Summary

• Star Trek: Voyager’s “Random Thoughts” copied elements from previous episodes and lacked creativity.
• The episode had a similar storyline to “Ex Post Facto” and “Meld”.
• Although the concept of “thought crime” and the character of B’Elanna Torres had potential, the episode failed to utilize either in a meaningful way.

I don’t like to speak badly about Star Trek: The Next Generationbut a season four episode mixed the premises of the previous two episodes in a completely uncreative way. Traveler is undoubtedly my favorite series in the whole Star Trek timeline. The cast has great chemistry and features some heavyweights, the storylines, especially in the later seasons, are exciting and do great character and relationship work, and I feel like the overall premise breathed new life into the franchise in several interesting ways. As with every show, Traveler had its fair share of unexploded bombs.

One of these failures, in my opinion, was season 4, episode 10, “Random Thoughts”, in which Star Trek: The Next GenerationThe characters of are involved in an incident when they stop on a planet of telepaths. While they are on the planet, B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) was accused of being responsible for two attacks due to a violent thought that she could not controland nearly underwent a procedure that left her with neurological damage before the real culprits were found. The episode is interesting on paper, but was really just a repeat of two other episodes from previous seasons.

“Random Thoughts” was an uncreative mashup of two Star Trek: Voyager episodes

“Random Thoughts” was based heavily on the premises of “Ex Post Facto” and “Meld”

If you look closely, The plot of “Random Thoughts” is simply a mashup of the Traveler Season 1, episode “Ex Post Facto” and season 2, episode “Meld”. In fact, “Random Thoughts” is almost a 1:1 repetition of “Ex Post Facto”. Both episodes include a Traveler Crew member accused of a crime on an alien planet, and Lt. Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ), who takes it upon himself to investigate the crime. In “Meld,” Tuvok is also nearly overwhelmed by violent thoughts and urges, as in “Random Thoughts.”

“Ex Post Facto” has the advantage of using some film noir tactics that I always found at least a little more interesting, but “Random Thoughts” has none of that appeal.

The problem is that while “Meld” is a good episode, “Ex Post Facto” is not, and “Random Thoughts” gained nothing by being based on that episode. I always found “Random Thoughts” completely forgettable, and Using the episode to remake a plot that wasn’t very interesting anyway was not a good use of Traveler‘s time. “Ex Post Facto” has the advantage of using some film noir tactics, which I always found at least a little more interesting, but “Random Thoughts” has none of that appeal. The sad thing is that it could have been a great episode if it had been done right.

Why “Random Thoughts” from Star Trek: Voyager could have actually been great

“Random Thoughts” has potential that was wasted

Given the subject matter and focus on the characters, I think “Random Thoughts” had the potential to be an interesting episode with a more unique plot. The idea of ​​“thought crime” explored in the episode is actually one of its stronger parts and a concept that was explored in Star Trek‘s discussion of real-world problems through the lens of science fiction. Of course, there are no telepaths in real life, but The idea of ​​a society controlling people’s minds without knowing that there is a black market for violent memories is a good metaphor for certain aspects of modern life..

Additionally, half-Klingon B’Elanna Torres was a great character to base “Random Thoughts” on, as her struggle with the more violent side of her personality was an ongoing storyline for her. B’Elanna also didn’t get many opportunities to shine in the episodes, at least not as many as I think she should have. For this reason, The squandering of their potential in an episode like “Random Thoughts” makes the episode’s failures all the more tragic. Ultimately, “Random Thoughts” had the makings of a great Star Trek: The Next Generation part, but relied too heavily on a previous plot to tell his story.