Voyager Reviewed! (by an ar*ehole) S1E16: LEARNING CURVE

[@mrmadmaxalot]

Hmm, a new channel! You will likely be happy to know that the algorithm brought me here, so you're starting to get some traction. Also, I've heard comments help boost a video to the algo. So here's my contribution to your ultimate success!

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Welcome aboard! Thank you for the feedback and the kindness. It's rather odd to have internet people being overwhelmingly positive after so long on social media...

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I don't. I think the comment was more that this was a new channel to them.

[@Mecharnie_Dobbs]

3:29 "Get that cheese to sickbay!"

[@stephandolby]

You can't imagine how relieved I felt when I discovered that Crewman Shifty Bastard's surname wasn't spelled the same as mine.

[@simonoleary9264]

Sorry, the idea of Tuvok watching Red Dwarf cracked me up 🤣. Now, we just need him to call Paris a Smeee Heeee.

[@PregnantAdamSandler]

This episode always deeply frustrated me because of how Tuvok never bluntly states why their mindset is bad for this situation. You can't be loose and unorganized because it can fuck up what everyone else is doing. You can't act like terrorists trying to take the enemy with them because Voyager is not operating on those sorts of rules.

[@AvatarRiku]

Isn’t the earring Broody Teen wears a Bajoran religious symbol? I’d have thought Star fleet would have made exceptions like they do for Worf’s bandolier.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Yup, it's literally a symbol of their faith. Starfleet regs are a bit all over the place on that one.

[@PregnantAdamSandler]

It's possible that the earring, because it is directly attached to his flesh, is the problematic bit. Also it could just be that Tuvok is a stickler for the rules like how Deanna didn't have to wear a proper uniform until Jellico made her do so.

[@captainbryce1]

My understanding is that anything added to the uniform which isn’t medically necessary (respirator; space wheelchair; etc) is against the uniform standards. The CO can relax the standard for crew members under their command, but it’s entirely their discretion. Hence, Picard allows Worf to wear his Klingon sash, Ens Ro to wear her Bejoran earring, and Counselor Troi to wear civilian attire while on duty. However, another Captain could withdraw those privileges at any time.

[@gaz-l621]

But then why ban the hairband? It has a practical function in keeping her hair out of her face and she even made sure it was Starfleet red. Plus allowing the earring as a show of cultural acceptance would've built trust, showing Tuvok and Janeway aren't just being dicks for the sake of it

[@bumbleguppy]

I love how we're only technologically advanced to barely establish a glorified orbital trash can as a space station but we already use the phrase "spacing him".

[@Unlimited_Lives]

If there one place where humans excel, it's in how imaginative we are with regards to killing.

[@lizzychrome7630]

"Menacing Hairband" is Henley's new nickname. 🤣🤣🤣

[@jessewoellhof6843]

I will never get enough of the slick neelix burns

[@dm121984]

4:05 side note, I find insane in real life this happens because fevers also move YOU out of the optimal temperature for staying alive too.

[@sanddagger36]

Well I'm not very much for biology but I feel like a micro virus might stand a slightly higher change of surviving at 105F than a human being. So despite the fever's purpose, i don't think it ever works.

[@keithcoyne]

Only watch 3 of these. This is the best yet. Top class buddy 👍👍👍

[@janach1305]

Tuvok was right push the trainees out while he went back himself for Broody Teen because (1) he is the officer and is therefore responsible for the safety of the crewmembers under him, and (2) he is a Vulcan and is strong enough to carry BT to safety single-handed, which none of the trainees could do. But this is Star Trek so irrationality always has to be proven superior to logic.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Hi and welcome aboard! You're correct that he was right to go back for Broody Teen, not just for the fact that he's in charge of their safety but also the disharmony it would cause in the crew if a Starfleet let a Maquis die (and I hadn't considered the increased Vulcan strength so well done for spotting that), but doing so after he's just sealed the exit was illogical. Far more time efficient to simply sprint for BT before Shifty Bastard has anything to say on the topic, then the cargo bay would be less filled with DeathFog and the exit would still be open. Tuvok is both inherently logical and the chief tactical officer, and the approach he chose is neither of those things. This is my issue with the scene; that the conflict existed purely for plot reasons.

