star trek voyager episode bride of chaotica

Bride of Chaotica! (episode)

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Story development
• 4.2 Cast and characters
• 4.3 Production and effects
• 4.5 Continuity
• 4.6 Reception
• 4.7 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest stars
• 5.4 Co-stars
• 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.6 Stand-ins
• 5.7 References
• 5.8 External links

Summary [ ]

Tom Paris and Harry Kim are enjoying a chapter of The Adventures of Captain Proton on the holodeck as Proton and Buster Kincaid respectively, trying to save Proton's secretary , Constance Goodheart . Things are going according to the script until a (colored) subspace distortion appears in the middle of their black-and-white program.

Act One [ ]

Unable to end the program or call the bridge , they try to exit the holodeck by finding a physical panel on the rocket ship . Finally, they're able to leave via site-to-site transport . Meanwhile, the USS Voyager falls out of warp and loses control to several systems. Tuvok determines they have become trapped in a layer of subspace that is causing the loss of control. Unfortunately, they can't use warp drive, and upon trying the impulse drive , the ship shakes with no movement, so Captain Janeway goes to astrometrics to study the situation.

There, B'Elanna Torres and Seven of Nine inform Janeway that the subspace sandbar , as they call it, is a region of space where the interface between space and subspace is unstable, causing loss of control systems. Unfortunately, the computer core , tactical , holodecks and all but a few replicators are inaccessible. Recollecting a situation Janeway faced on the USS Al-Batani , the crew plans to shut down the warp core and use minimal thrusters so as not to increase the resistance to their movement.

In the holodeck, however, the program is still running. From the distortions, two photonic lifeforms appear in the form of two men in suits. They begin to explore the Planet X when they encounter Lonzak . He assumes they are there to invade and captures them to bring to Doctor Chaotica . There, the beings attempt to explain they are explorers, but Chaotica doesn't believe them, believing they are from the Fifth dimension . He shoots one of them while the other escapes using his own teleportation device.

Act Two [ ]

After three days of being stuck, the crew is on edge, especially Janeway. She gets some coffee in the mess hall and reluctantly listens to some of the ship's problems from Neelix, including only a few replicators and lavatories are now functional. She leaves that problem to him to draw up a schedule while she gets back to the bridge.

There, the crew try again to escape with their new plan but are unsuccessful. Just then, weapons fire is detected on, surprisingly, the holodeck. Paris and Tuvok investigate and discover a war scene in which the Goodheart character has died (something that shouldn't be possible). Then, Paris finds Satan's Robot nearby, charred and barely operational, Paris fixes it and learns they believe invaders from the Fifth dimension have invaded. They go to the distortions and see the weapons fire coming from them. Paris brings Tuvok to the rocket ship to get some more information, learning that Chaotica is at war with the aliens. Just then, the same being from before enters the rocket ship and finds them. Paris doesn't recognize him.

Act Three [ ]

" Invaders! Inva… " " Quiet! " " Invaders. "

Tuvok and Paris see that photonic lifeforms have mistaken the holodeck program for reality and are now at war with Doctor Chaotica. They try to explain to them that they are in a simulation, but the aliens refuse to believe, oddly, as their " sensors " can't pick up "biochemical lifeforms", which they think are artificial. Suddenly, Satan's Robot barges in and knocks away the alien's weapon and he runs.

Paris and Tuvok brief the senior staff on what they've found. Janeway is in disbelief at the situation, as not only are they inadvertently fighting a war with aliens, but they can't communicate into or control the holodeck, nor do the aliens even detect Voyager itself. Paris suggests that the only way to end the conflict is to play along as the characters in Captain Proton , helping the aliens to defeat Chaotica and destroying his death ray . Paris details the plan, using all the terminology associated. The other crew smirk as they gradually catch on to the lingo and characters. Paris and Kim have their roles, but Paris suggests someone needs to play Queen Arachnia , who will be influential in dealing with Chaotica. Janeway looks to Seven, but Paris keeps his gaze on the captain. Janeway balks at the idea, but the rest of the crew join in to convince her.

Paris and Kim will resume their previous roles and, with some help from Torres, The Doctor will pose as the President of Earth . On the way to the holodeck, Paris briefs Janeway on the language she should use and how to interact with Chaotica, disturbing her a little. Her assignment is to get Doctor Chaotica to lower his lightning shield and disable the death ray. If she can't distract Chaotica, there's a vial of an irresistible potion she can use to put him under her spell.

Back in the program, Chaotica is informed of further defeat in his fight. He orders full power to the death ray and announces his warning. He gets a response, but it is Arachnia. Janeway makes her entrance as dramatic as she can, and Chaotica bows to her.

Act Four [ ]

Chaotica is happy to show Arachnia around, and Janeway makes her character impressed with what she sees. She identifies the death ray and allows herself to be led to the throne, where she also identifies the potion. Janeway quickly makes up a story about her "spider ships" arriving to join the fight in an effort to get Chaotica to lower the shield. He's reluctant and says she could prove her loyalty by becoming his queen. She agrees, asking that her fleet witness the event. Chaotica agrees to lower the shield once the troops arrive.

Meanwhile, The Doctor, as President, uses the alien's dropped device to signal him back into the holodeck. He arrives, and the President convinces him that they have a common enemy. Furthermore, Captain Proton is an agent of Earth and is not a threat to them, intent on destroying Chaotica's death ray. The alien agrees.

Proton and Kincaid ready the rocket ship, still with Satan's Robot feebly looking like he's helping. Paris briefly promises to delete the whole program later, with the trouble it's caused. The President arrives, informing them he's been successful, so they take off.

Lonzak prepares Arachnia with the wedding when she turns to Chaotica for lowering the shield again, though he's still reluctant. Lonzak then sees Proton is preparing his attack, and Chaotica orders the death ray targeted on him. Janeway knocks out the operator and turns his ray gun on Chaotica. Lonzak tries to shoot him, but of course that doesn't hurt her, however, the "confinement rings" hold her, and she's unable to stop Chaotica from shooting Proton. They're hit, and the rocket ship takes a dive.

On the bridge, Torres finds that the weapons fire is increasing, and the ship is being pulled deeper into subspace.

Act Five [ ]

Proton's rocket is still airborne, and Chaotica continues to fire while Arachnia is chained against a wall. She unleashes the potion, and the smell reaches across the room, however, it reaches Lonzak instead. He comes over and unties her, making his ray gun available to her and she successfully forces Chaotica to lower the shield. After Proton's team destroys the death ray, the aliens retreat, and Voyager is free again.

Chaotica is fatally wounded with the destruction of the death ray . As the others arrive, Chaotica declares that this isn't the last they will see of him.

Log entries [ ]

• " Captain's log, supplemental. We've been spinning our wheels for three days now and still no progress in breaking free of the subspace layer. "

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Coffee, black. " " Um, sorry, Captain. We lost two more replicators this morning… " " Listen to me very carefully because I'm only going to say this once. Coffee, black . " " …Yes, ma'am. "

" Looks like he burned out a resistor.' " " A what ? "

" Intercepted communications between Doctor Chaotica and Arachnia. Stop. Chaotica at war with aliens from fifth dimension. Stop. Must strike now to disable death ray.' " " Stop. Please summarize the message. "

" Well, he's been attacking the aliens with his death ray. " " It's a shame we don't have one. "

" This is how you've been spending your free time? " " Well, I've, uh, been studying how past generations view the future. " " And…? " " Well (chuckles), it didn't work out quite as black-and-white as they imagined. "

" One more thing. If you have trouble with Chaotica, or you can't get to the death ray, you can always uncork the pheromones. " " I beg your pardon? "

" Ah, I see you've kept my pheromones. I didn't realize you were the scent-imental type. "

" Let me get this straight: trans-dimensional aliens have mistaken your Captain Proton simulation for reality. " " Yes, ma'am. " " And now an armed conflict has broken out between these aliens, and Chaotica's holographic army. " " Yes, ma'am. His army of evil. "

" The Destructo beam on my rocket ship can disable the death ray, but only if someone gets inside the Fortress of Doom and can shut down the lightning shield."

" Isn't anybody going to sing 'Hail to the Chief'? " " Mr. President! How'd it go? " " My performance was unimpeachable. "

(locating the source of voice) " Satan's Robot!' " " Naturally. "

" HAH! You're no match for Arachnia! "

" I don't know how to tell you this… " (shoots Chaotica with ray gun) " but the wedding's off! "

Background information [ ]

Story development [ ].

• This episode's plot was conceived as a way to keep as much action as possible off the bridge, due to a fire which damaged that set (for more information, see VOY Season 5 ). [1]
• The success of The Adventures of Captain Proton holodeck program, having been introduced earlier in the fifth season, was a prominent inspiration on the creation of this episode. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, pp. 44 & 48) The installment, in common with the holoprogram featured in it, was also meant as a parody of Flash Gordon . ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 45; Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 103) Rick Berman recalled of the episode, " We decided to go high-camp […] [and] black-and-white with it. " ( VOY Season 5 DVD , "Braving the Unknown: Season Five") Episode co-writer Bryan Fuller found the writing of the episode to be very enjoyable, later remarking, " 'Bride of Chaotica!', which I wrote with Mike Taylor was just a blast to write […] We watched hours of old Flash Gordon serials and just got into the genre and had some fun. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 114 , p. 36) The episode's development was also a thrill for supervising producer Kenneth Biller , who was involved in the episode's rewrite process in an uncredited capacity. He reminisced, " It was fun to write that inflated language, and come up with funny gags, and funny dialogue. It was fun to do a kind of comic romp. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 45)
• In the teaser, Harry Kim comments to Paris that the surface of Planet X looks suspiciously like the " Mines of Mercury " they had seen in a previous episode. This is an in-joke reference to the " Planet Hell " set used to depict many different subterranean or "cave" scenes since the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation , including that very scene.

Cast and characters [ ]

• Having been very eager to work on the Captain Proton set, Tuvok actor Tim Russ was thrilled when the time came for him to do so. " It was very nice to be able to go in for a minute, under the auspices of investigating what was going on that wasn't quite right about it, and be able to work on the set, and be able to see it back in black and white. I thought it was very cool, " Russ enthused. " I really enjoyed having an opportunity to do that. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 39)
• Tim Russ also appreciated that this episode allowed him to perform some comedy. He laughed, " Between the robot and Paris, there is a lot to play off of there, quite a bit actually […] Paris is so careless and so off-center. It works very well against Tuvok's straight and linear way of doing things. 'Chaotica' was a prime example, and the writers gave me several zingers to throw him. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 39)
• Kate Mulgrew was delighted to perform Janeway's turn as Queen Arachnia , commenting, " That was the greatest fun. That was just wild fun. That was cut loose fun time. I mean those opportunities are few and far between for the captain. And I think everybody said, 'Oh well, let's just let Kate have a ball.' And I did. " ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion , p. 283) Mulgrew also remarked, " I was the bride of Chaotica. Only the funniest man I have ever met in my life. When he electrocuted himself, I wet my pants. It was just outrageous. And I go to seduce him. It's a cartoon! […] I was playing a '40s movie star. It was outrageous, it was so much fun and I hope the viewers liked it as much as I liked doing it. [I] loved the double punch, [I] loved the curve and when there was a little levity attached to it… Heaven ! " ( VOY Season 5 DVD , "Braving the Unknown: Season Five")

Production and effects [ ]

• Mitch Suskin , who supervised the visual effects of this outing, remembered that the lead-up to the making of the episode was an exciting time, saying, " I think everybody knew it was going to be really fun to work on, so that it emulates that 1940s serial look without being completely over the top. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 48)
• Set decorator James Mees found that the episode's production was highly enjoyable, later reminiscing, " We had a great time on Captain Proton and 'Bride of Chaotica!' […] To rethink things so that they would photograph properly in black and white was amazing. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 3, Issue 3 , p. 85)
• Chaotica's death ray was previously seen as a weapon in the forests of Minos in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " The Arsenal of Freedom ".
• The Fortress of Doom's interior was designed to look highly expansive. Production Designer Richard James remarked, " When we did the palace, that gave us a chance to even do a bigger scale and everything. And of course, we went for as big a scale as we could achieve. I think we went pretty high with some of the columns and so forth. " ( VOY Season 5 DVD , "Braving the Unknown: Season Five")
• Chaotica's throne was previously used as Minister Odala 's chair in " Distant Origin " (as well as the alien throne in the 1993 film Coneheads ). ( Star Trek: Voyager Companion , p. 284)
• The bridge scenes in this episode were actually shot weeks after the rest of the episode. [2] (X)
• Mitch Suskin noted that Captain Proton's rocket ship, which was designed by visual effects producer Dan Curry , looks much like the Flash Gordon ship and that the visual effects artists chose to represent the Fortress of Doom's exterior by intentionally making repeated reuses of a certain angle of the fortress, whose outside was actually a digital matte painting done by Eric Chauvin . ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, pp. 48-49)
• The music for this episode was written by David Bell in the style of 1940s movie serials. A year after the episode was broadcast, selections of the score were released on The Best of Star Trek, Volume Two by GNP Crescendo Records . The four tracks are presented as suites totaling 12 minutes and 17 seconds of music.

