This episode was creepy as hell. I watched it the first time, but all the other times I have watched it I fast forward because I just cannot watch the clown scenes except for the end.
The shooting of that is actually genius. In the scene theres a rotating wheel of tapestries on the wall. They framed the shot perfectly so he would be in front of it as it was rotating. A great point of set design for function and form.
Id rather be yelled at by Sisko, pulled into Picards ready room, or wear a red shirt with Kirk, then be whispered at by this badass. Any day. The other underated badass is CPT Archer.
@John Doe and she doesn't. She gets shit on because the writers often tried too hard to compensate for her being female and so she comes off as schizophrenic. Instead of being consistent they just do whatever necessary to make her tough in every situation so she isn't seen as a stereotypical fragile woman.
Janeway whispering to me is more terrifying than Sisko being sharp tongued...or Picard laying down truth for all time...or Wolf having aggressive tendencies...or Data having a 3.12 second break in his programming....or Riker and being billy bad ass awesome...or the Borg Queen herself standing before toying with assimilation. Oh yes, assimilation into the Borg is less terrifying than a whisper from Captain Katherine Janeway.
***** it's okay dude. I was saying fake in sense as not the real deal. when it comes to Startrek I know they often refer to holographic expieriences as fakes. That's basically how the Doctores arc starts.
To be fair, her solution was partially copied from the TNG episode "Masks". In this episode, Picard is playing the role of the "moon" and he convinces the alien manifestation of the "sun" to step down, because it's the natural order of things that the sun will be conquered by the moon each day (in the evening). Same here: Janeway argues that fear only exists to be conquered eventually.
If you want to be really precise, Masaka wasn't any real person's reflection as Janeway's hologram was of her. She was a fictional character that likely never lived; a mythical figure that existed in a lot of people's minds because everyone in this civilization probably knew the story of Masaka and attached a meaning to it. It can be argued that the collective thoughts about Masaka brought her into existance, not unsimilar to how the collective fear brought "fear" into existance in the Voyager episode. (Although, admittedly, the actual process by which Masaka became the dominant personality inside of Data isn't explained in the episode.)
I have never interpreted it like this, I always assumed that Masaka was a constructed rather than a real personality. We have to disagree on this. ;D Evidence: the other personalities that Data exhibits are also more like fictional characters (they are kind of one-dimensional, not deep as real people are). So, I always assumed, that all of these characters were purely fictional; Data may have absorbed the minds of real people, but somehow the fictional characters proved to be the strongest and manifested through him. Of course neither interpretation can be proven.
I love the way Janeway approaches fear when she fist appears on stage. She walks towards him staring him down. She's such a good actress -- full of depth.
Janeway was the right captain for the right time, mission and ship. Kate Mulgrews performance was nearly flawless and she grew into the role as the show progressed.
Ladies and gentlemen, the final verse from the Book of Fear: "Fear Itself dared to look in the mirror to revel in its perfection. Instead it saw Janeway staring back at it. And lo, Fear feared Janeway, and cringed at her words, the last words of whisper Fear would ever hear before vanishing forever: "I KNOOOOOW" Then Janeway returned to her own realm, and continued her voyage, righteously self-confident in the fact that all future opposers would come to realize: Janeway not only conquered Fear. Janeway...IS Fear." Here endeth the lesson.
The Thaw is such a great philosophical episode. It always reminds me of TOS. I could picture Kirk having the same interaction with a personification of "fear" and even felt she was invoking Kirk when Janeway said Starfleet Captains won't often succumb to fear.
Interesting thought. IIRC, TOS had some unused stories owing to its early cancellation. Makes me wonder if this was an old, unused story or screenplay that was adapted for Voyager. Edit: the Wikipedia entry mentions who wrote the story and screenplay. No mention of it being adapted from another story. I’d say it’s original. But I can see why someone would think otherwise, a lot of similar elements.
@@lancer525 Two things about Decker: 1, he was a commodore, not a captain, and 2, he didn't succumb to fear, he succumbed to horror as he inadvertently caused the death of his entire crew while thinking he was saving them.
@@drolgh8 Picard would have some blend of philosophy and logic that would conclude that Fear did not exist. Sisko would punch Fear, as you said, and Fear would never come back to DS9. And Archer? Well... he'd insist Fear was a Vulcan construct of some kind designed to mock Humans for having emotions, and then Trip would hit Fear with a wrench and he'd somehow die. Because, plot.
Indeed! I recently attended a lecture given by Brian Greene on String Theory&Kate Mulgrew was there also and both answered questions all through the lecture and after. I taped a couple short clips, I didn't think of it at first ; / But, she was also going to sign her book after "Born with Teeth" her autobiography! She's so Freaking Hilarious; p BUT, the best part was I went to the restroom after&I hear her come in and start talking on the phone. So, I hurried to wash my hands&primp And said Hello to me as I was leaving but, since we were alone I, stopped and told her what a strong female role model she was for so many women and how much her character helped me pull myself through seeing my Fiance die in front of me. I isolated and rewatched Voyager&Deep Space nine to help me learn how to better cope with such grief mostly on my own and saw courage, gratefullness and moving forward. She told me it's women's stories like my own that have enriched her life as well And hugged me....Geek out *,* Lol
liz Moore that's the Janeway we all love. Kate is a great actress. Thanks for sharing and sorry for your loss. Hope you've found peace and your life is good. 💚
Dude, I dunno how anyone could say Janeway wasn't one of the best Captains in Star Trek history. When she says "I know..." dude, chills. Kate Mulgrew WAS Captain Janeway, and she was an excellent captain.
