Symbiogenesis

Story: Tuvix
Written By: Andrew Shepard Price, Mark Gaberman, and Kenneth Biller
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Year: 1996

This is an odd one. A transporter accident merges the bodies and minds of Tuvok and Neelix. The result is a new man who refers to himself as Tuvix. At first there is no medical way to fix him, so he decides to become a member of the crew and try and live his life. I have trouble buying that he is 50/50 of both. He may look like both physically, but saying illogical a couple of times doesn’t make him half Vulcan. He seems like a subdued and tolerable version of Neelix. I think I’d rather just have Tuvok.
A problem arises when the Doctor discovers a way to separate them, but Tuvix objects, calling it murder. You can see his point, he feels like a new person, and in the two weeks he has been aboard the ship he has made friends and proven to be both a good advisor to Janeway, a better cook than Neelix, and a good tactical officer. He has made friends with most of the crew and then Janeway ORDERS HIM TO DIE.

She just comes off like a cold blooded murderer, and the fact that he seems to have the best of both worlds…it seems totally odd and wrong to make her decision the way she does other than to get the regulars back. In that case why do the episode at all? Most fans seem to agree that Janeway is in the wrong.

Oh and if there was ever a need for the writers to just put a dunce hat on Harry Kim, it is when the Doctor asks him a question about separating two people in the transporter, and he remarks “Wait a minute, this is about Tuvix isn’t it?” DUH Harry! Who the hell else is going to be about? Jesus Christ how’d he pass Starfleet Academy?

Not a terrible episode, but not good.

NEXT TIME: Searching for a Cure