Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 32: Threshold [VHS]

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

 

 

Tom Paris, Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres have joined forces to figure out a way to break warp 10. They solve all the problems related to transwarp drive and Paris prepares to make the first warp 10 flight. The doctor tells Captain Janeway that the biometric readings are abnormal in Paris and suggests that Harry Kim make the flight instead of Tom. Paris pleads with the captain to let him make this flight and she decides to grant him the honor. When Paris reaches warp 10 in his shuttle, he disappears off sensors. He eventually returns and reports that he experienced the sensation of being everywhere in the universe at once; that he was aware of everything at the same time. Data is downloaded from the shuttle and it proves that Tom really was everywhere in the universe as Harry discovers 5 million gigaquads of information in the data banks of the shuttle.

A few hours later, while in the mess hall drinking coffee with Torres, Tom collapses. In sick bay the doctor discovers Tom's bio-chemistry is changing; that he is mutating. Despite the doctor's efforts, Tom dies because of the mutations. Later, Paris comes back to life while still in sick bay but continues to mutate. The doctor tells the captain that Tom's DNA is re-writing itself. New organs have appeared and others have disappeared. His personality is erratic and deranged. The doctor thinks he can restore Tom and while attempting treatment, Paris escapes. He captures Janeway and takes her with him on a shuttle. He increases the shuttle's speed to warp 10 and they disappear. Three days later, Voyager finds the shuttle on a planet. The doctor tells Chakotay and Tuvok that Paris has evolved into a future stage in human development. Tom has evolved into this stage in 24 hours when it should have taken millions of years.

On the planet, Chakotay and Tuvok find Paris and Janeway are both now lizard-like creatures. They also discover that Tom and the captain have had babies as these creatures. The lizards are stunned and taken aboard Voyager where the doctor finally eradicates all traces of the mutant DNA and restores Janeway and Paris to their original form.

This is, without a doubt, the worst episode in Voyager's 7-year run! A human being evolving into a lizard-like creature and then being restored back into a human and all of this is supposed to happen because they went faster than usual in a space shuttle? The writers were really `out to lunch' on this episode! The only highlight is a scene toward the end where Chakotay and Tuvok find out that the lizard Paris and Janeway have had lizard babies. Chakotay tells Tuvok he doesn't know how to put this event into the ship's log and Tuvok responds that he can't wait to read it. I did manage a chuckle on that scene. Aside from that, this episode is a complete bust. I actually felt sorry for the actors who had to do this storyline. How embarrassing for them. In rating this video, I didn't even want to give it 1 star but you have to in order for the review to be published.

first off, i love star trek. i have been a faithful fan of star trek since the mid sixties. there are extremely few shows i didn't like. i even have all the cartoon shows. but, this episode defies all sense of logic!!! com'on the warp 10 speed is a barrier? in the original star trek the enterprise hit warp 12 in an episode. in TNG in the first season the galaxy class ship went somewhere along the lines of warp 100 when they went through 2 1/2 galaxies in just a few minutes!! and yet here they say that warp 10 is the warp barrier to ultimate speed!!!and that i you hit warp 10 you'll be everywhere at once!! give me a break!! ...and if that isn't bad enough, Tom Paris evolves in to a giant salamander! it seems to me he de-evolved. this show should have never been made. it goes against all other episodes of star trek in any version!!!the only reason i gave it a rating of 1 and not zero is because of Robert Duncan McNeils acting. ... if you want to watch an episode of de-evolution watch the episode of TNG where because of barkly everyone(except Data of course) de-evolves to some lower life form where Worf becomes real scary creature hunting down Picard. that episode had me on the edge of my seat!!!!

"Star Trek: Voyager," Episode 32, "Threshold" (Story by Michael DeLuca, Teleplay by Brannon Braga, Aired January 29, 1996) focuses the character of Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and the two key aspects of his character: his recklessness and his need to find redemption. Paris has completed a series of simulations on the holodeck and wants to take his shuttlecraft on a real test flight to break the transwarp threshold. Flying the "Cochrane" (of course), Paris reaches Warp 10...and disappears. The vessel reappears and when Paris is beamed to sickbay he appears to be okay. But then things start to go wrong when Paris later collapses and one of the "Voyager" crew beams information about the transwarp flight to the Kazon. In sickbay the Doctor (Robert Picardo) discovers Paris's' organs and mutating and failing. When Paris dies, only to begin breathing again a few hours later, the Doctor discovers the pilot now has two hearts. However, the mutations continue to accelerate and Paris is now subject to violent episodes of paranoia.