I personally thought that a lot of the time that Janeway was poorly written as if they couldn't define how they wanted her to act. Fortunately, the role was saved by the acting of Kate Mulgrew. Here Mulgrew got a script and version of Janeway truly worthy of her acting skills and she brought her A game.
@@danielhaire6677 my main problem with many episodes was how they didnt really have an ending. they just stopped at what felt like right in the middle of the plot and never picked up again. janeway however is my favourite captain ever. that woman is made from steel.
I love that he got a taste of his own medicine in the end. They were right when they said that fear was one of the most honest emotions. It reveals a lot about a person. Are they cowards or do they face their fears head on? Is it a rational fear or is it a insecurity? Will they admit they are scared or will they deny it? These two acted so well together! They really did make you feel the emotions behind it.
Fuck, this scene was good!!! The writing, the acting, the directing, everything worked perfectly in this episode. One of the best in all of the Star Trek history.
One of the best-written episodes in television history. Original, unique plot, and I could actually feel the fear in the characters. Love the music as Janeway strides in. Something epic is about to happen.
That Episode creeped me out the first time I watched it (I made the Mistake watching it at night) and it still gives me shivers. The Acting by McKeane and Mulgrew, the bizarre setting (and how it disappears, leaving nothing but darkness) the dialogue and David Bell's dark, dark Music. It just fits together!
It creeped me out too. I never really thought about clowns, until here. The chaos of the setting bothered me as much as the clown. I have only watched this one time all the way through. I fast forward through the chaos.
Yeah, but the writers were getting cagey, so it's a good thing it ended when it did. They were going to kill Naomi's mom "just because" if the series went on another season. Hell, they killed that poor Engineering Lieutenant mere weeks before the crew got home, "for the impact." The series' writers became very dickish and it never sat well with me.
I saw this when it came out in April of 1996, in my mid 30's. As others have commented, the "I know." whisper gave me chills and goosebumps. Then, the 'Drat!' cracked me up. Still, in those two words, Kate Mulgrew showed just how much power two whispered words with no threat in them could have. Now it's 2021 and I'm in my 60's, and they still give me chills. Makes me want to go rewatch the episode. The sad thing is, that 'drat' no longer cracks me up, it's just mild amusement. Wish they'd hurry up and legalize it here.
I was in 5th or 6th grade when startrek came out. I still like to re-watch it from time to time. What current shows do you currently watch? I'm genuinely curious since I don't really talk to anyone outside my age group. Curious to know what the elder crowd enjoys.
@@user-ol6bc5ke2c Actually, my taste in shows hasn't changed much at all. However, I no longer watch TV, although I do have Paramount Plus for my Star Trek fix. I do watch the occasional movie, and those are typically SF, 'thriller', and the rare drama.
So many critics were harsh about this episode, but I was reminded of the older stories from the '40s. It was thought-provoking and scary via your own imagination. Brilliant.
People dog this episode, but it was good. Janeway just doesn't give a f**k. My favorite captain of all time. She'll blow up her ship if she has to. Probably the most gangsta captain in Star Fleet.
I have to admit I was not keen on this episode but I think the resolution was excellent - the moral of the story was that to overcome psychological torture you have to confront and overcome your fear - ie take the power back within yourself. Very well acted by Kate
Janeway did not confront her fear, she confronted a manifestation of the fear of others. And she did so with applied technology, hacking, deception, and misdirection. With a whole support team. She never "lost" (or even risked the loss of) any power to have to take back within herself. But, yes, I agree that her acting was excellent in this scene.
Except that there are some very tight and unbreakable limits to that. Your "mind" is an emergent property of your brain. Your mind can't do anything that your brain can't do. And the human brain is physiologically incapable of being consciously rational. Your hindbrain makes ALL decisions, unilaterally...and then sends them to your "conscious" mind, which does nothing but expand on their details...it chooses absolutely nothing at all. That exchange is always one-way, and the delay between them is measurable. . Any belief otherwise is pure self-delusion.
TOS? Really? Faced with the physical personification of fear Kirk would have either tried to kill it or screw it. Those were his two coping mechanisms.
This scene still gives me chills. I like that the background starts spinning, like as if Fear is experiencing vertigo after realizing that his life is ruined. And the slow fade out to black is haunting. It's an excellent visual of life being snuffed out. The whole process is foreboding and ominous. An excellent representation of death and nonexistence. I wouldn't be surprised if this scene caused a few viewers to have an existential crisis.
