Star Trek: Voyager — 2x01 — The 37's

Aired 1995-08-28

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:3.92

Synopsis

Voyager encounters humans abducted by aliens in 1937.

Remarkable scenes

A truck floating in space.
Tuvok's reaction to Paris starting the truck.
Voyager's landing.
Janeway telling Earhart the history of Earth after she disappeared.
Nobody deciding to stay behind on the planet.

Review

A decent episode, but a little annoying. Besides the technical issues which largely don't matter anyway, the premise doesn't make much sense. Why would native Delta Quadrant aliens travel to the other side of the galaxy, retrieve a rather tiny amount of slaves from Earth and only Earth, then return to the Delta Quadrant? This just seems too unlikely. Bearing that in mind, this would have made a far better TNG episode than a Voyager episode, but it manages to pull its own weight fairly well. Janeway certainly identifies with Earhart better than Picard would have, and Tuvok's reaction to Paris starting the rusted old truck was something that only would have worked with a Vulcan. ;) A decent, though flawed episode.

7 reader comments

Well, if you'd told me that this episode began with a 30s model truck floating in space and that Ameila Earhart was a character, I may have been tempted to skip it. It's always annoyed me that American history is scattered all across the galaxy in Star Trek. That said, this was about as good an episode as could be given the premise, and it actually ends up being decent.
My problem is with the Universal Translator. By now we've all just sort of accepted that the UT exists and explains how we can communicate with alien races. We've pretty much given up on trying to explain it or even worrying about it unless it's part of the plot (a la "Darmok" or DS9's "Sanctuary"). So why do they have to go and confuse the whole thing again. How is it possible that the Japanese character hears Japanese while the others hear English? And how does the UT know to broadcast in all those different languages? And finally, how does it work. It wasn't necessary to mention it hear, and mentioning it without explaining it just complicates things.
by JRPoole | 02/25/2009 at 8:03 pm

I read with interest our webmaster's article on why he doesn't review Stargate (because there is no plausible reason why all alien life forms speak English). While I relate to this sentiment, and agree that it is a failing in the Stargate universe, the use of the UT in Star Trek is so lame and so contrived as to be tantamount to a simple admission that there is nothing behind it at all. For one thing: what is the UT? Is it a computer program as some episodes suggest ala DS9: Sancuary? Or is it a portable, mobile device, as would be obviously required when the Star Fleet folks are out of communicator range? Examples of this are so common as to be too numerous to count. Picard on the surface with the alien captain in TNG: Darmok. Jiordi trapped on the surface of a moon with a Romulan in TNG: First Contact. I could go on like this for a looooong time.
And how does the UT magically make everyone's mouth movements match up with what they hear? Holgrsphic projectors? A data feed directly into the brain?
In the end the problems of the UT are so huge that we must simply throw up our hands in despair and admit that it is the thinnest of threads, and ultimately it is all about budget. Given that creating a synthetic language is a rather expensive undertaking, compromises must be made. (Witness the amount of time and energy which went into creating the language of the Navi in the Sci Fi film Avatar.)
I am not sure that Star Trek is significantly superior to Stargate in this respect, to be honest.
by Jeff Browning | 10/22/2011 at 5:20 pm

The difference between Stargate and virtually every other science fiction show is that Stargate doesn't even try to offer an explanation, and by doing so they make it nearly impossible for fans to rationalize it on their own.
In Star Trek, the universal translator is the canonical explanation and while episodes like this may complicate the process of explaining how it works, the UT is not beyond rationalization.
I've always assumed there are different kinds of UTs with different levels of sophistication that were employed at different time periods and that by Voyager's time period it was a piece of technology which had been miniaturized to the point of being embedded as a microchip in every Federation citizen. DS9: Little Green Men provides strong evidence of this.
For that to work, we have to assume that most non-Federation aliens also possess a similar technology and that vast advances in linguistics have occurred to create a sort of universal language pattern matcher, which would enable both the translation capability as well as a mechanism by which two alien UTs can communicate with one another.
The UT would thus then work on a principle of all languages (except oddball ones like the Darmok aliens) following predictable rules that advanced linguistics has cracked. And when two characters equipped with microchip UTs talk to each other, they merely speak in their own languages and the UT in their brains translates for them in real time.
Without a doubt this all implies an incredibly overwrought piece of technology that the show glosses over with far too much carelessness, but still not to the degree that Stargate does. Likewise Star Trek is no stranger to overwrought items of technology fraught with difficult to rationalize technical problems. Another big offender would be the transporter.
Nevertheless, despite these quirks, Star Trek manages to somehow stay largely consistent and plausible. As does Stargate for the matter, all except for Stargate's failure to even try to deal with the language problem.
by Eric Newport | 10/22/2011 at 6:10 pm

Kethinov points out the first problems of this episode in the 'problems' paragraph. Only adding that any remaining water in the cooling system - if any still left, would be frozen solid.
The SOS message is received on the AM radio in the pickup truck, which in turn is in a cargo hold of Voyager, and that outside the planetary system of origin. (Some light years at least.)
Kim states that 'we do not monitor this frequency since it only travel at the speed of light. Any change of 'Frequency' will not make any radio signal go faster than light - which make this another technobabble blooper.
Even so this is for starters, the small landing pads of Voyager would not be able to keep the starship upright on the surface we see, not rock even less loose sand. Ever seen construction workers raise a large crane? They use plates of steel under each supporting pad!
And then the radio of the aircraft sending AM radio to a large distance in space. AM radio were used since it bounced on the ionosphere, and so could be picked up even beyond the line of sight. So most of such a signal will NOT penetrate to space, in short it would be weak indeed.
So in the very first minutes this episode fails on all counts on being consistent and plausible.
My vote? A one.
by TheAnt | 10/09/2013 at 6:36 am

I'm kind of annoyed the Janeway could tell the Japanese soldier was human just by looking at. There are so many species that look human even I'm the delta quadrant.
by Shani | 01/10/2015 at 4:50 am

But not many japanese aliens I think :D
Anyway, I was shocked at Kims lack of historic knowledge. Ok… maybe he never heard of Miss Erhardt, but mixing up a Ford gasoline car for a hovercar?? That would be akin to one of us mixing up an early sailing ship with a WW2 Bismark type of battleship, come on…what do they teach at the academy in history?
by Amelia Obumhardt | 02/04/2022 at 8:10 pm

Really love the soundtrack at the end of this episode, another delightful piece.
by Mitch89 | 08/25/2023 at 11:22 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x02 — Initiations

Aired 1995-09-04

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:3.57

Synopsis

Chakotay faces a Kazon boy.

Remarkable scenes

Chakotay's shuttle fight with Kar.
Neelix speech about being underused.
Chakotay's meeting with the Kazon leader and the children.
Chakotay and Kar's escape.
Kar killing the maje and earning his name.

Review

This episode is a nice exploration of the Kazon culture. They value the "earning" of their names which they do by accomplishing great feats. By killing people or dying honorably in battle. It seems obvious that the Kazon are supposed to be a less sophisticated delta quadrant version of the Klingons, which is both interesting and annoying. It is interesting in that their culture is diverse and rich, but annoying in that it is an obvious parallel to the Klingons. The highlight of the episode is Chakotay's performance. I like his moral stance on everything. "You'll see no hate in my eyes." We learn about the Trabe in this episode, the Kazon shared their homeworld with them. The Kazon were oppressed by them. There was a revolt and the Kazon conquered the Trabe. Not a particularly amazing episode, but a decent watch.

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x03 — Projections

Aired 1995-09-11

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:4.95

Synopsis

Illusion and reality collide for the Doctor.

Remarkable scenes

Barclay's appearance.
The flashback into Voy: Caretaker.
The Doctor deleting people, but failing to delete Janeway.
The Doctor returning to reality, only to find out that it's another illusion.
The Doctor confirming reality.
The Doctor reaching his arm out of sickbay just to make sure he really was a hologram.

Review

This is the first of a long line of Voyager Barclay episodes, as odd as it may sound. Barclay was the best choice for this story though. For one, Barclay has struggled with holodiction, which makes this whole episode a bit ironic. Though Barclay presents a very convincing case arguing the doctor is not a hologram but a real person. Had me fooled pretty well. As such, the plot has lots of intrigue. The one flaw in the logic is Barclay's incessant cries for the doctor to destroy the ship, even though it's clear that the holodeck safeties weren't working. Even a simulated warpcore breach would surely kill someone on the holodeck with the safeties off. So as soon as Barclay started acting like that, I knew exactly what was going to happen. The climax thus became something of an anticlimax to me. The climax retains some greatness in the end, expressing some of the doctor's hidden desires. Kes as his wife and a struggle to be a real person. Fortunately the twist at the end where the doctor returned to reality but was in fact in another illusion sparked my interest once again. It reminded me a lot of TNG: Frame of Mind in which Riker couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. Fortunately, this wasn't overdone and the episode ended with a particular charm. I like how the doctor had to test putting his arm outside of sickbay just to make sure he was really a hologram.

1 reader comment

This intensely psychological episode and doc character exploration simply blew my mind when I originally saw it. I couldn't even come up with a proper comment to do it justice. If you're a fan of the Doctor, or even the least bit interested in his character, this is a must watch.
This episode takes the doctor's ambivalence about his very nature to its full and logical conclusion: a dramatic existential crisis, complete with doubt, aspiration, self-delusion, madness, a declaration of love, and something like a mock suicide attempt (when he blew up the holographic projection of a holographic projector array).
Small details: love the conflicted, just slightly gleeful bemusement when he discovers that he's bleeding, has a pulse, brain wave activity, hunger pangs, etc.
One of my favorite Voyager episodes thus far (top 5). Altogether brilliant.
by Docfan | 09/09/2011 at 1:48 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x04 — Elogium

Aired 1995-09-18

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:3.16

Synopsis

Strange creatures accelerate Kes' reproductive process.

Remarkable scenes

Kes eating beetles. Holy nasty.
Kes can't stop eating. Hah.
Tuvok: "It appears we have lost our sex appeal, captain."

Review

A sex episode! Er, well kinda. Lots of relationship stuff in this episode though. Chakotay sees people kissing in a turbolift, more of Neelix' jealousy over Tom's behavior, and of course the main plot with Kes entering puberty early, and the B plot with the space creatures trying to have sex with Voyager. The paralleling themes of the episode are skillfully woven together, but the subject matter just doesn't interest me at all. It seems to me that Chakotay was right, relationships are going to be necessary. For a 75 year trip, it's going to have to be a generational one. Since it's all so obvious, skillful or not, cramming a bunch of relationship stuff into a single episode seems overkill. Though I was pleased to see in the ending the story run full circle when Ensign Wildman proclaims her pregnancy. That was tactful and appropriate; we'll be seeing more of this later.

6 reader comments

You know, I watched the entire Voyager series start to finish several times, and I never noticed the Ocampan reproduction problem.
9 year life span, one child per couple, wow. They definitely should not even exist as a species. Well caught.
by askthepizzaguy | 08/12/2010 at 2:21 am

Maybe it's just the Ocampa females who can reproduce only once. Males may be able to do it more often, so that accounts for their survival as a species. Of course, that implies they are not a monogamous society, an that their male/female ratio is nowhere near 50/50. As far as we know, that's consistent with what we know about them.
by zooky | 08/09/2011 at 11:19 pm

Unless there are significantly more females born than males, it still doesn't work.
by Eric Newport | 08/10/2011 at 7:30 pm

I haven't seen the series past this episode, but is it possible that the Ocampa have litters & not just one baby at a time like humans.
by Anon | 11/10/2011 at 3:51 am

"Of course, that implies they are not a monogamous society"
Kes mentioned in a later episode that the Ocampa choose their mates for life and that there is no jealousy or betrayal.
by Inga | 07/28/2013 at 2:35 pm

I like Kes a lot. I wonder if all Ocampa are as emotionally mature as she is, or if she's just exceptional in her own right. I liked seeing another side of her here, acting seemingly out of character, not in control of herself. I also liked seeing her getting angry at Neelix's jealousy. Even the most calm and composed of people would get annoyed at that after long enough.
The Ocampa must have litters if they reproduce only once. If all females only produce one child, no matter the female/male ratio, they'd die out. Even if all members of a species reproduced at a one-to-one rate, they'd die out too, because not all would reproduce before dying.
I loved the scene between Neelix and Tuvok. When Tuvok said that a parent could teach skills equally to sons and daughters both, I yelled "THANK YOU TUVOK!" It was nice to see the show make such a clearly progressive statement. The scene reminded me of the song "My Boy Bill" from Carousel, where the character singing, Billy, after a whole song about what a strapping lad he'll raise, suddenly realizes his kid might be a girl. Duh!
I agree about the overkill. I do like episodes that have themes to them, but I prefer if if they don't bash us over the head with it. Four different plot threads or conversations all about reproduction all happening at once is a little much. And yeah, it should be a given that they'll have to reproduce if they're expecting a 75-year trip. There are worse things than being raised on a cushy starship complete with holodecks.
by Damien Bradley | 01/03/2017 at 8:14 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x05 — Non Sequitur

Aired 1995-09-25

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:4.14

Synopsis

Harry Kim awakens on Earth.

