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Heroes and Demons

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"Heroes and Demons"
Star Trek: Voyagerepisode
Episodeno.Season 1
Episode 12
Directed byLes Landau
Written byNaren Shankar
Featured musicDennis McCarthy
Production code112
Original air dateApril 24, 1995(1995-04-24)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"State of Flux" 		Next→
"Cathexis"
Star Trek: Voyagerseason 1
List of episodes

"Heroes and Demons"is the twelfth episode of thefirst seasonof the American science fiction television seriesStar Trek: Voyager.The episode first aired April 24, 1995 onUPN.It was directed byLes Landauand written by formerStar Trek: The Next Generationstory editorNaren Shankar.Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of theStarfleetandMaquiscrew of the starshipUSSVoyagerafter they were stranded in theDelta Quadrantfar from the rest of theFederation.In this episode, after a sample of aprotostaris brought on board, crewmen start to vanish from aholodecksimulation ofBeowulf.The Doctor(Robert Picardo), a hologram, investigates and finds that a lifeform wastransportedto the ship alongside the sample. It escaped to the holodeck where it was converting those who entered into energy. The Doctor has the samples brought to the holodeck and released, resulting in the lifeform returning the crewmen to their corporeal states.

Shankar sought to move the Doctor out ofsickbay,and while he was looking generally to involveVikingson the holodeck, it wasn't until later that he realized he had inadvertently followed the story of theBeowulfpoem, and so changed the script to include direct references. ComposerDennis McCarthysought to increase the tempo of the music used in this episode, and included an unused piece written forThe Next Generationepisode "Qpid";he was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition at theEmmy Awardsfor his work on "Heroes and Demons". A further nomination at those awards was received byMarvin V. Rushfor Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Series. Picardo's performance was praised by the crew, and the episode was received positively by critics, who compared elements toThe Lord of the Ringsand computer based roleplaying games. It receivedNielsen ratingsof 6.4/11 percent.

Plot

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The crew encounters aprotostarand CaptainKathryn Janeway(Kate Mulgrew) decides to have samples beamed aboard for use as a potential power source. A problem occurs when beaming the samples toVoyager.Janeway recommends toB'Elanna Torres(Roxann Dawson) that she should have EnsignHarry Kim's (Garrett Wang) assistance, but he is discovered to be missing. The crew finds hisholodeckprogram, based on the epic poemBeowulf,still running. With each person sent into the holodeck also becoming lost, Captain Janeway sends inthe Doctor(Robert Picardo) to investigate, under the assumption that as an immaterial hologram, he cannot be dematerialized in the way the missing crew had been. The Doctor shows signs of nervousness when preparing for his first "away" mission, soKes(Jennifer Lien) encourages him to take a name to embolden him with having an identity of his own. He states that he has narrowed his choices to three but does not reveal them.

Once in the holodeck, the Doctor meets Freya (Marjorie Monaghan), ashieldmaiden,and introduces himself as "Schweitzer". She takes him to the hall, where he is made to prove himself before the others, and after a celebratory meal and everyone has retired to separate rooms, she reappears andsuggeststhat, in the cold of the night when the fire in his hearth has gone out, he ought to join her. Though he dismisses her advances, he relaxes his inhibition in later scenes. Later they are confronted byUnferth(Christopher Neame), who kills Freya. She dies in Schweitzer's arms. With her last words she speaks his name.

As the Doctor investigates, he realizes that alien energy lifeforms were beamed onto the ship within the containment field into which the protostar samples were transported. The missing crew members have been converted to energy by the lifeforms from the protostar, presumably as hostages in retaliation forVoyager's actions. The Doctor releases the energy lifeforms on the holodeck; in kind, the missing crew are returned to their original forms. Afterwards, upon reflection, the Doctor decides not to keep the name Schweitzer, as his memories associated with it are too painful.

Production

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Writing

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Naren Shankar had worked onStar Trek: The Next Generationbefore writing "Heroes and Demons"

Rick Berman,Jeri TaylorandMichael Pillerhad worked together as executive producers for the pilot ofVoyager,"Caretaker",and the following ten episodes." Heroes and Demons "was the first episode where Piller wasn't involved in the writing of the scripts because he had begun work on the seriesLegend.[1]Instead, the episode was written byNaren Shankar,the former story editor forStar Trek: The Next Generationduring the final two seasons of the show where he worked with Berman, Taylor and Piller. Following the end ofThe Next Generation,Shankar had pitched a number ofspec scriptsfor a variety of television series includingThe Simpsons,but "Heroes and Demons" was the first one he sold, which was accepted beforeVoyagerhad begun production.[2]

The initial idea for the episode had come from a conversation between Shankar andBrannon Bragaover dinner in which they sought to move the Doctor from sickbay into the holodeck,[2]marking this episode as the first one in which the Doctor had left sickbay.[3]Shankar had originally intended the story to be "Star TrekwithVikings",and it wasn't until he was sketching out the plot of the episode that he realised that he had inadvertently created something similar to theBeowulfpoem. He deliberately worked direct references in the poem into the script for the episode, such as specific lines and the attack on the mead hall.[4]His significant change fromBeowulfwas the addition of the character, Freya.[2]

