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Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 Episode 23

The Thaw

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AIRED: 4/29/96

Stardate: 49610.3
The crew of Voyager encounters a planet that has recently entered an ice age. They discover a series of stasis chambers where a small group of people are mentally connected to an artificial environment that turned horribly wrong.

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Fan Episode Reviews (12)

A rather pathetic episode

2.0

By rkoenn, Mar 27, 2013

My wife and I have been watching Voyager on DVD as I have always been a ST fan, particularly the original when it was on it's initial run, but because of life didn't get to catch the later series. Overall we have enjoyed Voyager so far, not as much as TNG or DS9, and most episodes are pretty good. However this episode might vie in my book for one of the worse in the entire ST universe. I knew right off when they went into the brain support system and I saw all the clowns/mimes etc. that this episode was going to be bad. I am almost always turned off by these surrealistic episodes and this was one of the worse. The antics of the clown in the system were pathetic and his childish attitude and the way he carried on were particularly bad. As a previous post noted, who bought this script and allowed it to be turned into a complete episode?moreless
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Nightmare & Vomit Inducing

2.0

By foghorn_clj87, Mar 10, 2013

WHAT THE HELL WERE THE WRITERS, PRODUCERS, SET DECORATORS, WARDROBE DEPARTMENT AND DIRECTOR SMOKING?????

Seriously I get the whole craziness thing but there's a way to do fear-inducing-madness without it being so creepy that you want to forget this episode even exists and HOPE TO GOD you don't have nightmares about it.

I got through about 15 to 20 mins before I turned it off. NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN.moreless
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The Thaw

6.0

By TrueTvWatcher, Sep 13, 2011

The Thaw was a fair episode of Star Trek: Voyager and it was ok to watch, but it is by no means necessary for the over all plot or character story lines. The story was an interesting concept and it was kinda of an interesting world that the crew members visited, yet it was still a little out there. It seems the writers were trying to have fun, but it just didn't work out. I liked how the story played out and how every thing ended. Another side adventure on Voyager. I look forward to watching the next episode of Star Trek: Voyager!!moreless
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While their planet was recovering from a disaster, aliens in stasis become trapped by a computer simulation and its characters that were created to entertain them. What is pivotal about this episode is Janeway's monologue at the end which is a classic.moreless

9.0

By ShelbeyBradley, Aug 25, 2011

Becoming trapped in a holographic creation is not new in Star Trek, but as for "accepting" Janeway as a full fledged Captain worthy to follow in the footsteps of Kirk and Picard, this episode is pivotal. I also like it for several other reasons. All the fears of the aliens in stasis become manifested in the persona of a clown. I like that choice because fear does not creep into our psyches with our embracing something that is obviously ugly, dreadful or fear provoking. It is more insiduous and often we will laugh at something we fear at first or at people we do not understand and then later on, become fearful of that very thing or person. Clowns can also be frightening as well as funny.

Janeway's monologue on the nature of Fear and handling of the conclusion of the episode reminds me of the best of James T Kirk and his rousing monologues and as good as any of Picard's Shakespearean-type deliveries. It is quintessential "captain-ness" if I can call it that. The Classic Conclusion to an episode that Star Trek fans look forward to and expect. One that "wraps things up" in a way that touches us, makes sense and inspires us to become better human beings. The best of Janeway and Star Trek.moreless
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Should stay frozen...

5.0

By fifth_dimension, Aug 25, 2011

In fact put it as far back into the nether-regions of your freezer as you possibly can and just leave it there. If you are unfortunate enough to have already sampled it, throw it back in and try and forget about it.

