Voyager is greeted with hospitality by an alien society that's preoccupied with pleasure and stories. But when Harry Kim discovers they have a technology that could cut the journey home by more than half, tensions rise. The government refuses to share the technology, citing their own law not unlike Starfleet's Prime Directive. Rogue elements reach out to mutinous Voyager crew members to pursue an exchange in secret. And Tuvok arrives at a surprising conclusion on how to resolve the situation.
While I find "Prime Factors" to be a decent enough episode of Voyager, it seems that few involved with making it were completely happy with how it turned out. The story originated with David R. George III and Eric A. Stillwell, who pitched it as a sequel to the original series episode "Assignment: Earth" -- "what if we ran into the aliens who used long-range transporter technology to dispatch Gary Seven to Earth?" George and Stillwell were okay with the Voyager execs eliminating the connection to an earlier Star Trek series, but they were disappointed that they were never given a chance to write the script themselves.
Executive producer Michael Piller felt the alien race didn't come together in a very interesting way -- which is ultimately why they never reappeared after this episode. And I can't say he's wrong. The Sikarians' focus on "pleasure" and "stories" does admittedly sound like... not the stuff villains are made of. Their look is goofy, with Renaissance-portrait-halos hovering behind their heads. Their leader, Gathorel Labin, is odd -- from how often he touches Janeway in mildly creepy ways to the French-esque accent that actor Ronald Guttman seems to be trying to hide sometimes.
Actor Tim Russ apparently wasn't happy either. Although Tuvok's betrayal of Janeway is the best part of the episode, he argued forcefully against it. He even persuaded the writers to revise "about thirty percent" of his material (to hear him tell it), though he wished they'd changed "another twenty-five." He did not believe Tuvok would ever betray his friend Janeway in this way, saying it could be justified only by Tuvok deciding that a mutiny was inevitable if he didn't intervene. Russ then publicly threw some shade at the writers during a later interview, over lines in episodes ("Learning Curve" and "Twisted") where Tuvok claimed to observe strict protocol and respect the captain's decisions.
I can't blame an actor for wanting to protect their character, but I'm surprised that Russ was so against playing something this interesting here. My memory of Vulcans and Spock from the original series is that their ego and elitism was almost as sharp as their logic (an idea that Star Trek: Enterprise would later expand), so I can totally believe that Tuvok would make a mistake without even stopping to consider that it was a mistake -- especially when that error is not anticipating the emotional reaction his decisions would provoke. The final confrontation between Tuvok and Janeway is an interesting scene for its quiet restraint; Tuvok is of course emotionless, while Janeway is so livid that her voice goes soft rather than screaming her anger.
The episode is well book-ended: it opens with B'Elanna and Seska (Maquis) bonding with Tom and Harry (Starfleet) as Janeway and Tuvok look on like proud parents. By the end of the episode, it's been made clear that these two Maquis in particular still don't default to the "Starfleet way," and these parents have had a profound disagreement over how to "raise their kids."
I also find it an interesting idea to put our Star Trek heroes on the "other side of the fence" (as they put it) when it comes to the Prime Directive. Indeed, it drives home a major argument against the Prime Directive: citing "principle" as reason not to help when you could is not an inherently moral position. I wonder, had the Sikarians recurred after all, might the series have been able to dig in any deeper on this core Star Trek ideal?
Other observations:
- Perhaps one reason the Sikarians don't really pop as villains is that they ask your consent before taking from you the thing they most value. And... that thing is "stories?" (I'll bet the Sikarians would love the ending of Game of Thrones.)
- Janeway seems awfully close to having a romantic entanglement with Gathorel Labin -- close enough that I feel a mention of her fiance Mark was called for. If she's moving on, that needs to be a bigger moment, I think.
I suppose all the people who worked on this episode and who had problems with it are right about one thing: the execution isn't 100%, even if some the ideas in the mix are interesting. I give "Prime Factors" a B-.
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