Tom Paris becomes obsessed with a "fixer-upper" of a shuttlecraft that Voyager received in trade from a shifty alien collector. The ship, in turn, becomes obsessed with him; it houses an AI consciousness that begins to exert its influence on Paris, manipulating him into pursuing her own ends.
This episode feels to me like it must have been inspired by two particular early 1980s B movies. Christine, adapted from the Stephen King novel, is the story of a young man who becomes obsessed with fixing up a haunted hot rod that menaces anyone else who comes between them. Throw that in your stock pot, and add a dash of Firefox, a mostly-forgotten Clint Eastwood film about a high-tech fighter jet you control with your mind. You get "Alice."
The resulting story feels about as lackluster as I'd imagine a blend of two average-at-best movies to be. In particular, it's a rough episode for Tom Paris. Even though he has the excuse of being mind-controlled, his behavior toward everyone (and B'Elanna in particular) is digging a hole not easy to crawl back out of. He develops a hobby that could easily include the woman he claims to love (she's an engineer!), but he specifically excludes her. (And names the object of this hobby for an old crush from his past.) He blows off his best friend. He's persuaded to compromise Voyager itself in service of fixing up Alice. And through it all, the "addiction" isn't clearly justified; Paris is ready to run away with Alice long before he's even flown in the ship even once.
Guest star Claire Rankin plays the physical personification of Alice as written, but it's not a very well-written part. From jump, she's too psychopathic and alarming, never half as seductive and charming as the story would seem to want us to believe. And her motivations are never made logical. In time, we learn that all she really wants is to reach a deadly particle fountain. But we never understand if she believes her consciousness will survive there, or if she's simply suicidal and needs assistance.
That said, the weak skeleton of this episode is actually able to hold a surprising amount of weight. That is, there are good scenes and character moments sprinkled all throughout the episode. B'Elanna's role is especially good. She's initially supportive of the hobby (shockingly so), being flirtatious and light where she could easily have been jealous and petty. When things turn, she quite rightly points out that Tom ignores her every time he gets a new hobby. (Red flag, B'Elanna!) Ultimately, she gets to save Tom from danger, in a welcome gender role reversal rather rare in this era of television.
Harry Kim gets a fun little moment talking about the Ferengi's "five stages of acquisition." Neelix actually helps for once, figuring out how to get one over on the alien trader who sold them Alice. (Side note: that trader is played by recurring Star Trek guest star John Fleck, in one of at least half a dozen roles he played across various series.) A "cold open" scene about guessing Tuvok's age is actually fun and entertaining as intended. (Though they talk openly about pon farr in a weird way. We've come a long way from Spock's embarrassed refusal to discuss the matter even with his closest friends.)
Other observations:
- There are some great production moments, like a wide shot that shows both levels of the fantastic Voyager engineering set.
- But there are equally weak moments. The montage of Paris repairing Alice is pretty ridiculous, featuring him cleaning the windshield twice -- once with a rag, and once with a more technological tool.
It's a shame that there are characters on Voyager who simply don't get many episodes centered on them. It's even more a shame that when they do, those episodes are often as weak as this. I give Alice a "C+"
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