Episode Synopsis : Season 1
FACES
Episode 14

 

SUMMARY: Voyager's half-human half-Klingon Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres is split into two beings by a Vidiian scientist desperate to cure his people of the deadly phage. When an away team consisting of Paris, Torres and Lieutenant Pete Durst fails to return from Avery III, Chakotay, Kim and Tuvok beam down to the planet to investigate. Chakotay traces the missing crewmembers to some caves, but is unable to break through the Vidiian force field to find them. Meanwhile, in an underground laboratory, a Vidiian scientist named Sulan has extracted Torres' Klingon genetic material to create an all-Klingon version of her. To do this he employed a large sophisticated piece of equipment called the genotron, for which the all-Klingon Torres is strapped onto a work bench. Sulan hopes to discover a cure for the tissue- and organ-destroying phage, a disease that has afflicted his species for millennia, by injecting subjects from different races with the disease to gauge the level of their body's resistance to the phage. At present, with no known cure for the phage, one method the desperate Vidiians resort to for survival is extracting organs from the captured members of other species which kills them. Now Sulan has produced a pure Klingon subject and has infected her. He is pleased to find that Klingon DNA is quite resistant to the phage. But his interest in Torres is more than purely scientific, a fact the Klingon woman tries to capitalise on in the hope of being freed from the restraints. all-Klingon Torres strapped down to the work bench of the genotron, with Vidiian scientist Sulan Trapped in prison dormitory in between forced mining labour, Paris and Durst are stunned when a new prisoner is brought in - it is the all-human version of Torres, that is, the other "half" of Torres that was left after Sulan removed the Klingon genetic material. In the Vidiian prison dormitory.   Left: Pete Durst.   Right: Paris with the all-human Torres Shortly afterwards, the Vidiian guards forcibly remove Durst from the cell. Although Paris tries unsuccessfully to help his friend, all the human Torres can do is cringe in fear. The next time Sulan comes to visit the Klingon Torres, she is horrified to see him wearing Durst's face. He has killed the lieutenant and grafted the dead man's face over his own diseased features in the hope that Torres will find him more attractive wearing a familiar face. Instead, her outrage gives her the physical strength to break the bonds restraining her. She attacks Sulan and escapes from the lab. Sulan with Durst's face grafted on to his own; enraged by the murder, all-Klingon Torres attacks him Paris and the human Torres are sent into the mine to carry out forced labout, but when she can no longer work, she is sent back to the barracks. Her Klingon counterpart finds her there, and carries her away, thereby effecting both their escapes. In the privacy of a cave, they refresh themselves with food the all-Klingon Torres has hunted, while they debate strategy. Torres perceives truths about herself from observing how the Klingon side of her thinks only of violent solutions. The human Torres coming up with a plan to deactivate the shields for the whole facility which would allow Voyager to beam them up. The two beings acknowledge that each has unique qualities that contribute to the whole being. the all-Klingon Torres and the all-human Torres together Disguised as a Vidiian, Chakotay rescues Paris and they locate Torres (both of her) in the Vidiian control facility. But just as they are about to beam back up to the ship, Sulan appears and tries to stop them. His opens fire at the group. To his horror, the Klingon Torres is hit when she tries to save her human self. Leaving Sulan despairing of finding a cure for the phage, the others beam up to Voyager. Paris meets Chakotay in disguise. The all-human Torres and the all-Klingon Torres in the control facility. The latter is hit by Sulan's weapon fire. Sulan is horrified that he himself has destroyed his chance to cure the phage. On Voyager, still on the transporter pad, the all-Klingon Torres dies in the arms of her human self. The Doctor is able to use her Klingon DNA to restore Torres back to her original self. As she prepares for the operaton in Sickbay, a conversation with Chakotay (see third quote below) makes her realise she is wiser for the experience.      SULAN TO WHOLLY KLINGON TORRES: I have developed a procedure to stimulate cell division, a kind of enhanced mitosis. Your Klingon genetic material was extracted. It was then converted from matter to energy by our genotron. Finally, you were rematerialised as the purified Klingon specimen that you are now.    WHOLLY HUMAN TORRES: That's the way you respond to every situation, isn't it? If it doesn't work, hit it. If it's in your way, knock it down. No wonder I got kicked out of the Academy. WHOLLY KLINGON TORRES: For which you should be eternally grateful. WHOLLY HUMAN TORRES: Well, I'm not. Your temper's gotten me into trouble more times than I can- Listen to me. Listen to us. This is ridiculous. Do you realise that we're each fighting with ourself?    WHOLLY HUMAN TORRES: It's been a pretty strange experience. I do know that right now, the way I am, I'm more at peace with myself than I've ever been before, and that's a good feeling. CHAKOTAY: But? WHOLLY HUMAN TORRES: I'm incomplete. It doesn't feel like me. I guess I've had someone else living inside of me for too long to survive without her. CHAKOTAY: I'd have to say that you two made quite a team down there. WHOLLY HUMAN TORRES: I know. I came to admire a lot of things about her - her strength, her bravery. I guess I just have to accept the fact that I'll spend the rest of my life fighting with her.