All righty then...this is a review of the Star Trek Voyager pilot, "Caretaker." It contains many spoilers
and is intended for the enjoyment of those who like good
science-fiction, the Kazon, and watching a bunch of new characters say
"Hello" to each other. Voyager fans are also welcome. Those who think the only good Janeway is a dead Janeway are strongly encouraged to go elsewhere.
How about TV LAND?
No? The Mystery Date game is a true joy. You're sure? Okay then....
"Unhappy with a new treaty, Federation Colonists along the Cardassian border have banded together. Calling themselves "The Maquis," they continue to fight the Cardassians.
Some consider them heroes, but to the governments of the Federation and Cardassians, they are outlaws."
INITIAL VIEWER EXPERIENCE
It's a good idea to keep expectations low for pilots. "Adventure at
Farpoint" was not exactly...Hey, what's going on? This is really
good!...We've got an assortment of interesting people and a plot-driven
storyline...Wow. I don't believe it; I'm an instant fan. It took me
three seasons to feel this interested in DS9.
PLOT
A huge Cardassian ship, commanded by Gul Evek, chases a Maquis chip
carrying Tuvok (a Vulcan male), B'Elanna Torres (a half-Klingon,
half-human female), and Chakotay, (a human male whose facial tattoo
indicates he's Indian, though we never do find out specifically of what
tribe). Torres, the engineer, out-maneuvers the Cardassians, and they
escape into the Badlands, the prime Maquis hang-out. Here, plasma
fields knock out big ships, including Evek's. The Maquis' moment of
respite, however, is ruined when they are scanned by a coherent tetrion
beam and then whammed with a displacement wave.
On Earth's New Zealand Penal Colony, Tom Paris works at some mechanical
thing and looks up to find a red-headed captain, Kathryn Janeway,
speaking his name. She tells him that she served under his father, now
a famous Starfleet admiral, as science officer on the Albatoni. Paris
is currently serving a sentence for having been caught with the Maquis
-- on his very first mission -- and Janeway offers him a trade. If
he'll help her find the Maquis ship that disappeared in the Badlands,
she'll help him get parole. Why is she so interested in this particular
Maquis ship? Her security chief is aboard under cover.
Paris agrees. He has no trouble with helping to track down his
"friends" in the Maquis, including his old not-so-friendly "friend,"
Chakotay. Janeway tells him that despite his assertion of great
piloting skills he'll only be an observer on the mission.
The first thing Paris observes is the lovely female Beta-zoid pilot of
Voyager, Stadi, as they ride in the shuttle together to Voyager's
docking at DS9. She fends off his light advances and then completely
distracts him by extolling the virtues of Voyager: fifteen decks, crew
complement 141, Intrepid Class, bio-neural packs in the circuitry which
increase efficiency. [These packs also sound pretty fragile, but
despite my expectations that doesn't become an issue, at least in the
pilot.]
We get to spend some time at Quark's with Morn,
who bores us with a tale of his sister's wedding where his uncle got
drunk and ralphed in the punch bowl. [Actually, this scene was cut from
the version which aired.]
Ensign Harry Kim, all-around young fresh face, almost gets conned by
Quark into buying some worthless crystals, but Paris steps in and saves
him. An instant friendship begins, and the duo go to Voyager's Sickbay,
where Paris gets snubbed big-time by the doctor. This medical man, it
seems, was stationed at Caldik Prime at the same time Paris was. Kim
and Paris head to the bridge, and Paris tells a curious Kim that he's
tired of telling the story of Caldik Prime. He's sure someone else will
fill him in soon.
Janeway's talking to her boyfriend, Mark. Her dog is pregnant and it
will be weeks before Voyager makes it back. Mark will look after the
dog, and she says nice things about her man.
Paris and Kim enter. Janeway glances over the straight-backed and
nervous ensign and announces, "At ease before you sprain something,"
and now I've decided I like this captain very much. She also tells him
she wants to be called "captain," not "sir," which makes me wonder if I
actually will like her if she's going to work so hard to be acceptable
as a 20th century authority figure. But then I take the advice of my
favorite robots and repeat to myself: it's just a show; I should really
just relax.
The trio goes to the bridge, Kim ogling everything, and we now get to
watch First Officer Commander Cavit treat Paris like dirt. Then, with
Stadi at the controls and a fanfare on the soundtrack, Voyager heads
out.
Paris tries to get the replicator to give him hot, plain tomato soup
while Kim gets the low-down on Paris from Cavit and the doctor. Alone
with Kim, Paris confesses that the accident which killed three others
on Caldik Prime was in fact his fault, and that at first he covered it
up, then confessed. He warns Kim he's "not exactly a good-luck charm,"
and that Kim should take the others' advice and stay away from him. Kim
says, "I don't let anyone choose my friends for me."
Voyager makes it to the Badlands and starts looking for the Maquis
ship. They are scanned by a coherent tetrion beam, and since they
weren't watching at the beginning of the show, they don't know this
means they should get out of there as fast as they can. Cavit instead
tries some silliness with the engines and the displacement wave, and
then doesn't brace himself when the wave hits. He goes flying as
Voyager is swept away.
Everyone tries to find their feet in the aftermath. Janeway ignores her
half tumbled-down hair and asks for status reports. Everyone who wasn't
nice to Paris -- Cavit, Stadi, and the doctor -- is dead, while Kim
doesn't have a scratch on him. I hope the rest of the crew is taking
notes.
Kim finds a strange "array" in front of the ship that looks like what you'd expect Picasso
to make of a nude ceiling fan. Energy pulses shoot from it towards a
distant planet. Kim also realizes that Voyager is now over seventy
thousand light years from home; they're on the other side of the
galaxy. From engineering come reports of a possible warp core breach.
While Janeway goes to fix the engines, Kim and Paris go to Sickbay and
find that both the doctor and the nurse are dead. Kim activates the
Emergency Medical Holographic Program, and we meet my so-far favorite
character, a rather prissy balding man (or male program) who says that
Kim should "describe the nature of the medical emergency" and hand him
a medical tricorder.
Janeway finishes fixing the engine right before everyone on the ship is
beamed off to the array. They find themselves at a hoe-down in the
front yard of a country house, where an old lady screeches at them to
eat corn. Paris kisses a farm girl who then decks him when he won't
leave the barn. Everyone congregates at this barn, and the back wall
disappears to reveal lines of strange compartments. In some of these
compartments lie unconscious people, including Tuvok, Torres, and
Chakotay. Janeway and company look horrified, and then are themselves
put into these compartments and stabbed with long needles. They really
should have just eaten some of that corn.
Three days later all the Voyager crew wake up, except for Kim, who's
not there. Janeway contacts the Maquis ship and talks to Chakotay. They
are missing Torres. Janeway invites Chakotay over to her bridge, and he
comes with Tuvok and some guy whose name we never learn. Tuvok reveals
himself to be Janeway's security chief, and Chakotay has himself a good
time sneering first at Tuvok, and then at Paris. Paris and Chakotay
might actually go to it at this point, but Janeway steps up to Chakotay
and announces, "You are speaking to a member of my crew. I would have
you treat him with the same respect you would have me treat a member of
yours." Paris looks embarrassed but gratified and Chakotay looks
somewhat impressed by Janeway's approach. You get the feeling it's been
a long time since anyone ever stood up for Paris, or stood up to
Chakotay.
Tuvok guesses at the purpose of the corn lady and the needles. It was
all a means of keeping them occupied before they were medically
evaluated for some as yet unknown purpose.
Janeway decides that they must go back to the array. Chakotay, Tuvok
and Paris (who's worried about Kim) come with her, and they all meet an
old man with a banjo whom we may dimly remember from that hoe-down. He
explains that he is the one who brought them here, but he's not
remotely interested in helping Janeway get back to her own section of
space. He says there's no time to help her, that he has a debt he can
never repay, and that Kim and Torres might have what he's been looking
for. Plot points established, he sends an irritated Janeway and the
others back to Voyager.
Kim and Torres wake up in a strange clinic with really bad skin. Kim is confused, but Torres completely freaks out and gets sedated.
Tuvok and Janeway talk in her ready room, revealing they have a deep,
four-year friendship. They have missed each other, and he misses his
family on Vulcan. Fretting about Kim, Janeway worries that she doesn't
get to know her crew well enough. Tuvok also mentions that the energy
pulses from the array to the planet are growing in frequency. Janeway
says that the planet receiving the energy is type M, but is also
incapable of producing rain. She can't imagine how it got that way. She
also promises to get the crew home.
