Star Trek: Voyager — 3x01 — Basics, Part II

Aired 1996-09-04

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:5.79

Synopsis

The crew fights for survival.

Remarkable scenes

Tom in a damaged shuttle, destroying a Kazon patrol ship that attacked him.
Janeway taking charge down on the planet, determined to keep everyone alive.
The revelation that Seska's child was Culluh's and not Chakotay.
The doctor: "I'm a doctor, not a counter insurgent." Count 15 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
Chakotay: "Trapped on a barren planet and you're stuck with the only Indian in the universe who can't make fire by rubbing two sticks together."
Janeway regarding seeing the erupting volcano spewing at them: "I think our top priority has just been dictated."
Suder mass slaughtering Kazon.

Review

A hostile takeover plot is a fairly original one in Star Trek so far; the Enterprise D had been taken over, but covertly and far more briefly. This is the first episode to feature a battle in which the ship of the show is directly conquered and the crew put off the ship. As such, part one made for some very exciting story, though not without its flaws (see part 1 review), still exciting nonetheless. Now we have a story in which the cast is split up. Most of them are stuck on a primitive planet. Tom has a shuttle somewhere, the doctor is still aboard, hiding, as is Suder. Unfortunately, aside from the revelation that Chakotay was in fact not the father of Seska's child, nothing all that remarkable happens. Culluh and Seska are eventually fooled by the doctor, Suder, Paris, and the Talaxians. Suder's character is needlessly wasted, and the crew is reunited with the ship. The first part of this story unleashed so much potential that it seems like the rather adequate second part wasted some of it. Still, I enjoyed the episode. One detail to appreciate: the crew makes peace with the primitive people on the planet rather than waging war with them in the end. Very Trek-like. :)

5 reader comments

I thought this two-parter was outright excellent, and I don't think there were any real problems, shortcomings, or missed opportunities. A truly epic and excellent two episodes.
One thing I wanted to mention is the abundance of great one-liners. I second the "I'm a doctor, not a counter insurgent" mention. I would also nominate:
Culluh: "What is it with the women in the alpha quadrant?"
Doctor: "One holographic program and one psychopath may not be a match for the Kazon, but it will have to do."
Suder: "Yes, there is a logical use for violence… for everyone else. With me, once it starts…"
Seska: "You were more talented at deception than you led me to believe." Doctor: "I was inspired by the presence of a master."
Neelix: "The others are trying to figure out what to make of us - in a matter of speaking! Not in a culinary sense - I hope…"
What else can I mention here that wasn't covered in the review?
One mini-problem is that the ship's computer seemed all too cooperative with the Kazon. Shouldn't Voyager be a little harder to hijack than that? I mean, it just accepts the command to no longer respond to Starfleet crew-members?! This is only a mini-problem because Seska is an engineer, and so hypothetically she could've disabled some kind of protections off-screen (and the producers were trying to cram so much into these episodes that they had to abbreviate).
Here's another thing: both Paris, one of the best starfleet pilots around, and Janeway, an experienced captain, were visibly nervous about landing Voyager in a previous episode - and that's under good conditions, and with plenty of experience flying the thing (and one assumes landing simulations, etc, in the academy). Here comes Culluh, gets behind the wheel, and lands the thing on a seismically active planet, as if he's been doing it all his life. Presumably Seska coached him beforehand, but she's not a pilot either. Maybe it's just not such a big deal to land these starships, and everyone makes too big a deal of it.
Here's another curiosity (not really a problem, just a curiosity): how come Tuvak is so warlike and dismissive towards the "savages" and Chakotay is the peacemaker? Despite the circumstances, doesn't this still qualify as one of those ever-delicate "first contact" situations? And aren't Vulcans supposed to have an advanced appreciation for all life? Contrast Tuvak's reactions in this episode with Spock's reactions towards the much bigger, much deadlier, much more menacing "savages" in "TOS: The Galileo Seven." Perhaps the key difference is that Tuvak is the chief of security, and Spock was a science officer.
by a2a.com | 09/06/2011 at 11:00 pm

