Episode 103: Thirty Days

Thankfully that’s the title of the episode and not the duration.

We start with Paris being reduced in rank to ensign though he shouldn’t be worried Harry seems to have just as much authority on the bridge and he’s an ensign. From Paris in the brig we begin to find out how he got to this point and his daddy issues through a letter to his father. Not sure why he'd tell his father about his Captain Proton holodeck programme in which Kim is always tied up but he does. Eventually Voyager comes across a planet made entirely of water. Paris loves the ocean and always dreamed of being a sailing the seven seas, who says he hasn’t? Suddenly he speaks sailor talk every third word so Janeway sends him on a mission with the planet’s aliens to study the water (probably to get rid of him). It turns out their oxygen reclamation plants are destroying the stability of the planet but the government doesn’t want to do anything about it (ah satire). Janeway won’t force them to but Paris does because of all the years he’s had sea water in his veins, so sets about destroying the plants with one of the aliens. They don’t succeed and Janeway demotes Paris and puts him in the brig for thirty days (probably to get rid of him and his sailor talk again).

Chakotay’s sole contribution to the episode is his proud announcment that the amount of water bigger than the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans put together. Yes that’ll be because it’s a planet. Made of water.

The demoting of Paris was quite interesting, especially since it's not undone by the end of the episode.  It's just a pity it wasn't for something more believable than his sudden interest in being a nautical cove.