This episode is packed with Klingon religious mythology. While B'Elanna is in a near death experience, she has visions of the Klingon afterlife. She comes out changed. Tom Paris asks her "Why have you become a born-again Klingon?" If you are the kind of fan who hates fantasy or anything religious or mythological in your science fiction, steer clear of this episode. But, if you believe, like Chakotay says here, that, "not everything in the universe can be scanned with a tricorder," you might find this episode worth a look.
Without going into the storyline, it has some good dramatic tension in it. The reality of the mythic appearances is ambiguous; and at a deeper personal level, this episode is about B'Elanna coming to terms with her Klingon identity, as well as resolving—or at least making a decisive turn—on some big internal issues she has about her mother.
In some ways this episode is a couple of scoops of the California Religion, but in other ways I found it interesting. While Karen Austin, as B'Elanna's mother, is given some really horrible pieces of script to deal with, we see Roxanne Dawson doing some of her best work, at least that I've ever seen. And I have to say, drawbacks aside, Ronald Moore & Co. were trying to deal with some big and serious issues here, and got a lot done in 45 minutes. I think that fans who dissed this episode by giving it low stars did so because of the Klingon religious elements; without that, I think they would have easily bulked the stars up to 8 on this one, for its acting, storyline, and even for the special effects.
Without going into the storyline, it has some good dramatic tension in it. The reality of the mythic appearances is ambiguous; and at a deeper personal level, this episode is about B'Elanna coming to terms with her Klingon identity, as well as resolving—or at least making a decisive turn—on some big internal issues she has about her mother.
In some ways this episode is a couple of scoops of the California Religion, but in other ways I found it interesting. While Karen Austin, as B'Elanna's mother, is given some really horrible pieces of script to deal with, we see Roxanne Dawson doing some of her best work, at least that I've ever seen. And I have to say, drawbacks aside, Ronald Moore & Co. were trying to deal with some big and serious issues here, and got a lot done in 45 minutes. I think that fans who dissed this episode by giving it low stars did so because of the Klingon religious elements; without that, I think they would have easily bulked the stars up to 8 on this one, for its acting, storyline, and even for the special effects.