Star Trek Stars Set The Record Straight On Voyager's Most Controversial Scene

The "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Tuvix" remains controversial to this day, perhaps unexpectedly so. The premise of the episode is absurd: the logical Vulcan Tuvok (Tim Russ), and the hobbit-like chef Neelix (Ethan Phillips) beam up from a plant-gathering away mission, only to find their botanical samples somehow interfered with the transporter beam. The two men eerily merge together into a composite being that is just as much Tuvok as he is Neelix. The new being, calling himself Tuvix (Tom Wright), possesses the memories and skills of both Tuvok and Neelix. 

At first, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) feels that this new Tuvix being should be placed back on the transporter pad ASAP and re-separated back into Tuvok and Neelix, but an ethical conundrum arises. Tuvix announces that he rather enjoys having been created, and that he no longer wishes to be separated. Although created by accident, Tuvix has just as many rights as anyone. As far as Tuvix is concerned, Tuvok and Neelix died in a transporter accident. The morally right thing to do is to let Tuvix live on as a new member of the crew, and mourn the loss of Tuvok and Neelix. 

Janeway, however, makes the unethical choice. She finds that, yes, her engineers can indeed construct a transporter effect that will separate Tuvok and Neelix once again, and orders Tuvix to undergo the procedure. Tuvix is forcibly taken to the transporter pad, screaming and protesting the entire time. He yells that Janeway is executing him, which is true. Janeway ignores him, and restores Tuvok and Neelix. 

This episode comes up a lot in conversations about "Voyager," and arguments are still had about Janeway's dodgy decision. Mulgrew has long maintained that Janeway's choice was correct, as it was her job to advocate for Tuvok and Neelix. Tim Russ agrees, knowing that Tuvok's and Neelix's rights needed to be considered. Both actors spoke at a recent "Star Trek" convention in New Jersey (reported by TrekMovie) to iterate their points.

The Tuvix controversy, it should be noted, is widespread. There was even a conversation about Tuvix between Mulgrew and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a notedly progressive member of the House of Representatives. Ocasio-Cortez diplomatically sidestepped the Tuvix issue, but did note that she put trust in Captain Janeway, a figure she admired as a youth. 

Mulgrew has since taken her gloves off when it comes to discussing Tuvix, saying that the character should have been executed without any hesitation. For Janeway, Mulgrew said, it was a matter of helping friends that she had grown close to, and that it didn't cause any ethical problems murdering a relative stranger to restore her compatriots. In her words: 

"Janeway did the only thing she could do. Was she going to keep Tuvix over those two guys? I loved those two guys. Easy choice. Had to make it look tough. But easy, easy."

Later in the day, Tim Russ took the stage, and a fan asked him if actor Tom Wright had any ill will toward Russ. After all, if Tuvix had remained a part of the crew as he wanted, then Wright would have secured a pretty cushy job. Russ, rather than focus on potential career paths for Wright and for himself, instead just complimented his guest star, saying that Wright had to wrangle a lot in his short shooting time. Wright had to essentially play two characters simultaneously, all while weathering constant re-writes and new script pages on the daily. Wright and Russ are friends, and Russ made sure to point out that Wright is a very good actor. 

But, he added, Tuvix had to die. 

Russ made the argument that Janeway's decision was based on a devotion to the Starfleet crew, and that Tuvix, while technically two members of her crew, was also an interloper whose interests were less valuable than those of Neelix and Tuvok. Janeway was obsessed with "keeping the family together," and Russ agreed that Janeway's ethos was appropriate. He said: 

"[Janeway] did make the right decision, absolutely. Sorry. Her responsibility is that of her crew — the health, safety and welfare of her crew. That is the captain's responsibility. So you know, the very last end shot in that episode, when she walks down the hall after the sick bay doors close, the look on her face tells you everything right then." 

Many Trekkies are with Mulgrew and Russ, and also agree with Janeway's decision. On a personal level, it makes emotional sense. On an ethical level, however, executing Tuvix is antithetical to Starfleet principles. As seen on other "Star Trek" shows, beings can be created by accident, and their autonomy as individuals is instantly (or sometimes, eventually) respected. On "Star Trek: The Next Generation," there were many conversations as to whether or not an android, a sentient hologram, or an animal-like robotic exocomp have rights as life forms. On "Deep Space Nine," Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) accidentally made a clone once, and accepted openly that the clone will simply become a member of society, with all the rights and privileges thereto. Heck, even on "Voyager," Captain Janeway came to accept that the ship's emergency medical hologram had a consciousness. 

Killing Tuvix was, at the very least, a selfish decision. At most, it was brazenly immoral. The conversation continues to rage on.