Changes: Fair Trade (episode)

Revision as of 21:21, 9 July 2010

Template:Realworld

A meeting with an old friend lands Neelix in an ever-deepening hole of trouble.

Summary

For some time, Neelix has been trying to expand his usefulness; he has been considering roles as an engineer, or a security officer, or some other more official job. As the crew of the USS Voyager arrive at a dense, menacing cloud barrier, the Nekrit Expanse, they stop at a space station administered by Bahrat to take on supplies. Neelix advises caution.

During the away mission to the station, Neelix meets up with an old friend, Wixiban ("Wix"), who was in a smuggling operation with him a long time ago. After the jovial reunion, Wix and Neelix get to talking. While Neelix impresses his old friend with the tales of Voyager, he finally admits that he thinks he may not be needed anymore. His knowledge of space goes only as far as the Nekrit Expanse and he is no longer useful as a guide. As a result, he has been trying to acquire a map of the area on this station.

Wix says he knows where to get one. He also tells a different story, one of great difficulty and burdensome debts. Playing upon Neeli sympathies for him, he asks for a favor: he wants Neelix to get a Voyager shuttlecraft which he and Wix will use to complete a secret transaction. He explains that he is selling medical supplies and wants to do it in secret to avoid the station master's twenty percent cut of the profits. All Neelix has to do is hide this information from the crew. Neelix agrees.

Unfortunately, the true nature of the transaction becomes apparent when Wix and Neelix meet the potentional buyer. He is the same man who tried to sell drugs to Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant jg Tom Paris when Voyager first docked with the station. From Wix and the drug smuggler's interaction, Neelix deduces that the medical supplies can actually be used as a narcotic, making this trip not only highly dangerous but highly illegal. The buyer attempts to get the drugs for nothing by trying to kill both Talaxians. This results in a firefight and Wix kills the buyer in self-defense with a phaser he took from the shuttle. In panic, the two of them beam out and fly the shuttle back to Voyager – leaving the dead body to be found by Bahrat's men. Bahrat later charges Chakotay and Tom Paris with murder, since a Federation phaser's energy signature was detected.

Neelix is furious at being betrayed but Wix soothes him with more emotional manipulation and convinces him to cover it up and not tell anyone on the ship. The supplier, not at all happy with the loss of their drugs, agrees to let them live if Wix can get some warp plasma from Voyager. Wix persuades Neelix to help him once again but when Neelix tries to steal it, he can't bring himself to do it.

However, to save their lives, Neelix devises a plan, which Wix reluctantly agrees to. He and Wix tell the truth about the incident to Bahrat, who is furious. They are then able to talk their way out of being put into cryostasis by explaining that these smugglers are defeating internal security and that they will help Bahrat and his men catch the criminals when they return for the plasma. Expecting their attempt to be futile, the station master agrees.

Neelix gets a canister from Bahrat with tainted warp plasma and deactivates the safeties. The supplier arrives to meet with Neelix and Wix. When he accepts the canister he realizes that it is worthless but Neelix quickly tells him the canister has been leaking plasma into the room and any energy discharge from his weapon will ignite the entire section. Bahrat attempts to arrest them but the supplier fires anyways and the ensuing plasma fire knocks Neelix unconscious.

When he reawakens in sickbay, he is told by Captain Kathryn Janeway that Wix has gone on his way and that the supplier has been killed. Only then does Neelix come clean to the captain as to how the situation arose: he wanted a map and got caught in a cover-up. After a stern lecture, Neelix prepares to take leave of the ship but is barely able to contain his excitement when the captain explains to him that the crew is a family, he cannot simply walk away. He is unaffected when she sentences him to two weeks of cleaning out the ship's exhaust manifolds.

This episode or film summary is incompleteThis episode summary has been identified as lacking essential detail, and as such needs attention. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion.

Note: Please obey copyright policy; do not copy material from other sources without permission.

Log entries

"Captain's log, supplemental. I have called a meeting of the senior staff to inform them of some very disturbing news I have just received."

