Voyager - Favorite Son

[clearspira]

The thing that really struck me as I watched this review was ''this reminds me of an episode of Buck Rogers'', for the simple reason it turns out that being abducted by a cabal of beautiful women who want to have sex with him only to kill him WAS an episode of Buck Rogers. Only that was the 1970s - it made to be camp and a bit silly. This is the 1990s. The decade of the X-Files, Babylon 5, Buffy, Earth Final Conflict. We had reached a level by this point that was long beyond this level of storytelling. (The other advantage Buck Rogers the show had of course is that it was totally believable that women would be clawing at Buck's chest in awe. It really should have made everyone go ''oh come the bloody hell on'' then and there when the same happened to Harry Kim).

And sadly, the concept of Kim becoming an alien would have been a cool development. Just not THIS alien, in this fashion, with this script, in this season of the show.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

The thing that really struck me as I watched this review was ''this reminds me of an episode of Buck Rogers'', for the simple reason it turns out that being abducted by a cabal of beautiful women who want to have sex with him only to kill him WAS an episode of Buck Rogers. Only that was the 1970s - it made to be camp and a bit silly. This is the 1990s. The decade of the X-Files, Babylon 5, Buffy, Earth Final Conflict. We had reached a level by this point that was long beyond this level of storytelling. (The other advantage Buck Rogers the show had of course is that it was totally believable that women would be clawing at Buck's chest in awe. It really should have made everyone go ''oh come the bloody hell on'' then and there when the same happened to Harry Kim).

And sadly, the concept of Kim becoming an alien would have been a cool development. Just not THIS alien, in this fashion, with this script, in this season of the show.

What? Where can I find this video?

[clearspira]

The thing that really struck me as I watched this review was ''this reminds me of an episode of Buck Rogers'', for the simple reason it turns out that being abducted by a cabal of beautiful women who want to have sex with him only to kill him WAS an episode of Buck Rogers. Only that was the 1970s - it made to be camp and a bit silly. This is the 1990s. The decade of the X-Files, Babylon 5, Buffy, Earth Final Conflict. We had reached a level by this point that was long beyond this level of storytelling. (The other advantage Buck Rogers the show had of course is that it was totally believable that women would be clawing at Buck's chest in awe. It really should have made everyone go ''oh come the bloody hell on'' then and there when the same happened to Harry Kim).

And sadly, the concept of Kim becoming an alien would have been a cool development. Just not THIS alien, in this fashion, with this script, in this season of the show.

What? Where can I find this video?

Buck Rogers episode 10: Planet of the Amazon Women.
If the image is not showing, here is a screencap of Buck from the episode. And I think we can all agree that he has Harry Kim somewhat licked when it comes to ''believably being abducted by women''.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Looks more like Kylo in Last Jedi.

[CrypticMirror]

It is so sad what happened to Gil Gerad after that show.

[clearspira]

Looks more like Kylo in Last Jedi.

Kylo did not have any hair on his chest. And was emo. Buck was all 1970s man.
Trust me; you haven't lived until you've seen him dance Disco-style to synth music in episode 2 whilst his mortal enemy wears her peoples' traditional formal wear of a silver bra and panties with tassels - it personifies everything I love about these cheesy old shows. They were just fun, y'know?

And that is what is missing from ''Fortunate Son''. Fun. That is what made the mentioned ''The Thaw'' work. It took a silly on paper episode about a man claiming to be fear in a world of circus jugglers, half naked men and garish colour; and made it into one of the stand out episodes of Voyager. You just cannot pull off ''I have been abducted by Amazon women who want to suck out my juices whilst beating me with sticks'' work if you take the idea seriously. And Voyager, clearly, took it VERY seriously.

Another example of ''doing the concept with a dash of fun'' would of course be Futurama. ''Death, by snu snu!''

[clearspira]

It is so sad what happened to Gil Gerad after that show.

Our worst enemies are nearly always ourselves sadly.

[bronnt]

The problem isn't that we all know the women will turn out to be salt-sucking abominations. The problem is that there's a ridiculous pile of scraps trying to cover up the obvious twist.

Like the fact that the Nasari were going to fire on Voyager solely because Harry Kim was infected by a virus. We learn that they were, in fact, charging weapons. It turns out it's because they detected Harry Kim on board and apparently knew enough to know that he was going to become a victim, but if he revealed that it destroys the twist. So the Nasari are forced to be immediately hostile for no consistent reason, just so we can get a red herring clue about Harry's behavior later on.

Chuck has said it before: If you're writing a mystery, you need to use logic. There's clearly a mystery here, but when you learn more, it makes everything that happens completely illogical.

[Deledrius]

Like the fact that the Nasari were going to fire on Voyager solely because Harry Kim was infected by a virus. We learn that they were, in fact, charging weapons. It turns out it's because they detected Harry Kim on board and apparently knew enough to know that he was going to become a victim, but if he revealed that it destroys the twist. So the Nasari are forced to be immediately hostile for no consistent reason, just so we can get a red herring clue about Harry's behavior later on.

Chuck has said it before: If you're writing a mystery, you need to use logic. There's clearly a mystery here, but when you learn more, it makes everything that happens completely illogical.

I don't recall if it was ever "explained" how Harry knew the Nasari were going to fire. Is the implication that he didn't actually know, but "genetically knew" the Nasari would fire if they learned he was aboard? This seems like part of the problem that happens when the episode shifts away from the mystery element: it stops caring whether the mystery even added up well once the mystery is revealed to have been a ruse.

[CrypticMirror]

It is so sad what happened to Gil Gerad after that show.

Our worst enemies are nearly always ourselves sadly.

So true. And that eating disorders are even now treated almost as a joke, a sordid punchline; even moreso for men, and especially in the 1980s too.