 3 clicksHow'd We Do it? |
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| Synopsis | An alien presence senses the anxiety
of the crew and draws Janeway, Chockotay, Neelix and The Doctor into a
Wizard of Oz holodeck fantasy. |
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| Major Character and Plot Points | Tom and B'Lanna working closely together. The wish for a quick way home. Harry's command Dilemma. | ||
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| Jerry's Comments | OK, we knew this one was s long shot
going in, but I was dying to tell this pitch even though I knew it had
an ice cube's chance in hell. The wizard of Oz has such a connection to
Voyager. They're looking for a way to click their heels and come home and
some may consider their predicament a bad dream they wish they could wake
up from.
Of coarse, Janeway was the natural Dorothy. I tinkered
with having it be B'Lanna, but it just didn't have as much punch. Chockotay
as the cowardly lion is plugged full of irony. He has a lot of aggressive
potential, but he holds it in check very well. Neelix as the Tin Man also
has a certain flavor. He is a rather emotional member of the crew. I have
to admit, the only reason why I would have cast the Doctor as the Scarecrow
was to have him be able to say, "Of course I could re-configure the
holo emitters, if I only had a brain." Jerry had actually toyed with this idea before. Another team had brought it in. They had decided not to go with it then and would have had to contract the other writers to write the episode if we convinced her to go with the concept.
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| The Pitch as Delivered | An alien presence is disturbed by the crew's anxieties
about home. It traps Janeway, Neelix, Chockotay and the Doctor in a Wizard
of Oz fantasy. Janeway - Dorothy, Chockotay - Lion, Doctor - Scarecrow
(so he can say, "Of course I could interface the holo-emitters, if
I only had a brain.") and Neelix - Tin Man. The crew notices that
they are missing and begins investigating. They interface the Doctor's
senses to figure out what's happening. With leadership in limbo and Torres,
Kes, Paris and Tuvok working to free the trapped crew, Harry is in command
of the ship. The 4 follow the story and end in the emerald city, confronting a wizard that is actually a well meaning alien who has integrated himself into the holodeck. The alien offers the crew the option of living out their entire lives in a fantasy - any fantasy they want, saying that this would dissolve their anxiety. They turn him down though, stating that nothing would make them more anxious than living fake lives. When they figure our what's happening, Torres and Paris enter the holodeck, and end up disrupting the alien's equilibrium. Unable to control the facade any longer, the situation becomes deadly for those trapped on the holodeck as well as to the entire ship. The alien, who was about to end the fantasy when Torres and Paris entered, is incapacitated and unable to let them out. Harry, monitoring from the bridge, notices the situation becoming hopeless and that the destruction of the ship may be about to occur if the holodeck is not shut down - killing the crew trapped within. Tuvok, busy trying to get the crew out of the holodeck, leaves the decision to shut down the holodeck up to Harry. Just as all seems hopeless, Janeway remembers how Dorothy escaped from Oz and clicks her heals, ending the ordeal. At the end, Janeway councils Harry on the trials of command and he states that he'd rather not have to make those kind of decisions - yet.
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