Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 22: Non Sequitur [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kim wakes up one morning to find himself on Earth with his girlfriiend Libby and working at Starfleet headquarters. He is very skeptical and goes to work passing by a coffee shop where a man gives him some coffee and says he's been going there for a couple of years everyday. Trying to figure out what happens, he locates Tom Paris in France and discovers that he's a washed up drunk guilty of helping the Maquee. Starfleet command thinks he is a maquee infiltrator and attaches a security link to him. Paris comes around and decides to help him. Along with the aid of the coffee shop guy(who is an alien) he escapes earth and tries to find a way to restore the way things were. But can he do it before a starfleet vessel destroys him?

Harry Kim is on a damaged shuttlecraft on his way back to Voyager when he encounters a temporal anomaly that sends him to Earth. But it is not the Earth he knows. Instead, he finds himself on an altered-reality Earth where he and Tom Paris were never assigned to Voyager. In this reality, Harry is a starship design specialist in the Starfleet Engineering Corp in San Francisco, and Tom Paris is a drunk who never accomplished anything in life except to be regarded as a member of the Maquis. Harry's attempts to unravel the mystery of his altered life leads to trouble with Starfleet. They think he is a spy for the Maquis because of his dealings with Tom and the admiral places a security anklet on Harry's leg to monitor his movements while the investigation proceeds. The questions regarding Harry's new life are answered when a friendly coffee shop owner, Cosimo, comes to his aid and explains the temporal anomaly mishap that led to his altered life. Cosimo explains that he was sent to keep an eye on Harry; that his species exist in a temporal inversion fold in the space-time matrix. He goes on to say that Harry entered one of their time streams and, as a result, history and events were scrambled. Unfortunately, Harry learns that there is only one possible way back to his own reality, but there is no guarantee that he will survive the trip. He decides that he must make the attempt so that he can set things right with his life and with Tom's as well. The scene where Tom and Harry are on the stolen shuttlecraft (right before it explodes) entering the time stream is a good one as we witness that their friendship has transcended time and alternate reality.

This is my second favorite Garrett Wang episode; the first being "Timeless." Throughout the seven years Voyager was on the air, I couldn't count the number of times Harry Kim saved someone's life or saved Voyager. However, he was still an ensign when the show ended. That never made sense to me. In "Timeless" we got to see a guilt ridden, troubled side of Harry; in "Non Sequitur" we get to witness his strong values and beliefs. In both episodes he displays his loyalty to Voyager and her crew.

This is a very good Star Trek : Voyager episode. Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) suddenly wakes up in San Fransico with his long lost girlfriend Libby (Jenifer Gattie). He is unaware how he got back to the Alpha quatrant and Earth at the sametime. Afterwondering around the town he meets Casimo, Coffee shop owner. He tells him he is proud of him for designing the ship the Runabout,Yellowstone. Kim askes his questions about his life here on Earth because he just found out from Libby he is in present day Starfleet command. Casimo assures him everything will be fine and that he and Libby are engaged. Kim encounters more Starfleet officers and Starfleet officials and gets more confused about how got to Earth. At some point Harry Kim decides he doesn't belong in this reality and finds who else from Voyager is here on Earth. He locates Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeil) and finds out that his reality was changed as well. He never left on Voyager with Captin Janeway and others. Instead, He was send to the Brig on DS9. After many explanations Kim tells him they are both not from this reality and askes him to fly shuttle simulation to figure out how they got here and how they can get back. Because of the altered reality Paris doesn't reconize his duties to Voyager and tells Kim to leave him alone. Kim not understanding what is going on must find away to get back to Voyager and to the Delta Quatrant because he feels he doesn't belong here on Earth. He is also in toruble with Star Fleet who suspects Kim of Being a Maqui Spy! Can Harry find away to convice Paris to help them get back to Voyager, even if it means he can not be with the love his life Libby? Findout! Buy this video! What is true identity of Casimo the coffee shop owner who has been watching Kim through his time on Earth? This is my one of my Personal favorite Star Trek: Voyager episodes ever!!! Buy it!