We may have gotten a different Janeway every other episode... but no matter who was writing her that day, one things was constant: Janeway was NOT someone you wanted as an enemy!
If this scene isn’t a better resume to be a pure legendary bona fide bad a** starship captain in all of starfleet right there next to Captain Kirk, captain Picard, Captain Sisko, and Captain Archer I don’t know what is. She quite literally defeated “FEAR ITSELF” now who can say that they have done that.
This was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw when I was a kid and it scared the absolute crap out of me - I avoided every series of the show for about 5 years after seeing it because I thought this was the general theme of them. Ironically, when I got older and discovered my deep love for the setting and eventually re-watched this, I realised that this was pretty much the only episode which would have scared me so badly and that (as Harry Kim quotes in the episode) "the only thing to fear is fear itself" - I let my fear take over instead of confronting it and, as a result, spent years missing out on stories which I would cherish for the rest of my life which got me through some rough times and inspired my love for all things sci-fi.
Captain Janeway is my favorite. She can both badass and compassionate and everything in between. Voyager was by far in the most difficult position. Support from Star Fleet was very rare.
Janeway actually is often rated as the best leader of the captains by management experts. Things like that (developing human resources) and the fact that she seeks input from her crew. Picard and Kirk in are also great leaders, but they're more distant from most of their crew and less democratic in decision making. Then there's Archer, lol.
Voyager had its moments of inconsistency, but, this final scene is by far one of the most cinematographic in all of Trek. The set, the lighting, the tempo and pace of the lines. Superb acting ties it altogether.
"The Thaw" was one of the best _ST:V_ episodes there ever was. Kate Mulgrew's and Michael McKean's acting were both spot-on, plus there is the fade-to-black ending which kicks you in the junk: "I'm afraid." "I know." "Drat." _Damn!_
Each series has it's own theme... TOS -> emotional terror TNG -> technological terror DS9 -> societal terror Voyager -> psychological terror Enterprise -> physiological terror
Perhaps actually more of terror of an uprising of servant/slave. Remember the Cylons were denegrated:"toasters" on the reboot; original would be political as those Cylons were a proxy for the Russo/Chinese, around the time that the first " Red Dawn" movie.
one of my favorite episodes also. the way she says "Let them go" at 1:21 is one of the most commanding moments in all of Star Trek history. Picard is my favorite but Janeway's best moments are definitely at his level.
English class totally failed when they tried to define "femme fatale" for me. It's not skin tight leather or sexual in any way. It's this. A leader with intellect as the dagger in her back pocket, yet graceful all the same.
Ao 青 Well, no, a femme fatale is a just character archetype (and it involves being sexy). Not all badass women are femme fatales, and that is very much for the best.
... Yeah, no. Femme fatale has nothing to do with attire. It has to do with actions. A femme fatale is like a Black Widow. Its alluring and attempts to seducr its prey before striking, taking advantage of it. The most important part of a femme fatale is the fatality in it.
I've always understood it to be seductive death. So powerful you can't help but be drawn in, risking defeat in the process. Alice does this perfectly as the Borg Queen.
I would never have expected something like your inner fears becoming a real thing that not only hounded you but would kill you for fun. This was a good, dark episode!
The "I'm afraid!"-"I knooooow." exchange at the end of almost every Voyager review makes me laugh every fucking time. I think SFDebris' portrayal of Janeway as a secret megalomaniacal supervillain makes me like her even better.
Fear: "I'm afraid"....Janeway: "I know". Now THAT is cold - and well deserved.
This episode was creepy as hell. I watched it the first time, but all the other times I have watched it I fast forward because I just cannot watch the clown scenes except for the end.
Drat…
🎵 A virus
A virus
He thinks I am a virus
He thinks I am a virus 🎵
@@Maya-bu2rf i find the clown scenes hilarious
@@claytonwade3570 I am happy for you. Clowns do not usually bother me but this one creeped me out!
When the boogey man comes home, he checks in his closet and under the bed for Captain Janeway.
Jane Wake is a woman of focus, commitment, and sheer fucking will.
This is my favorite Star Trek moment.
Janeway is just behind his back.
“(Janeway drawl) Why hello there fear, welcome to the bridge”
@@DrCuriensapprentice I read it in Damar's voice when he mocked weyoun 🤣
-"She lied. It was very un-Starfleet of her"
_Sisko in the background, laughing in Sisko_
LOL
No shit.
HA!
Sisko has been known to recruit Garak to do the lying on his behalf.
(Sisko after returning from slapping Garak over a table)
"Yes, well, about that..."
FDR: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Janeway: "Hold my coffee."
Sven Sorensen 👍👍👍
Like Janeway would let anyone else hold her coffee. She didn't mine that nebula just to let that her coffee go cold.
@@cosmobayston3750 The comment reminded me of that episode, also.
Hahaha
A quote from a fictional character to that of a real person but hey, whatever you gotta tell yourself... lol
I love how the background starts to spin as the truth is revealed. His whole world has quite literally been turned upside-down.
The shooting of that is actually genius. In the scene theres a rotating wheel of tapestries on the wall. They framed the shot perfectly so he would be in front of it as it was rotating. A great point of set design for function and form.