Following the pulses to the fifth planet, Voyager finds a debris field and a sort of space junkman named Neelix.
Janeway introduces herself and he reveals that many ships during the
past few months have been around with sob stories similar to theirs.
They've been whisked away from their homes, taken to the array, and so
on. He talks about a race called the Ocampa, who live on the fifth
planet and refer to the creature in the array as the Caretaker [hence
the title]. Janeway's people, he says, were probably taken to these
Ocampa. Janeway asks Neelix for his help, but he will only do it if
they have something valuable to trade, like, say, some water. Janeway
manages to scrounge some up.
Tuvok goes to welcome Neelix on board and just flashes the biggest
Vulcan smile you ever saw when Neelix gives him a warm hug. Tuvok
continues to delight in this charming creature's presence and even gets
to come upon him later in the middle of a bath. Vulcans just love that,
you know.
Torres wakes back up and Kim manages to get her to calm down a bit. Her
Klingon half makes her a bit quick-tempered, it seems, much to her
human half's displeasure. The two of them are indeed with the Ocampa,
who live in a lush, underground metropolis. The leader, Toscat,
explains that Kim and Torres have been brought to this world by the
Caretaker so that they may be treated for their condition (strange
tumorous growths all over their bodies). Kim and Torres point out that
they didn't have any condition until the Caretaker gave it to them, but
the curiously child-like Ocampans aren't in a habit of questioning the
Caretaker, and can offer nothing but a little medicine, some food, a
tour of the facilities, and the comforting news that those who have had
this condition before Kim and Torres are now all dead.
Tuvok, Janeway, Paris, Chakotay, and Neelix beam down to the surface of
the fifth planet, but Neelix takes them not to the Ocampa, but to a
race of poorly-coifed miners, the Kazon Ogla. It seems Neelix stole
some water from these miners. He pleads for a new deal with the leader
of the Kazon, Jabin: he'll give them water in return for helping
Voyager get to Kim and Torres. Jabin is super impressed with Voyager's
ability to beam down tanks of water, but he doesn't know anything about
Kim and Torres, or much about the Ocampa.
A little Ocampa woman hides in the background, the signs of brutal
abuse on her face. Jabin sneers that Ocampa are worthless creatures,
only living nine years. However, he also reveals that despite his
methods of persuasion, Jabin hasn't been able to learn from this Ocampa
woman how she made it up to the surface. He supposes she found some old
tunnel. Neelix gets tired of listening to Jabin and holds a phaser to
his head. While the Kazon drop their weapons, he fires holes in the
water tanks and the Ocampa woman runs to his side. Janeway has everyone
beamed up, and then we learn that the Ocampa woman, Kes, is actually
Neelix's main squeeze.
Kim and Torres hear about some of these underground tunnels to the surface.
In Sickbay, the holographic doctor tries to order people around, and
Janeway ends all challenges to her authority by turning him off. Kes
describes the small breaches that have opened in the forcefield that
protects the underground Ocampan city from detection and invasion.
Janeway figures out how they can use those breaches to beam down.
Neelix wants to take his honey and run, but Kes wants to help these
kind people.
Down at the Ocampa city, in a sort of garden, we meet Toscat again.
Ocampans are telepathic, but Kes bemoans the loss of Ocampans' mental
abilities over the generations that they've been living under the
Caretaker. Toscat counsels her to learn from the Caretaker's wishes,
even though the Caretaker has been acting strangely lately by sending
them sick aliens and giving them more power than they need.
Kes isn't impressed with this and responds, "I've learned very well,
Toscat. I saw the sunlight." The Ocampans are dependent, the Ocampans
are losing their strengths, the Ocampans need to buy her series of
self-improvement books and beauty aids to stop the insanity!
Kim and Torres climb the stairs in the tunnel, though they're very
weak. Taking a break, Torres reveals to Kim that she made it to her
second year at Starfleet Academy before washing out.
The pulses from the array have been getting faster and faster. In fact,
the Ocampans have enough energy stored up to live off of for five
years. This is good, as it turns out, because now the energy pulses
stop. Walking around the Ocampan facility, Janeway calls Voyager and
hears that the array is realigning itself. Janeway, Tuvok, and Chakotay
go to interview people about Kim and Torres, while Kes, Paris, and
Neelix go investigate those tunnels.
