Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 8: Ex Post Facto (1995)

What kind of guy is Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) exactly? Keeping in mind that his character was introduced on Voyager as a pilot thrown out of Starfleet for covering up an accident, then later jailed for his (bungled) role as a Maquis mercenary, one might say he's a heel seeking redemption at Voyager's con. But "Ex Post Facto" suggests he's still a scoundrel at heart.

When Paris and Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) dine in the home of Banean scientist Tolen Ren (Ray Reinhardt), Tom becomes distracted by the restless beauty of the man's wife (Robin McKee), leading to an illicit liaison that ends with the murder of Ren. Paris is accused, found guilty, and uniquely punished by experiencing Ren's death, from the victim's point of view, every 14 hours in his mind. It's up to Commander Tuvok (Tim Russ) to get to the bottom of the mystery.

There's lots of controversy about the value of this episode. One camp believes Paris is unfairly stereotyped, that the film noir elements in the script and visual style are perfunctory, and that the story is a rehash of The Next Generation's "A Matter of Perspective." Others, particularly writer Michael Piller, believe it to be a blend of detective drama and The Twilight Zone. In fact, all those assessments are valid: the episode is both overly predictable and dark. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Best Of A Great Bunch!

Although I will recommend the new Voyager Complete First
Season DVD THIS is a season highlite.It presents the show in it's more cryptic pre-Seven Of Nine years in a wonderful tale
about an alien race who punish convited criminals by forcing them to relive the final moments of their victems life's.Effective alternative to capital punishment?NO-as you'll
see here it takes a Vulcan mind meld to curb the damage done to
Tom Paris after he's framed for murder.Excellent use of
dream sequences and flashbacks-reminds me of something Orson
Welle's might've done has he been a modern science fiction
television writer. April 18, 2004

Tuvok saves the day!

Tom Paris was in a New Zealand prison when Janeway first met him. Given a chance for redemption and freedom, he accepts the position as pilot for the USS Voyager.

Now, he finds himself guilty of a murder he says he didn't commit. However, he's broken the law before, maybe things just got out of hand. Every 14 hours, Tom must witness the murder from the victim's point of view. Using a mind meld, Tuvok notes Paris height in comparison to the victim's wife and the fact that the dog wasn't afraid of whoever murdered the husband.

The wife and a friend of the victim were lovers and secret plotting against the deceased, who was a scietist on his home world.

Paris is innocent and free. The chip that made him relive the murder is taken out of his brain and Voyager continues on its quest toward home. January 7, 2004

Tuvok has to save Tom Paris from a bum murder rap

At the start of "Ex Post Facto" (Episode 8, Story by Evan Carlos Somers, Screenplay by Somers & Michael Piller, Aired February 27, 1995) Ensign Kim (Garrett Wang) returns from the homeworld of Banean and reports that Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) has been convicted of murder. What makes this fascinating is that his punishment is to relive the crime from the perspective of his supposed victim every 14 hours. This is done through the use of memory engrams implanted by the Baneans in his rain. What had happened? On the planet Paris and Kim met a scientist, Tolen Ren (Ray Reinhardt), who needed help repairing some equipment. Paris was interested in Ren's young wife, Lidell (Robin McKee). When Ren turned up dead, Paris was the prime suspect and the damning evidence is the murder seen through the eye's of the victim.

The Baneans allow Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to evaluate Paris (after all, no matter where he goes, every 14 hours he relives the murder) and the Doctor discovers Paris is suffering brian damage from the implant. Tuvok (Tim Russ) plays detective and to gather information does a Vulcan mind meld with Paris. "Voyager" is then attacked by the Numiri, who are at war with the Baneans, and as we all know, even in the Delta Quadrant of the "Star Trek" universe there are no such things as coincidences. Besides having the interesting alien system of crime and punishment "Ex Post Facto" offers some pivotal character development for both Paris and Tuvok. Paris is the hotheaded irresponsible young pilot who needs to be better grounded, and this episode serves as something of a major reality check. Tuvok has had little to do in the series so far and this one gives him an opportunity to actually do some substantial. In the outstanding first season of "Star Trek: Voyager" this is the third first rate episode in a row. June 4, 2003

Trek noir

As with the DS9 episode "Necessary Evil," there's a good film noir feel to this story. While Tuvok doesn't really come off as a good PI figure like Odo did, there still exists the old noir trademarks like the dispassionate, chain-smoking mystery woman, marital infidelity, and a whole slew of differing flashbacks on what really happened. There's also a good space battle sequence to keep it from getting too mired in the noir genre. February 18, 2001

Best of the Lot

To me, this episode is the best of all the Voyager episodes either before or after. The reason being the interesting method of punishing murder and the Holmesian manner of Tuvok's investigation. Tuvok has never been as good as in this episode and the intriguing cultural differences have never been as imaginative. May 8, 2000

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