Star Trek Randomized Rewatch: Innocence

VOY "Innocence"

Last time the Randomizer visited Star Trek: Voyager, Harry and Tom were trapped in a prison with dangerous convicts. Now, Tuvok is trapped on a planet with three unruly children. After soothing a goldshirt's passing with an admittedly decent bedside manner, Tuvok is set upon by three Drayan kids who ask for his protection from a mysterious monster that has taken a couple of their companions in the night. In the big, absurd twist of the episode, it turns out that Drayan society is one comprised entirely of Benjamin Buttons; the kids are in fact pushing 100, because the Drayan aging process is reversed.

Drayan logic at times is also reversed. Upset that Tuvok has corrupted their holy site, the Drayans demand that Voyager cleans up the mess, but refuses to let a shuttle near the planet. Not to overrun this review with nitpicks, but former Jeopardy! champion Lisa Klink's teleplay is filled with sloppy internal logic (ironic for an episode starring a Vulcan). Tuvok preserves his dead crewmate's body to take back to Voyager, for "proper burial". Burial... on a starship? Janeway learns from the Drayans only that one of the two shuttle crewmen is dead and reacts like she knows it's the trivial supernumerary, when in reality it just as well could be Tuvok. And Tuvok gives a kid a phaser, which as we've just seen in "Elaan of Troyius", you can kill yourself with somewhat easily.

While Tuvok's parenting technique leaves something to be desired, that seems to be the hook of the episode: Emotionless Vulcan must deal with rowdy children. Tim Russ likely asked to be given a musical number, given his singing ability, so he interprets a few bars of epic Vulcan sung poetry.

To the episode's slight credit, the Drayan child catchers are a little creepy. And "Innocence" is clearly trying to land a sensitively-observed episode with a sense of Trekkian diplomacy and a SF twist. Its heart is more or less in the right place, but the episode kneecaps itself (with, among other things, whiny kids) and ends up subpar. 3/10.