Shippy Moment of the Day: "He's My Father" (Star Trek: Voyager)

Tom and B'Elanna Receive Letters From Home
"Hunters" from Star Trek: Voyager Season 4

Recap: Voyager discovers an array that allows them to communicate with home. Letters from the Alpha Quadrant begin pouring in. Harry, especially, is super-stoked. Tom, however, has been really moody about it. Chakotay and B'Elanna find out about how the Maquis (their old guerilla organization) was slaughtered by the Cardassians. B'Elanna takes Seven's post at Astrometrics to continue downloading letters as Seven and Tuvok go to try to stabilize the connection.

The Moment:

B'Elanna: Torres to the Bridge.
Captain: Go ahead.

B'Elanna: Captain, could Lt. Paris come down here? I think I've got something he'd want to see.

Janeway: He's on his way.

I love that she's so excited for him to get a letter that she calls him in.
That, and Janeway is totally okay with it. I wonder how much private time
Tom and B'Elanna normally take during their shifts.
Also, Roxann's totally wearing the overcoat to cover up her pregnancy.

B'Elanna: It's a letter for you. It's coming through right now.
Tom: For me?
B'Elanna: It's right here...

Not excited. *Mope*

Tom: Who's it from?
B'Elanna: Can't tell yet...
Tom: Maybe it's from the rehab colony, telling me I've violated probation.
B'Elanna: Why are you acting like this?
Tom: I just want to know who the letter's from, okay?
B'Elanna: We should know in a minute.
Tom: I'll be on the bridge.

HAHAHAHAHA. Tom caring about being at his post. HAHAHAHAHA.

B'Elanna: What, you're not going to wait?
Tom: I'm on duty.
B'Elanna: Voyager is hanging in space. There's not a lot to do at the helm.
Tom: I just thought that I should be at my post.

I love that B'Elanna calls him on his crap.

B'Elanna: You may be able to fool someone else with that ploy, but you're talking to me, Tom.
Tom: Just download the letter, okay?
B'Elanna: A little more has come in. It's from Starfleet. From an Admiral Owen? Do you know him?
Tom: Admiral Owen Paris. He's my father.
B'Elanna: That's wonderful.

Angsty!Tom. Jeez, they both have such daddy issues.

Tom: Yeah. Maybe. I don't know why, but the more everyone gets excited about these letters from home, the more I don't want any part of it. Maybe because what I have on Voyager is so much better than anything I ever had back there. I just don't want the reminder.
B'Elanna: You're not the same person you were four years ago. What makes you think he is?
Tom: You don't know him.
B'Elanna: Just give him a chance. He's obviously trying to reach out.
Tom: When he forms an opinion about something, nothing can change his mind.

"Oh, you're talking about yourself, Mr. McStubborn?"

B'Elanna: Fine. Excuse me if I can't feel terribly sorry for you. I learned this morning that a lot of my friends are dead. And I've gone from being so angry that I wanted to kill someone to crying for an hour and now I'm just trying to accept it and move on.
Tom: B'Elanna, that's awful. I'm so sorry. And here I'm going on about something that doesn't matter anymore.

And I love that they don't negate each other. They acknowledge the other's
feelings instead of ignoring them and talking only about themselves.

B'Elanna: No, it obviously does. You care what he thinks about you.
Tom: Yeah. I guess I still do.

*sigh* So beautiful.

B'Elanna: I'll let you know when I get the whole letter.

Thoughts: And then she procedes to not finish downloading it and losing it when the datastream collapses. I had always hoped it was because she actually did download the letter and it was awful, so she deleted it. But no. It's just a downloading error that doesn't make much sense to me. LAME.

I thought briefly about doing a moment from "Drive," but this one popped in my head almost immediately instead. What's so great about it is that you really get a sense of who Tom and B'Elanna were and who they've become. You get to see a glimpse of how successful the show has been at evolving these two characters both seperately and in their relationship together, especially how they relate to each other. B'Elanna is able to talk sense into Tom and he is able to comfort her. They both come into this conversation needing an ear and compassion, and the other person is ready and willing to offer both of them.

Plus, it totally all foreshadows B'Elanna's massive daddy issues latter.

I love this episode because it's really character-driven. Admittedly, there IS a plot involving the introduction of the Hirogens, but I don't care. This episode was all about character bonding. Tom and B'Elanna. B'Elanna and Harry (I love how she personally delivers his letter). Janeway and Chakotay. Seven and Everybody, especially Tuvok. It reminds you that you don't just watch for the space battles, but for the characters, whose relationships are, relatively, well-written.