“Think Tank”
Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga and Michael Taylor
Directed by Terrence O’Hara
Season 5, Episode 20
Production episode 214
Original air date: March 31, 1999
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. An alien named Saowin visits a ship containing a Think Tank that has helped Saowin’s people by creating a containment field that saved their planet from destruction. Saowin claims that they are unable to pay the agreed-upon fee of a shipment of ore due to a mining accident, but the leader of the Think Tank, Kurros, knows that they staged the accident and hid the ore. Saowin tries to insist that they need the ore, but he capitulates when Kurros threatens to take down the containment field.
On Voyager, Seven informs Janeway that they’ve located a planet rich in dilithium crystals. However, when they arrive, the planet destabilizes and explodes, covering Voyager in a field of metreon gas. They are then approached by a Hazari ship, who created the trap that they just sprung. The Hazari are bounty hunters, who are dogged, determined, and rarely fail. Janeway orders shields reinforced and has Tuvok fire phasers into the gas cloud, which ignites it, sending Voyager careening out of the field. The Hazari don’t give chase—because they don’t have to. They have ships all over the sector waiting for them.
Janeway goes over the sensor data, but the only possible avenues of escape not covered by the Hazari are pretty likely to be Hazari traps.
Kurros shows up in the mess hall as an isomorphic projection, having also cut off all communications in the mess hall. He offers his Think Tank’s assistance, providing a preliminary study of the Hazari ships as a make-good. Janeway agrees to at least have a conversation, but she insists it be in person. Kurros gives her coordinates to go to and says she can only bring one other person, and no scanning equipment.
They arrive to find nothing at the coordinates—until the Think Tank vessel decloaks. Janeway and Seven beam over and meet the rest of the gang: Fennim, whose spoken language is too complex for the universal translator; Bevvox, a bioplasmic life form that we never get a good look at, and who founded the team; an AI; and a being that looks like a jellyfish in a tank. They are able to communicate with each other telepathically.
Kurros mentions some of their past work, including curing the Vidiians of the Phage, and that sometimes their payment is quite modest. They helped keep one species safe from the Borg and all they asked in return was a soup recipe. Speaking of the Borg, Kurros is also surprised by Seven—none of them have ever seen an ex-Borg before.
Janeway provides an inventory of what they might have to pay. When she returns to Voyager, Chakotay reports that they’re stuck. Every possible route out of this area of space is blocked by the Hazari.
Kurros returns in isomorphic form with his invoice: the quantum slipstream drive (Janeway warns him that they couldn’t make it work right), Neelix’s recipe for chadre’kab, one of Chakotay’s figurines, and Seven.
Janeway isn’t thrilled at the notion of using a member of her crew as payment, but, at Kurros’ urging, she also puts it to Seven to make the final decision. Janeway advises her to make the decision based on what’s best for herself, not what’s best for Voyager. They’ll figure out a way past the Hazari with or without the Think Tank.
Seven speaks with Kurros, who tells her that she’d be the first new member of the Think Tank in seventeen years. Kurros himself was faced with a similar choice and he has never regretted it. As someone with the collective knowledge of the Borg (at least up until she was severed from the Collective), plus her own innate intelligence and humility, she’d be a fantastic addition to the team.
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After giving it considerable thought, Seven declines the offer. Kurros is disappointed. Two Hazari ships then attack Voyager. Kurros gives Janeway some free tactical advice, which helps them drive off the Hazari ships. He hopes that that will get Seven to change her mind, but it doesn’t—and then Janeway orders the shields remodulated, which then blocks Kurros’ isomorphic projection.
Back on the Think Tank ship, which has re-cloaked, Kurros tells the others that Seven declined their offer, but they’re not giving up just yet.
Voyager sets a trap for the Hazari, leaving debris and biomatter residue for them to think that Voyager is destroyed. That fake debris is also mined, and the spatial charges do damage to the Hazari ship, which Voyager then tows into their shuttlebay. The Hazari leader, Y’Sek, isn’t talking. However, they determine that the person who hired them is Kurros—disguised as a Malon.