Remarkable scenes

Harry discovering who he is in this new dream world.
Harry confronting Tom Paris in the dream world. Tom got in a fight with Quark on DS9 and was thrown in the brig by Odo. :) Apparently now, according to Harry, Tom is a loser and a drunk.
Harry: "Why does everyone say relax when they're about to do something terrible?"
Harry discovering that he fell into an alien "timestream" and that his dream world is the real but altered world.

Review

This episode offers an interesting concept. How would you react to waking up into the life you've always wanted at the expense of your friends' lives? Well Harry immediately rejects it. I can see why. Would you be able to forget an entire year of your life and pretend to believe that something entirely different happened to you during that time? I know I couldn't. Besides idealism, this episode offers very little. It develops exactly as expected with no real plot twist. The Federation authorities are annoying in their suspicions of Harry and the entire plot is consumed with Harry's alternate life. So this episode comes off as kind of a dud.

3 reader comments

Oh yeah! THIS is why I hate Brannon Braga!
by Pete Miller | 07/31/2006 at 3:30 am

Tom mentions being locked up by an unfriendly shapeshifter. A reference to Odo?
by Yaspaa | 06/06/2010 at 11:19 am

The problem I have with this episode is the same problem I have with a lot of the early season 2 episodes - there's too much Earth in them! The whole point of the series was to get out of their rut and away from the Federation. So, here they are - billions of light years away, and they amazingly keep encountering links to their "old life". Impossible! Doesn't seem very creative or imaginative to me…(Actually, it shows the producers were either lazy, burned out, or under pressure from the network to dumb down everything so the masses could relate to the show better.)
by thaibites | 10/01/2013 at 11:57 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x06 — Twisted

Aired 1995-10-02

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:4.02

Synopsis

The Voyager crew is lost on their own ship.

Remarkable scenes

People getting lost all over Voyager.
The Doctor: "I'm a doctor, not a bartender!" Count 11 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
Torres barging in on someone's quarters by accident.
Chakotay debating logic with Tuvok.
Janeway's condition. Looked like she was flying on acid. :)
The crew being cornered by the distortions.
The revelation that it was nothing a harmless communication method.

Review

This episode presents a pleasing but boring story. It was rather amusing to see everyone getting lost, but also rather redundant after a while. It also doesn't make much sense that a distortion would perfectly cut apart different rooms and whatnot. It's as if someone has been selectively rearranging parts of the ship. This isn't a technical problem so much as a logical problem. I wish they could have come up with better science fiction to justify this behavior. I give an extra point to this episode for the ending. It wasn't random space anomaly of the week. It wasn't a hostile alien trying to kill them. It was a peaceful and very different alien trying to communicate with Voyager. I like all this high brow idealistic stuff. To me, that's what Star Trek is all about.

6 reader comments

Wow; this episode was abysmal. It is like a spoof of what every bad Star Trek episode is -- spatial anomalies, technobabble, space-based life-forms, stuff that doesn't make sense but is easy to film -- and in the end they just do nothing.
I wish I had that 45 minutes of my life back.
by Jason Shooter | 01/14/2010 at 3:44 am

Boring episode , Kes birthday was the only remdeeming part so far i find Kes , The doctor and Neelix the only intresting characters.. i want ds9 back :(
by Nadrac | 04/30/2010 at 5:47 pm

The only thing missing was a group hug. And Janeway's head spinning around. Also, doesn't Neelix seem a little creepy when he gets jealous?
by Jim Flaval | 07/30/2010 at 5:47 am

The Bar appears to be a replica of the one Kim found Paris in a couple episodes prior. If Paris frequently runs this program it at least makes sense that Kim knew where to find Paris in Marseilles.
by Andrew James | 06/01/2017 at 5:48 pm

Lucky that none of the bent corridors or rooms opened up to the outside, but that's fine, one can accept the odd "twisting" premise for the sake of fun.
What struck me as even more ridiculous: this episode underscored the "named characters matter, the rest of the crew doesn't" curse that seems more pronounced on Voyager than on other series. What do our heroes do when they encounter other crew? Tell them to go somewhere safe and just wait. Essentially, pat them on the head… "We professionals will take care of it, now stay out of the way, OK?". They have a ship full of experts of various sorts, and the main cast doesn't really know what's going on or have solutions to the problem. How about telling everyone everything you know, and getting as many minds as possible at work? But no, of course they're all useless.
It wouldn't have changed anything in terms of outcome, but would have made Voyager appear like a ship with 140 crew, not 10 crew and 130 passengers.
by Gary | 02/24/2018 at 6:23 pm

Bob Picardo has said this is his least favorite episode of the series, for the same reasons talked about in some of these reviews: it's 43 minutes of the crew surprised to find themselves in a different room than the one they intended to go to.
It was painful to watch, so I imagine it was even more painful to act in.
by paul vh | 03/08/2024 at 1:57 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x07 — Parturition

Aired 1995-10-09

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:3.81

Synopsis

Neelix and Paris crash land on a toxic planet.

Remarkable scenes

Kes' piloting simulation.
Harry, having replicated a new clarinet, playing for Tom.
Paris lamenting about having fallen in love with Kes
Janeway lamenting about the Doctor's eavesdropping.
The Doctor: "I'm a doctor, not a voyeur!" Count 12 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
Neelix and Paris fighting one another then being summoned by Janeway for an away mission.
Kes' reaction to Neelix and Paris fighting.
The Doctor: "How delightful!" Kes: "Delightful!?" The Doctor: "You should consider it a high complement! Throughout history men have fought over the love of a woman. Why, I can quote you autopsy reports from duels as far back as 1538."
Neelix: "You don't need to impress me with your technobabble."
Harry counseling Kes.
Neelix and Tom caring for the baby... thing.
Neelix and Tom settling their differences.
Paris: "Lock onto us Voyager. If you hear muffled screams, consider that a request for a beam out!"

Review

All I've got to say is finally. As much distaste I have for Neelix' jealousy and Tom's advances on Kes, at least we're getting some official recognition of it now and in fact a resolution and it actually does make for some decent story. I'm fond of Neelix and Paris being forced to survive together on a hostile planet in order to resolve their problems. Normally I don't like when it takes an unusual situation in order to get two people to get along, but in this case I liked it because in the end Neelix and Tom didn't only resolve their differences but they gained a deep respect for one another. The aliens of this episode were intelligently and credibly displayed. A very interesting and alien reptilian species fights to protect its young. I wish there could have been some kind of communication establishes, or at least some kind of explanation as to why the Reptiles leave their young alone on that planet. A number of rationalizations could have worked, but they give us none. Overall, a very pleasing Voyager episode.

2 reader comments

Watching two people bicker at each other for over 30 minutes is terribly unpleasant… I don't understand why the writers thought this would make a good episode. The baby reptile was cute but the mother costume was horrendously cheesy, especially the immovable jaw. This was a stinker and IMHO Kethinov was awfully generous in his review.
by Gilos | 07/05/2013 at 5:46 pm

It only occurred to me when rewatching this episode that the Jem'Hadar fighters at the start might be a continuity error.
In the fourth season episode "Message in a Bottle", the Doctor is unaware of the Dominion, and up till this point there is never a mention of them in Voyager (as best I can recall).
Seems like the footage was handy and they slipped it in hoping no one would notice!
by Mitch89 | 08/28/2023 at 3:54 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x08 — Persistence of Vision

Aired 1995-10-30

SpaceOpera.com rating:2

Average reader rating:4.31

Synopsis

A mysterious force puts the crew in a delusional state.

Remarkable scenes

Busy Janeway.
Small doctor.
Kes seeing things. Strange things.
Everyone becoming catatonic.
Kes saving the ship.
Janeway: "Why did you do this?" Bothan: "Because I can."

Review

I like how the issue of transferring the doctor to the essential parts of the ship is revisited in the beginning. Nice to see it's taking some effort to actually implement. Sadly, not much else is interesting in this episode. I rather liked the detail concerning Janeway getting overworked and stressed out. The little doctor was amusing too. But we've seen far too many hallucination plots already. This episode is really a blatant rehash. The only thing I liked about the main plot as it developed was that Kes saved the ship. Go Kes!

2 reader comments

Not only a rehash of other Voyager episodes, but a a rehash of what has now become a running Start Trek joke; the chief medical officer ordering the captain to take a vacation due to overwork and high stress levels. We had "Shore Leave" on TOS, and "Captain's Holiday" on TNG…I believe that Deep Space 9 was spared.
by Freddie Katz | 03/10/2015 at 8:41 am

At first I was going to complain that it all came down to some mysterious alien trolling the crew for funsies. What? But then I remembered that that's pretty much all Q does in TNG. :)
I do like how Kes' character is being developed. She has powers not shared by the others, and in this episode she was forced to rise up and save the day. I like how, while at first, she was just kind of the "emotional relief" of the ship -- the warm, caring (not to mention attractive) person anyone can talk to, clearly she isn't just that, and she's becoming much more. Again I'm curious if other Ocampa share her telepathic abilities, or if she's exceptional in some way. This is the farthest I've gotten in Voyager so far, so no spoilers please!
by Damien Bradley | 01/06/2017 at 8:48 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x09 — Tattoo

Aired 1995-11-06

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:4.41

Synopsis

Chakotay is stranded on a planet.

Remarkable scenes

The Doctor listing the descriptive words for pain.
Chakotay and Janeway discussing the absurdity of religion.
The Doctor sneezing.
Neelix and Tuvok have something in common. They breed orchids. :)
The Doctor at the height of his symptoms.
Paris: "The ship might make it with no inertial dampeners, but we'd all just be stains on the back wall."

Review

What the crap? Another alien species, from the Delta quadrant no less, has visited Earth many years ago. How many does that make now? How much of a cliche has this become by now? Seriously, what is so interesting about Earth? Well, I at least found Chakotay's flashbacks interesting. Another interesting detail is Janeway's affinity for ship landings. This is her second attempt at landing the ship, she suggested doing it in another episode before this one, totaling three episodes that involve at least a mention of a ship landing. I enjoyed the Doctor's sickness too, but really the most enjoyable things about this episode were the sub plots and not the main plot. An exploration of Chakotay's Native American heritage is cool, but not when it's done with cliche++.

