Once Upon A Time

Jason -- 11 Nov 1998, 8:25 PM

Once Upon a Very Uneven Show. This was not a bad episode, but also a generally non-eventful one that is tent poled by some great work in a couple of scenes.

Scarlett Pomers is a cute kid and not entirely unwelcome, but like many of DS9's recurring characters could easily wear out her welcome, and frankly the thought of Naomi Wildman possibly saving the ship in future episodes is still enough to make my stomach turn.

Although some of the material is great, and the issue of preparing for the news of an uneventful death was used more or less in an interesting manner, unfortunately I don't think there was enough of a... dramatic thrust... to the episode that kept it interesting. It lived or died on the quality of it's individual scenes because there wasn't any real plot on the back burner to keep up interest. I appreciate that Neelix's feelings over his family's tragic deaths were brought back up again, but I would have rather it be in a fully developed storyline. We never really saw any closure to his story. What would have happened if Samantha had died? What would Neelix's reaction have been? That's left hanging. I had hoped that when Janeway appeared at the end they would talk about this (actually, I thought that when Neelix told Janeway she didn't know what it was like to have her family die that she would have brought up the fact that her father died virtually right in front of her-- that would have been interesting.) but the show ended on reminiscing about Janeway's experiences with Flotter. I guess I was disappointed because the Flotter story was not really part of the episode-- it was window dressing and it felt hollow to have the episode end on that note.

I did like the twist that this had been Samantha's holo program from when she was young.

So basically, I thought that this episode relied on most of its scenes being good. And there were some great ones. Speaking of Flotter, the stuffed animal replication scene is, I think, a classic. It was very funny and it is nice to see Garrett Wang not screwing up episodes by virtue of his very presence anymore. (A Kim scene that I *recommend*! Amazing!)

I also thought the scene where Naomi arrives on the bridge to be very effective. Some of the Neelix scenes dealing with his previous familial losses were also very strong, but I would have liked them to carry throughout the episode.

On the cast: It was nice to see Nancy Hower again. I thought that Wallace Langham didn't really have much to do to make much of an impression.

Not a bad episode on the whole, but not fantastically great, either. Recommendable if only for a few well written and well executed scenes.

D'Alaire -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:06 PM

Once upon a varied theme...I'm going to do a grab and go this week as well, it seems, as I haven't had time to sit back and go through it again tonight. But here's my scattered thoughts--

Overall, I liked it. It stirred me in several directions, which I like. There were a few grating bits, but nothing serious, in the first viewing, at least.

"Any more coffee and I'll go to warp"-- YEEEEEEEE HAH! That's our good ol' Kate-- too bad we didn't see that.

I so expected Mama Kate to put Neelix over her knee when she gave him the pointed finger AND the stare. Oooooooooo. (I was jittered by it in those few moments, at least.) But she was calm and supportive, Mama Kate knowing he's upset --- though she wasn't letting him off his duty, either. Though a bit surprised at first, I didn't mind that she took his rant well. (Bet everyone on the bridge was looking at the door, though, and going--"Oooh, he's gonna geeeet it.")

Tom's letter-- To B'Elanna....Ahhhhh, I needed that. "...jealous 'cause I'm spending my last minutes with you." Sigh! Love it. On top of that, this week was, IMO, perfect Tom, not able to get it past his tongue again both in the personal log (think his reply in DOH) and elsewhere. Yes. Yes. Yes. And, through the ep, they proved that he can be mature, talented, and responsible yet his jaunty (though not annoyingly so) self and his insecure self...yum. This is how I love Tom Paris, complex as h*ll but downright decent through all the rest. My little heart was a-fluttering. And his eyes looked pretty blue there.

I think I need to watch that personal log a few more times. (grin...sigh)

I loved the interaction between him and Tuvok. Wonderful--and even more so to know they don't always have to be comics to work excellently together. Wow.

I loved seeing Nancy Hower again. I've really liked her from "Elogium" and every other time she's been on--she's got some kind of presence that I like, but I can't put my finger on a word for it right now. I'm so glad they didn't pull a "Carey" with her, too. She definitely didn't disappoint.

Actually, everything I saw on the Delta Flyer was great. That was really good stuff, now that I think about it.

Why does it not shock me that Harry grew up with Flutter (Flouter, whatever) and Treevis?

(Treevis and Flut-Head keeps racing through my mind--don't know why.)

Miss Pomers--she's cute. And I loved "Borg Lady" and "I have been assimilated." That was adorable, and reminded me so much of my niece. She a talented little thing, and Naomi's very typical--for, I suppose, a 24th century starship kid. I like her--as long as I'm in the frame of mind that supports kid's stuff.

Ahhh, Neelix. I like him more and more with every year. I liked that they didn't drop his neuroses presented in "Mortal Coil," and how that affected his dealing with Naomi, in denial and utter fear of reliving his own nightmares. It was touching when he came to apologize.

Though, I see what Jason says in that it was dropped again a bit quickly, though it's usually like Neelix to pull himself up by the straps and grin for the joys of others. Hmmm. I'll think about that.

How Naomi found out was pretty cliché--though it worked well enough for the plot. Though, they "lying" thing between Treevis and Flut...ter was a little much after the third repeat of it. I wanted to check what channel I was on. "Imagination" -- Barney (waaaah!). Ah well, it was a child's mind they were trying to portray, and they did it nicely. More Naomi eps? We'll see. But I was happy with this one.

Though I still wonder -- was Naomi running from B'Elanna, et al., because she wasn't trying to be seen getting to the lift, or because she was scared of B'Elanna, too? Hmm. (grin) It'd be funny if she was.

And another thing--Exactly how long have holodecks been around? I know they just appeared in TNG (and seemed pretty new stuff in Farpoint, IIRC), but has anyone a guess? Because, did Janeway say she played the OUAT program, too? Kim, I can see. But Kate? Anyone?

Diane -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:49 PM

And They Lived Happily Ever After! Were D'Alaire and I the only ones who like this little fairy tale?

Here's my quick review, I have an early plane to catch tomorrow.

My heart strings were pulled.

Another winner! Great writing; directing; good action, fabulous acting, yes, the best this year. I loved this episode.

I enjoyed Scarlet whatever her last name is. This little girl is a good actress.

Ethan Phillips turned in another great performance, like in Mortal Coil. I am really glad the made his character 3 dimensional. I could feel his frustration in that scene in Janeway's office, it was really well done.

Nancy Hower, this is the first time I can say her acting was very believable, especially in that scene where he is telling Naomi Good Bye. Ok, hands up, who had to use tissues?

Tim Russ' portrayal of Tuvok was excellent. How he conveyed to Samantha that Naomi would be all right, even after her death, was compelling. Like I said, Great Writing and Great Acting!

Which brings me to Helmboy! Are the writers trying to tease the P/Ters. I was glad he was filmed recording his goodbye to B'Elanna, but to end it with SO LONG! What are they nuts! Once again, it was a gotcha. Why or why didn't he say those three little words! This is my only nit for this perfect show.

Will rewatch on Saturday and try to do a more in-depth analysis.

Carol -- 12 Nov 1998, 2:44 AM

You two aren't alone Di, I liked it too.