Another superior alternative reality episode celebrating a long tradition of similarly themed Trek shows, 'Non Sequitur' is also one of the very best of them. Focusing entirely on ensign Harry Kim there's never a dull moment contrary to some quips posted here. It's a very unusual episode in that it spotlights a secondary character for nearly the entire show - and that is not typical of Star Trek at all. Kim's fellow ensign Tom Paris shows up halfway through to help him out of his predicament but we don't see any other of the Voyager crew until the last few minutes. And while some fans may find that disappointing story wise it doesn't lessen the interest of 'Non Sequitur' in the least.

It's morning and Harry is lying in bed waking up to the sound of Captain Janeway saying something to the effect that an emergency transport is in progress. He rolls over on to his side and sees his girlfriend Libby lying next to him - but she's in a quadrant light years away right? After Libby assures him he is fine she goads him into dressing for work; she later chides him for bringing up Voyager when Harry insists that he "isn't from this reality" but is supposed to be on the ill-fated ship. His friend Danny Byrd received the assignment he posted for and Harry is developing a new shuttle with technology he doesn't seem to be aware that he has any knowledge of. Soon Harry is in over his head as he excuses himself from an important meeting with a Starfleet admiral concerning his experimental shuttlecraft and later when he mysteriously reviews the classified files of Voyager. He notices Tom Paris's name missing from the Voyager crew list and tracks him down in Marseilles attempting to enlist Tom's help in getting back to where he (they?) belong. Harry and Paris don't see eye-to-eye on the matter and part ways bitterly; curiously Cosimo, the gentleman who runs the coffee shop in Harry's neighborhood, is present and observes the incident without Harry seeing him. The next day he explains to the confused Harry what has transpired. Cosimo is an alien from a part of the space-time continuum that humans can't detect; it seems that the shuttlecraft Harry was piloting intercepted a time stream from Cosimo's reality and the accident caused time to alter as Harry discovers it. He gives Harry some critical information he needs to attempt to recreate the accident because Cosimo and his people have no idea how it happened or how to accurately recreate it. When Harry, who is now suspected of being a Maquis spy, is about to be arrested by security Paris shows up and helps him escape. The two of them liberate a shuttle to venture a shot at returning Harry and setting the timeline right - and with Starfleet shuttlecraft in hot pursuit it won't be easy!

It isn't often that an entire episode of a Star Trek series will focus on a peripheral character. Usually these stories are written for or around the captain or first officer character, but it's refreshing when they get away from that predictability. The young and still green ensign was a good choice for this story too. It gives his character a chance to develop as he wrestles with his desire to remain and be happy now that he is reunited with Libby. But he sees the dilemma of his staying clearly, realizing that the new timeline wasn't favorable at all to his good friend Danny Byrd and his fellow Voyager officer and friend Tom Paris. The Voyager's helmsman also receives a boost of credibility in this episode showing up at the last minute rescuing Harry and then giving it all so his 'new' friend can get back home. The only weak point in the episode is the flimsy explanation given for Cosimo and the accident; it isn't quite convincing enough for even for the most lenient of Trek fans. And when security detects Harry tampering with his ankle bracelet why do they waste time beaming in to his home to arrest him? Wouldn't it be more effective just to beam Harry to them? Just a thought...

Worth noting: the San Francisco setting is designed nicely and is one of the better set designs used during the Voyager series run. Also there is a reference to Deep Space Nine in this episode that draws directly on the Voyager series opener 'Caretaker'. In an effort to convince Paris he knows him, when Harry meets Tom in Marseilles he relates how the incident surrounding their first meeting unfolded in Quark's bar on the Promenade - with a slight alteration of course. Then Tom reports how he was arrested by a "rather unfriendly shape-shifter". Apparently Odo makes the same first impression no matter what timeline he exists in!

I bought this episode because it sounded interesting. It really fell flat. It's slow-moving, and the solution is confusing. I didn't like how we didn't see the rest of the crew at all until the end. I guess I don't like Harry Kim enough to put up with just him for an entire episode!

I liked this episode since I like the character of Harry Kim...but I wouldn't say that this episode is a "must see" in terms of understanding the overall story arc of the show.

I give it four stars because it was an enjoyable episode and I felt that Garrett Wang did an excellent job developing his character. But I held back on five stars because this particular episode didn't really contribute much to the overall epic storyline of Voyager.