5 reader comments

Janeaway is a fucking idiot for wanting to land the ship. Let's see, how many times did the enterprise land? Oh! 1 time, when it was destroyed. She's already going for a second attempt in one season. It was completely unneccesary and a complete lack of judgement on her part. Putting the ENTIRE crew at risk to maybe land and help Chakotay. Why didn't they just replicate another shuttlecraft ;) They did it so many times in the series, seeing as they started out with 2.
But yeah, Janeaway is a stupid dumbass. I put the ship landing thing in the same category as Sisko using the Defiant every time he wanted to leave the station. Completely unneccesary.
by Pete Miller | 08/02/2006 at 6:36 pm

When Kes was pissed at the Doctor and said she wished that the he could feel pain for once, I said to myself: "well, he has, in Projections". It's a waste that he didn't mention this. It was only 6 episodes (weeks?) ago.
by Remco | 01/14/2009 at 11:33 pm

I realize that this is a really small nitpick, but the use of the word DAMPENERS is not correct. When the inertial momentum of the vessel is compensated for, this is DAMPING, which is an absorption of energy (usually in relation to oscillations). A DAMPENER would be something like a shower or hose. A seriously insignificant nit to pick but since the technical advisors work so hard on other things it would seem that they could keep this consistent.
by penguinphysics | 01/17/2013 at 5:46 am

Pete Miller - Voyager is a new kind of ship, maybe it's easier and safer to land it, so the decision is not necessarily stupid.
by Inga | 07/30/2013 at 9:54 am

Yeah, this ep was… kind of WTF. It's especially cringe if you know about how the supposedly Native American consultant they had for Voyager was a phony. But cultural insensitivity aside, it's kind of astonishing to imagine that a bunch of extremely Earth-specific things would be localized to this tiny region of the other side of the galaxy. Well… maybe not "a bunch", but between this and "The 37s", it's really pushing, even for Star Trek.
One little detail I liked was how without his communicator, Chakotay couldn't understand the aliens until they gave him their own UT. Kes adding a couple hours to the Doctor's illness program was fantastic. I love Kes.
This show has a lot of potential, and a lot of great moments so far, but it so badly wants to be TNG that it isn't finding an identity of its own.
Voyager is designed with landing capability, so the previous commenter's complaints about it landing are invalid. (What IS a valid complaint is how imbalanced it looks when it's on the ground, like it's about to tip over.)
by Azalea Jane | 01/25/2024 at 8:53 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x10 — Cold Fire

Aired 1995-11-13

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:4.78

Synopsis

Kes makes contact with the female Caretaker.

Remarkable scenes

Kes' lessons with Tuvok. She listened to Neelix' thoughts. Funny.
Tanis regarding Voyager: "There are people, but there is so little life."
Kes burning up Tuvok.
Kes burning the hydroponics bay.
Janeway's meeting with Suspiria.
Tuvok: "Without the darkness, how would we recognize the light?"

Review

We've been waiting for this one since Voy: Caretaker. We were told in the pilot episode that there was another Caretaker out there and it was just a matter of finding her. In this episode, when Voyager discovers that the remains of their dead sporocystian Caretaker friend start vibrating, that his companion may be near. Unfortunately, I am rather annoyed that we have yet another Voyager-might-get-home episode so early in Voyager's run. You know going into this that they won't get sent home by this or any other Caretaker, at least not so early in the show's run. One interesting thing is that Voyager is regarded by the natives as "the ship of death." It seems the Kazon are spreading rumors about them. Janeway once again demonstrates her superb diplomatic skills during her brief meeting with Suspiria. To me though, it's a shame Suspiria just up and leaves at the end of this episode, never to return. This makes this episode somewhat of an unsolved mystery on many levels. We're not entirely sure what the exact relationship between these Ocampa and Suspiria was. This episode clearly calls for a sequel, but unfortunately, it's one which we won't get.

2 reader comments

I thought this was a fairly good episode, although it's not without its drawbacks.
The arc about Kes discovering her advanced mental abilities was developed quite well. Kes is in an interesting position on Voyager - she is physically tiny, literally 2 years old, had to be rescued by Neelix like a damsel in distress, and now fulfills fairly minor crew functions. It's quite compelling to watch her discover unknown abilities and strengths, and disarm a serious threat in the end.
Both Tuvak's and Tanis' tutelage was interesting to watch, and quite believable. "Focus on the goal, not the task," - I could how that might be useful advice in these kinds of endeavors. Much better than the trite, cheesy advice Wesley got from "The Traveler" in "TNG: Remember Me." The scenes with the wildlife blooming, and then burning up were quite fitting and powerful.
Finally, Kes almost killing Tuvak was an absolute shock. I had a feeling something was going to go wrong, but I didn't expect that. I kept thinking she was going to wake up from a nightmare, but instead Tuvak woke up in sickbay.
Here's where we come to a wrinkle in the episode: how the heck did everyone just walk away from that near death experience? The only reaction that was believable was the Vulcan's. I don't understand how neither Kes nor Janeway nor anyone else was very concerned.
What I suspect was the problem here was simply a lack of time to really explore these kind of things. I think this episode should've been a two-parter.
That would also solve the main drawback, which is the rushed, less than satisfying ending.
So, in short, a good episode with some interesting, compelling development of Kes' character, and the Ocampa race more generally, all with a bit of an abbreviated conclusion.
by coldfire | 08/21/2011 at 5:23 am

Janeways capability in combat seems rather bad. Reacting with "Hail them" and stay on your course when fire has been opened against Voyager is just stupid or extremely arrogant. Either you make the evasive maneuver or/and fire back immediately. Both actions are significantly belated. I think the script is just ridiculous in this particular moment at the beginning. There could have been a better approach for the little Kazon ship sneaking under the shield, like in a more surprising ambush.
by peterwolf | 06/17/2015 at 10:21 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x11 — Maneuvers

Aired 1995-11-20

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:6.43

Synopsis

Chakotay faces his traitorous former love.

Remarkable scenes

The Kazon ship smashing into Voyager's hull.
Chakotay stealing a shuttle.
Torres sticking up for Chakotay to Janeway.
Chakotay's stealth approach to the Kazon ship and beaming aboard undetected.
Chakotay taunting Culluh about Seska's traitorous nature during his interrogation.
Chakotay: "You know one thing I especially liked? That little mole on her stomach." Culluh hits Chakotay hard. Chakotay: "I guess you've seen it."
Voyager beaming aboard all the Kazon leaders.
Seska's message to Voyager. Seska impregnated herself with Chakotay's DNA!

Review

This episode is an interesting story of deception and betrayal. True to its name, it also features several interesting maneuvers. The Kazon put a knife in Voyager's belly, steal a transporter, Chakotay steals a shuttle, Chakotay approaches the Kazon ship under stealth, and Voyager beams aboard all the Kazon leaders. There are some remarkable inconsistencies, noted in the problems section, but overall I'm pleased with this episode. In the end, the contention between Janeway and Chakotay is appropriate. It seems there's not one member of Voyager's crew Janeway won't have to chew out, which is humorous and amusing as well as a bit annoying all at the same time. The ending of this episode is the best part, Seska is such a twisted, sadistic, evil person that she impregnated herself with Chakotay's DNA just to further infuriate him. A nice if slightly flawed episode.

2 reader comments

There were a few seriously problematic things that really needed to be addressed.
1) What ever happened to that stolen transporter module that started the whole thing? We see Chakotay in the shuttle, trying to target it with the anti-proton generator, then in the next moment we hear that the generator's been disabled. Chakotay is flustered, sends out his "I've succeeded, I'm dead, don't come here" message anyway, and there's no further mention of it! So… what's up here? Did the Voyager just accept defeat on this one? It would've been nice if that was mentioned…
Janeway later calls Chakotay's mission "commendable," which suggests that maybe he actually succeeded… if so, it would've been nice if it was mentioned or explained on screen. Kind of a weird "what the" moment, if you're paying attention.
2) How did the transporter render the Kazon weapons inoperable? I just don't really follow, and there's no explanation for it at all. I mean, I'm not saying it's totally unbelievable, but it would've been nice if it was explained on screen.
3) Speaking of transporting, why didn't they go after Seska? If they somehow got a lock on the 4 highest ranking Kazon amidst all the other Kazon (?), it seems like small potatoes to target the only Cardassian on board. The motivation was certainly there, or should've been. She's responsible for the whole mess, and is incredibly dangerous. I can't believe they didn't try to get her…
If she blocked Chakotay's signal with some kind of dampening field, maybe she blocked her own as well, but Torres explicitly states the dampening field's localized to 2 meters around Chakotay…
None of this is addressed at all… somehow they just totally blank and forget that they can transport Seska…
4) Speaking of Seska… How the heck did she impregnate herself with a sample of DNA from Chakotay's neck? Can you imagine the kind of advanced medical equipment it would require to create an embryo from a mixture of two different DNA sources? (And then successfully implant it?) On a Kazon ship? That doesn't even have a food replicator?
It would've been a little more believable if she used simpler methods and stuck that needle somewhere else - of course, in that case much of the audience would've simultaneously winced and reached for the remote.
5) Finally, all that beaming around with the shields up, as the review mentioned… I didn't even think of that…
So, this episode has a few remarkable scenes for sure, and it was interesting to see the Voyager so vulnerable… A "knife stuck in its belly," Janeway having to chew out Tuvak about the security protocols, etc… Other types of good scenes as already mentioned, especially Torres defending Chakotay.
But there are numerous annoying problems that stretch credibility, and are entirely skipped over, relying on the viewer to fill in the pieces.
It could've been a 7, but it was more like a 5/6 b/c of problems.
by Jal Viewer | 08/23/2011 at 1:17 am

About problem number one - didn't Chakotay destroy it with his phaser when he was on board the Kazon ship, right before he was detained?
by Inga | 07/30/2013 at 10:32 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x12 — Resistance

Aired 1995-11-27

SpaceOpera.com rating:2

Average reader rating:4.22

Synopsis

Janeway must escape from the Mokra.

Remarkable scenes

Augris describing Voyager's "disreputable" reputation.
Caylen's distraction.
Tuvok discussing pain with Torres.

Review

Could have been a lot better. This episode reminds me quite a bit of DS9: Progress where Caylem is Mullibok and Janeway is Kira. Circumstances certainly differ. I liked hearing more about Voyager's "disreputable reputation", which is good continuity with previous episodes. Unfortunately, the plot is meager. Janeway and Caylem together made for some good acting, but did little to spice up a rather drab plot. The writers could have made a much more exciting plot out of Voyager's recurring fuel problem.

3 reader comments

I'm surprised you only briefly refer to the acting in this episode. I found the plot quite "meager", as you suggest, but the performance of Joel Grey was simply stunning. It's a great coup for Voyager to get an Academy Award winner, and his performance was heartbreaking.
by Nicholas Donaghy | 02/26/2008 at 5:27 am

I agree with the other commentator, the excellent acting, including the touching moment at the end, give this episode extra points. Plus the plot really isn't that bad… nothing terribly original, I admit, but decent, believable… This really belongs in 5/6 territory.
by plus | 08/25/2011 at 8:09 pm

A rating of 2? Brother, you have no heart. Joel Grey was this whole episode, and you didn't even mention him! Methinks you're a bit too wrapped up in your little ST universe…
by thaibites | 10/27/2013 at 11:59 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x13 — Prototype

Aired 1996-01-15

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:5.88

Synopsis

Torres reactivates a humanoid robot.

Remarkable scenes

The teaser was rather cool. Somewhat spooky.
Neelix attempting to coax Torres to take a break from her work obsession.
Torres' conversation with the doctor.
The doctor: "I shouldn't have to remind you, I'm a doctor-" (The Doctor is interrupted.) Torres: "Not an engineer, right." Count 13 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
Janeway: "Who are we to swoop in, play god, and then continue on our way without the slightest consideration of the long term effects of our actions?"
Torres talking about Data to 3947.
3947's reaction when Torres told him to cross his fingers.
The two robot ships fighting each other.

Review

I was kind of afraid this episode would bring us a Voyager equivalent to Data; thankfully it did not. What we have here is a robotic species which expresses a desire to procreate. They easily elicit the viewer's sympathy; they seem innocent enough. But as the episode progresses, the harmless, disadvantaged robots turn into genocidal megalomaniacs. Seems Janeway's gut instinct to uphold the prime directive was the correct choice. The robots who first pleaded for help are now willing to take it by force. The idea that the robots killed their creators reminds me quite a bit of Battlestar Galactica where the robots take the obvious place of the Cylons. They even look alike. Though from what I know of Battlestar, the Cylons didn't fight each other, and they never annihilated their builders (entirely anyway.) Overall a very high quality episode.

