When Tuvok shows Nimira the brig, she comments on how barbaric it is. He even has to explain to her that they use it to hold individuals until they can be handed over to the proper authorities; yet, when Torres commits a crime, they arrest her and detain her until her sentence can be carried out.
The Voyager crew had been on the Mari homeworld for a few days without ever being told negative thoughts are illegal--and deadly. It is odd the Mari allow aliens on their planet without any attempt to warn them or control thoughts which could wreak such havoc. Plus, this inconsistency should have occurred to Janeway and Tuvok as a potential defense of B'Elanna.
One also wonders how it took so long for a Voyager crew member to manage a negative thought.
One also wonders how it took so long for a Voyager crew member to manage a negative thought.
As soon as B'Elanna was imprisoned, it is surprising Janeway let any of her crew risk a similar fate by spending time on the planet, other than perhaps the Doctor, Tuvok and Seven who can control (or have no) emotions. Neelix even gets into a heated debate with Seven about the Federation's first contact procedures while in the marketplace, and this could easily have released some illegal, negative thoughts.
Nimira hopes to contain B'Elanna's negative and dangerous thought, yet she keeps her in a prison where the Klingon side of her is no doubt churning out all sorts of negative thoughts, in close proximity to the jailers. Depending on how far thoughts can travel among this psychic populace, keeping an offender in custody is always a risky idea.
Chief Examiner Nimira first says B'Elanna must undergo an "engrammatic purge" not just to remove the negative thought from her mind, but fully identify it in order to remove it from Frane as well. This makes sense as a reason why Nimira will not just allow B'Elanna to return to Voyager where she can cause no more harm, thus preserving the plot.
Yet Nimira also tells Tuvok that she has identified B'Elanna's thought as prevalent in Frane's mind using engrammatic scans. It seems reasonable that this would be enough to remove the thoughts from Frane's mind, with no further need for a procedure on B'Elanna.
Yet Nimira also tells Tuvok that she has identified B'Elanna's thought as prevalent in Frane's mind using engrammatic scans. It seems reasonable that this would be enough to remove the thoughts from Frane's mind, with no further need for a procedure on B'Elanna.
At around the 15 minute mark, Lieutenant Paris enters the bridge to talk with Commander Chakotay. Captain Janeway is absent from the bridge. Chakotay indicates to Paris to take the Captain's Chair. As the higher ranking officer, however, Chakotay should have taken the Captain's Chair with Paris taking Chakotay's chair.
Neelix tries to justify Voyager's methods of exploration to Seven of Nine. During The Cloud (1995), he had the opposite opinion and tried to convince the Captain not to perform unnecessary exploration.