Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 19 Think Tank

All right, Janeway, you've faced some of the scariest threats in the quadrant. Let's see how you handle matching wits with Duckman.

An enigmatic group of thinkers led by a Mr. Kurros (George Costanza In Space) solve problems in the Delta Quadrant, but at a price, and Kurros wants what is agreed upon for payment, common ethics and morality be damned.

As it turns out, Voyager has a problem; they've been caught in a trap by Hazari bounty hunters!

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This episode provides examples of:

• Alien Non-Interference Clause: The Think Tank has a very light one; any job that helps people and advances the Think Tank's knowledge is fair game, save for those involving genocide or Weapons of Mass Destruction, as that would destroy uniqueness, the one thing the Think Tank values the most.
• Aliens Speaking English: Averted for a Chekhov's Gun.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: The Evil Plan is to force Seven into this position, so she has to join the Think Tank regardless.
• Answer Cut: Janeway wonders why the Hazari didn't chase them. Cut to Astrometrics where the Hazari Paradox is shown.
• Badass Crew: A reiteration of just how amazing the crew of Voyager are at kicking ass; they set a trap of their own against the Hazari, hijack their shuttles and beam them in under guard!
• Badass Boast: The Hzari commander gives as good as he gets.
  Janeway: We're far from defenseless. Why don't you save yourself some trouble?
  Y'Sek: It's no trouble.
• Batman Gambit:
  • The Hazari set one for Voyager in the form of a planetoid laced with dilithium. When Voyager scans it, it explodes .
  • To disrupt the thoroughly disingenuous Think Tank's operations, Voyager and the Hazari play-act their battle to more believably deliver Seven into the Think Tank's hands as her making a Heroic Sacrifice to save her crewmates.
  • When the Think Tank see through this act they hack Seven's brain, enabling Voyager's crew to hack them in turn to knock out the Think Tank's Universal Translator.
• Bolivian Army Ending: A variation! Voyager takes off to find a whole new Monster of the Week, leaving the villains stuck having to fend off numerous Hazari ships. Too bad, so sad.
• Booby Trap
  • The Hazari blow up an entire planetoid to immobilize Voyager's warp field.
  • Voyager plants subspace charges in a fake debris field.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Kurros wants: the unreliable Quantum Slipstream technology, Neelix's recipe for Chadre'Kab, Chakotay's ancient Olmec figurine... and Seven of Nine.
• Call-Back:
  • Kurros claims that his Think Tank have discovered a cure for the Vidiian Phage!
  • Voyager's helped a lot of species out with their replicators, so that's what Janeway recommends as payment for taking care of the Hazari problem.
  • Janeway warns Kurros that they never got Quantum Slipstream Drive to work reliably.
  • Chakotay suggests the Devore as a possible client of the bounty hunters.
  • Kim suggests using the multi-spatial probe to find the Think Tank.
  • The bomb in the fake debris field trick was used by the Romulans against Captain Kirk in "Balance of Terror".
• Casting Gag: Jason Alexander playing Mr. Kurros, who wants a woman named Seven because she is unique, then throws a fit when he's not allowed to have her, is almost certainly an intentional nod to George Costanza wanting to name his first born Seven and throwing a fit when someone else decides to name their kid Seven, because it ruins the uniqueness of the name.
• Chekhov's Gun: An impossible game that Tom brought aboard that has Janeway stumped, becomes proof that Seven has the ultimate solution to their dilemma with the Think Tank. And it is purely that she is, and always has been, a Pragmatic Hero.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Averted — the Hazari apparently betray Janeway's plan to Kurros in exchange for a tripled fee, but it turns out to be All According to Plan.
• Come Alone: Kurros says that Janeway is free to visit his ship, but should only bring one crewmember as an escort. Of course, he probably figured she'd bring Seven of Nine.
• Curse of Babel: Seven with the help of Voyager severs the telepathic link of Kurros' group so that they will not be able to communicate with each other.
• Cutting the Knot: A light puzzle game that has Voyager stumped as far as the solution is solved by Seven simply scanning the puzzle and then pushing the right buttons. This gives Janeway a "Eureka!" Moment: since it's impossible to outsmart the Think Tank, they'll have to lay a similar "cheating" trap instead.
• Deadpan Snarker: Janeway's parting suggestion to Kurros. "Why don't you give it some...thought?"
• Double-Meaning Title: Both the group, the "Think Tank" as well as the actual think tank the Voyager crew form with the Hazari toward the end.
