Discovering a comet that looks a little bit funky on the sensors, Voyager quickly learn that it’s not just any rock floating through space, but a prison. Accidentally releasing a shunned Q (not that one, another one!), they learn that the Continuum had exiled and imprisoned him for casting aside immortality, seeing it as a punishment, and trying to end his existence. With Q (still not that one) now released by Voyager, Q (yes, that one!) pops by to put Q (the other one) back in his box, causing a unique call for asylum that puts Janeway in the centre of a Q Conflict (Qonflict?).
John de Lancie’s Q had been a regular on the Next Generation. Whether just being annoying because he was bored or giving Picard unnecessarily complex lessons in self awareness, he became a bit of a fan favourite who opened the series by putting humanity on trial, only to give Picard the budge he needed to prove humanity’s worth in the series finale. Keen to keep the character on board, Q travelled to Deep Space Nine during it’s experimental phase and, thankfully, never returned once the show found it’s footing in more grounded story telling.
But Voyager was right there. Another show where the ridiculous can happen, and who else was more ridiculous than Q? But his introduction to Captain Janeway was far from the silliness of his reputation and despite some weirdness down the line, Death Wish was one of his more sombre outings thanks to the challenge of his other Q, or Quinn as he’d eventually call himself for ease.
Quinn’s struggle was very on theme with what the Q Continuum was. All powerful immortals lording over the galaxy who knew everything, saw everything and had nothing more to learn. The whimsical Q had spent his Trek tenure jumping on board the Enterprise to play morality and guide Picard in the right direction, but what happens when he’s not found a distraction? It turns out…. nothing. The Continuum used to be a lively place of debate, humour and knowledge shared from all over the universe. But in living forever, there’s nothing more to say and all the joys of life have been replaced by eternal isolation.
After some of the usual Q shenanigans, with the pair using their powers to get the silliness out the way early on, the episode mostly plays out as a hearing with Q reluctantly playing by the rules, letting Quinn’s asylum request play out and Federation rules apply. Quinn pleads his case in a hearing while Q stands in for his people.
It’s fairly dark for a Q episode, and fairly enlightening in pulling back the curtain to show life on the other side. Among the debates is a trip to the Continuum itself. Just translated in a visual way to allow human minds to comprehend how bleak it is – using a barren desert highway with disengaged and silent inhabitants to highlight that where they once thrived, the Q are now just surviving in silence. Quinn refuses to spend eternity with his life behind him, just existing to exist in misery and, despite the usual overly sci-fi analogy, the whole concept of Quinn fighting for the right to end his suffering is an obvious one.
For an episode that starts with two Q’s playing hide and seek, the story ends up being a standout with a compelling story told with guest star Gerrit Graham giving a wonderful performance that pushes some difficult questions as a Q who just wants the right to die on his own terms.
Aside from being a good story that comes together nicely in the final act, when Quinn does win his case and is granted mortality, his choice to euthanise himself instead of exploring humanity also opened up a few new doors for Q to return; shaking up the status quo of the Continuum and starting a second life for the TNG trickster.
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Some Scary Ship! The Griffin Incident; Strange New Worlds S4E02
Returning from a conference for future leaders of Starfleet, Spock and La'an (with Kirk hitching a ride) find a long-lost ship adrift. The USS Griffin's disappearance nine years prior had never been explained, becoming a bit of folklore within the fleet. Stum,bling upon it by chance, the trio board the ship hoping to find an answer to the mystery only to get more than they bargained for... Writers: Robbie Thompson Director: Axelle Carolyn I'll preface this now by pointing out I love creepy sci fi settings.. The isolation of being trapped on a derelict ship with no escape and no one to call for help has always been something I've enjoyed from the obvious Event Horizon, even to old classics like The Thing. So I was excited for this one by the trailer alone and can't say I was disappointed! […]
Mars Attacks! Valles Marineris; Strange New Worlds S4E01
Since losing Batel at the end of the last season, life for the crew of the Enterprise hasn't stopped. Mainly because Pike won'd let them. Racing from mission to mission without even a water break in between, the crew are getting a little run down after six months of back to back nonsense. And it's all because of Pike running away from the loss and burying himself in adventure to keep the grief at bay. As Admiral April pops over for a chat, and to offer Pike a promotion he doesnt seem too interested in, a break doesn't seem to be coming any time soon. Writers: Henry Alonso Myers, Alan B. McElroyDirector: Chris Fisher Sent to investigate some new weird space stuff, things go completely mental when the Enterprise gets pulled into it and thrown, Caretaker style, into an unfamiliar […]
Mark Mitchell; 1969-2026
It's with great sadness we report that our Director of Operations, Mark Mitchell, has sadly passed away suddenly earlier this week. Mark was one of our longest serving members and a huge part of what helped shape what SFCQ2 is today. Having served in leadership as a CO, throughout fleet support and originating the role of Director of Administration, Mark's unyielding dedication to the club and his multiple contributions over the decades undoubtedly make him worthy of his Legend handle. From writing the entire base for our modern Academy to being vital in the fleet restructure, to offering support and advice to countless members to support leadership and direction, Mark's efforts serve, and will likely continue to serve, as the backbone of everything that makes Q2 with his primary goal always being to offer the best of everything and push […]
Gamma Quarter 2403 Promotions & Citations
Throughout it’s entire existence SFC has grown, evolved and thrived due tot he commitment and passion of our officers and crew. Keen members can make a huge difference within their unit or the fleet as a whole, and we like to ensure members are rewarded and recognised for all they bring to the organisation. Starting this quarter, we're opening every new period within the fleet celebrating those who have made an impact and engaged in being a positive influence in their unit or in Q2 overall. The most obvious form of rewards comes from our naval-based rank structure. Utilising the same base rank structure seen on screen, SFC takes members through their journey as a Starfleet officer by giving members a chance to rise throughout the ranks from Ensign to Captain. Having had an active and exciting year, Lt Commander […]
A Fistful of ‘Spirk’
We've been spoiled with Spock in the past few years with Discovery introducing a younger iteration of the character long before he became the refined man of logic that made him famous, and continued that story through Strange New Worlds and his time under Captain Pike's command. As Strange New Worlds continues, giving more history to the original series line up and the early meetings of Spock and Kirk as it makes way for the beginning of the Kirk era, we thought we'd look back at some moments that made the partnership one of the most popular combinations in science fiction. JOURNEY TO BABEL TOS Season 2 Spock's got a bit of an issue with sharing. Secret brother who was shunned. Secret sister who's fate was classified. And despite trusting the Enterprise crew with his life, it was clearly only […]
Site & Service Updates July 2026
It's been a strange year as we adapt to then changing landscape of the Star Trek franchise with recent corporate shenanigans in the media industry, as well as adjusting to and anticipating new regulation sin our home base of the UK which has taken up more brain power than we'd expected!Still, despite distractions, we've been working away in the background with a revised Admin schedule to ensure at the very least every Sunday we can check off some items on the to do list and keep everyone updated on the changes whether minor, major or a bit pointless! On Screen Additions After being placed on the low priority list for a while, the On Screen Mission Log section has begun taking shape. Previously the On Screen section had it's own section per show since the launch of Discovery, however with […]
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