Tuvix (Voyager episode)
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| Star Trek: VOY episode | |
| "Tuvix" | |
 Kes and Tuvix |
|
| Episode no. | 40 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 140 |
| Airdate | May 6, 1996 |
| Writer(s) | Andrew Shepard Price Mark Gaberman Kenneth Biller |
| Director | Cliff Bole |
| Guest star(s) | Tom Wright as Tuvix Simon Billig as Hogan Bahni Turpin as Swinn |
| Year | 2372 |
| Stardate | 49655.2 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "The Thaw" |
| Next | "Resolutions" |
Tuvix is the 40th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 24th episode of the second season. In it, a transporter malfunction fuses the DNA of Tuvok and Neelix, creating a new individual named "Tuvix".
Since the first episode, it was clear from Tuvok's speech that he disliked Neelix. An earlier episode made this even clearer by showing Tuvok going to a holodeck to strangle and kill a virtual Neelix (although, this was done while Tuvok was mentally ill).[1]
At the beginning of the episode, Tuvok and Neelix go down to an M-class planet to gather plant life samples for use in medicine and cooking. When they transport back up to Voyager, a peculiar reproductive property of the orchids they bring, symbiogenesis, causes the transporter to malfunction and fuse Tuvok and Neelix into one individual (their clothes were fused as well). At first, the Doctor cannot separate them, but he figures out a way to do it before the end of the episode.
The main issue of the episode is whether or not Tuvix has a right to live and what the rights of Tuvok and Neelix are in this matter. At first Tuvix does not oppose the restoration of the individual Tuvok and Neelix; he doesn't even think about choosing a name. Kes, Neelix's girlfriend, suggests to Tuvix he should pick a name. He chooses Neevok at first, but then decides that Tuvix is better and sticks with it. Kes is then put off by Tuvix acting romantically towards her.
As the episode progresses, we see the crew enjoying Tuvix's company professionally and personally, and Tuvix comes to the opinion that he has a right to live on as he is, even if this means, in a sense, the death of Tuvok and Neelix. By the time the Doctor has figured out how to separate the two, he (the Doctor) has come to think of the operation as a violation of the Hippocratic oath "to do no harm". Captain Kathryn Janeway orders the Doctor to perform the separation, but he refuses, so she does it herself.
The episode ends with Tuvok and Neelix looking at each other without saying anything.
The post-Kes episode "Riddles" seems to retread the same ground from the episode "Tuvix" without making any reference to the events from the earlier episode. In "Riddles", Tuvok suffers severe neurological damage after being attacked by a Ba'neth (called "shadow people"), and Neelix does everything he can to help Tuvok recover, but complete recovery can't take place without the Doctor analyzing the Ba'neth weapon. Tuvok now only trusts Neelix and goes everywhere with him. Tuvok appears unable to regain his old skills and resume duty on the bridge, and when Neelix asks him what he can do, Tuvok says he wants to do what Neelix does. Under Neelix's tutelage, Tuvok shows proficiency at preparing pastries such as fudge cakes. When Janeway needles Tuvok for the Ba'neth cloaking frequency, Tuvok draws it on a pistaccio cake, leading to the discovery of a Ba'neth stronghold and information on the neurologically disruptive weapon. Once the Doctor devises a treatment, Tuvok is reluctant to undergo the procedure, but after Neelix assures him it's for the good of the crew, Tuvok agrees.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Tuvix article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
- Episode synopsis from Startrek.com