The script went through two drafting stages, with the main issue being the alien element rather than the Viking details. Shankar was pleased that the work he did on the Viking parts of the script went unchanged from the first draft to the screen, calling it his "best experience" as a writer.[2]He also chose the first name that the Doctor would attempt to use, selectingAlbert Schweitzerfrom a list of scientists and doctors because he thought the surname sounded funny. He expected that it would be cut or changed, based on his experience in writing humorous elements into scripts forThe Next Generation.He wrote several lighthearted scenes into the script and was pleased when none of them were cut, saying that he was particularly proud of the exchange between the Doctor and Freya where she says "Your people must value you highly", and the Doctor responds dryly, "You would think so."[2]He submitted his final version of the script on February 2, 1995.[5]Taylor later talked about the use of the holodeck as a plot device in this episode, saying that it allowed the series to show things that otherwise couldn't happen on the show. She added that the plot in this episode "transcended the idea of 'Oh, we're in trouble on the holodeck.'"[3]

Guest stars, set design and musical composition

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Guest star Christopher Neame had previously appeared onThe Next Generationin theseventh seasonepisode "Sub Rosa".After his performance in" Heroes and Demons ", he would go on to appear in theStar Trek: Deep Space Ninesixth seasonepisode "Statistical Probabilities".[6]Marjorie Monaghanlater appeared inBabylon 5in the recurring role of Number One/Theresa Halloran from the episode "Lines of Communication"onwards.[7]During the filming of "Heroes and Demons", Monaghan's stunt double wasPatricia Tallman.The duo went on to work together onBabylon 5with Tallman playing the character ofLyta Alexander.They didn't initially recognise each other on the later show because of the costumes they wore in theVoyagerepisode.[8]Monaghan was also considered for the main cast part ofT'PolinStar Trek: Enterprise.[9]

The forest set was constructed on stage 12 at theParamount Studioslot, and was designed by production designer Richard James. Backdrops were used to expand the depth of the stage.Marvin V. Rushlater explained that they were not aiming for a real world forest look to the scenes, as the story allowed them to aim for something in the "in mythology and in historical record" instead. He attributed this for why the scenery design and creation was successful. DirectorLes Landaualso found that it enabled him to use some different camera angles in "Heroes and Demons", including shooting from acraneand the use of close-focus lenses to enable some wide shooting to get a sense of depth.[3]

ComposerDennis McCarthyhad worked on theStar Trekfranchise since thepilot episodeofThe Next Generation,and has included such work as the music for the filmStar Trek Generationsand the theme toDeep Space Nine."Heroes and Demons" was significant for McCarthy, as he had sought to increase the tempo of the music he created over the course of several years with the addition of furtherpercussion instruments.He had one piece which was written forThe Next Generationepisode "Qpid"which he wanted to use but had never managed to include it in an episode. This was finally used in" Heroes and Demons ", and he submitted that work for consideration at theEmmy Awards.[10]

Reception

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Ratings

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"Heroes and Demons" was first broadcast on April 24, 1995, on theUPNnetwork. According to theNielsen ratings,it received a 6.4/11 share, meaning it was watched by 6.4 percent of all households and 11 percent of all households watching television at the time of broadcast. This placed it as the 74th highest rated broadcast of the week across all networks.[11]At the time of broadcast, this was the lowest rated episode of the series so far but received the same ratings as the following episode "Cathexis"and higher than the final two episodes,"Jetrel"and"Learning Curve".[11]

Cast and crew response

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Several members of the crew praised the work of Robert Picardo in "Heroes and Demons".

Writer Naren Shankar was happy with the overall episode, saying "I think all the Viking scenes worked very well. The sets were magnificent—the forest set was beautiful, and I don't really have any complaints about it. Everybody really outdid themselves on it."[2]Supervising producer David Livingston praised the prop and wardrobe departments for creating the array of "cool-looking" extras, while Michael Piller said that the whole episode was "well produced".[3]Taylor praised the premise, calling the idea "irresistible" and the overall episode "delightful".[3]

Members of the crew praised the work of Robert Picardo on this episode, with Taylor saying that he was "wonderful" in "Heroes and Demons",[3]while Piller saw the character as a "fish out of water" and added that "Picardo is a wonderful actor."[3]Kenneth Biller,executive story editor, felt that the episode gave Picardo a "chance to shine",[3]and that the episode was "a lot of fun".[3]Picardo himself was pleased with the episode, later describing it as his favourite of the first season.[12]Garrett Wang also added that he was happy with the episode, as being anAsian-Americanactor he didn't otherwise get a great deal of chances to appear in period work, and he enjoyed the wardrobe he wore.[3]

