'Threshold'

Stardate: 49373.4
Written By: Micheal DeLuca
Directed By: Alexander Singer
Rating: ** (out of 5)

�Threshold�s� entire premise was flawed from the minute it began.  Breaking the Warp 10 barrier is something that immediately made me think that this would be rubbish.  Especially once the Warp 10 barrier was broken.  But �Threshold� than becomes harmless fun � until the finale where we discover the true nature of what�s been happening.

The first waste of time �Threshold� presents us with is Tom�s 2% Brain Hemorrhage problem and the possibility that Harry will take over the flight test.  I understand that Janeway would tell Tom about this slight problem; but isn�t the risk of breaking the Warp 10 barrier a far greater risk?  Not only to Tom but also possibly to the Universe.  Janeway doesn�t have any idea what will happen, only speculation. 

Of course it�s also unrealistic that Janeway would agree to the Project.  She says here she was reluctant but it doesn�t seem right that Janeway would agree to something that could be potentially disastrous.

I did enjoy the scene with Neelix trying to help; and the all the Neelix�s Coffee jokes, but when Neelix gets lost in the discussion between Tom and Harry I even knew what they were talking about, well the basics of it anyway.  Surely Neelix would know.  Sorry, that was a nit-pick!

Anyway Tom reaches Warp 10 and says he occupied every space in the universe and he could see everything.  That�s all very well; but the experience alone would have killed him � wouldn�t it?  I guess the experience was so weird that he managed to stay alive!

Everything seems fine once Tom gets back and in typical �Alien� fashion, when he eats, something happens.  Well, actually he drank Neelix�s coffee!  The Doc discovers he�s allergic to the water in it!  Slowly Tom mutates, he looses his tongue and gains an extra heart � and eventually escapes with Janeway in the test shuttle.  The Doc discovers Tom is actually evolving at a rapid velocity and when they find Tom and Janeway they have both become reptilian creatures and they have mated.  And in no time the two evolved humans have reverted back to their ancient selves.

I have some major problems with this: Why do these new humans need an extra heart and loose their tongue?  Does this mean that their extra hearts disappear and their tongues grow back when the process is reversed?  And why can Chakotay and the Away Team breathe the oxygen on the planet?  This goes against what was said earlier on about Tom�s new lungs.  And Tom never changed the air in his shuttle, so either Janeway or Tom would have to suffocate.  And Chakotays choice to leave the evolved humans on the planet could be a very bad idea.  Also, how long did Voyager take to find Tom and Janeway?  Long enough for Janeway to evolve and for them to mate and for Janeway to get pregnant.  Why didn�t Tom continue to mutate at that time?  And the whole process to revert Janeway and Tom seems easy and flawed.

And of course there is the problem of the evolution in the first place, so that�s how we�re going to look after all this technology and effort we�ve put into our civilization?  No doubt other humanoids would look similar? No?  I wonder if there is any scientific evidence for this or did the writers simply make this up?

As you can see there are extensive problems with this episode.  The basic plot is flawed enough let alone the rest of the episode.  But the sad problem is this was endurable and it had some enjoyable scenes!  Robert Duncan McNeil does a commendable job here despite the stupidness.

So in the end you have a premise that couldn�t possibly be made into a good episode, but an episode that is so stupid that it�s actually enjoyable.  It�s hard to rate this but averaging enjoyability and probability I give it ** out of 5 stars.