Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 2 E 22 "Innocence"

Tuvok babysitting. What more could you want in an episode?

Tuvok has crashed a shuttlecraft into an alien moon. As his redshirt dies, he encounters three young Drayan children: Tressa, Corin, and Elani, who are also survivors of a recent ship crash. Tuvok promises to take care of them as he repairs his shuttle. Meanwhile, aboard Voyager, Janeway is preparing for first contact with the Drayans, a species that has remained uncommunicative with other cultures for decades. The Drayan ambassador, Alcia, is polite but reserved. When Janeway shows off the warp core, Alcia recalls how her own species renounced their pursuit of advanced technology and have avoided contact with other peoples to prevent straying back on their old path.

On the moon, Tuvok struggles to wrangle the children as he repairs his shuttle. The kids say that their folklore holds that the moon is the residence of a monster called the Morrok, who comes for you when you die. In fact, they were brought to this moon to die. Tuvok promises to protect them, discussing his own interpretation of death and teaching them Vulcan techniques for conquering one's fears. But in the morning, Corin and Elani have disappeared. Back on the ship, the Drayans learn of their own ship crash and discontinue their diplomatic mission. Janeway is disappointed, as she had hoped to stimulate trade for the Drayans' vital polyferranide. Things get worse when the crew sets about trying to recover Tuvok on the moon, prompting an angry call from Alcia for desecrating their holy site.

Janeway continues trying to recover Tuvok in the most Drayan-friendly way possible. Tuvok discovers childrens' discarded clothes in the cave where the Morrok supposedly lives, lending credence to Tressa's stories, though his sensors still cannot detect any other life signs. The Drayans have begun sending search parties for Tressa, who officially requests asylum from Tuvok. The pair try to make their escape, though the electromagnetic interference weakens their ship. As the Drayans attempt to shoot the shuttlecraft down, Janeway arrives in her own shuttlecraft. Tuvok explains the situation, and Janeway backs him. They land both shuttlecraft to confront the Drayans.

Back on the moon's surface, Janeway and Tuvok state their intention to protect Tressa even if it leads to conflict with the Drayans. Alcia chastises the Starfleet officers for meddling in things they don't understand. She finally explains that Tressa is not a child left to die but an elderly woman at the end of her life. Her people are born from a source of energy and age backwards. When the remainder of their life energy is about to run out, they return to the cave where the energy is located so they can rejoin it and renew the cycle. Alcia notes that Drayans at this point tend to regress back into innocence.

With new clarity, Tressa admits the truth and announces that she is finally ready to die. Stunned, Janeway apologizes, but Alcia appreciates their efforts to protect a child and notes that Tuvok has done an honored service in accompanying a child at the end of her life. Tressa tells Tuvok that he reminds her of her grandchildren, and Tuvok tells her that she will always remain in his thoughts. The others depart as Tuvok and Tressa walk into the cave.

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This episode contains examples of the following tropes:

