This Week's Episode: "Fair Haven"
Summary: The crew creates a new holographic program that deals with a small Irish town at the turn of the century. When Janeway discovers the program while trying to round up the senior officers, she becomes interested in one of the town's characters, Michael. Soon, Janeway develops an unexpected relationship with the man, as she begins to modify his program to her specifications. However, disaster soon threatens the lives in the town.
Rating: 8
Best Scene: Tuvok becoming "sea sick" was rather amusing.
Worst Scene: The whole B-plot of the "storm" could have been easily left out, with some revisions.
Best acting award goes to: Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway
Best Line: "Boy meets girl, girl modifies boy's subroutines..." -- Captain Janeway explaining to the Doc her "situation" with Michael.
Impressions: Well, "Fair Haven" was better than I was expecting. Not too much better, but it certainly wasn't a disaster.
Although the Holodeck as been one of the more fascinating pieces of 24th century technology devised by Star Trek, it certainly is a storyline that has been done far too much, often with mixed results. In some cases, we have good episodes, like TNG's "Ship in a Bottle" and on the other hand, we have the typical 'Trapped in the Holodeck Scenario" seen in TNG's "The Big Goodbye". However, "Fair Haven" isn't exactly your typical Holodeck story. In a way, the episode sounds very similar to TNG's first season "11001001" where Commander Riker falls in love with the holographic Minuet. Although both episodes are similar, (Minuet was "enhanced" by the Binars, Michael was "enhanced" by Janeway), I think "Fair Haven" would be the more successful "Holodeck Romance" story of the two.
Many (particularly Michelle Erica Green who wrote her review for "Fair Haven" BEFORE she even saw the episode...I really think she has to find something new to do.) have critised Janeway and the "male" writers of the show for having the character fall in love with a hologram. I don't agree. Like the Doctor said, it is perfectly logical. To understand this line of thinking, we really have to put ourselves in the character's shoes: Janeway really can't fall in love with any of her crew (they are her subordinates, and she realised her short-lived attraction to Chakotay wasn't appropriate for a starship captain), and as Voyager is trying to get home as soon as possible, she can't very well stop over at some alien planet and find herself a mate. So why not use the holodeck? I imagine that the character must be feeling pretty lonely for almost six years of being alone...the first three probably weren't too bad, as she knew that her fiancee Mark was still waiting for her. But this bubble was broken in the episode "Hunters", when Mark sends a 'dear John" letter, to inform Kathryn that he had moved on and found someone new. That must have been devastating to Janeway. Like she said to Chakotay in that episode, she no longer had a safety net. Does she really need a relationship to be happy? Well, that is a good question. I really don't think that anyone is in a position to determine that, except for the writers who have the character bible of Janeway.
So what is wrong with Janeway falling in love with a hologram? Yes, a hologram is only "photons and forcefields", but if you say it is inappropriate for a person to fall in love with a hologram, then I'm assuming you also believe that it is wrong for the Doc to fall in love in a human? It's really the same thing. However, I've never heard anyone complain when the Doctor fell for Seven of Nine, or when he fell for Denara Pel. So, those who don't question the Doc's relationships, but question Janeway's intentions towards a hologram, well, they're certainly calling the kettle black. Personally, I think it could be quite easy to fall in love with a hologram. And for those who say it is inappropriate for Janeway to divulge in such behavior, all I have to say is that she is only human, and does have feelings and needs.
The next criticism that I want to address about this episode is the fact that Janeway modifies Michael to her specifications. Is this wrong? In a way, I suppose so. I mean, you really can't change your partner in real life (like Janeway says, you can suggest them, but they never happen). Janeway enjoys being in a position of power, and she is a very "particular" woman (meaning no ordinary man will do). In this case, she is in a position of power as she can modify Michael's subroutines to her specifications. As she is quite particular, there's no sense in falling for just any man -- you might as well fall for the one you are most compatible with. And in this case, Janeway's most compatible mate is an "educated" man, who is "outspoken", probably much like herself. It is a bit bizarre to do this, but I figure if you can do it, why not make the changes?
I'm sure that people will still critise the episode, but I really believe it is unjustified. If someone is willing to write a review for an episode several weeks before it even airs, well, I think they have more issues and problems to deal with than having to worry if the writers are mis-interpreting Janeway's character. Come on. Let's be serious....writing a review so much ahead of time is a little ridiculous. (for those who aren't familar with Ms. Green, she is a regular columnist over at Mania Magazine). Although I doubt that she will ever in a million years read my review, I really think that she should stop reviewing/watching Voyager. If she really doesn't enjoy the show that much, why bother to watch (her excuse is she "might as well" finish watching the series). She isn't Captain Janeway (it is a character after all), so I'm not sure how she knows what is "best" and what is "wrong" for Janeway. Oh well.
Back to "Fair Haven". The town was a nice change, and the set designers did well giving it a European feel. In case you didn't notice, this is the same outdoor set used in "The Killing Game", and it is filmed behind the Universal Lot in Los Angeles. I enjoyed the authenticity that the episode exhibited, from having animals (sheep, cows, horses) running through the streets, to the signs, to the appropriately dressed extras walking about. It just makes the episode that much more enjoyable to watch.
The episode is a little slow going, and I enjoyed most of the holodeck scenes. There were a few gems of scenes, including Janeway deleting Michael's wife, to Tuvok getting sea sick (is that possible for an emotinally stable Vulcan??), to the Doc giving Janeway advice. What I didn't enjoy was the pointless and silly B-plot of the "storm". I'm not sure why Star Trek writers don't have enough faith on their main plot to leave it as the focus as the story, instead of trying to balance it with a B-story. Most often, the B-story ruins the story, and in this case, makes the episode a little less enjoyable. In one respect, they needed to storm to damage the holodeck, but couldn't they have found another way to do so? And with having "Fair Haven" as an open door program, they really didn't need to have the storm to explain it, as they could have just said that is was a 'shore leave' for the crew while they travel home. I guess they just needed a reason to pay the pyrotechnic guys for setting off a few explosions...it seems every since they found an effective way to make explosions, they use them at nauseum now. Remember in TNG, when the only sign that the ship was being damaged, was the characters bouncing around? Well, I'd much rather the good old days than seeing explosions in every episode. It was neat at first, but now it's too much.
Kate Mulgrew really shines in this episode. She really is stuck between a rock and a hard place in this situation. In one case, her rational side is telling her that a relationship with the hologram is wrong. Meanwhile, the other side is longing for a partner, a soulmate, someone to talk to and love. Being Captain really makes things difficult as well. So, will she continue the relationship with the hologram? The only sensible and realistic relationship would be one where Janeway couldn't modify his specifications. If she wants to make the relationship work, she has to stop the modifications. The fact that she restricted her own access to the character's parametres, makes me think that Janeway will stop by "Fair Haven" again to visit a few old "friends".
Overall, "Fair Haven" is an enjoyable episode. It isn't a convuluted episode, but it is straight forward and does what it intends to do. Although it could have stood on it's own without the B-plot, the episode still remains strong with some nice character development for Janeway. It's been a while since her character has had a focus, so it was nice to see a realistic character episode in "Fair Haven". Yes, there could have been some more development, but you can't have everything. The acting was good all the way around, as the Doc, Paris and Harry do well in the episode. Michael was a likeable and enjoyable character, and hopefully we'll see some more development for him and Janeway. The visual effects were pretty standard, and the set of Fair Haven was nicely authentic and gave the episode a nice scope. There was also some nicely timed humour, and some touching scenes as well. So, I'd have to give it an 8 out of 10. Not great, but not bad.
