Line #65 Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E1The37s


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/voy_the37s012.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Now here's something you don't see every day.]]
3	->''In the meantime, I suggest we all brush up on ancient Earth.''
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5	''Voyager'''s sensors pick up an old Earth truck floating in space. The crew beams it aboard and all gather to inspect it. Paris, a gearhead, identifies it as a 1936 Ford and gets it started. When he turns on the radio, he picks up an SOS call. Janeway orders the ship to land on the nearby planet hoping to find some passage back to Earth. On the planet surface, they find the source of the SOS: a 1930s airplane with some alien technology hooked up as a power source. Investigating further, they pick up signals that lead them into some caves, where they find a bunch of humans in 1930s clothing all [[HumanPopsicle held in cryo-stasis]]. One of them is helpfully wearing a nametag revealing her to be Amelia Earhart.
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7	In a crew meeting, Janeway discusses how Amelia Earhart's disappearance became a celebrated mystery, with the most outrageous theory being alien abduction, which turns out to be true. The crew thaw out the human abductees, who are completely disoriented and upset to be in some strange location. They all remember being seized by a glowing light before finding themselves in the caverns. Though Janeway tries to explain matters, Earhart's navigator Fred Noonan refuses to believe her and pulls out a hidden revolver to hold the crew hostage. Even the appearance of Kes's Ocampan ears doesn't convince them.
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9	Janeway gets a private audience with Earhart and reveals that it's become common knowledge since her disappearance that her flight was a secret spy mission on the Japanese. Earhart is also impressed by Janeway's description of her legacy as a female pilot. She allows Janeway to talk her into coming to the surface to look at ''Voyager'' as proof of her story. A group heads to the surface, where they're immediately attacked by mysterious masked figures. Janeway manages to flank them and get them to surrender, but the attackers turn out to be human.
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11	The leader, John Evansville, explains that the residents of the planet are the [[TransplantedHumans descendants of humans]] who were [[AlienAbduction abducted]] by the Briori in 1937 and later fought off their oppressors to live in freedom. They revere their ancestors who were stuck in stasis, calling them "the 37s". He gives Janeway and the 37s a tour of their three prosperous cities and invites them all to stay if they wish. Afterwards, Janeway is at a loss on what to do, tempted to settle down in a comfortable human society rather than potentially spend the rest of her life on a starship. She gives everyone in the crew the option to make their own decision.
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13	The crew grapple with their decision. Even Kim is tempted to leave the ship. The 37s also ponder their decision and ask the advice of Neelix, who vows to stay on ''Voyager''. Earhart privately tells Janeway that she and the rest of the 37s will stay on the planet, to the captain's disappointment. Janeway announces that all crew who wish to stay assemble in the cargo bay at 14:00. While walking to the cargo bay at the appointed time, Janeway and Chakotay talk about which crewmen are most likely to go. Janeway finally builds up the nerve to open the cargo bay door and finds it completely empty. Moved nearly to tears, Janeway returns to the bridge, where she finds all of her bridge crew committed to their mission and awaiting orders. She sets a course while the 37s watch them leave from the planet surface.
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15	-----
16	!!This episode provides examples of:
17	* AlienAbduction: The Briori kidnapped humans because WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture. Hell of a distance to travel for cheap labor.
18	* AllHailTheGreatGodMickey: The descendants of the 37s regard their cryostasis tubes as a shrine, and even maintain power to the SOS signal. They're surprised when Janeway informs them the occupants are NotQuiteDead, despited them all being no older than middle-aged.
19	* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike: The planet is Class L with an oxygen/argon atmosphere. After a big fuss is made about having to land Voyager due to the hostile weather conditions, the away team walks about unprotected under sunny skies.
20	* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: If the truck had been floating in space for 434 years, the water, gasoline, and oil in it would have been so evaporated and degraded that the truck would never have started. Not to mention the battery would have been drained completely.
21	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Janeway reveals that it's publicly known in the 24th century that Earhart's voyage was actually a spying mission on the Japanese, something that is only a crackpot theory in real life. This may have been the writers having fun, as Janeway at one point also says the most outlandish theory regarding Earhart's disappearance was being abducted by aliens -- which is what actually happened here.
22	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Amelia Earhart really was captured by aliens and is now alive and well in the 24th century.
23	* BronsonCanyonAndCaves: The film location where Voyager lands. Bronson Canyon, which is part of Griffith Park, is frequently used for alien worlds in various ''Star Trek'' shows.
24	* BirdsOfAFeather: Janeway bonds with another female pioneer.
25	* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
26	** Everyone ducks for cover when the truck backfires, and Tuvok draws his phaser.
27	** Noonan holds the away team hostage and demands that Chakotay contact J. Edgar Hoover.
28	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: The episode proves that the legend of Amelia Earhart being abducted by aliens was right after all. And she was also on a spy mission when she disappeared.
29	* DatedHistory: Maybe. A team in 2018 [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43323944 declared]] that Earhart's remains were found on a Pacific island. However this is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart#Gardner_Island_hypothesis still open to debate]].
30	* DistressCall: Tom finds an SOS on the truck's radio, so Voyager tracks it to the source.
31	* DyingDeclarationOfLove: When the 37s are discovered, Fred Noonan (Amelia Earhart's navigator) gets shot in the chest and taken to Sickbay. Thinking he will die, he confesses his love to Earhart. [[NotSoFinalConfession However, he is then healed by the Doctor]] and embarrassed, tries to take back his confession. She's only too happy to let him do so, joking she's already forgotten he said it.
32	* FacelessGoons: Only they turn out to be human on making a DramaticUnmask.