Critical response

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In his chapter, "From Anglo-Saxon to Angelina: Adapting Beowulf for Film", inMedieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture,Stewart Brooks compared "Heroes and Demons" to theBeowulfstory. He said that certain elements of the episode were more similar to theroleplaying gameDungeons & Dragonsinstead of historical fact, such as the character of Freya who he also compared toÉowynfromJ. R. R. Tolkien'sThe Lord of the Rings.[4]He praised the episode, saying that the "real pleasures" were "to witness the surly, introverted, neurotic Doctor being forced to play the hero, banter with Vikings and have his first romantic liaison when Freya falls for him."[13]In 2011, Brian J. Robb also linked the episode to roleplaying games in his article on the episode forStar Trek Monthly,suggesting that the repetition of some scenes may have been influenced by the increase in popularity of computer based roleplaying games at the time of production.[14]

Edward L. Risden described "Heroes and Demons" as "Pulp TV tackles mead-hall ritual" in his book, co-authored with Nickolas Haydock,Beowulf on Film: Adaptations and Variations.He added that it gave theBeowulfstory "a new twist adaptive to science fiction and to audiences who want human interest even in electronic projections."[15]Michelle Erica Green, while reviewing the episode forTrekToday,said that the plot was "pretty superficial" and the science was "pretty nonsensical".[16]But she said that it was a "delightful outing for the Doctor" and demonstrated the potential for the character.[16]

In 2023Screen Rantcalled the episode "truly great" but said that the episode "was not able to capture audience attention or acclaim as well as later seasons did."[17]

Marvin V. Rush was nominated for Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Series at the47th Primetime Emmy Awardsfor his work in this episode, but the award went toTim Suhrstedtfor his work on "Over the Rainbow", an episode ofChicago Hope.[18][19]At the same ceremony, Dennis McCarthy was also nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Music Composition for his work on "Heroes and Demons".[20]

Home media release

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The first home media release of "Heroes and Demons" was onVHScassette in the UK. The releases featured two episodes per tape, with this episode appearing alongside "State of Flux"in 1995.[21]It was subsequently released by itself on VHS in the United States July 11, 2000.[22]The firstDVDrelease was in the United States, as part of the first season box set on February 24, 2004.[23]A similar release followed in the UK on May 3, 2004.[24]

Notes

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  1. ^Spelling, Ian (August 1995)."Under Western Skies".Starlog.1(217): 76–79.RetrievedMay 17,2015.
  2. ^abcdefNazzaro, Joe (October 1995). "Naren Shankar: Writer".The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine.1(4): 66–71.
  3. ^abcdefghijGross & Altman (1996):pp. 143 – 144
  4. ^abBrooks (2015):p. 82
  5. ^"Lilly Library Manuscript Collections: Taylor, J. Mss".Indiana University. Archived fromthe originalon December 5, 2012.RetrievedMay 17,2015.
  6. ^Erdmann & Block (2000):p. 514
  7. ^Killick (1998):p. 100
  8. ^Swallow, James (September 1998)."Freedom Fighter".Starlog.1(254): 50–53.RetrievedMay 21,2015.
  9. ^Höhne Sparborth, Christian (April 18, 2001)."Marjorie Monaghan out for Series V Role".TrekNation.RetrievedMay 17,2015.
  10. ^Hirsch, David (October 1995). "Dennis McCarthy Composer".The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine.1(4): 56–64.
  11. ^ab"Season 1 Ratings".TrekNation. Archived fromthe originalon October 6, 2000.RetrievedMay 17,2015.
  12. ^Spelling, Ian (June 2004). "Doctor Who?".Star Trek Monthly.1(115): 21–25.
  13. ^Brooks (2015):p. 83
  14. ^Robb, Brian J. (July 2011). "Heroes and Demons".Star Trek Monthly.1(162): 56–59.
  15. ^Haydock & Risden (2013):p. 168
  16. ^abGreen, Michelle Erica (June 26, 2015)."Retro Review: Heroes and Demons".TrekNation.RetrievedJanuary 22,2016.
  17. ^"Every Star Trek: Voyager Season Ranked Worst To Best".Screen Rant.10 March 2023.Retrieved10 March2023.
  18. ^"Emmys '95".Daily News.July 21, 1995. Archived fromthe originalon September 24, 2015.RetrievedMay 17,2015– viaHighBeam Research.
  19. ^"47th Primetime Emmys Nominees and Winners".Television Academy.RetrievedMay 17,2015.
  20. ^Ruditis (2003):p. 476
  21. ^"Star Trek: Voyager 1.6 – State of Flux/Heroes and Demons".RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
  22. ^"Star Trek – Voyager, Episode 12: Heroes & Demons [VHS]".Amazon.11 July 2000.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
  23. ^"Star Trek Voyager – The Complete First Season".Amazon.24 February 2004.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
  24. ^"Star Trek: Voyager – Season 1 [DVD] [1996]".Amazon.co.uk.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.

References

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