Voyager Flashback: Drive

Star Trek: Voyager was a show that didn't like to mess with the status quo very much. But it's likely they knew from the very beginning of season seven that it would be their last. And since the writers wouldn't really have to live with the consequences of major changes for long, I think they became more open to taking chances -- as they did with Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres in "Drive."

Tom Paris wants to enter the newly-rebuilt Delta Flyer in an alien race. But B'Elanna Torres sees an enthusiasm for this that he apparently doesn't share for their relationship... which she's thinking about ending.

"Drive" is an episode that has its heart in the right place, and it is moderately entertaining. But it's had its "thunder" stolen in multiple ways. First, as I noted in the previous episode, it aired out of order, undermining the rebuilding of the Delta Flyer after its destruction. While we don't really see the shuttle being rebuilt anyway (why would we when we got plenty of it being built the first time around?), this story is about testing the ship out -- which hardly seems necessary after it's already been in use.

Of course, the story is also about Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres finally getting married, but this too is undermined. We've already seen the marriage of the two characters, in the form of the "duplicate life forms" from another episode. So for the same reasons you don't want to watch the Delta Flyer be built again, you don't want to see another wedding. And yet, not seeing it sure makes it feel like it isn't a big deal (especially after Deep Space Nine made an entire episode only out of the wedding of two main characters).

But enough about what isn't in the episode; let's talk about what is. The race conceit works better than I'd have expected. Yes, space is so big and empty that the idea of having an "auto race" there falls apart if you poke at it too much. But the writing and editing of the episode generally works: it's both fast enough that you don't poke at that too much, and fast enough to give racing vibes.

The cast of guest stars is fun. We get an alien woman for Harry Kim to chase, a hard-ass "racing is life" type who makes for a fun heavy, a fun little twist about which racer is really a guerilla terrorist, and actor Brian George as the alien administrator overseeing it all. The production design on all of this is even better, from a variety of CG ships to interesting alien makeups to fun "race suit" costumes. (The Starfleet version is one of the most flattering uniforms ever created on Star Trek.) And the script allows for fun character moments for most of the main characters: Janeway blessing the idea (when Tom's building up steam to have to convince her), Seven's lack of enthusiasm for the whole affair, and Neelix usurping the role of color commentator.

I actually quite like the Tom/B'Elanna storyline too... I just wish that it didn't conclude with marriage in this episode. Basically, I side with B'Elanna. For three seasons, Tom Paris hasn't done much to suggest that he actually cares about his girlfriend's feelings. This episode is an especially well-drawn magnification of the little slights we've seen along the way. When B'Elanna decides to address the problem by inserting herself into her boyfriend's hobby whether he likes it or not, the scales tip in an interesting way -- until still more boorish Tom behavior tips them back. But in the end, rather than split up as many couples realistically would as a result of all this, Tom and B'Elanna actually have a meaningful conversation where they air all the frustrations and misunderstandings of several years. I do kind of wish it resolved with "now let's be better to each other for a while" rather than jumping straight to "great, now we're ready to get married." But hey, it's television, so what are you going to do? (And people do get married far more impulsively, of course.)

Other observations:

• Another Dune reference sneaks in, as one letter is dropped from a planet's name to give us "Gedi Prime."

• Sometimes, a sci-fi show decides it has to give you the futuristic version of a thing that isn't likely to be that different in the future. Here, it's golf, which we're supposed to believe is going to one day involve blinking, glowing balls and a weird putter that looks like it's been cross-bred with a meat tenderizer. OK, when you're looking for your ball on the course, maybe the glowing/blinking thing would be useful.

• I've commented before about how the supposedly limited number of photon torpedoes aboard Voyager (established in the pilot) was never really something the show was going to take seriously. (At this point, they've used many more than they ever actually had.) But it seems especially egregious to detonate a torpedo to signal the start of a race.

• After all that work B'Elanna was doing to coordinate holodeck time, which could have been used for a killer honeymoon, they just take off for a day trip on the Delta Flyer?

I'm glad that Voyager finally decided to take the Tom/B'Elanna relationship seriously. Still, I feel like this episode is trying to make up for years of narrative neglect all in one grand gesture. I give "Drive" a B-.