Star Trek Voyager Reviews Written by Someone Who Actually LIKES the Show! -- Non Sequitur

Okay, it's time again for another review from your devoted reviewer and faithful...Oh, let's face it, I'm just someone with free time on her hands and perhaps a little too much interest in a TV show. But that's not so bad, so I'm hoping the same may be true for you, and that you'll enjoy this spoiler-filled review of the Star Trek Voyager episode, "Non Sequitur." It's a Kim-centered episode that once again hits him with a Big Decision, and Paris gets to have some fun too. If, however, you like it more when Kes and Neelix are the main characters, may I suggest you go somewhere that's more to your taste?

How about CuteOverload?

Nope? Then let's see what our favorite wacky ensign is up to now...

INITIAL VIEWER EXPERIENCE
So that's Libby, huh? Not too impressive...Hmm, Paris isn't so popular in the real Sandrine's...Why is everyone on Earth always so whimpy-looking?...Let's see, would I be willing to beam out into space like that?...Well, that's why I'm not a Star Trek character.

PLOT
Janeway's voice orders something about shields and an emergency beam-out as Kim awakens in bed with his girlfriend, Libby. She hustles him out of bed and into his clothes for his big meeting at Starfleet.

What's going on? Kim wonders. He asks her for the date, and learns this isn't the past, but some sort of alternative present. He tries to explain to Libby that the last thing he remembers is flying in a shuttle, and that something is terribly wrong. He even starts talking to her like she's some sort of alien. For some reason, she refuses to listen to him and finally just blows him off. When he mentions Voyager, she says it's not something to joke about, that the "memorial service" was only a couple months ago, and that Daniel Bird was Kim's best friend.

Dazed by the knowledge that his girlfriend is such a twit, Kim goes outside to find that he's in San Francisco. He walks past a coffee shop, Cosimo's, and the owner, Cosimo, gives him his usual Vulcan Mocha, extra sweet. Cosimo is all excited for Kim, talking about his big meeting coming up for some new ship design. He also tells Kim he's been coming to Cosimo's for eight months now, ever since he graduated from the Academy. He's also engaged to Libby. Kim is dazed.

Lieutenant Lasca appears and drags Kim to that big meeting. There, Admiral Strickler and a bunch of other fearsome-looking higher-ups listen to Lasca extoll the wonders of their new and improved runabout, the Yellowstone, which uses tetryon plasma. He then introduces Kim to tell them all about it, and I get to wondering if the 24th Century still understands the expression "deer in the headlights." He pleeds illness and the admiral postpones the meeting, much to Lasca's displeasure.

Alone, Kim checks out his office at Starfleet Headquarters and reads over his service record. In this version of his life, his request to transfer to Voyager after graduation was denied, so he took a job here, designing starships. He's even gotten the Cochrane Medal of Excellence for his work. He gets past the security lock-outs by by using his own command codes, and finds that Daniel Bird went on Voyager instead of him.

He walks home, getting directions from an indulgent Cosimo, who also points out to the still-dazed Kim that his life is pretty good, all in all.

At home, Kim finds Libby in a towel and makes love to her, shocking many viewers who've been wondering if he really knows what sex is. Afterwards, he leaves Libby in bed and goes to his desk, where he checks out the Voyager crew manifest and discovers that Paris is not aboard Voyager, but instead served out his time in the New Zealand penal colony and is now hanging around Marseille.

Libby wakes up and comes over, and finally Kim explains to her that he must be from sort of different reality, and she suggests therapy. [Good grief, Kim, where did you find her?]

Anyway, Kim goes to see Paris in Marseille [Yes, they make a bad joke about that], and walks into the real Sandrine's, which looks just like the sets they use for the holodeck Sandrine's, except there are no historical pool players there. I expected as much, but I was hoping to see the gigolo.

