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chronotrek · 7 years

Text

741. [VOY] Lineage

SCORE:

(5/5 stars)

B'Elanna is going to work in a very good mood, so cheery it's borderline creepy. She has a sudden shift to crankiness when she sees Seven and Icheb working on the mezzanine without her authorization, but before she can read them the riot act, she feels lightheaded and begins to collapse. Icheb scans her and detects a foreign lifesign in her and worries she has a parasite, but Seven is a little wiser than that and calls the Doctor to expect a pregnant patient.

The Doctor gives her a clean bill of health, citing her fainting spell as just a clash of human and Klingon metabolisms, but he doesn't expect any major issues. B'Elanna doesn't want to know the sex of the baby yet, and she wants to keep the news between just her and Tom for now, but unfortunately, Icheb and Seven did not get that memo, and before they know it, they're each being congratulated by virtually every member of the crew.

He shows them a holographic projection of their child's spine ten months after birth, and there is pronounced curvature. B'Elanna notes that she had the same thing as a baby and had corrective surgery, as did her mother, so she's not too concerned with it. The Doctor accidentally lets the cat out of the bag on sex when he says that it runs in Klingon families, especially females. He attempts to backpedal but they say it's okay. Treatment has advanced since B'Elanna was born and surgery won't be necessary anymore as he can treat the imperfection genetically. Since he's analyzed the baby's genome, they ask him to show them a holographic recreation of the whole baby. Tom thinks the baby is beautiful and looks "just like her mother," but B'Elanna sees the ridges with consternation and begins having flashbacks.

When she was about twelve, her human father took her on a camping trip with her cousins and uncle. One of the cousins, a little shit, dropped a live worm on B'Elanna's sandwich since he heard Klingons prefer live food. This caused B'Elanna to get upset and run off until dark. When she returned, her dad took her aside and told her to not be so sensitive about her shitty racist cousins or the shitty racist kids at school and tried to relate it to when he was a kid and kids called him Snorres because he'd sleep in class. That's totally the same thing. Later that night, she overheard her dad and uncle talking where he confessed that he's having problems dealing with a household with two Klingons, and how he ignored his mother's advice not to marry a Klingon and appeared to now regret it.

After the genetic treatment is performed, B'Elanna goes to the holodeck and runs simulations on what her daughter will look like if she starts removing Klingon genes, and continues until the projected 12-year-old image of her daughter no longer has ridges. She proposes making these changes to the Doctor, but he isn't willing to just hack up her child's DNA willy-nilly. He tells her to discuss it with Tom while he agrees to at least look over B'Elanna's findings. Tom is totally opposed to this course of treatment, and the conversation leads to one where B'Elanna essentially tells Tom to check his human privilege because he doesn't know what it's like growing up when everyone is one way and you're another. She has struggled with her mixed heritage her whole life and doesn't want her daughter to go through the same thing she did.

They can't come to an agreement, and after B'Elanna unsuccessfully tries to get Janeway involved to override the Doctor's objections and has a further argument with Tom in the hallway, she locks him out of their quarters, so he spends the night at Harry's. The next morning, she's walking to the mess hall with Chakotay when Tom comes along, and Chakotay conveniently remembers that he's forgotten something, leaving the two alone to reconcile. They're soon called to sickbay, where the Doctor has revealed that after reviewing B'Elanna's findings, he thinks the alterations are now necessary as they point to metabolic incapatabilities between the human and Klingon genes. He says the sooner they treat, the better, and has scheduled the procedure for the morning.

Something doesn't sit right about the Doctor's sudden change of heart, and Tom takes his findings to Seven and Icheb to review. Icheb finds immediate problems with the Doctor's analysis, and he's not one to usually make mistakes. Seven realizes B'Elanna has tampered with his program, and Tom tries to hail her but gets no response. She's in Sickbay, where she's opted not to wait until morning to undergo the procedure. She's locked out the room and it takes Tuvok's security team to force the door open. After they tell the Doctor that his program has been altered, he agrees to deactivate himself until they can sort it out.

Tom has everyone else clear out of sickbay so he can talk things out with his wife. She relates the story of her camping trip with her father, and how after overhearing his complaints about how hard it is to live with Klingons, she stormed out of her tent and told him he should just leave. Two weeks later, he left. Tom realizes she fears he'll walk out on her too, and promises he'd never do that and he hopes to have many Klingon babies in their future. The Doctor's program is restored, and B'Elanna apologizes for altering it and asks the Doctor to be the child's godfather. The baby starts to kick, and she asks to see the projection one more time. "She is cute, isn't she?"

NITPICKS

At 8 years old, Alexander Rozhekno was already matured to the equivalent of a human teenager despite being a human/Klingon hybrid. Here is B'Elanna at 12, and she's only just as matured as a fully human 12-year-old. It could be that Klingon males and females develop at different rates, or an unusual interaction between the two genomes that express differently per sex.

When did Harry switch from clarinet to saxophone? I know they are played similarly, but this is the first time we've seen him play the sax.

FAVORITE QUOTES

Icheb: I'm detecting another lifesign. Seven: Where? Icheb: Inside Lieutenant Torres. It could be a parasite. [Seven checks his tricorder readings.] Seven: Seven of Nine to the Doctor. Doctor: Go ahead. Seven: I'll be accompanying Lieutenant Torres to Sickbay. Doctor: What's wrong? Seven: I believe she's pregnant.

Chakotay: Have you checked the warp core for radiation leaks today? Torres: No. Why? Chakotay: You have a certain glow about you.

Kim: It's all over now. No more late nights on the holodeck. No more racing the Delta Flyer. Paris: Don't you think you're exaggerating just a little? Kim: I've seen it happen. The new dad gets tied down with family. Old friends drop away. Paris: It's fatherhood , Harry, not exile. Kim: If you say so.

Tuvok: Offspring can be disturbingly illogical, yet profoundly fulfilling. You should anticipate paradox.

Paris: Maybe a change of scenery would help. How about the holodeck? Torres: That's your solution to everything.

Kim: Maybe you should tell her you understand. Paris: What good would that do? Kim: It might make her less defensive, and then maybe it would be easier for her to see your point of view. Paris: What if she can't? Kim: Like I said, my couch is your couch.

#star trek #voyager #voy #chronotrek #chronological #review #lineage #b'elanna torres #check your human privilege #mixed heritage #pregnancy

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