The mother of all Transporter Accidents.
"So at what point did he become an individual and not a transporter accident?"
During an away mission on a planet where Lt. Tuvok and Neelix are looking for flower samples to collect, they are transported back to the ship after their mission is completed. Unfortunately, instead of two people beaming back on board Voyager, there is only one appearing in the teleporter room...a strange humanoid combination of both Vulcan and Talaxian. The Doctor discovers that both Tuvok and Neelix have somehow merged together while they were in transport, and the agent of this merging was one of the plant samples that they were bringing back to Voyager with them.
While the Doctor tries to find a way to undo the merging, the new individual formed from the merging who calls himself Tuvix gets used to the dual roles and memories that he possesses of his "parents". Unfortunately, when the Doctor finally finds the way to undo the merging, Tuvix objects against the procedure, equating it to murder of a new life form. But because the crew wanted Tuvok and Neelix back to the way they were before the merging, Captain Janeway acts against what Tuvix wants and initiates the unmerging procedure herself, restoring Tuvok and Neelix to their normal separate selves.
Star Trek: Lower Decks would produce a Sequel Episode, appropriately called "Twovix" in 2023.
This episode provides examples of:
- The Ace: Tuvix is a better cook, tactical officer, crew-mate, pool player, and conversationalist than his precursors. He's so good at everything, it's surprising Janeway didn't use her Captain's prerogative to keep him alive instead.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Tuvix resorts to pleading to the bridge crew for his life, but they remain silent.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: Tuvix kisses Kes on the cheek, though uncomfortably close to her mouth.
- Bittersweet Ending: A particularly infamous one, and easily one of the most brutal decisions Janeway has had to make thus far. Tuvix is solemnly unmerged out of existence and we get Neelix and Tuvok back, but as Janeway walks out of Sick Bay, she's clearly distraught with her actions.
- Both Sides Have a Point: When a solution is presented to split Tuvix back into Neelix and Tuvok, Tuvix protests that he's a lifeform all to his own, and Janeway is effectively condemning him for something that was no fault of his own. Janeway concedes that Tuvix is his own being, but Neelix and Tuvok are two, and Tuvix is asking her to sacrifice the both of them for his own sake, which even Tuvix admits could be seen as cowardly. The crew does come to agree with Janeway's decision to split Tuvix, but the Doctor refuses to perform it despite offering no objection. Interestingly enough, when Lower Decks revisited the episode when they had their own "Tuvix" accident, they agreed that Tuvix was outright murdered, but the circumstances of Voyager being stuck in the Delta Quadrant made it necessary to avoid Janeway losing two crew members.
- The Chains of CommandingJaneway: We've just been discussing the unfortunate predicament that we're all facing, and I thought it was important to get your perspective before making a decision.
Tuvix: Are you suggesting that this is your decision to make?
Janeway: I am the Captain of this ship.
Tuvix: Begging your pardon, Captain, it's my life. Isn't it my decision?
Janeway: Aren't there two other lives to consider here? What about Tuvok and Neelix? Two voices that we can't hear right now. As Captain, I must be their voice. - Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Janeway raises the point of Tuvok and Neelix, and the people who love them, to convince Tuvix to die. Tuvix gives this trope, paraphrasing The Merchant of Venice in the process, saying he regards Tuvok and Neelix as his parents.Tuvix: Look at me, Captain. When I'm happy, I laugh. When I'm sad, I cry. When I stub my toe, I yell out in pain. I'm flesh and blood, and I...have the right to live!
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: A threefer:
- Particularly with his statement that he thinks of Tuvok and Neelix as his parents, the decision whether or not to split Tuvix could be seen as a metaphor for abortion.
- At the same time, it's the Trolley Problem, in space. In the classic thought experiment, a malfunctioning trolley is heading for two (or more) people who are tied to the tracks, who will certainly die if the trolley hits them. It can be diverted to a secondary track by pulling a lever, but there is one person tied to that track, who will likewise die if struck by the trolley. Assuming it's not possible either to stop the trolley or to untie any of the people, do you pull the lever, and directly cause the death of one person, or do nothing, and allow two to die? In the episode, Neelix and Tuvok are the two people tied to the main track, while Tuvix is the one on the secondary track. Janeway decides to pull the lever.