The array starts firing at the planet, sealing the energy conduits so
that the power stored for the Ocampans cannot be stolen. Tuvok has
formed a theory: the Caretaker is dying. His "debt" he couldn't repay
must have been to these Ocampans, and the energy stored in the Ocampan
city is for them after he's gone.
Paris, Kes, and Neelix find the tunnel Torres and Kim are using and
start up it. Paris tells Janeway he's got it covered and she tries to
beam up to the ship, but the Caretaker's energy blasts have irradiated
the planet and the transporters can't get a fix on them. Janeway and
her guys head for the tunnel too.
A montage and urgent music now reveal the entire away team lightly
tripping up those stairs. I admit to myself that were I on the away
team I'd have a heart attack right about now. Paris, Kes, and Neelix
catch up to Kim and Torres. Paris and Kim exchange some phrases from
Male Bonding 101, while Kes helps Torres climb without making such an
issue out of it.
While the array keeps firing, the five of them reach the top of the
tunnel, and Neelix and Paris phaser out a hole to the surface. They
climb out, but a major BOOM causes damage back in the tunnel, and Tuvok
and Chakotay are hurt. Paris and Neelix go back to help Janeway with
her fallen fellow climbers. Kim, Kes, and Torres beam up to Sickbay.
Janeway and Neelix help Tuvok to the surface while Paris helps Chakotay with lines from the advanced course, Male Bonding 102.
Everyone's patched up in Sickbay, and they all leave without turning off the doctor.
The Kazon come for the array, but Janeway isn't going to stand for
that. The Maquis fight in their little ship and Voyager does its best
to keep the Kazon busy while Janeway (after giving Paris the con!) and
Tuvok go back to talk to the Caretaker. Tuvok accesses the program to
get Voyager back to the Alpha Quadrant, but it will take several hours
to run it [insert Windows 95
joke here]. The dying Caretaker explains to Janeway that his people
came to this galaxy just to check things out, but instead caused a
horrible environmental disaster on the Ocampan homeworld which caused
the world to be unable to make rain. Since the Ocampans don't have any
spice to sell, the Caretaker and another like him (a female) were left
to keep an eye on the Ocampans. The female left a long time ago looking
for something more interesting, but the Caretaker's been trying to,
well, take care of these people all this time.
Knowing he was dying, the Caretaker's been bringing ships from all over
the galaxy in hopes of finding somebody he could mate with (remember
the tumors on Kim and Torres?), but this hasn't worked. Finally, all he
can do is die, and destroy the array to keep it from falling into Kazon
hands.
Back outside with the Kazon, Chakotay rams his Maquis ship into a heavy
cruiser, beaming out just in time. This cruiser hits the array and
destroys the self-destruct program. Janeway is now faced both with the
dying Caretaker and her own responsibility towards the Ocampa.
Voyager's involvement in this world's problems wasn't intended, but
cannot be ignored. The Caretaker finishes dying and turns into a big
rose quartz.
Janeway returns to Voyager and warns the Kazon she's going to blow up
the array. Torres tries to object, but Chakotay reminds his engineer
that Janeway is the captain here. Voyager fires tri-colbalt devices and
blows the array to bits. Jabin calls to tell her she's made an enemy
and signs off in a snit.
Janeway reflects on the rather momentous decisions she's made that day
and informs Paris that Chakotay's crew will be integrated into
Voyager's. Chakotay will be first officer. And what about Paris, you're
asking? Well, Janeway has granted him a field promotion to lieutenant
so he can be the con officer. Paris looks like he can hardly believe
his luck, and the audience is supremely grateful that this time the
pilot with the unexpected promotion has actually graduated from the
academy, has not been compared to Mozart, and doesn't have the initials
Wesley Crusher.
Neelix and Kes point out for the captain how valuable they would be for
Voyager in this section of space, and Janeway agrees to let them be
part of the crew.
Janeway makes a speech on the bridge about how they'll eventually all
get home, and with music swelling once again, Voyager takes off for the
unknown.
CHARACTER
Well, we seem to have a very interesting crew here with lots of
possibilities. Janeway, of course, will be the lightning rod for
criticism and praise on the show, but for now let's just acknowledge
that she's a woman and ask what else she's got. Her discussion of not
knowing her crews well enough is intriguing, as doubtlessly she's going
to get to know this crew very well indeed. Comparing her to the other
captains, she seems as quick to action as Kirk, as hospitable as
Picard, and...hmmm, nope...can't think of anything about her that
reminds me of Sisko. Maybe later something will occur to me.