So are you saying he became the prince of bell air?
Toajaller99 Yes. 😂
Inside out and round and round
It was very CreepShow
Both McKean and Mulgrew are acting their asses off here. Great scene.
And without it being over the top, or hokey either. That's both talented acting and good directing. Making sure there's just a sliver of a ceiling.
I love him in Better Call Saul as Chuck
Great acting with the right lighting and push-ins
@@brandonlink6568 Yes, the whole package is sweet.
He was perfect for the fear character.
"I'm afraid.."
"I knooow."
I just got chills.
+Jester Azazel drat...
Jester Azazel same
You should meet her alter ego Flemeth.
"Drat!"
Jester Azazel brilliant isn't it. Fear is afraid. Such a classic episode. Love it.
Janeway is underated by too many Star Trek fans. Shes so badass she kills fear itself.
Sadly so. All because she's a female captain.
David Horgan No, because she is a well-written character. We like her because she is likable and not since we are told to like her.
Id rather be yelled at by Sisko, pulled into Picards ready room, or wear a red shirt with Kirk, then be whispered at by this badass. Any day. The other underated badass is CPT Archer.
David Horgan she is beloved because she was well written.
@John Doe and she doesn't. She gets shit on because the writers often tried too hard to compensate for her being female and so she comes off as schizophrenic. Instead of being consistent they just do whatever necessary to make her tough in every situation so she isn't seen as a stereotypical fragile woman.
Id rather be yelled at by Sisko then whispered at by Janeway!
Montgomery Wolf I kinda want to watch them go "Bad Cop/Bad Cop" on someone.
Janeway whispering to me is more terrifying than Sisko being sharp tongued...or Picard laying down truth for all time...or Wolf having aggressive tendencies...or Data having a 3.12 second break in his programming....or Riker and being billy bad ass awesome...or the Borg Queen herself standing before toying with assimilation.
Oh yes, assimilation into the Borg is less terrifying than a whisper from Captain Katherine Janeway.
Montgomery Wolf just don't murder a Romulan around him.
Id rather be beaten up by Khan Singh or a Gorn.
Montgomery Wolf you betrayed your uniform!!
Janeway scared fear to death. What a phenomenal captain.
Drat…
@@delluminatis No, it was a mental projection directly from Janeway's still conscious mind.
@@Wooktent Thus, if it was a copy of Janeway, isn't that as close to it being Janeway herself.
@@zenjoyplays4411it was programmed to respond exactly like Janeway. In that sense, it was her
Distant Chuck Norris relative?
Leave it to Janeway to terrify fear.
if that was fake imagine how terrifying the real thing would be
*****
it's okay dude. I was saying fake in sense as not the real deal. when it comes to Startrek I know they often refer to holographic expieriences as fakes. That's basically how the Doctores arc starts.
To be fair, her solution was partially copied from the TNG episode "Masks". In this episode, Picard is playing the role of the "moon" and he convinces the alien manifestation of the "sun" to step down, because it's the natural order of things that the sun will be conquered by the moon each day (in the evening). Same here: Janeway argues that fear only exists to be conquered eventually.
If you want to be really precise, Masaka wasn't any real person's reflection as Janeway's hologram was of her. She was a fictional character that likely never lived; a mythical figure that existed in a lot of people's minds because everyone in this civilization probably knew the story of Masaka and attached a meaning to it. It can be argued that the collective thoughts about Masaka brought her into existance, not unsimilar to how the collective fear brought "fear" into existance in the Voyager episode. (Although, admittedly, the actual process by which Masaka became the dominant personality inside of Data isn't explained in the episode.)
I have never interpreted it like this, I always assumed that Masaka was a constructed rather than a real personality. We have to disagree on this. ;D
Evidence: the other personalities that Data exhibits are also more like fictional characters (they are kind of one-dimensional, not deep as real people are). So, I always assumed, that all of these characters were purely fictional; Data may have absorbed the minds of real people, but somehow the fictional characters proved to be the strongest and manifested through him. Of course neither interpretation can be proven.
The transition from the chaotic laughter to ice cold silence when janeway shows up is beautiful.
But it's what normally happens when she enters a room.
My favorite scene was when Voyager was being invaded while it was on self destruct.
Janeway: Welcome to the bridge.
*Voyager explodes*
+Neon Pegasus THUG LIFE
#(Fuck the Kazon coming straight from the underground
A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
Agreed
I LOVE that scene. She's such a badass
@@troianoleonardo which season/ep plz
@@Nevarden VOY 2x21 episode Deadlock. Janeway says: "Hello. I'm Captain Kathryn Janeway. Welcome to the bridge."
I love the way Janeway approaches fear when she fist appears on stage. She walks towards him staring him down. She's such a good actress -- full of depth.
Agreed! Totally bad-ass! 😍👍🏼😎
I agree. She stared him down to death!
She is the best.
Kate was really a great choice for this role, she embodied Janeway
Yes I agree! Well noted.
