Thirty Days
Spoilers Below
The first time it aired this season, I missed "Thirty Days," due to the results of a power failure. I did notice that suddenly Lt. Paris was Ensign Paris, but since inconsistencies are a fact of life on "Voyager," I wasn't sure that this had ever been explained. It turns out that "Thirty Days" was quite engrossing mainly because it began with this mysterious demotion.
The first scene was powerful and attention getting, not because of what was said, but because of what was not said. Janeway's harsh demeanor, Tom's stoic acceptance of her decision, and his march towards the brig were excellently tantalizing, whetting our appetites and piquing our curiosity. Everything an opening scene should be.
Because we did not know why this happened, everything relevant to the sentencing was interesting. A straight flashback, while not particularly innovative, would have served us well. Unfortunately, they decided to frame this flashback in the form of a letter from Tom to his father. My opinion is that the story was weakened by this choice. The decision to write a letter to his father right then made little sense.
"I'm in jail again . . . I want you to know how I ended up in here because it's not what you think." My question is, why would he think anything? As far as we know, it will be decades before Tom returns to Earth. Does he think his father will immediately study Voyager's logs and find out that he spent thirty days in solitary confinement? Of course not. So why send a letter to his father first informing him that he is in jail -- which he otherwise need never find out -- and then explaining that it's "not what you think?"
I have thought of several explanations for Tom's sudden desire to write to his father. One is that he was simply bored, and since the experience with the ocean reminded him of his first love, the sea, he decided to write home. Still, if boredom was the catalyst, a personal log entry would have been just as time consuming, and would have given him the same opportunity to reflect on what had happened while giving us the opportunity to see it.
Another possibility: In trouble again, his thoughts went back to his father, perhaps feeling his father's disapproval as keenly as if he were there, glaring at him. This would make sense. I know I hear my mother's voice of disapproval at times, even when she's not around. But if this were the case, I wish they would have said so. It wouldn't have been so hard. We could have heard a voice over of what Tom imagined his father would say. He could have told Neelix that ever since he landed in the brig all he could think of was what his father would think upon seeing him in jail again. There are any number of plausible ways to explain why in the world Tom suddenly decided to write his father.
At the end of the letter, Tom said, "I honestly don't know if I'll ever understand you or what went wrong between us but I hope this letter helps you understand me a little better." So, was that the purpose? To get his father to understand him better? But how could this one incident help his father to understand him better? Somehow, I have a feeling his father wouldn't be as proud of Tom for his civil disobedience as B'Elanna, the ex-Maquis, was.
The nebulous motivation behind the letter made the scene where Harry goads Tom into finishing it seem silly. Why was it so important to Harry that Tom finish the letter that he would intentionally provoke him by reminding him that his father said he "never finished anything?" They were acting as if whether or not to write this letter was a major life decision. This rang false. The truth was, if Tom didn't keep writing the letter, we'd never find out what happened next. This made the letter vitally important to the continuing of the episode, but no one convinced me it was even of minor importance to Tom or to Harry or to Admiral Paris.
This letter device dimmed what was actually quite a good episode. The idea of an ocean in space was really intriguing, and that beautiful blue, rippling sphere was something to see. The environmental metaphor was as subtle as an sledgehammer, but there's nothing wrong with a good environmental message from time to time. Somehow, seeing this people endanger their ocean emphasized the equally short sighted behavior here on earth. The fact that their ocean could be gone in as little as 5 years was a reminder that earth could likewise come to that point if things continue as they have been. I would have preferred a bit more subtlety, but this didn't interfere too much with my enjoyment.
The Monayan politician was both pitiful and amusing, worrying more about what he would tell "the Council" than about the future of his world or even the life of his colleague. An all-too-familiar scenario.
There were a great many things that happened in this episode that would have just been flat if it weren't for our knowledge that Tom lost his rank because of *something* he did during this time. So certain events were akin to red herrings. For example, when Tom decided not to ascend immediately when hull stress increased and the Delta Flyer had lost contact with Voyager, knowing that something he did caused him to be thrown in jail made me wonder if something tragic or serious was going to happen as a result of this decision. Would the hostile eel-thing attack again, or bring back some of its friends? Would someone's life be in jeopardy because of this decision? These questions kept me interested despite the fact that none of the things that happened in the initial descent were of much significance, except the discovery that the ocean was (pardon the expression), manmade.
The giant electric eel, in particular, seemed corny and pointless. There was only one of them, he only attacked once, and he was easily repelled. What point did that serve? It seems to me that it mainly served as good coming attractions material, especially the shot that made it look as if the eel was going to swallow the Delta Flyer. The leak caused by the attack looked pretty serious before the commercial was easily fixed. Incidentally, before the commercial, it was pretty funny when Tom appeared to be trying to stop the leak with his hands.
If they were going to introduce a hostile sea creature, it would have been more realistic if this had continued as an element throughout the episode, for example, on Tom's second trip under the ocean. As it was, it seemed like a time filler. Still, because this was a flashback, I had a sense of expectation and concern that engaged my attention throughout that first voyage.
The explanation of the ocean's problem was quite sound, scientifically, not a mess of technobabble, for once. The ocean was held in place by a giant gravity making device. When the Monayan oxygen mines sucked oxygen out of the water, the water became more dense, thus increasing pressure on the gravity device. The device responded by shunting power from gravity making to shore up structural integrity, thus weakening the gravitational field which was keeping the ocean in place. It was simple, but very logical.
