procedure and then explained how she would do it.

If you would like to add some comments, drop me a note at chief@nitcentral.com with the Subject line "Random Thoughts". Please include your real name, city and state (or province and county as the case may be) in the body of the e-mail so I can give you credit if you are the first person to bring up a particular nit. (Remember the legalese: Everything you submit becomes mine and you grant me the right to use yourname in any future publication by me. I will do my best to give you credit if you are the first person to submit a particular nit but I make no guarantees. And finally, due to the volume of mail received at Nitpicker Central, your submission may or may not be acknowledged but that entry will make you a part of the Nitpickers Guide is you aren't one already!)

Copyright 1997 by Phil Farrand. All Rights Reserved.