Voyager gets conned by some of the worst con artists in the Delta quadrant.
Maybe my standards are too high (cough *Leverage* cough), but this was a pretty dull and uninteresting con. For a start, it was pretty much just straight lying and then running. A *good* con is one where the mark doesn’t go running to the authorities afterwards. It was a little bit interesting seeing people ‘pretend’ to be Tuvok and Janeway, but not interesting enough to sustain a good episode.
And while I’m at it, let’s take a brief foray down “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Why not? There are entire marketing departments at publishers dedicated to trying to make sure the cover reflects whats in the book, so people will buy it. Sure, it’s not an iron clad promise. But I think you can be fairly sure that someone thought pretty clearly about the ocver, and expects you to judge the book by it.
Or, in short, if someone names their episode “Live Fast and Prosper”, treat it as an engraved invitation to spend time elsewhere.
606 down, 131 to go.