Continuity [ ]

• Tom Paris sarcastically suggests that the crew of Voyager all get out and push to get the ship out of the subspace sandbar , the same course of action he suggested in VOY : " Parallax ", the second episode of the series. Scotty used the same phrase in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .
• The Bride of Chaotica is also a science fiction film referenced in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode " Cogenitor ".
• Just as Doctor Chaotica warns at the end of this episode, he makes a return appearance (specifically, in the Season 7 installment " Shattered ").
• When Paris and Tuvok meet the photonic alien aboard Captain Proton's ship, he introduces Tuvok as a lieutenant , even though he was promoted to lieutenant commander more than a year prior in " Revulsion ".

Reception [ ]

• Rick Berman had words of high praise for this outing. " I thought it was a ball, " he enthused. ( VOY Season 5 DVD , "Braving the Unknown: Season Five")
• Ken Biller, however, had a problem with the installment. " I thought that, while Kate [Mulgrew]'s performance in the episode was, at certain points, a wonderful comic performance, I think that there was a mistake either in the performance choices or in the direction of it, " Biller criticized. " Captain Janeway playing Queen Arachnia made sense, up to a certain point. There was a point at which, clearly, she had gotten what she needed to get. For some odd and, I thought, unexplained reason, she continued to assume this role, as opposed to being Captain Janeway wearing the costume, finishing up the mission. I just thought it got over-the-top. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 45)
• Contrastingly, James Mees was very enthusiastic about the episode. In a 2002 interview, he remarked, " We were really disappointed that that show didn't get nominated for an Emmy , because the art direction was spectacular […] And then, of course, it was so over the top; I still watch that and laugh. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 3, Issue 3 , p. 85)
• Writer Mike Sussman once praised this episode as "a great show." [3]
• The book Star Trek 101 (p. 175), by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block , lists this episode as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: Voyager .

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 5.6, 21 June 1999
• As part of the VOY Season 5 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

• Robert Beltran as Chakotay
• Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor
• Tim Russ as Tuvok
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
• Garrett Wang as Harry Kim

Guest stars [ ]

• Martin Rayner as Doctor Chaotica
• Nicholas Worth as Lonzak

Co-stars [ ]

• Jim Krestalude as Alien #1
• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Andrew English as an operations division officer
• Erin Price as Renlay Sharr
• Satan's Robot
• Mark Hoffman as Lonzak's henchman
• Kirsten Turner as Constance Goodheart
• Lonzak's second henchman
• Second photonic alien
• Voice of the announcer
• Voice of Satan's Robot

Stand-ins [ ]

• Brita Nowak – stand-in for Jeri Ryan
• Stuart Wong – stand-in for Garrett Wang

References [ ]

1930s ; ' Adventures of Captain Proton, The ; access port ; " aground "; Al-Batani , USS ; Arachnia ; Army of Evil ; biochemical lifeform ; Bolians ; brain probe ; " break a leg "; calling card ; Captain Proton ; " Captain Proton Versus the Cosmic Creature "; carbon-based lifeform ; cliffhanger ; club ; confinement rings ; cosmetic surgery ; Cradle of Persuasion ; death ray ; Den of Crocodiles ; destructo beam ; deutronic circuitry ; drawbridge ; Dungeon of Pain ; Earth ; Earthling ; ego ; Emperor of the Universe ; empire ; fifth dimension ; Fortress of Doom ; generation ; gravimetric force ; " Hail to the Chief "; harem ; holodeck ; holographic character / holodeck character ; Hollywood ; hyperbole ; imagizer ; impulse reactor ; intruder alert ; Invaders from the Fifth Dimension ; invader (aka invasion force ); Kincaid, Buster ; landing gear ; lavatory ; lightning shield ; madman ; megalomaniac ; meters per second ; microphone ; mile ; Mines of Mercury ; pain modulator ; pheromone ; Planet X ; President of Earth ; protonebula ; Photonic-Chaotica War ; photonic charge ; photonic lifeform ; photonically-based projection ; polarity ; queen ; Queen of the Spider People ; question mark ; ray gun ; recap ; resistor ; rocket ship ; science fiction ; science officer ; secret weapon ; silk ; sire ; Site-to-site transport ; slave ; sonic shower ; space drive ; space force ; spell ; " Spell of the Spider "; Spider People ; Spider ship ; steering jets ; subject ; subspace ; subspace sandbar ; telegram ; Terran ; trapdoor ; vanguard ; villain ; weapon ; wedding ; wedding night ; wedding ring ; weep

External links [ ]

• " Bride of Chaotica! " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Bride of Chaotica! " at Wikipedia
• " Bride of Chaotica! " at the Internet Movie Database
• 3 Dos Cerritos (episode)

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E12BrideOfChaotica

Star Trek: Voyager S5 E12: "Bride of Chaotica!" » Recap

This episode has the following tropes:

• AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle / Trrrilling Rrrs : Doctor Chaotica, because Evil Is Hammy . "I'm afrrraid your SEC-cretarrry has alrrready been prrromised to Queen ArrrrACK-nia as a SUPrrreeeeme sACKrrrrifice!"
• All Planets Are Earth-Like : Proton opens the hatch on his rocketship (which has no airlock) without even checking the atmosphere. Maybe he was just playing the odds on Star Trek . Or maybe the ship doesn't need an airlock because Captain Proton Can Breathe In Space! , as seen in "Thirty Days".
• America Takes Over the World & One World Order : The President of Earth.
• And Now You Must Marry Me : Chaotica is suspicious of Arachnia's intentions, so demands she marry him as absolute proof of her commitment. When the impetuous harlot proves herself in league with Proton... Chaotica: Don't worry my dear, I wouldn't kill my bride...till after my wedding night! ( Evil Laugh )
• Because the aliens are photonic beings, they think the holodeck is real and the Voyager crew are hallucinations designed to trick them.
• Conversely, though, from the aliens' point of view it actually is real , since Chaotica's holographic Death Ray is genuinely lethal to them. The fact that Chaotica and his minions are computer-generated simulations rather than actual photonic lifeforms doesn't make that any less true. It is also why The Doctor (under the guise of the "President of Earth") is the only one able to convince them to stand down and let "Captain Proton" defeat Chaotica: as a holographic lifeform, the photonic aliens would believe him to be as "real" as them.
• Another Dimension : The "Fifth Dimension" (as Chaotica dubs it) is based on energy. As a result the aliens think the holoprogram is real, whereas Voyager and its crew don't show up on their sensors, making it impossible to convince the aliens to stop fighting.
• Applied Phlebotinum : Arachnia's vial of irresistible pheromones . Dr Chaotica's Lightning Shield .
• Art Shift : The scenes in the holodeck are filmed in black and white, using the style and FX of old TV serials. They also use scene transitions and wipes from those shows as well, and even include a few blatant cut errors.
• Big Bad : Doctor Chaotica , Ruler of the Cosmos!
• Black-and-White Morality : Paris: I've been studying how past generations viewed the future . Janeway: And? Paris: It didn't work out quite as black and white as they imagined.
• Breather Episode : After the intense "Latent Image".
• Bumbling Sidekick / Professional Butt-Kisser : Chaotica's sycophantic henchman Lonzak.
• Chained to a Rock : Constance Goodheart is tied to a pillar prior to her being presented to Queen Arachnia as a "supreme sacrifice". Later Arachnia ends up there too.
• Though that's, bizarrely, actually the reverse of a Cliffhanger Copout, since normally apparent death in one episode would be downplayed in the next.
• Comm Links : Lonzak has one on his wrist.
• Continuity Nod : When Paris says that someone will have to play Arachnia in the holoprogram, the others in the room seem to assume that the role will fall to Seven. However, Paris knows that Seven's not right for the part. Sure, she's good-looking, but she won't properly embrace the role of Queen of the Spider-People. How does he know this? Because in "Night" , he had talked a reluctant Seven into playing Constance Goodheart. But when she was accosted by Satan's Robot, instead of playing along as the Damsel in Distress , she coolly disabled it by opening an access panel and ripping out a wire .
• Cool Chair : Janeway sits in Chaotica's throne. "Somehow I feel comfortable here."
• Crashing Through the Harem : Lampshaded; it's part of the program to liberate Chaotica's slave girls during a Dungeon Bypass .
• Damsel out of Distress : Paris: I was about to say "Captain Proton to the rescue!" but I see you have everything under control. Janeway: I'm the Queen, remember?
• Deadpan Snarker : Tuvok constantly drops snide comments about Tom's holoprogram.
• Death Ray : Which is called exactly that. Much cooler than Weapon of Mass Destruction , come to think of it.
• Denser and Wackier : Unquestionably the silliest episode of Voyager. Well, except maybe for "Threshold" . So unquestionably the most intentionally silly episode.
• Department of Redundancy Department : Buster and Proton are meant to infiltrate the Fortress of Doom via the "underground caverns".
• Disintegrator Ray : Just to show the stakes , Lonzak executes one of the photonic aliens with his raygun.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : Tom trying to explain his enthusiasm for his hobby to his bemused co-workers is familiar to geeks everywhere.
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot! : The Doctor is told to activate the Destructo beam. He reaches for a button and Satan's Robot blares a warning, causing Tom and Harry to shout in unison, "The other panel!" Presumably he was about to activate the Self-Destruct Mechanism mentioned in "Night".
• Dope Slap : Paris gives this to Satan's Robot when it scares off the alien they're trying to make First Contact with. The Robot shambles off muttering sulkily about alien invaders.
• Dude, Not Funny! : When a visit to Astrometrics reveals that none of Voyager 's propulsion systems can get them out of their situation, Tom snarks "Maybe we should just get out and push," causing Janeway to tilt her head at him in exasperation.
• Electronic Speech Impediment : Satan's Robot whenever it sustains damage.
• Energy Beings : The aliens are from a photonic universe.
• Evil Laugh : In one case done along with the Title Drop .
• The End... Or Is It? : The episode concludes with Dr. Chaotica dying, whereupon music plays on an imagizer and the words THE END appear... followed by a question mark and Chaotica's Evil Laugh . Sure enough Chaotica returns to menace Janeway one more time in " Shattered ".
• Faceless Goons : Chaotica's "Army of Evil". Justified when Tom Paris mentions the Dressing as the Enemy trick in his original plan to enter the Fortress of Doom, so he'd make sure the guards had concealed faces when writing the holoprogram.
• You can see the calm wash over her when she drinks coffee.
• She puts on an expression of mock seriousness while Tom is explaining the Captain Proton holo-program to her, while Chakotay and Seven (or possibly just Robert Beltran and Jeri Ryan) exchange smirks in the background.
• Her "wtf?" face as she goes over the specs for her Queen Arachnia costume is a wonder to behold.
• Famed in Story : Chaotica is insulted that the photonic aliens don't recognize him on sight, though that could just be his cosmic ego.
• Feet-First Introduction : The Doctor as The President of Earth.
• Femme Fatale : Queen Arachnia, along with Dark Action Girl . Presumably she's a villain from a previous chapter who made a Heel–Face Turn after falling for Proton or having our heroes save her life .
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences : Though it's more a sign of Seven's arrogance than an indicator that she's on the same page as her captain.
• Genre Savvy : Tom Paris knows something's gone wrong on the holodeck because Constance Goodheart has been killed, and that never happens to the Good Guys . Likewise he tries to warn Captain Janeway of Chaotica's fondness for hidden traps , but she falls into one anyway.
• Got Volunteered : Janeway gets roped into playing Arachnia by Tom Paris. Before that, everyone else (Janeway included) assumed it would be Seven.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat : Chaotica vs Arachnia or Lonzak.
• Heel–Face Turn : Satan's Robot ends up 'helping' our heroes. Presumably this also happened with Queen Arachnia in previous chapters, which is why she's helping Proton now.
• High Collar of Doom : Arachnia wears a pretty big one, in a spiderweb pattern.
• Holodeck Malfunction : Different from the usual — the characters can move in and out of the program freely by using a site-to-site transport, and the safety protocols are working fine (note the scene where Janeway laughs off a raygun blast). They just can't turn the program off, and despite the safeties, the ray guns are lethal to a race of photonic aliens, which forces the crew to play along and defeat Chaotica before the aliens' counterattack destroys the Voyager and/or draws it deeper into subspace.
• On being confronted by Lonzak and his Faceless Goons , the aliens respond, "We mean you no harm." Lonzak's response is predictable.
• Tom and Tuvok try to establish First Contact with a photonic alien and explain it's all a misunderstanding, but they don't show up on his Everything Sensor so he thinks it's a trick. The Killer Robot barging towards him doesn't help matters. Eventually the Doctor (who as a hologram is made of photonic energy) does the job successfully.
• I Kiss Your Hand : Dr. Chaotica does this to Queen Arachnia in his usual Large Ham manner after she strides majestically into his throne room. As Arachnia is being played by Captain Janeway, she's not impressed. When he tries it again later, she walks off just as he's bending down to kiss .
• I Know Karate : Janeway karate-chops the mook manning the Death Ray.
• I Resemble That Remark! : B'Elanna snarks that the Doctor might enter the program as "Emperor of the Universe". Unconscious of any irony, the Doctor replies that he'll have to "scale back his role in the interests of credibility. I'll be the President of Earth ."