I like her best when she fixes her hair in the turbo-lift on the way to
engineering. She seems sensible and tough, conscious of her appearance
but not silly about it, no-nonsense and able to take a joke.
Her voice is going to take some getting used to, but it will be worth
it if she keeps saying things like, "At ease before you sprain
something."
Chakotay is a puzzle. Exactly what tribe is he from? The American
Indians I've met are pretty proud of their individual tribes and not
prone to lumping themselves into some cultural mish-mash. His hostility
towards Paris is good, and I like the way he recognizes right away that
Janeway is not to be challenged on her own turf. Still, he'll need some
major character development soon.
Tuvok seems to be trying hard not to be Spock, no mean feat. He's
formal and stiff, especially with Neelix, but he's also friendly
towards Janeway in a nicely unconflicted way.
By which I mean, Spock is limited as an alien character because we
don't always know what is Vulcan and what is human inside him. When
Spock seems to enjoy Kirk's company, we're uncertain whether we're
supposed to be happy that Vulcans can be friends, or happy that Spock's
acting like a human. Tuvok is simply a Vulcan, and since we've come to
care about them as a species, well, it's great to know that all the
affection (to use a human word) Tuvok shows for Janeway is not due to
some human contamination, but to the fact that Vulcans do, in fact,
care about other people.
Paris, rather interestingly, is the central character here. I suppose
the series will feature others in their turn. He'll be the lady-chaser
(Kirk, Riker, Bashir) and he's also the reformed screw-up. The prodigal
son is pretty much America's favorite type of character, I think, and
he does it well. Since the accident really was his fault we might
actually get to see him screw up again sometime, and that could be
interesting. The fact that his father is a big-deal admiral will
doubtlessly be mentioned often for as long as the series runs. Why do
we like characters with rotten childhoods so much?
Kim seems mostly to be the naive guy, and parallels to Wesley Crusher
are not a good sign. Fortunately, he gets quite likable when he gets
little sarcastic, like in the clinic scene when he tells Torres,
"Consider yourself arrested. I'm sure I have a phaser here somewhere." His relationship with Torres could be quite interesting.
Torres seems like a perfect Star Trek character, another
conflicted, cross-cultural push-me/pull-me officer who's also going to
be the ship's fix-it (Scotty, LaForge, O'Brien), I'm sure.
Kes looks very pretty...I think. I got so hypnotized by her voice I may have only imagined it.
Neelix is so irritating I'm having to remind myself that he was actually very useful.
The doctor doesn't exactly get developed in this pilot, but I'm hopeful
he will be soon. He's the Spock/Data/Odo non-human character, and I'm
sure we'll get to hear many things from his holographic perspective. I
hope they don't mellow him out and that he stays sarcastic. The best
shot of the show is his wide eyes right before Janeway turns him off.
THOUGHT
Not much of a thought-provoker here. It's basically plot-driven,
keeping us entertained while they trot out all the characters.
Certainly the potential for this show is great. Some stray thoughts
occur...
1. They're out where anything can happen. The possibilities for
interesting new races and cultures are literally endless. This is
basically Homer's Odyssey in outer space, and I'm very curious about what we're going to see.
2. They're a diverse and conflicted bunch. The tension between the
Maquis and Starfleet will need to be handled properly. We're not going
to like these guys if they don't like each other. But if handled well,
that tension could make for some great conflicts in the inevitable
"bottle" episodes.
3. Is it just me or is there not a real chemistry between the actors?
Rumors support this, but it could be Paramount propaganda. Time will
tell.
4. This is a new type of ship, smaller and more maneuverable than the
Enterprise, and certainly more military-issue. Out in this hostile
section of space, I'm sure Voyager will get in more than its fair share
of battles.
5. No Wesley, no Ferengi, no Starfleet admirals to ruin our fun.
6. Will the tight plotting of the pilot will prove to be typical of the show, or a load of empty promises?
7. Good signs come from the many little touches in the show. Paris'
inability to get edible soup reminds us that life on board ship is not
really all that comfortable nor luxurious, nor is it supposed to be. It
also sets up Neelix's offer to serve as a cook. I suppose the crew will
welcome anything not replicated after a few months aboard.