My longer review is below. I guess I liked it mostly because I took it as it was, a fantasy episode rather than a sci-fi one. And I guess I'm still rather childlike in many ways in that this episode reminded me of the fairy tales I used to read when I was a little girl -- and admit to reading still now and then. :-)

Scarlett is a wonderful actress. She and Ethan stole the episode. Like I said, Naomi is the first Trek Kid that hasn't annoyed the hell out of me. Yet. :-) I'm looking forward to seeing her and Nancy Hower again.

Joyce -- 12 Nov 1998, 11:35 AM

Just a quibble. I don't think you can say that someone 'stole the show' when it belonged to them in the first place. 'Stole the show' is an expression you would use for something like Tommy Lee Jones snatching The Fugitive out from under Harrison Ford's nose, or, going waaay back into the mists of time, Carol Channing walking off with the original Broadway Oklahoma in a very minor role with her Ado Annie number 'I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say No'.

But since this episode gave us about three minutes of the shuttle story, and approximate 95 minutes (well, it felt like it, anyway) for the Neelix and Naomi story, this wasn't a show-stealing, it was their show all along.

Terry -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:07 PM

I am Barney of Borg! Resistance is futile! Put succinctly, this episode sucked. I watch Voyager for an SF show for all ages, not a kiddie show. I would rather it be more mature, not less. The opening scene with Flutter and Treevus came close to making me sick. I was expecting Barney and the Teletubbies to turn up at any moment.

That said, the show wasn't bad for what is was trying to be. Two scenes were excellent: Neelix's argument with Janeway over telling Naomi and Tuvok's conversation with Samantha about children surviving loss of their parent. I even liked Naomi sneaking around the ship and hiding from B'Elanna. But it was so predictable that she'd end up on the bridge at a revealing moment.

Stupid situation: Samantha has a lacerated kidney. So do they put her in a crash couch or make her a bed? Or put a blanket over her? No, they just prop her up against a console. This ep was written by a moron.

Now for something really, really. Tom's farewell message to B'Elanna. Disgustingly stupid and banal. This is the impression that he wants to leave with his lover on his death? Take Michael Taylor right now and fire the idiot.

More typical PTB garbage. Have more characters than you know what to do with? Introduce another character and focus on her instead of the regulars. Freaking A!

Mortal Coil, this was not. Thank God next week looks a lot different. And a lot more interesting.

Terry -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:34 PM

I had a better time watching Earnest Saves Christmas and A Muppet Christmas Carol with my nieces and nephews than this show.

For a while there when the Ogre of Fire showed up, he reminded me of the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. But then he burned up the forest and my hopes for a bearable episode.

Oh well, I hope that Tracy's daughter Ehlana enjoyed this.

D'Alaire -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:43 PM

Snort! I can understand that. Yeah, the Ogre of Fire was a bit pushing it!

(laughing very hard now.)

Well, heck, that's why I tape them--FF is a wonderful thing. But I'll have to get my little cousin over here for her opinion. Good idea.

Maureen -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:36 PM

Really negative reaction (feel free to disregard). My reaction is purely personal and I'm not attempting to make any kind of objective critique.

I hated this episode like I've never hated a Voyager episode before. There are so many characters on the ship who would be affected by the loss of three crewmates, but let's do the gratuitous torture of a small child instead. Let's let our viewers imagine the suffering of a child on losing a parent.

I would have appreciated seeing the stranded shuttles have some meaningful interactions. Right, Terry, are we ever going to see Tom put some of his med training to use? IMO, this season we're seeing a Lt. Paris who is getting more and more shallow. His last message was a waste and his line about how he never planned to die would have been better if some time was actually devoted to dealing with this. Never happen.

Tuvok had some decent moments and Neelix did a great job. Liked that the Captain didn't do a kneejerk protocol reaction to Neelix's emotional spasm on the bridge. Hey, someone on the bridge called her "Sir." Let's have no more of that.

Sorry to be so negative. I don't think I'll ever watch this episode again.

Eric -- 11 Nov 1998, 10:50 PM

Yep, they concentrated on the wrong story... Instead of concentrating on Tom and Samantha dealing with the fact that they could die (sorry Tuvok never seemed to mind) we have a few throw away lines and it's back to Seseme Street!

Besides a few good scenes here and there (I STILL love that Ion Storm!) I agree with Terry :

Throw the bum out!

PegN -- 12 Nov 1998, 11:49 AM

I believe Neelix said it best when he stated that children don't belong on Voyager. I wholeheartedly agree! This is not an episode I'd watch again. I thought last week's was kind of tepid, but after reading Review Boy's take on it comparing it to the cold war and his life experiences, I think I need to see that one again.(I can do that.)

I only hope his review is more entertaining than this particular episode.

#1. I'd like to see a good Neelix episode but this wasn't the way to showcase Ethan Phillips talents.

#2. No more Wesley Crusher wannabe's! The little girl was a good actress but this wasn't the format for her. I will say though, that at least someone blew her nose so I didn't have to put up with that stuffy nosed thing that casting people seem to think is so cute.

#3. Janeway can be sympathetic to Neelix, that's cool, but she should have also warned him that if he talked to her like that in front of her crew again, she'd knock him flat.

#4. Tom's goodbye to B'Elanna. Okay, okay, he cares for her and he apparently can't say "I love you." But.......give me a break. Something a little more touching than at least B'la doesn't have to put up with day old pizza or "so long". I am hoping that if TPTB are going to continue to make Tom emotionally stunted, they'll devote an episode and delve into that a little more.

Maureen -- 12 Nov 1998, 2:19 PM

Hey--you just made me realize...how stupid that comment by Neelix is. IIRC, Samantha discovered that she was pregnant after they got stranded in the DQ. So does he think she shoulda aborted it? Or maybe Janeway should have left Sam and Naomi on some M class planet along the way? Sheesh! Hasn't he figured out yet that they didn't plan to be 70 gazillion light-years from home in all kinds of danger?

Nope, it's the next day and that stinker of an episode is still making me feel miserable.

(BTW, in no way should my comments be construed as an attack or defense of abortion. Do not want to start that discussion, uh-unh.)

Michelle -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:30 PM

Treevis & Butthead - Oh The Horror! I NEVER thought I would say this but . . . I really disliked this episode. And not only because Chakotay was only on screen for a maximum of three minutes! (Okay . . . that was a little of it . . . but there is so much more to hate!)

Naomi Wildman is a horrid little yard-ape that needs to be jettisoned out an airlock - quickly. I hope there is not much planned for this kid. I don't think I could stomach it. This episode made Favorite Son looked like award winning material!

Okay, on to specifics:

1. I HATE Kathryn's hair! Please bring back the power ponytail or something. Her hairstyle is just like Wildman's used to be (Farrah gone bad!) Now Wildman's hair is really cute (pulled back in the beginning) and Kathryn's gone gross. Really liked Harry's new look.

2. And what was that Harry said (19 minutes into it) on the bridge? "Guys . . . " Guys?? Bad enough Kathryn is letting "Ma'am and Sir" run amok but "Guys"?

3. Boring, Boring, Boring.

I'm really surprised how much I didn't like this episode. Star Trek Insurrection looked great though! Next week's ep too!!