The dialog is unusually pedestrian. Anti-climatically resolves Basic part 1.
by Delmere | 06/11/2012 at 6:24 pm

Couldve been a really good episode if they came up with a reasonable premise for Voyager going after the Kazon. Going after some kid that happens to have Chekotays DNA? really? What if Seska held a gun to her own head? or to a Kazon kid's head? should they go after them then
ridiculous
by Rick | 07/10/2013 at 3:28 am

Tiny problem: when asked for the crew complement, the computer lists 89 Kazon and 1 Betazoid, but forgets the Cardassian Seska and the Cardassian-Kazon baby. And we had just seen them! One may try to rationalize this by saying that maybe Seska and baby were not part of the crew. But it doesn't work, because the Kazon and Betazoid were not part of the same crew, either.
by zooky | 12/21/2013 at 3:51 am

One small problem:
Isn't it kind of hot near a river of molten lava? Especially on a stone that is in the river?
by Amelia Obumhardt | 02/10/2022 at 3:59 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x02 — Flashback

Aired 1996-09-11

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:4.92

Synopsis

Tuvok experiences a repressed memory.

Remarkable scenes

Tuvok: "Mr. Neelix, I would prefer not to hear the life history of my breakfast."
Tuvok's meditative chant: "Structure, logic, function, control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation. Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control. I am in control."
Tuvok's "obvious error" regarding scanning the nebula for cloaked Klingon ships.
Janeway and Tuvok appearing on on the Excelsior. It's Captain Sulu!
Janeway mentioning Sulu doesn't look anything like his portrait at Starfleet headquarters. Tuvok claims it's because holographic imaging resolutions weren't as good in the 23rd century. Nice way to fix the Sulu's-too-old-for-this-part-problem. ;)
The scene where Tuvok protests Sulu's actions.
Janeway and Kim discussing the 23rd century with envy.
Sulu to Janeway: "Who the hell are you?"
Janeway's and Tuvok's method of being inconspicuous.
The doctor eliminating the memory virus.

Review

A very cool episode. It's always fun to draw connections between episodes in the distant past. Sometimes it can be done in a silly way, but this one is very well done. The connection between this episode and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is very convincing and the events are nicely woven into a virus of the week plot on Voyager. The virus plot may have been something of a cheap excuse, or a lame plot device, but I've never seen a lame plot device exploited so nicely. Overall, this is one of Voyager's better offerings. And since Tuvok is my favorite character on Voyager, this is an episode to remember.

3 reader comments

"The virus plot may have been something of a cheap excuse, or a lame plot device…"
You hit the nail on the head.
This episode lost points as far as I'm concerned the moment the Doctor mentioned the word "virus." Why was it even necessary, plotwise? It wasn't explained very well at all. How is it actually transmitted? How does it "disguise itself as a memory engram?" All of this virus business is just hurried and rushed and crammed into the final few minutes of the episode.
Quite unnecessarily so. They could've just let it go with the initial premise, let it be a genuine repressed memory that has resurfaced because of present associations (the nebula back to Excelsior, when Tuvok failed to save Dmitiri, back to childhood, when he failed to save mysterious human girl).
That would've been quite adequate, no hurried bizarro virus plot twist required.
Seeing Sulu in command and the old style uniforms and stuff was cool… but not cool enough to let this lame virus thing slide.
by captsulu | 09/07/2011 at 6:24 am

"Trials and Tribble-lations" for Voyager - in my mind. Well, at least in the terms of people in the TNG-era talking about the TOS era. Some fun moments, but not as strong as that famous DS9 episode.
I really wish I had a count on how many times Star Trek 6 is referenced directly or indirectly in the TNG era since that move came out!
by packman_jon | 06/16/2012 at 4:20 am

Remarkable scenes: JANICE RAND!!! How could you not mention her?
by McCoy | 08/06/2017 at 6:38 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x03 — The Chute

Aired 1996-09-18

SpaceOpera.com rating:2

Average reader rating:4.65

Synopsis

Paris and Kim are trapped in a hellish prison.

