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When Kim calls Tuvok's game of caltoe the "Vulcan chess," Tuvok dryly replies, "Caltoe is to chess as chess is to tic-tac-toe." Ouch. (Speaking of Vulcan ways, or, perhaps more specifically, Tuvokian ways: An example of Vulcan pride appears in an absolutely hilarious line from Tuvok, which harbors a touch-make that a ton-of superior attitude. Specifically, he has fallen in love at first sight with a holodeck character named Marayna (Geordi LaForge syndrome perhaps?), and now he needs Tuvok to help him overcome his distraction-the Vulcan way. Coming from scripter Joe Menosky-often renowned for his weird concepts on this series as well as TNG and DS9-"Alter Ego" is a surprisingly restrained outing.Īs the episode opens, we learn that Harry is having a problem controlling one of his emotions.
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"Lightweight" would be a good word for this installment, but that should be taken as a compliment-if it had tried to punch more buttons of intensity it probably wouldn't have been successful, because the routine nature of its storyline suits it much better to characterization than to plot. Still, "Alter Ego" manages to work for me anyway, because it's quiet about what it does, makes good use of the characters, has a high amiable factor, and, best of all, ends on a good note that is 100% Star Trek in its character outlook. Just about everything done here has been done before on The Next Generation in a similar fashion. There's nothing particularly special about "Alter Ego." It's a routine episode with a routine plot. Nutshell: Nothing earth-shaking, but a pleasant outing, and with a good ending. Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan "Hi, my name's Harry read-me-like-a-book Kim."
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