Okay, I know this was one of my few (only) reviews but man . . . I'm done in. Being dismayed is very tiring. I don't even think I could watch it again and I watch them ALL again and again.

Eric -- 11 Nov 1998, 10:54 PM

What's a yard-ape?

It doesn't sound good that's for sure!

Hey, I think the kid did all right! The only problem that I had was they tried to have her take over! I think a few parts here and there would be fine. She seems to have a gift for acting.

However, I have a warning to TPTB : If she saves the ship, I'm gonna personally go out there and burn the rest of your sets down!!! ;-)

Mrs. Mac -- 12 Nov 1998, 6:24 AM

Barking up the wrong tree. I can tell that Mac and I were only lukewarm on this episode. We kept flipping back to "To Have and To Hold" frequently - even though we were taping it on the other TV.

Michelle, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Somebody PLEASE give Captain Janeway a haircut or are TPTB just leading up to a musical reprisal of "Hair" ? Somebody please give that woman an Annette Benning haircut.

Naomi Wildman means well and she's supposed to be precious and cute but I don't want to see an episode revolving around her and her mom. Samantha Wildman isn't much better. Considering the subject matter, it wasn't a very good episode for the Mac household this week.

Samantha Wildman called Tom "Tom" in the Delta shuttle. I thought this was much too familiar. She should be called him "lieutenant" and Tuvok, "commander." They were on a mission so she should have been following protocol.

Actually, I wanted B'Elanna to throw the little terror into the warp core after finding her in engineering. Alas, the little scamp ran in another direction.

Michelle, you said it all. Boring, boring, boring. The only scene I did like was the one with Seven and Neelix. Harry wasn't half bad either.

We have 9 main characters. We don't need 11. TPTB must be desperate for story lines or the little girl who plays Naomi is related to one of them.

Carol -- 12 Nov 1998, 11:59 AM

Janeway's hair -- again and ranks.

Mrs Mac wrote:

--Somebody PLEASE give Captain Janeway a haircut or are TPTB just leading up to a musical reprisal of "Hair" ? Somebody please give that woman an Annette Benning haircut.--

Yuck! I'm sorry Mrs. Mac but I stated last year how much I hated Janeway's short Dana Scully look last year and I think a Annett Benning look would be even worse (namely, I want crazy about her Living Witness haircut last year either). I just don't think really short hair works on Kate Mulgrew -- her jaw is too strong for it. Kate Mulgrew usually wears it shoulder length herself.

I liked the big hair look on her (I thin even Kate Mulgrew likes either big hair or flat hair if you've ever seen her on Tom Snyder). I think it flatters her face and her eyes...and makes her look years younger. True, when I first saw it last week, it threw me for a loop, but I got used to it.

Its obvious that she's growing her hair out. Maybe their going to give her a longer style again.

As for the personal name calling (was I the only one who herd Tom call Samantha "Sam" more than once?) I didn't mind it at all. It reinforced that the crew is much closer than they would be if they were in the Alpha Quadrant -- that whole "we are family" think the PTB have been playing up since season three. I didn't mind it at all.

Jason -- 12 Nov 1998, 4:56 PM

TPTB didn't like her hair in "In the Flesh" and this episode.

A lot of the Voyager staff apparently really disliked and were distracted by her hair in those episodes (particularly "In the Flesh") and they have since made a call to the hairstyling Department. So I think we can count on the fluffy long hair look being gone imminently.

Hurrah!

The Bun: The way her hair should be!

Tracy -- 11 Nov 1998, 9:48 PM

Once Upon An...Eyebrow? Okay, did anyone else think the lighting was a bit off? Or were everyone's eyebrows lighter than usual? I first noticed the transparent eyebrow syndrome in the staff meeting on B'Elanna, then later with Neelix, and afterwards with Janeway when she was on the bridge. Am I nuts?

Anyhow, back to the episode at hand:

I thought OUAT was entertaining; not the best, but certainly not the worst. Unlike Terry, I did enjoy the holostory, and the childlike roles the Tree-whatever and Flotter played in it. They acted just as children would, more than likely because children would be taking part in the storyline. They could be annoying as all get out, but aren't kids that way, too? It had Ehlana totally transfixed. She became extremely concerned when Flotter dissipated. As a matter of fact, her constant question-asking annoyed me. Hmmm....

I loved the Flotter doll (and began to envision this year's Christmas Gotta Have Toy coming in cool water blue...), and the costuming.

I agree with Terry about the treatment (or mistreatment) of Samantha Wildman. WHAT were they thinking? The woman has a ruptured kidney, and they have her sitting up? Um, you dimwits, aren't you putting a bit of unnecessary pressure on her innards by squishing her abdomen? Duh.

Tuvok's advice to Samantha was sound. He really is more human than he would ever admit. His banter with Tom was very welcome.

Well, those were a few scattered thoughts, all that I am able to wring out of my tired brain.

47 Sighting (or Heard): The regulation Naomi quoted 476-9, I think it was. Actually, I believe it qualifies as two 47's. "47" and 6-2=4 dash 9-2=7.

Eric -- 11 Nov 1998, 10:40 PM

Once Upon a Borg.....the YAM did jump. (And lived happily ever after!)

Sorry, I'm still giddy that Jeri is a free agent again ;-P

As usual I haven't read anybody else's remarks yet!

I am of two minds on this one, and I think it's because this was 2 episodes in one. The first was a sappy kiddie show (gag!!), the 2nd was a very good rescue/disaster story. They did NOT play together very well at all. However before I start to rip into Barney's Voyager Adventure (tm) let me make this statement first : I liked the little girl who played Naomi Wildmen, I think she has a real gift. I just wished TPTB had her try to carry an episode.

It's easy to split my likes and dis-likes this week!

I didn't like Voyager story hour!!!

- Treeface and H2O suck!!! I don't know how to say this any plainer! The suck,suck,suck and when they aren't doing that they suck!!! Thank You. This is VOYAGER not Seseme Street!!

- And that's the REAL problem. TPTB played a funny joke, the teaser was very amusing, but when the opening theme started playing I was ready to move on. They didn't. They played the damn joke for the next 45 minutes!!

- Time wasted on this pointless exercise could have been used telling the GOOD story about a mother dealing with the fact that she will not be able to see her daughter again!!! BUT NO!!! We have to go back for a disgustingly cute visit with Treebrain and Liquid Jell Cap!!! Arrrghhh!!!

The Shuttle Crash :

- As I said, this was the part I liked. THIS is what the episode should have focused on!

- Wasn't the Ion Storm cool looking? (I can't help it, it's my nature!)

- Samantha Wildman was ON this episode, I never got so into her character like I did with this one.

- Neelix wasn't annoying! Amazing! Seriously, he is doing all right this year...

- Janeway's Stare of Death was well done this episode! Mike should be proud!

- What the F**K?????? 2 lousy lines for Seven???????? What the &&^%$%$%^ happened to All Seven All the Time????

- Wasn't the Ion Storm Cool? (Wait a minute I said that didn't I?)

Now to read what you folks thought of it!

Carol -- 12 Nov 1998, 2:06 AM

Well I Feel Alone -- I liked Once Upon A Time. I didn't love it, nor do I think it was the best of the season (I'm going to jump the gun and say that honor is going to go to ) but I do think it was quite good. Drone still holds the place for the worst of the season IMO.

