Detective Tuvok conducts an investigation into Detective Tuvok, and concludes that Detective Tuvok has done nothing wrong.
“Repression” is one of those eps that is never actually bad, but also never quite gets beyond “watchable”.
It definitely doesn’t rise to the level of “rewatchable”. ‘Ah yes, the episode where Tuvok is murdering people,’ I thought when the Greatest Gen hit it in their Voyager recaps last year. ‘Ah yes, the episode where Tuvok is murdering people,’ I thought when I opened Netflix last night.
Technically, no one dies in this episode, but nevertheless, it was all familiar without being memorable. We hit the old Starfleet versus Maquis tension, with dialogue to lampshade the fact that this hasn’t been an issue since season 1, and learn — again — that Tuvok is actually a super violent guy beneath his logical exterior.
Now, this is one of the most interesting things about Tuvok, who is otherwise the most Vulcan of Vulcans. Contrast him with Spock, whose driving emotion beneath the surface is love. We stan a non-toxically masculine Vulcan dad, but you can’t say Tuvok doesn’t work for it.
The problem is that “Repression” doesn’t really have anything new to say about Tuvok, or anyone else on Voyager. The story ultimately turns on his relationship with Janeway, but it feels more than a little rote. We’ve seen him trust her in difficult and emotionally compromising circumstances, and vice versa. It feels like a retread.
Let’s take a moment, instead, to look at the scenes which feel new. Or, maybe, new-ish.
First, we check in on Tom and B’Elanna’s life as newlyweds. This involves a date on the holodeck in a 1930s cinema, because again, only men have hobbies and interests. B’Elanna rolls her eyes and puts up with it, Tom is super proud of himself for his attention to detail, and —
Wait, I was talking about the scenes that felt new.
Anyway, the Tom/B’Elanna stuff is familiar but pleasant.
So is the Detective Tuvok stuff, and the Janeway And Chakotay Stand Very Close To One Another And Look Concerned business. It’s genuinely nice to check in with the Maquis as a group, even though you do wonder why we haven’t seen this throughout the series. You will be assimilated indeed.
There’s a level of tension throughout, but it doesn’t really pick up until the final act, when Sleeper Agent Tuvok activates his network of Other Sleeper Agents (it’s a multi-level espionage scheme) and the former Maquis take over the ship.
It doesn’t hurt that this is when Robert Beltran and Roxann Dawson slip into the leather outfits they wore back in “Caretaker”. B’Elanna’s Maquis outfit may actually be the best costume ever used in Voyager. Fight me. But also, Beltran comes to life when Chakotay launches his mutiny. You expect brainwashed zombies, but he’s nibbling tenderly at the scenery in a very charismatic way. In fact, he almost steals the show from Tim Russ, which is impressive because Russ is in peak form.
But the quality of Russ’s performance makes it especially odd that the directing kind of lets him down. This is the final episode to be directed by Winrich Kolbe, a Star Trek veteran going back to the TNG days. He directed “Caretaker”, and has always seemed consistently decent, but something here is off. The sets are lit with in flat blue-grey-green tones which make Russ’s skin look dull, and for some reason we get a lot of shots which highlight blemishes on his cheeks.
Perhaps Russ was just unwell when this was filmed, but it seems odd that an episode written to showcase the Black cast member would light him so badly. This was sometimes a problem on TNG, but you’d think that by this late stage, with a full seven seasons of DS9 under their belts, Voyager would be able to avoid the issue.
Other observations
- All the Maquis characters in this episode have appeared before, which is a nice touch.
- I just can’t tell you how great B’Elanna’s Maquis outfit is. It’s even better than the velvet boat neck sleeveless dress she wears in the teaser, and that is a top-tier Star Trek costume.
- This is a decidedly mediocre episode, BUT the final shot at the end, of Janeway and Tuvok wearing their 3D glasses, is iconic. I cannot explain this contrast.
In conclusion
It pains me to say this about a Tuvok episode, but this is intensely skippable. Two brainwashed Vulcans out of five.