30 Years on,Voyager‘s B’Elanna Split Episode Remains Fascinatingly Fraught

Star Trekhas always been fascinated with the idea of characters pulled between two worlds . Spock ’s exploration ofhis human heritage , Worf ’s condition onTNGas an former example of post - peace Klingon integration with the Federation , even Sisko ’s positioning as a Starfleet officer thrust into the simultaneous roles of guiding diplomatist , military leader , and spiritual emissary — time and time again the series has been drawn to this character original across ideas of race and status .

EarlyStar Trek Voyagerwas no exclusion with its interest in B’Elanna Torres , one of the show ’s former breakout characters . The Maquis rebel turn main railroad engineer who body forth this trope not just through her own journey as an ex-wife - irregular , but also as a half - Klingon woman — and the show ’s first real attempt to research that latter , 30 years ago today in “ Faces , ” had to tread fertile , yet extremely contentious ground .

“ Faces ” was the 14th episode ofVoyager‘s debut time of year , and saw thereturn of the Vidiians , a race of aliens impel to glean organs and body part from other species to taste and nullify being ravaged by a horrifying plague . Having captured a smattering ofVoyagercrew while they were on an outside mission , B’Elanna included , a Vidiian scientist eager to search the potential impingement of regenerative elements in Klingon DNA in battling that pest use his people ’s advanced aesculapian technology to reach an maverick conclusion : break up B’Elanna into two masses . whole severalise down to the genetical stratum into separate human and Klingon individuals ( both played by Torres actress Roxann Dawson , with the helper of photo double Joy Kilpatrick ) , both B’Elannas ultimately have to overtake their differences to find a style to run away the Vidiians alongside their fellow capture crewmates .

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The thought shit literalStar Trek‘s aforementioned fascination with characters who struggle to reconcile being from two very different background , but by make B’Elanna ’s first real exploration of her biracial identity on the show so literal , “ Faces ” has to skirt some pretty unwarranted line of reasoning that it can never really quite interrogate . Much of the difference of opinion between the human B’Elanna and the Klingon B’Elanna is derived from what is finally present by the episode as genetically derived trait . Human B’Elanna is physically and emotionally weaker , repeatedly incapacitated by fear as she struggle to adapt to being contain prisoner by the Vidiians . Klingon B’Elanna , meanwhile , plays up the make Klingon imitation of force and anger event , an rudimentary arrogance that see her seek conflict before anything else .

It ’s made peculiarly fraught give the post - TNGre - imagining of the Klingons away from their original ( andsimilarly racially pregnant ! ) characterisation and toward a race of almost exclusively dark - skinned humanoids , alongside other Afro - inspired traits like textured pilus . The image of a slight clear - skinned human B’Elanna ( for what it ’s deserving , Dawson is ofPuerto Rican lineage ) crawl in the mien of her sharply redact , morose - skinned Klingon ego is brought up time and time again in “ Faces , ” as the two argue with each other over being “ cursed ” with the minus traits of the other , human B’Elanna lamenting her Klingon mood as being the reason she ultimately left Starfleet Academy . Even though by the end of “ Faces ” the two descend to an understanding , and the Klingon B’Elanna is allowed to sacrifice herself to protect the human B’Elanna she had admonished as her less , it ’s still presented in more of a direction of the imposing wolf trope than it is a particularly enlightened re - imagining of their James Bond .

But while “ face ” at last conclude that the two B’Elannas forge better together , it does n’t incisively question the racialized component at gambling between them in presenting her interior conflict over her biracial personal identity as an external one . Even the climax of the installment , when B’Elanna has reached that aforementioned understanding with her Klingon self , handles it in a compromise way — her re - embrace of her Klingon side is done as much out of any kind of sufferance as it is the fact that she ’s severalize that shehasto re - integrate with her Klingon DNA , without which she wo n’t survive . The installment ’s final bit are intriguingly draw up : the still - human - appearing B’Elanna narrate Chakotay as she sits inVoyager‘s sickbay waiting to undergo surgical process that while she now revalue and admires facial expression of her Klingon self , she is also compute with the fact that she will press that translation of herself for the sleep of her life , before stroking her smooth brow in purdah for one last sentence before the physical monitor of her internal struggle yield .

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For much of the balance ofVoyager , the series ’ geographic expedition of B’Elanna ’s racial identity will be explored through her damaged relationship with her Klingon female parent , rather than her own internal attitudes to being part - Klingon . That is , with one significant , equally wild exclusion : the time of year seven installment “ filiation , ” which sees a new fraught B’Elanna endeavour to genetically alter her child in - utero to see they are carry amply human .

It ’s fascinating that much of the show ’s exploration of her identity is bookended with these episodes that are broadly in conversation with each other , and not necessarily in the best of way . “ Lineage , ” while providing a floor of understanding for B’Elanna ’s choices , is at least much more definitive in its sentiment that her apprehensive view of being part - Klingon is misguided , and her actions in the episode are ambiguously in the legal injury . Perhaps then , “ Faces ” walked so it could run — and provide a opportunity to do a turn more correctly by a characterVoyagerhad been profoundly interested in from its earliest kickoff .

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