Cheers

First a word about Scarlett Paromse (Naomi). VERY good young actress. I think for the first time in history TPTB have created a Trek Kid that doesn't annoy the hell out of me. ST history with writing children isn't very good. Either they're too smart for their own good (ie Westley Crusher) or they're too stupid and whiny for my taste -- more like babies than real kids (the three brats in TNG's Disaster come to mind). Naomi was smart and perceptive, but still had that "childlike" innocence and anxiety that all kids do. She seemed like a real kid to me.

And I'll hold off judgment on the rest of Scarlett's appearances until I see them. Yes, the plot of Bliss still seems completely lame to me, but I'll try and hold off until I see it.. She's in the B plot of two of the other episodes she in, so maybe it will work out quite well. She's a good enough actress that I think it will. And it was great to see Samantha again as well. One consistent complaint has always been that Voyager doesn't have enough reoccurring characters and as long as TPTB don't overkill Samantha and Naomi, I don't mind the peek into the "lesser" crew members lives on Voyager (there is more to this "family" than just the nine main cast members) as long as the main ones get their time too.

And that's what Neelix got hear. I loved how he paralleled what Naomi might have to go through with her mother to what he went through when he lost his family. Family seems to be a very important thing to Neelix and his desire to protect Naomi from the truth was very touching (stupid, but touching -- but I'm prejudice about keeping the truth about such things from people, even kids as I've been though such a thing myself).

The Adventures Of Flotter -- adorable, no other word for it. I was reminded at first during the teaser of Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass which was one of my favorites when I was a kid and still is. We always get holodeck programs that focus on 20th Century culture -- I liked seeing one dealing with 24th century culture. Wished I'd had something like it when I was growing up. And the twist at the end that it was Samantha's program was touching. Janeway's story about how she flooded the forest when she was six was also amusing. :-)

I don't know -- I guess I was in the right frame of mind when watching this. I really liked the childlike fantasy aspects of it and they didn't write Naomi as a stupid/whiny kid. I can take some fantasy instead of straight Sci-fi now and then. And after the dark mood of the past three and 1/2 stories this season (you have to admit, In The Flesh was a bit "dark" in places) I didn't mind the light childlike aspects of this one.

The A and B plots were (again this week) both pretty well balanced. I disagree that the shuttle plot should have been the main story. I've seen variation of that kind of story done so many times that it wouldn't have seemed like anything new. The A story made the B plot seem rather fresh to me. Samantha's farewell message to her daughter was very touching and Tuvok talking about his youngest child was also. Tom had more chemistry with B'Elanna giving her his good-bye message than I've seen him have with her on screen of late (more on that later).

Best line: When Neelix offered Janeway some coffee -- "No thank you. If I have anymore I'll be going to warp."

Anyway, Scarlett and Ethan Phillips did a fantastic job together.

Jeers

While I enjoyed it overall, I did find it rather slow moving in a lot of places. And yes, a lot of the Flotter scenes were rather corny. Not as corny as I found Captain Proton when I first saw that program, but corny. But it also charmed me enough that I overlooked it. :-)

I knew it was coming but, geez, Naomi got on the bridge rather easily didn't she.

Giving Samantha a punctured Kidney was such a obvious attempt to heighten the drama that didn't work. Come on, if they weren't going to kill Samantha in Mortal Coil then they sure weren't going to kill her here. Why did she have to be the one severely injured?

Well, Tom tapes a farewell message to B'Elanna because he thinks his chances of surviving are slim. Very nice. However (sigh) the man ends the message like he's recording it to a best but, not his girlfriend! Has that man even once said that he loves her? Not by my count.

Not much else. Like I said, this was a quiet "fantasy" episode. The straight "sci-fi" people may not like it, but I enjoyed it for its fantasy aspects. And I'll hold off on criticizing Scarlett/Naomi if I can (her next episode isn't until mid December anyway).

Nice job PTB. Not a knock-out punch, but rather solid IMO.

And next week looks like it is going to kick some major A-- (whoops, my YAM side is now showing! :-)

This is why I hate posting this late a night...

I wrote:

--I didn't love it, nor do I think it was the best of the season (I'm going to jump the gun and say that honor is going to go to ) but I do think it was quite good. Drone still holds the place for the worst of the season IMO--

::sigh:: What I meant was that the episode I'm probably going to give the honor of best of the season will be Timeless next week. I have it on good authority from a lot of "in" people on AOL that it's WONDERFUL. :-)

Carol -- 12 Nov 1998, 9:45 PM

Once vs Drone. I didn't have any problem with Jeri Ryan's perfomance in "Drone." But her performance alone couldn't
save the (IMO) stupid story. I base my intial judgement of a show by how much it keeps me rivited or how much I find myself scoffing or MSTing what I'm watching -- and "Drone" should have qualifyed me to be on the SOL with Mike and the 'Bots. :-)

While I did scoff a few times during "Once..." I mostly just found a lot of it cute and fancifull. It left a smile on my face at the end, wich is more than I can ever say about "Drone."

But I will agree that Season five is ten times better than whatever that was last year -- um, season four. :-)

Mike -- 12 Nov 1998, 4:15 PM

'Once Upon a Time' was a good bedtime story... It was a good bedtime story because it put me to sleep, not once, but twice. It feels good to be in the majority again. Frankly I didn't like this episode either. I agree with posters like Mrs. Mac, Maureen, Michelle and (choke, choke) ERIC, that's right, I'm even in agreement with that little Whippersnapper ;^).

There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. They should have put more emphasis on the shuttle rescue and had the kid's situation as a secondary story. Geesh, three crewmembers are buried alive, a huge ion storm is approaching and what are these yahoos worried about? They're concerned with how the kid is handling her missing mommy. There's time for that later, people, lets get our priorities straight.

And poor Neelix, for a guy that's happy all the time he sure has some depressing feature episodes. First he losses his love Kes, then 'Mortal Coil' where he wanted to commit suicide, now this. It's a wonder this guy can smile at all. He is starting to grow on me though, kind of like a wart (I just had to say that :^).

Need I even mention Tom's good-bye message to B'Elanna again? I've left more heartfelt notes for my mail carrier when I'm going out of town for a few days.

And what's with Katie? Now that we have a contest to see how many sips of coffee she takes, lovely Katie decides she's needs less caffeine in her diet. No doubt about it, someone's monitoring our board to play tricks on us again this season. Just like with the indestructible man contest last year ;^).

It wasn't a total loss, I did like the way Tuvok looked as he listened to Samantha recording the sad good-bye message to her daughter. I also enjoyed his little speech about how the child was in good hands... For a guy with no emotions there was a lot of feeling going on behind those vulcan eyes.

Also, on the plus side, Harry Kim is starting to irritate me less this season. It's about time.

Oh, and Flite buddy, was it clear enough for you that the Delta Flyer was recovered ;^).

Vickie T. -- 12 Nov 1998, 5:23 PM

Add me to the list... ...of people who thought Once Upon a Time was mostly a waste of time. I pretty much agree with everything Michelle, Eric, Maureen, Mike and others said.

