Lineage

When it comes to Tom and B'Elanna, fans are divided. I belong to the faction that consider B'Elanna to be too one-dimensional and are also annoyed by her bad mood and her snappiness. I also don't notice any romantic chemistry between the two. They still behave as colleagues and not like a married couple in love. Looking at what happened to B'Elanna's father, I wouldn't bet on Tom that his marriage will last much longer. The two basically have nothing in common except that they serve on the same ship. Tom is a man-child who has completely different interests than the perpetually bad-tempered B'Elanna.

It's just lucky that B'Elanna doesn't get pregnant until halfway through the final season. Otherwise we would have had to deal with their parenting problems in episode after episode. And if B'Elanna is so afraid that Tom will leave her one day or that her children will be bullied by their classmates because of their Klingon origins - then why is she even in a relationship with Tom? By the way, with 150 crew members crammed together on Voyager for seven years, there should have been a dozen of babies by now.

The episode revolves around the question of whether it is justified to genetically modify an unborn child or whether this is ethically irresponsible. Basically like the movie Gattaca. But B'Elanna is more interested in fixing her own messed up youth by genetically removing any Klingon characteristics from her unborn child. Wasn't there something about banning genetic modifications? Because of the eugenic wars and stuff? Janeway doesn't seem to really care though. The fact that B'Elanna reprograms the doctor to ultimately get him to carry out the procedure is also not punished. Morals and laws are apparently very flexible on Voyager.

By the way: Does anyone really think that the guy who plays B'Elanna's father could have convinced a Klingon woman? Especially one that believes in warrior honor and all that Klingon nonsense. Such a woman would probably never have fallen in love with such a weakling.

Rewatching Voyager for the umpteenth time and seeing this episode through new eyes.

Interesting parallels of what it's like to be a POC and have people dismiss the struggles we deal with on a daily basis such as acceptance and fitting in.

Roxanna Dawson gives a stellar performance in portraying how she doesn't want her future child to experience what she went through. Tom being dismissive at first is what happens to a lot of minorities.

Not sure if the writer had this in mind back in 2001 (a simpler time!) but it's a brilliant portrayal of the need to be accepted and not seen for our physical appearances and cultures.

I've said it before. When these two get together, it's like wheel's spinning in the mud. For me, they are both one dimensional characters. They wouldn't have to be, but the writers seem to be intent on making them that. We have the man-child married to the confrontational Klingon woman. Here, a child is in the offing, and the responses are at best silly, from them and from the crew. B'Ellana's confrontation with her father and her guilt are at the center here. That's interesting, but her initial "persecution" seems slightly less than overwhelming. It's OK I guess. Mostly, I was hoping for something else to happen outside of this story.

Lineage, a heart felt well written episode, deals with the relationship between B'Elanna's Klingon and Human background. The episode written by James Kahn, writer of the "Return of the Jedi" novel, is not only applicable to contemporary life issues, but works with the 24th century world in Voyager. Identity issues are common in today's world and fictionally in the inter-species world of Star Trek. I think that some Trek fans forget that Gene Roddenberry's original vision was not just of a fictional, Scifi world, but a world that relates 24th century life to 20/21st century life. A vision that is both far reaching and grand, yet grounded in contemporary society, 'Lineage' lives up to that vision.

This is an interesting episode that further explores B'Elanna Torres and her self-loathing. When the show begins, B'Elanna finds out that she is pregnant. However, instead of being overjoyed, she is full of doubts and self-loathing. As a result of her terrible childhood and daddy abandonment issues, instead of being happy she's worried to death that the child will look Klingon and will feel left out when dealing with its peers. This IS odd considering how politically correct and nice everyone is during the 24th century--it's just hard to imagine any of the kids during this time not being 100% p.c.. But her concerns run much deeper--making her behave and think VERY irrationally.

At first, I didn't care for the episode. However, over time I started to appreciate B'Elanna's character and her struggles. All in all an interesting show--one well worth seeing.