Janeway was the right captain for the right time, mission and ship. Kate Mulgrews performance was nearly flawless and she grew into the role as the show progressed.
your afraid... I know.... Drat.
She did a pretty badass job of portraying Flemeth in Dragon Age as well.
It's still one of my favorite shows I like to rewatch.
Ladies and gentlemen, the final verse from the Book of Fear:
"Fear Itself dared to look in the mirror to revel in its perfection. Instead it saw Janeway staring back at it. And lo, Fear feared Janeway, and cringed at her words, the last words of whisper Fear would ever hear before vanishing forever:
"I KNOOOOOW"
Then Janeway returned to her own realm, and continued her voyage, righteously self-confident in the fact that all future opposers would come to realize: Janeway not only conquered Fear.
Janeway...IS Fear."
Here endeth the lesson.
And thus it came to pass.
Could you imagine chanting a happy little Te Deum after _that_ lesson?
@@generalgrievous696 "Drat."
Kill Fear, Destroy borg system for long time, Change Q Realm
Welcome in standart day on Voyager
ah and all time hunt for borgs cubes
"I know you, people don't change! You're Slippin' Janeway!!"
COULDNT BE PRECIOUS JANEWAY!
this made me almost choke on the water i was drinking
Best ending to a Voyager episode ever. 😎😎😎
And Janeway’s purring of “I knoooow…” still gets me 😁
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ line delivery.
Cold line....
Clown: I'm afraid.
Janeway: I knoooow.
Clown: Drat.
That last part with Janeway and the Clown my best part of the whole series
Even all these years later when he says "I'm afraid" and she responds "I know" I still get goosebumps.
The Thaw is such a great philosophical episode. It always reminds me of TOS. I could picture Kirk having the same interaction with a personification of "fear" and even felt she was invoking Kirk when Janeway said Starfleet Captains won't often succumb to fear.
@drolgh8 Archer would tell Fear to go to hell and go about his business. he hasn't got time for figments. He has asses to kick.
Interesting thought. IIRC, TOS had some unused stories owing to its early cancellation. Makes me wonder if this was an old, unused story or screenplay that was adapted for Voyager.
Edit: the Wikipedia entry mentions who wrote the story and screenplay. No mention of it being adapted from another story. I’d say it’s original. But I can see why someone would think otherwise, a lot of similar elements.
Someone should have explained that to Matthew Decker...
@@lancer525 Two things about Decker: 1, he was a commodore, not a captain, and 2, he didn't succumb to fear, he succumbed to horror as he inadvertently caused the death of his entire crew while thinking he was saving them.
@@drolgh8 Picard would have some blend of philosophy and logic that would conclude that Fear did not exist. Sisko would punch Fear, as you said, and Fear would never come back to DS9. And Archer? Well... he'd insist Fear was a Vulcan construct of some kind designed to mock Humans for having emotions, and then Trip would hit Fear with a wrench and he'd somehow die. Because, plot.
There is one simple rule in star trek voyager, Don't Fuck With Kathrin Janeway or her ship
Indeed! I recently attended a lecture given by Brian Greene on String Theory&Kate Mulgrew was there also and both answered questions all through the lecture and after. I taped a couple short clips, I didn't think of it at first ; / But, she was also going to sign her book after "Born with Teeth" her autobiography! She's so Freaking Hilarious; p BUT, the best part was I went to the restroom after&I hear her come in and start talking on the phone. So, I hurried to wash my hands&primp And said Hello to me as I was leaving but, since we were alone I, stopped and told her what a strong female role model she was for so many women and how much her character helped me pull myself through seeing my Fiance die in front of me. I isolated and rewatched Voyager&Deep Space nine to help me learn how to better cope with such grief mostly on my own and saw courage, gratefullness and moving forward. She told me it's women's stories like my own that have enriched her life as well And hugged me....Geek out *,*
Lol
+liz Moore I met her once, she is truly a wonderful woman!
Blah deBlah WHAT?? Really?? I never heard that. What did she do?
liz Moore that's the Janeway we all love. Kate is a great actress. Thanks for sharing and sorry for your loss. Hope you've found peace and your life is good. 💚
Janeway in a nutshell.
"I´m fear incarnate""Huh? Thought you´d be taller"
I can't read that without the SFDebris Janeway voice.
That's two votes for "mind bomb!" I win!
Hats "QUIET! Or you'll get another dose of the medical phaser!"
“Federation scum.”
Dude, I dunno how anyone could say Janeway wasn't one of the best Captains in Star Trek history. When she says "I know..." dude, chills. Kate Mulgrew WAS Captain Janeway, and she was an excellent captain.
I thought so during the series. I rarely missed an episode. It was just so good, and it SO was a part of culture at the time.
I personally thought that a lot of the time that Janeway was poorly written as if they couldn't define how they wanted her to act. Fortunately, the role was saved by the acting of Kate Mulgrew. Here Mulgrew got a script and version of Janeway truly worthy of her acting skills and she brought her A game.
@@danielhaire6677 my main problem with many episodes was how they didnt really have an ending. they just stopped at what felt like right in the middle of the plot and never picked up again. janeway however is my favourite captain ever. that woman is made from steel.