• Idiosyncratic Wipes : As per the Republic Film serials.
• Incoming! : Doc says this just before a Death Ray blast rocks the rocketship.
• Incoming Ham : Lonzak: HALT! IN THE NAME OF CHAOTICA!
• Innocent Aliens : Chaotica: You have invaded my planet. Why? Photonic Alien: To contact other photonic lifeforms. To learn from them. Chaotica: Are you alone or are you the vanguard of an invading army ? Alien: We are explorers .
• Insistent Terminology : Tom rigidly sticks to using all the Captain Proton descriptions for things, and coaches Janeway on the differences from their own lingo. He does this even when it is not necessary. Janeway: Let me get this straight. Transdimensional aliens have mistaken your Captain Proton simulation for reality. Paris: Yes, ma'am. Janeway: And now an armed conflict has broken out between these aliens and Chaotica's holographic army. Paris: [deadpan] Yes, ma'am. His Army of Evil.
• Killed Mid-Sentence : Lonzak is raygunned by Proton and Buster as he's hamming his way through his Roaring Speech of Revenge. They were kinda busy with the invading holographic aliens. "Surprised? You thought I had perished in that den of crocodiles . I SURVIVED! CLINGING to the thought that I would ONE DAY— Arrrrgh! "
• Kneel Before Zod : Lonzak demands the photonic aliens kneel before his majesty. They've no idea what he's talking about.
• Large Ham : In classic Camp fashion, of course. The entire Captain Proton program is a World of Ham , and even Janeway gets into it, chewing some major scenery as Queen Arachnia.
• Let Me Get This Straight... : Captain Janeway summing up the incredible situation they've gotten into.
• Letting the Air out of the Band : When Harry discovers the aliens' portal on the holodeck, the melodramatic Captain Proton music fades out and is replaced by normal Voyager background music.
• Love Potion : While Tied to a Pillar Janeway uses Arachnia's vial of "irresistible pheromones" to make Dr. Chaotica release her. Unfortunately Chaotica moves out of sniffing range, leaving her to get slobbered over by his ugly henchman Lonzak instead.
• The Men in Black : The alien MIB version — two photonic aliens appear on the holodeck dressed as grey-suited men in fedoras. They speak in a stilted manner and though dressed like humans of the 1930's are unfamiliar with their society, mistaking the holodeck characters for Energy Beings like themselves and assuming the supervillains they encounter are a genuine threat.
• Mini-Game : When you remember that Captain Proton is essentially a video game, repairing Satan's Robot is clearly one of these. Tuvok almost grudgingly compliments Paris on his knowledge of 20th century technology, but Tom's repairs of the robot's innards are probably as accurate as most other Hollywood Hacking , especially considering Captain Proton 's source material.
• More than Three Dimensions : No, there's five!
• Then, when Neelix tries to say something, Janeway says what every coffee drinker lives by: "Coffee first!" As Neelix waits patiently, you can almost see the caffeine flooding into Janeway's bloodstream.
• And then , after Janeway returns to the bridge — leaving Neelix to deal with scheduling the crew's use of the remaining functioning toilets and sonic showers — he drains the rest of her cup. Evidently she's not the only one in need of caffeine right now.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning : Chaotica: Arachnia, death as you know it has no hold on me. My defeat is but a temporary setback. I shall return to seek my revenge. Janeway: He doesn't give up, does he? Paris: They never do.
• Never Trust a Trailer : An In-Universe version (see Cliffhanger Copout ).
• Nobody Poops : Averted. Neelix: Replicators aren't the only systems of convenience offline. We've only got four functioning lavatories for a ship of a hundred and fifty people. Janeway: I see. Neelix: Needless to say, lines are beginning to form. If we don't get unstuck soon we may have a serious problem on our hands. Especially with the Bolians. All but three sonic showers are offline, too. In another couple of days... Janeway: I get the idea.
• No-Sell : Because the holodeck safeties are still working, the weapons on the holodeck are useless against the crew, as seen when Janeway laughs off being shot with a ray gun. Paris warns, however, that forcefields and other, non-lethal restraints will work, which Chaotica uses to capture Janeway when shooting her fails.
• Janeway gives her famous Death Glare to Tom after she's roped into playing Arachnia, but finds herself quite getting into the role, enjoying the feeling of sitting on a throne and gleefully hamming it up. "HA! You're no match for Arachnia!"
• Likewise the Doctor enjoys playing the President of Earth, despite dismissing the program as a 'frivolous fantasy' in " Night ".
• Numbered Homeworld / "X" Makes Anything Cool : Planet X.
• Tom and Harry just shoot Lonzak in the middle of his speech since they don't have time to play along.
• Proton is supposed to rescue Queen Arachnia at the climax of the chapter, but of course Janeway just rescues herself.
• Parody Episode : An Affectionate Parody of the early sci-fi serials like Buck Rogers , Commando Cody and Flash Gordon .
• When the controls fail and the rocketship starts to crash , Tom and Harry pound the console in a suitably dramatic manner .
• Tom repairs Satan's Robot, but it takes a whack to get it fully operational.
• Phallic Weapon : Arachnia strokes the barrel of the Death Ray in a sensual manner . Janeway: Oh, it looks like a... formidable weapon. Chaotica: The most powerful in the cosmos!
• Plot Armor : When Tom finds Captain Proton's sidekick Constance Goodheart dead, he realizes the program has gone seriously Off the Rails since this trope is not in play anymore.
• Previously on… : The episode starts with a cliffhanger recap of the Show Within a Show in the style of a 1930's Republic film serial . We then cut to Tom Paris and Harry Kim watching the recap on the imagizer, and complaining that the scene of their rocketship bursting into flame never actually happened .
• The Doctor's performance as the President was unimpeachable.
• The Deliberately Monochrome world of Captain Proton presents a black and white view of the future.
• When Arachnia spots her pheromones on a pedestal in Chaotica's lair, she quips, "I didn't realize you were the scent -imental type."
• Raygun Gothic : The holo-program has this style.
• Reckless Gun Usage : Harry and Tom point their ray guns (with fingers inside the trigger guards) at each other while standing in the hatchway of Proton's rocketship. Possibly a Shout-Out to this trope in B Movies like Plan 9 from Outer Space .
• Recycled Set : Lampshaded In-Universe when Harry Kim points out that "Planet X" looks identical to "The Mines of Mercury" that they visited in the last adventure. Tom replies that sets were expensive in the days when you couldn't just create them on the holodeck.
• Red Shirt : The alien with a non-speaking part is the one that Lonzak chooses to execute.
• Repeat After Me : Tom starts ranting how he's never going to play this holoprogram again. Satan's Robot repeats the end of every sentence, even when Tom says that the first thing he's going to do is delete the robot.
• Retro Rocket : Doesn't get much more retro than this.
• Reverse Polarity : Torres: Basically, we've run aground on a subspace sandbar . I've tried realigning the warp field, reversing hull polarity... Paris: Maybe we should just get out and push.
• Ripped from the Headlines : The Doctor claims his performance in talking to the photonic aliens was "unimpeachable." That's probably the closest thing to a Clinton joke Star Trek ever had. This, of course, aired soon after Clinton was impeached.
• Rule of Symbolism : The scene where Janeway, Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres brainstorm in Astrometrics, while holodeck hero Tom Paris makes sidekick-like quips from the sidelines. It's obvious which sex wears the pants in the 24th Century!
• Captain Proton travels millions of miles to Planet X!
• Chaotica identifies himself as "Ruler of the Cosmos" though that's clearly an ego thing .
• Screaming Woman : Constance Goodheart continues her Running Gag , in deliberate contrast to the heroics allowed in a former villainess like Arachnia.
• Screen Shake : Whenever Proton's rocketship is hit by the Death Ray.
• Seize Them! : Lonzak: Halt, in the name of Chaotica! Alien explorer: We mean no harm. Lonzak: Seize them! [activates Super Wrist-Gadget ] Lower the drawbridge. We are bringing prisoners.
• Self-Disposing Villain : After being stunned by Captain Janeway, Chaotica hauls himself up using his Death Ray only to get zapped when Proton fires his Destructo Beam at it.
• A Shared Suffering : Chaotica gets all teary-eyed over The Chains of Commanding when you're Surrounded by Idiots . Captain Janeway can empathize. Chaotica: Oh, Arachnia, my love, my life! How well you understand our plight. If it weren't beneath my dignity, I... I would weep . How I've longed for someone who would understand. Janeway: We have a saying on Arachnia. It's lonely at the top .
• Sharp-Dressed Man : The Doctor cuts a nice figure in his double-breasted suit while playing the "President of Earth."
• Proton's rocketship is similar to that used by Flash Gordon , while Dr Chaotica largely appears to be a Ming the Merciless expy , right down to the castle and its defenses.