[@janach1305]

@@Unlimited_Lives I didn’t remember that Tuvok had sealed the exit. I haven’t watched Voyager since it’s initial run, but I do remember thinking at the time that it was ridiculous for the super-strong Vulcan not to simply toss the guy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carry him to safety. The whole story seemed to be set up to make sure the viewers know that Vulcans are inferior to humans after all. And a later episode makes a big point of humiliating Junior Spock. Sexually, no less. The Voyager series REALLY didn’t like Vulcans.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Hmm. I hadn't got that message about Vulcans myself, but will keep an eye open for it from now on. There certainly feels like a lot of 'Humans Are Best' in Trek, which is disappointing.

[@Here_is_Waldo]

Enterprise wasn't particularly kind to the Vulcans, either. I always assumed someone on the production team just didn't care for them.

[@davec4274]

Same here the algorithm brought me here. I subscribed. Keep up the good work. I liked Paris in the beginning and Chakotay had to grow on me

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Praise the Omnissiah and Blessed be his Algorithms! Welcome aboard! You're now the crewmember in charge of appeasing the ship's machine spirit with sacred oils and incense.

[@ExploringFate]

2:23 Or that Red Dwarf exist in the Star Trek universe or vice versa.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I did consider this but, whilst 2181 (the year of the Red Dwarf accident) would potentially put it just after the Star Trek: Enterprise era, the events of the show (including holographic Rimmer's tour) are in the year 3,002,181 onwards. There's a possibility that Vulcans encountered some time travel fuckery I guess... Welp, this is my life now. Sonic the Hedgehog calculations and debating the existence of Arnold Rimmer in the Trek universe.

[@ExploringFate]

​@@Unlimited_Lives 😅 You know.

[@TheTogoRojo]

EDUTAINMENT! This is why im here.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I do what I can. Welcome back.

[@MarijnvdSterre]

5:06 is Tuvok's spine poking out the front? I knew Vulcans where different, but...

[@DrewLSsix]

Its odd that thry need to warm up the diseased snot bags, distributed throughout the ship inside little cabinets, and they decide to redline the engine instead of just turning up the thermostat.... or maybe just some very careful application of yellow poop?

[@Unlimited_Lives]

Thermal regulation in space is generally quite difficult, so they probably could have just shut off whatever method they use for cooling and let passive buildup do the job without increasing anything. Not as fun as space doughnuts though, is it?

[@dm121984]

For once in this episode, Nelix was damn near tolerable. He used a simple metaphor to try and nicely tell Tovik that he was being super inflexible. The thing about Neelix's cheese infecting a critical system is bonkers though as it should be sealed to stop exactly that. Also, it's abit shit starfleet have basically conscripted the Marquee crew into starfleet as they clearly didn't want to be in starfleet to begin with.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

All entirely agreeable, but I find the lack of biological filtering in the ducts to be the most egregious part of the episode. You could argue that the transporters filter out unwanted bacteria, but they're not the only way on to the ship. Enormous oversight, even on a ship without biological components to the computer let alone Voyager. The annoying part is the cheese thing could still have been a plot point if you had a cluster of failures in corridors that connect to the mess hall rather than have them all over the ship. That would have let them figure it out and been more satisfying than Tuvok just happening to be there at the right time.

[@dm121984]

@@Unlimited_Lives very much so! I would be interested to know if modern military subs or ships filter their air ducts for biological contamination? If so, it's even more inexcusable that voyager should have this weakness as it should be easier for them to filter their vents than now.

[@Here_is_Waldo]

@@dm121984 Passenger jets have HEPA filters that can filter out something like 99.9% of germs and bacteria in the air, so I'd assume submarines and ships would have something similar. A highly advanced spaceship encountering never before seen alien life should certainly have a filter or two somewhere in it's system. Yet let's be honest, there's plenty of things that should exist in Star Trek, but don't. Maybe air filters are on the To-Do list, right after seatbelts and a flashlight that actually lights up the whole room.

[@dm121984]

@@Here_is_Waldo True - and consoles that don't explode when the ship is hit. And lights that don't dim when the ship is in combat so you can't see what you're doing.