Drat…
I dont understand it either.
I think shes awesome
I love that he got a taste of his own medicine in the end. They were right when they said that fear was one of the most honest emotions. It reveals a lot about a person. Are they cowards or do they face their fears head on? Is it a rational fear or is it a insecurity? Will they admit they are scared or will they deny it? These two acted so well together! They really did make you feel the emotions behind it.
Fuck, this scene was good!!! The writing, the acting, the directing, everything worked perfectly in this episode. One of the best in all of the Star Trek history.
Agreed.
One of the best-written episodes in television history. Original, unique plot, and I could actually feel the fear in the characters. Love the music as Janeway strides in. Something epic is about to happen.
I knoooow
Abso-fuckin-lutly
*Flawless ending!*
Full of atmosphere and deep thoughts.
This should have won an Emmy!
.................."drat".
i always thought he said "dread."
That Episode creeped me out the first time I watched it (I made the Mistake watching it at night) and it still gives me shivers. The Acting by McKeane and Mulgrew, the bizarre setting (and how it disappears, leaving nothing but darkness) the dialogue and David Bell's dark, dark Music. It just fits together!
Schwatvogel “Drat...”
Which is why I hate Clowns, LOL
What you said
theyre referencing the DMT 'jester' entities here, long before DMT became a popular reference
It creeped me out too. I never really thought about clowns, until here. The chaos of the setting bothered me as much as the clown. I have only watched this one time all the way through. I fast forward through the chaos.
Anyone who doesn't realize what a total badass Janeway is, has never seen her in action.
"The Thaw" is such an underrated episode
I truly do miss voyager, One of the best episodes.
Yeah, but the writers were getting cagey, so it's a good thing it ended when it did. They were going to kill Naomi's mom "just because" if the series went on another season. Hell, they killed that poor Engineering Lieutenant mere weeks before the crew got home, "for the impact." The series' writers became very dickish and it never sat well with me.
I saw this when it came out in April of 1996, in my mid 30's. As others have commented, the "I know." whisper gave me chills and goosebumps. Then, the 'Drat!' cracked me up. Still, in those two words, Kate Mulgrew showed just how much power two whispered words with no threat in them could have.
Now it's 2021 and I'm in my 60's, and they still give me chills. Makes me want to go rewatch the episode. The sad thing is, that 'drat' no longer cracks me up, it's just mild amusement. Wish they'd hurry up and legalize it here.
they have now legalized drat in 17 states
I was in 5th or 6th grade when startrek came out. I still like to re-watch it from time to time. What current shows do you currently watch? I'm genuinely curious since I don't really talk to anyone outside my age group. Curious to know what the elder crowd enjoys.
@@user-ol6bc5ke2c Actually, my taste in shows hasn't changed much at all. However, I no longer watch TV, although I do have Paramount Plus for my Star Trek fix. I do watch the occasional movie, and those are typically SF, 'thriller', and the rare drama.
Never thought Chuck McGill could make for a terrifying clown.
Jimmy would attest to that.
IT has entered the chat
Actually, it's the other way around: A terrifying clown made for Chuck McGill!
The episode was called 'The Thaw' because fear freezes us, paralyzes and when we thaw, we shed our fear.
So many critics were harsh about this episode, but I was reminded of the older stories from the '40s. It was thought-provoking and scary via your own imagination. Brilliant.
One of the best ST episodes of all time for real.
"I know" best quote of the series.
You don't know true fear until you deny Captain Janeway her cup of coffee.
Wow goose bumps and tears...Kate's delivery was flawless!
"I knoooow" wow
So was The Clown’s final “Drat…”
This is by far, not only one of the best episodes of Voyager, or even Star Trek, it's one of the best episodes of TV ever.
Janeway even scares the fear
Look at what she did to death. "Go back to hell, coward!"
People dog this episode, but it was good. Janeway just doesn't give a f**k. My favorite captain of all time. She'll blow up her ship if she has to. Probably the most gangsta captain in Star Fleet.
And has, on several occasions. Thank goodness the Delta Quadrant is riddled with temporal instabilities.
+Tony Mirabella It was good, but man, was it bizarre. It was like Q on an acid trip.
+Link2Hyrule25 The interesting fact that most of those temperal crap the ship did deal with was caused by the Temperoral Protection Agency.
Do they? I thought this episode was one of the best voyager had to offer?
Took the words straight out of my mouth.
Every Star Trek Captain tangled with his/her fear, but Janeway literally defeats Fear.
And told Death to "go back to hell, coward".
Yeah but Kirk already beat death so fear is a step down.
I love how it gets slowly dark as he vanishes into nothing...drat!
I thought I was the only one who loved this. From the moment I saw it, this was THE moment.
I have to admit I was not keen on this episode but I think the resolution was excellent - the moral of the story was that to overcome psychological torture you have to confront and overcome your fear - ie take the power back within yourself. Very well acted by Kate
Janeway did not confront her fear, she confronted a manifestation of the fear of others.
