Story By: Jimmy Diggs
Directed By: Robert Scheener
Rating: *** (out of 5)
A few episodes ago �Fair Trade� was a great episode that succeeded because of Neelix�s charm and Ethan Phillips� acting and I said I wanted to see more of Neelix. A bit later we had �Alter Ego� which failed partly because of Tuvok. Tim Russ was perfect; the writers couldn�t quite get the character to be interesting enough. So when Tuvok and Neelix team up together it�s no surprise that we get a fairly average episode with a lot of really charming scenes.
�Rise� is almost the �Deep Impact� of Star Trek, I say �Deep Impact and not �Armageddon� because the latter is much better and more meaningful than the former. As is normal with Star Trek there is a scientific twist to the seemingly normal plot, the asteroids ramming the aliens of the week, the Nezu, planet are in fact artificial; the Nezu are being strategically bombarded. I really like this idea, however we are never given a clear reason why these aggressive aliens, the Etanian Order want the Nezu planet. Unfortunately we aren�t given a clear explanation of what the future holds for the Nezu either. Voyager may have defended the Nezu on this occasion but next time Voyager won�t be there.
Most of �Rise� is set on the Nezu planet inside the Orbital Tethers, huge lifts that transport items from the surface into orbit. This is an idea being considered by scientists here on Earth at the moment, but that�s a different subject!
The plot is a bit of a mess. The Nezu ambassador is contacted, the scientist Vatm has important information about the asteroids that he must tell the Ambassador privately. So the Away-Teams goes down to find Vatm but Neelix and Tuvok�s shuttle crash lands. Eventually the Neelix and Tuvok gather an untrustworthy band who are all together in the confined areas of the Orbital Tether where they all hope to contact Voyager before the next asteroid hits their area. We soon discover one of the bunch, Sklar, is actually working with aliens to bombard the planet and Vatm had discovered that there was a traitor.
The main problem with the plot of �Rise� is Vatm�s actions. Why did he try to launch before schedule? Why didn�t he get the information from the roof before he was dumb enough to start the carriage, he knew he would be stopped from going outside once the carriage was operating, and why didn�t he just tell Tuvok of the problem? Tuvok would�ve been trustworthy I�m sure. The writers seemed to not know what they are doing. I also didn�t understand why Sklar was working with the Etanian Order?
There were also other problems, Vatm apparently forces the carriage to launch and Neelix can do nothing about, yet later on why can Neelix stop the carriage and then restart it? This was hardly a Neelix-only episode so I didn�t get the point of the Lillias character. She did help to make Neelix more understood, but like I said this wasn�t a Neelix only episode. Have Lillias find her sister also had little to do with the episode.
I did enjoy one aspect of �Rise� which should�ve taken more focus in the cuffuffle unfolding around them, and that�s the Neelix-Tuvok story line. I think that their scenes together where very good and amusing. Especially when Neelix wanted Tuvok to check the roof because of his �funny feeling� and when it is revealed that Tuvok has always had an aggressive attitude to the annoying Talaxian. I also enjoyed the last scene of �Rise� when Neelix believes Tuvok always wants to have the last word! While these were great scenes, and the most meaningful scenes in �Rise�, unfortunately this strong point is lost in the plot, and ironically so is the plot.
The Nezu could�ve been an interesting race, they had the make-up they had the characters, they had the potential. But we get bad acting and poor character writing which turned the Nezu into a real disappointment.
Another disappointment in �Rise� was the special effects. I don�t normally say bad things about special effects because it isn�t the point of an episode, and because the effects are normally outstanding. But �Rise� has some awful effects and considering the story was nothing special I have though the SFX would add something. The comets hitting the Nezu planet at the beginning weren�t too good, the carriage lifting up didn�t look very real, any scene with someone on the top of the carriage was an appalling blue-screen effects and to top that off, when Sklar is thrown off of the carriage, I laughed it look so fake.
�Rise� was memorable for the Neelix-Tuvok interaction but if that wasn�t there this would be a truly appalling mess without any attempt at being a good drama or action episode.