8. Lots of other details have me hopeful for the future. What will come
of Kim's clarinet, Chakotay's exploration of his so-far undefined
Indian heritage, Kes' mysterious mental abilities, Tuvok and Janeway's
friendship, and pretty much all the other stuff that gets woven neatly
into the main story line?
[Julia here, and I've just sling-shot around the sun to return in time
back to this pilot. How strange were the images that met my eyes! I saw
this little doll fall into the fire while marble busts of my friends
and family tried to speak to me. Maybe I shouldn't have had so many
in-flight cocktails. Anyway, I come in peace. How primitive and quaint
your customs are! I wish I had some pretty beads to trade with you. But
I've only come to tell you that the first season gave us shows that did
and shows that didn't live up to this promise. I can't help but wonder
if, in their hurry to get the show into production, they didn't really
wait until they themselves felt they had enough top-notch scripts. Some
of the stories feel like reworked, unused TNG scripts. However, the
spirit of the show and the intricacies of the little details and the
chemistry of the actors all continue very nicely. Here in the future
where our technology is supreme, we've seen almost three full seasons
of episodes now, and Voyager
is putting out some really high quality entertainment. Interestingly
TNG and DS9 also took about three seasons to get their act together.
While some episodes definitely fumble the ball, as the pilot promises,
the good episodes are really, really good. Well, time now to sling-shot
my way home...oh, and I was dead wrong about Neelix's cooking.]
SPECTACLE
Well, lots and lots to look at in this pilot, some of it terrific, some of it...eh, not so terrific.
I adore the opening credits. Notice the reflection of Voyager on the
ring it sails above? Also, the idea of Voyager tooling around looking
at all these odd things is just what I hope we get a lot of.
The bridge looks very well-planned with everyone having a station to
work at while they can still see everyone else. Janeway's window in the
ready room looks just like what you'd want to have, unlike Picard's
little slit out the back. Still, I miss Picard's fish. Does anyone have
any pets on Voyager?
Janeway's hair definitely falls into the not-so-terrific range. I like
the long hair. Pictures I've seen of Mulgrew with her own short hair
don't look nearly as authoritative. However, the hair right now really
looks like a wig. Hope they fix that up soon. Perhaps hair extensions?
The blend of computer-generated and model-based s/x doesn't seem as
good as what we've gotten accustomed to on TNG and DS9. And I don't
care much for those folding nacelles.
DICTION
I already mentioned the "sprain something" line. Other good ones include:
"The ghosts of those three dead officers came to me in the middle of
the night and taught me the true meaning of Christmas." -- Paris
explaining his Starfleet confession to Kim.
"My mission was to gather information on Maquis activities and then
deliver you into their waiting hands. That is correct." -- Tuvok to
Chakotay.
"Break out the compression phaser rifles." -- Janeway to crew, though Paris was the only one I saw with one.
And finally the male bonding exchange between Paris and Chakotay deserves to be reproduced in its entirety.
Paris: "If I save your butt, your life belongs to me. Isn't that some kind of Indian custom?"
Chakotay: "Wrong tribe."
Paris: "I don't believe you. [tries and fails to get a good grip on
Chakotay to drag him to safety] You'd rather die than let me be the one
to rescue you?"
Chakotay: "Fine. Be a fool. If I have to die at least I'll have the pleasure of watching you go with me."
Paris: "Isn't there some Indian trick where you can turn yourself into a bird and fly us out of here?"
Chakotay: "You're too heavy."
SONG
Wonderful opening theme with real musicians. Lovely score all around, actually.
And now for the section where I try to acknowledge the hard job the
writers have with working in pieces of the Star Trek universe without
changing them all around and without boring us with stuff we've already
seen. In other words, what a lot of baggage for each script to carry!
However, it seems harsh to pick apart the pilot for everything that seems familiar. So I'll just note...
STAR TREK ELEMENTS WE (OR I, ANYWAY) LOVE
New ships, new races, and new territory are the stuff of Trek. It all gets used well here.
STAR TREK ELEMENTS WE (OR I, ANYWAY) HATE
Quark was on screen too long.
Well, that wraps this one up!
Star Trek Voyager Reviews
Or go ahead to ST Voyager Reviews -- Parallax.