Janeway convinces Y’Sek to work together, as the Think Tank is using both of them for their own ends. Y’Sek is willing, since the bounty on the Think Tank is even higher than what was being offered for Voyager. After several plans are proposed and rejected, Janeway hits on a course of action that would use Seven as bait: let her go on board the Think Tank ship and then disrupt their communications network.
Y’Sek then contacts Kurros and says that he knows that Kurros hired him and demands triple the bounty for Voyager. Kurros agrees.
Voyager is getting the shit kicked out of it by the Hazari. Seven leaves in a shuttlecraft against orders to join the Think Tank. Kurros tells the Hazari to call off their attack, but Y’Sek demands immediate payment or he’ll destroy Voyager. The Hazari’s urgency makes Kurros suspicious, and he worries that this is a trap. So he has Seven link to the AI member of the team—which is exactly what they were hoping. When Seven’s neural transceiver is activated, Tuvok sends a disruption along the carrier wave and knocks out the Think Tank’s communications network. They can no longer talk to each other. The Hazari fire on the Think Tank’s ship, which decloaks them. Voyager beams Seven out. Kurros sends one last isomorphic projection trying to convince Seven to return, but she refuses. Hazari weapons fire kills the transmission, and Voyager buggers off, leaving the Think Tank to defend themselves against the Hazari alone.
Can’t we just reverse the polarity? There’s a puzzle game that’s making its rounds through the ship. It looks like a high-tech version of a Rubik’s Cube where you have to get rid of all the lights, er, somehow. Seven solves it by scanning it to determine the right sequence, which everyone tells her is cheating, but it also gives Janeway the idea on how to stop the Think Tank.
There’s coffee in that nebula! Janeway is the one who first refers to the Think Tank by that name, but Kurros really likes it and takes to it.
Everybody comes to Neelix’s. When Janeway is working on trying to figure out if they can escape the Hazari, Neelix pointedly asks if he should just put the coffee into a hypospray by way of telling her that she’s drinking too much of the stuff.
Resistance is futile. At the end of the episode, Seven points out to Kurros that, while the intellectual pursuits of the Think Tank are worthy in the abstract, “its pursuit has obviously not elevated you.” Burn!
Do it.
“Seven, how’d you do that?”
“I scanned the device. Its mechanism operates on a simple fractal regression.”
“You scanned it? That’s cheating.”
“Cheating is often more efficient.”
–Janeway expressing disbelief, Seven explaining herself, Paris rebuking her, and Seven with a very blunt rejoinder.
Welcome aboard. The big guest is Jason Alexander, fresh off his famous run as George Costanza on Seinfeld, who plays Kurros. The non-famous members of the Think Tank are not credited: Steve Dennis plays Fennim, Phil Crowley provides the voice of the AI, and the jellyfish-like alien is voiced by an unknown actor.
Christopher Shea plays Saowin; he twice played the slimy Vorta Keevan on DS9 (“Rocks and Shoals” and “The Magnificent Ferengi“), and will appear twice on Enterprise, as a Suliban in “Detained” and an Andorian in “Cease Fire.”
Christopher Darga plays Y’Sek; he has also twice played Klingons, on DS9’s “The Way of the Warrior” as the ill-fated Commander Kaybok and on Enterprise’s “Unexpected” as Captain Vorok.
Trivial matters: This is the only onscreen appearance of the Hazari. They also appear in the short story “The Secret Heart of Zolaluz” by Robert T. Jeschonek in the Distant Shores anthology, and they are part of Star Trek Online’s Delta Quadrant missions.
Apparently, any time Jason Alexander struggled with his lines, he would cry out, “Jerry!” à la George Costanza.
Chakotay speculates as to who might have hired the Hazari, mentioning both the Malon (encountered in “Night” and “Extreme Risk“) and the Devore (“Counterpoint“). As it happens, Kurros pretends to be a Malon when he hires the Hazari.