4 reader comments

Just saw this episode for the first time last night and I liked it very much. I read in one of your BSG articles that you think Dr. Who is "silly". (I think it's enjoyable whimsical space fantasy--I don't like all my sci-fi to have the same tone. I still respect and enjoy your more "hard SF" reviews here, however. :) ) But I just want to note that it's so clear this episode was inspired by the widely noted "classic" 1976 episode "Robots of Death". The look, voice, and manner of the robots, the way they seem "innocent" and gradually are revealed to be homicidal, their relationship to their "builder", etc. are too similar to be coincidental, IMO. You mention similarity to the Cylons, but see this acclaimed Dr. Who episode and you'll quickly see what I mean.
by David from California | 08/03/2007 at 5:26 pm

This was an absolutely charming episode. After the cool, slightly creepy teaser, the rest of the episode runs a little like a fairy tale or fable, but it works remarkably well. The robotic species here is almost like a placeholder, a symbol for artificial, sentient life more generally. This is evident even in their lack of definite features, and their generic "tin man" appearance.
When I first saw/heard them, I braced myself for a painful, unbelievable episode, but my fears were quickly dissipated. It immediately became clear that this episode takes a different tone, a decidedly "non-hard-sci-fi" tone, in order to do something very important: to directly address the ethical issues around artificial life.
I completely agree with the other commentator and with the show's producers - there's nothing wrong with that at all, especially if it's done as elegantly as in this episode.
As the reviewer describes, the nature of the robots is revealed slowly, piecemeal, leading the viewer to develop a sympathetic understanding of their condition. This sympathy is then challenged with the revelation that they killed their creators, and are now engaged in endless conflict with each other.
I would argue that this does not mean that they're "genocidal megalomaniacs." What it does mean, is that creating sentient artificial life is a deadly serious business, with huge ethical implications.
Early in the episode Janeway asks Torres, "Who are we to swoop in, play god, and then continue on our way without the slightest consideration of the long term effects of our actions?" At the end of the episode we are led to pose the same question to the now deceased builders.
Are the robots really to blame for what happened? They were created, programmed to fight and defend themselves, given sentience, and then once their purpose was up, threatened with decommission, extinction, death. Was it not sensible for the sentient "service units" to defend themselves?
It would seem it was the builders who first "played God" without fully appreciating the consequences of their actions. Consequences which led to their own destruction, and decades later to a renewed ethical dilemma for Torres, and a serious threat for Voyager.
A well conceived episode, and very well executed.
Interesting tidbit: The robot asks Torres about artificial lifeforms on her society. Torres responds that "there is only one sentient artificial lifeform," referring to Data. Somehow the Doctor isn't considered in this category! Is that because he is finally being accepted as a full-fledged "honorary human" member of the crew? Or because his condition is as bad as ever, and he is simply not considered… at all? It's probably the former, or perhaps a total slip by the writers of this episode.
by plus | 08/25/2011 at 10:09 pm

I don't see how the prime directive applies here at all and found the discussion about it totally misplaced. This is a warp capable species making a request.The federation helps those all the time to get new members!
by onlinebroker | 03/12/2012 at 7:13 pm

This if the (in)famous 'Pulp' episode of ST Voyager.
It have all the pulp mag elements. Including the fact that the robot do look pretty much like any film about robot invasion or flying saucers of the 1950-1960 period.
The stage for what is to come is found already in the teaser which is in black and white, with signal noise pretty much like an old TV set in the period.
So what make this pulp? Robot who kidnap a female, and carry her in it's arms. Robots who have killed their creators. And in one of the final scenes. Torres exclaiming 'My god what have I done' in an oft repeated Frankensteinian manner and then she stabs the prototype to death.
It is amusing as a concept, but it does not work entirely well IMO.
by TheAnt | 09/20/2013 at 6:53 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x14 — Alliances

Aired 1996-01-22

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:5.93

Synopsis

Janeway seeks an alliance with the Kazon.

Remarkable scenes

The battle in the teaser.
Chakotay: "A lot of us can say we're alive today because of Kurt Benderan. There was never a better man to have at your side. Never anyone more willing to take on the tough jobs. The first time I met him was in a mining community on Telfas Prime. Some of the miners objected to my sense of humor and decided they should break a few of my bones. There were four of them and one of me and I was taking a beating. Suddenly this man I'd never seen before came out of nowhere and evened things up. We stood back to back and pretty soon the others decided my sense of humor wasn't so bad after all. I thanked the man. He just grinned and said, 'I like a good fight.' He was my friend from that moment on and he kept fighting the good fight right up until the end. I'll miss him."
Janeway bluntly claiming she'll destroy Voyager before she give the Kazon technology.
Janeway seeking advice from Tuvok. I like how Tuvok referenced Spock's attempt to ally the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Tuvok himself spoke out against it as a young man!

Review

This is the first of many episodes in which Chakotay tries to impose a cowardly or un-Federation-principles style solution to the current problem, something that (mildly) annoys me. Other than that, this episode is a thriller. End Voyager's isolationist stance in the delta quadrant. We also get some nice cultural information regarding the Trabe and their relationship with the Kazon. It's a nice plot twist to have the seemingly peaceful repenting Trabe attempt an execution of all the Kazon majes. Overall another decent offering by Voyager.

2 reader comments

This is one of the best Voyager outings so far just because it's part of the plot arc, something that Voyager desperately needs since 90% of its stand-alone episodes are embarrassing (though not quite as god-awful as the zero below).
Here's my main problem with Voyager, though: the Kazon aren't very interesting. The Mokra, who we saw recently, would have made better villains (maybe they come back; I'm not familiar with Voyager after about this point in the series) and so would have the creepy Ocampa who lived with second Caretaker. Instead we get 2-dimensional nomadic Klingons.
Giving Voyager recurring races is tricky because of their situation. It gets a little problematic with the Kazon. So just how big is Kazon territory? Isn't Voyager pretty much hauling ass across the Delta Quadrant (except, of course to investigate the alien or phenomenon of the week or to make pit stops for food)? Plus, the same Kazon Majes keep showing up. Are they following Voyager? I'm hoping that these problems get answered in future episodes; despite the fact that most of my posts on it are negative, I'm actually enjoying the series.
by JRPoole | 03/07/2009 at 6:31 pm

I agree that some of Chakotay's later solutions are annoying, but this one seems to fit the situation. What he's saying makes sense: the Maquis form ad hoc alliances out of convenience for short-term gains, which is what Voyager needs to do here with the Kazon. I do like the ending of this one, though, seeing that it all falls apart as Voyager finds itself in the middle of a continuing blood feud between the Trabe and Kazon. Ultimately, Janeway's instincts are reaffirmed.
I don't quite agree with JRPoole that the Kazon are uninteresting. They reflect this region of the galaxy. Whereas the Alpha Quadrant is controlled by several very powerful races vying for control, this region lacks major powers and is controlled by marauders and bandits like the Kazon factions. As for how big Kazon territory is…well, the Enterprises A and D both explored uncharted space in the Alpha Quadrant but still within reasonable travel of the Federation. It stands to reason the Kazon are present in a pretty wide expanse of the Delta Quadrant, and given their "nomadic" ways, may even follow Voyager.
The only thing that bugged me about this episode was that the Trabe go from having a bunch of their people confined to suddenly repossessing lots of warships after escaping with Neeliz and rendezvousing with Voyager. There's a lot of backstory there that gets glossed over.
by Mike L. Jackson | 05/27/2017 at 2:49 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x15 — Threshold

Aired 1996-01-29

SpaceOpera.com rating:0

Average reader rating:1.54

Factoids

This episode is the winner of my "Worst Episode of Voyager Award" and is therefore a candidate for my "Worst Episode Ever Award."

Problems

Warp 10 is not transwarp. It is warp 10. There is a fundamental difference in the two concepts.
Warp 10 is an asymptote on the warp scale. You cannot ever reach the asymptote. You can only approach it into infinity. There is no "threshold" at which you stop approaching the asymptote and you actually hit it. This is why traveling at warp 10 is impossible. And when I say impossible, I mean it. Even for Star Trek. It can't happen.
Sorry, a more pure dilithium just won't take you to warp 10.
I love it when Harry and Tom get their "answer". The ship is being torn from the nacelles, not the nacelles being torn from the ship! Okay, back up here. Exactly what is propelling the ship if the nacelles have been torn off? Magic?
So the crew of Voyager construct the fastest warp engine ever conceived that's so fast that it can take you anywhere in the time it takes you to say "engage" during their off hours in their spare time? So, uh, why hasn't anyone else figured out how to do this yet? No offense, but surely Tom, Harry, and Torres are not the smartest minds in the entire galaxy.
So Voyager gets sensor data on every sector in the entire galaxy thanks to the warp 10 flight. Why do we see stellar cartographers and astrometrics officers then after this episode? Maybe because this episode was so absurd even the writers decided to ignore it?
This episode completely misunderstands the concept of evolution. Evolution is not a process by which a species gets more and more advanced, it is a process by which a species becomes more and more suited to its environment. Are we supposed to believe Paris becoming allergic to water constitutes an appropriate evolution? It almost killed him! Not to mention "evolving" such that he was unable to breathe air and only a toxic gas instead. And all the other things that almost kill him in this "rapid evolution" process...
So Paris takes Janeway for a little joyride at warp 10. He wanted to get away from Voyager with her. He could have gone anywhere in the entire universe he wanted, but instead he takes her to a planet just a few days away from Voyager. Why?
The final transformation in this episode, the most advanced form humans will ever achieve is drum roll please a giant newt!
And if that wasn't enough, the doctor's miracle cure is to treat them with antimatter! Do I really have to explain this one?
And the final blow to this silly episode is why the hell do they never use the warp 10 engine ever again? They could send one person back. They could use it for communication. They could use it for something! Answer: because this episode was so absurd even the writers decided to ignore it.

Synopsis

Paris crosses the transwarp threshold.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor's method of waking up Tom in sickbay. Not a hypospray or a gentle nudge. He screams at him! Hilarious.
The doctor: "Hmm. It looks like he's having an allergic reaction. What did he ingest?" Torres: "Just a cup of Neelix' coffee." The doctor: "It's a miracle he's still alive."
Paris: "I lost my virginity in that room. 17, parents away for the weekend." The doctor: "I'll note that in your medical file."
I like the scene where the traitorous Voyager crewmember sends the warp 10 data to the Kazon. It ridiculously served absolutely no purpose seeing as how the writers will choose to ignore the events of this episode in future episodes. You might say, well doesn't the entire episode? Yes, that's true. But this one serves even less purpose because it does nothing to advance the current plot of the episode; it's supposed to be a tie in to the Kazon arc. But what good is a tie in on a virtually de-canonized episode?
Janeway and Tom discussing having had children as newts.

Review

This episode is my favorite of all the zeros in that it's the one I like to rant about the most. Honestly, this is also one of the most watchable of all the zeros as well. There are many things to redeem this episode. Tom gave a great performance and the doctor's humorous remarks were fantastic. And personally, I see this whole episode as so absurd that it's funny, unlike other zeros. Still though, it is absurd, and I won't go easy on it because of its humor intentional or otherwise. Long story short, this episode drowns in a sea of technical problems. They're so absurd and there are so many of them that there's just no saving this episode. You've got to wonder how this crap gets past editors!

