This is the Daystrom Institute Episode Analysis thread for Lower Decks 4x01 Twovix and 4x02 I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee.
Now that we’ve had a few days to digest the content of the latest episode, this thread is a place to dig a little deeper.
I guess I’ll bite the bullet and kick off the Tuvix debate.
Tuvix isn’t the first Trek episode to involve transporter hybrids, and it wasn’t the last; but it stands out amongst the Trek fandom and cemented Janeway as a ruthless executioner.
I maintain that the only reason it’s controversial is because Tuvix was more loved than the sum of his parts.
I personally like Neelix, but it’s undeniable that he’s a contender for one of the least popular main characters in the franchise, and certainly the least favorite on Voyager.
Tim Russ is an amazing actor, but Tuvok is a very subtle character. If you pay attention to him, he’s funny and insightful. But if you don’t focus on him, you can forget he exists.
So, by replacing a despised character and a forgettable character with an outstanding character, you’re left with an audience who has no attachment to the status quo.
If, instead, “Tuvix” was built with popular characters, like Janeway, the EMH, or Seven, the audience would have no qualms about a return to the status quo—or at least not nearly to the degree we’ve seen over the years.
Skip ahead to Twovix
The transporter meat blob was dismissed as non-sentient by Tendi, but it clearly had all the intact personalities of its components. Without further analysis can we be certain of that assessment? Why not send it to The Farm™️?
If we come to the ethical conclusion that the transporter meat blob’s very existence was suffering, why restore the transporter patterns to their components rather than their Tuvix’d counterparts? The simplest answer is that they’re more trouble than they’re worth.
No one cares about the meat blob.
No one cares about T’Ilups and co.
Everyone cares about Tuvix.
We let our attachments dictate our ethics then use logic and evidence to justify them.
why restore the transporter patterns to their components rather than their Tuvix’d counterparts?
Counterpoint: why would you restore the transporter merges? The Tuvix'd contingent occupies the exact same state as the original individuals: "dead", destroyed in the process of recreating another, larger being. Reverting to those obviously unstable and dangerous merged beings instead of the individuals who had been merged to create them would be absurd.
The meat blob did tick off my "hey, you're just as guilty as with Tuvix" reaction, even though they handwave it away by saying it is an unthinking blob.
However, it's unavoidable that Tuvix is an entity that wants to live, had no choice in it's creation, and who has every right not to be eliminated to bring back two people who died in an accident (and incidentally died without any knowledge of their fate or any pain as a result).
I love the episode, and I wouldn't change anything about it. But I still see Tuvix's death as murder. Someone chose to kill a blameless sentient being to resurrect two others. I'd also like to add that I kinda like Neelix and Tuvok and would have been upset to see them written out of the show.
If, instead, “Tuvix” was built with popular characters, like Janeway, the EMH, or Seven, the audience would have no qualms about a return to the status quo—or at least not nearly to the degree we’ve seen over the years.
As with my previous point, my feelings are nothing to do with how much I like the character compared to the ones that died to create it, but rather that they are straight up choosing to kill a sentient being to achieve a goal. According to my morals that is wrong.
It's certainly one of the more fascinating versions of the trolley problem
So you're telling me Section 31 didn't scrub that ship clean before sending it off to be adapted into a museum exhibit? Let alone any other science team?
My suspension of disbelief is stretched rather thinly with respect to the Tuvix flower being handed over to some lower deckers to be cargo on a California class before being put on rotating display to the public. It just seems way too dangerous to not end up going straight to either Daystrom.
Still loved it though.
