Tuesday 20 September 2011

Episodes to Savour - Star Trek Voyager: Bride of Chaotica!

Even the lowliest of shows can come up with one outstanding episode that lives in the memory long after the rest of that show has faded into the mists of memory.

STAR TREK VOYAGER isn't the lowliest of shows by any means, but it did feature a fair few unmemorable stories.

The one that stands out for us is this holodeck pastiche of the old Flash Gordon/ Buck Rogers serials that glories in the name of BRIDE OF CHAOTICA!.

Harry Kim and Tom Paris have recreated one of the adventures of their favourite heroes, Captain Proton, and energy beings that appear when the ship hits a weak boundary between space and subspace take this to be reality and attack the ship. Only if Captain Janeway takes on the role of the Bride of Chaotica will the ship be saved.

This is, of course, utter nonsense, but it is also joyfully alive and witty and funny and the references to the old serials are spot on. The glorious black and white photography inside the holodeck is a gorgeous touch and Kate Mulgrew's reaction as Captain Janeway to the fact that she is going to have to go in and camp it up in the holodeck programme is just brilliant.

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