[@sofiadragon6520]

@Douglas Mearns Yes, they absolutely do have those things on military ships. My husband worked as a nuclear engineer in the US Navy. Because of system integration, he also dealt with the fresh, gray, waste, and saltwater systems, the power grid, and the HVAC. It's all valves, filters, containment systems, decontamination, and on down the line. Even just the crew quarters had systems, so if one guy had molding socks that desperately needed the laundry, it only bothered the people in that berth and not the whole ship. Not that it is possible to seal it all down, but they did their best. Ventilation is really complicated compared to what most people think. He did some work on our previous house that cut the heating/cooling costs by about 25%, just putting a fan in the floor/ceiling in one spot, adding a thermostat to the fan in the attic, and having a vent downstairs moved during some unrelated necessary maintenance. I think that man dreams in fluid dynamics sometimes.

[@BintyMcFrazzles]

I love it when ST vids mention RD. It's not the first time ST have nicked ideas from RD, either. Smeg heads.

[@captainjellicoe1701e]

you should do some red dwarf I love that show

[@Unlimited_Lives]

I confess I've not seen anything after... season 8 I think? Might be an idea...

[@noahlogue]

You need to do a review of all Red Dwarf episodes.

[@lordmontymord8701]

I love the training simulator. You tell me that these former members of an underground militia that was fighting against an enemy with way more ships and soldiers don't understand the concept of retreating to fight another day instead of going out in a blaze of glory? I think the original Maquis would like to have a word with them. Let's face it, Chakotay's crew was just the worst, including only misfits, idiots, spies and a serial-killer. This should have been the Kobayashi Maru and Tuvok telling them that they have to stay, even though they wouldn't survive (i think the Maru-test is complete nonsense, but it would have made more sense than this).

[@bryan-po8dn]

I wonder if Vulcans are big fans of The Young Ones.

[@twixx1]

What do you think Tuvok's opinion is on 20th century telegraph poles?

[@silkeschumann7261]

2:45 hate to put forth another suggestion, much more in line with the military (marines) overhyped US culture, where the individual is physically exhausted that it can't think straight to then drill in some corps sentiment so when they are sent to one of the stand-in wars between predatory capitalism v socialism/communism not only killing for no good reason other humans but going home celebrated as the heroes maintaining the suppressive system held together with some unattainable pipe dream most people will never see manifest in generations which is almost as bad now as it was under the reign of Louis XIV in France with people living cardboard boxes and whimsical tents on the street relying on soup kitchens. But I digress. Point is, it is a time-asserted method to get people in line with whatever corps sentiment and check them in into whatever cult they're needed to be integrated in. And since they are eager to get home, they don't stop at the next M-class planet to chase them through nature up and down hills with heavy rocks in their backpack but the inside of the ship.

[@Unlimited_Lives]

To be clear: I'm not genuinely suggesting the reason for the hike is because Tuvok has a crush on Arnold Rimmer, much as the idea delights me. That being said, it's interesting to see military indoctrination techniquies being used by a society that considers itself far more civilised. Welcome aboard. You're now the crewmember in charge of ensuring each record in the captain's Hammond organ vinyl collection is stored in the correct sleeve.

[@MrRjhyt]

@@Unlimited_Lives Just watch the extended scenes for a Rimmer Space Corps salute.... If only...

[@DavidSmith-fs5qj]

This episode typifies was made Voyager so disappointing, so much wasted potential. The writers threw away the Starfleet/Maquis dynamic in the first episode but it resurfaces here. After telling Tuvok where to stick his Starfleet regulations, Tuvok orders them to run a marathon with a pack on around Voyagers decks. Why would they do this? They hate Starfleet and everything it stands for, to say nothing about the simmering resentment they must feel for the captain who stranded them in the Delta Quadrant because of those principles, the military indoctrination works well when it is something you want, but they don’t want it. Tuvok has another malcontent cleaning a transporter pad with a toothbrush. Again, why? Its just another pointless scene that adds nothing to the story, I would have told Tuvok to stick it where the sun don’t shine, what is he going to do, order you to run another marathon? The writers had an opportunity to bring some conflict to the show which had just become TNG lite, but they didn’t have the balls. The thing is, the very next episode, The 37s, gave them the perfect opportunity to deal with the problem, the human population of the world offered any crew member or members to stay with them, make a new life. At the end when Janeway and Chakotay enter the cargo hold they would find the three Maquis crew members and any others, but no, the writers played it safe, one big happy family.