• Proton's leather jacket with jetpack controls are the same as those used by Commando Cody , the King Of The Rocketmen .
• The aliens come from a Fifth Dimension .
• Smoking Barrel Blowout : Harry does this with his Ray Gun after the above-mentioned scene with Lonzak.
• Some Kind Of Forcefield : When Arachnia reveals whose side she's really on, Lonzak traps her inside a forcefield. Cut to Arachnia chained to a pillar .
• Space Is an Ocean : Probably the pinnacle of this trope in all of fiction, with Voyager "running aground" on a "subspace sandbar." Fortunately this is a silly episode anyway, so it can be overlooked.
• Splash of Color : Tom and Harry realise there's something wrong with the program when they see an energy portal leaking color into their Deliberately Monochrome world.
• Strapped to an Operating Table : Constance Goodheart in the Previously on… teaser. Chaotica shows it off proudly to his intended. "The Cradle of Persuasion. It's fully modified: brain probe, pain modulator."
• Supervillain Lair : Doctor Chaotica's Fortress of Doom .
• Sure, Let's Go with That : The aliens think the holo-program is real, so it's easier to play along than try and convince them it's not.

• Swiss-Cheese Security : Tuvok notes dryly when a photonic alien strolls into Proton's rocketship, "I assume there's no lock on the hatch?" Tom replies that it was a simpler time. Well that would explain The Cold Equations anyway.
• Techno Babble : Parodied. Tom delivers this line completely straight-faced. Tom: The Destructo-beam on my rocketship can disable the death ray, but only if someone gets inside the Fortress of Doom and can shut down the lightning shield.
• Telegraph Gag STOP : A message arrives via the Subspace Ansible on Proton's rocket ship. It looks suspiciously like a teletype machine . Paris: It's a message to Captain Proton from the President of Earth. Intercepted communications between Doctor Chaotica and Arachnia STOP. Chaotica at war with aliens from Fifth Dimension STOP. Must strike now to disable Death Ray— Tuvok: Stop. Please summarize the message.
• Title Drop : Chaotica says to Janeway in her Arachnia role, "And so, my dear, the day you have always dreamed of has arrived... the day you become Bride of Chaotica!"
• Unholy Matrimony : Chaotica and Arachnia will rule together!
• Video Phone : Imagizers, which use the same activation sound effect as in Flash Gordon .
• Villainous Crush : Chaotica is obsessed with Arachnia, which is why Janeway has to play the character, as she's the only one who can convince him to drop the Lightning Shield so Proton can attack.
• We Can Rule Together : Chaotica: Such passion, such strength. Together we could conquer the universe. End this madness, and you may yet live to be my Bride. Janeway: I don't know how to tell you this (shoots him) but the wedding's off.
• We Will Meet Again : And they do, in " Shattered ".
• Welcome to Corneria : As with other holodeck programs we've seen on Voyager , new players entering the program are greeted by the same dialogue, in this case by Lonzak and his two minions. Players can either choose to be taken prisoner and brought directly to Chaotica, or fight Lonzak and then sneak into the Fortress of Doom via the Secret Underground Passage .
• What Measure Is a Non-Human? : The war between Chaotica and the photonic aliens costs many of them their lives, as holodeck weapons are real to them. (At one point, their envoy gives the death toll as 53, and that's just halfway through the episode, so it presumably continues to climb.) However, the Voyager crew never seem remotely perturbed that dozens of sentient beings have died as a result of their actions; they're only ever concerned with their own inconvenience. Even the Doctor , who remarks that a universe populated entirely by photonic beings is "rather appealing", doesn't seem bothered by it.
• Why Are You Looking at Me Like That? : Tom Paris explains that somebody has to go into the Captain Proton holoprogram and take on the role of seductive villainess Queen Arachnia. Everyone in the room looks at a nonplussed Seven of Nine... except Paris, who's looking straight at Janeway. Janeway's amusement with this idea fades immediately.
• With This Ring : Janeway is presented with an Enormous Engagement Ring ... to be presented to his majesty, Dr. Chaotica .
• World of Ham : With the exception of Tuvok , all the crewmembers who enter the program can't resist hamming it up splendidly.
• You Fool! : "You FoooooOOOOOLLLLLLLLL !" Chaotica often admonishes his minions in this fashion.
• You Have Failed Me : Chaotica isn't impressed when Lonzak returns without Proton, and sics his Killer Robot on him. Fortunately Lonzak placates his boss with his capture of the photonic aliens.
• You Just Ruined the Shot : Aliens mistake the simulation for reality and go to war with Chaotica.

