This September and October, we’re taking a look at the 1995 to 1996 season of Star Trek, including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Check back daily for the latest review.
In what is becoming a recurring theme for the second season of Star Trek: Voyager, Prototype is a mess.
As with a lot of the surrounding episodes, its production was fraught and tense; tensions seemed to be building among the production team as the season progressed. Prototype was an episode that was largely driven by Michael Piller, and one opposed by Jeri Taylor. Kenneth Biller was responsible for tweaking and rewriting Nicholas Corea’s script, but he does not seem particularly fond of the episode. These tensions and disagreements would build to a climax in the second half of the year.
Bride of 3947…
Prototype is not a good episode, by any measure. There are a lot of elements that are interesting on their own terms, but there is also something quite nasty and uncomfortable sitting at the heart of the hour. It is a story about motherhood, but one which suggests that unconventional motherhood must be monstrous and grotesque. Even beyond the awkward subtext of the episode, there are problems. Despite Piller’s attempts to energise storytelling on Voyager, the pacing of Prototype is atrocious.
Prototype is not the biggest misfire of the season. Given the season around it, this should not be misconstrued as an endorsement.
(Warp) core values…
Filed under: Voyager | Tagged: b'elanna torres, Jeri Taylor, kenneth biller, Michael Piller, motherhood, paris, robot wars, robots, star trek, star trek: voyager, torres, voyager | 19 Comments »
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