A Look at Bliss (Voyager)

Opinionated Voyager Episode Guide continues to explore season 5 with Bliss. The crew finds a wormhole that is too good to be true, so of course they believe it's true, poor dopes.

[@Goatcha_M]

Poor Voyager, there was a perfectly rare element that they needed for warp cores already known. Dilithium, but they had to go with deuterium being rare.

[@lordmontymord8701]

At least they are consistent with this stupidity, just remember Demon, where the crew was so stupid they flew until they had nearly no Deuterium left. We know how rare M-class-planets with lots of WATER are, so of course you would end up looking on a planet that has definitly no water on its surface. But why do you want an easy solution? ...

[@qdllc]

To be fair, in the TNG era, they can recrystalize dilithium. Not as “rare” as an item.

[@janehrahan5116]

Why not go with anti matter? Which has to be either synthesized using a large amount of materials and energy (negotiation with aliens) or collected in small amounts from specific em zones.

[@ThomasRoiloup]

Always liked the ending to this episode where the old man goes back into the beast, thinking this time he'll win.

[@nguyendailam6703]

It is his entire live now!

[@All2Meme]

Well, maybe he did.

[@Philistine47]

"By this point, VOY had given up on trying to be 'good' and embraced the idiocy... This is an above-average episode of VOY" is brutal, but sadly true.

[@KianaWolf]

"When the Voyager staff annul a marriage, they actually go back in time to alter history." They've literally done that a couple of times, haven't they? Not specifically TO annul the marriage, but time travel has resulted in at least a couple relationships going 'poof.' Though the two times I'm thinking of (Kes' mental time travel and Harry trying to save a crashed Voyager) both started with a leap-ahead look at the future, rather than modifying the 'present' of the show... Voyager isn't just where hope goes to die, it's where the time-space continuum just kinda gives up, too.

[@oddish4352]

Look at "Endgame". They annulled a buttload of marriages in that. Not to mention what will now likely be Harry's only chance of NOT ending his career canonically at the same pathetic rank as he started it, since "Picard" put him on the cutting room floor and "Prodigy" has ceased to exist altogether.

[@himwhoisnottobenamed5427]

@@oddish4352 Isn’t that the one where Paris is married to Kes, and Harry’s married to their daughter? Talk about awkward.

[@oddish4352]

@@himwhoisnottobenamed5427 No, that's "Before and After". Chakotay is captain, Tuvok is presumably first officer, and Neelix had traded in his sofa upholstery for a Starfleet uniform.

[@bradwolf07]

Making Neelix an official Ambassador should have been a HUGE Red Flag that something is terribly off Edit: And Harry getting beaten by Naomi Wildman (A FREAKING CHILD) is so on point for perpetual Ensign Kim that I'm partially convinced that this was Harry Kim's good news

[@oddish4352]

Don't blame Harry too much. Imagine how confused your fourth grader would be if he got a report card with straight A's on it, and then news that he had to repeat 4th grade. And now, imagine this happening seven years in a row... he should be attending the junior prom, and instead he's still doing construction paper art.

[@wendyheatherwood]

What if they made him ambassador to the Pakleds?

[@oddish4352]

@@wendyheatherwood Sounds perfect for Beavix... I mean Neelix.

[@bradwolf07]

@@wendyheatherwood the Palkleds may make him their leader...He is dumb enough they may just see a kindred spirit and confident enough to sway them

[@Zeithri]

If you've seen how the Federation Ambassadors normally is, it isn't so far off.

[@welker831]

Why shoot a starship to destroy it when you could just use a small boarding party to grab the floppy disks out of their unlocked cabinets?

[@All2Meme]

"Auto-Destruct in 60 seconds...have a nice day!"

[@ravenwilder4099]

Only thing that could make Seven bypassing computer security better is if they did it by simply whacking the machine with their palm.

[@lordmontymord8701]

Or if she simply told the computer that denying her access is illogical, because she will get the informations anyway. And the computer just answering "yeah, thats true, so here's all the secret files".

[@jcdenton2187]

I would have accepted her just plugging her assimilation tubules in and giving the computer a few glitchy sounds before it complied. My girlfriend and I both thought that was hilarious she just had to remove one chip to view the captain's logs.

