Story By: Bryan Fuller
Directed By: Anson Williams
Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
�Course: Oblivion� is a surprising sequel to last seasons �Demon� where Tom and Harry are duplicated by silver liquid and are unable to breath the Class-M atmosphere. �Demon� was not taken favorably by most fans and has been heralded as the worst episode of Voyager after �Threshold.� Many people have said �why the hell make a sequel to such a disastrous episode� and it would seem that there is no way of making anything worthwhile from a bad formula to start off with.
But this is not the case at all. While plot-holes do arise from its �Demon� origins, �Course: Oblivion� is one of the most cinematic and most powerful Voyager dramas ever done. From the opening wedding to the duplicates ultimate tragic demise it feels as though you are watching Voyager: The Motion Picture.
�Course: Oblivion� doesn�t make the mistake of trying to explain too much. It is said that everyone, including the ship, was duplicated and that eventually they forgot what they were and assumed the lives of their originals. Obviously, this is very flawed because first of all how could they simply forget? And also in �Demon� the ship was never duplicated, at least I never saw it and all the technology, including the Doc was duplicated too? There�s also the problem of environment; in �Demon� Tom and Harry could not breath class-M air and yet here they do, and when was the transition point? What about being able to actually catch up with Voyager at the end?
But despite these obvious flaws, it really doesn�t matter because we are told a story here that is as tragic as it is character driven. �Demon� failed because it immersed the crew into a situation that was not only a bit ridiculous but was action orientated as well, it was plot driven. �Course: Oblivion� gives us brilliant characterization and through that we get superb drama.
But it�s the tragic situation that makes me love �Course: Oblivion� so much. I just love all the scenes with members of the crew slowly dying off; the scene where the ship is forced away from perhaps their only possible salvation on a used Demon class planet and eventually the only possible evidence of their lives, the probe with the duplicate ships logs and personal files, is destroyed. Their last hope is to find Voyager and get blood samples, which would stop everyone from disintegrating, but the ship is destroyed before the real Voyager can even guess what they are. In the end there is no trace that the duplicates ever existed which is a scary thing when you think of all the people in the world or even the universe you don�t know and what happens to them; what effects them during their own journeys.
�Course: Oblivion� is an episode where you simply have to watch it to fully appreciate it. There are many scenes that are worth mentioning but it just wouldn't have the same impact. You must watch �Course: Oblivion� and forget about the past but concentrate on the journey these duplicates are on, and their twist in faith. Each time they are heading for home, but which home? The Demon class Planet or Earth?
�Course: Oblivion� is further benefited by superb acting. Robert Duncan McNeil and Roxanne Dawson do some great work with the wedding and when B�Elanna dies. Kate Mulgrew does a great slow and weary Janeway while even Robert Beltran, Garret Wang and Ethan Phillips get some great material and pull it off well. Surprisingly Jeri Ryan and Robert Picardo get little to do.
The makeup effects are very nice, but only when combined with the CGI liquid effect otherwise the dissolved heads look odd. The other CGI sequences not only look so realistic but they are there for a reason and not just thrown in. The dissolving Voyager looked so cool, and I love the wobbling of Voyager�s liquid hull when being fired at. I also loved the music. Paul Bailgarrion has done some of my favourite Trek music, like "Latent Image" and he does a superb score here. It's something again that must be experienced and not explained.
�Course: Oblivion� is such a tremendous effort by everyone involved, not only because of what it is, but what it�s origins come from. The acting, the writing, the directing; all of it is wonderful. It�s the �Demon� origins stopping this one from being a classic.