12 reader comments

YES! Everything I was going to come in here and rant about was covered in your problems section. This is a zero epsiode if I've ever seen one. You hit the asymptote thing right on the head. That's EXACTLY what warp 10 is. You can never reach it. The evolution thing is also EXACTLY right. They obviously don't know what the fuck evolution is. AND humans will probably evolve in thousands of different ways in the Star Trek future, assuming they will spread to different parts of the galaxy and encounter different environments. So to say that there is one 'universal' evolution for humans is extremely absurd. Oh and is the universal evolution some kind of being with advanced brain capacity and lots of adaptations? No. It's some sort of a lizard that probably could have been found on Earth 2 billion years ago. What an absurd episode.
It doesn't only suffer from technical problems though. It also has lots of cheap cliches. The Deux Ex Machina antiproton beam at the end was a cheap way to end the manufactured danger of Tom and Janeaway's 'evolution'. Now we know that the Voyager writers aren't credible when they want us to think someone is in mortal danger. Also, this episode was another "Voyager might get back home in season 2". Gay.
I was hoping for this episode to be a really interesting way of explaining the impossibility of reaching warp 10 after the opening scene. Boy was I wrong. Apparently you can reach warp 10 by making a duranium shuttle and putting some really badass dilithium in the warp engines. HA! Sometimes I wonder why they don't just go to a convention and find someone to be their Star Trek continuity expert, and have that person watch their asses to make sure thy don't make a ridiculous episode like this.
by Pete Miller | 08/04/2006 at 11:18 pm

I like the id number of this page. "404 - this horrendous episode cannot be found."
by Remco | 01/26/2009 at 3:52 pm

I just want to mention something else that I've noticed about this whole warp 10 nonsense. In an episode of the original series, something about a babel conference or something, an enemy ship was flying at then and eventually self-destructed. They said it was flying at warp 10. And while it was very fast it was not infinity speed. So, this episode not only illogical it didn't adhere to former canon.
by Colleen | 05/23/2009 at 11:36 pm

Colleen, that is not a continuity error. Post TOS Star Trek uses an entirely different warp scale. In TOS, warp factors are multiples of the speed of light. In post TOS, warp factors are points on an asymptotical graph where warp 10 as is described in this episode is in fact infinite speed. The problem with that as stated in my review is infinite speed is impossible as it's merely an asymptote on the warp scale, not an actual achievable speed.
by Eric Newport | 05/24/2009 at 7:36 am

When I saw that this one got a zero I didn't think it could be that bad, boy was I wrong.
by Psycroptic | 08/10/2012 at 1:21 am

I don't think anyone is truly a Trekkie unless they can launch into a long rant about how awful this episode is on a moment's notice.
by Soli | 05/24/2013 at 10:50 am

You guys are missing the whole point of this episode - Paris "did" Janeway. He rubbed his little lizard wee-wee all over her hot little Irish lizard ass. Go Paris, go! He got some…huh-huh mmmm huh-huh mmmm huh-huh. Paris rules!
by thaibites | 10/31/2013 at 1:06 am

Before this terrible episode, I think nobody had put a limit to warp speed. I find it annoying that the 25th century captains will have to say "warp factor 9.9999999" because of it. Can't we just forget it ever existed?
by Edward | 04/04/2014 at 5:12 pm

Hmm…so in the final episode of TNG, when they pick up ambassador worf, and the Pasteur then goes at warp 13….how does that exactly fit with the posts here?
by C.Ros | 11/05/2015 at 11:51 am

Edward and C. Ros,
The solution is simple and answers your questions… all they need to do is rescale like has been done before. So warp 13 is probably equivalent to warp 9.999 something.
by Rick | 04/25/2017 at 12:04 pm

Yeah, but that scene where the doctor wakes up Paris is pure gold.
by Jm | 04/03/2020 at 12:20 am

Ironically, this was the first ever episode of any star trek i watched. and i liked it. it got me into star trek, and because of that, ill always rank it highly.
by Mathalamus | 02/12/2022 at 1:54 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x16 — Meld

Aired 1996-02-05

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:6.83

Synopsis

A mind-meld brings out Tuvok's "killer instinct."

Remarkable scenes

Suder's confession.
The Doctor gently ridiculing Tuvok's desire to understand the motive.
Tuvok mind melding with Suder.
Janeway's reaction to Tuvok's suggestion of an execution.
Neelix' obnoxious attempts to make Tuvok smile. Hilarious.
Tuvok attacking holographic Neelix.
Rebellious Tom.
Tuvok locking himself in his quarters.
Tuvok: "I am trained in the martial arts of many alpha quadrant cultures. Sitting here attempting to meditate I have counted the number of ways I know of killing someone. Using just a finger, a hand, a foot. I had reached 94 when you entered."
The doctor ranting about Vulcan mind melds.
The first treatment in which had no emotional control.
Tuvok breaking out of sickbay and confronting Suder.
Delinquent Tom Scenes; 1. Runs a betting pool. Chakotay chews him out. Tom disses him in front of a bunch of people afterward.

Review

Suder is a fantastic character which I wish we could have seen more of throughout the series. His eyes are the best part of his character, very cool. Tom is running an illegal gambling pool and is starting to act like a prick. Tuvok and Suder exchange personalities somewhat. Suder becomes more Vulcan and Tuvok becomes more, well, evil. The doctor once again puts up a good show. He's got a lot of McCoy in him, constantly insulting Vulcans. Overall, a thrilling episode even with a distinct lack of action for the most part.

10 reader comments

Great episode. One nit-pick: is Suder a crewman or an ensign. Hogan (a man with a similraly confused rank - once referred to as a Lieutenant by Kes) calls him Ensign Suder. But when Suder calls the bridge to get help for Tuvok, he says "Crewman Suder to the bridge". Was he demoted? Hardly surprising if he were, of course, but we never see it happen.
by Dave McMullan | 03/10/2009 at 4:23 pm

Interesting point Dave. I wondered that as well, when he's first referred to as Ensign…seems advanced in his years have such a low rank, then again he's ex-Maquis so I believe they assigned him a rank according to his seniority (none) and abilities, which must not have been impressive in engineering, in contrast to Torres. By Chakotay's description of him, he overly-relished personal combat & was effective in a fight, a value the Maquis esteem.
In regards to a murder charge, well I don't believe one is immediately demoted for that, but court-martialed and sentenced to prison. Until then rank status is retained.
by Technobabble | 06/24/2011 at 6:56 pm

I'm surprised nobody here pointed out the similarity (blatant rip-off) between this episode and Silence of the Lambs. It's all there. Hannibal Lecter is Suder, he even looks like a bit like Anthony Hopkins. Plus, Lecter was always trying to get inside Clarice's head and Suder definitely got inside Tuvok's head! Plus, think about the time period - mid-nineties. It's still a good episode, even though they "adapted" so much from Silence of the Lambs.
by thaibites | 11/02/2013 at 5:37 am

Suder was a great character, Dourif was really good in the role. It's a real shame that we didnt get to see more of him, he'd have made a great recurring character for the long haul. I wonder if there were rl circumstances that lead to that decision.
As far as similarities to Silence of the Lambs goes, I dont see anything particularly blatant. The whole concept of guard and prisoner changing places, mutually empathizing, goes back much further than that movie.
by Spline | 11/29/2013 at 10:25 am

As to your problem, in one of the earlier episodes the Doctor demonstrates that holographic material can be modulated to pass through things. Or it can be modulated to be solid. I think it was the neelix lung episode.
by Rick | 01/13/2014 at 4:00 pm

I really like this episode, my main reason is i took great joy in watching Turok throttle Snarf (i mean Nelix, he has always reminded me of that infuriating character from the Thundercats animation, he is the Scrappy doo to Scooby, the Godzuki to Godzilla, god dammit i hate all those characters but none of them more than i despise Nelix), i just wish it had been for real.
Firstly we'd have gotten rid of the most annoying Star Trek character of all time and we could have had an excellent story arc of Turok being driven insane by the meld and Janeway's conflict of what to do with him ala Suder, but sadly it is almost a reset button episode as we barely see Suder again except for the episode when he and the Doctor are the only ones left on the ship and Tuvok is perfectly fine by the next episode with no mention ever again, Tuvok goes back to being a very generic boring Vulcan, nothing like our half human Spok with his wit and humour and occasional humanity surfacing. One problem with this fantasy arc is we then would not get the mighty fine episode Tuvix, a small price to pay to losing one very emotional and touching episode to get rid of Snarf this early on, Snarf Snarf
by Rob UK | 07/12/2014 at 11:29 pm

A fun episode but disappointed w the execution. They build up to this meld and then literally skip the whole thing! I thought we were revving up for a DS9-style "Section 31" Sloan episode, the final one where they delve into his dying mind. Would've been a great chance to do some character development for Tuvok, show some of his inner demons and explore the Suder character more.
Instead we get a lot of "show don't tell me" moments with Suder explaining both characters' motivations and narrating visible ironies (not trusting the audience) and ultimately there is no dramatic tension because you know halfway through the episode no one is in danger cause Tuvok isolated himself.
Ultimately I'm a very forgiving Star Trek fan and still enjoyed the episode…in fact so far I am surprised to say that for all its infuriating choices I am enjoying the ambiance and world of Voyager quite a bit (first time for me), though I am not partial to the imperialistic naivete of the "Federation" values paraded around throughout, a "corrective" I suppose to DS9s warranted pessimism about the possibility about the benevolence of a giant, teetering neocolonial bureaucracy for the "fan's" sake…though I'm wondering just who these fans are that don't see the inherent flaws in that particular fantasy, or perhaps they are the same ones who do not question such things in the real world either…but I digress.
DS9s tone ITSELF was a corrective but I suppose that era has been lost. In the meantime an enjoyable if deeply flawed episode. /endrant
by parkbench | 05/08/2015 at 6:56 pm

Alienized versions of ordinary stuff mentioned in this episode: Rillan Grease Cardassian Pinocle
by Erik Friend | 02/21/2016 at 4:04 am

"the imperialistic naivete of the "Federation" values paraded around throughout, a "corrective" I suppose to DS9s warranted pessimism"
What? This is Star Trek you know, right? Why would pessimism be warranted for the classical Star Trek view of the future? I guess that is why I refuse to embrace DS9 and people like you seemingly adore it. Fair enough, to each his own, and so forth, but I will stick to Star Trek's classic optimism (which you for some reason call naivete, even though it if far from naive, and in fact a very conscious narrative decision), and you can have your UNwarranted pessimism, at least in so far as it applies to the ideals of Star Trek. Enjoy.
by Rick | 04/26/2017 at 1:48 am

Something about the computer saying, "Try your luck again. Tomorrow you could be a winner!" really cracked me up. Maybe after years of listening to Majel Barrett's voice dispassionately provide information and reports to various crews, it was funny to hear that same, emotionless voice repeat a line you would hear on a Powerball commercial.
Since Tuvok is my favorite VOY character, I enjoyed this one a lot. There were some great exchanges between him and Suder…dialogue that is, not just the mind meld. It was also interesting in how it looked at the Federation's dealings with murder and the idea of a mind meld between two ST species with unique mental abilities: Vulcans and Betazoids.
by Mike L. Jackson | 05/26/2017 at 12:53 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x17 — Dreadnought

Aired 1996-02-12

SpaceOpera.com rating:9

Average reader rating:5.89

Synopsis

Torres tries to stop a deadly missile.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor lamenting about not being able to choose a name, then shooting down every name Ensign Wildman comes up with.
Torres and Chakotay describing their history with Dreadnought.
Janeway's communication with the planet Dreadnought was intending to destroy.
Torres' entry into Dreadnought.
Tom: "When a bomb starts talking about itself in the third person, I get worried."
Torres beaming back aboard Dreadnought, pissed off.
Dreadnought engaging the Rakosan fleet.
Torres' hypothetical game.
Dreadnought removing life support, trying to kill Torres.
Dreadnought's identity crisis.
Delinquent Tom Scenes; 1. Is late for the staff meeting. Chakotay chews him out. 2. Torres confronts Tom about his odd behavior in Engineering. Torres mentions he got in a fight with Lt. Rollins; Tom says it was because his conn. reports weren't punctuated properly.

Review

This episode is excellent. Torres has to confront one of her old demons, literally. They did a very good job with the sets on dreadnought, it looked very Cardassian. I felt like I was watching a DS9 episode during some parts of it, which is no small compliment indeed! And Torres puts up yet another spectacular performance. There are parallels between this episode and TOS: The Ultimate Computer, as well as other Star Trek episodes. The behavior of Dreadnought's computer reminds me somewhat of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Some details to discuss, Voyager's reputation is once again at issue, which I liked. And Jonas does more traitorous communicating with the Kazon, which annoys me. Frankly, Jonas' scene in this episode seems almost as pointless as the one he did in Voy: Threshold. It seems obvious that it's leading up to a Kazon confrontation, and it doesn't take a genius to guess that Tom's odd behavior is somehow linked to Jonas' traitorous behavior. Jonas' activities are not particularly annoying on principle, it's the implementation I find all wrong. Why do the Kazon care about Voyager's current situation? Does it benefit them? Absolutely not. Why isn't Jonas transmitting real sensitive info instead of giving them harmless updates?

