Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 62: Favorite Son [VHS]

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Nice twist on an intro to an all-girl planet (almost every guy's fantasy) and their culture. But the wierd thing is what happens to the guy after the mating-- death. Harry Kim is positively interesting concerning his behaviors towards this new role of him as a mate.

Pretty decent episode-definitely not a classic though. The plot is quite creepy-an obvious remake of the greek mythology idea of Sirens (creatures who lured men to them with their singing only to devore them), but not in a way that makes the plot seem stupid and contrived. While it's not anything to brag about, it's an alright episode, and introduces another alien culture. The "marriage ceremony" is also quite interesting. It's definitely not an ensemble piece though-the plot basically centers around Ensign Harry Kim, with the rest of the crew just adding a bit of substance.

"Star Trek: Voyager," Episode 62, "Favorite Son" (Written by Lisa Klink, Aired March 19, 1997) offers up another bizarre experience for young Harry Kim (Garrett Wong), the ship's homesick and unlucky young ensign. "Voyager" encounters a Nasari vessel and all of the sudden Kim announces the alien ship is going to fire and fires the phasers. Afterwards a perplexed Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), unhappy with Kim's explanation that he just had a hunch the Nasari were a threat, suspends him and sends him to his cabin without supper. There our young ensign is surprised to discover he suddenly had alien markings on his face.

The Doctor has no explanation for either the markings or the fact that Kim's blood chemistry is now different. Tuvok proves the Nasari were indeed about to fire on Voyager but Kim's only explanation is that this area of space seems familiar. At this point Kim directs "Voyager" to the planet Taresia, where the population, which is mainly female, welcomes Kim home and tell a really whacked story about what is going on here. Of course we go through a period where it seems like this incredible story might be true, because you know how hard it is for 23rd century technology to verify anything scientific. Consequently, this episode exceeds the amount of time the crew is allowed to be stupid before the episode becomes unsalvageable.

Actually, "Favorite Son" reminds me of an episode from the first season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" entitled "Teacher's Pet." If you have seen both then you will recognize the obvious connection between Harry Kim and Xander Harris, and the more you think about it the clearer it will be that Ensign Kim is also usually the butt of some cosmic joke when an episode of "Voyager" focuses primarily on him.

Whilst having a little chat with a local race, the Nasari, Harry Kim warns Janeway that the Nasari are about to attack. Bearing in mind that the Nasari are a peaceful race Janeway is a bit shocked when Kim is blasting their ship with phasers and photon torpeodes, a battle begins, with both ships ending up limping away from each other badly damaged. Harry gets sent to quarters for disobeying direct orders and causing an act of agression toward a friendly race.

It is only later that Tuvok reveals scans indicate the Nasari were about to fire - how did Kim know! Suddenly Kim starts getting strange feelings and markings on his body. He asks that they go to a neighbouring planet, once there Kim is welcomed "home"!

This is an okay episode that started well but dipped after the first ten minutes. Kim thinks he is a member of an alien race that he is slowly turning into, interesting but nothing new, with a terrible ending and plot that doesn't seem to be going anywhere!