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Please summarize the message.

In "Bride of Chaotica!" from "Star Trek: Voyager," aliens from an alternate universe accidentally wander into Tom Paris's holodeck fantasy. Paris discovers a telegraph message explaining as much and reads it off in this style for Tuvok's benefit, until Tuvok cuts him off, asking him to just summarize the message.

Example of: Telegraph Gag STOP

• Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 11 Latent Image
• Recap/Star Trek: Voyager
• Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 13 Gravity

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Bride of Chaotica!

Star trek: voyager.

• The Voyager crew encounters photonic life forms that mistake warmongering characters as real in Tom Paris' far-fetched "Captain Proton" holodeck program.
• As Tom and Harry run an episode of their "Captain Proton" holodeck program, Voyager gets caught in a layer of subspace. This 'subspace sand bar, as they nickname it, is home to a race of photonic aliens that aren't able to detect Voyager or its carbon based life forms (e.g. humans). Instead, they transport onto the holodeck and thereby start a war with Dr. Chaotica's Army of Evil. When Voyager detects internal weapons fire on the holodeck, Capt. Janeway dispatches Tom and Tuvok to investigate, and the adventure begins. — Leila Reid
• As Tom Paris and Harry Kim run an episode of their adventurous black and white "Captain Proton" holodeck program, Voyager gets caught in a layer of subspace, throwing holodeck controls off-line (as well as other controls throughout the ship). As inexplicable colored distortions appear within the black and white universe of Capt. Proton, Tom and Harry can only escape via the transporter. In the Astrometrics lab, Janeway comments that Voyager's predicament (stuck in space) reminds her of a previous mission when she was a science officer on the Al-Batani. "For three days we attempted to force our way out before we realized we were trying too hard. Every time we engaged the engines, we were increasing the resistance of the nebula's particle field. We may be facing a similar situation." Seven of Nine literally takes the words out of her mouth, "Our own warp field may be increasing the gravimetric forces." It's an idea they begin to pursue. With the holodeck left running (unable to be shut down), two aliens appear, immediately captured and brought before Chaotica himself. Believing the two as the vanguard of an invasion force, Chaotica has one blasted. The other escapes. When Voyager detects internal weapons fire on the holodeck, Capt. Janeway dispatches Tom and Tuvok to investigate. There they discover evidence of a battle having taken place. Paris immediately notices something significantly wrong: one of the 'good guys' (his secretary Constance Goodheart) is dead. This is strange as, in the set parameters of his program, 'the good guys never die'. Furthermore, they find Chaotica's robot (named 'Satan's Robot') badly damaged and mumbling. After some minor repairs and Tuvok sarcastically commenting, "Your knowledge of this technology is most impressive," the robot informs them that there are intruders from the fifth dimension who came through a portal, which Tom recognizes as not part of the holodeck story. Satan's Robot leads Tom and Tuvok to the alien portals where photonic charges fire at them. Tuvok verifies that the weapons signature coming from these portals matches the weapons signature detected earlier. Before leaving the holodeck, Paris insists on checking his rocket ship as it has sensors of a type that may help. Seven of Nine establishes a visual link to the holodeck. As the alien portals fire, Harry recognizes return fire as that of Chaotica's Death Ray. While Tom deciphers 20th century technology, a photonic alien enters the ship. He does not believe anything Tuvok or Tom has to say as he cannot detect Voyager or its carbon based humanoids life forms. They are not photonic, therefore they are illusions, not real. Satan's Robot suddenly stirs and attacks the alien, causing the alien to shoot back and beat a hasty retreat. Back in the conference room, Tom explains the situation to Janeway and suggests a plan of action that the captain finds slightly amusing: Allow the story to play out and help the aliens defeat Chaotica. All they have to do is disable his Death Ray. "It's a shame we don't have one," interjects Tuvok. Within the story parameters, Capt. Proton (Tom) can destroy the Death Ray with his Destructo Beam if the Lightning Shield (force field) can be shut down from within Chaotica's Fortress of Doom. Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People (with whom Chaotica has been seeking an alliance ever since Chapter Three), can do it. Janeway thinks Tom has Seven in mind for the part, but who better to play Arachnia than Capt. Janeway herself? "It's the role of a lifetime!" encourages Tom. Tuvok reminds the reluctant captain that they've exhausted all other options to escape the layer of subspace. Till they can eliminate the alien distortions, adds Chakotay, they're trapped. Seven says to think of it as StarFleet's first encounter with Planet X. Uncomfortably, Janeway agrees. More enthusiastic is the EMH Doctor, willing to take on the role of President of Earth in order to get the aliens to stop firing so that Tom (Captain Proton) and Harry can disable the Death Ray. As the doctor is holographic, the aliens would believe him because they can detect him, but even these best laid plans don't pan out smoothly. Janeway, entering the story as Arachnia and insisting that the Lightening Shield be taken down, makes Chaotica suspicious of her. The Doctor, in role of President of Earth, summons the photonic alien with his own dropped device. The Doctor asks the aliens to cease fire so Captain Proton - Defender of the Universe and Scourge of Intergalactic Evil (and competent medic to boot) - can destroy Chaotica's Death Ray. The alien agrees. Aboard the rocket ship, Captain Proton (Tom), Harry and Satan's Robot conduct a systems check. Tom declares that when this adventure is done, he'll be done too and delete the program for good. All is ready, and the Doctor enters with a satisfying report. Janeway's/Arachnia's continued requests to drop the Lightning Shield raise Chaotica's suspicious even higher. She makes a bold move to succeed but fails. Though subsequently encircled in confinement rings, she is able to uncork the pheromones, a powerful love potion that was given to Chaotica by the real Arachnia. Under its influence, Chaotica's henchman Lonzac releases Janeway from her bonds, allowing her to turn off the Lightening Shield. Captain Proton (Tom) is then able to fire on the Fortress of Doom, destroying the Death Ray and mortally wounding his nemesis. Freed of the photonic aliens' interference, Voyager is finally able to move off of this 'subspace sandbar' and continue on its way homeward. Dr. Chaotica delivers dying words, promising to return, then his evil laugh lives on as a monitor displays a question mark.

