The Thaw
- Episode aired Apr 29, 1996
- TV-PG
- 46m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Voyager finds a group of people in connected stasis chambers where something has gone terribly wrong.Voyager finds a group of people in connected stasis chambers where something has gone terribly wrong.Voyager finds a group of people in connected stasis chambers where something has gone terribly wrong.
Roxann Dawson
- Lt. B'Elanna Torres
- (as Roxann Biggs-Dawson)
Mark Chadwick
- Clown Guard
- (uncredited)
Damaris Cordelia
- Security Guard
- (uncredited)
Christine Delgado
- Lt. Susan Nicoletti
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
10MichZes
This looks a great deal like the original series in its visuals and dialogue. I think this is a great throwback to the Original series. The costumes especially remind me of the original. The costumes look as if the wardrobe department shopped at a garage sale for these items.
The Voyager crew inspects an apparently deserted planet only to receive an automated message from a cryogenic system which was created to hold the planet's last survivors. It is then found that even though the disaster that the survivors were trying to ride out has come to pass they are still in stasis. When the crew realizes this they beam the cryopods to the cargo bay and find that the people are connected together in some sort of program where their brains are reacting with one another. Inside the program the personification of fear torments the survivors with their deepest darkest fears to the point where some die from the stress. It has been one of my personal favorite episodes of Star Trek: Voyager" (1995) since it first aired and raises many questions about fear, and how we react to it.
This is worth an 11 just for the sight of Michael McKean hamming it up. A thought-provoking episode that begs the question "If it's possible to keep human minds alive in an artificially created world, isn't it statistically more likely that we're all living in such a world already."
Voyager discovers a planet with virtually all life wiped out except for 3 survivors who have been held in stasis for 19 years.
This is a strong episode that is quite cinematic and features some very good performances.
The story has an excellent premise with interesting themes about the nature of fear. Everything that happens to the characters works within the sci-fi aspect and is quite intriguing. However, certain specifics that involve threats to the lives of the main characters can never fully work in episodic television.
Visually it is one of the best Star Trek episodes. It feels like something out of the Original Series with its basic concepts and vibrant 60s colours. There are minimal space/alien related effects-driven spectacle and lots of creepy carnivalesque imagery. The cinematography is very effective at maximising the weirdness by framing certain shots with all the background characters looking quite threatening behind the Fear Clown. David McKean looks hideous as this character and his performance is excellent.
How scary is it? I guess that is in eye of the beholder. If you suffer from coulrophobia you will probably find it pretty bad, but for me the horror aspect needs to be stronger given the subject matter. There are moments when characters are shown symbolically to be killed via guillotine, but I think it would have been very effective to portray them experience their worst fears and die as a result. Understandably though, it could not be made this way given it's constraint by censorship. Easily the most disturbing moment involves Harry as an old man and also as a baby. The sight of all those actors in evil costumes passing around a real baby (who looks terrified) is very unsettling and I would never have consented to that as a parent.
For me the performances are a mixed bag. MacKean and Robert Picardo have the best exchanges of dialogue by far and Katie Mulgrew is great as always. One of the guest stars slightly overacts and Garrett Wang's limited range shows a bit.
This is a strong episode that is quite cinematic and features some very good performances.
The story has an excellent premise with interesting themes about the nature of fear. Everything that happens to the characters works within the sci-fi aspect and is quite intriguing. However, certain specifics that involve threats to the lives of the main characters can never fully work in episodic television.
Visually it is one of the best Star Trek episodes. It feels like something out of the Original Series with its basic concepts and vibrant 60s colours. There are minimal space/alien related effects-driven spectacle and lots of creepy carnivalesque imagery. The cinematography is very effective at maximising the weirdness by framing certain shots with all the background characters looking quite threatening behind the Fear Clown. David McKean looks hideous as this character and his performance is excellent.
How scary is it? I guess that is in eye of the beholder. If you suffer from coulrophobia you will probably find it pretty bad, but for me the horror aspect needs to be stronger given the subject matter. There are moments when characters are shown symbolically to be killed via guillotine, but I think it would have been very effective to portray them experience their worst fears and die as a result. Understandably though, it could not be made this way given it's constraint by censorship. Easily the most disturbing moment involves Harry as an old man and also as a baby. The sight of all those actors in evil costumes passing around a real baby (who looks terrified) is very unsettling and I would never have consented to that as a parent.
For me the performances are a mixed bag. MacKean and Robert Picardo have the best exchanges of dialogue by far and Katie Mulgrew is great as always. One of the guest stars slightly overacts and Garrett Wang's limited range shows a bit.
Since its creation by Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek has explored the fear and doubts of humanity. Whether it was the Klingons in the original series or the Borg in TNG, the series seems to manufacture new ways fear and doubt can manifest itself.
The Thaw takes no backseat to the discussion. The performance by Michael McKean as fear, as well as the filming sequences that accentuate his creepy entourage, are superbly frightening. The costume design sprouts from one of Jim Henson's nightmares. The Thaw should have been nominated for an Emmy for set/costume design.
The thorough, scientific analysis of fear by the Voyager crew gives an enlightening take on how and why fear exists. This scientific approach is what makes so many Voyager episodes stand out.
Classic Voyager.
The Thaw takes no backseat to the discussion. The performance by Michael McKean as fear, as well as the filming sequences that accentuate his creepy entourage, are superbly frightening. The costume design sprouts from one of Jim Henson's nightmares. The Thaw should have been nominated for an Emmy for set/costume design.
The thorough, scientific analysis of fear by the Voyager crew gives an enlightening take on how and why fear exists. This scientific approach is what makes so many Voyager episodes stand out.
Classic Voyager.
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode's opening scene, in which Harry Kim and Tom Paris hold an idle conversation before Chakotay calls them to the bridge, was filmed as part of Death Wish (1996), but later edited out and reused here due to its generic nature.
- GoofsAs a Vulcan, Mr. Tuvok would presumably not be susceptible to the psychological effects of fear and could have intervened in the environment of the simulation. A similar situation arose in Spectre of the Gun (1968), in which the Enterprise NCC-1701 crew were forced into a recreation of the gunfight at the OK Corral in Arizona in 1881. Recognizing that these images were entirely fictitious and therefore could do him no harm, Mr. Spock had no fear, and the gunfighters could do him no harm.
- Quotes
Clown: How am I supposed to negotiate if I don't know what you're thinking?
The Doctor: I have a very trustworthy face.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Star Trek: Nemesis Review (2009)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
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- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 46m
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3
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