[@MrDj232]

When the Voyager staff anul a marriage they send a terminator back in time to delete the wife.

[@oddish4352]

No need. If Janeway says to delete the wife, that wifey is history, period. I mean, Voyager has dual activated autodestruct like any other ship... it just doesn't matter. Kathryn 🤬ing Janeway made Fear crap a brick, send Death back to hell empty handed, and blew an amorous Q off like he was a horny drunk in a bar. If she tells the ship to go pfoom, it does just that. Because Kathryn E. Janeway is the Chuck Norris of Star Trek!

[@BelieveIt1051]

I always thought Tom should have been immune to the fantasy as well, since he considered Voyager his home and was already living the way he wanted. Plus, I didn't think he was particularly thrilled with the idea of returning to Earth and having to deal with his father again.

[@oddish4352]

I would have liked Voyager's general sloppy attitude a lot better if it hadn't made the conscious decision to drop its pajama bottoms and the ragged skid marked briefs underneath them and take a large disgusting crap on Harry Kim. I can tolerate sloppiness, but not malevolence.

[@TheBigExclusive]

You know what gets me about this episode? There wasn't a scene where the crew apologizes to Seven and says she was right. Nope. The show just ends and Seven gets no justice.

[@WDC_OSA]

I'm gay and that intro about the attitude of season 5 was beautiful.

[@oddish4352]

I just want to start singing "Let it Go" right now.

[@Ravedaze.]

This episode reminds me of ‘Generations’ when people are in the ‘Nexus’

[@nguyendailam6703]

Good call.

[@stryke-jn3kv]

Hey I get to an update an opinion since I first saw this review. I did indeed used to think that Elementary was a shameless rip off of Sherlock, but having now watched all of it over the last year... it's honnestly the better show. Even Elementary at its weakest i.e. the last season and the more blatant copaganda moments, is better than what Sherlock unfortunately become. Oh Benedict Cumberbatch, you should have stuck to being a pilot at MJN.

[@darthnowlan]

Elementary isn't copaganda and is a 1000 times better then BBC'S Sherlock and is the superior Sherlock Holmes adaptation.

[@Thraim.]

"Welcome to the team, Mr. Prady. We're really glad to have you. Here is the series bible, and If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask one of the other writers." "Thanks. I'm absolutely, definitely going to be doing this without fail. Really."

[@ashenking5013]

With all the times the Voyager’s crew’s hopes were yanked away or tricked which is even worse, some on board would have put a phaser to their head.

[@KianaWolf]

Or to the warp core. It would be the merciful thing to do, frankly.

[@oddish4352]

Getting home was irrelevant. Voyager's crew was blindly devoted to Janeway. If she had told the entire crew to strip nude, take a milk bath, roll in Mr. Bojangles's Fried Chicken Breading, and THEN lie under a tanning bed with a size XXL vat of Hidden Valley ranch sauce, they would not have hesitated.

[@mikegates8993]

@@oddish4352 Now to be fair, at least one person would question her on it and get bitch slapped by Torres for daring to doubt his captain's orders. And maybe a few of the Maquis members would question it, only for Chakotay to beat them into submission.

[@oddish4352]

@@mikegates8993 Or be intimidated by the stuffed Seska head on a rosewood plaque in Janeway's ready room. Just where the camera doesn't go, of course.

[@ashenking5013]

@@oddish4352 I’ll bet Janeway makes sure Harry’s quarters gets searched on a daily basis to make sure he doesn’t take the easy way out. Willing to bet he curled into a ball and cried his eyes out facing a corner after this fiasco.

[@st.anselmsfire3547]

One of the many things that always bothered me about Neelix was how he always ended up spending time around little girls who were from species that developed rapidly. Did they not see how creepy that is? Seven and Naomi forming an odd friendship makes sense since Seven's only context for being human was as a six-year-old girl. It could've been great, her becoming human again by rediscovering that child through playing with Naomi. But Neelix? Come on, man.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Once is a coincidence, twice is a fetish.

[@LeRoiEnJaune]

That Neelix is introduced as a much-less-than-scrupulous individual didn't help either.

[@oddish4352]

Remember that in "Before and After", Tom took Neelix's sloppy seconds.