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Published Jan 27, 2019

Still Wed To "Bride of Chaotica"

It was 20 years ago today that Doctor Chaotica came to play

StarTrek.com

The U.S.S. Voyager and her crew faced some pretty tough times during season five of Star Trek: Voyager , and so fans were caught by surprise -- and thoroughly entertained -- when suddenly “ Bride of Chaotica! ” beamed on to their screens. The date was January 27, 1999, or 20 years ago today. In the memorable hour, Voyager runs aground on a subspace sandbar just as an alien presence makes itself felt and right as Tom Paris and Harry Kim are indulging in Chapter 18 of Tom’s holodeck program, The Adventures of Captain Proton . Much to everyone’s shock, the trans-dimensional aliens believe the Captain Proton universe to be the real thing, thus provoking a war. As a result, the Voyager crew – with Captain Janeway assuming the guise of Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People – plays within the rules of the Captain Proton program in order to bring down Doctor Chaotica’s lightning shield and save the day.

Scintillating Scenes

Come on, you cracked up when Janeway practically threatens Neelix to fetch her coffee, and not just coffee, but coffee black? And, when she sips it, her reaction is priceless.

Inside joke lovers surely smiled when Harry commented on how familiar the Planet X set seemed to him. That, of course, was a reference to the franchise's many recycled locations and also the infamous Planet Hell stage at Paramount, which all the shows utilized to create their assorted alien worlds, often too obviously.

Satan’s Robot is simply awesome.

How about Neelix's veiled reference to Bolian hygiene? Or when our favorite Talaxian explains to Janeway that there are only four working lavatories on Voyager ? That’s one for the fanboys and fangirls out there.

That insanely cheesy ending, with the big question mark on the monitor and the evil laughter.

Did you know...

• To date, "Bride of Chaotica” is, to date, the only acting credit listed on IMDB for Kirsten Turner, who played the lovely, ever-screaming Constance Goodheart.
• Chaotica’s throne was the alien throne in the film Coneheads .
• $4,658. That's how much the Satan’s Robot costume fetched at auction in 2007.
• If Nicholas Worth, who played Lonzak, Chaotica’s head of defense in “Bride of Chaotica!” and “ Shattered ,” looks familiar, that's because he also portrayed the Lissepian Captain in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “ Progress ” and Sorm in the DS9 hour “ A Simple Investigation .” Worth passed away in 2007 at the age of 69.
• The episode's Doctor Chaotica, Martin Rayner, also played the role in “ Night ” and “Shattered.” A veteran film, TV and stage actor, Rayner collapsed on stage while performing as a dying Sigmund Freud in a 2010 production of the Off-Broadway show, Freud’s Last Session . It turned out that Rayner was being treated for prostate cancer at the time. He was hospitalized briefly and recovered quickly enough to return to the show for the matinee performance the next day. Rayner actually starred in a Los Angeles staging of Freud's Last Session last year, which gave StarTrek.com the perfect excuse to interview him. Recalling the fact that "Bride of Chaotica" was shot in color but aired in glorious black and white, he said, "They were shot in color so they could be made into sepia. I have a color photograph of me on the throne in my full outfit. It's really beautiful. But it looks fantastic in the sepia effect. The makeup, I didn't even know what that was going to be until I sat in the chair and they took, I guess, a couple of hours to do it. What I liked was that it was still nicely me. I wasn’t completely covered over by makeup. So, that was my ego that I felt, but I thought, 'People still know it's me.'”
• Tarik Ergin was the man inside the Satan's Robot costume. A background actor for all seven seasons of Voyager , Ergin also did background work on Generations and was both a background performer and stand-in on Enterprise .
• Kate Mulgrew’s stunning Arachnia costume sold for $4,560 at the Christie’s Star Trek auction in 2006. Christie’s had estimated that it would sell for between $600 and $800.

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