We're on similar story ground as DS9 -- the materialist Federation confronted with something beyond science, a world where the spiritual realm is real.
DON'T poke the shrine
The Nechani are trying their best to be nice, still helping even though Harry and B'elanna made it clear they were going to scan the heck out of the shrine. There's no real "bad guy" in this episode.
This episode was written with the ritual in mind. It really shows because the beginning scenes are almost all low-action, very talky, and railroaded to set up the main acts. There's also basically no introduction: Kes gets zapped right away.
In season 1 or 2 this would have been a Chakotay episode but we've grown and learned. Chakotay is here in a supporting role but doesn't provide any profound input -- instead look at Janeway trying to scientificize the whole thing.
The monks Janeway meets in the cave have big Kai Opaka energy, bubbling with inner peace and worldliness.
Janeway stripped nude, painted and put in a simple shift -- symbolic of her transition from scientist & captain to pilgrim
"Tests make sense to her" -- a reflection on Star Trek as a whole, where everything is framed as a puzzle or challenge--the Kobayashi Maru is a major example. Q's interventions in "Encounter at Farpoint" and onward were framed as tests and trials.
This episode is not subtle about its main idea, "let go of needing an answer." It repeats it over and over.
"Put your hand in" -- there are parallels here with the opening scene of "Dune" and with Flash Gordon's bravery test. But also there's the use of some kind of chemical -- a venom, to make it acceptable to anti-drug censors -- to induce a trance
Weirdly Chakotay, whose people used to use drugs for spiritual purposes, is the one most worried about the mystery venom
"I'm only here to serve as a voice, an interpreter for the ancestral spirits" -- how is this NOT a Chakotay episode? It's the stronger choice to make it about Janeway but there are so many nods here...
Note the face markings as signs of spirituality, like Chakotay's tattoo
Janeway emerges from a sarcophagus-like chamber -- a symbolic resurrection. And she gets her uniform back, transforming roles again, reborn as a scientist.
We're setting up an idea that will be a big part of "Equinox" -- the spiritual made real, and exploited. This bounces off an idea the show started investigating in "Cathexis" -- remember the mystery element was going to be a new power source and a hundred other things.
The repetitiveness means the end is almost an anticlimax -- make a leap of faith, ignore the science and trust the spirits. Also the monks basically give Janeway the answer on a platter.
Players on both sides of the table can shuffle the deck once more. However the banker has the right to shuffle the playing cards final, and to offer the playing cards to any participant or spectator to cut. If the participant 솔카지노 requested for a 3rd card and the banker has a total of 0, 1 or 2, the banker at all times draws a 3rd card. If the participant didn't ask for a card, the banker draws a 3rd card with a total of 5 or less, however not with 6 or 7.
Players on both sides of the table can shuffle the deck once more. However the banker has the right to shuffle the playing cards final, and to offer the playing cards to any participant or spectator to cut. If the participant 솔카지노 requested for a 3rd card and the banker has a total of 0, 1 or 2, the banker at all times draws a 3rd card. If the participant didn't ask for a card, the banker draws a 3rd card with a total of 5 or less, however not with 6 or 7.
ReplyDelete