Now, the initial premise of "Threshold" fits in the grand tradition of the idea that there are some things human beings were not meant to tamper with and although the obvious parallel would be to Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, you can go all the way back to the Bible stories of the Tower of Babel and, of course, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. However, I never liked the accelerated genetic mutation idea on "Star Trek," going back to when the "Enterprise" crew changed into weird animals and back on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (Geordi had something similar happen in another episode). My willing suspension of disbelief does not work in both directions: I can agree with the changes caused by the mutation, but the changing back always strikes me as the writer punching the reset button. However, "Threshold" adds insult to injury with the payoff for the episode in terms of what happens between Paris and Captain Janeway. What were they thinking? Kate Mulgrew should have shot this one down. So mark this down as a good idea gone horribly astray and try not to take it seriously when you watch it.

Okay...I have written reviews for virtually all of the Voyager episodes that are out to-date on VHS. And this is the only one which I'm giving less than 3 stars.

Folks...I like the character of Tom Paris alot and was really looking forward to a good episode for everyone's fave fly-boy, but this episode turned out to be just plain stupid.

I mean, instead of Tom's slick flying and cute-but-cocky behavior, we are treated to his "evolution" into a giant salamander, his kidnapping of Janeway, HER evolution into a salamander, and visions of their three salamander babies slithering into a pond. EGADS!! Oh, and let's not forget the stomach-wrenching part where Tom gags up his tongue and spits it out on the sickbay bed. Lovely.

There are about 400 episodes of Star Trek that are better than this one, folks, so don't waste your money. But please say a prayer for Robert Duncan McNeil, however....he did a good job with what he was given, but this is the sort of episode that will come back to haunt him on Leno someday.

To the latest reviewer:

Warp 13 was the maximum recorded in the original series, if I'm not mistaken, not warp 100. However, at the start of The Next Generation, Roddenberry recalibrated the Warp Factor scale in a manner that made Warp Ten the absolute top. The old warp scale would have its maximum at about Warp 58.5, based on this math:

Old warp scale: Times speed of light = warp factor ^ 3.
58.5 ^ 3 = about 200,000, hence 200,000 times the speed of light. On the new warp scale, Warp 9.9999 (maximum conventional warp speed) is 199,516 times the speed of light.

Also, Janeway and Paris had three offspring, not two.

This is a great episode! Especially if your a Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) fan. I thought it was funny when Capt. Janeway and Lt. Paris mated. It should be the one you want to see!

Okay, before those of you who actually liked/loved this episode jump all over my back, I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinions and that some episodes I liked, you may hate. I have watched Voyager faithfully for all seven seasons now, even through the weak first two seasons when many fans gave up on the show. (Go ahead and look up how the ratings dropped from the begining of season one!) I personally know two people who stopped watching Voyager all together citing this episode and "Partuition" as the reasons why and I can sadly see why. First off, the notion of a tiny shuttle from a ship lost in the Delta quadrant with no support from Starfleet science could break the unbreakable warp barrier (read the STNG technical journal) is rediculous. Yes, I realize this IS science fiction but I felt their explanation was insufficient and contrived. Maybe if they had Seven of Nine on board with her Borg technical knowledge it would have been a little more plausible. Next, Tom Paris was supposed to be evolving at an incredibly accelerated rate as a side effect. INTO A BIG SALAMANDER?!? Isn't that going backwards? DE-evolving! Then at the end he and salamander Janeway mate and have two baby salamders on some planet. How did the actors keep a straight face? I'm sorry but this is one of the dumbest and weekest episodes wich reflected the erratic quality of the first two seasons and an example of the reason, I believe, the show lost many viewers early on. I must give credit to Robert Duncan McNeill and Robert Picardo for their superb acting in this episode which rose above the quality of the script.

Ok, I've seen more than 100 Voyager episodes, and this one was not exactly the most realistic, though it was the most emotional.

It starts out with Tom Paris using a shuttle to break Warp 10, which scientists claim is impossiable. That if you break warp 10 you will be everywhere in the universe at once. Well, Tom Paris breaks it. And in doing so he speeds up his evolution. Basically, because he broke warp 10, his humon body is going through millions of years of evolution.

I would call this a very emotional episode. Tom Paris says to Captian Janeway that he is scared, and with all that is goign on it is quite saddening. Also when he dies it is very saddening. Oh, he does come back to life, thanks to the evolution. When you find out he and Captain Janeway have procreated and have children, I just burst out laughing. This episode is hilarious while saddening, and anyone who likes Tom Paris should DEFEINLTY watch this one.

I'm not very much a Tom Paris fan. In most episodes he just a background character. In this episode however Tom Paris shines. Not only does he break an unbreakable flight record, but he also transforms into an new being, intellectualy superior but amfibiuous and hostile. There are some unbelievable scenes in which he transforms fysicaly, and mentally. Very strong interaction with Janeway there.

I have seen the last 10 minutes of this episode a lot of times. Tuvok and Chakotay come to rescue and find that Paris has mated with Janeway, and procreated. It calls for some amazing, thrilling and humorous scenes. One of my favorites.