The Vidiians were first encountered in “Phage,” where their suffering from the titular disease was established. Voyager encountered them several times throughout the first two seasons. Apparently, they came across the Think Tank some time in the two-and-a-half or so years since “Resolutions.”
Chadre’kab was one of the first things Neelix made for Seven when she started eating in “The Raven.”
Voyager acquired quantum slipstream drive in “Hope and Fear” and tried and failed to make it work for them in “Timeless.”
Set a course for home. “All we have to do now is out-think the Think Tank.” There is a lot to like about this episode. For starters, the Think Tank is a nifty little notion. I like the idea of a cooperative of really smart sentient beings banding together to solve problems. While the script treats their being so mercenary about it with disdain, there’s nothing inherently horrible about the basic concept. I mean, if all they asked for was information (soup recipes, for example) instead of things their clients need (the ore required by Saowin’s people), it wouldn’t be so bad.
But there’s a line between being compensated for your work and being greedy little bastards, and the Think Tank is established as crossing it before the opening credits roll. Which is fine, they’re the antagonist after all, though it makes it hard to take Voyager’s trusting them particularly seriously.
Especially that they don’t see the overwhelmingly predictable twist that the Think Tank hired the Hazari coming. I mean, it was the first thing I thought of, that they would create the problem and then swoop in to fix it, so the fact that the crew was surprised to find out that the “Malon” who hired the Hazari was really Kurros didn’t speak particularly well of them. Heck, they encountered an extremely similar situation just two seasons ago in “Rise.”
This was made up for a bit by Y’Sek contacting Kurros followed by the Hazari firing on Voyager, and you think that maybe—maybe—there’s a double-cross in the offing here, but no, it was all part of the sting operation. Which is fun to watch in and of itself.
As is the big guest star. Jason Alexander has made a career out of playing short, obnoxious, loud fellas, even before his most famous role on Seinfeld, so to see him so perfectly portray a quiet, manipulative intellectual is a real joy to watch. Kurros has none of the smarm that Alexander traditionally brings to his roles (I’m thinking, not just George Costanza, but also his role in Pretty Woman), and it makes him a particularly compelling character. Though it might have been better if they hadn’t revealed the Think Tank’s nasty side in the very beginning. It’s the same mistake that the show made in “Revulsion” (and TNG made in “Violations“): letting us know from jump that a character is the bad guy, which drains all the suspense out of it. Alexander’s friendly calm could have easily lulled the viewer into a false sense of security, and have viewer and characters learn of their duplicity at the same time. Instead, because we already know how nasty they are from the treatment of Saowin in the teaser, we’re waiting around for our heroes to catch up.
Having said that, it’s still an enjoyable tale, with a particularly strong guest star, and some good bits with both Janeway and Seven.
Warp factor rating: 6
Keith R.A. DeCandido is also writing about The Falcon and The Winter Soldier for this site. Check out his brief history of the two characters in the comics, and his review of the first episode.
Alexander goes to the same well to play an unsub in Criminal Minds, which makes it even less of a surprise. I wish I remembered more of this episode from my first watch. Maybe I was more surprised
As always, I’m the obligatory SF Debris guy in the Rewatch, but Chuck Sonnenburg had this particular gem in his review for this episode:
“In mine (Janeway’s scenario), I win, wearing one of those glowing sun god thingies on my head while I play an electric guitar, and, and sit on a unicorn named Professor AwesomeHooves!”
Anyway, this is another of my favorite Season Five episodes. I loved the concept of the Think Tank too and wish they’d been a recurring adversary for a few more episodes.
I agree. I like this episode a lot, but I always wish that the Think Tank hadn’t been outright antagonists so much as just people with a very different agenda from the Federation and Voyager‘s crew. I always wish Trek did more of that, as I think it creates really interesting stories. It is one thing to have diversity and open-mindedness when you are surrounded by people who more or less agree with you, but it is a lot more difficult when faced with people who don’t share your core values. I think having it turn out that “they are EEEEVVVVVVIIIIILLLLL” takes some of the interesting moral dilemma out of it, and kind of flattens what could be a deeper premise. There is really no reason why they *have* to be the ones who hired the Hazari, and that part of the episode felt very paint-by-the-numbers to me.
