'Cold Fire'
Stardate: 49176.5
Written By: Anthony Williams
Directed By: Cliff Bole
Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)
I have mixed feelings about �Cold Fire,� it was enjoyable, it had a good plot, well not a bad plot anyway. But there are a lot of questions with this episode that alter the way I think about it, and it was going so well too!
Ok, firstly, what was the motive behind Tanis? Why did he want Kes? Why did he show Kes the powers? Why did he say �She has potential� but when he left she can�t use her abilities? Why couldn�t he have used his powers to force Kes to leave? Why couldn�t Kes read Tanis�s thoughts, or read Suspiria�s thoughts and know of both their intentions? None of these are even hinted at.
And neither are these; Why where those Ocampan on the array? How did they get there? What is their purpose there? What�s their relationship with Suspiria? What do they use their powers for? Why don�t they try to free their people? With all their powers and knowledge, and with Suspiria, surely they are capable of traveling space? So why don�t they? Why is the Array different from the other array?
And Suspiria - why, with all her power, couldn�t she just destroy the ship without all the bull she went on with? Why did she even bother making contact with Voyager? Why couldn�t she find Voyager herself? Why does Voyager need to get to that place where Suspiria hangs out? Why couldn�t she read the crews thoughts to discover that Janeway did in fact try to help the Caretaker? What was her relationship with the Caretaker? Why is she standing up for him? Why does she take the form of the girl? Yes, to communicate but why a girl? Okay, so I�m nitpicking, but deservedly so.
There are so many unanswered questions, questions that could easily have been answered. And this isn�t a plot problem, just a writing problem. The plot is fine. And the whole episode was going so well until the end where the majority of these questions arose.
The only plot-problem isn�t all too major, I just can�t buy the Technobabble saying how the Caretakers remains can lead Voyager to this Array. It�s just too convenient and seemed very forced. I mean, why (yes, more questions) would the remains react to the presence of another sporocystian being? And what the hell is a sporocystian being? Yes, the Caretaker, but why �sporocystian�? Why not Non-corporeal or omnipotent?
The only new information we discover here is that Ocampan�s can live longer and have strong mental abilities when not on their home planet. Oh, and that the Caretaker species is called the Nacene.
Other than that, this episode is virtually just an action episode that tries to be a major plot development in Voyager�s story, but turns out to be nothing. Even if Kes kept her abilities, at least there would be some character work. But this is almost a reset ending.
Not to say there wasn�t anything good about �Cold Fire�, because like I said, up until the end, and perhaps even after the end, this episode was really good.
I really enjoyed Kes homing in her abilities, and listening to Neelix�s thoughts. Although I�m assuming these meeting are completely confidential, otherwise Janeway wouldn�t allow for thought reading, that�s a complete invasion of privacy.
And I simply enjoyed the plot. There is nothing wrong at all with the plot, it�s fun, exciting and pretty interesting. I enjoyed Kes here too, although her screaming is way too fake, sounds like a wounded animal.
Tuvoks blood boiling looked cool, so did the molecules heating up and Susperia�s alien form and B�Elanna and Tuvok hanging from the ceiling, or more likely on the ceiling, there are some great scenes between Kes and Tanis, and I liked the Kes and Tuvok scenes.
Just too many questions asked and even more not answered, I liked a different look on the Ocampa, but we don�t get any conclusion here. It�s a toss up between *** stars and **1/2 stars. It too me a while to decide, but just soooooo many unanswered questions. If we find out any of the answers I�ll consider rising the rating, **1/2 it is!