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 EPISODE REVIEWS | ||
 | "Concerning Flight"
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|| Airdate: November 26th, 1997 Written by: Joe Menosky (Teleplay); Joe Menosky and Jimmy Diggs (Story) Directed by: Jesus Salvador Trevino Short Take: A could-have-been-good, "Concerning" manages to be quite funny in places, but that's not enough to save an embarassingly bad plot and an overall lack of depth. Brief Summary:Janeway and Tuvok beam down to a planet to retrieve stolen materials, only to find out the holographic da Vinci was stolen as well. Wackiness ensues. Review: (First off, an apology. I was unable to get this in sooner because I just saw it this Sunday. Darn Thanksgiving.) Last week's preview did not sell me on this show. In fact, I don't see how any preview could sell this. How did this show slip by the producers? While the idea about Janeway dealing with Leonardo has potential, the idea of her trying to stop robbers with his help is not. This episode will go down in the books as a major letdown as a result, a chance at exploring an interesting holo-personality - like TNG did with Dr Moriarty - that was turned into an action farce. Some witty lines and a high cuteness factor are the only things that save this show. It all started off nicely enough. The premise of pirates stealing equipment actually hasn't been done before, and it was good to see the little varmits try it here. The idea of Da Vinci's existence planetside was explained enough that I'll let it slide, though let's face it - it wasn't plausible. But my major beef was that his continued existence was not explained at all. Why would Tau let him bugger about town like a loon? He would probably *turn him off*! The fact of the matter is, the da Vinci idea seemed to be completely detached from the subplot, a sort of neat trick given relevance because they have to find the computer core. It would have been a much more effective use of space and of the da Vinci set if we got a character study in the holodeck, not a character study mixed with high tech adventure on some no-name world. Yet strangely enough, that was the most plausible part of the show. This episode is an open and shut case study for what Voyager writers do wrong every single week, no question about it. Why can't Voyager transport Janeway up? Well, there's interference, or someone's lost a comm badge, or some other wackiness, despite the fact the Enterprise could use a transporter 40,000 kilometers away! Tau was a zero villian who just *happened* to drop by in time to stop Janeway. He had *such* complexity. The characters on the show did very little to solve the situation themselves. It just *happened* that da Vinci had his glider near by, or that Tau took da Vinci to the hideout, or whatever was needed to make the plot work. Voyager takes a pounding from these baby ships yet never thinks of fighting back. Why? To increase tension. Upon reflection, very little actually happened in the show, save the standard set of mistakes that has given Voyager such a bad reputation. Things might have been okay if something happened on a character level, but things didn't happen. The episode reached and reached for some depth, and almost made it, but in the end it fell short. It's always nice to see a hologram deal with his reality, though we've already had that once this year in "Revulsion," and it was much better done there. Here, da Vinci never became self aware. He responded as the real da Vinci might, an interesting take, though he probably came off too sentient. (Then again, he only reacted to things around him, so it is probably realistic.) I wasn't impressed with da Vinci's motivations for being a stubborn mule though. The man needs more character to him than that. "America" is wonderful and Florence hates him, but it seemed over the top, almost like a staple plot device for the unappreciated genius. Ideas about sparrows and birds were tossed about, but I'm not so sure they were resolved. Yes, they flew in the end. And? Was that symbolizing da Vinci's being taking flight? Evidently not, because he fled Florence. There's a metaphor in there somewhere, I hope. Janeway suffered too. She mostly goaded da Vinci along. I want a little more out of my captain than that. (I was impressed with her lying to Tau though.) I found her speech about Leonardo being a sparrow to be beyond arrogant to absolutely insulting. He is one of the great geniuses of all of human history, thank you. Indeed, all this talk of being in a cage reflected badly on Janeway, since she's the one who put da Vinci in the holographic "cage" to begin with. Before you say these type of shows aren't one where the main characters shine, keep in mind "Our Man Bashir" had plenty of Bashir/ Garak interaction, so it is possible. Janeway mainly reacted to da Vinci, just as he reacted to the world around him. What makes it so frustrating is that effort was obviously put into it. We had too much history that was more the most part correct for it to be otherwise. (Leonardo would not have recognized his own time as a "renaissance," as it was Jakob Burckhardt who first used that term for the period in the 18th century, if I'm not mistaken. That's the only mistake I caught though. Whether or not he would consider a Borgia notoriously sinister is a point I'll have to look into.) Personally I love these little references. And, as mentioned above, we had continued references to various birds and the symbolism of the cage, unfulfilled though they were. Something was happening in this show, but it had trouble revealing itself. It's the darn plot's fault. It was completely textbook and completely uncompelling. All of the other problems in the show radiate from there. Janeway's poor development was because she had to stop and lecture Leonardo, since there was nothing else to do. It's really a shame, since Janeway and Leonardo working together, within the holodeck, to accomplish some work or some mystery within Florence would have been great. "Concerning Flight" was like a forgery. Some short takes: -This episode looked expensive to shoot. Too bad it wasn't worth it. -The matte painting, though, looked great this week -Why would aliens want Starfleet clothes? That scene seemed... weird, and bad attempt at humor. -Now, now, before people say Tuvok lied - it was the logically thing to do, and Spock isn't exactly innocent either. -While on the subject, I've enjoyed how Tuvok's had substantial roles in almost every show this year. He hasn't had an episode for himself, yet he remains a key player. -I thought Seven's scene with Harry was wonderfully quirky. However, the character's due for some serious dramatic stuff. Writing: The history was mostly right, but not much else was. Acting: Tepid from Mulgrew, fair from Rhys-Davies Directing:I liked it, but is it really that hard to shoot mountainside vistas? Rating: 6.0 out of 10.0 Quote:da Vinci: "Well this fascinating conversation has left me as dry as Vulcan." Tuvok: "Vulcan?" da Vinci: "An island off Sicily. Have you been there?" Tuvok: "No." - Tuvok, learning he has cousins Next week: Nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, rerun Discuss This Episode and/or Review in the Fan Comm Link Discussion Board! | |
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