10 votes

Tuvix will never die

4 comments

  1. [4]
    moocow1452
    Link
    It's been a while since I saw the episode, but to my understanding, there wasn't a clock on Tuvix being unable to be broken down back into Tuvok and Neelix, so Janeway forcing the procedure seemed...

    It's been a while since I saw the episode, but to my understanding, there wasn't a clock on Tuvix being unable to be broken down back into Tuvok and Neelix, so Janeway forcing the procedure seemed odd. I get Tuvok and Neelix don't get a vote on whether Tuvix dies so they can live, but they could also inherit the trauma of separation or could prefer life merged for all we know. You get an extra body around for survival situations, but Tuvix seemed to better than the sum of his parts socially, and about the same professionally, with the disadvantage of not being able to run the mess and security at the same time.

    The reason given is that Kes couldn't deal, which implies that Janeway couldn't deal, and the crew didn't value Tuvix as much as their friends, or valued chain of command more than either.

    We really don't get any follow-up with Tuvok or Neelix after the experience as well, which I think would have gone a way to flesh out how they were taking all this.

    8 votes
    1. spctrvl
      Link Parent
      I think Voyager really suffered from the reset button mentality. It wasn't a good idea to enforce such an episodic structure on that kind of a story. Odd too, since in Deep Space 9, you had one of...

      I think Voyager really suffered from the reset button mentality. It wasn't a good idea to enforce such an episodic structure on that kind of a story. Odd too, since in Deep Space 9, you had one of the highly regarded pioneers of arc based television running simultaneously.

      7 votes
    2. [2]
      Bear
      Link Parent
      In my opinion those were all terrible reasons, especially since we did not see the crew not valuing Tuvix as much as Tuvok/Neelix. Also, when the Doctor refused to perform the procedure, citing...

      The reason given is that Kes couldn't deal, which implies that Janeway couldn't deal, and the crew didn't value Tuvix as much as their friends, or valued chain of command more than either.

      In my opinion those were all terrible reasons, especially since we did not see the crew not valuing Tuvix as much as Tuvok/Neelix.

      Also, when the Doctor refused to perform the procedure, citing medical ethics, that should have been a flashing red STOP sign for Janeway, as a check on her own moral compass.

      It appeared to me that, old relationships aside, and granting the obvious limitation that Tuvix could not cook while dealing with security matters, that the crew was better off with Tuvix.

      Not only was he one less mouth to feed/berth/etc (which is really important to a ship stranded far from home), but he had a unique flair that improved both security/tactical and the mess hall.

      In the end, Tuvix was killed because the reset button demanded that ship and crew be put back into place for next week's adventure, and Tuvix was never spoken of again, which was a huge loss. Tuvok and Neelix should have had a lot of story devoted to that.

      Would this have caused serious issues when Voyager got home, with no Tuvok to go back to his wife and children? Yes.

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. mrbig
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          One might say that this is a case in which different kinds of ethics are more often in conflict: virtue ("this is good due to its intrinsic nature"), consequentialist ("this is good due to its...

          It's a situation where the balance between morals and necessity come into conflict

          One might say that this is a case in which different kinds of ethics are more often in conflict:
          virtue ("this is good due to its intrinsic nature"), consequentialist ("this is good due to its consequences"), and deontologic ("this is good because it is in accordance with the rules").

          2 votes