And she did so with applied technology, hacking, deception, and misdirection. With a whole support team.
She never "lost" (or even risked the loss of) any power to have to take back within herself.
But, yes, I agree that her acting was excellent in this scene.
Except that there are some very tight and unbreakable limits to that. Your "mind" is an emergent property of your brain. Your mind can't do anything that your brain can't do. And the human brain is physiologically incapable of being consciously rational. Your hindbrain makes ALL decisions, unilaterally...and then sends them to your "conscious" mind, which does nothing but expand on their details...it chooses absolutely nothing at all. That exchange is always one-way, and the delay between them is measurable.
.
Any belief otherwise is pure self-delusion.
Michael McKean was amazing in the roll of fear....
One of the best episodes of Voyager. It does have some TOS nuances.
Nuances? It wasn't subtle. :) That whole set could have come from TOS... And most of the characters look straight out of one of Q's trippier moments
TOS? Really? Faced with the physical personification of fear Kirk would have either tried to kill it or screw it. Those were his two coping mechanisms.
This scene still gives me chills.
I like that the background starts spinning, like as if Fear is experiencing vertigo after realizing that his life is ruined. And the slow fade out to black is haunting. It's an excellent visual of life being snuffed out. The whole process is foreboding and ominous. An excellent representation of death and nonexistence.
I wouldn't be surprised if this scene caused a few viewers to have an existential crisis.
The perfect embodiment of fear meets the perfect embodiment of Janeway... and it's Janeway that wins out. *applause*
"I'm afraid."
Whispers: "*I know...*"
One of her very finest moment !
That combination of (woman) whispering and (captaining) authorizing
"I'm afraid"........."I Know". Janeway was coldly clinical about that.
this episode had a lasting impression on me when i watched it in middle school
Dennis Vu and that’s what Star Trek does best well Older Trek
Truly one of my favorites, I miss Captain Janeway.
This episode seems to harken back to the Original Series style of storytelling.
bridgecross Including the color schemes, lots of primary colors and simpler designs. So great!
You know - Voyager WAS by all means closest thing to sequel of TOS. "Little quick to pull phasers, little slow to invoke prime directive..." ;)
My thoughts exactly! 😀
Great observation. The simple empty set, static blocking, the whole thing fell very TOS. I wonder if that was on purpose or just a happy coincidence.
@@philgaetano6926 It was just meant to be an artistic and great stand alone episode, and that's what made it like TOS.
We may have gotten a different Janeway every other episode... but no matter who was writing her that day, one things was constant: Janeway was NOT someone you wanted as an enemy!
someone gets it.
If this scene isn’t a better resume to be a pure legendary bona fide bad a** starship captain in all of starfleet right there next to Captain Kirk, captain Picard, Captain Sisko, and Captain Archer I don’t know what is. She quite literally defeated “FEAR ITSELF” now who can say that they have done that.
I remember the first time I saw this episode I was about 11 years old and stayed home from school, never thought it would make this much of an impact.
Hugh Johnson, Welcome to star trek the show that entertains and has great stories.
This was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw when I was a kid and it scared the absolute crap out of me - I avoided every series of the show for about 5 years after seeing it because I thought this was the general theme of them. Ironically, when I got older and discovered my deep love for the setting and eventually re-watched this, I realised that this was pretty much the only episode which would have scared me so badly and that (as Harry Kim quotes in the episode) "the only thing to fear is fear itself" - I let my fear take over instead of confronting it and, as a result, spent years missing out on stories which I would cherish for the rest of my life which got me through some rough times and inspired my love for all things sci-fi.
This is an incredibly creative episode and incredible ending! Most, I would say, avant-garde ending to a ST episode.
I just love how they made fear a clown! I mean, that´s gotta be saying something!
Probably a nod to Stephen King's It.
Michael McKean: the most criminally underrated actor of all time. Just brilliant!
Captain Janeway is my favorite. She can both badass and compassionate and everything in between. Voyager was by far in the most difficult position. Support from Star Fleet was very rare.
one of my favorite voyager episodes
Exactly
just proves she can scare fear it's self
+Victoria Webber yeah buddy, just glad she's not my boss!
Everyone but Kathryn Janeway has nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear itself fears Kathryn Janeway.
Brilliant episode. Just brilliant.
This has to be one of the best scenes in Star Trek we’ve seen yet who else agrees
for a last line drat isn't bad
+Revkor I LOVED that last line, you only see it in comic books but it was spoken aloud, and by the villain of the story. DRAT!
+Revkor Was it "drat" or "dread"?
thought2007
drat.
Revkor drat
"drat: a mild expression of anger or annoyance"
Just a case of language ambiguity ... or could an avatar of collective fear also know anger?
I actually liked Janeway when she took the four crew members who never went off the ship, on an away mission.
"Good Shepard" Great episode.
That was a goodie.
@Samuel Black She was in the "Dungeons & Dragons" film.
@Samuel Black If you wish to see more of her, then give it a look.
