[VOY] Season 3, Episode 3: The Chute
Rating: 2
Kim and Paris get stuck in a prison with devices attached to their heads which increases their hostility. It makes for a believably gritty episode, but in my view it falls into the same traps that are present in most episodes involving characters under some kind of influence that changes their behavior. The episode has the goal of building the Paris/Kim friendship. Basically I think this is achieved only in a moment at the very end that seems relatively genuine. Throughout most of the episode Kim and Paris go from being buds to fighting each other, even with Kim almost killing Paris. It ends up just being about the device that makes them go crazy. As I’ve said before, I don’t really like watching the characters act out of character, because it doesn’t really mean anything for that character, it just gives some fun for the actors.
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Notes:
Kim falls out of a chute into a prison
Paris is there too, but Paris punches him
Paris pretends to really hate Kim so that the other prisoners allow Paris to take him. What really convinces them is when Paris holds a knife to a guy’s throat, so in the end Paris just beats up Kim for no real reason
They have a “clamp” on their head that makes them go crazy
Janeway tries to negotiate with Chris Pine’s dad to get Paris and Kim back. They were convicted of bombing people
Paris finds a pipe that Kim can work on that will get them past the force field on the chute
They go through the cliche of imagining all the food they want to eat
Paris gets stabbed and Kim protects him
Janeway finds the real bombers
Kim has to team up with a guy because he had stuff that Kim needed. The guy says he thinks the clamp is meant to keep people from cooperating with each other, because if the prisoners work together they could get out.
Kim figures out how to get up the chute! He escapes with his new friend. So…goodbye, Tom?
They find out they’re in space
The guy offers to show Kim his manifesto, which he says can teach him to control the clamp. Kim knocks it out of his hands and calls him crazy. That’s rude
Then Kim gives a speech to all the prisoners about how they could escape if they all work together. Hey, that’s kind of like what the other guy said, ya know, the guy Kim just called crazy
Paris is losing it. He takes apart Kim’s pipe.
Kim almost kills Paris
Janeway and Tuvok come to the rescue!
They use Neelix’s ship to sneak into the area
Kim is really bothered that he almost killed Paris. Paris says he’ll always remember how Kim stood up for him
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