My thoughts are many miles away...

As an episode, Threshold tries to pack a lot into its last act, and then rather than explore the implications of any of that on the characters or the story arc, “fixes” it all at the last minute… and then the show never talks about any of it ever again. (This would have been much less remarkable on an earlier and more episodic Trek than it was on Voyager, which had been billed as a show that was interested in longer arcs and narrative consequences.)

At the time, I both understood the desire for the show not to talk about those events (let’s just say there was… a lot to unpack) and also felt somewhat cheated by this. It felt like a bunch of elements were introduced to the story at the last moment, only to say “but… ignore that now.” As a fan, however, I was watching the show because I wanted to think about the storylines and the characters, and to engage with the show itself.

So I’m glad people still remember and talk about Paris and Janeway’s mutant human-salamander offspring (and also about how it felt weird that they were so summarily abandoned on a show about being stranded far away from home). I’m delighted that we can affectionately poke fun at the episode, and imagine what it would be like if the human-salamander kids caught up with their (immediate and extended) family, and use it as a vehicle to express our cravings for pepperoni-and-olive pizza.