Background Information

Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) does not appear in this episode.
This episode marks the debut of the recurring character of Ensign Vorik, who was introduced prior to his character's central role in "Blood Fever" so that audiences would be familiar with the new crewman by then. Vorik reappeared at least once a season right up until the end of the series run. Vorik is played by Alexander Enberg, the son of co-creator Jeri Taylor. He also once played a similar character on TNG, another Vulcan named Taurik. Producer Jeri Taylor once suggested that Taurik and Vorik were twin brothers.
The Voth scientists visit the Nekrit Expanse station in the episode "Distant Origin" while tracking down Voyager. The canister of warp plasma they acquire at the space station is an acknowledgment of the events of "Fair Trade", providing good continuity links between the episodes. However, the writers apparently forgot that Neelix destroyed it in the episode and that the warp plasma was a lower grade substitute.
James Horan's next Star Trek role is as First Ikat'ika in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light".
This is Carlos Carrasco's only appearance in Voyager. He previously played D'Ghor in DS9: "The House of Quark" and a mirror universe Klingon in DS9: "Shattered Mirror". His next and last Trek role was as Krole in DS9: "Honor Among Thieves".
The weapon that Tosin levels at Neelix during the warp plasma undercover bust is the Varon-T disruptor prop from TNG's "The Most Toys".

Awards

This episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series. It beat out DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" which was nominated in the same category.

Video and DVD releases

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.7, 2 June 1997
As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection

Links and references

Guest stars

References

47; bio-mimetic gel; cryostatic suspension; deuterium maintenance; dilithium matrix; duotronic probe; environmental control; exhaust manifold; fire snake; gagh; gravitic caliper; impulse response filter; isonucleic residue; Kes; Kolaati; magnetic spindle bearing; Nekrit Expanse; Orillian lung maggot; pergium; type 2 phaser; plasma canister; plasma injector; plasma storm; reaction control assembly; replicator; rhuludian crystal; spectral analysis; toffa ale; Ubean; warp plasma; warp plasma particle

External link

Template:NCwiki

Previous episode:
"Macrocosm"

Star Trek: Voyager
Season 3

Next episode:
"Alter Ego"

@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 == Background Information ==
 * [[Garrett Wang]] ([[Harry Kim]]) [[Main character non-appearances|does not appear]] in this episode.
-* This episode marks the debut of the recurring character of [[Ensign]] [[Vorik]],(played by [[Alexander Enberg]]) who was introduced prior to his character's central role in {{e|Blood Fever}} so that audiences would be familiar with the new crewman by then. Vorik reappeared at least once a season right up until the end of the series run.  Enberg is the son of co-creator Jeri Taylor. He also once played a similar character on TNG, another [[Vulcan]] named [[Taurik]]. Producer Jeri Taylor once suggested that Taurik and Vorik were twin brothers.
+* This episode marks the debut of the recurring character of [[Ensign]] [[Vorik]], who was introduced prior to his character's central role in {{e|Blood Fever}} so that audiences would be familiar with the new crewman by then. Vorik reappeared at least once a season right up until the end of the series run.  Vorik is played by [[Alexander Enberg]], the son of co-creator Jeri Taylor. He also once played a similar character on TNG, another [[Vulcan]] named [[Taurik]]. Producer Jeri Taylor once suggested that Taurik and Vorik were twin brothers.
 * The [[Voth]] scientists visit the [[Nekrit Expanse]] station in the episode {{e|Distant Origin}} while tracking down ''Voyager''. The canister of warp plasma they acquire at the space station is an acknowledgment of the events of "Fair Trade", providing good continuity links between the episodes. However, the writers apparently forgot that Neelix destroyed it in the episode and that the warp plasma was a lower grade substitute.
 * [[James Horan]]'s next ''[[Star Trek]]'' role is as [[First]] [[Ikat'ika]] in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episodes {{e|In Purgatory's Shadow}} and {{e|By Inferno's Light}}.