- For the condition see death wish.
Janeway considers a Q's request for asylum, but if it is granted, he will commit suicide.
Summary
The crew has been surveying an unusual object in space which looks like a comet but doesn't act like one. Captain Janeway orders B'Elanna Torres to go to transporter room two and beam aboard a sample for future study. Torres energizes the transporter, but instead of a comet fragment, she beams aboard a man who says his name is "Q", a member of the Q Continuum.
Act One
Torres summons Janeway to the transporter room, and explains about Q. Janeway initiates a red alert, but he assures her that there is no need, and he promptly brings her to the mess hall. He explains that he has been held in captivity because he keeps trying to commit suicide. He attempts it again, but only succeeds in making all the male crew members disappear, which he is unable to undo. Shortly afterwards, the "original" Q appears.
- Note that from this point on, the new "Q" will be referred to as "Quinn", even though he does not take this name until the end of the episode.
Act Two
Q is less than thrilled about Voyager's presence in the Delta Quadrant, and remarks that Humans shouldn't be in that area of space for another hundred years. When prompted to explain what happened, Quinn describes it as "a slight accident". Q correctly guesses that he was attempting suicide, and, in disgust, brings the men back. Janeway attempts to dismiss the two omnipotent annoyances, but Quinn demands asylum.
Trying to get away from Q, Quinn transports Voyager to the time of the Big Bang. When Kim reports that there are no stars outside, Quinn corrects him, saying that there is no universe outside. Tuvok deduces that they have been transported to the birth of the universe. Q appears, commenting that Quinn cannot escape him, just as Torres reports that Voyager will not survive the formation of the cosmos. Q attempts to allay her fears by inviting them to think of the honor of having their DNA spread all over the universe, and perhaps even being the origin of humanoid life. Janeway demands that either Q get them back. Q attempts to do so, saying that it is time for Quinn to go back to his confinement, but before he can do anything, Quinn transports the ship and crew away again.
Voyager is reduced to an ornament on a christmas tree.
Voyager has now been reduced to subatomic proportions, and the ship is under attack by protons. Janeway tells Tuvok to try to repel them by using a positive ion charge, but Q has found them, and they are transported once more, this time to being an ornament on a Christmas tree. Janeway is, by now, very angry at the two Q for endangering her ship and crew in their personal game of tug-of-war. Janeway agrees that if Quinn wants asylum, she will grant him a hearing, following Starfleet regulations. The two Qs agree, but each have their own conditions. If Q wins, Quinn will spend eternity in captivity. If Quinn wins, he will be granted mortality so that he may commit suicide.
Act Three
Quinn enters Tuvok's office to find him studying an okudagram. Quinn requests that Tuvok act as his counsel during the hearing, because Vulcans approve of suicide. Tuvok protests, saying that even though Vulcans who are infirm do practice ritual suicide, he has no legal expertise. Quinn persists, however, and Tuvok finally says he will speak to Captain Janeway. She agrees, reluctantly, and confides to him that she, personally, abhors suicide in any way, and she is worried about possibly helping Quinn end his life. Tuvok requests that she at least keep an open mind, and she agrees.
The hearing begins with Janeway asking the Qs to promise not to turn the hearing into a circus. They both agree, and Janeway begins by asking Quinn one of the most pressing questions: Why does he want to commit suicide? He says that he doesn't agree with the fact that each individual of the Continuum is obligated to follow the path that his or her life will follow; he wants his path to lead to death, and doesn't think that the Continuum should be able to interfere in his choices.
Q calls himself to the stand as a witness. Q the lawyer and Q the witness discuss the impact a suicide would have on the life of the Q as a species. It would be an interruption to society, but neither part of Q's personality can specify, because they have never had to deal with the kind of action Quinn is contemplating before. Quinn accuses the Continuum of being afraid of the unknown, but Q characterizes his remarks as that of a mentally unbalanced person, and says that no one can justify the suicide of a mentally unbalanced person. Tuvok, however, challenges that statement, as the sole reasoning behind it is that Quinn wants to kill himself.
Tuvok points out that the Continuum has, in the past, executed some of its members as punishment and inquires if their deaths also created interruption in the society. Q contradicts that, saying that their crimes created the interruption and their deaths ended it. He also says that that is an unfair comparison, as Tuvok is comparing the preservation of social order and anarchy. When Tuvok asks about Q's own record of being deemed mentally unstable, he hotly retorts that his record has been cleared.
Maury Ginsberg, one of the witnesses
Q brings more witnesses to help his case: Isaac Newton, Maury Ginsberg, and William T. Riker. The two former have a hard time believing that they are on a starship, so Janeway tells them to pretend they are having a very strange dream. Q explains that Quinn helped shape the life of all of these men: He helped Newton discover gravity, helped Ginsberg make sure that the concert at Woodstock would go on as planned and introduced him to his future wife, and saved Colonel Thaddius Riker, therefore ensuring the life of Will Riker and the Federation's escape from assimilation by the Borg.
Quinn takes himself, Q, Janeway, and Tuvok to the interior of the comet in an effort to help his case. Q tells him that it is his own fault that he's been held in captivity, and he could be free if he didn't want to commit suicide. Back on Voyager, Janeway struggles to find a way to justify ruling in Quinn's favor, saying that the one thing she has found is the "double effect" principle, which justifies the release from suffering, age, or infirmity even if it also causes death. Quinn and Tuvok are asked to prove that this principle applies to Quinn, and Tuvok requests a recess.
In the mess hall, the two men discuss their failure to prove their case. Quinn is grateful to Tuvok for believing in him, but Tuvok says that Quinn's position is not his own. Quinn remarks that Tuvok has managed to surprise him, which is unusual; he also says that if Tuvok lived the life of a Q, he would understand the logic behind his position. Tuvok then proposes visiting the Continuum itself.