I do love the idea of the Think Tank, though!
Agreed, a moderately good episode, though the concept is maybe better than the execution. The Think Tank is a cool idea. Berman-era Trek too rarely attempted to depict nonhumanoid aliens, and the diverse group of species here feels like a prototype for the Xindi Council in Enterprise — though the Think Tank is even more diverse in that it includes an AI member.
Given their advancement and wide range of travel, the Think Tank could’ve made good recurring antagonists. And it would’ve been nice if they’d been more morally ambiguous, sincere in their aims but rigid in their insistence on payment, rather than just a big protection racket.
For what it’s worth, I did find it to be a relief to learn that they’d cured the Vidiians. All the more reason it’s hard to see them as all bad.
Speaking of species left behind, though, it’s annoying that the show kept using Malon after “Dark Frontier.” Voyager should be 20,000 light years beyond Malon territory by now.
The Think Tank turned out to be the Jerk Store. That’s a shame.
Christopher: I’ll be talking more about the Malon issue on Thursday when we do “Juggernaut.”
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
@2 – Maybe it’s just me, but I never understood the humor of these bizarre quotes you post. Grant it, I’ve never watched one of those reviews, so maybe context makes it funnier…
I remember watching this and being confused. When did Seven of Nine become a super-genius? Was that part of her character all along and I just overlooked it? I thought she was a woman of average or above average intelligence who had the benefit of what she could remember of the Borg’s database.
@7- I suspect it’s partly one of those things where a long-running review series has first highlighted and then for humorous effect exaggerated aspects of a character until they’ve created a version of Janeway that’s hard to relate to the character as actually portrayed unless you’ve followed the process the whole way along.
@7 and @9, Right, the SF Debris Janeway is basically a parody and a running gag at this point. And he does this with the rest of the VOY crew and his other Trek reviews (Sisko in particular).
And yeah, the humor is part of the appeal of SF Debris for me (hence why I’ll quote favorite reviews for specific episodes).
But Chuck Sonnenburg’s reviews (both Trek and otherwise) are actually always very insightful and well-constructed. I started watching because he’s just as critical as I am about the stupidity of the Berman era and the squandered potential of VOY and its characters.
@8, I wonder about that too and at this point it’s hard to unscramble the eggs, especially because Seven was assimilated so young, but is it actually the case she’s above-average intelligence by 24th century standards? Or would anybody functional who got the “benefit” of being part of the Borg collective emerge on the other side a whiz at various topics? Picard, with its wider community of XB’s, might explore this topic. Imagine how much worse it is for someone who gets assimilated as a kid, suffers as a Borg for decades, and then emerges on the other side still dumb as a post!
“plus her own innate intelligence and humility”
I suspect yoy mean “humanity”? Humility has never been one of Seven’s more noticeable traits.
IBookwyrme: no, I meant humility, because that’s what Kurros said in response to Seven’s query as to why she’s such a big deal.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Hmm. I can’t imagine Borg augmentations optimize for problem-solving or creative thinking, but it is entirely possible that Seven has more raw processing power in her noggin than the average unenhanced human.
Seven did keep a lot of implants. That might account for her knowing more of what the Borg knew than Picard did. I’m not sure how much tech the other XBs retained.
@15/noblehunter: The implants that Seven retained were left in because she couldn’t survive or function without them. I presume the same is true of the XBs.
I’ve always assumed that Seven has a super-brain, due to her Borg implants.
Jelly @@@@@ 5 – that’s a nice deep cut. Well played.
In general, I have absolutely no recollection of this episode whatsoever.
That Janeway couldn’t realize that Kurros and the Think Tank actually hired the Hazari would actually make a good deal of sense had this episode been made in the first season or so. Obviously, it doesn’t work as well with the more weary season 5 Janeway.
