Voyager – Death Wish

We may appear omnipotent to you, but we’re not

– Q  (Star Trek Voyager, Death Wish, S2 E18)

There’s something about this episode that always gets me. Maybe it’s the acting, maybe it’s the writing, maybe it’s even the subject matter of the episode… whatever it is… Death Wish is probably one of my most favorite of the Star Trek Voyager episodes.

They’re afraid of me because they’re afraid of the unknown…

– Q (Star Trek Voyager, Death Wish, S2 E18)

The one thing I want, more than any other, is to die…

– Q (Star Trek Voyager, Death Wish, S2 E18)

The plot of the episode: One of the members of the Q Continuum wished to commit suicide. This forced the Q Continuum to confine him inside a comet in an attempt to stop Q from ending his life. They did this out of fear. The Q Continuum was afraid because they had no idea what a Q suicide would do to their society…

So when Q was freed from his prison accidentally by the Voyager crew and another one of the Q showed up to place him back in his prison, the freed Q asked Captain Janeway for asylum. That request was eventually granted. After being granted asylum, the other Q then makes Q a mortal.

Captain Janeway, in her childishness, requires that the now mortal Q continue living and not attempt suicide.

But Q gets his wish in the end.

Q, with the help of another Q, commits suicide shortly later.

SO…

Write that down in the history books. A Star Trek episode that not only deals with assisted suicide but also the States intrusion into the inherent rights of the individual.

In a way I feel like this episode was refreshing… it is so different from all of the other episodes of Voyager, which generally follow the ‘monster of the week’ format or the ‘Borg Threat’ story line.

There’s just something about it.

It’s like you get closure from the episode so there’s nothing more to say.