For several episodes, Tom Paris has been behaving awfully-- especially towards Commander Chakotay. Inexplicably, this recently reclaimed soul has become disrespectful, surly and a major distraction on the ship. In the last episode, he even attacked Chakotay and was placed under arrest! Here in "Investigations", Paris is so irritable and snarky that he ditches Voyager and becomes a crew member on a Talaxian ship. How ANYONE could want to serve aboard a ship filled with Neelix-like beings is beyond me--and the REAL reason for all this grouchiness is explained...and it's NOT because Paris is somehow reliving his teenage years!!
Although the other plot in this episode might seem to have little initially to do with the Paris plot, the traitor aboard the ship is once again doing things to help the dreaded Kazon--such as disabling the warp drive. This and Paris' leaving the ship motivate Neelix to investigate these things on his own--and he stumbles into something BIG! And, as a nice change of pace, Neelix turns out to NOT be a total idiot and comic relief.
It's nice to see that during season two, the writers considered using some plot elements that transcended multiple episodes--in this case, Paris' REAL motivations. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that once again, the crew of Voyager has a chance to shoot Seska and end her reign of terror once and for all but they don't-- which just didn't make a lot of senses. I sat shoot the wench and be done with it! But the show, once again, chooses the nice approach--a serious problem in too many episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager".
Although the other plot in this episode might seem to have little initially to do with the Paris plot, the traitor aboard the ship is once again doing things to help the dreaded Kazon--such as disabling the warp drive. This and Paris' leaving the ship motivate Neelix to investigate these things on his own--and he stumbles into something BIG! And, as a nice change of pace, Neelix turns out to NOT be a total idiot and comic relief.
It's nice to see that during season two, the writers considered using some plot elements that transcended multiple episodes--in this case, Paris' REAL motivations. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that once again, the crew of Voyager has a chance to shoot Seska and end her reign of terror once and for all but they don't-- which just didn't make a lot of senses. I sat shoot the wench and be done with it! But the show, once again, chooses the nice approach--a serious problem in too many episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager".