Threshold (Voyager episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Trek: VOY episode | |
| "Threshold" | |
 Tom Paris breaks the transwarp threshold in the Shuttlecraft Cochrane designed to reach warp 10, but there are some peculiar side effects. |
|
| Episode no. | 31 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 132 |
| Airdate | January 29, 1996 |
| Writer(s) | Brannon Braga |
| Director | Alexander Singer |
| Guest star(s) | Raphael Sbarge as Michael Jonas |
| Year | 2372 |
| Stardate | 49373.4 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Alliances" |
| Next | "Meld" |
Threshold is the 31st episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 15th episode in the second season.
[edit] Plot
Tom Paris breaks the transwarp threshold in the Shuttlecraft Cochrane designed to reach warp 10, but there are some peculiar side effects.
These effects also involve Captain Janeway.
[edit] Notes
This is often considered to be the worst Voyager episode ever. Its author, Brannon Braga, in an interview on the DVD release of season 2, called the episode "a royal steaming stinker", and notes it was the worst episode he wrote.[1] The breaking of the warp 10 barrier is stated in the episode itself to be impossible, yet nonetheless happens; the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual had explained that warp 10 meant infinite speed and thus was effectively meaningless.
As well as this, the episode illustrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic principles of evolution, depicting it as a force ongoing within an individual member of a species, in the manner of a mystical force. In actuality, for evolution to occur there must be not only mutation, but reproduction and natural selection through long term population of an environment by numerous individuals. Whilst an individual can mutate, evolution is only possible through natural selection, which requires competition (the 'selection' aspect). Many fans have decided to ignore the events of the episode. A later episode may give backing to this view: in "Dark Frontier", Paris told Seven of Nine that he'd "never travelled in transwarp".
Also, despite the low popularity of this episode, the version of mutated Tom Paris was made into an action figure.
[edit] External Links
- Threshold article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
- Threshold recap at the Agony Booth