Still, it’s a very nice, plot-heavy episode made all the better thanks to casting Alexander in such a unique role. Seeing Janeway, Seven and the Hazari turn the tables on Kurros is a treat. And having Janeway give Seven the choice over her fate speaks to the increased level of trust she now places on her surrogate daughter. It’s a long way from the contentuous days of tension between them.
And despite their greed getting the better of them, I’m glad their actions ended up curing the Vidiians. Evem people with selfish motives can do good, and it’s a nice reiteration of what Trek is all about.
The whole concept of Think Tanks had me wondering about their role in the real world these last few years. I often question whether they’re truly helpful to democracy or more of a hindrance. Given how much of their financing comes from private sources, I can’t help but think they can be used for negative influences on any given nation. This would have made for a fascinating episode on DS9.
And… how many of Voyager‘s massive shortcuts have we had since the ship last encountered the Vidiians?
@20/Muswell: Why is that a problem? The Think Tank is very advanced. It’s plausible that they could have very fast space drives. It’s less plausible that a backward people like the Malon have territory spanning nearly half the width of the quadrant.
@21/Christopher: I don’t think the Malon necessarily cover that vast an area. More likely, their waste export industry encourages haulers to travel to the farthest reaches of space in order to dump their antimatter on someone else’s region, or unclaimed space. Granted, it’s an unusually large distance to cover, but I can still buy that idea. The more antimatter they dump, the farther they need to travel. They produce six isotons per day. Plus, I imagine the Malon regime wouldn’t want the toxic antimatter and the ensuing Theta radiation near their borders. We’ll be seeing an example of this next Thursday.
As for the Think Tank, I can easily buy that they either have the ability to travel at faster speeds or have knowledge of stable wormholes.
@21 – I was actually surprised that the Think Tank never even dangled the possibility of a faster trip home. After all, they prided themselves on solving problems. One assumes they might already have technology. Maybe the writers thought there was too much “a faster way home” dangling going on as it was.
@22/Eduardo: I doubt any waste hauler is going to travel the equivalent of a 20-year journey at Voyager‘s best speed. But we should save this debate for the “Juggernaut” thread on Thursday, as Keith suggested.
@22: Did we previously discuss those “isotonic” sports drinks that are so energetically marketed? One more way to dispose of the stuff…
This one is another example, among many, of an episode that is probably only decent to most people but which I enjoy immensely. The Think Tank itself is indeed a great concept, the kind of unique little thing that Voyager had the luxury of using more often than the shows set in more familiar territory. And I love that they were morally dubious but not necessarily outright villains. I figure they were like MENSA in the wasteland, a collective of geniuses who might have used their minds for good in a more civilized place, but in the often lawless DQ they turned mercenary. I love the callback to the Vidiians; no one who cures the Phage is anyone I can actually hate, and Kurros is low-key charming while also being a total dick.
It may have been more dramatically effective not to use the teaser they did and to let us realize along with Voyager how nasty they were being, but I think the writers may have thought that they wouldn’t have come across as villains in the end without that information that they’re so exploitative. Otherwise their offer to Seven might have sounded more genuine and less self-serving, and then the audience would be unsure of what to think. (Not that I believe that would be problem they had to deal with, but I wonder if the producers believed that at the time. It wouldn’t be the first time a tv show underestimated what its audience could follow.)
In any case I find it all very cool and interesting and it’s a good plot that plays out pretty well. And Seven being my favorite character means I never complain when she gets the focus.
@25: If the idea is to create a breed of potential augments/mutants/inhumans, I’m sure there are those inside Section 31 thinking of endless possibilities….
“We have an old expression, Kurros: Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
It’s a decent battle of wills, although it falls apart if you try and think about it. Given that we’re given a pre-titles designed to prove his ruthlessness, it would almost have been a surprise if Kurros hadn’t been behind things. Is there a reason for Janeway to bring Seven with her, other than for the Think Tank to find out about her and add her to their Watchlist? Yet if the Think Tank set all this up, yet didn’t know about Seven yet, did they do all this just to get their hands on Neelix’s recipes? (And what was their solution, just call the Hazari off?)
