The Thaw

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.

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.

Since there are well over 150 episodes of this series, isn't it kind of nice for one of them to be a bit off the path. When people get all ticked off about something tht doesn't follow the same old "us against the aliens" plot, they send out their depth charges. This is far from a perfect episode but it is creative and thought provoking and sort of frightening. And I thought the "Fear" character was a stitch. I mean, you had to hate him. Of course, if you try to apply conventional criticism to this one, you aren't going to be happy. Just be happy that the next installment will probably be what you want.

Absolutely creepy and one of a kind. Done well overall.

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."