The Chute (episode)

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"The Chute"
VOY, Episode 3x03 Production number: 147 First aired: 18 September 1996
←	46th of 168 produced in VOY	→
←	44th of 168 released in VOY	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered
←	425th of 727 released in all	→
Teleplay By Kenneth Biller Story By Clayvon C. Harris Directed By Les Landau
50156.2 (2373)
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Harry Kim and Tom Paris are found guilty and detained in a prison where a neural implant gradually drives the inmates mad.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Log entries 3 Memorable quotes 4 Background Information 4.1 Video and DVD releases 5 Links and references 5.1 Guest stars 5.2 Co-star 5.3 Uncredited co-stars 5.4 References

[edit] Summary

Harry Kim and Tom Paris are imprisoned after being accused of using trilithium to bomb the Laktivia recreational facility on Akritiri, killing 47 off-duty patrollers. Paris tells Kim that they are in a Akritirian maximum security detention facility more than 300 meters underground with fifty other prisoners. They are controlled by a neural implant called a clamp, which makes the prisoners paranoid and violent.

The only exit is a chute which the Akritirians use to send food and new prisoners into the holding area. However, it is protected by a force field which shocks anyone who touches it. Kim finds a way to disable the field. As Paris and Kim are trying to do so, the other prisoners find them and stab Paris.

Kim takes Paris back to their shelter, but it has been taken over by other prisoners. He then approaches Zio, and offers to take Zio with him while he escapes in exchange for shelter, food and bandages. Zio and Kim disable the force field, and climb up the chute, only to find that it leads to a hatch into space. They are not underground, but imprisoned on a satellite so escape to the surface is not possible.

Kim tries to convince the other prisoners that they need to join together to raid the vessel that brings food and prisoners, however, they refuse. Kim goes back to the shelter where Paris is, Paris has taken apart the device that disrupts the force field. Kim is furious and the two fight, Kim nearly kills Paris. Zio tells him that he should kill Paris because he is a drain on resources.

On Voyager, Captain Janeway is trying to negotiate with Ambassador Liria of Akritiri so that she can find her crewmen. They tell her that Kim and Paris have confessed to the bombing, and that Voyager is the only possible source of the trilithium used for the bomb in the sector. Two Akritirian patrol ships appear and threaten to board Voyager and imprison the entire crew. Janeway retreats. Lieutenant Torres reports that paralithium can also be converted to trilithium and that paralithium is used to power impulse ships.

Voyager reviews its logs of vessels that their sensors recorded while in orbit of Akritiri and finds four that are powered by paralithium. They track down the vessels, and find the bombers: two siblings named Piri and Vel, who are affiliated with a terrorist group called Open Sky. Janeway goes back to Akritiri and offers to exchange them for Kim and Paris. However, the ambassador flatly refuses, saying that Kim and Paris's convictions cannot be overturned.

Janeway approaches the bombers, who say that they know the location of the prison. Janeway offers to let them go if they give them access to the prison. Janeway decides to get close to the prison in Neelix's small ship.

Back in the prison, the prisoners are suddenly alerted to the arrival of someone coming down the chute. The prisoners crowd around, ready to "greet" the new arrivals, when Janeway comes down the chute, large weapon in her hand. She stuns several of the prisoners as Tuvok comes down the chute after her. The two senior officers are able to locate Harry, who brings them to Tom. The four Starfleet officers make their escape, just as an Akritiri ship announces its plan to board the Talaxian vessel.

Back on Voyager, Kim, Paris, Neelix, Janeway, and The Doctor gather in sickbay to give Paris the stamp of health. Paris and Kim go to dinner together, and Kim awkwardly tries to apologize to Paris for almost killing him. Paris stops him short, saying that he doesn't remember that. "What I remember," he says, "is a voice saying, 'This man is my friend. No one touches him.'" The two friends leave to enjoy a hearty, much-dreamed-about dinner.

[edit] Log entries

"Captain's log, stardate 50156.2. After 72 hours, Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim are still missing, and I'm quickly losing patience with the Akritirian authorities. They continue to deny us access to the surface, and they've yet to confirm whether our crewmen were killed in the bombing."

"Captain's log, supplemental. So far, we've located three ships with paralithium plasma emissions, but none of them appears to have produced explosives. We're currently in pursuit of a fourth vessel."

[edit] Memorable quotes

"I'm only in the mood for good news today, ambassador."

- Kathryn Janeway, to the Akritirian ambassador

"This man is my friend; nobody touches him."

- Harry Kim, to prisoners about Tom Paris

"Right now, I'm so hungry, I could eat a bowl of Neelix's leola root stew."
"Me, too. Never thought I'd say that."

- Harry Kim and Tom Paris

"Tom, listen to me. I... I almost killed you."
"What are you saying? You're the one that kept me alive."
"I was ready to hit you with the pipe. Don't you remember?"
"You want to know what l remember? Someone saying, 'This man is my friend. Nobody touches him.' I'll remember that for a long time."

- Harry Kim and Tom Paris

[edit] Background Information

• According to the Star Trek: Voyager Companion, this was the first episode to be shot in the third season, as "Sacred Ground", "False Profits", "Flashback" and "Basics, Part II" were shot in the second season and held back.
• One of the Akritirian inmates wears a costume originally created for one of the Aaamazzarites in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
• Paralithium is introduced here as a further branch of the "futuristic" lithium family of starship fuels, producing the highly dangerous trilithium as a by-product.
• Reference to 47: Paris and Kim are accused of killing 47 soldiers in a bombing.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.2, 3 February 1997.
• As part of the VOY Season 3 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Guest stars

• Don McManus as Zio
• Robert Pine as Liria
• James Parks as Vel
• Ed Trotta as Pit
• Beans Morocco as Rib

[edit] Co-star

• Rosemary Morgan as Piri

[edit] Uncredited co-stars

• Tarik Ergin as Ayala
• Kerry Hoyt as Fitzpatrick
• Tom Morga as an Akritirian prisoner
• Louis Ortiz as Culhane
• Unknown actress as Foster

[edit] References

2296; 47; acetylcholine; Akritiri; Akritirian; Akritirian cargo vessel; Akritirian maximum security detention facility; Akritirian patrol ship; barbecue; Baxial; brigade; Chateau Lafite Rothschild; cherry pie; clamp; Delaney, Megan; emergency vehicle; fettran sauce; fire ant; flambé noodles; food cake; fudge ripple pudding; grocer; Heva VII; Heva VII refueling port; hospital; hotel; hypothalamus; liter; ion propulsion; Laktivia recreational facility (Laktivia canteen); lamb; leola root stew; multispectral subsurface scan; mushroom; onion rings; Open Sky; paralithium; plasma; pulse gun; potato; Risan bean; Sandrine's; shrimp; synaptic stimulator; T-bone steak; trilithium; warden; wild rice

Previous episode: "Flashback"

Star Trek: Voyager Season 3

Next episode: "The Swarm"