MovieChat Forums > Star Trek: Voyager (1995) Discussion > Threshold - The Worst Episode Ever

Threshold - The Worst Episode Ever

posted 4 years ago by [deleted]
12 replies | jump to latest

I hadn't seen this episode for many years, but I have enjoyed SF Debris' hilarious and damning criticism of it, and it really is as bad as they say it is: Tom Paris breaks the Warp 10 barrier, and then evolves into the next stage of human evolution (a salamander) and mates with Captain Janeway (also a salamander).

I've heard it said that the episode is so bad, it should be struck from canon (and no doubt has been in many fans' minds) but it is still available on Netflix, apparently, and no doubt elsewhere for others to endure its cringeworthiness.

I'm actually wondering why they would write such a bad episode? I figure that it was a way of stopping the writers from exploring the many ways in the first season that Voyager was on the brink of returning home, but being denied at the last second. Many episodes in the first season had ways of returning home made available, only for some twist to prevent that at the last moment. Maybe it was a flaw with the show's premise, especially since they were mostly under no real threat in those early episodes and lived in relative comfort, but maybe fans complained about those episodes and that the writers thought this storyline could silence any further debate on Transwarp or any FTW (Faster Than Warp) technologies. Of course, that never happened, but I do wonder why they would write such a bad story, other than as a deterrent to investigating such new technologies.

In any case, I wonder at the scene where they discover the space salamanders, whether anyone on the cast or crew could keep a straight face during filming. I would love to see the outtakes with the following lines:
CHAKOTAY: I wonder which one's the Captain?
TUVOK: The female, obviously.
and at the sight of the salamanders' offspring slithering away into a pond:
CHAKOTAY: I don't know how I'm going to enter this into the log.
TUVOK: I look forward to reading it.
You can just see Robert Beltran and Tim Russ were going to burst into laughter, and it took all their willpower to remain composed!

All in all, a BAD episode! I might just watch the SF Debris review of it again, in fact.

[–] twinA (4826) 4 years ago

Brannon Braga had the dubious honor of writing this episode. It seems the best explanation out there was that he simply wanted to push boundaries outside of the usual Star Trek scope when the opportunity presented itself. It didn't help that his time in the main writer's chair was still a brand new experience, still being in tandem, potentially effecting the quality of his work.

The fault here lies on the editors who allowed or severely overlooked this episode during its production before being put on screen. Paraphrasing Braga, he reportedly said of "Threshold" that it was "a steaming pile of crap." Here is a brief Star Trek review site if you're interested.

Kethinov Star Trek reviews: (Threshold)

http://www.kethinov.com/startrekepisodes.php?series=4&season=2&epnumber=15

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

You make an interesting point as why they would write such a bad episode.

It really was over the top, actually it reminded me a bit of Star Trek: Next Generation episode Genesis where they also have members of the crew mutating into different beings like amphibians, spiders, etc.

Interestingly Brannon Braga also wrote that episode.

Will have to check that hilarious episode review that you speak of. :)

[–] twinA (4826) 4 years ago

Perhaps it was the Star Trek Voyager season 1 special features; in any case, Braga himself stated in an interview that he is a huge fan of horror.

We see this influence in episodes such as "The Phage", which introduced the flesh-altered Vividians, who stole bodily organs and other tissues to create skin grafts in an attempt to fight off a virus only they were susceptible towards.

He did tone down these elements once he had more experience under his belt as the head writer.

~~/o/

[–] raymondoz2007 (2037) 4 years ago

at least Tom had sex with the Captain

[–] TexasJack (12515) 4 years ago

I still can't get over how bad it was.

[–] JestersDead (485) 4 years ago

At least it was entertaining in a perverse way.

For me, one of the worse is when the Doctor is transported to Earth to save his creator, and it's just 40 minutes of 2 men shouting at each other.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

The Doctor episode you describe was BETTER in every way.

[–] JestersDead (485) 4 years ago

If you like shouting then yes.

[–] Zinger (2155) 4 years ago

To me, Threshold was goofy nonsense. Totally acceptable.

11:59 on the other hand was appalling.

[–] MediumGiantAnt (15) 4 years ago

My favorite part was how at the end the crew was like "Oh, don't worry, we can fix this. Turning salamanders into people is totally no problem. That's, like, easily within our capabilities."

I actually found "The Good Shepherd" much more irritating, because it was terrible but took itself seriously. At least with this one it was more self consciously goofy.

[–] VanZan (831) 2 years ago

I think they were going for a "body horror" type episode and it kinda worked when Tom Paris was changing. The parts of the episode where horrible changes were happening to his body were quite unsettling.

But why the fuck they ended it with him having salamander children with Janeway is anyone's guess.