- It also ties into depictions of capital punishment. In-Universe, Tuvix compares Janeway's decision to separate him to an execution, while noting he hasn't committed any crimes to deserve it. When he refuses, she calls Security, who first struggle with him before escorting him to Sickbay after he calms down, similar to jailers. In Sickbay itself, the set-up with the transporter pad and Kim at the terminal is reminiscent of someone being sent to the electric chair (though the procedure is actually performed on a biobed), while Janeway giving Tuvix the radioactive isotope has the same weight as a lethal injection. There's even Kes in the role of a family member or loved one looking on, the Doctor as both the attending physician on duty and the one speaking for morality (a priest) or clemency (a governor's pardon), and Janeway making the final call like the warden.
- Face Death with Dignity: After it becomes clear that begging for his life won't work, Tuvix calms down, forgives everyone, and peacefully obeys Janeway's orders without another word.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: During the cold open, Tuvok and Neelix are shown having one of their typical mild arguments. Neelix insists that Tuvok is acting "more Tuvokian" than usual, to which Tuvok counters that it's impossible for him to be any more or less Tuvok. Shortly afterward, in an effort to get Neelix to stop trying to cheer him up, Tuvok asks Neelix if he could be less himself for a while. Then the transporter accident happens, which causes both of those things to happen.
- Foregone Conclusion: It's a given that by the end of the episode, Tuvok and Neelix will be back, but how we get to that conclusion is the question. It's messier than you might expect for a Star Trek episode.
- Foreshadowing:
- The episode begins with Neelix singing a Vulcan funeral dirge, and ends with an execution.
- Friend Versus Lover: A sci-fi version. Neelix was Kes' lover and Tuvok was her mentor. Now Tuvix is a friend who wants to be her lover. Kes is understandably upset, especially when she's forced to choose between bringing back her lover at the expense of her new friend's life.
- Fusion Dance: Tuvok + Neelix = Tuvix. An interesting variation as he is presented as a composite character, but Tuvix doesn't assert himself as a Mental Fusion so much as a new being unto himself. The result is that this trope gets played with and deconstructed as the episode goes on, culminating in perhaps Voyager's most morbid ending.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Discussed. Janeway notes that Tuvok would not have hesitated to sacrifice himself to save two lives. Tuvix admits that she may accuse him of being a coward, but he has the desire to live.
- I Don't Want to Die: Janeway asks Tuvix to consider what Tuvok or Neelix would do. Tuvix agrees they would sacrifice their own lives, but even if his decision seems cowardly, Tuvix says he has as much right to live as anyone else.
- If You Won't, I Will: The Doctor refuses to separate Tuvix because, well, he's a doctor, and doctors do no harm. Janeway immediately takes on the dubious honor herself, even though she isn't the least bit happy to do it.
- Layman's Terms: Separating Tuvix is like unmaking a cake after you've mixed the flour, eggs and water and baked it.
- Loafing in Full Costume: Averted with Janeway in a pink nightie.
- Moment Killer: Harry Kim is playing a beautiful clarinet piece when the Doctor interrupts. Doc does it again when Kes is finally making an overture toward Tuvix.
- Moral Myopia:
- Tuvix argues that he is a unique life form distinct from Tuvok and Neelix, and therefore splitting him back into those two men would be killing him. But he also claims that allowing him to survive would not be killing Tuvok and Neelix because they live on through him, which runs counter to his initial claim to be a distinct life.
- Janeway argues to Tuvix that Tuvok and Neelix would sacrifice their lives for another to convince him to do the same, yet it never occurs to her they would therefore not wish to regain their existence at the expense of Tuvix.
- Montage: Janeway makes an entry into her Captain's Log, explaining what an Ace Tuvix is.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Tuvix — played for laughs with Janeway and the Doctor, but not with Kes.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kes, who ordinarily is an enthusiastic and inquisitive medical assistant, is reduced to stunned silence when confronted with Tuvix, and as the realization sinks in that she's lost both her lover and her mentor, she totally loses her Plucky Girl demeanor, becoming cold and business-like. It only gets worse as the episode goes on, since she can't mourn the loss of Neelix and Tuvok, because they're right there in the form of Tuvix.