Remarkable scenes

Harry climbing through the chute only to discover they're in space.
Neelix' ship's skillful maneuvers.
Kim: "I was ready to hit you with the pipe. Don't you remember?" Paris: "You wanna know what I remember? Someone saying, 'this man is my friend. Nobody touches him. I'll remember that for a long time.'"

Review

A rather unremarkable episode. It reminds me of all the captured, fighting, violence episodes TOS featured to get ratings. The only interesting thing was the rather intriguing insane character with his philosophies and his manifesto. I also thought Janeway's handling of the situation was rather skillful. It was fun watching her and Tuvok break Tom and Harry out of prison. Finally, the brief, touching moment of true friendship expressed between Paris and Kim in the end was pretty cool. Other than that, a slow mover.

4 reader comments

I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. Finally got to see Harry actually do something for once.
by Psycroptic | 08/18/2012 at 8:05 pm

I like the scene where the manifest character is describing his philosophies and the chute is around his head in the background like a halo. Not such a bad episode except for the somewhat lame and gratuitous fight scenes and a few cheesy lines… "save yourself!"
by Adam | 02/19/2013 at 3:36 pm

I thought this was one of the best episodes so far. It's different from most Trek episodes because it's really dark and full of hopelessness. Harry and Tom are trapped with a bunch of psychos with no way out, plus they have an implant in their brains which controls them and makes them aggressive. These guys were violated to the max! This is not some silly romp through the holodeck and Camelot. This is a very intense, violent episode that can't be brushed off.
Put yourself in Harry and Tom's place and think about how you would feel and react. I think it would be like hell.
by thaibites | 01/27/2014 at 12:58 am

Harry is painful
by scott Marron | 02/06/2014 at 4:36 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x04 — The Swarm

Aired 1996-09-25

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:5.55

Synopsis

Voyager battles a swarm of alien ships.

Remarkable scenes

Tom hitting on Torres in the teaser.
The doctor's duet with the diva. I loved her cross-lingual dialog and her constant insulting of the doctor. :)
The doctor gradually losing his memory.
A holographic Dr. Louis Zimmerman.
Torres, in response to an arrogant Dr. Louis Zimmerman: "I can see where you get your charming personality." The doctor: "Not to mention my hairline."
Janeway: "Mr. Tuvok, keep an eye on those ships. If they so much as twitch, I want to know it."
Zimmerman: "You've filled your memory with nonsense!" EMH: "It was only during my off hours." Zimmerman: "You're supposed to be off during your off hours!"
Zimmerman: "It wasn't programmed to be a tenor, it was programmed to be a physician!" Count 16 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
The doctor, obviously degraded quite a bit now, regarding his new patient: "He's a sick man. This is where sick people come." The alien dies. Kes: "His injuries were too severe." The doctor: "He's a very sick man."
Kes: "Doctor, you mustn't touch those. Here, this one's all right to hold." The doctor: "Shall I use it on the sick man?" (The "sick man" is dead.) Kes: "Yes, that's a good idea..."
The doctor trying to leave sickbay.
Kes trying to keep the doctor remembering things.
Zimmerman: "I am a diagnostic tool, not an engineer!" Count 17 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
The doctor gradually regaining his memory.

Review

This episode is less about the swarm and more about the doctor, and rightfully so. Watching Torres deal with a holographic Zimmerman trying to fix the EMH was great fun and good humor, whilst maintaining a nice level of seriousness. While the episode remains exceptional throughout, the swarm plot ends rather weakly; Janeway figures out a way to destroy one ship in the swarm and the whole swarm collapses? That's a little unrealistic. But the doctor's experiences offset the weak ending and make this episode nicely watchable.