33	* FanOfThePast: Paris identifies the chemicals that make up gasoline, and the year and model of the truck. [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee Janeway is quite a fan]] of one of the first female aviators.
34	* FailedASpotCheck: One of the humans is standing in plain sight, perhaps twenty meters away from the aircraft in full view of Janeway and Tuvok and is not spotted.
35	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The 37s. Earhart takes some convincing that the RubberForeheadAliens aren't just humans with body modifications.
36	* FutureImperfect: Harry wants to know if the Ford is an early [[FlyingCar hovercar]]. Tom tells him he's a [[IWantMyJetpack century too early]].
37	* HiddenWeapons: The away team remove the pistol from the Japanese soldier, but Noonan produces a revolver from under his suit. Cue DramaticGunCock.
38	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.
39	* HumansAreSuperior: The Briori kidnapped over 300 humans from Earth in 1937 to use as slaves, but they successfully revolted, appropriating the alien weapons and technology for themselves (no starships though, which is why they assume Voyager is a Briori vessel).
40	* HumanPopsicle: Amelia Earhart and some others that were frozen with her.
41	* IChooseToStay:
42	** Voyager has found a colony of abducted humans, who made their own city at that planet. What now? Continue the journey to Earth, or stay behind at this new planet? All the crew were allowed to decide individually. No one abandoned the ship.
43	** Conversely, it seemed like Amelia Earhart wanted to fly on Voyager, but decided that she was going to stay along with the other 37's that were awakened.
44	* IGotYouCovered: Janeway has Chakotay's away team lay down covering fire, while she works around behind those shooting at them.
45	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The away team is walking along in a nice tight cluster and gets missed completely by their ambushers, who only manage to hit Noonan.
46	* LaymansTerms:
47	** Inverted:
48	--->'''Janeway:''' Rust?\
49	'''Kim:''' That's correct, Captain. High levels of ferrous oxide. Corroded iron particles.
50	** Played straight when Tom explains to Earhart that Warp 9.9 is about four billion miles per ''second''.
51	* LeaveYourQuestTest: Now that it's [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption obvious that Voyager is not going to get home quickly]], the crew is faced with the decision on whether they should just settle down on a habitable planet that already has a flourishing human colony.
52	* MalevolentMaskedMen: Sinister figures in [[SpaceClothes Briori stealth gear]] that covers them from head-to-foot attack the away team.
53	* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: There's no hint of racism in the diverse group of 37s, which includes whites, blacks and Japanese. Given that Japan was in a heavily xenophobic imperialist phase, to say nothing of the pre-civil rights era in America, this was quite jarring, though it's easy to guess that once they realized what had happened, they had no choice but to work together.
54	** A slight nod in the direction of historical accuracy is that the Japanese military officer among the 37s cites the large number of Japanese-decended people on the planet will provide him with a sense of belonging, indicating he intends to keep to his own kind.
55	* QuickNip: Noonan [[INeedAFreakingDrink keeps drinking from his hip flask]]. This is probably a reference to the now-discredited belief that he was an alcoholic (the inference being this was at least partially responsible for his and Earhart's disappearance.
56	* RagnarokProofing: There's still fuel and water in the truck, so Tom is able to start the engine. Not only would both liquids would have boiled off in a vacuum, but even if they hadn't, gasoline becomes non-volatile after about a year, and certainly wouldn't last 400.
57	* RedAlert: Tuvok has the ship go to Blue Alert when they decide to land on the planet.
58	* RubberForeheadAliens: An actual plot point this time. Kes looks so similar to humans that the 37s don't believe that she's anything but a human with some weird body modification on her ears.
59	* SherlockScan: Janeway determines a lot about the owner of the Ford pickup from its appearance, all the while Torres can't even identify manure ''with'' a tricorder.
60	* SpoilerOpening: "Creator/SharonLawrence as Amelia Earhart".
61	* StatusQuoIsGod: All the crew decide to stay on Voyager, while all the 37s decide to stay on the planet.
62	* StockUnsolvedMysteries: The fate of UsefulNotes/AmeliaEarhart.
63	* TakeOurWordForIt: The characters talk about the cities on the marvelous cities that they tour, but none of them are ever shown.
64	* TechnologyPorn: Captain Janeway decides to show off Voyager's ability to land on a planet, boldly going where no Federation starship has gone before.
65	* TomTheDarkLord: The MalevolentMaskedMen who fire on our heroes remove their hoods and introduce themselves as John Evansville and Karen Berlin.
66	* TranslatorMicrobes: The 37s are puzzled because the others are all speaking their native language. Janeway explains the nature of the universal translator to them.
67	* TransplantedHumans: The 37s and their descendants.
68	* UnusualEars: Janeway tries to convince Fred Noonan he's not on Earth by showing him Kes' PointedEars. Noonan isn't convinced, as he's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stretching_(body_piercing) seen people do strange things to their ears on Earth too.]]
69	* WeComeInPeaceShootToKill: A conflict breaks out because the 37s descendants assume the Briori have come back. Janeway is able to reason with them at phaser point.
70	* WritersCannotDoMath: Tom Paris's attempt to translate ''Voyager'''s speed into AFormYouAreComfortableWith results in an estimate of "about 4 billion miles per second". Warp 9.975, the ship's stated maximum, is about 6,400 times the speed of light, while "4 billion miles a second" is ''21,500'' times and would have resulted in the ship getting home by the end of Season 4. There's no indication that Paris is deliberately fudging his numbers or getting his math very wrong.
71	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Janeway can't seem to convince Noonan of the truth of her story.

Context Recap / StarTrekVoyagerS2E1The37s