The biggest problem, IMO, wasn't necessarily the elements of the story themselves, but rather how much time was devoted to each element. I felt cheated because we didn't see enough of some things and bored because we saw way to much of some other things.

I also share many of the gripes mentioned by others. Why, oh, why, didn't Tom and Tuvok at least try to make Samantha comfortable? Who thought it was a good idea for a severely injured woman to sit on the floor propped up against a control panel? And Tom's farewell message? Somebody ought to be shot for that pitiful exercise!

OTOH, I agree that there were a number of excellent scenes. Harry and Neelix designing the Flotter toy (Harry wasn't annoying!), Neelix's anguish (Ethan Phillips really is good), I even liked the holo-fairy tale (there was just way too much of it).

However, this is an episode that I'll be recording over next week and I doubt that I'll watch it again before I do.

Ruth -- 12 Nov 1998, 6:10 PM

Well, I haven't watched "Once" yet, and ya'lls comments aren't making me rush to my VCR to press the play button. I was mostly channel surfing last night between the PBS special on Frank Lloyd Wright and "Party of Five" -- Andy isn't the only one who has a split personality. But I will say that whenever I turned over to VOY and saw Naomi playing with her little friends, I quickly turned back to find out whether Frank Lloyd Wright was going to get in trouble for sleeping with his roommates boyfriend. Or maybe that happened on Party of Five ...

Mr. Mac:

We switched to CBS a few hundred times ...

Terry -- 12 Nov 1998, 8:55 PM

Yes, I have fully recovered from watching the HoloTubbies last night? Or did you mean my bout with the 24 36 48 hour bug? Yes. And thanks for asking.

You think that billboard is bad, Peg? We have radio DJ billboards around here with both Monica and Bill on them.

I haven't been saying much recently because ... no one else has either. The number of reviews on Thursday morning used to be staggering. But the volume is way down this season. We may have dropped below critical mass for really spirited debates.

In the past, it could take you a couple of hours just to read the comments about Wednesday's new ep. It seem like many of the prolific commentators of old are either watching Voyager later, out-of-town (Ginny), in retirement (Marie, Barty), in semi-retirement (Andy), lost Voyager (SuzyQ), or just found a life or something.

Terry -- 12 Nov 1998, 9:18 PM

Swing, batter, batter, swing! Kill the !@#$ ump! I cut my review short this week and did bother to argue with anyone. It wasn't that this ep was so poorly written or acted or directed. The HoloTubbies scenes just are not my cup of tea and went on far too long for me to enjoy the rest of the show.

Hey, Peg, here's another pool for season three. Which character will be featured most and show most character development this season, Tom Paris, Naomi Wildman, or Doctor Chaotica?

My bet's on li'l Naomi with the evil Doc a close second.

BTW, Peg, Mindy's nearly closed on her first house sale. Well, buy actually.

Shawnster -- 12 Nov 1998, 10:41 PM

Once upon a midnight dreary... No, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't the best of the season though. Not by a longshot.

I can't say I was quite as sickened as Terry was. I did think the whole Flotter thing was way too long anyway. The fact that everyone, and I mean erveryone, had played Flotter as a child was a bit too much. Of course, everyone here, and I mean EVERYONE (well, almost) had surely read several Golden Books as a child. Maybe Flotter is a 24th century Golden Book story.

At any rate, I generally agree with the majority here. I found the plot predictable and too much centered on Naomi and Flotter. I agreed with Janeway, Naomi should have been told what was going on. You just knew she'd find out the hard way and then be terribly upset.

I don't mind the lack of order and discipline we're seeing. This is life in the DQ. It's not like they can take time away from the ship and spend a week at Risa. Plus, look at the crew on the Delta Flyer: Tuvok, Tom and Samantha. Could any of us see ourselves calling Tom "Lt."? We'd all call him "Tom." It did grate on me, him calling her "Sam." I guess it's because we've never heard her referred to as such before.

My, do they age children fast in Hollywood. I know it's a common malady, the child is born one season and ages exponintally from then. Look at Molly O'Brien or Worf's son Alexander (yeah, look at Alexander. Must be 19 now).

Still, Scarlett is a nice little actor/actress, whatever. I must, however, throw my lot in with the rest. She's a nice supporting character, but not lead. She better not save the ship, ever! Of course, if Carol's spoilers are correct, it looks like she'll save the ship this season with Seven's help.

I didn't have a problem with her gaining access to the bridge so easily. With the Enterprise-D, things were different. Children were planned to be on the ship from the start. Protocalls and access clearance were no doubt programmed into the turbolifts to keep wandering children out of sensitive areas. Voyager, on the other hand, wasn't designed with children in mind. When Naomi came along, no one thought far enough ahead to plan for such an event. Ooops!

I really didn't like the comm badge bit though. Was she wearing a comm badge at any time else in the show? When or why was she given a comm badge anyway?

No, not the best episode. I understand what they were trying to do, though. Barklay started out this way and he turned into a liked character. Same thing with Rom and Leeta. I'd like to see Samantha in the limelight more. Naomi, well...

Leonie -- 12 Nov 1998, 9:29 PM

I'm still debating wether or not to write anything about last night's episode.

If I were to call it anything (btw Terry, I almost fell off my chair laughing at "I am Barney of Borg." in fact I still am.) I would call it. "My designation is Neomi drone of Borg"

(Warning beginning of Rant)

What is it with TPTB!?! When I watched Voyager in the past, I either hated an episode or I liked it or I loved it. I never finished watching Voyager with a puzzled look on my face and the words

"HUH!!! What just happened here?"

I don't know who is responsible for this but my complaint is the same as Drone. IT DOES NOT FLOW!!!

I saw good acting, a decent idea, great scenes, great humorous lines, a good Harry scene (Hey this is a miracle!!!) But it was still a terrible episode.

HoloBarney aside (And I put it aside because outside of "Scooby Doo" I do not re-visit my childhood programs. It's just me. Even if there were five minutes or an hour of it, I would hate it). It just didn't mesh and I have thought a lot of what i want to say and I have been hovering between "I don't care" and "Let me see if I can find an hour to trash and praise this at the same time." You'll know before timeless what I will decide.

btw, my favorite line was "Where did you learn to tell such terrible puns?"

Neelix: "Where did you learn to tell such terrible puns?"

Naomi: "From you."

I was on the floor for that one.

Terry -- 12 Nov 1998, 11:36 PM

Shawn, what are Golden Books?

I don't know why you assume everyone has read them. I don't even know what they are. Now Winnie the Pooh or Peter Rabbit, okay.

Shawnster -- 13 Nov 1998, 1:11 AM

Yeah, they made Pooh and Rabbit stories... You know, Little Golden Books. These books have been around for decades.

Here's a picture:

[image displayed here]

Yes, I've read this one. They published a lot of stories from farie tales and little stories like the Little Tugboat, The Little Engine that Could (see a "little" pattern here).

These books have been around since the 40's, I think. During the late 50s and 60s, they branched out and did stories on cartoon and comic characters.

Geezo Pete's. I claim everyone's read these and the first person to reply to my comment hasn't.

Well, I bet Seven never played with Flotter, either.