The episode starts off interestingly enough (not truly unique though) with the discovery of a batch of cryogenic preservation capsules, but it trips over it's own feet practically after taking one step. As soon as we get a glimpse into the "world" that the people in these capsules find themselves trapped, it is hard not to have the thought of `foolish` or `What Is This` pop into your head. From the out of place use of a multitude of colours, the presentation of the AI though acrobats, midgets and the insane, to the enviromental pieces looking like they come straight out of the movie Toys or a giants playpen, the viewer cannot help but seperate himself from what he is watching and from the any idea of theme that the writers of this episode were trying to get across. There just seems to be a insurrmountable clash between the message and theme of the episode and the way it is presented or manifested visually. This artifical world the characters find themselves in is supposed to be one of confusion, fear, insanity, desperation, hoplessness and death, and although what we are given visually can be said to represent some of these feelings or moods, they do so in a way that is lacks a punch or that fails to really get them across effectively. These moods would have manifested themselves more effectively a darker presentation, anything along the lines of what a horror movie usually presents you with in terms of image....dark, spires, dank dwellings, prisons, insane asylums etc. Even though some of that is not terribly original, it would still be more in line in terms of what most people would envision when they think of a hopeless situation in which one is faced with constant threat, terror and even death. A brightly lit room, full of primary colours, annoying chanting and screaming and body contortions lead by a clown that lacks any kind of physical deformity hardly puts a scare into you. Annoying to the point of insanity, yes.....terror inducing to the point of insanity, no. The whole weak and foolish presentation is reminiscient of "Move Along Home" from DS9 Season One and if you were unlucky enough to have sat through both that one and this one as I have, I can assure you I feel for you. The ending or solution to this episode, like the DS9 one, works, but again is unfulfilling or leaves you kind of scratching your head as to what the point of the whole thing was. True Janeway did trick Fear the clown and as a result managed to free her crewmates and the trapped inhabitants of the ice planet, but she did so in a way that did not really defeat her opponent. It leaves the viewer wondering if the strength of the emotion fear (and the corresponding character it was represented by) is as in fact as insurrmountable as it is made out to be. Tricking your way around something hardly qualifies as achieving a victory or overcoming something by addressing it head on. If there is anything positive to say about this episode I guess it is this question we are left with through just another instance of bad writing that is found all throughout it.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Robert Picardo	The Doctor
Kate Mulgrew	Captain Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran	Commander Chakotay
Roxann Dawson	Lt. B'Elanna Torres
Jennifer Lien	Kes
Ethan Phillips	Neelix

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Thomas Kopache	Viorsa	Guest Star
Carel Struycken	Spectre	Guest Star
Patty Maloney	Little Woman	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Trivia: Members of Cirque du Soleil are the acrobats and performers represented in the simulation. Also, Simon Leclerc, who directed Cirque du Soleil's KA, is one of the composers for Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise.
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- Stardate: 49610.3
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QUOTES (11)
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- Janeway: Doctor, if we do simply disconnect the hostages...
  The Doctor: There would certainly be brain damage.
  Janeway: How much damage? Could you possibly repair it?
  The Doctor: Possibly, yes. Would Mr. Kim still be able to hold his clarinet when I was done.... possibly.
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- (talking to Fear)
  Janeway: I've known fear. It's a very healthy thing most of the time. You warn us of danger, remind us of our limits, protect us from carelessness. I've learned to trust fear. You know as well as I do that fear only exists for one purpose - to be conquered.
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- Torres: It just wouldn't be the same. Artificial intelligence can never replace real brain functions.
  The Doctor: I'll choose not to take that personally...
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- Janeway: Isn't there more to fear than a simple demand to exist? Why do people enjoy dangerous sports or holodeck adventures with the safety off? Why, after all these centuries, do children still ride on roller coasters?
  The Doctor: Fear can provide pleasure. To seek fear is to seek the boundaries of one's sensory experience.
  Janeway: But what does fear seek... at the end of the ride?
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- Fear: You're different. I don't know anything about you. You're not on the system.
  The Doctor: I would be pleased to tell you all about myself at a more appropriate time. For now, suffice it to say that I am here by a miracle of technology.
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- Harry: Are you a lifeform? Or some kind of computer virus that penetrated this system?
  Fear: (laughs) A virus, a virus, he thinks I am a virus! He thinks I am a virus! Well, perhaps I'll be a virus today. (sneezes)
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- Harry: Susan Nicolletti and I have been working on a new orchestral program for the holodeck.
  Tom: Lieutenant Nicolletti? The one I've been chasing for six months? Cold hands, cold heart?
  Harry: Not when she plays the oboe.
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- Harry: Where am I supposed to practice?
  Tom: How about cargo bay?
  Harry: Bad acoustics.
  Tom: We could get Baytar transferred to the night shift.
  Harry: We couldn't do that. (laughs) Could we?
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- Fear: How am I supposed to negotiate if I don't know what you're thinking?!
  The Doctor: I have a very trustworthy face.
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- Fear: I'm afraid.
  Janeway: I know.
  Fear: Drat.
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- Fear: Well, you certainly know how to bring a party to a halt.
  Doctor: I don't get out very much.
  Fear: I bet.
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NOTES (1)
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- Carel Struyken also played Lwaxana Troi's manservant, Mr. Homn, in Star Trek:The Next Generation.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- The Wizard Of Oz:
  
  The Clown's reciting of "there's no place like home" and "clicking heels together three times" are references to The Wizard Of Oz by L. Frank Baum. In the story and movie, the main character of Dorothy (who is lost and far from home) must perform those things before she could return to her home in Kansas.
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