Janeway actually is often rated as the best leader of the captains by management experts. Things like that (developing human resources) and the fact that she seeks input from her crew. Picard and Kirk in are also great leaders, but they're more distant from most of their crew and less democratic in decision making.
Then there's Archer, lol.
Something chilling about the embodiment of fear admitting that it's scared
Voyager had its moments of inconsistency, but, this final scene is by far one of the most cinematographic in all of Trek. The set, the lighting, the tempo and pace of the lines. Superb acting ties it altogether.
Saw this when I was a kid. It stayed with me all this time. Heck of an episode.
very much a classic episode of trek in several senses of the word.
These two knocked this out of the park.
One of the most incredible villains Star Trek ever had.
Could've fooled me.... I'm afraid I did...
I see what she did there.
Pardon? 🤨
The electrifying presence of Captain Janeway was simply too much for Chuck too handle.
Drat, indeed. Aliens should know better than to mess with Janeway.
"The Thaw" was one of the best _ST:V_ episodes there ever was. Kate Mulgrew's and Michael McKean's acting were both spot-on, plus there is the fade-to-black ending which kicks you in the junk: "I'm afraid." "I know." "Drat." _Damn!_
One of my favourite episodes of Voyager.
This episode absolutely terrified me as a kid! 🤣
Each series has it's own theme...
TOS -> emotional terror
TNG -> technological terror
DS9 -> societal terror
Voyager -> psychological terror
Enterprise -> physiological terror
Battlestar Galactica -> terrorist terror
Perhaps actually more of terror of an uprising of servant/slave. Remember the Cylons were denegrated:"toasters" on the reboot; original would be political as those Cylons were a proxy for the Russo/Chinese, around the time that the first " Red Dawn" movie.
Discovery -> Fan Terror
Janeway: I don't want to hurt your feelings. But the truth is, you've never mattered all that much to me. Take that! Chuck!
"I'm afraid"
"I Know"
And so began a great outro for a great reviewer of Star Trek
one of my favorite episodes also. the way she says "Let them go" at 1:21 is one of the most commanding moments in all of Star Trek history. Picard is my favorite but Janeway's best moments are definitely at his level.
This episode was Mike McKean's tour-de-force. It was worth it to sit through unevenly-written characters and scripts to get to this point.
It's been a long time since he was on the show lavern and Shirley. He's had a long career. Good actor.
This singular episode, while amazing, is *NOT* Better Call Saul.
He’S channeling his inner DeLancie!
I felt like he was channeling his inner Joker.
@@Renji9031 Better than most of the episodes.
English class totally failed when they tried to define "femme fatale" for me. It's not skin tight leather or sexual in any way. It's this. A leader with intellect as the dagger in her back pocket, yet graceful all the same.
Ao 青 Well, no, a femme fatale is a just character archetype (and it involves being sexy). Not all badass women are femme fatales, and that is very much for the best.
Juicy Silk hiding steel. Or, the smooth lacy stocking, with the stiletto inside the hem. Femme fatale, belladonna. Same thing.
... Yeah, no. Femme fatale has nothing to do with attire. It has to do with actions.
A femme fatale is like a Black Widow. Its alluring and attempts to seducr its prey before striking, taking advantage of it. The most important part of a femme fatale is the fatality in it.
Agreed. A woman who is deadly smart, and has a mouth can cut more deeply than a brute of a man with a knife.
I've always understood it to be seductive death. So powerful you can't help but be drawn in, risking defeat in the process. Alice does this perfectly as the Borg Queen.
One of my favorite Star Trek scenes!
One of the best ST episodes of all the series and timelines
As Roosevelt once famously said; "The only thing we have to fear is Janeway itself."
"The only thing we have to Janeway is Janeway itself.*"
I would never have expected something like your inner fears becoming a real thing that not only hounded you but would kill you for fun. This was a good, dark episode!
At least 810 of what the plot of that "Galaxy Of Terror" flick was about.
Damn keyboard didn't register the slash 'twixt the 8 and the 10. 8/10.
Very well written episode. Kate Mulgrew really nailed the performance. Wish tv shows today were still this good.
I'm not a trekkie but I remember watching this episode years ago as a kid. Scared me so much.
SF Debris is *so* totally right! Janeway is an awesome villain!
The "I'm afraid!"-"I knooooow." exchange at the end of almost every Voyager review makes me laugh every fucking time. I think SFDebris' portrayal of Janeway as a secret megalomaniacal supervillain makes me like her even better.
But why 'secret' ? Look at 'Warship Voyager' - had Janeway been born, say, in Klingon Empire she'd make Chancellor to be freared.
Voyager had many brilliant scenes like this one. This is one to be learned from, for sure.
I always loved the spinning background behind Fear when holo Janeway starts to reveal it was a trick and his dumbstruck look.
When I first saw the episode I thought captain Janeway will beat everything out of him the most brutal way possible.
She did it even brutallier.
NOT OUR JANEWAY, COULDN'T BE PRECIOUS JANEWAY
She defecated through a sunroof.
Wonderful episode lead by wonderful actors.
Once again Capt. Janeway kicks some sorry ass!