Weird Trek Episodes - Tuvix aka "Janeway Goes Dark!"

I had a problem with figuring out what nickname this episode needed. Here are just a few:

• "Janeway Embraces the Dark Side!"
• "The Worst Game of Twister Ever!"
• "Kes Meets a Guy Who is Creepier than Neelix!"
• "Holy Ethical Dilemma, Batman!"
• "Yeah... It's That Episode!"

Well, this was a long time coming. I think this was one episode that I wanted to write about years ago, but other things got in the way. There are more important things to do than write about a controversial Star Trek episode. Plus, so many people have already given their thoughts on what happens at the end of this episode. It was those opinions that made me want to finally talk about “Tuvix”, the 24th episode from Star Trek: Voyager’s second season.

The episode starts out with Tuvok and Neelix on an away mission trying to bring back plant samples. The transporter malfunctions while they’re being teleported back. When they emerge, Harry Kim’s shocked to find that Neelix, Tuvok, and the samples have merged into one being. The crew finds out that this being, who names himself Tuvix, is a perfect combination of Tuvok and Neelix in that he has their memories and mannerisms embedded in him. One of the plant samples caused this to happen. Since the Doctor sees no possible danger, Captain Janeway decides to let Tuvix help out the crew while the Doctor sees how they can possibly reverse this.

Dude, I know that look. This ain't gonna work out, 'T!

The only member who’s kind of uncomfortable about the accident is Kes, who was Neelix’s girlfriend and being mentored by Tuvok. Tuvix tries to ease her worries, but he doesn’t exactly help the situation which leads to them having some distance. Kes is reassured by Janeway that things will be alright. Eventually, a couple of weeks pass and Tuvix is more or less a part of the crew. Even Kes is starting to warm up to him. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Harry figured out a way to split the two apart and bring back Tuvok and Neelix. They let everyone know, but there’s one problem: Tuvix doesn’t want to do it since the procedure would essentially kill him.

Janeway is split on what to do here. She can’t force Tuvix to go through with the procedure, but she’s also without her security officer and Delta Quadrant rep. Tuvix pleads with Kes to persuade Janeway to not go through with the procedure. Kes tries to do it, but honestly can’t. Janeway ultimately makes the decision to force Tuvix to do the procedure. He resists but isn’t helped by any of the crew. The Doctor is the only pushback, but he lets Janeway do the procedure herself. In the end, Tuvok and Neelix are back to normal. The episode ends as Janeway leaves sickbay in a mournful mood.

---------

This was an interesting episode. I remember Season 2 of Voyager being kinda subpar, but this is one of the better ones. Before I touch on Janeway’s actions at the end, there are like 38 other minutes of the episode to talk about. I thought the concept was interesting. We’ve had transporter malfunctions before, and this was a new one. Seeing Tuvix’s interactions with the crew was interesting, especially his time with Kes and Janeway. Tom Wright (Tuvix) does a tremendous job in the role. While you see bits of Neelix and Tuvok in him, Tuvix is still his own character. In fact, everyone did a pretty good job performance-wise like Kate Mulgrew and Jennifer Lien.

Then, we get the controversial aspect of the episode. When it comes down to it, Janeway did kill Tuvix. It’s definitely a moral conundrum the writers threw themselves into, and I like it! I know fans want the captains and crew to be moral paragons, but I like it when we see them thrown into situations where there is no easy solution. I think every main captain has committed an act that was morally suspect, and this is Janeway’s. I liked how both sides were presented. Janeway and the crew want Tuvok and Neelix back, but Tuvix was a sentient being. Yeah, he’s a mish-mash of people, but we see that he is his own person. Instead of a last minute fix, we get a captain forcing an unwilling person to their death. 

The following characters who have screwed over Actor Tom Wright over the years: The LAPD, Captin Janeway, A Grimm, and Larry Blackman from Cameo.

There aren’t too many problems with the episode itself. Neelix at the beginning did grate on me a bit, but I remember the annoyance being ramped up to 11 in this season. I also don’t think we see Bellana Torres here either. Really the only thing kind of sucks is that we don’t get any fallout from Janeway’s act afterwards. We just forget about it and move on to the next problem. Unfortunately, this was one issue the show had. There was always a push to keep the status quo for the most part, and that could suck. Other than that, this was a good Season 2 episode.

So… was Janeway right? The episode leaves that up to you, the viewer. This episode is still being talked about almost 30 years later, and people still have an opinion. For me, it wasn’t completely justifiable. Tuvix was a sentient person with rights and could’ve still provided value to the crew.  Still, I get why Janeway did what she did. She and the crew wanted Tuvok and Neelix back. Plus, they’re in the Delta Quadrant with not a lot of resources or people. Did that mean she had to essentially kill Tuvix? I can’t say I would’ve done the same in that situation. If she was home in the Alpha Quadrant, things could’ve gone different, but who knows.

……………

In the end, this was a nice but tough episode. I can see why this episode is still being discussed years later. While I can't call it the best of Trek, I can still call it good Trek. Well, that's all I got for now. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.