• Accidental Unfortunate Gesture: Chakotay relates how on his first diplomatic mission he eagerly studied the aliens culture and made their gesture for "hello", only to accidentally proposition their ambassador, because the symbol had a different meaning according to one's gender.
• All Planets Are Earthlike: Drayan II presumably because the Drayans evolved there but it notably also has an Earthlike moon, Crysata.
• Armor-Piercing Question: As Tuvok works on the shuttle and answers the various questions the children ask him, he slowly grows annoyed with them. When he mentions having children of his own, one of them asks, since he doesn't have any emotions, would that mean he doesn't love his family. Tuvok doesn't immediately answer and eventually explains that it's not that he doesn't have emotions, but that he pushes them aside for clarity and logic. He states that his family is "a part of him," but it's pretty clear the question struck a nerve.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: The Drayans age backward, so the "children" Tuvok was caring for were actually their elderly.
• Captain Crash: Tuvok continues to give Chakotay competition for the title.
• Character Development: Despite his No Social Skills being a Running Gag in the past, the Doctor interacts well with the First Prelate, having been coached by Kes.
• Commonality Connection: Janeway is able to establish one with the technology-shunning Drayan, which makes it surprising when they abruptly leave the ship, requesting that Voyager go on their way.
• Continuity Nod: In "Tattoo", Voyager was searching for polyferranide but weren't allowed to mine all they wanted, hence their need for more supplies.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The Drayan soldiers searching for the children have a sinister appearance.
• A Day in the Limelight: A Tuvok episode - specifically, a taste of how Tuvok was as a father to his children back in the Alpha Quadrant.
• Declaration of Protection: Tuvok to the children.
• Don't Fear the Reaper
  Tressa: You said you would protect me.
  Tuvok: I cannot protect you from the natural conclusion of life, nor would I try. Vulcans consider death to be the completion of a journey. There is nothing to fear.
• Due to the Dead:
  • Tuvok covers Bennett with a stasis field.
  • The Drayans take offense when a shuttle crashes on the moon where their people go to die.
• Empty Piles of Clothing: Tuvok enters the cave and finds the clothing of the missing children.
• Explosive Instrumentation: Tuvok insists that Tressa move away from the console while they're taking off. Sure enough, it erupts in sparks and smoke.
• First Contact: With the Drayans, who have chosen to remain isolated from other races.
• Gilligan Cut: The children promise to sit quietly and not touch any of Tuvok's equipment. In the next scene, they're running around and playing with important equipment.
• The Glomp: Tuvok gets a Group Hug after telling the Drayan children he will see them home safely. He gets two more before his ordeal is over.
• Good Parents: Tuvok's care of the Drayan children, during which he frequently reflects on his care for his own children back in the Alpha Quadrant. He may not be "emotional," but he takes his duties as a parent/guardian very, very seriously.
• Harmful to Minors: When Tuvok has to leave Tressa to investigate the cave, he leaves her with a phaser, feeling she's mature enough to handle one.
• Hidden Depths: Tuvok sings the children to sleep.
• Hilarious Outtakes: Tim decided to have a bit of fun in the final shot when he leads the last elderly Drayan into the cave and suddenly bolts, going "I ain't goin' in there!"
• I Can't Feel My Legs!: Ensign Bennett meeting his fate. He might set a new standard for Red Shirts.
• Infinite Supplies
  • The warp drive can continue operating for three years without fuel.
  • Janeway is hoping to get permission from the Drayans to mine polyferranide.
• In Medias Res: The episode begins after Tuvok's shuttle has crashed, and it's only after the opening credits that we find out what led to this.
• Let Them Die Happy: As he doesn't have a family, Bennett thinks there's no-one who will mourn him when he's gone. Tuvok says that a certain female crewmember might well do so.
• Merlin Sickness: The Drayans age backwards until their oldest members become physically children and later decompose into nothingness.
• Mini-Me: A child with a closely-cropped head and ears that stick out expresses curiosity about Tuvok's Unusual Ears.
• No Body Left Behind: The Drayans' bodies apparently dissipate into nothing when they die, due to their internal energy losing cohesion. It's not stated whether this is only true of those who die from old age or if the Attendants who died in the crash also disappeared.
• Numbered Homeworld: The Drayans' home planet is called Drayan II.
• One-Product Planet: The Drayans have a moon with an Earthlike environment and only use it to dump their elderly on.
• Poor Communication Kills: A lot of the events of the episode could have been averted if the Drayans had just told the Voyager crew what was going on. However, being paranoid xenophobes, they aren't willing to explain anything.
• Psychopomp: Tuvok inadvertently acts in this role.
• Red Shirt: He dies right in the opening scene! At least Bennett has the dubious honor of being the only Voyager crewman who died in an accident.
• Space Amish: Implied by the Drayans, who have renounced the pursuit of new technology and distanced themselves from the influences of other cultures. Chakotay notes that some Earth cultures have done the same.
• You Remind Me of X: At the end, Tressa tells Tuvok he reminds her of her own grandson.