[VOY] Brian the Snorf's Quick Review: "Coda"
Brian the Snorf
------(spoilers below)------
[VOY] "Coda"
Written by: Jeri Taylor
Directed by: Nancy Malone
I guess after a while, it gets difficult to think of new ideas. So we
grab old ones and try to squish them together in different ways. Take
"Coda", for example. It is a combination of many different episodes of
Trek we've already seen.
Well...let's see here. We've got "Cause and Effect". Big time. But
only for the first two segments. I kinda like that stuff, though I know I
shouldn't. :) And there was some echoes of "Power Play" when they crashed
on that planet. Or just about any episode where people crash on a planet
with a shuttlecraft. But the dry ice reminded me of "Power Play"...so sue
me. Then there was "Tapestry" combined with "The Next Phase", as good ol'
Janey saw herself die, walked through everybody, and then saw her Daddy
come through a vortex. Yep...we can even throw a little bit of "Remember
Me" into the mix! And don't forget the "Cold Fire" stuff with Tuvok and
Kes...
But the important thing is...did all this work? Well...sort of.
Here's the weird thing. The first part of the show pretty much _does_
work. It ranges from the somewhat confusing to the downright creepy (the
Doc's solution to Kathy's phage, 4 example). But after that, it turns
into the basic "oh, nobody can see me story". And though the conflict
that Daddy brings up is intriguing, it is swiftly dropped for a really
lame-o ending which lets Janeway vent and tell him to "go back to hell".
Please.
Oh...I sorta forgot the weird thing. The weird thing is that the part
of the show that works...is unnecessary!! The show could have proceeded
directly to Act 3 with no visible loss in plot. All I figure is that Jeri
was trying to confuse us. Which she did, I spose. A little side note:
this episode felt quite Jeri-ish in its makeup. Big time focus on
Janeway, with a little lovin' from Chakotay thrown in. I guess no one
else wanted to pick up the "Resolutions" thread, so she had to. :)
Man, that ending was sad. To tell the truth, the show kinda takes a
downhill slide once it leaves "Cause and Effect" mode behind. But it
still coulda pulled out strong. I had faith! *Sigh*.
Rating: 7.6
-----
The Snorf's rating system:
0.0-3.5 What was that all about? I'm embarrassed to be watching.
3.6-5.0 Yawn. Could have been much, much better.
5.1-6.5 A few good parts, but mostly a snoozer.
6.6-7.5 Watch it. You may like it. Or you may not.
7.6-8.5 Not too shabby.
8.6-9.3 Good episode. A keeper.
9.4-9.9 The best of the bunch. These are the ones you can tell your
friends that don't even like Star trek to watch.
10.0!!! Never happened in my lifetime...but you never know!
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Dena M. Renti Cruz
In article <snorfle-3101...@ip-pdx08-32.teleport.com>,
sno...@teleport.com says...
> Well...let's see here. We've got "Cause and Effect". Big time. But
>only for the first two segments. I kinda like that stuff, though I know
>I shouldn't. :) And there was some echoes of "Power Play" when they
>crashed on that planet. Or just about any episode where people crash on
>a planet with a shuttlecraft. But the dry ice reminded me of "Power
>Play"...so sue me. Then there was "Tapestry" combined with "The Next
>Phase", as good ol'Janey saw herself die, walked through everybody, and
>then saw her Daddy come through a vortex. Yep...we can even throw a
>little bit of "Remember Me" into the mix! And don't forget the "Cold
>Fire" stuff with Tuvok and Kes...
This might be totally off base, but when Kes "felt" Janeway and tried to
convince everyone else that Janeway was alive somehow, the first "Trek"
episode that came to mind was "The Tholian Web" episode from the Original
series. I half expected everyone to start seeing her "floating" around,
like maybe Chakotay as he is stepping out of the shower. ;)
Dennis Iannicca
Dena M. Renti Cruz (dren...@lava.net) wrote:
: This might be totally off base, but when Kes "felt" Janeway and tried to
: episode that came to mind was "The Tholian Web" episode from the Original
: series. I half expected everyone to start seeing her "floating" around,
: like maybe Chakotay as he is stepping out of the shower. ;)
Let's not forget the "Sub Rosa" plot revisited.. alien feeding off
the life force of another person, etc.. (i.e. what would have happened when
Janeway stepped into the Matrix) Oh yea, and also resembles the energy
being feeding off of Jake's creative energies in that DS9 episode.. :)
--
--------------------------
drs...@seka.nacs.net
Blinky lights are the essence of technology!
Caffeine underflow (brain dumped)
Carol White
> Dena M. Renti Cruz (dren...@lava.net) wrote:
> : This might be totally off base, but when Kes "felt" Janeway and tried to
> : convince everyone else that Janeway was alive somehow, the first "Trek"
> : episode that came to mind was "The Tholian Web" episode from the Original
> : series. I half expected everyone to start seeing her "floating" around,
> : like maybe Chakotay as he is stepping out of the shower. ;)
>
Yes, I thought of that too! Especially when they were talking about the
possibility that her conciousness might still be floating around and they
had to look for it. The episode would have been better if Janeway kept
appearing in a space suit, mouthing the words "help me". :)
Mosher Jr
Did I miss a key episode or something? How was the doctor able to go
down to the planet surface and revive Janeway?
I thought he was confined to the sickbay and the holodeck.
Capt. Brendan Dillon
In "Future's End II", he got a portable holo-projector he can attach to
his shoulder.
---
Captain Brendan Dillon
U.S.S. Zefram Cochrane
Star Trek/Sci-fi Newsletter/RPG
bdi...@mindspring.com
My Web page-- with Star Trek parodies, my Trek
E-mail newsletter, profound Words of Wisdom,
The True Religion, and more!
http://www.mindspring.com/~bdillon/captain.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| "Go back to hell." | "Goats! Goats! Goats!" | "You are a sad, |
| -- Captain Janeway, | -- Bevin Conners | strange little man." |
| "Coda" | | -- Buzz Lightyear |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
tsbr...@gmail.com
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> [VOY] "Coda"
>
> Written by: Jeri Taylor
> Directed by: Nancy Malone
>
> I guess after a while, it gets difficult to think of new ideas. So we
> grab old ones and try to squish them together in different ways. Take
> "Coda", for example. It is a combination of many different episodes of
> Trek we've already seen.
>
> only for the first two segments. I kinda like that stuff, though I know I
> shouldn't. :) And there was some echoes of "Power Play" when they crashed
> on that planet. Or just about any episode where people crash on a planet
> with a shuttlecraft. But the dry ice reminded me of "Power Play"...so sue
> me. Then there was "Tapestry" combined with "The Next Phase", as good ol'
> Janey saw herself die, walked through everybody, and then saw her Daddy
> come through a vortex.
Janeway declared that she would help Kes sense her again. I am amazed that she didn't think to overlap Kes again after such a declaration!
Yep...we can even throw a little bit of "Remember
> Me" into the mix! And don't forget the "Cold Fire" stuff with Tuvok and
> Kes...
>
tsbr...@gmail.com
tsbr...@gmail.com
> The creators went to the trouble of having Kes walk through Janeway and therefore sense her. It is certainly amazing that the creators never bothered to have Kes walk through Janeway again! Its like showing Chekov's gun on the wall and NOT firing it later!