[@toddfraser3353]

I understand Trek uses different Aliens species to explain race relations as an allegory. However, being different species with different biological needs and levels of development as well with rather incompatible parts. Can send the wrong message.

[@lordmontymord8701]

@@toddfraser3353 The whole Kes-story always gave me the vibe that nobody on the production/writing-team really thought how this might look. With the exclusion of the way the Ocampa procreate ... I assume someone said during the developement of the stupid Elogium-episode that they cannot imply Neelix having sex with a one-year-old, so they invented the idea that Ocampa couples need to hold hands for six days and there is no fun to be had, rather than do what nearly every other humanoid species on Trek does to produce offspring ...

[@samwill7259]

I mean Harry could get some good news! Uhhh... Ummm... He could learn his eventual pathetic death would be painless!

[@MegaAchilles23]

To steal from Whose Line, “The good news is we’re going to name a disease after you”

[@oddish4352]

He learns that all the Voyager writers have been fired and replaced with Una McCormack.

[@dlirvin432]

And in My Humble Opinion, season five was the best season of voyager. Not just me, but paramount felt the same way, for me to buy all the seasons one by one they valued differently. From 80 to 150 for first and fifth season, worst and best.

[@shaungillingham4689]

I liked Voyager, it was far less Americana than DS9, which I found unwatchable, Sisko turning out to be the "holy one"! Oh come on! Bliss a excellent episode, with veteran British actor.

[@Renegade2786]

This episode has always giving me *The Bringers of Wonder* vibes. So is Seven the equivalent of Commander Koenig?

[@CrystalBearer20]

Harry gets a letter from Starfleet. Turns out he left his personality on Deep Space Nine.

[@nguyendailam6703]

Oooo, that's brutal!

[@All2Meme]

And he has five years of back rent to pay for said personality still living there.

[@Grombrindal]

I was going to say, Chakotay actually does get reinstated... but that happens in expanded universe stuff

[@SageofStars]

3:25 I thought she was supposed to be super intelligent, how did it take her this long to figure that out?

[@lordmontymord8701]

You have seen Voyager, right? They are all supposed to be really clever people, even if there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. So i can buy Seven taking that long and still being the most intelligent person on the ship 😉

[@Jokie155]

That dolphin-apple delayed punchline was beautiful.

[@themaninblack7503]

"Sorry, I'm a doctor not a dragon slayer".

[@MKDumas1981]

"Heroes and Demons" would seem to disagree.

[@nguyendailam6703]

I'm amazed that Naomi Wildman isn't annoying me as much as I thought she would.

[@pearsegallagher9832]

algorithm comment

[@StuffWriter]

0:25 - Yup, that's me.

[@oddish4352]

Much thanks for suggesting this one, this was an inspired episode.

[@fmsyntheses]

The category is 'emotions one does not experience while watching Voyager'

[@oddish4352]

Unless you're straight, male, 18, and home alone in front of the big screen TV, and you've paused the scene in that one episode, with Seven's slightly exposed butt. DEFINITE possibility of bliss there. 😉

[@lordmontymord8701]

@@oddish4352 Even as a horny teenager i felt always embarrased for Jeri Ryan having to wear her "uniform". Great that they continued this tradition in the more "adult" Trek, Enterprise ...

[@oddish4352]

@@lordmontymord8701 That was pure stupidity. Vulcans as a people wear loose, functional, robe-like apparel. And in any case, I saw T'Pol in a standard Starfleet uniform, she looked plenty hot that way.

[@Ofbricks]

At 4:15, this mostly DOES ACTUALLY happen per the Star Trek Prodigy story line.

[@KianaWolf]

Yeah. They just don't let him teach at the Academy, because Starfleet doesn't condone torture.

[@oddish4352]

And we get our triangle in "The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway". Janeway promotes Harry 15 seconds after Voyager ends (she's probably digging that hollow pip out of her pocket as she says that last "set a course for home"). Plus, he rises through the ranks rapidly after that, and that girlfriend of his we assumed would have married some schnook she hooked up with at the reception following the Voyager memorial service... she had the same crap luck with romance that Harry did, so they get married and have a houseful of kids. And since Una McCormack was able to give him a happy ending, and I could just throw a D&D 4-sider at your head if you requested a four-sided triangle, it's a safe bet that God (being omniscient and therefore more capable than me or Una) could handle both requests as well.

