Voyager must help a damaged Malon freighter control a deadly leak before it explodes and destroys an entire sector of space. The mission is a particular trial for B'Elanna Torres, whose simmering rage mirrors that of a "boogeyman" said to dwell in the contaminated areas of the Malon ship.
There are interesting ideas at play in this episode. "Bigfoot is real" seems like a good enough hook for an episode of science fiction; "Bigfoot has a legitimate beef over how people treat him" is a particular Star Trek kind of take on the story. Connecting the sci-fi story thematically with the emotions of one of the main characters? Well, that's exactly the formula that Star Trek: The Next Generation used to create some of its very best episodes.
The problem here is that this episode feels like it was written by someone who had only ever seen a couple of first season episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, using solely that knowledge to craft this script and ignoring anything that had happened in the intervening four-plus years. That's not actually the case; the script is credited to three staff writers (Bryan Fuller & Nick Sagan and Kenneth Biller). Nevertheless, they regress almost every character to tell this story. Neelix is back to blustering about skills he doesn't really possess just so he can seem useful. The Doctor is especially caustic and annoying and without self-awareness, nearly back to "factory settings."
B'Elanna, being front and center in the story, gets the biggest regression of all. Since basically the only defining character trait she's ever been given is "Klingon anger," she's back to a season one level of being "mad at everyone and everything" to facilitate this story. She's surly about diplomacy being Captain Janeway's solution to everything, as though she hasn't had five years to get used to that. She's easily goaded by an insult from Tuvok (which the Vulcan even delivers in expected emotionless fashion). Tuvok and Janeway debate whether she's up to the mission at hand, as though she hasn't proven herself over and over during their time in the Delta Quadrant. The whole affair highlights how little growth occurs for most of the characters on this show -- one of Voyager's biggest weaknesses compared to The Next Generation and (especially) Deep Space Nine before it.
Still, "Juggernaut" has its good moments too. The guest stars are solid, all actors who have been on Star Trek before and who are more than capable of performing through heavy makeup. Ron Canada in particular is solid as the Malon captain, helped by his character's interesting back story of being a part time waste hauler, part time sculptor. The one scene that acknowledges any character growth of the last few seasons is a good one: Paris giving his girlfriend a pep talk and goodbye kiss before the big mission.
The production quality is great. There's extensive use of CG that looks really good for its time. The Malon sets are dripping with goo, filled with steam, and actually look hot and dangerous to be in. Props are cool, especially a grisly two-pronged medical device used to deliver injections. Makeup is great, from the irradiated monster to the lesions that appear on our crew the longer they stay on the Malon ship, to even the simple dirt and grime coating B'Elanna after the mission.
Other observations:
- Why does no one consider sending the Doctor -- a hologram immune to radiation poisoning -- over to deal with the crisis on the Malon freighter? All we needed was a quick line of dialogue saying that his mobile emitter wouldn't be reliable in the irradiated environment or something.
- Neelix's homeopathic remedy is a rare case of him making food so nasty that even he thinks it's nasty.
- I'm not sure how long this episode should have stayed in "horror movie" mode (it's not a genre that Star Trek is strong at). In any case, there's no denying that most of the tension deflates the moment we see the "monster" and know that it's "just a guy."
Ultimately, the biggest problem with this B'Elanna episode is that B'Elanna just doesn't get many episodes -- so few that it seems the writers have only one note to strike when writing about her. "Juggernaut" isn't bad, but it is shallow. I give it a B-.
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