Terry -- 13 Nov 1998, 7:46 AM

I bet Seven did play with Flotter. Shawn, you've probably guessed the great secret from Seven's childhood to be revealed later this season. The trauma in Seven's childhood was not the loss of her parents or assimilation by the Borg ... but the loss of her pals Flotter and Treevus.

BTW, I have read such books as The Little Tugboat and The Little Engine That Could. I just didn't pay attention as a kid to their publisher.

Boy, it's dead around here. No posts this morning? I may have to publish my rewrite of "Once Upon A Time" later.

D'Alaire -- 13 Nov 1998, 8:45 AM

Snort! The soul of Barney...rises from the depths of the h*ll only to land in the 24th century and begin his maniacal brainwashing techniques under the alias "Flotter," and he's brough Baby Bop [Treevis] and B.J. [Ogre of Fire] along for the destruction.

As long as they don't sing the imagination song (with which I was tortured for a fortnight last year), I'll be okay. Hmmm, maybe that's why my tolerance level was so high. ; ) Nah, it was cute--but I agree that I'll hate it if they keep that up. Once was plenty. As for the upcoming plotlines--we'll see.

Yes, it's been slow on the board. Ah well, we'll find something to scream about soon enough.

PegN -- 13 Nov 1998, 10:13 AM

Terry, I know Ginny's in S.F. and Eric is probably still trying to recover from my post about Neelix and Kes doin' midnight aerobisize. Ruth, I think, is having internet problems. Where the heck is Mike D? And Barty and I just caught each other posting to the Neb. She's at work. Bad Barty, bad Barty.

TKS -- 13 Nov 1998, 11:15 AM

I am going to wander onto the battlefield. I viewed the episode a second time, and I still liked it. The director (I forget his name) did a wonderful job. I enjoyed the camera angles. Seeing the "Borg Lady" from Naomi's eyes was chilling. Reminds me of my days in school as a young child with a severe instructor standing right over me. "Run for the hills!"

Ethan Phillips was fantastic, I do like it when we can see the versatility in our actors. I realize that for the most part that Ethan Phillips as Neelix is primarily there for comic relief. It is nice to see that he can deliver in drama.

I have two points that I know may be stretching it. One is that in some ways I contrasted this episode with the TOS's "Galileo 7", I do that because of the contrast in dialogue of both Tuvok and Spock. For one thing both crashes were caused by an ion storm, and for another thing they both tried to polarize the hall. I will agree that that is where the similarity ends. Secondly, (I am a sucker for Arthurian legend,) Naomi and her holo-fairy tale reminded me of T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone. The only similarity is the fact that Naomi was trying to solve a problem that the "Ogre of Fire" had induced. That was Merlyn's function in teaching Wart.

It is interesting how children view the world and their youthful exuberance at solving problems Janeway floods the forest, how simplistic, yet when Merlyn changes Wart into a fish, and following Wart's adventures in the mote Merlyn asks Wart what he learned, and Wart answers, "The big fish eat the little fish" how simplistic, but does he realize what he has just said?

I do agree that Flotter and Treevis were two dimensional, and I too found them quite annoying, because they're talking to a child.

I am going to leave you with a rhetorical statement. I have often wondered were fairy-tale's meant for children.

Ruth -- 13 Nov 1998, 4:05 PM

Samantha's message to Naomi. Everybody has been focusing on Tom's message, but I haven't seen anyone mention Samantha's message to Naomi, which I did happen to see when I flipped away from the part in the Frank Lloyd Wright bio when his stripper girl friend was going through post partum depression (or was that on Party of Five?).

Anyhow, geez, if Samantha had died, and Naomi had gotten that message, she'd be in therapy for years. Mommy is sitting there bleeding, with a gash in her forehead, and near the end of the message a buzzer sounds and a very un-teletubbie like voice says, "oxygen will be depleted in ten minutes and then your Mommy will die of asphyxiation." I really think I would have deleted the message at that point and started over.

Barty -- 13 Nov 1998, 9:59 AM

Should I try to catch it when it runs again this weekend? Or can I trust Peg's gut reaction and just read the TV Guide blurb?

PegN -- 13 Nov 1998, 9:39 AM

Well, she's been working down at her other house...helping her son get it ready for his little family, so she came in during the last ten minutes.

B: "Oh darn, I missed Voyager."
P: "You haven't missed much."
B: "What the heck is this?" (as she sees Floater and Beevis. Peg gives explanation in 25 words or less.)
B: "Captain's Assistant? Oh, God, not another Wesley Crusher!"
P: "Well at least the kid has learned to blow her nose."
B: "Huh?"

Fade out.

Andy -- 13 Nov 1998, 9:47 AM

Seems like we had more fun posting last year, Terry. I still "lurk" a certain amount but I haven't had a lot to say this year. Last year, when Seven was introduced, there was a lot of controversy about whether she would help the show, whether other characters were suffering because of her introduction, whether her bazooms were real...

Even the episodes had a lot of built in controversy. I recall getting into a very heated argument about "Prey" days before I watched it.

But as far as the show goes, this year hasn't been much fun. If anyone has been featured a lot this year, it has been Chuck and he is virtual walking, talking compost pile in my book. I'd describe the best episode this year as "mediocre" and the worst as "only slightly better than a rerun of Three's Company. Too many more episodes like the last one and I will revert to my status as a former viewer of the show.

I don't know. Does anyone else think we had more fun last year? Maybe its just a bad case of sour grapes for me because JLR hasn't been very prominent. Good or bad, the coming of Seven brought a little excitement to the show last year. Not much to get excited about this year.

Mindy -- 14 Nov 1998, 5:21 PM

As I discussed with Terry, I basically liked it...although after talking with Terry I started noticing the gaps in logic...for instance:

Samantha Wildman had internal bleeding and a lacerated kidney, but Tom, our paramedic deluxe, didn't know enough to put her into Trendelenberg (i.e., flat on her back with her legs higher than her head) to assist the blood flow to the vital organs (i.e., the heart and the brain) or to even cover her with a blanket...but then again, Samantha did not look or act like a woman with internal bleeding and a lacerated kidney...the worst I would assume from just observation is a severe bump and minor cut on the head!...(Barty should back me up on this...Samantha should have been in shock, and her B/P should have started falling, her LOC would have been going down as well...but she can sit up straight and tape a message to her daughter?!?!

How did Naomi get past the transporter techs when she ran into the transporter room to hide?

However, there were GREAT scenes in the show, and the dialogue/rapport between the characters is continuing to improve every week...noticeably, Tuvok telling Samantha that she has done a great job as a mom (I'm paraphrasing, of course), and it was GREAT to see Neelix YELL at Janeway...it was GREAT to see ANYBODY raise their voice on that ship, or on STAR TREK in general!

Loved Naomi's fear of the "Borg-lady", and like the use of camera angles to see Seven from her viewpoint.

Flotter and Swamp Thing...oops, I mean Treeman...switch the channel!!!!

Leonie -- 14 Nov 1998, 7:51 PM

My favorite part was Tuvok comforting Samantha in a way that was very Vulcan, but it actually brought a tear to my eye. We get a glimpse of how difficult it must be for him to be away from his family.

