The ship is ensnared in a swarm of space-dwelling life forms in the midst of a spawning ritual. Meanwhile, proximity to the creatures triggers a physiological reaction in Kes, who experiences the changes associated with Ocampa fertility, and then must decide whether to have a child with Neelix.
This episode was actually first pitched by outside writers Jimmy Diggs and Steve J. Kay, in the form of the ship jeopardy and the creature swarm. (Which was reportedly "sold in the room" when he suggested Tuvok's line "Captain, I believe that we've lost our sex appeal.") But co-creator Jeri Taylor brought in the Kes elements that seemingly grew with each re-write of the script. The last of those re-writes was by another outsider, Kenneth Biller, and earned him an offer to join the staff. I confess, I don't see what enamored them so.
The entire Kes storyline feels like an improv sketch out of control, where every zany idea is one-upped. She stuffs her face... and eats bugs! Then she goes a bit feral... and starts writhing on the Doctor's desk! She gets veiny, clammy hands... and then has to mate for six days! It's all profoundly silly and stupid, because it doesn't hold up to even the slightest bit of scrutiny. How can the Ocampa have survived as a species if they have to go through all this -- the foot rubs, the tongue swelling, the dirt eating -- just for a once in a lifetime chance at procreation? Though nothing in this episode suggests it, Ocampa pregnancies must be veritable litters for this to work at all. (Or maybe the men are not so limited, and the Ocampa population as a whole is far from evenly split?)
But it's not just profoundly silly, it's also profoundly creepy. Kes is so very young, not just in the sense that her character is literally two years old, but in them telling us that an Ocampa doesn't usually experience this until age 4 or 5. (Would Kes even know this much about her species' "puberty" when she's still so far away from it?) And while Jennifer Lien actually gives a really great performance with an off-the-charts level of commitment, she can't escape the unsettling, upsetting shadow of being 20 years old playing all this with a man literally twice her age as her love interest.
And they could scarcely write Neelix to be less likeable here if they tried. He's consumed with jealousy. He calls Kes "an innocent" in the most condescending way, not with tenderness, but with anger. He annoys the Doctor to a degree where he's (rightfully) tossed out of Sickbay. He's sexist, getting called out by Tuvok about his differing attitudes on having a son versus having a daughter. He feels less mature than Kes, despite the age difference, and so it hardly feels like he's made "the right decision" when he gets on board with wanting to parent.
But in spite of itself, the episode does stumble backward into a few good moments. The realization that Voyager might need to become a "generation ship" is a very interesting one, and unique to this among all Star Trek series. Setting aside Chakotay's whiplash opinion (from "let's restrict couples" to "let's encourage them" in 20 minutes), the debate over how to raise kids on the ship, and what kind of life they'd have there, is deep stuff -- and given space in which that depth is explored.
Also, Ensign Samantha Wildman is introduced here, and she is a compelling concept for a character: forced into single parenthood by the circumstances, facing a pregnancy on her own and separated from a spouse who doesn't even know she's pregnant. Because this was another of the four episodes filmed for season one but delayed into season two, the timeline doesn't make a lot of sense -- Voyager has been in the Delta Quadrant for about two-thirds of a pregnancy before she learns she is pregnant (which I think was later justified by giving her an alien husband). Still, both the personal and the professional elements of this story are really meaningful, and I'm glad the show continued to explore it after this.
Other observations:
- When Kes "locks" herself in the Doctor's office, can the Doctor really not get in? Can't he just shimmer out and back in on the other side of the force field?
- Neelix truly has an enormous tower of garlic in his kitchen.
- Writer Jimmy Diggs named the character of Samantha Wildman in honor of the young girl whose organ donation saved his wife's life.
Three-quarters of the script here is so dumb... and yet the other quarter is really load-bearing in terms of making the episode at least watchable. Add in Jennifer Lien's performance, and I think the episode is far less bad than it could have been. I'd say "Elogium" is (just barely) a C-.
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