[@boobah5643]

@@oddish4352 I'm pretty sure if you tried to make a regular solid out of four-sided triangles, you'd end up with six faces. And as much to the point, you're arguing with an audio track made in 2014, which makes it kinda hard to complain that Chuck wasn't aware of _Prodigy_ trivia when he made it.

[@oddish4352]

@@boobah5643 He specifically requested a FOUR-SIDED TRIANGLE. A D&D four-sider is definitely triangular, and has four sides. So, it makes the parameters set. And the trivia is not from Prodigy, a series that was silenced for good before it could change Harry's canonical fate. It's from Una McCormack's "The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway".

[@Justhatguy1]

APPLE DOLPHINS!!

[@lordmontymord8701]

Yeah this is more like a self aware parody especially of seasons 1 and 2 when they found a way home nearly every week (i'm of course exaggerating, but that was how it felt like, especially because we knew it wouldn't happen). Too good the crew learned something for the next time they would find an easy way home - or not. I'm looking at you, Inside Man 🧐👊. I like the twist near the end where Seven believes they already did enough to get out, only for Ahab to tell her now she's tricked by the creature, this time giving her what she wants. For once Seven wasn't immune to something thanks to her Borg-parts, but simply because of her character. And Naomis inclusion also worked. It's understandable that Voyager - as bad as it is - is all she has ever known. And so of course she would be afraid of the ships return to the Alpha Quadrant, because everything would change. Well, too good she wasn't included into the ships real return ...

[@Blueskybuffalo]

I’ve been watching your videos for years and I love your analyses. There is one or two DS9 episodes I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on like Necessary Evil or even a character study of Kai Winn. At face value she’s a simple foil for Sisko, but her behavior is informed as much by her petty and selfish ambitions as her experiences in the occupation. I love her character because she’s not all good and not all evil. Even Odo and Kira have shades of grey to them. Anywho, thanks for the infotainment Chuck! I’ll see about sending in a special request!

[@jamesabernethy7896]

I don't comment enough on your channel but amazing stuff. Observational with some totally unabashed humour.

[@Redrally]

Thanks for this Chuck

[@HilaryPea]

-I love that even as intelligent as you are, with as high of [a] degree(s) as you have earned, that you still use words with doohickies. It makes me laugh everytime. -Did Neelix say that he has a flair for "quadrupits"? Google doesn't even know what that means. I'm probably just missing something here. -"Naomi was only 3 here?"

[@Here_is_Waldo]

Quadrupeds meaning a creature with 4 legs. Like a dog, or cat. I don't know any Star Trek aliens with 4 legs, but I guess they must exist somewhere. Maybe centaurs?

[@Br-Al-De]

The Naomi Wildman was half-human, half-speciesthatagesquickly. It's a Kes-type situation, minus creepy romance.

[@HilaryPea]

@@Here_is_Waldo My bad hearing and the subtitles heard quadrupits. Thank you for the clarification. I think at least one of the Xindi species are quadrupeds, but they don't count in Voyager, of course. Chuck's continual reference to his being a hedgehog and Neelix's mentioning of a flair for quadrupeds actually comes together nicely! Without Chuck's reference, Neelix's mention of such species is sort of left field, actually. And weird.

[@HilaryPea]

@@Br-Al-De Thank you for the clarification. That was one of the details I had missed or had forgotten over the years. And I bet they added it just for the sake of being able to age her when necessary for the series. Convenient! It doesn't make it any creepy, but I had always imagined that if Kes were human she would be a 14 years old. Young enough for innocence and curiousity of things around her, but old enough to have near-adult intelligence. And old enough to think she can date an adult. It think it would have been less creepy if Neelix were young. Like no older than 25 in human years. It's still wrong, but not like Lolita wrong. fDespite the ick factor they kept Kes around longer than they did the actress who first played the grown child of Gul Dukat and girlfriend of Garak, Ziyal. They switched to an older looking actress because it looked like Garak was dating a teenager. I understand why it gross people out, but it didn't bother me because I looked beyond that to the characters themselves or the story revolving around them. Also, futuristic sci-fi. It has bothered me more in regular contemporary fictions, though.