Act Four
Q attempts to give Janeway some "persuasion" in order to help her rule in his favor: The Continuum will return Voyager to Earth. Later, he and Quinn bring Janeway and Tuvok to a desert road, a manifestation of the Q Continuum, in an effort to help them understand what life there is like. Quinn describes the stagnant, pointless monotony that comes with immortality: he has seen everything and done everything, leaving nothing new or interesting that hasn't been experienced before. Q weakly tries to defend the benefits of tranquil constancy, but is forced to admit that the boredom has cramped his style, too.
Act Five
- Captain's log, supplemental. I'm determined to find a better alternative to suicide or endless prison, so I've summoned the advocate Q to make him a proposal.
As Janeway tries to sleep, Q appears in her quarters and asks her if she had thought anymore about his offer to bring Voyager home if she rules in his favor. She dismisses it as a bribe, and tells him it will play no part in her decision. However, Q has talked to the members of the Continuum, and persuaded them into giving Janeway what she asked for: Quinn will not go back into his cell, someone will be assigned to look after him, to bring him back into the normal life of the Q. Q tells her that she has won, and that he thinks the two of them should celebrate together. She, however, doesn't like that at all, and orders him to leave.
In the hearing room once again, Janeway rules in Quinn's favor. Q is disappointed, but he honors the agreement made at the beginning of the trial and turns Quinn mortal.
- "Captain's log, stardate 49301.2. We have assigned quarters to our new passenger, who has entered his name on our crew manifest as Quinn. I am eager to engage him in interesting ship activities as soon as possible."
In her ready room, Janeway and Chakotay are trying to figure out a post for Quinn when the Doctor calls her down to sickbay: Quinn is dying. Janeway arrives in sickbay, where Tuvok and the Doctor are waiting for her, just before Quinn dies. The Doctor informs Janeway that Quinn ingested a form of Nogatch hemlock, for which there is no known cure. Quinn tells her that he would only be pretending to fit into mortal life, that his death is his final gift to his people, and he was grateful to Janeway for making his death possible.
The Doctor tells Janeway that he doesn't store the hemlock, and Tuvok points out that the replicators won't produce it either. Janeway wonders how Quinn obtained the hemlock, just as Q shows up again. He tells the startled officers that he was the one who assisted Quinn in his suicide. Q remarks that it was Quinn, not he, who was truly irrepressible. He hopes that he could be a worthy student of Quinn's ways, and when Janeway remarks that the Continuum won't be happy with him, his only response is, "I hope not". He bids Janeway goodbye, tells her they will meet again, and disappears.
Memorable Quotes
"Rabbit? She never told me she likes rabbit. What is a rabbit anyway? Is this some new chef she's interviewing?"
- - Neelix
"Say, is this the ship of the Valkyries? Or have you human women finally done away with your men altogether?"
- - Q
"Facial art. Ooo, how very wilderness of you."
- - Q, to Chakotay
"Did anyone ever tell you you're angry when you're beautiful?"
- - Q, to Captain Janeway
"I am curious. Have the Q always had an absence of manners, or is it the result of some natural evolutionary process that comes with omnipotence?"
- - Tuvok, after Quinn makes an unannounced visit to his quarters
"Have you heard about little me? Do tell. Has Jean-Luc been whispering about me behind my back?"
- - Q to Captain Janeway
"This ship will not survive the forming of the cosmos!"
- - B'Elanna
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"Man, have you looked in a mirror lately?"
- - Newton and Ginsberg, eyeing each other's odd clothing
"May I speak to you in your chambers, Captain?"
"You've been in my chambers enough for one visit."
- - Q and Janeway
Background Information
- As of this episode, John de Lancie (Q) has played the same character on three different Star Trek series. The only other actors to do so are Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Michael Ansara (Kang) and Richard Poe (Gul Evek).
- Gerrit Graham previously played a Hunter in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Captive Pursuit". John de Lancie also played Q in the episode immediately following it, "Q-Less".
- On Romulus, attempted suicide is viewed as a crime. Klingons, Bajorans, and Vulcans all consider it an honorable way to end one's life, and it is a nearly forgotten practice on Earth.
- Q peers into the bridge of Voyager through the viewscreen, much like Captain Kirk did when Flint shrunk the U.S.S. Enterprise in size in "Requiem for Methuselah" (TOS).
- Janeway mentions Q's involvement in throwing the USS Enterprise-D into the path of a Borg cube in the TNG episode "Q Who", which ultimately led to the Borg's attempt to assimilate humanity. This marks the first mention of the race in the series who would become a regular threat from Season 3 onwards.
- A Christmas ornament depicting Voyager was produced by Hallmark in 1996, going on sale roughly 8 months after the episode initially aired.
- The image of Earth Q shows Janeway is the famous Blue Marble picture.
Links and References
Guest Stars
- And
- John de Lancie as Q
Special Appearance By
Co-Stars
- Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited)
- John Tempoya as Kashimuro Nozawa (uncredited)
References
Baryonic particles, Battle of Pine Mountain, Big Bang, Bolians; Borg, colonel, Earth, Enterprise-D, USS, general, Gorokian midwife toad, Johnson, Mark, Kylerian goat's milk (milk), Liverpool, Murphy, Nogatch hemlock, Ocampa, Picard, Jean-Luc, proton, Q Continuum, Q (species), rabbit, Riker, Thaddius, Romulan history, Scarsdale, Sherman, William Tecumseh, Sherman's March, Sri Lanka Boulevard, suicide, Valkyrie, Vulcan history, Welsh rabbit, Woodstock
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