Random Thoughts
- Episode aired Nov 19, 1997
- TV-PG
- 46m
A telepathic race arrests B'Elanna for thinking violent thoughts that have begun to infect their peacefully enlightened, virtually crime-free society.A telepathic race arrests B'Elanna for thinking violent thoughts that have begun to infect their peacefully enlightened, virtually crime-free society.A telepathic race arrests B'Elanna for thinking violent thoughts that have begun to infect their peacefully enlightened, virtually crime-free society.
- Guill
- (as Wayne Péré)
- Voyager Ops Officer
- (uncredited)
- Lt. Ayala
- (uncredited)
- Enterprise-E Security Officer
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaShots of the violence from Tuvok's mind include shots from Event Horizon (1997).
- GoofsWhen Tuvok shows Nimira the brig, she comments on how barbaric it is. He even has to explain to her that they use it to hold individuals until they can be handed over to the proper authorities; yet, when Torres commits a crime, they arrest her and detain her until her sentence can be carried out.
- Quotes
[Seven blames Torres for being careless with her thoughts]
Neelix: B'Elanna's not used to being around telepaths. That doesn't make her guilty.
Seven of Nine: Then her crime was ignorance - a common affliction among your crew.
Neelix: What's that supposed to mean?
Seven of Nine: You make contact with alien species without sufficient understanding of their nature. As a result, Voyager's directive to "seek out new civilizations" often ends in conflict.
Neelix: What you call ignorance, we call exploration, and... sometimes it means taking a few risks, but it's-it's certainly better than assimilating everything in your path.
Seven of Nine: Your goal is to share knowledge. Assimilation is the perfect means of attaining that goal.
Neelix: "Perfect."
- ConnectionsFeatures Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Here we have a telepathic society that almost has no violence because the first spark of a violent thought is already forbidden and if necessary purged from the minds of the offenders - just another expression for lobotomy. While the chief investigating lady claims she is one of the last police officers, I wonder who of them takes care of thoughts offenders. They seem to have sophisticated equipment and personnel that takes care of that purging, so there would have to be those that hunt offenders down, too.
When someone bumped into Torres on a visit to the market, she gets angry but stays calm nonetheless. Yet, this same man demolishes a market stand a few minutes later and since this society is cruelty free, it has to be Torres that infected this man's mimd with her aggressive thoughts. And for that she is sentenced guilty and to be purged of that thoughts.
While Janeway is about to let this procedure happen, Tuvok starts investigations and finds out, that this peaceful society isn't so peaceful after all.
Sometimes I want to slap Janeway for her white knight attitude. Seven of Nine makes a good point when she questions to stop at every planet and run into trouble because they interact with species that they don't know. Janeway on the other hand naturally comes up with the story of them being explorers and first contacting new species is their way of learning and expanding their knowledge. Thing though is: Voyager crew hardly explores anything. At that time, Voyager should be full of alien artifacts, literature, art and technology which should have been integrated and merged with the ship. Imagine you are on a 70 years trip back home through unknown space - wouldn't you try to get your hands on any kind of gadgets and information that might help you on your journey? Remember when the crew was captured once on that biosphere ship. Over 90 alien species were held hostage there, too. Did they try to learn and explore afterwards? No, they did not. Even Borg technology could prove valuable but they rather try to get rid of everything that has been built into the ship. Maybe they should explore how Seven of Nine's personal shield blocks phaser fire and then build those shields for the others as well.
This series would have been much better if they actually explored unknown species and upgraded their ship on the way with new technology. Like those chrono torpedoes from last episode. It would also have shaken up the story if every now and then a stranger from a new species would have joined them on their trip. Could have added a different perspective.
At least this time no one destroys and loses a shuttle and the new species doesn't live in caves or wear robes. Yet, their market looks like a cheap flea market. Considering the fact how many fruits and vegetables Voyager needs to stock to feed the crew, the small market stand at the plaza hardly wouldn't do the job.
- tomsly-40015
- Dec 27, 2023
Details
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3