Meanwhile, on one viewing my dad wondered why, after Voyager and the Hazari realise they’ve both been manipulated by the Think Tank, they don’t just all fly off, and I couldn’t think of an answer apart from “Um…” I think the idea is that the Hazari recognise Think Tank as the bigger prize, but if they can’t get that, they’ll settle for Voyager: There’s a bit of dialogue that supports that but it’s not really clear. Also not clear is how this can be reconciled with Tuvok’s statement that the Hazari take pride in honouring their contracts. Does the fact Kurros used a false identity mean their agreement with him isn’t binding? And why go for an ad break cliffhanger of the Hazari promising to deliver Voyager to Think Tank, as if the audience are going to think it’s not all part of a plan they’ve made with Janeway?
In short, I think I enjoy watching this episode more than I do thinking about it!
I’ve heard it suggested that the ending of Voyager gleefully abandoning Think Tank to the Hazari isn’t very Star Trek. Well…that’s kind of true, and they probably could have done with toning down the smirking, but Janeway has a knack for delivering lame Bond one-liners as though they’re really awesome.
The Doctor spends ages proving the Hazari are working for the Malon, only for Janeway and Tuvok to immediately realise he’s wrong and identify the real culprit. The Hazari seemingly blow up a planetoid just to trap Voyager and it’s barely commented on. First appearance of the real Neelix since “The Disease”, having been a biometic copy and a hallucination in the last two episodes.
And seriously, the Vidiian get cured of the phage in a throwaway line?
I’ll also comment on the Malons when we get to “Juggernaut”, but the same equally applies to Chakotay suggesting the Devore as culprits, given that they seemed fairly insular and unlikely to have bothered setting a trap for Voyager several thousand light years from their space. It feels as though someone decided to pick a couple of species from earlier in the season as suspects and forgot that big quantum slipstream journey from the season’s movie length episode.
@28 – Who’s to say that Kurros wasn’t lying about curing the Vidiians? Is Voyager going to turn around to go check? Seeing as Voyager’s reputation seems to be preceding it, it’s entirely possible that Kurros heard about their encounters and used this as something to lull them into a false sense of security.
@21 – Because if the Think Tank are advanced enough to cover that distance, then they should be offering Voyager a way home. If they know enough about Voyager to know that curing the Vidiian Phage is something that would mean something to them, they know Voyager is on a long journey that they would probably like shortened. It’s a better carrot, and one that doesn’t involve the expense of hiring mercenaries.
Plus, even if the Think Tank don’t offer it, surely someone on the crew should think “Hang on a minute, the Vidiians are thousands of light years back the way we came, these guys must be able to travel quickly, let’s talk about what we can trade to learn more about that.”
I found this to be a middle-of-the-road, kind of unmemorable episode save for the fact that Jason Alexander is in it and puts in a good, uncharacteristic performance. I believe recalling he’s a big Star Trek fan himself so it’s great that his being on the show is a wish fulfillment. I agree with others that the premise of this think tank was better than the execution: they shouldn’t have been so obviously nefarious from the start of the episode; they shouldn’t be black or white good/bad but simply have their own motivations that can conflict with others; and that they could have been a good on-going threat/ally to Voyager over the course of several episodes. It’s nice to hear that the Vidiians were cured assuming that was the truth. It makes me wonder what becomes of that race post-cure. Are they no longer motivated baddies?
@30/Muswell: “Because if the Think Tank are advanced enough to cover that distance, then they should be offering Voyager a way home.”
And lose a potential future customer? Better to get them on the hook and tantalize them with the prospect of more. And Voyager‘s crew has gotten skeptical of out-of-the-blue offers to return them home; it might’ve made them suspicious too soon.
Really, though, it would’ve made more sense for both this and “Juggernaut” to precede the 20,000-ly jump in “Dark Frontier.” Is there any reason we can’t assume the episodes are out of order?
