Blink of an Eye
- Episode aired Jan 19, 2000
- TV-PG
- 44m
Voyager becomes trapped in orbit of a planet where time passes rapidly, days within seconds, and enters the mythos of its indigenous people.Voyager becomes trapped in orbit of a planet where time passes rapidly, days within seconds, and enters the mythos of its indigenous people.Voyager becomes trapped in orbit of a planet where time passes rapidly, days within seconds, and enters the mythos of its indigenous people.
- Astronaut - Tureena
- (as Kat Sawyer-Young)
- Tribal Alien
- (as Walter Hamilton McCready)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe script was being prepped for shooting under the title "Wink of an Eye" when production realized that there was already a show called Wink of an Eye (1968). Furthering the coincidence, both stories feature aliens existing at a much faster rate who visit the ship and see the slower crew apparently "frozen."
- GoofsAs the planet's astronauts approach Voyager, they receive a transmission from the planet that accelerates to the point of sounding like a squeal; however, when the astronauts board Voyager, they observe the Voyager crew is frozen in time, indicating that the astronauts are still in sync with the planet's time rate. The radio transmission should have been understandable.
- Quotes
Chakotay: If there's an intelligent species down there, we'll be able to track their development, not just for days or weeks, but for centuries.
B'Elanna Torres: Watch them discover new and better ways of beating each other over the head.
Chakotay: They won't necessarily follow the Klingon model.
B'Elanna Torres: As opposed to the human model?
- ConnectionsReferences Star Trek: Wink of an Eye (1968)
In a way this was told in the Next Generation 1st season 17th Ep called "Home Soil" - But in this case, the life form is not silicon based and they are Humanoid. It was also touched on in the 2nd Season DS9 17th Episode "Playing God" - A Proto Universe is developing. That is probably the same story as this, but happening in a smaller Quantum- So all they can see there is the overall growth of the Proto 'Verse- So that story lacked the personal human element this one has, except for maybe returning it where it belonged.
Here, we get a Donut Shaped Planet: "The Weird Planet Where Time Moved Very Fast And So Did the People Who Lived There." as Naomi Wildman describes it. Also - "What we got here is a Problem with Communication" - How do you talk to life forms that are living their whole lives in the span of a few minutes?
But there are other things to deal with - As Voyager attempts to leave orbit of this unlikely orb, they get stuck. They appear as a Star in the sky of this planet, but as the planet develops they make Telescopes and can make out Voyager's Features. And, the same conundrum that has Voyager stuck like a Fly on Flypaper is causing earthquakes.
But it is not Voyager's story of being stuck that makes this great or even interesting, it's how we are shown Vignettes of Life on the Planet as it develops through their centuries and Voyager's Minutes. But of ultimate interest is the story of the Astronaut played by Daniel Dae Kim and how he becomes an intermediary between his planet and Voyager. Basically it is the same as the Original Trek "Wink of an Eye" - Where we had aliens on the Enterprise that moved so fast they they sounded like Bugs when they talked. In this episode when Kim gets onto Voyager it's the same thing, but he is not there as an invader but as an explorer. Ironically it wasn't the change from his time to Voyager time that was a problem, but acclimation back into his own time-frame and society - Who scoffed at his return as the butt of jokes.
So his return in fact stifles those jokes once and for all. It is as if someone says "When the Sun sets down on the Moon" or "When Pigs Fly"- And then it Happens.
This was the one time Voyager was not saved by "Technobabble this" from Torres or "Borg Gadget That" from Seven. They were at the mercy of a Civilization who was the victim of their unintentional gravitational effects for a thousand years- And this one Astronaut who was dead by the time they actually left orbit.
How this planet could exist or why time is sped up on it's surface is not important, what is important is the story of the one enlightened being from the planet, the Astronaut played by Daniel Dae Kim.
- XweAponX
- Aug 24, 2013
Details
- Runtime44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3