8 reader comments

I agree that this episode is excellent. I really like the fact that they start to change their reputation here. They've made another friend, one of many to come.
by Sir Brando | 05/15/2006 at 6:03 am

This is a good episode, no doubt. But it seems that every episode on this site that gets a 9 or 10 is always a high stakes tactical/action episode. I want star trek, not Tom Clancy books. Having said that, I think this one is pretty cookie cutter and predictable. I mean obviously they are going to stop the bomb and obviously voyager won't be destoyed. The ending was complete uninspired. Frankly I would have been more impressed if Torres just fried the computer using just logic ;)
by hobospice | 01/28/2007 at 5:07 am

It's an exciting episode and Belana's battle with the computer is at different points, funny and fascinating.
Two problems. How can Janeway set the self destruct on her own? Every other time it's been done it has needed at least two officers. And why does Belana start running out of breath after about 20 minutes? There's enough oxygen on something that size for one person to breathe for ages even with no regeneration.
I'll give it a 7.
by Rob Herbert | 08/19/2010 at 9:33 am

Why would a missile have a bridge and life support? Why would it leave the life support on, consuming energy, when it didn't expect to have any lifeforms on board?
Also, with the vastness of space, it's quite the coincidence that Voyager happened to come across wreckage of a ship the missile destroyed, decide to follow the trail and come across the missile merely hours before it was to reach its destination.
by GDorn | 09/29/2011 at 8:29 pm

Fairly average episode that we have seen multiple times before. No offense to our reviewer but I think if this exact same episode was on TOS it would get a 3. You never seem to like irrational computers and this one is certainly that.
by Rick Smith | 12/29/2012 at 10:41 pm

I'm really not sure what you're on about, Rick. I compared this episode favorably to TOS: The Ultimate Computer, which got a similar score.
But there are many "Kirk talks a computer to death" episodes and not all of them are as good as TOS: The Ultimate Computer. The stereotypical TOS episode with a computer as an antagonist that I slap around with a low rating would be something like TOS: The Changeling.
Because seriously, do you think Nomad is anywhere near as cool as Dreadnought? I certainly don't. Aesthetics count for a lot in my ratings. Most of the TOS "Kirk talks a computer to death" episodes are painful to watch because the computer feels like a 1960s stereotype rather than a futuristic antagonist.
Dreadnought holds up well. And so does TOS: The Ultimate Computer.
by Eric Newport | 12/30/2012 at 11:43 am

The biggest problem with episode is Torres. She's a smack-off. She's always running around bitching and complaining and angry about something. Any episode that focuses on her can never be good.
by thaibites | 11/06/2013 at 12:05 am

Not quite sure why the one reviewer felt this was more Clancy than Star Trek. This is a missile with a computer that has the power to calculate all kinds of probabilities, analyze them, interact with its users at advanced levels, make attempts at deception to preserve itself and its mission, and even "scout" its adversaries to test their motives. In other words, it's practically a sentient missile. Seems to fall well within the realm of cool Star Trek sci-fi to me.
The suspense was well developed in this one. Just when you think Torres has found a way to disable the missile, it surprises her, outsmarts or anticipates her actions, and denies her victory. Even her attempts to reason with it ultimately backfire until finally, she finds its weakness through sheer determination. We knew that she would probably disable it in the end, but we didn't really know how or whether the missile would remain a future threat.
I do agree with the original review that the Jonas scene is pointless and annoying. It seems to serve no other purpose than to tell us, "hey just in case you forgot, this guy is still secretly talking to the Kazon!" And maybe to establish that Seska's no longer the provided contact, although, again, there was really no logical reason given for them to contact Seska other than her being Cardassian and this is a Cardassian weapon….but, one that's been reappropriated by the Maquis.
As far as needing two officers to set up self-destruct, there's one key difference between Voyager and the Enterprises/other ships: Janeway's first officer is a former Maquis. She no doubt trusts him with many things to give him that position, but maybe the self-destruct sequence was one area she wanted to keep firmly under Starfleet control. Tuvok would be a good second choice, but maybe there are rank/command requirements in order to set that up.
by Mike L. Jackson | 05/26/2017 at 1:37 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x18 — Death Wish

Aired 1996-02-19

SpaceOpera.com rating:10

Average reader rating:6.7

Synopsis

A rebel Q demands asylum on Voyager.

Remarkable scenes

A new Q showing up.
The new Q being very appreciative of Voyager freeing him.
The old Q showing up.
Tuvok: "I am curious, have the Q always had an absence of manners or is it the result of some natural evolutionary process that comes with omnipotence?"
The new Q explaining to Tuvok that the Q are not in fact omnipotent. Tuvok's response: "Intriguing. Just what vulnerabilities do the Q have?"
The old Q calling himself to the stand at the hearing. A double of himself appears. :)
Tuvok: "You find nothing contradictory in a society that outlaws suicide but practices capital punishment?"
The old Q bringing people from Earth with the promise that they will not remember the experience and no one will know they are gone. He brings Maury Ginsberg, Sir Isaac Newton, and Commander Riker!
The new Q demonstrating his prison.
Old Q: "You could live a perfectly normal life, if you were simply willing to live a perfectly normal life!"
The old Q bribing Janeway with a free trip back to Earth.
The visit to the Q Continuum.
The new Q making his case for self termination. His life's work is complete. Let life end!
Quinn killing himself.

Review

One of Star Trek's best offerings. Voyager features a number of rare great Q episodes and this is the first. The humor is mixed extremely well with the very real issue of suicide. Not only does the situation parallel that of present day Earth, for Tuvok's statement "You find nothing contradictory in a society that outlaws suicide but practices capital punishment?" is a reference to the hypocrisy of present day Earth laws regarding suicide and capital punishment, but the episode presents extremely good science fiction at the same time, by presenting us a side of the Q continuum culture we've never seen before. Immortality is unbearable to certain Trek aliens we've seen, even to certain members of the Q continuum. One Q wants to kill himself, and now Janeway must arbitrate the dispute. An episode that many may think is just an excuse to recycle old characters from other shows to me ended up being one of Star Trek's most profound offerings, and a rare gem among Voyager.

7 reader comments

I don't wish to too overtly directly attempt to criticize your review or review this episode myself because I do not believe I am impartial (for personal reasons).
However, it must be stated that the view of, say, (various states within) The United States, having engaged in "hypocrisy" by engaging in the death penalty for murders while at the same time actively attempting to prevent suicide attempts is highly subjective at best.
The episode may very well be impressively plotted, however it is plotted in a manner designed to make the suicide arguments palatable and comforting and the those opposed to it dark and cold. You don't see the real actual arguments but fantasy arguments that the writer wants to pretend is a reality. It is clear from the beginning (as it usually is on television, unfortunately) what "moral direction" the episode is going.
Sadly, this is almost always the case when Star Trek is a "message show." But wouldn't have been braver to go against this mold? To have the characters struggle on the ethics of an issue? To actually make you ask where the show was going?
I, again, have to admit I am not impartial here. After watching this episode I did not watch Voyager regularly again. But you wonder how many viewers television loses with these "gems?"
by Jim Servo | 10/31/2006 at 2:26 am

Saw this for the first time the other day and it was terrific, IMO.
"Jim" who commented previously is correct that the plotting contained "fantasy" elements that slanted the moral issue of suicide, but in the opposite way he seems to think, IMO.
If anything, the episode invented a fantasy element which served to give the anti-suicide side of the issue more plausibility than in the "real world" of human beings, in that there was the matter of the unprecedented suicide of Quinn possibly causing harm to the entire Q Continuum as a collective entity.
But human beings are not a gestalt entity like the Q, and the suicide of one individual can only potentially effect those other individuals he or she knows personally, not the "collective" of all humans together. And such obligations as he or she might have set up in relation to those others is a private matter between them, not a concern of "society" as a whole, as they will not suffer any ill-effects.
So in this way, the writers were granting a point in favor of preventing the suicide which doesn't really exist in the "real world" of human beings presently.
Therefore, I'm surprised at reader Jim's reaction in this regard. The philosophic issue raised in the episode of the rights of the individual to determine the course of his or her own life, as against whatever fears or desires of the collective, made for very effective drama as it does in the many other Star Trek episodes that raise this general issue in various ways.
by David from California | 08/13/2007 at 5:32 pm

I enjoyed this episode, but I thought they missed a trick. They should have shown the new Q settling in to his new life a little but then killing himself anyway. Killing him off as soon as they did slightly lowered the emotional impact. Still a great outing though, and good to see Q and Riker.
by Rob Herbert | 08/19/2010 at 1:55 pm

One of the best-written Trek episodes, one worthy of singular note and a proper literary review.
It ranks right up there with TNG "The Inner Light".
It feels a little dated now. After all, the backdrop is the shallow prosperity & banality of the Clinton period, when oil was still $25 a barrel, and the right Nasdaq bet could yield a college student a brand new Mercedes Benz. Oh how monotonous & spiritually empty, all that easy wealth.
No matter -- it is a wonderful, unforgettable vignette.
by Joseph Angeles | 02/17/2013 at 3:23 am

Oh, how I hated this one. Just to much, and it is yet another episode in a string which brings in alpha quadrant elements - instead of focusing on the exoticness of the delta quadrant.
And I hated the new Q, his manners and that extremely bad overacting. The show took on a totally new feeling when John de Lancie enterered - his presence blew everyone else away.
The hearing/courtroom setting feels a bit tired too.
I dont mind the moral aspects though, but it was obvious how Janeway would rule from a 100 miles away, esp when old Q offered to take them home…
by Hugo von Ahlenius | 08/18/2013 at 7:05 pm

I loved this episode! It was great to get a glimpse of what life is like in the Q continuum. Plus, it ends on a downer with Q actually killing himself, which was a nice break from happy-happy. Janeway didn't get what she wanted - YES!
by thaibites | 11/15/2013 at 5:37 am

Alienized names for ordinary stuff in this episode:
"Gorokian" Midwife Toad "Kylerian" Goats Milk "Nogatch" Hemlock
by Erik Friend | 02/21/2016 at 5:03 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x19 — Lifesigns

Aired 1996-02-26

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:6.63

Synopsis

The Doctor falls in love.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor storing his patient's brain in the computer and creating a holographic body for her.
Torres' initial reaction to the doctor pleading with her to give him some neural tissue.
Kes counseling the doctor.
In the next scene the doctor announces that he's romantically attracted to Denara in the midst of performing surgery on her.
The doctor: "Mr. Paris, I assume you've had great deal of experience being rejected by women?" Paris: "Thanks a lot, Doc..."
The doctor's geeky little date with Denara on Mars.
The revelation that Denara injected herself with a fatal poison.
Delinquent Tom Scenes; 1. Tom is late in the opening scene. According to Chakotay, it's the third time this week. 2. Chakotay discusses his behavior with Janeway. 3. Chakotay confronts him in the mess hall about his behavior. 4. Is 10 minutes late, and is removed from his post permanently by Chakotay "until he can start taking his job seriously."

Review

This episode opens with a very cool and innovative medical technique; the doctor transfers a woman's entire consciousness into a holographic body thanks to an odd device she was implanted with. It's also a great episode developing the Vidiians as a people and the effect of the Phage on them. We get to deeply explore the Phage's effect on a single person, and see what the Vidiians would look like without the Phage. In this respect, the episode is extremely intelligently constructed. Once again, the doctor gets a name. This time it's "Shmullus." One wonders why he never sticks with one. Jonas once again talks to the Kazon secretly. In this episode it's all too obvious that there's a connection between Paris' rebellious behavior and Jonas' traitorous behavior. The ending is tragic. The doctor fell in love with Denara, but sadly it was a love that could not be, for she was forced to leave. At the same time, the ending was touching, for the doctor really, truly lived for the first time. An exceptional episode.

