YMMV / Star Trek Voyager S 2 E 24 "Tuvix"

• Broken Base:
  • Even for a show that already has a Broken Base overall, this is easily one of the most controversial episodes of Voyager, thanks to the infamous ending. After all these years, Trekkies still get into heated discussions over it, and some fans never forgave Janeway for her actions.
  • Relatedly, the revelation in later years that the ending was changed from Tuvix agreeing to a Heroic Sacrifice, to Janeway forcing the decision on him. This has resulted in a divide between those who think that Tuvix voluntarily giving up his life would have been far nobler and more in keeping with the ideals of Star Trek, and those who feel it would have been another example of Voyager just side-stepping the moral dilemma.
• Fridge Horror:
  • Plenty, but what if the genetic and neurological trauma (whatever the degree) from this incident led to Tuvok's degenerative syndrome in the Bad Future of "Endgame"?
  • Do Tuvok and Neelix remember being Tuvix? How discomforting would that memory be, especially if you're Tuvok, who was already uncomfortable around that creepy warthog man? And do they remember their own execution?
  • Neelix tries to make friendly banter with Tuvok by singing the most cheerful-sounding Vulcan song he could find: a funeral dirge that starts with the lyrics "Oh starless night of boundless black...".
• Fridge Logic:
  • Just think; if Janeway or anyone else on board was aware of how Thomas Riker came to be, the solution would be slightly less of a moral quandary - just make another Tuvix!
    • It's implied in "Second Chances" that the accident that created Thomas Riker from Will Riker was specific to the environmental conditions on the planet at that time, meaning that someone can't just make a clone any time they want to do so.
    • Yes, but if you reprogram the computer to hold them in the transporter buffer after re-materialization and then re-run the command (probably involving overriding some sort of failsafe mechanism, something which would only be as complicated as the plot demanded it be)...
    • Neither Tuvix would want to die, however...
  • Tuvix is shown to be a mental fusion of Tuvok and Neelix as well as physical. His personality is a mix of theirs, and has the memories of both. However, he doesn't want to split back, despite being made from two people that didn't want to be merged with the other and would most likely want to split back into two individuals ASAP. Also, he doesn't exhibit any plant-like behaviour.
    • Note that, at first, Tuvix does want to be separated back. When the crew's first few attempts to reverse the symbiogenesis result in a lot of dead flowers, he says, "Are you saying I'm going to be this way forever?", implying that he would rather not be — probably because neither Tuvok nor Neelix would want to be that way. Over the next couple of weeks, though, he starts to grow into his new life and to develop his own distinct sense of identity. By the time the Doctor and Harry come up with the radioisotope procedure, Tuvix has fully come to see himself as Tuvix, a person, rather than a simple accident, and to realize that he, Tuvix, doesn't want to give up his life.
  • How many lungs does Tuvix have? And shouldn't he be partly Ocampan?
• Funny Moments: Which is certainly welcome in such an uncomfortable episode.
  Tuvix: Everybody out!
  Hogan: On whose authority?
  Tuvix: Chief of Security or Head Chef, take your pick. Out, out, out!
• Memetic Mutation: An easy way to rile up fan pages is just to bring up Tuvix. His plight and eventual fate is generally a source of Black Comedy amongst Trekkies.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Tuvix asking for support from the others and getting none.
  "DOESN'T ANYBODY SEE THAT THIS IS WRONG?!"
  • Janeway walking out of Sick Bay after performing the unmerging process, and struggling not to burst into tears.
  • Kes, throughout the episode, as she realizes that she can't mourn her lover and her friend with Tuvix walking around, expressing interest in having the same relationship with her. And then somehow even more when she goes to Janeway and breaks down in her arms about how much she wants Neelix back. Which becomes Harsher in Hindsight when she then breaks up with Neelix one season later when she leaves Voyager.
• The Scrappy: Although even those who see him as such will acknowledge that it's through no fault of his own, some can't help but see Tuvix as one giant pain in the rump. Even for those who normally don't care for any of the three characters, his desire to keep Tuvok and Neelix dead, and attempt to guilt trip Kes into siding with him against the lives of her lover and father-figure, make him difficult to empathize with.