Date night goes awry for Chakotay.
“Shattered” is the perfect season finale for Voyager. It’s weird that they made another 15 episodes after this, but hey, who am I to judge? Anyway, that was a great episode. Blog post done. Liz out–
WAIT.
Okay, fine.
I’m not going to say that “Shattered” is the last good episode of Voyager‘s final season, because it’s been way too long since I watched season 7. But I am prepared to guess that I’m going to look back and think, “Wow, ‘Shattered’ was absolutely the last GREAT Voyager episode!”
It is, of course, a Michael Taylor script.
“A character is sent forwards and backwards in time to appreciate what has come before and what may come next” is a solid trope for the final season of a series. So solid that Discovery did it with “Face the Strange”, and they didn’t even know season 5 would be the last!
“Face the Strange” was an opportunity to bring new first officer Rayner up to speed on Discovery‘s lore and the trauma bonding that made its crew … you know. Like that. And also to speedrun his own bond with the crew.
“Shattered” gives that speedrun to Janeway. Not just season one Janeway, but Early “Caretaker” Janeway. She’s having a perfectly normal day — the first day of her first command1 — and then the terrorist she’s meant to be hunting down pops out of the turbolift, abducts her, takes her on a jaunt through the future and reveals that they’re gonna get real close. Maybe not “overtly romantic” close, but definitely “lending him the book her fiancé gave her as an engagement gift” close.
That’s Moment of Genius #1.
Moment of Genius #2 is that the real danger in this story doesn’t come from the temporal anomaly, or Seven’s Borg drones, or even Seska, but Janeway herself, tempted to change history by preventing Voyager’s loss in the delta quadrant. Like, this is a post-religion utopia (eyeroll), but Janeway’s so Catholic, she’s feeling guilty about things she hasn’t even done yet.
This is also a Chakotay episode
Beltran has done some pretty great work through the whole season so far — I am increasingly convinced that the “Beltran could be replaced with a block of wood and no one would notice” meme of the era was a combination of “Stoic Indian” and “Lazy Mexican” stereotypes — but he carries this episode.
So many Chakotay stories involve either great suffering or great stupidity that it’s great to see him just have a fun romp. He’s variously charming, swashbuckling, earnest and kind, and it’s thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
One last dance with the devil
“Shattered” very wisely skirts around the various icks of Seska’s storyline — impregnating herself with Chakotay’s DNA, the “it’s domestic violence but she deserves it” of her relationship with Cullah — and allows her to be the slightly camp villain she was always meant to be.
Most importantly, Martha Hackett and Robert Beltran still have great chemistry. It’s so fun to watch that it almost makes up for this episode’s one misstep.
Am I the only one who remembers B’elanna and seska were best friends?
This is a very busy episode which culminates in a scene where people from every point in Voyager’s timeline converge on engineering to take Seska down. There’s a lot happening!
But one thing is missing. We don’t even get a flicker of surprise or dismay in B’Elanna’s face when she learns that her best friend is a Cardassian spy who is going to betray them all.
I don’t think we needed a massive digression into the history of their friendship — although I also wouldn’t say no — but it’s an oversight I regret.
Okay, yes, the attention to detail is uneven
Like, we’ve recreated Harry’s season 1 hair, but forgotten that B’Elanna was on the bridge when Janeway destroyed the Caretaker’s Array.
But I’m not mad. I was having way too much fun to get angry about it, especially when I had to dedicate some energy to the really important business of being cross they forgot the B’Elanna-Seska friendship. PRIORITIES.
The Janeway/Chakotay of it all
If “Shattered” is a celebration of Voyager, it’s also a celebration of the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay. When Janeway asks how close they will become, it’s the most overt reference to a romantic connection we’ve seen in years.
Chakotay tells her that there are lines they never cross, and I think we are meant to believe that means they never slept together. (He will, shortly, have a brand new love interest…)
But it’s all so deliciously ambiguous. That could mean anything, after all. This is the franchise that invented hetbaiting. They could be casual lovers with no emotional involvement; emotionally engaged but not physically; friendly exes; there is genuinely no limit to the possibilities here, and I love that.
Other observations
- I think it’s funny that, whether dealing with Wil Wheaton or Cirroc Lofton or Manu Intiraymi, any time a Star Trek has to age up a skinny, lanky teenage boy, they go for an adult man who is built like a brick shithouse.
- Just pretend I threw in my usual rant about the whole “Janeway can’t cook hurr hurr” thing and move on.
- It feels like the costume department were REALLY happy to realise Roxann Dawson still fits into her “Caretaker” costume.
In conclusion
I want to draw sparkly hearts around this episode. Five Antarian ciders out of five.