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x20 — Investigations

Aired 1996-03-13

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:6.77

Synopsis

Neelix smokes out a traitor.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor: "I'm a doctor, not a performer." Count 14 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
The scene where Janeway tells Neelix that Paris is leaving the ship.
Neelix talking to Paris about his decision to leave.
The doctor unable to contain himself concerning his time in the spotlight.
Jonas trying to cover up his secret transmissions.
The doctor interrupting Jonas' attempt of murder.
Janeway and Tuvok spilling the beans on their plan to discover who the saboteur is.
Neelix killing Jonas.

Review

This one's obviously been building a while. I was satisfied with the progression of the events. There wasn't anything too amazingly impressive in the episode, but some highlights were Voyager's decent use of arc building. Granted, the whole Jonas / Tom's behavior arc was little obvious and could have been done better, I'd rather have it than do without it. Neelix is where this episode shines. His little local television program reminded me somewhat of cheesy local TV stations, but it gave Neelix something fun(ny) to do for a change. It was nicely shown in this episode; I especially the doctor's (or rather his lack of) involvement in the show, though I am glad we don't see anymore of Neelix' television show. It was a bit obnoxious, and much more of it would have been over the top.

5 reader comments

Personally, I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. I never for a moment guessed that there was a connection between Paris' behavior and Jonas' behavior. So when Janeaway finally revealed what was going on, it came as quite a twist to me. I guess I'm not used to Star Trek employing the plot twist.
I also enjoyed Neelix's little tv show. If you've ever waited in line at the Jaws ride at Universal Studios and seen the "Wake up, Amity" show, you'll agree with me when I say that this reminded me alot of it. The best, however, was Neelix giving that mole an ass whooping. Jonas was such a bitch.
by Pete Miller | 08/08/2006 at 2:57 am

I enjoyed this one too and I agree with the previous commenter that it was far from obvious there was a link between Jonas and Tom.
My one gripe isn't just about this episode. Does nobody know how to fight unarmed any more? And the jump-at-opponent-who-moves-and-you-fly-into-the-disintegrator is such a cliche!
by Rob Herbert | 08/19/2010 at 3:47 pm

I wanted to make a single comment here: I strongly disagree that Neelix' program was a cheesy and obnoxious addition, and I am actually disappointed it is not to reappear again.
I thought this was a brilliant device with a unique function that's hard to put your finger on… Voyager is a crew of over a 100 people… granted that's not over a 1000 like the Enterprise, but it is still a sizable group. Having Neelix' show shown to a "mass audience" had this odd effect of giving one the sense of the entire crew, and tying that crew into a cohesive mass.
With Neelix around with his little PAD, whenever something happened you got this tiny sense of consideration for what the entirety of the crew would think of things.
Watching the show, you got the sense that you were one of those nameless crewmen on board, being filled in on the details… It was neat to look through the eyes of a more realistic audience for a moment…
It also gave Neelix something potentially important rather than just funny to do… I would've really preferred that he keep on as the resident journalist and added extra color and an extra dimension to everything on Voyager.
Having an independent journalist on board clearly put an unexpected spin on events and unforeseen pressures on Janeway and Tuvak, which was really interesting to watch.
So, in short, I don't think this should've been dismissed as a one-time novelty, either by us the viewers or the show's producers. This was a serious and effective little plot device, and I regret that it's use was limited to a single episode.
by wanton | 08/31/2011 at 3:50 pm

(I hope this makes it into Kethinov's factoids! )
Out of a kind of critical mass of curiosity about Star Trek's ubiquitous pointed sideburns, I searched on memory-alpha and stumbled into an unrelated but nevertheless cool piece of trivia: At 2:45 into the episode, standing in the hall and talking to Harry is none other than Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, reigning King of Jordan!
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AbdullahIIbin_al-Hussein)
That sounds like a joke, but it's absolutely true. He's a longtime Trek fan and the cameo was arranged as a kind of surprise by his U.S. advisor (Al-Hussein was Crown Prince at the time). See link below for more info.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Abdullah_II
by gen | 02/14/2012 at 9:40 am

I loved the way in which Neelix watches Jonas die and then walks off without any sense of sadness about what happened. As he leaves Engineering, he's more like 'hehe! I got him!'
by Dave Hudson | 03/15/2014 at 10:14 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x21 — Deadlock

Aired 1996-03-18

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:6.37

Synopsis

A space anomaly generates a duplicate Voyager.

Remarkable scenes

The fetal transport.
Harry being vented into space.
Janeway discovering the double Voyager.
The Vidiians boarding Voyager.
The other Janeway's friendly greeting to her conqueror just before the ship explodes.

Review

This episode is pretty good from a sci fi perspective. Much of it has some pretty decent technical explanations behind it. Unfortunately, it falls short in the ending. Several plot holes crop up. It seems unlikely that the two ships could in fact merge after being separated, and even more unlikely that one Voyager self destructing would solve the whole problem. Not really avoidable though; a reset button was necessary.

4 reader comments

This episode suffers from the usual Voyager problems: Excessive technobabble and a deus ex machina ending.
Voyager uses more technobabble than DS9, TNG, ENT, and TOS combined
by Pete Miller | 08/11/2006 at 5:23 am

This episode blows.
by mandaloril | 08/17/2011 at 4:02 am

I agree there are definitely some questionable things about the premise and its resolution.
Also, Janeway & Janeway's interactions could've been better - there were some missed opportunities there. They were both a bit too casual about it, their reactions and behavior weren't proportional to the true "weirdness" (to quote Kim) of the situation. After all, she (x2) was meeting not just some double or doppelganger, not just some long lost twin, but a twin instance of herself.
They did stand incredibly close, far into each others "personal space," and they did look sort of lovingly at each other, but other than that they acted exactly as if it was all perfectly normal.
On the other hand, one thing I appreciated in the episode was how the viewer's attachment bounced around between the two crews. We start the day in one Voyager universe, then all goes to hell, Kim dies, and its revealed that there's another ship where everything's pretty much OK. So the viewer is guided to reattach to this "other" ship/crew, and the original one is marked for self-destruction - a kind of necessary expandability. It's a really nice twist to have the Vidians completely overrun this "new" Voyager, and for the viewer to do an about face and reattach to the "original" ship, just with the small "organ donation" of a restored Kim and a healthy baby.
So, problematic but not a total loss - some definitely redeeming elements in this episode.
by g@g | 09/02/2011 at 9:02 pm

Near the end the Doctor says to Kim, "Did my counterpart have a name," and Kim responds, "I didnt have time to ask."
These comments make absolutely no sense. First, Voyager has only been "doubled" for a couple hours so I dont think the Doctor acquired a name in that time period. Second, what the hell does Kim mean he didnt have time? The Doctor is asking a question about the Doctor from Kim's ship (so he has always known that Doctor). They really didnt think this exchange out.
by Rick | 01/14/2014 at 5:06 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x22 — Innocence

Aired 1996-04-08

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:4.47

Synopsis

Tuvok crash-lands on a moon.

Remarkable scenes

Ensign Bennet's death. A touching death for a redshirt.
Tuvok babysitting.
Tuvok singing.

Review

A good Tuvok episode, but a poor sci fi episode. The science of people being born elderly, their age reversing, and they die as children is just ridiculous. You've got to give the episode props for Tuvok's performance; he did a fantastic job with the children. I also liked the initial diplomatic meetings between the crew of Voyager and our aliens of the week. It's nice for once to see peaceful aliens instead of someone who wants to conquer Voyager or steal her crew's organs and whatnot. Janeway also handled the points of contention between our aliens of the week well too. Good acting is nice, but the premise is just too ridiculous to warrant a high rating.

3 reader comments

This was a pretty boring episode. It's a shame, because I don't think the premise is necessarily ridiculous.
Some coincidence it is, that I just saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in the cinema a few days ago. The premise is very similar. Benjamin is born with all the signs of old age, and then he grows younger. This episode's idea must have come from the same book as the film is inspired by.
One thing that differs between the film and this episode, is that the film is much more interesting. It focuses on the lives of two people: one growing younger and one growing older. The episode instead doesn't do very much with the premise. We don't get to see what it is like growing younger. Instead, we have a mystery plot regarding some monster, Tuvok babysitting, and some diplomatic discussions on Voyager.
The final moments between Tressa and Tuvok make the episode a lot better than it should have been.
by Remco | 02/05/2009 at 3:29 pm

If you overlook the presence of children, which is almost always a bad idea on Star Trek, and the utterly ridiculous plot twist with the reverse aging process, this is pretty solid. As is, it's pretty wretched. I give it a 3.
by JRPoole | 03/23/2009 at 2:54 pm

They should've had Jonathan Winters on this one. Nanoo, nanoo.
by thaibites | 11/17/2013 at 7:16 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x23 — The Thaw

Aired 1996-04-29

SpaceOpera.com rating:5

Average reader rating:6.1

Synopsis

Kim is held hostage by fear.

Remarkable scenes

The Clown's ridiculous behavior.
The doctor's sudden appearance in the dream world.
The doctor providing a distraction while Torres disrupts the clown's environment.
Holographic Janeway kicking fear's ass.

Review

You have to overlook a few things to appreciate this episode. Firstly, why did Janeway even bother beaming up the stasis pods in the first place? Isn't that a whole Prime Directive violation type thing? Well, maybe not as there was evidence of advanced technology. But why send crewmembers in there when it's very obviously dangerous from the beginning? Why not send in the doctor before crewmembers are in danger? Also, you have to overlook the general silliness of the episode too, because it's intentional. Personally, I found this episode hilarious and the clown a great guest star. The doctor and Janeway both put up fantastic performances against our antagonist. If the writing were a bit more careful, it'd most certainly be an above average episode.

5 reader comments

"Massively irritating" about sums it up for me. This episode doesn't advance the story, doesn't contain anything interesting and just annoyed the hell out of me.
by Rob Herbert | 08/19/2010 at 7:08 pm

A fantastic episode. One of many overlooked gems from Voyager's long run, and easily the best from season 2. Great performance by Robert Picardo and Kate Mulgrew on this one. The real treasure though is Michael McKean's guest appearance.
Stylistically, I love the homage it pays to the original series of Star Trek. It could easily be an episode from TOS.
by Nick Schuch | 09/01/2010 at 2:23 am

This episode creeped me out, and the fact that the villain was a sadistic clown made it even creepier. I can even understand why people didn’t like it, was bleak and frustrating and made you feel very, very uncomfortable to share the helplessness of the captives. It was imaginative, I don’t think many people could have anticipated what they found when they went inside. It looked hopeless, I really couldn’t see a way out for them, which made the ending a delightful surprise. If you’re looking for action and phaser fire, then yes this is a bad episode, but if you’re looking for a gripping situation, this is a winner. It totally sucked me in. I give in an 8 for being so different. BTW thanks for you wonderful website.
by These are the voyages | 03/15/2013 at 8:33 am

This is truly a great episode, not dealing as m,uch with spacephenomenons, planets or the other items we expect from the ST type of Science fiction but the kind we find in written SciFi. More specifically archetypes.
I agree with Nick, the way they treat the subject visually is indeed reminiscent on how it would have been handled in TOS.
And I rather find it liberating, that things were done this way with jugglers, Fear, his sidekick with the grinning mask, the executioner and all else depicted as a closed in carnival gone mad.
(Instead of a VR or MMO type of environment - which we are treated with on so many other times here in Voyager anyhow.)
The feeling of a theatre stage, and having the actors carry the weight (Picardo, Mulrew and "Fear" McKean) were the right chose for this episode,
by TheAnt | 10/09/2013 at 5:17 pm

I agree with Nick. This episode stood out in a good way for me. I liked the general idea of fear itself as the main adversary and the actor did a great job. This episode is one of the ones that sticks with you years later so for me this is a 9.
by TiduZ | 05/19/2016 at 11:22 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x24 — Tuvix

Aired 1996-05-06

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:5.34

Synopsis

Tuvok and Neelix fuse into one.