As beautiful as the ocean was, and as muleheaded as the Monayan Council appeared to be, it was hard to get behind what Tom was doing. There's nothing more annoying than a self-righteous outsider trying to right all wrongs by force. Disabling their oxygen refineries might have forced them to rebuild, but there was no guarantee that they would rebuild them in an environmentally sound way. In fact, the sabotage might have made them more stubborn. In addition, Tom knew next to nothing about how their world operated. Trying to destroy the mining operation might have had consequences he hadn't anticipated. The act was impulsive. But I suppose Tom's heart was in the right place.
I wish I understood a little better why Janeway was willing to kill Tom and Riga rather than allow those mines to be shut down. The prime directive? Fear of reprisal? I understand the importance of the prime directive, and the importance of not making enemies when you're alone in a strange section of the universe, but were these worth Tom's life? Janeway said, "I would've destroyed your shuttle if necessary."
If it had come to that, I would think that even the heartless Monayan Council might understand why Janeway had considered their oxygen mines less important than two lives. If they couldn't understand it from a personal standpoint, perhaps they would understand that this action would have made Riga and Tom martyrs, thus making the Council, who ordered that they be stopped at any cost, seem like villains.
Even if I were convinced that Tom's actions were such a serious threat to Voyager that firing on the shuttle would have been necessary, Janeway, Chakotay, yes, even Tuvok seemed far too cold and casual about it. Tuvok suggested depth charges without hesitation. Only Harry brought up the obvious question, are we willing to kill Tom for this? Janeway, who once put off the hereafter (or so she thought) because she wanted to see if Tom and B'Elanna would ever become friends, seemed too heartless when giving the order to fire. She showed not a flicker of emotion. I can understand her being angry when Tom sassed her and then went against her orders, but I can't understand her firing upon him without hesitation, without a tremor in her voice, without great reluctance.
Unfortunately, this coincides with the portrayal of Janeway as cold and clinical that was so evident in "Nothing Human."
So then we were back to the opening scene of Tom's demotion, but this time, a bit earlier, and with greater understanding of what was happening. Tom's statement that "at least this time I broke the rules for a reason, for something I believed in," indicated that he didn't regret what he had done. B'Elanna would have been proud, but I'm not so sure. I had to empathize with his passion in this cause, but he had acted with an arrogance that was distasteful, and in the end, ineffective.
There were some very silly things in this episode besides the big eel. Tom's dream was incredibly hokey complete with echoing voices and fuzzy focused cameras. Aw, and there was little Tom, playing with a toy boat, being reproved by his big bad father. As corny as Kansas in August. It was pretty funny, though, to hear Janeway's voice sentencing him to "thirty *years*" in solitary confinement.
Then there was that ridiculous thing about Harry and the twins. Really. First of all, I'm tired of Harry being portrayed as an overgrown hormone ridden teenager. And Tom's assumptions about twins are outmoded even in 1999! "What is the difference? . . . They're the Delaney sisters, Harry, they're twins!" he said. Anyone who has ever known twins just had to cringe.
And all that talk about Harry pursuing unattainable women was just as bad. Tom taunts Harry about his crush on the hologram in "Alter Ego." He seems to forget that she was more than a hologram, she was a real person *disguised* as a hologram in order to interact with the crew. Even Tuvok fell under her spell. Seven of Nine may be somewhat unattainable but, after all, she does run around Voyager in a uniform that looks like it was spray painted onto her dramatic figure. What's an overgrown teenager to do? And just because Harry was attracted to the twin who wasn't particularly attracted to him doesn't mean she was "unattainable." After all, B'Elanna seemed not only uninterested in Tom, but downright hostile, and she wound up being pretty attainable. To me, this little speech was another example of the trivialization of Harry Kim's character.
Another problem I had was with the two explanations of how the ocean came to be. One Monayan said that some believed it to be a "divine gift." Riga said he thought it probably formed naturally, like gas giants form.
"Makes sense." says Janeway. It did? It didn't make any sense to me. If it formed naturally like gas giants form, then why weren't there more of them? Why was there, as far as anyone knew, only one in the universe?
It seemed that it "made sense" simply because it didn't involve anything divine. No theories as to why this happened here and nowhere else. No explanation of the scientific observations that pointed to this conclusion. Oh, no. It just happened. It "makes sense" because it doesn't involve religious belief. Even for the traditionally atheistic Star Trek, this was too simplistic. No one even suggested that there was a third alternative until they submerged and discovered the truth, that the ocean was artificially constructed.
Then there was the happy coincidence. The missile shot from the Delta Flyer just happened to intersect with the depth charge from Voyager. Both were neutralized, the oxygen mine was saved, and Tom and Riga survived. A bit too neat.
On the other hand, I liked the bit where Tom pretended to have done 100 pushups, and the way Seven capitulated to Tom's desire to stay submerged: "It is in my nature to comply with the collective."
In the end, despite all the problems, I enjoyed watching "Thirty Days." I was glad to find out how Tom had been demoted, interested in the reasons why, and fascinated by the idea of an ocean in space. The Monayans were cute -- I liked their round noses with holes on either side, and their story was intriguing. It was nice to see Tom care so much about something, though I felt he reacted a bit too rashly to a situation he didn't fully understand. I just wish it had been better written. It would have been even better.
My score: 6.9
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