@32 – If they cared about repeat custom, they wouldn’t have cured the Phage, they’d have provided a form of palliative care for the Phage. Plus they have no reason to believe that Voyager is going to get anything decent to pay them with that they couldn’t just get for themselves; Voyager is cut off from any fresh resources not available to anyone else bibbling about in the same space.
It’s also bad strategy to start what you hope to be a long-term business relationship with a con, or at least with a short con like hiring mercenaries.
@33/Muswell: “If they cared about repeat custom, they wouldn’t have cured the Phage, they’d have provided a form of palliative care for the Phage.”
No, because they could then potentially offer them help with a different problem in the future (like, say, rebuilding their tattered society or mending fences with the other civilizations they preyed upon for organs). It doesn’t have to be the same problem, as long as they’re still there. If Voyager got back to the UFP, sure, potentially the Think Tank could travel there too, but how could they compete with the full resources of a vast, benevolent, activist Federation that helps people for free?
@34 – “vast, benevolent, activist Federation that helps people for free?”
Well, except for the people of Iotia whom the Federation charges a 40% take of the planetary economy. Of course, they say that they’ll reinvest it on the planet but then the inhabitants aren’t getting a say in how it’s spent. After all, the government is basically one man, Bela Oxmyx. Taxation without representation?
Maybe Think Tank sold the Vidiians that organ transplant technology. Or, yeah, something else that gives you less than it costs. Like it needs deuterium :-) (is it time to shut up about deuterium?)
Though if they had promised Voyager a way home, Seven wmight have been more willing to join them. It’s one thing to bail on your family and friends when they’re in the middle of nowhere, it’s something else entirely when you’ve seen them safely home
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. The review complains about the early reveal of the Think Tank being the bad guys, but I found that very effective. The setup makes it obvious they’ve carried out their operations many times, presumably against many different species and cultures, so the fact they haven’t yet been stopped speaks to their strength and makes them a more formidable foe for Voyager. I also like the solution of taking down their telepathic communications. It’s one of the rare occasions where the fact a universal translator (or equivalent, in this case) is a piece of technology, not just a convenient device for the TV series. Taking it down and removing your enemy’s ability to communicate among themselves is a smart way of crippling them when you can’t directly penetrate their defences.
One thing that nags at me about this episode is that they call it the Hazari Paradox, but I don’t think it’s a paradox, I think it’s a conundrum.
From the moment Janeway asked 7 to go with her to see the Think Tank, it was obvious she was going to be the price for their help.
I just realized there’s a Seinfeld connection with Seven of Nine in this episode. George Costanza had the perfect name for a new baby, Seven(!), and was crazily possessive of it when a couple wanted to use it for their own kid.
https://youtu.be/_3xopNvnyps
Hehehe.
I’m surprised by how many of you accept Kurros’s claim to have cured the Vidiian Phage at face value. I’m deeply skeptical of it, myself. Maybe we’ll get confirmation (or disputation) of this claim in the new Prodigy series when it airs.
It’s interesting that Janeway analogized Kurros’s group to a “think tank.” We in the 21st century know of the Rand Corporation, Brookings Institute, and Heritage Foundation, among other organizations called “think tanks,” but Janeway doesn’t live in the 21st century. I’m keen to know what think tanks exist in the Federation society in her time. The “Jack Pack” is essentially that, but we can guess there would be more official (and effective) such institutions, especially within Vulcan society.
Seven wore her blue and gray jumpsuit again in this episode. I like it, but I thought it had been retired because it was interfering with the Chroma key effects?
I can accept this as a necessary anachronism to let the modern audience understand what they are; a simple short hand to avoid a lot of exposition.
@43 & 44: I don’t see why “think tank” should be an anachronism. Per Wikipedia, the term has been in use in approximately its modern sense since the 1960s, and since the 1890s as a slang term for the human brain. And Google Ngram Viewer shows that use of the term has only gotten more and more common since the ’60s. Its frequency of usage today is nearly 50% higher than its usage when “Think Tank” was made in 1999. So there’s no reason to expect the term to fall out of use in the future.
