Review : |
This episode presented a great moral dilemma about identity, human rights, and murder. Would non-action on Janeway's part constitute murder (or at least neglegent manslaughter) of Tuvok and Neelix? Or was it really wrong to save their lives by murdering Tuvix? Or did Neelix and Tuvok still live within Tuvix, making it unnecessary to "save" them. I think that I disagreed with Janeway's ultimate decision, and never would have had the, ahem, balls to kill Tuvix myself. Still, this was one of the best Voyager episodes, and it truly left me conflicted. |
Review : |
I have to add an extra badge to this one's rating - it is one of the most watched episodes in my collection. The man vs. machine debate was not exactly new, but it was certainly novel for 1960s Trek writers to believably depict a computer that could manage all of the systems on the Enterprise, give crews actual orders, navigate, and balance everything necessary for combat. AND Starfleet seriously considered putting this thing in command. The failure of the M5 is also interesting. Usually machines-gone-bad in TOS did so BECAUSE they were machines; this one failed because it was too human. Another interesting dynamic is the deeply-unsettled Kirk trying to balance the human sympathies of McCoy with Spock's initially cool and calculating analysis of the computer's efficiency. Finally, the entertainment value of seeing a real battle between Starfleet ships and the moral anguish of Dr. Daystrom makes this a superb episode. |