• Enemy Mine: The Hazari are quite willing to help the Voyager crew out after Janeway reveals they've been duped by the Think Tank, who are worth a much more hefty reward from all the enemies they've made over the years.
• Engineered Heroics: Kurros set the Hazari on Voyager so he could then come and offer to help them in exchange for Seven.
• Establishing Character Moment: The Cold Open does a great job setting up Kurros's Faux Affably Evil and Insufferable Genius personality. The Think Tank has just saved an alien world from seismic earthquakes and demand an extremely rare ore as payment. The planet's representative explains that the ore was lost in one of the quakes, but Kurros snaps that he already knows it's a lie, as the Tank detected them warping it away. The representative then begs them to take something else, as the aliens need the ore to fuel their replicators and thus feed their people — but Kurros refuses to budge and says that he'll let their world be destroyed if he doesn't get exactly what he wants.
• Faux Affably Evil: Kurros. A cool, polite tone threatens to take back that what was given unless payment is received, even if it would spell certain death for those who've contracted with him.
• Finger-Tenting: Kurros, along with his robes and polite demeanor it gives him a guru-like vibe.
• For Science!: Helping people is a desirable side effect to what the Think Tank really want: improving their knowledge.
• Get Out!: When Kurros gets snippy about really wanting Seven, Janeway has the shields remodulated to kick his hologram— erm, isomorphic projection off the ship.
• Gilded Cage:
  • Kurros gives a Hannibal Lecture, pointing out that on Voyager, Seven is unable to explore the full limits of her potential; that she'll always be just short of perfection, and claims that with the Think Tank, she will be one of the greatest minds in the galaxy.
  • The second time is when Kurros has been defeated, but Seven replies that while the pursuit of knowledge is a worthy goal, it hasn't done the Think Tank any favors in terms of diplomacy.
• Guile Heroine
• I Gave My Word: The Hazari are famous for fulfilling their contracts under any circumstance. This may be the reason why they're willing to work with the Voyager crew for revenge against the Think Tank, who lied to them and thus broke the code of honor (well, that and the much bigger reward for the Think Tank's capture).
  Tuvok: The size of the bounty is immaterial. According to Seven of Nine, the Hazari pride themselves on honoring their agreements.
  Harry Kim: Great. Bounty hunters with a work ethic.
• I Know You Know I Know: The Hazari Paradox
  Kurros: Is it an escape route or is it a trap? Do they know that you know that they know? It is the best kind of puzzle.
• It's the Only Way: The Hazari blow up a planetoid, destablising Voyager's warp drive and trapping them in a field of inflammable gas. Faced with a demand to surrender, Janeway diverts power to the shields and fires on the gas, blowing them clear so they can do a Hyperspeed Escape.
• Invisibility Cloak: The Think Tank hides in a subspace flux.
• Laser-Guided Karma: For its deception, coercion and lacking of moral compass, Voyager leaves the Think Tank to the mercy of the vengeful Hazari:
  Janeway: Well, I'm sure you'll find a solution. Just give it some... thought.
• Made of Indestructium: That 'ole sci-fi one, neutronium, to show the advanced technology of the Think Tank's vessel. And they're going to need it, what with all those Hazari pounding on them.
• Mandatory Line: B'Elanna gets maybe two lines in the brainstorming session with the Hazari leader. She'd more than make up for that next episode.
• Mind Meld: Tuvok unsuccessfully attempts one on the Hazari.
• Mind Probe: Which backfires on the Think Tank when they interlink with Seven to find out what Janeway's plotting. They discover the hard way.
• Must Have Caffeine
  Neelix: Should I have the Doctor prepare a hypospray?
  Janeway: Excuse me?
  Neelix: So you can absorb the caffeine more directly.
• Mythology Gag: One of the Think Tank whose specialty is temporal physics finds Janeway intriguing, presumably thanks to all those times she's broken the Temporal Prime Directive.
• Never Tell Me the Odds!
  Kurros: If you do not convince Seven of Nine to join us now, the destruction of your ship is 99.8% certain.
  Janeway (to Tuvok): Fire.
• Nominal Hero: The Think Tank sees nothing wrong with requesting people as payment for their beneficial deeds. That's how Kurros was 'recruited,' and it's how he hope to 'recruit' Seven.
• Not a Morning Person: Beevox.
• Pet the Dog: Kurros drops a free bit of tactical advice against the Hazari, and it works. Subverted in that he's the one who hired the Hazari in the first place, and this show of kindness is just a trick to get Janeway to hire the Think Tank.
• Planar Shockwave: When the planetoid explodes.
