Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 2 E 20 "Investigations"

Do Not Adjust Your Set! Someone really let Neelix have his own TV show.

Tom Paris elects to leave Voyager, only to get seized by the Kazon-Nistrim. Neelix has just started a shipboard entertainment show, but this event starts him investigating the possibility of a spy on board. Meanwhile Michael Jonas is carrying out Seska's order to sabotage the ship.

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This episode has the following tropes:

• Bad Liar: As Jonas gets more and more agitated, his lies get sloppier until Neelix can see right through them.
• Big Bad: Seska returns.
• Bookends: The episode begins and ends on A Briefing With Neelix.
• The Bore: The Doctor plans to discuss on ABWN such scintillating topics as "How to keep your nostrils happy", "Uncovering the hidden mysteries of the adrenal gland", and the wonders of the Bolian digestive system.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • The Doctor, as Neelix constantly puts his segments on hold for another day's show.
  • Chakotay discovers that Tom's insubordination (not to mention getting punched in the face) is all according to the plan of Tuvok and Janeway, neither of whom have told him about The Mole. Tom then ends the episode joking on a shipwide broadcast about how giving Chakotay grief wasn't all bad.
• The Cameo: King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein of Jordan played a non-speaking role in this episode when he was still a prince.
• Conflicting Loyalties: Tuvok and Janeway say they didn't tell Chakotay because they believed the spy would be an ex-Maquis, and they didn't want to put him in a difficult position. As he was the one stopping the Maquis from throwing these two out an airlock in Season One, Chakotay isn't happy.
• Enforced Method Acting: In-Universe as the second reason Janeway and Tuvok didn't fill Chakotay in on their plan.
• Explosive Instrumentation
  • Jonas rigs his own console to explode in his face.
  • Weaponized by Tom Paris on the Kazon ship.
  • Then the shuttle console explodes in Tom's face.
• Failsafe Failure: Caused by Jonas' sabotage.
• Fake Video Camera View: The episode opens with Neelix doing a morning news show, discussing the ship's events, seen from the viewfinder of the automated camera (with flashing REC).
• Fake Defector: Tom Paris leaves Voyager specifically so that the Kazon will capture him, putting him in position to learn who The Mole is on Voyager.
• Frame-Up: Clues are left for Neelix to think that Tom Paris was a spy.
• Gambit Pileup
• Gossipy Hens: Neelix
  "And what Lieutenant in a gold uniform was recently huddled in the Mess Hall with what crewman in blue having a very intimate conversation over a carafe of Silmic wine? Well, I'd never name names, but you know who you are."
• Gun Struggle: Tom wrestles with a Kazon over his disrupter.
• He Knows Too Much: Neelix spots where Jonas has erased the subspace communication records. Jonas is sneaking up on Neelix with a laser welder, no doubt to simulate another workplace accident, when the Doctor interrupts on the Video Phone.
• His Name Is...: Averted. Tom has just made contact with Voyager with the identity of the traitor when the ship starts blowing up around him, but he holds out long enough to get the information across despite this.
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: The Doctor initially rejects Neelix's suggestion of appearing on his show.
  EMH: I'm a doctor, not a performer. I don't have time for such nonsense.
• Intrepid Reporter: Neelix begins using his television show A Briefing With Neelix to unmask spy Michael Jonas, after having been inspired by School Newspaper Newshound Harry Kim to do this.
• In-Universe Camera: To film A Briefing with Neelix.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Neelix manages to sum up this entire trope in his departing speech in honor of Tom Paris.
    Neelix: Good morning, Voyager. I want to tell you about a friend of mine. I first met this man almost a year ago, and tell you the truth, I didn't like him much. He seemed a little too cocky, a little too sure of himself. A lot of people had questions about him. He'd proven he'd pretty much sell himself out to the highest bidder, go wherever the wind blew him, so people wondered, could you trust this person when things got tough? Would he stand side by side with you, or would he let you down when you needed him most? But the fact of the matter is, he proved himself right from the beginning. I wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for him. And the same goes for many of you. It took me a while to realize it. Like a lot of people, I was too caught up in first impressions to see the truth that was right in front of me. I overlooked his bravery because I was focusing of his brashness. I ignored his courage because I saw it as arrogance. And I resented his friendliness because I mistook it for licentiousness. So while this man was giving us his best every minute of every day, I was busy judging him. And now he's leaving. I'm proud to say that in spite of my narrow-mindedness, Thomas Eugene Paris became my friend. I'm going to miss him. No more laughs over a game of pool. No more sitting up into the wee hours swapping stories. No more complaints about my cooking. Goodbye, Tom. I think I speak for more of us than you might imagine when I say you're going to leave an empty space when you go. I hope you find what you're looking for.
  • Also shown on-screen by Tom himself. Even while being snippy about his decision to leave Voyager, he assures a downcast Neelix that it's not at all his fault, and even returns his Man Hug.
• Limited Advancement Opportunities: Tom cites this reason for leaving.
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Turns out it's a test by Seska to see if Tom is a Fake Defector. They really should check he has Nothing Up My Sleeve though.
• Lured into a Trap: The Kazon have ground troops waiting on the planet Voyager is heading for.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: An interesting version where the villain does this to himself. Jonas lets a console blow up in his face, no doubt relying on superior Starfleet medical technology to avoid permanent damage. Sure enough the Doctor soon has him back on his feet again.
• The Mole: Michael Jonas
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Neelix broadcasting that Tom Paris is the spy on board Voyager.
• Plummet Perspective: The tool Neelix is using as an Improvised Weapon gets knocked into the plasma flow and vapourised.
• Railing Kill: Michael Jonas gets tossed over a railing and vaporized in a plasma flow.
• Reverse Whodunnit: A shocking truth is revealed: Voyager has a mole on board working for the Kazon. But who could it possibly be? Well, okay, it's Michael Jonas. Anyone who's been paying attention for the last seven episodes knows that it's Michael Jonas. The question is whether or not our intrepid voyagers figure it out before they fly into a Kazon ambush.
• Show Within a Show: A Briefing With Neelix.
• Some Kind Of Forcefield: Jonas seals off Engineering with forcefields, so it's all up to Neelix who's trapped in there with him.
• Swiss-Cheese Security: Neelix successfully uses an engineering access code he'd overheard earlier in the episode. The computer seems to have no problem accepting it, despite Neelix not actually being a member of the ship's engineering staff.
• Take Our Word for It: There's a crewman who's practicing some super-awesome juggling off-camera! We promise!
• Took a Level in Badass: Neelix shows he's not just the Plucky Comic Relief.
• Unnecessary Combat Roll: Tom on the Kazon vessel.
• Turn in Your Badge: Just before he leaves the ship, Tom hands his combadge to Harry Kim.
• We Would Have Told You, But...: Tom's behavior is finally explained to both Chakotay and the audience.
• Wrench Whack: Neelix grabs an Engineering tool and hits Jonas across the hamstrings with it.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Neelix reveals to the crew that there's a mole on board, so Janeway and Tuvok adapt this to their plan.