Paris appears, pool cue in one hand, drink in the other, and beard stubble on his chin. In Paris' current history, he got in a fight with Quark at DS9 and landed in Odo's pokey, missing out on the chance to go into the Badlands with Voyager. Kim explains that in his history, they did serve together on the Voyager, and he almost convinces him that something is actually going on, until he asks Paris to come back with him to Starfleet headquarters. If they could run a computer simulation of Kim's shuttle trip, perhaps he could figure out how he ended up in the this alternate reality. Paris figures that this whole thing is just some admiral's trick to get him to come to Starfleet Headquarters and tells Kim to piss off. Kim says that he once told Kim he thought of life as a game, and that he was worried what would have happened to him if he hadn't gotten on Voyager. And it looks like Paris had cause to be worried, since he's now a loser and a drunk. Paris takes a sloppy swing at Kim, and Kim pins Paris to the pool table before stomping out.

At the Sandrine's bar, we see Cosimo.

Kim returns home and finds Libby talking to Lasca and two security officers. Lasca says Kim's habit of breaking into secret Voyager files has been discovered, and Starfleet wants a word with him.

At another meeting with Strickler, Kim tells him the truth, but they know Kim's been talking to that Maquis traitor, Paris, and so they figure Kim must be a Maquis sympathizer too. Kim demands legal counsel, and they let him go after tagging him with a security anklet.

Walking home, Kim finds Cosimo again, and now Cosimo confesses that he's an alien who's been assigned here to help Kim fit back into his altered life. It seems that when Kim was in his shuttle, he didn't see the "Watch Out For Falling Anomalies" sign and flew right through one of the aliens' timestreams. They did their best to restore his life, but they're not really sure how the whole thing happened in the first place. Cosimo says that maybe if Kim flies back into the timestream and recreates the accident, he'll return to his original life, or maybe he'll end up someplace else all together. Kim eagerly takes the coordinates of the timestream's intersection through this part of space, but Cosimo tells him to think about it. Your life here, he says, isn't so bad. You got a good job, a nice girl (?) and all. Maybe this is your fate.

But what about Paris? Kim asked, and Daniel Bird? Fate wasn't so kind to them. He knows he must get into that timestream.

Back home again, Kim tampers with the security anklet, and Libby confronts him. She's angry that he'd rather be on some ship far away that here with her. But he explains that this isn't his life, and he's not the same guy who got engaged to her. She seems to understand, then the tampering alarm on his anklet goes off right on cue, and security arrive. He bolts out the window, and Libby blocks the security guys (who for some reason don't club her on the head and shove her out of the way). Kim fends off one security guy, then is chased and tackled by the other. "Excuse me," says a voice before Paris hits the security guy and knocks him out. The Earth crowd stares like sheep.

Paris and Kim run off. Kim asks Paris what he's doing here, and Paris says he heard from some friends that Kim was in real trouble. Also, it's been a while since anyone cared about his future. Life on Voyager sounds better than drinking himself into a stupor at Sandrine's.

It turns out he's got useful friends indeed at Starfleet, and whips out a remote transmitter to get them inside Kim's office. There, Kim gets the runabout ready to go, and they beam over to the ship just as security makes it to the office.

They start up the runabout and bust out of spacedock, chased by a nebula class starship which thinks they're trying to steal the runabout for the Maquis. They zip towards the stream, but their pursuers fire at them and the runabout's containment field is weakened. Kim has them vent their tetryon plasma, and this stalls out the other ship.

Kim has the sensors and controls set just like they were when he hit the timestream before, and they fly the runabout into the stream, and...nothing. Paris restrains from cussing him out, and Kim says the last thing he remembers is Janeway's voice talking about the emergency beam-out. He needs to beam off the runabout. They set course for the stream again, but the nebula class ship gets its engines going again and approaches. The warp core breach is in full swing now, and Kim wants to stop and repair it, but Paris says there's no time. Kim points out that Paris will be killed, but Paris says that if the timestream works out, he'll be back on Voyager. Kim resists Paris' self-sacrifice, but Paris flings him into the transporter. The runabout explodes...

And Kim is back in his shuttle, listening to Janeway's voice tell him to drop his shields so they can beam him out of there. The shuttle is about to have a core breach.

On the bridge, we see Paris, Janeway, and Chakotay fret while Torres tries to extend the transporter's range and retrieve Kim. The shuttle explodes, but they manage beam to Kim out just in time (what a shock!) and Kim signals from the transporter room that he's fine. He also asks if Paris is there. He is, Janeway assures him. Why?

It's a long story, he says.

Kim comes onto the bridge in person, and tells a puzzled Paris "I owe you one."