In the “Star Trek: Voyager” episode “Threshold” — often considered one of the worst episodes of the series — the crew of the USS Voyager discovers a rare power synthesis crystal that, in theory, could allow the ship to travel faster than Warp-10. In “Star Trek” history, Warp-10 is faster than anything that has ever traveled, reaching the point of infinite speed. An object traveling at Warp-10 would essentially pass through every point in the known universe simultaneously. For a lost ship trying to complete a 70-year journey through the Milky Way to return to Earth, that’s a tempting proposition.
To test these crystals, Voyager engineers equip a shuttle with them and order Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) to pilot it. The experiment proves successful and Tom Paris returns with a brain full of information on every point in the universe. However, something strange starts happening to his body soon after. His skin begins to peel and his eyeballs become covered. His fingers come together and he spits out his own tongue. It’s very reminiscent of David Cronenberg’s “The Fly.”
Tom Paris is hyperevolving, becoming the species that humanity will ultimately become millions of years from now. Tom, still somewhat humanoid, kidnaps Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and takes her on a Warp-10 journey, forcing her to evolve as well. As the climax of “Threshold” reveals, humans are destined to evolve into three-foot rose salamanders. As salamanders, Tom and Janeway mate and have three small baby salamanders. This is before he is saved and, thankfully, becomes human again. The episode is hated for its stupidity and for its blatant scientific inaccuracies.
Brannon Braga, screenwriter of “Threshold” and showrunner of “Voyager,” doesn’t hate him as much as most Trekkies. Braga spoke at the STLV “Star Trek” convention in Las Vegas (covered by TrekMovie), and he argued that the first half of “Threshold” wasn’t bad. It’s in the back half that he starts to suffer.
Brannon Braga will defend the first half of Threshold
It’s worth pointing out that very few people like “Threshold.” As mentioned, Trekkies hate the idea that traveling at super-fast speeds would trigger some form of rapid evolution, and many rolled their eyes when humans simply evolved into salamanders. Biologists, of course, are quick to point out that evolution doesn’t work that way. The science in “Star Trek” is usually based partly on fact, but “Threshold” is a touch over the top when it comes to fantasy.
Brannon Braga is aware of the episode’s reputation and has criticized its own writing while recalling the sheer volume of episodes it was producing. With 26 episodes in a season, writers often struggled to come up with story ideas, and “Threshold” was proof of that. Braga, however, admitted that he liked the body horror aspects of the episode. He said:
“Well, clearly, given ‘Threshold,’ no ideas were rejected. We left nothing on the table. [At least] The first half of this series isn’t bad.”
It was a brave warning, as Braga had already said – on the “Voyager” DVDs – that the episode stank to high heaven. In his words:
“It’s a terrible episode. People are very unforgiving about this episode. I’ve written over a hundred episodes of ‘Star Trek,’ and yet it seems to be the only episode that people talk about, you know? “Brannon Braga, who wrote ‘Threshold!’
It doesn’t seem like Braga has completely changed his mind about “Threshold,” but he admits the film has its strengths. And, when looking at the franchise as a whole, “Threshold” isn’t as bad as episodes like “The Alternative Factor”, “Turnabout Intruder”, “Code of Honor”, “Shades of Grey” or any other number of stinkers. This is just stupid and can be tolerated.