@44 and @45: I wasn’t saying the term was an anachronism. I was musing aloud (in print) as to what a 24th century think tank would be like. It would be fun to read a story about one such.
@46/terracinque: I suppose the Daystrom Institute might qualify. Or, heck, Starfleet, in some ways.
When Kurros met Ensign Ro:
https://youtu.be/msOBNIe-au0
Lol, yeah, I’m that guy who needs to point out all of the Seinfeld/Star Trek connections.
@48: I didn’t know Michelle Forbes had done a Seinfeld, but I can’t say I’m surprised. She turns up pretty much everywhere. Just not as a series regular.
I don’t even have to click on that link, and I know it’s the Big Salad episode.
@50: Yes, how dare she take credit for George’s gift of the big salad!
@49: That’s true. The closest she came to a regular was as a recurring guest star during season two of True Blood. I also remember when she showed up in an episode of Lost for the premiere of one of its later seasons. But she literally had like a minute of screen time so it was practically a cameo. I kind of wonder why she’d agree to do it for such a tiny part (and flying to Hawaii where they film) unless it was some kind of favor or she really wanted to be on the show.
And I sometimes wonder “What if?” if she had agreed to be a regular on DS9 as was originally envisioned instead of her declining to pursue a film career.
@51: That’s every Trek fan’s “what if?”
And having lived in Hawaii, I can tell you it’s a great place to vacation, especially if someone else pays your airfare
garreth: She was an opening-credits regular for two years on Homicide: Life on the Street. Also, she probably did the Lost role so she could go to Hawai’i. That’s why Lost and Hawaii Five Oh both got such great guest stars consistently, because somebody else pays you to be in Hawai’i.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
@52: Oh, I agree about Hawaii. I vacationed there over a decade ago staying with a friend who’s a resident and it was amazing. If Forbes got a paid ticket and lodging and some time to hang out there, then I guess who can blame her for going all that way just for a minute long role.
But I also think it was fortuitous that Forbes declined the DS9 role because in my mind, it makes more sense to have a Bajoran who’s actually a part of that planet’s government as Sisko’s liaison than a low-ranking Bajoran Starfleet officer in that role. Then you’ve got the whole story-telling potential of a former Bajoran terrorist elevated to this important role on the station and the fine acting of Nana Visitor. So I think it all worked out for the best. It would have been cool if Forbes at least guested on DS9 because a Kira-Ro team-up would have been bad ass!
Krad – Good to know! It was actually terracinque who first said Forbes doesn’t show up as a series regular so I just assumed that was true and didn’t check her acting credits. And while I know of Homicide, I’ve never actually seen it.
@54: I’d pay good money to see that Kira-Ro pairing
I didn’t know she had ever been a series regular. Homicide is a series I’ve always wanted to catch up with.
In the post-finale DS9 novels that started with Avatar Books 1-2 by S.D. Perry (and which included some contributions by your humble rewatcher), Ro is assigned to Deep Space 9 as the new security chief to replace Odo. Kira is the station commander, and they get plenty of interactions…….
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
[ show ends ]
Sorry, Think Tank. No soup for you.
P.S. I assume that jellyfish was a puppet and i’m curious about that. It was very cool, simple, subtle. Didn’t try too hard.
This is a fun episode. And, wow, I had no idea that was Jason Alexander. Still, I found his unctuousness to be apparent enough that even without the teaser, I’d’ve known he was up to no good. Really, there’d be no point to him being in the episode if he wasn’t playing them. Good samaritans aren’t a lot of fun. So the suspense here is in wondering what they’ll ask Voyager for that Voyager will want to refuse. Tho, that part wasn’t much of a surprise.
Still, it’s a nice little road to satisfying comeuppance in the end.
BTW, I’m surprised that there was no mention in the review that they’re down another shuttle craft. 7 takes one over, but gets beamed back.