• Playing Both Sides: The Think Tank hired the Hazari to menace Voyager so Voyager would have to come to them for help in escaping, the payment for which will include Seven. As soon as the crew figures out the former, the plan falls apart.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Once Janeway determines that Kurros is The Chessmaster for the episode, she suggests that Voyager and the Hazari work together to take down the Think Tank in revenge. The Hazari happily agree — not only did the Think Tank trick them into a contract under false pretenses, but there's a much fatter bounty on the group due to their long history of making enemies.
• Projected Man: Kurros first appears to Janeway as an 'isomorphic projection' that can even drink her coffee!
• Properly Paranoid: Kurros rightly suspects that Seven's surrender has an ulterior motive, one he figures he can instantly learn by plugging her into their neural link. Unfortunately for him, that is the ulterior motive.
• Puny Earthlings: Kurros commits a faux pas when he refers to the 'limited lifeforms' on Voyager. He quickly backpedals when Seven takes offense.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Seven notes that the quest for knowledge has not elevated Kurros.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Voyager makes no effort to aid the now-crippled Think Tank, and leaves as their vessel is hammered by the vengeful Hazari.
• Rubik's Cube: International Genius Symbol: Subverted; a Rubix-like puzzle called Sheer Lunacy is driving the crew to frustration, even though Seven of Nine says the solution is easy. This appears to indicate Seven's genius, but she later reveals she just cheated by scanning the device. This gives Janeway a "Eureka!" Moment on how to defeat the Think Tank.
• Shame If Something Happened: Kurros pulls this on a planetary scale for his Establishing Character Moment.
• Shoot the Medic First: When two Hazari ships attack in tandem, one hangs back to reinforce the other's shields. The best strategy in dealing with them, therefore, is to target the support vessel before taking on the attacker directly.
• Smug Snake: Kurros oozes pride whenever a plan of the Think Tank comes together.
• Space Whale: Bevvox, an ancient bioplasmic lifeform that founded the Think Tank.
• Species of Hats: The Hazari are a species of Bounty Hunters, with no indication that they do anything else.
• Spot the Thread: The Hazari have supposedly been hired by the Malon, which makes little sense given that they're motivated by profit rather than revenge. Though there are few other Big Bad's available — the Borg and Hirogen don't subcontract and the Kazon are too far away by now.
• Starfish Aliens: The jellyfish-like alien that is the Think Tank's expert on temporal physics.
• Title Drop: Janeway gives Kurros the inspiration for calling his group a "Think Tank."
  Kurros: I am a member of a small group. Explorers, like you. But we seek out challenges, problems to be solved. Technological, biological, social, even artistic.
  Janeway: A Think Tank.
  Kurros: I like that. It's very...apt.
• Trap Is the Only Option: After Voyager triggers their "exploding planetoid" trap, the Hazari don't bother with a pursuit because they have ships positioned all over the sector. Janeway even lampshades that the few seemingly available ways out are probably ambushes in waiting.
• Trespassing to Talk: Kurros' isomorphic projection.
• Trojan Prisoner: Seven fakes a surrender to the Think Tank, betting that even if they see through the ruse they'll plug her into the neural link on their ship. She's been given Trojan malware to make that a big mistake.
• The Unintelligible: Fennim, Kurros' greeter; Bevvox, the bioplasmic life form, and the robot, when not communicating telepathically.
• Universal Translator: The Think Tank's telepathic communication core, but it only works for the Think Tank.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Downplayed. Only the final step of the plan is revealed before the execution, and nothing else; regardless, the plan succeeds without a hitch.
• Unobtainium: The Think Tank's vessel uses that old Trek standby, neutronium, for its hull.
• Villain Opening Scene: The amoral nature of the Think Tank is established in the opening scene when they blackmail the leader of a planet for the payment they had demanded earlier.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: With none of the writing crew wanting to ever visit the Vidiians again, this episode takes the opportunity to let the audience know that the Phage has been cured.
• Why Isn't It Attacking?: Janeway is immediately suspicious why the first Hazari attack ships don't pursue them. Turns out they're already surrounded with reinforcements throughout the sector.
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: The explosion of the planetoid creates a cloud of gas that knocks out Voyager's engines. When Janeway orders the phasers charged, Y'Sek says she's bluffing, as firing would ignite the gas. Janeway raises the shields to maximum and fires anyway, the blast throwing them clear.

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