3x09 Future's End (2)

[6.6/10] I don’t really know what the point of “Future’s End” is. Maybe it’s just to have a rollicking, entertaining adventure, in which case, mission (sort of) accomplished? Our heroes go toe-to-toe with computer mogul and 29th century technology thief Henry Starling and win. But despite his theoretical advantage, this singular guy from the 20th century and his lone goon never seem like much of a match for the crew of Voyager, so his defeat ends up feeling anticlimactic.

Granted, I appreciate the fact that we at least get a little more of a motivation for Starling beyond the usual evil for evil’s sake business. The idea that Starling’s theft of future tech is responsible for the technological booms of the late 20th century is a little silly. But the notion that he wants to go to the future so that he can use the advancements of that time period to benefit humanity in our present is an interesting, semi-noble concept.

There's a certain hubris and myopia to him believing that he has the knowhow to make this work without destroying everyone, and assuming that anyone who objects must be out to take the technology for their own benefit. (See also: Rain’s not so subtle comment to Tom that he cares about things beyond himself in a way that most people in her time don’t.) But that works as a critique of then-current attitudes, in line with The Next Generation’s somewhat tiresome but venerable “My how far we’ve come” remarks about the twentieth century.

But there's not much to the actual confrontations with him. In the end, they just blow him up -- which, sure, it’s effective, but not very unique. They try to put some gloss on it by forcing Janeway to have to jury-rig the torpedoes manually and suffer some burns in the process. But otherwise this is just a normal day in the office for Voyager. Sure, they beam him up, and his goon beams him back, and there's threats from him to blow up Los Angeles. But it’s all pretty generic and not especially challenging.

Maybe it’s the romance between Tom and Rain? Which I guess is fine. Cross-temporal romances have a long history in Star Trek. But I don’t really buy it. The performers don’t have much chemistry, whether that's because the writing tries too hard to sell it, or Sarah Silverman isn’t up to snuff yet as an actor, or the fact that it comes off kind of creepy. I don’t think it’s the casting director’s fault. Robert Duncan McNeill is only six years older than Silverman. But he comes off like a fully adult (mostly) professional, and she plays like an overgrown teenager, so the forced romantic sparks between them have an uncomfortable edge to them. It’s not quite to Neelix/Kes levels, but it makes it hard to buy what Voyager’s selling here.

Maybe it’s just to do some cheap action? Our heroes get into firefights. Tom and Rain have to unconvincingly dive out of Rain’s van before Starling’s goon runs them down in an eighteen-wheeler, only for Lt. Paris’ crewmates to show up in a shuttle and explode the thing. I’m sure that was exciting enough in 1996. But I have to tell you, having watched Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul all but perfect desert-set action in the American Southwest, this cheap movie-of-the-week sequence doesn’t do much for me anymore.

Maybe it’s to get the rest of the crew involved in some hijinks on Earth? White the other officers are dealing with Starling, Chakotay and B’Elanna crash land and get taken hostage by some conspiracy-minded domestic terrorist types in Arizona. On the one hand, I don’t love this subplot. It seems random that the pair would crash from simply having Starling in their transporter buffer, and their capture and rescue plays like a superfluous sidequest when the main conflict with Starling could use more shading.

On the other hand, it’s really the only part of this flashback to the 1990s that still feels unfortunately salient. Chakotay and B’Elanna waxing rhapsodic about what it would be like if they end up staying on Earth in this time period, only to be tied up and threatened by a group of racist lost causers is the most potent commentary in the two-parter. The random group of anti-government radicals have shades of contemporary groups like the Branch Davidians or the Oklahoma City bombers. But in our current age with the likes of Qanon and Pizzagate, not to mention other nuts trying to take the governor of Michigan hostage, the point that humanity still has a long way to go is a sadly resonant one.

Maybe it’s to get the Doctor his portable emitter? That's honestly the biggest lasting legacy of this episode. Later shows would deal with time-traveling shenanigans that are seemingly relevant to the escapades here. (Most notably, Star Trek: Enterprise.) But Voyager’s interceding in the past or it being spotted and clocked by the military and civilians alike never really comes up again or seems to have made an impact.

But the EMH is officially free! It’s a welcome development. Robert Picardo is one of the best performers on the show, and the Doctor is one of the best characters. So him being able to have adventures outside of sick bay and the holodeck is a greater-making quality for the show. The presence of 29th century technology is a fine enough fig leaf to explain the change, even if Starling’s reasons for being interested in/willing to help the Doctor are thin at best.

That's the thing about the conclusion to “Future’s End”. There's not much explicitly wrong with it. Everything’s fine enough. The first part simply builds to a major conflict that the second part doesn’t really advance beyond the basics. Sure, there's a confrontation and the restoration of the status quo, but not really any sense of escalation or added intrigue. A blockbuster premise like traveling to the past to save the future should have all kinds of excitement and meaning to it. But in the finale of this two-parter, you can’t shake the sense that Voyager is simply playing out the string.