Heroes and Demons

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"Heroes and Demons"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 11
Directed byLes Landau
Written byNaren Shankar
Featured musicDennis McCarthy
Production code112
Original air dateApril 24, 1995 (1995-04-24)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"State of Flux" 		Next →
"Cathexis"
Star Trek: Voyager season 1
List of episodes

"Heroes and Demons" is the 12th episode of the

The Doctor (Robert Picardo), a hologram, investigates and finds that a lifeform was transported
to 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.

With this episode, Shankar sought to move the Doctor out of

Nielsen ratings
of 6.4/11 percent.

Plot

The crew encounters a

the 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, so Kes (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 (

suggests that, 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 by Unferth (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 for Voyager'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

Writing

Naren Shankar had worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation before writing "Heroes and Demons"

spec scripts for a variety of television series including The Simpsons, but "Heroes and Demons" was the first one he sold, which was accepted before Voyager had begun production.[2]

The initial idea for the episode had come from a conversation between Shankar and

Vikings", 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 the Beowulf poem. 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 from Beowulf was 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, selecting Albert Schweitzer from 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 for The 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

Guest star Christopher Neame had previously appeared on The Next Generation in the

Lines of Communication" onwards.[7] During the filming of "Heroes and Demons", Monaghan's stunt double was Patricia Tallman. The duo went on to work together on Babylon 5 with Tallman playing the character of Lyta Alexander. They didn't initially recognise each other on the later show because of the costumes they wore in the Voyager episode.[8] Monaghan was also considered for the main cast part of T'Pol in Star Trek: Enterprise.[9]

The forest set was constructed on stage 12 at the

Paramount Studios lot, and was designed by production designer Richard James. Backdrops were used to expand the depth of the stage. Marvin V. Rush later 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. Director Les Landau also found that it enabled him to use some different camera angles in "Heroes and Demons", including shooting from a crane and the use of close-focus lenses to enable some wide shooting to get a sense of depth.[3]

Composer

Emmy Awards.[10]

Reception

Ratings

"Heroes and Demons" was first broadcast on April 24, 1995, on the

Nielsen 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

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",

Asian-American actor 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

In his chapter, "From Anglo-Saxon to Angelina: Adapting Beowulf for Film", in Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, Stewart Brooks compared "Heroes and Demons" to the Beowulf story. He said that certain elements of the episode were more similar to the

Star 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 the Beowulf story "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 for TrekToday, 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 2023 Screen Rant called 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 the 47th Primetime Emmy Awards for his work in this episode, but the award went to Tim Suhrstedt for his work on "Over the Rainbow", an episode of Chicago 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

The first home media release of "Heroes and Demons" was on VHS cassette 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 first DVD release 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

  1. ^ Spelling, Ian (August 1995). "Under Western Skies". Starlog. 1 (217): 76–79. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Nazzaro, Joe (October 1995). "Naren Shankar: Writer". The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine. 1 (4): 66–71.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gross & Altman (1996): pp. 143 – 144
  4. ^ a b Brooks (2015): p. 82
  5. ^ "Lilly Library Manuscript Collections: Taylor, J. Mss". Indiana University. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved May 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. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  9. ^ Höhne Sparborth, Christian (April 18, 2001). "Marjorie Monaghan out for Series V Role". TrekNation. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  10. ^ Hirsch, David (October 1995). "Dennis McCarthy Composer". The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine. 1 (4): 56–64.
  11. ^ a b "Season 1 Ratings". TrekNation. Archived from the original on October 6, 2000. Retrieved May 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. ^ a b Green, Michelle Erica (June 26, 2015). "Retro Review: Heroes and Demons". TrekNation. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  17. ^ "Every Star Trek: Voyager Season Ranked Worst To Best". Screen Rant. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Emmys '95". Daily News. July 21, 1995. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  19. ^ "47th Primetime Emmys Nominees and Winners". Television Academy. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  20. ^ Ruditis (2003): p. 476
  21. ^ "Star Trek: Voyager 1.6 – State of Flux/Heroes and Demons". Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  22. ^ "Star Trek – Voyager, Episode 12: Heroes & Demons [VHS]". Amazon. 11 July 2000. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  23. ^ "Star Trek Voyager – The Complete First Season". Amazon. 24 February 2004. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  24. ^ "Star Trek: Voyager – Season 1 [DVD] [1996]". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved December 29, 2015.

References

External links

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