That scene brought home to me that in a small way Vulcan's can relate to people who have feelings, even thought their expression of feelings is buried under centuries of control.

That to me was the most powerful scene in the whole show.

I still didn't like it much though.

Sue_B -- 14 Nov 1998, 8:20 PM

I liked it too! I had a longer review I submited a few days ago but it got ate by my bit bucket.

Best TEARY Moment:

1. Sam's goodbye scene. I was a mess. I realize that it was designed to get me to cry. It worked. I thought Tom was dying as he listened (must be the RDM-dad in him). Tim Russ also did an excellent job with his non-reaction reaction.

Best Scene:

1. Any Tom scene. I also think he's closer to season three Tom than the detached season four Tom. I agree, however, that "so long" was lame. If TBTB are setting us up for a "you never say 'I love you'" argument, I vote to pass. Been there, done that with "Ghost". Can't imagine Voyager doing it better (and I'm a big fan).

Nice Touch:

1. Disney apparently runs out of steam in the 24th century and is replaced with Flutter. I really liked how this was a common fairy tale for all the Alpha Quadranters. I also like how it was a bit of a challenge as well as entertaining (learn the concept of evaporation in order to get Flutter back). As I said, "nice touch".

Big Surprise:

1. Harry! A solid episode with just the right reactions at the appropriate time. In fact, Harry seemed the only one to truly worry (not including Neelix).

Biggest Disappointment:

1. The rest of the crew was too blase about the possible loss of their buddies. Sure they worked through to the last second but I really wanted more reaction. How about Janeway telling Chakotay a "Tuvok" story and Chuckles letting her know that "Tuvok" will be back to keep doing whatever thing Janeway talks about. Or how about an orchid in the ready room and Janeway staring at it (subtle but effective). Or how about Janeway putting a hand on B'Elana's shoulder and her taking a deep breath? O saw very little angst here --- a real missed opportunity.

Bottom line: I thought it was a decent story. Inside the shuttle was clearly superior but the holodeck story had some subtlety that I think many are ignoring.

Hoping others see this this time....

Annie -- 15 Nov 1998, 7:05 PM

I don't have a lot to say about this episode, and have no desire to see it a second time. Here are my thoughts.

It was a cute episode. I am not impervious to cute, and enjoyed the Naomi story. Flodder and Treevis were fun. Kind of reminded me a little of the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow. There was The forest was very colorful, as was Naomi's clothing. I thought it was kind of cool that others of the crew had Flodder and Treevis as childhood storybook holo characters, even the Captain.

One of my favorite scenes was when Seven asked the little girl if anyone was sitting in the chair. It looked like Jeri Ryan was trying real hard not to break out into an all out grin.

Neelix rather annoyed me during the whole show. He really is turning into a sniveling excitable schlump. I always kinda liked him before.

I don't have much to say at all about the shuttle crash. It was boring, and did little for me entertainment wise. I did like Tuvok's little speech to Samantha when she was worrying about Naomi. That believing he had instilled good qualities in his youngest child before getting stuck in the Delta Quadrant, and had trust in the people around his youngest that he was not worried for the child's welfare, therefore she shouldn't be worried about Naomi, since she is an exemplary mother, and Naomi is surrounded by people who she trusts.

Tom. I am soooo disappointed in his little last message to B'Elanna. What are the writers thinking! I have read some of the other opinions on this matter, and I don't care what anybody says, he should have mentioned more than pizza and Captain Proton in that message. Sure, so maybe he is still too scared to say I love you. I would like to have heard him say it, but I would have let it slide by if he had said something a little more heart rending than "so long". I don't care if Sam and Tuvok were right there. They know Tom and B'Elanna are involved. He should have shown a little more feeling in his words.

I know he was being true to form, and let himself make light of the situation instead of revealing his true feelings. That is if he has any! In the face of imminent death, he couldn't even bring himself to tell her that he loves her. That certainly makes me wonder just what his feelings for B'Elanna really are. I know they have gone through some rough times lately, and B'Elanna has been difficult, but pizza and Captain Proton just don't cut it with me. The only slightly touching thing he said in the message, was that the computer was jealous because he was spending his last minutes with her. Then "so long"!

I was glad that it looked like Tom was regretful that he hadn't said more when he heard Samantha tell Naomi that she loves her. I thought there Tom see, it wasn't so hard.

Well the writers had better come up with something good to save face with this one. I'm not buying it.

Review Boy (JW) -- 15 Nov 1998, 10:55 PM

"Once Upon a Time" Review is Up [At the Delta Blues site]:

http://www.treknews.com/deltablues/onceuponatime.html

Sorry--no songs this time around. :)

Carol -- 16 Nov 1998, 2:53 AM

I'm rather glad another person liked this little fantasy episode. :-)

And the reference to The Eletric Company... LOL! I didn't even notice it when I saw the episode. Talk about a show I haven't thought about in a long time! I used to love it -- I think it was canseld when I was still a kid too. And of corse, everyone's watched Seseme Street. :-)

This post brought to you by the letter "G."

"G" is for "Good." :-)

D'Alaire -- 16 Nov 1998, 6:42 AM

Very nice review, Jim! As usual. Even if you like Treevis and Flutt-head more than I did (seemingly on the second viewing).

Loved your comprehension of what was going on in Naomi's little mind.

BTW--it cracked me up: A couple paragraphs after you mentioned your English teacher would hunt you down for your overuse of parenteses, you forgot to close a set of them. (grin) That's something I would do! Nag, nag, nag...

Well, I agreed with you too much this week! I gotta get you on something! (giggle)

Mrs. Mac -- 16 Nov 1998, 6:45 AM

After watching the episode again I can honestly say that I liked it! Maybe watching these episodes in the bedroom is NOT a good thing. Once I saw it on the big TV it came to life. Now that "To Have and To Hold" is on November Hold ( I hate you CBS, I REALLY hate you. You will feel my wrath in my EMail campaign ) we'll see the next episode normally.

Jim wrote...
Tom's farewell to B'Elanna is bound to be controversial--it already is, if the email is any indication. But I sensed real emotion in his goodbye, and I liked it. Would I have liked it more if he'd said I Love You?

After finally seeing this "goodbye" scene I FIRMLY, ABSOLUTELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT believe that we caught Tom's message in midstream. If we had cut in on Samantha's goodbye to Naomi in midstream her "I love you" would not have been heard either. Her words were something of the effect, "First of all, I love you." Surely Tom could have said something very similar in the first part of his message. Of note too is the fact that it was a message to B'Elanna. That in itself should tell us something.

So in conclusion. 1) The jury is out on Tom's message but I believe he loves her (and we read waaay too much into this scene), and 2) I liked this episode 100 times more than the last.

Annie -- 16 Nov 1998, 7:59 PM

: I tend to agree with you Mrs. Mac. After reading your post, I went back to watch that part, and it does seem as though we could possibly have caught Tom's message in midstream. Boy what a relief. I was definitely upset with his little goodbye. I will just believe that we missed the first part of his message, and that even if he didn't say the three words, he probably said a few other endearing things to her. Whew!

TPTB seem to really be playing with us in regard to Tom and B'Elanna's relationship. Are they together, or are they not. Do they feel anything for each other or do they not. As long as they end up together somewhere down the line I will be happy.