- Permafusion: By all indications, Tuvix could have lived a full lifespan (presumably somewhere between Talaxian and Vulcan) if he hadn't been separated.
- Portmanteau: Their newest crewmember decides to call himself...Neevok! No, how about Tuvix.
- Reset Button: Tuvok and Neelix have to come back because, well, they're main cast members. In-show, however, pushing this particular reset button involves a very hard decision, which The Captain ultimately decides to take upon herself, and the show doesn't shy away one bit from depicting how difficult it is.
- Rule of Threes: Kes gets two hugs from Janeway and one from a restored Neelix.
- Sadistic Choice
- Tuvix argues that Janeway is, in-effect, executing him. However if Tuvix survives, it can only be at the expense of Tuvok and Neelix.
- Tuvix goes to Kes and asks her to convince Janeway to relent. As this would mean the effective demise of Neelix, she can't do so.
- Sequel Hook: A retroactive one. Captain Janeway orders an Away Team to fly to the planet's surface in a shuttlecraft to collect samples of the orchid. No further mention is made of this mission's outcome or the samples in the episode or throughout the rest of Voyager's run. Instead, this loose end will get picked up 27 years later on Star Trek: Lower Decks and serve as the catalyst for the Sequel Episode "Twovix".
- Shoot the Dog: When the Doctor refuses to 'kill' Tuvix, Janeway does the job herself.
- Shout-Out: Tuvix gives a similar speech to Shylock's "prick us do we not bleed" from The Merchant of Venice.
- Teleporter Accident: Merge two people and a plant together (Neelix and Tuvok) into one distinct being. Then unmerge them through the power of mad science! In a funny bit of
Fridge Logic, the plant they were with never gets unmerged, so Neelix and/or Tuvok is part plant from this point on in the series. - Tempting Fate
- Tuvok says, "I am who I am, Mister Neelix. It is impossible for me to be more or less like myself." Neelix asks if it isn't possible to both work and have fun at the same time. Tuvix ensues.
- Kes tells Tuvix that she wants them to be friends, but it's going to take time to adjust. Tuvix replies "I'm not going anywhere." Right on cue, the Doctor contacts him to reveal that he's found a way to separate him.
- When the Doctor finds a cure, he assures Tuvix that he's anticipated every variable. Except, Tuvix points out, the possibility that he wouldn't want to be restored.
- That's an Order!:
- Janeway quietly asks Tuvix to accompany her to Sickbay. When he refuses, she has Security come to the Bridge to drag him there by force if necessary.
- Played for laughs when Tuvix throws everyone out of his kitchen.Hogan: On whose authority?Tuvix: Chief of Security or Head Chef. Take your pick!
- Tough Leader Façade: Janeway's stoic expression as she 'kills' Tuvix. It drops for a moment after Tuvok and Neelix are restored, then Janeway is shown girding herself to be The Captain again.
- Tragic One-Shot Character: Tuvix, and how.
- We Are as Mayflies: Tuvix argues that it could be years before Neelix is restored, if he ever is, and for Kes that could be a lifetime.
- Wham LineThe Doctor: I assure you, Mr. Tuvix. There's nothing to worry about. We've accounted for every variable.
Tuvix: Except one. I don't want to die. - What Happened to the Mouse?: The flower that caused the incident isn't mentioned nor reappears when Tuvix is separated. In fact it is completely forgotten about in the latter half of the episode.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?Janeway: It's funny. If we'd had the ability to separate Tuvok and Neelix the moment Tuvix came aboard, I wouldn't have hesitated.
Chakotay: Of course not.
Janeway: But now, in the past few weeks, he's begun to make a life for himself on this ship. He's taken on responsibilities, made friends...
Chakotay: I count myself as one of them.
Janeway: So at what point, did he become an individual and not a transporter accident? - What the Hell, Hero?:
- When Tuvix confesses his love for Kes, she's shocked and asks him to consider Tuvok's wife, to whom he has always been faithful.
- The Doctor refuses to perform the procedure, citing 'do no harm' when Tuvix refuses to consent to the procedure. However, he doesn't overtly criticize Janeway's decision as wrong.
- Your Favourite: Tuvix makes Trellan crepes for Kes, their Wednesday ritual.