Remarkable scenes

Neelix: "I've been studying Vulcan music, do you know that lovely tune that starts, 'Oh starless night of boundless black...'" Tuvok: "That lovely tune is a traditional funeral dirge." Neelix: "I know. But it was the most cheerful song I could find in the Vulcan database."
Tuvix' appearance.
Tuvix blurting out "sex" for seemingly no reason at the briefing.
Tuvix, taking charge of the galley: "All right, everybody out!" Crewman: "On whose authority?" Tuvix: "Chief of security or head chef. Take your pick! Out, out out!"
Janeway regarding Tuvix: "His cooking is better than Neelix's."
Tuvix announcing he doesn't want to be separated.
Tuvix and Janeway arguing over who should live and who should die.
Kes admitting to Janeway she wants Tuvix to go through with the separation.
Tuvix freaking out on the bridge when Janeway reached her decision.
The doctor refusing to perform the surgical separation.

Review

This episode is somewhat controversial. In one respect it's like Voy: Faces backwards, which is cool. It would have been nice if someone's lines made a reference to that episode given the similarities. I'm sure Torres and Tuvix would have had a lot to talk about. Some highlights, the actor selected for Mr. Tuvix was perfect. His voice indeed sounded like a merger between Tuvok and Neelix. In this episode, Janeway blatantly breaks the Prime Directive when she murders Tuvix. A decision which I wholeheartedly agreed with, though it made the episode no less tragic. Some people totally disagree with her. In fact, AFAIK, neither Tuvok nor Neelix were particularly popular characters when this episode was aired. Granted, Tuvok is my favorite character, I might have had some bias. I wanted them to be split. Though I was disappointed with how Tuvix met his end. Certainly it was realistic for him to try and preserve his life, but he could have gone out with more dignity. Another way this episode could have been better is if Tuvix was a recurring character. It would have been nice to see him in the place of Tuvok and Neelix for several episodes, perhaps even a season or two. It would make his demise so much more moving. Granted, what Janeway did is downright tragic, this episode seems a minor missed opportunity to me.

10 reader comments

Damn, this is a scary thing for Star Trek to do. Janeway kills an innocent life form. I really like Tuvok and Neelix, but Janeway's act of involuntary euthanasia to improve the situation of two other people is just morally wrong. It brings to mind some Nazi imagery. They systematically killed elderly and handicapped. For the good of the country, they argued.
I wouldn't be too disturbed about this if Star Trek wasn't always about an almost perfect world, certainly where Starfleet is involved. This final decision is something you'd expect to happen in Battlestar Galactica, not in the highly moral world of Star Trek.
So, while this was an excellent episode emotionally, I have to question what the creators think of the moral issue. Do they think forced euthanasia is somehow justified in certain circumstances?
Maybe it's more acceptable to people who support the death sentence, which I don't. But hey, we're all biased.
Hard to rate, this one.
by Remco | 02/12/2009 at 2:54 am

Wow. If I'd known ahead of time that this episode was about a transporter accident fusing Neelix and Tuvok, I may have skipped it because it has all the makings of a really bad episode. As soon as Tuvix appeared on the platform, I was ready to give this one a zero.
However, they pulled it off. I like this episode precisely because the ending is uncomfortable. There really isn't a right decision here, and Janeway, to her credit, made a very hard choice. It's all too often that Trek is too moral for its own good, and it's nice to see an episode that presents a moral decision as a real challenge, not something that seems obvious from the beginning.
The only real quibble I have here is that there's no time to get Tuvok and Neelix's reactions to the incident. Nice work all around-especially by Kate Mulgrew, who acts this one perfectly--and definitely one of the best Voyager outings so far.
by JRPoole | 03/24/2009 at 4:04 am

Having seen the synopsis before watching this episode, I was prepared for a lighthearted affair. Boy, was I wrong!
I disagree on the portrayal of the Tuvix character. I was expecting him to be a conflicting mixture of the two personalities but the combination of Tuvok's cool logic and subtle humour and Neelix's over-the-top emotional outbursts and irrating cheerfulness seem to have cancelled each other out. Tuvix to me was a bland character with little personality and no appeal.
I'm not sure what to think of Janeway's decision at the end. I may be wrong, but haven't we seen transporters being used to duplicate material before now (I'm thinking of duplicate Riker here) ?
If so, surely they could have found a way to restore Neelix and Tuvok while keeping Tuvix. Tuvix certainly didn't contain every molecule of both Neelix and Tuvok's bodies (he was definitely shorter than Tuvok) so the transporter must have had to replicate their bodies using Tuvix's DNA as a starting point. Why would this need to be a destructive process at all?
by Mark McC | 06/06/2009 at 11:12 pm

Most of the time in Star Trek I'm willing to suspend my disbelief when it comes to other species being virtually identical to humans. In this case I can't really let it slide though. I tell myself that if I'm accepting teleportation I should accept anything, but as someone with a biological background I just can't. Hybrids just don't work that way.
The writers would have us believe that Vulcans and Talaxians - two species separated by thousands of light years - are so anatomically similar that something like this could happen with absolutely no complications. Which brings me to the second reason I dislike this episode: Janeway's final decision. If some sort of organ incompatibility was forcing her to bring back Tuvok and Neelix it would make sense, but as it stands I don't get it. It makes Janeway out to be very inconsistent. She apparently finds things like suicide and capital punishment to be abhorrent, but not this? This feels very out of place in context with the values espoused in the rest of Star Trek.
by siukong | 08/09/2010 at 7:38 am

Just one question: How many lungs did Tuvix have and how many did Neelix have when they were separated?
by penguinphysics | 11/07/2010 at 5:51 am

To siukong, did you ever see the ST: TNG episode "The Chase"? It basically makes it canon that all humanoid races in the galaxy are created from the same stuff and was populated by an "elder race." TOS' "Return to Tomorrow" also kinda hinted at this. On this basis, it's not that difficult to accept that such a merger as Tuvix could occur.
I see your point, though.
by Pete Oliva | 01/31/2012 at 11:18 am

THe whole story is ambiguous and comes to an inevitable end, in which both Tuvok and Neelix have to be restored. Something is wrong 9n the storyline. It seems that both Neelix and Tuvok have become quite weak and even cowardish when to decide to split or not to split. Certainly, it was the wrong approach for the story that janeway akes the tough decisions. It would have been much better, if Tuvix had decide on its own to split in the two persons again. Thus, Janeway showed no strength but mercilessness, which leaves just bad feelings afzer the episode. Wasted opportunities.
by peterwolf | 06/26/2015 at 3:04 am

"In this episode, Janeway blatantly breaks the Prime Directive when she murders Tuvix."
What? What does this action have to do with the Prime Directive? And please dont try to say that Tuvix is a new species and blah blah blah. This isnt related to the Prime Directive.
by Rick | 04/28/2017 at 12:34 am

This episode has an interesting parallel with DS9: Facets, when Odo and Curzon Dax decide they prefer to remain a single being. OF course, the main difference is that they are ultimately convinced to separate again, whereas "Tuvix" is separated involuntarily. But the fundamental problem remains: whose decision is it, really? Does the hybrid being have the right to continue to exist when the two beings that are part of the hybrid never had the intention of making the union permanent?
All the talk about murder and the ridiculous Nazi comparisons made above are pretty much out of line to me. Janeway was making a very tough call, and I love how the episode leaves you conflicted and not at all morally satisfied at the end. Judge all you want, but it was a difficult decision. Had Janeway agreed to allow Tuvix to remain, she'd have been overriding the desires of two people, neither of whom entered this arrangement voluntarily and certainly would have preferred to continue living their own lives.
by Mike L. Jackson | 07/04/2017 at 1:42 am

Loved the episode Just one ditail: transporters can copy a patter and replicate it. We've seen that sort of thing in TNG episode where Ricker is splitted in to two identical people what about copying Tuvix's pattern, separate it and bringing both tuvok and neelix, but also keeping tuvix life? 3 people could've been saved, not only one or two, exclusively i'm i wrong here ?
by Martin | 01/22/2020 at 2:55 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x25 — Resolutions

Aired 1996-05-13

SpaceOpera.com rating:5

Average reader rating:4.49

Synopsis

Janeway and Chakotay are forced into exile.

Remarkable scenes

Chakotay ridiculing Janeway for her comment about "roughing it."
Chakotay and Janeway hitting it off as they construct their new home.
Janeway discovering the primate.
Chakotay after discovering the primate: "Looking for a pet?" Janeway: "No, looking for a clue about primate physiology on this planet. They must have to contend with insect bites too."
Tuvok relieving Kim of his duties when he speaks up about the Vidiians.
Kim approaching Tuvok to present his well thought out plan, only to be rejected again.
Tuvok agreeing to contact the Vidiians.
Chakotay : "I can tell you a story, an ancient legend among my people. It's about an angry warrior who lived his life in conflict with the rest of his tribe. A man who couldn't find peace, even with the help of his spirit guide. For years he struggled with his discontent. The only satisfaction he ever got came when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his tribe, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself. One day, he and his war party were captured by a neighboring tribe led by a woman warrior. She called on him to join her because her tribe was too small and weak to defend itself from all its enemies. The woman warrior was brave and beautiful and very wise. The angry warrior swore to himself that he would stay by her side, doing whatever he could to make her burden lighter. From that point on, her needs would come first. And in that way, the warrior began to know the true meaning of peace." Janeway: "Is that really an ancient legend?" Chakotay: "No. But that made it easier to say."
Tuvok's maneuver at the end.

Review

A decent offering with some minor flaws. It was obvious from the beginning that Janeway and Chakotay would return to the ship, so the whole "they might never come back" plot came off as annoying. Tuvok's initial behavior as captain was equally annoying; frankly, the first thing they should have done once they left Janeway and Chakotay there was to go find the Vidiians and try to get their help. Harry was right, Tuvok was not. And stretching out the contention was just a waste of time. The episode presents great continuity with Voy: Lifesigns, with Denara showing up again, though the star of this show is the interaction between Chakotay and Janeway. It seems to me that the writers have been trying to get the two of them together for a long time, but they never actually went through with it. Though, this episode gets closer to it than almost any other.

Star Trek: Voyager — 2x26 — Basics, Part I

Aired 1996-05-20

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:5.97

Synopsis

Voyager has a showdown with the Kazon.

Remarkable scenes

Seeing Suder so peaceful.
Chakotay's vision quest, discussing the child with his father.
Suder's meeting with Janeway.
Janeway, regarding the repeated hit and run attacks: "It feels like we're being pecked to death by ducks."
The battle with the Kazon.
The doctor being projected into space.
Voyager being taken over.
Culluh putting the crew of Voyager off the ship and leaving with Voyager.

Review

Welcome back Ensign Suder. A new man, no longer a psychopath. I really enjoyed the teaser. Suder being rehabilitated is a very cool thing. But this isn't about Suder, it's about the Kazon. Here comes the great showdown. Voyager's been avoiding them for a long time now, this confrontation is a long time coming. Chakotay decides he will care for the illegitimate child Seska conceived by stealing Chakotay's DNA. His vision quest equates the situation to when Native American women were raped by European men. The resulting children were not rejected, but cared for by the native tribes and Chakotay must not fight Seska's wrong (stealing the DNA) with another wrong (abandoning the child). I wonder why Janeway decided to play her little holographic game with Culluh, instead of just run. There's not much hope in fighting a battle against eight massive Kazon ships. Culluh's hilarious chauvinism is back in full force. Seska really is smarter than he is; he just refuses to believe it! This episode is thrilling and to a certain extent annoying. Culluh is a major prick, a villain you just love to hate. At the end of this episode, all you want is for him to get what's coming to him. Damn those cliffhangers. Well, many of the questions are already answered by the end. We don't know if Paris lived or not, but Seska thinks he's alive, so he's probably still alive. Suder is still aboard, along with the doctor. The two will probably concoct a way to save the ship. Not a very nail biting cliffhanger, but then, I hate cliffhangers, so it doesn't bother me. :)