Blink of an Eye (Star Trek: Voyager, S6 E12) was recommended by Sandy Cleary, she/her who said:
I've always loved "Blink of an Eye." I like stories about history, and stories that feel epic by having some mechanism to take the reader from the present to the past, or by exposing them to a sense of scale that really captures the grand sweep of human history. The "where we've come from tells us why we wanted to come from there" narrative. Walter Miller's Canticle for Leibowitz, say, or the Babylon 5 episode "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" that IMO transparently draws from it.
In that same way, "Blink of an Eye" is the Voyager writers having used the main deflector to remodulate Robert Forward's 1980 novel Dragon's Egg. But here, I love how the framing device captures both the scale of capital-p Progress and the desire to explore and understand the universe—the kind of optimism that, on its best days, Trek has always been good at embodying. And I love seeing the evolution from making offerings to this strange new apparition, to making efforts to communicate, to the inevitable first contact.
It is a story about well-intentioned people trying to make the best sense they can of a vast and mysterious universe, without real antagonists—where even the figures who would normally be antagonists, like the hawks in the military, are clearly acting in good faith. In this it reminds me of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which also inspired my current journey. I think you could draw a direct link between "Blink of an Eye" and me changing my degree from linguistics to anthropology, and probably to the kind of approach I've taken whenever I need to write fantasy.
Also, it's a great Picardo vehicle. Picardo's EMH, like Data (TNG), was theoretically on a journey to become more "human." The difference is that the EMH was always finding new experiences and *loving the hell out of them* rather than clinically tilting his head and going "well. That happened." He has the same breathless excitement here as he did in, say, "Message in a Bottle"—for mostly the same reasons and with the same mix of passion and humor that, I think, really makes him "work" as a character. Both Picardo as an actor and the EMH as a character are in absolutely top form.
Finally, I'm a sucker for the extremely cheap trick of old people knowing that their lifelong goal has been accomplished. Daniel Dae Kim getting to watch the Voyager's departure makes me choke up every time.
Blink of an Eye first aired on January 19, 2000, written by story by Michael Taylor, teleplay by Joe Menosky, and directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
Voyager is trapped in orbit about a planet with a spacetime differential such that, while its inhabitants live through years, Voyager experiences mere minutes.
The Joy of Trek is hosted by Khaki & Kay, with editing & production by Chief Engineer Greg and music by Fox Amoore (Bandcamp | Bluesky)
Send us your recommendations, or support us on Patreon.
Find us at joyoftrek.com · Twitter · Facebook
Nov 4 202511 m