It would be nice to see them close again though. It seems as though they are having trouble just being friends, much less being in love.

Terry -- 16 Nov 1998, 8:14 PM

I agree with you, Mrs. Mac. After watching Once Upon A Time for the second time, I quite enjoyed it. I still dislike the long stretch of the kiddie hologram but was able to look past that to appreciate the rest of the show.

But I still wish for a more adult Voyager. No matter how good a kiddie show is, it's is not to my taste. I hear talk about at least four Naomi eps this season so far. Instead of ALL SEVEN ALL THE TIME from last year, it's gonna be NAOMI CRUSHER SAVES THE SHIP AGAIN. Why can't these professional writers use the characters they have instead of creating and fleshing out all new ones?

I still predict that we'll know Naomi better by the end of the year than any other character except maybe Seven.

Oops, looks like my tribute to OUAT's quality took a whiny twist.

Carol -- 16 Nov 1998, 8:31 PM

That's OK Terry. You're not the only one worried about The Naomi Thing. I like Naomi alright, but I think TPTB are about to go into OVERKILL with her. The news is out -- TPTB called Scarlett about doing a fifth episode now -- no script has been written yet though.

I know how you feel about spoilers so I won't go into any details just to say that two of her upcoming episodes don't worry me as she's only a small featured (Vorik-like) player in them.

But I would like to see some other minor crew members besides her and Samantha this year.

D'Alaire -- 16 Nov 1998, 9:40 PM

Add me to the list! I liked OUAT the first and second time I saw it (and yes, every part I didn't forward through on the third). But the Naomi thing, four more times, cute as she may be?...mmmm.

Yep, overkill potential for certain.

(crossing fingers, staying neutral...for now.)

Leonie -- 16 Nov 1998, 10:39 PM

I still DON'T LIKE IT. And quite frankly the thought of Voyager having another kid on the bridge is enough to make me sit up and spit up.

Ugg....

Well at least DSN is going well.

I think that I'll watch re-runs of Night and Extreme Risk when Ms Naomi Wildman is on (five shows, what a waste of time!!!)

Sigh...

I don't mind Dalby, I don't mind Ayala, I don't mind Henley and where the %$#% are the Delany sisters?

Nope we get Wesley Wildman, Not even Samatha AND Naomi, just Naomi.

HEY!!! Now that we struck out with the YAM viewers let's try the kiddies.

Come on people this is STAR TREK!!!!!, Not NAOMI AND FRIENDS!

And they STILL haven't done a good Chakotay Character episode!!!!

Jules -- 2 Dec 1998, 5:20 PM

Time to confuse everyone by reviewing another episode that isn't actually today's... Here are a few random thoughts on "Once Upon A Time".

Once upon a time in the Forest of Forever, Jules encountered a strange holoprogram that didn't require the brightness on her television set to be turned up...

Which is unusual. Some episodes - like "Blood Fever" - are actually set in conditions of darkness. The rest just turn the rights down really low for "atmosphere".

But I digress. I found Naomi's holoprogram charming, if not entirely to my more adult tastes. It was very much what that type of program should be - part adventure, part education, peopled with eccentrics, highly colourful and larger than life. Given a full and free choice, I would have opted to see more of the three trapped in the shuttle and less of the holoprogram, simply because I'm more interested in those characters - we don't get to see nearly enough Tom'n'Tuvok if you ask me. But that would have been a different episode; this story was supposed to be about Neelix's concern for his goddaughter, and the way that his fears for her were coloured by his own past and inner demons. And, that being the case, I thought they got the balance about right.

Things I liked:

• Naomi herself. As others have said, she was just a normal child, with a normal child's enthusiasms and alternating short attention span and stubborn reluctance to let something go. Great fun to watch. And better still, she didn't save the ship. I think the point of the episode would have been somewhat lost if she had, since the whole thing was about her being a normal child, reacting normally, in abnormal circumstances.
• The child's eye view of the normal cast. It's always good to see the crew from the point of view of an outsider, rather than just the usual briefing room club's perspective on each other. They're people that she obviously knows quite well, since she sees them around all the time, but they're at one remove. So, she adores Neelix, keeps out of B'Elanna's way, thinks the Doctor talks too much, is obviously enough of a fan of the captain to want to be Janeway's assistant, and is scared silly of being assimilated by Seven. I'd love to know what she thought of the rest. And her perspective on Seven (well, the camera's anyway) in the Mess Hall was hilarious... and might well mirror the view of some of the adult crewmembers as well.
• The way Trevis called "timber" before he sat down.
• Tuvok's thoughts on the subject of childrearing, and giving them a good enough start in life that you can trust them to carry on without you. Sniff. He may not be good at giving traditional words of comfort, or dissembling in the face of disaster, but that quiet dignity can really get to you.
• Tom's very Peter Pan-ish admission to never having thought about the possibility of dying. That figures. At his most buoyant he probably expects to take any risk and get away with it. At his lowest ebb, he probably has an equal expectation that he'll be doomed to have to live on and suffer the consequences of his screw ups.

Things I didn't like so much

• The need to injure Samantha Wildman above and beyond being stranded in a broken shuttlecraft under three kilometres of rock with life support failing. What was the point? And if there was some dramatic requirement to either show off Tom's bedside manner, or drape her artistically down the side of a console, why not make it a broken leg instead of potentially fatal internal injuries that weren't imminent enough to have kicked in before the shuttle's entire crew died of suffocation? Methinks it's redundant.
• The "Captain's assistant" ambition in Naomi. I'm very relieved that she's turned out to be bright without also having to be Wesley Crusher Mark II, but that sounds dangerously close to aspiring to Wesley's permanent residence on the bridge. Please, please, please, make her another Jake Sisko instead!
• The astounding half-Ktarian ageing process. My, isn't Naomi well grown and intellectually well developed for two and a half... I guess it's just the usual procedure of ageing up the kids until they get to an interesting age, and one at which they can hire child actors to play them effectively, but even so. At least she's still not ageing as rapidly as Alexander did. :-)
• Incidentally, I remember reading a few comments picking up on the way that "Tom" and "Sam" addressed each other as such. I have a few thoughts on the subject. Firstly, they're probably close working colleagues. Samantha Wildman is the only person on board the ship other than Tom Paris who has been mentioned as working in Sickbay since the departure of Kes - he switched shifts with her so that he could have dinner with B'Elanna at the end of "Scientific Method", if you remember. True, they probably work different shifts to each other most of the time - as a hologram the Doctor is able to be on permanent 24 x 7 call, but the same isn't true of his nursing assistants - but I'm sure they see enough of each other during the shift handover process to be on reasonably friendly terms.
• And secondly, the whole ship has been gradually relaxing over the correct form of address. Kathryn Janeway started it, mellowing out to "Tom" and "Harry" after she got to know her crew a little better, and to embrace them as more of a family community. And I've noticed more and more that Chakotay does it too nowadays. About the only people who still uphold the old formality are Neelix (desperately insecure), Tuvok (just too Vulcan), Seven (gradually working on it), the Doctor (it's in his programming), and junior officers shaking in their boots for some reason or other. And some of them save it exclusively for Lieutenant Commanders and above.