5 reader comments

I can't get enough Doctor stuff, and this episode does a mighty fine job (the actual swarm stuff is pretty much secondary to me… I'll admit I can't give this episode an objective review b/c I'm just too fond of the doc).
Absolutely love the role reversal where the Doctor becomes the anxious patient, and Torres becomes the insensitive "doctor-engineer."
Seeing the Zimmerman program in action is interesting stuff as well - a holographic program of the original creator of the holographic program. Kind of neat and a bit amusing. "Relationships with the crew?! Relationships with…women? Do they find you attractive?"
The Doc getting an acute version of Alzheimer's is also interesting… simultaneously entertaining and sad. "He's a sick man. This is where sick people come." Great to watch Kes' concern for and attachment to the Doc.
I also love the ending. A bit of an ambiguity about whether or not he's just lost the bulk of his memories. Roll credits. Run doc's operatic singing alpha one.
by Docfan | 09/07/2011 at 7:32 am

I forgot to mention something else:
In a really neat twist, this episode puts in question the value and even the virtue, the moral status of what has so far gone absolutely unquestioned: the doctor's growth as a kind of proto-person, or "honorary human."
Many of us cheered for the Doc when he stepped outside of the confines of his programming and began to think of himself as a sentient entity, as a lifeform. This was a very compelling development to observe, both for the audience and for the Voyager crew, who were mostly supportive (for instance, Paris and Kes coached him in the matters of love in "Voyager: Life signs.")
All of this is turned on its head in a single moment, when the diagnostic program proclaims its diagnosis: "on too long and doing too much." Evidently, the Doctor was meant to be off during his off hours, and sticking to medicine during his on hours. The result of his becoming a "person," so to speak, is that he can no longer be an emergency medical hologram, which is downright irresponsible, and endangers the entire crew.
This is a really great twist to the doctor's existential dilemmas, and puts his entire history on Voyager (thus far) in a different perspective.
One thing I just thought of: at one point Kes argued that his personal activities and explorations made him a better doctor. That is probably true. What's more, his functions on the ship have occasionally gone beyond medical, i.e. the counter-insurgent/military psychologist role he played in "Voyager: Basics." If he didn't have all that previous life experience, it's questionable whether he would've been motivated, willing, or able to help save the ship, either through his own acts or by guiding and encouraging Suder.
So, it's interesting to see all of this put in a zero sum, either/or perspective for a moment, but it is equally relieving to see this problem go away, at least temporarily, as the Doc receives a successful "neural net graft" from his lookalike diagnostic program.
Here is one "reset switch" I'm more than happy to see.
by Docfan | 09/09/2011 at 4:05 am

Trilobytes and fragmented terabytes
I give this one a '6' since it leaves a number of loose ends and half made starts in various directions that are left high and dry on the beach. One example is why the warp drive were on the blink. And how the heck did they fail to note the attached trilobite ship when they were close enough to transport one of the crew out and to sickbay? Else from that I like Kes rescuing the Doc, and have his matrix - or "fragmented hard drive disk" - de-fragmented and restored.
but the two sets of storylines do not mix well. In fact it is hard to say which one is the subplot in this episode.
However it is not just one of the trilobite ships that gets blown up, but all that have attached themselves to Voyagers hull. So when Kethinov say 'one' I guess it might be a case of seeing the episode quite some time before writing the review. Or that he suffers the same condition as the Doc! =)
As I understood it, Cpt Janeway's description of the aliens were correct. The swarm were bullies, and not used to meeting the kind of organised resistance which the crew of Voyager met them with. (And it might have been most of their boarding crew that got shot and transported out.) So with the risk of growing Tuvok ears I'd say that with that perspective the withdrawal of the swarm of trilobite ships were logical.
by TheAnt | 10/31/2013 at 6:49 pm

So much for holographic rights. To save their friend the crew murders another hologram that has the same matrix and capabilities as the doctor. Kes is quite the hypocrite.
by Rick | 04/28/2017 at 3:36 pm

I heard Robert Picardo in an interview or convention panel or something, talking about the dying alien on the bed in sickbay in this episode. The alien's white facepaint combined with the green bags under his eyes and his red hair gave him a Bozo-the-Clown-like appearance. The shots of him and the Doctor were composed in such a way that the audience wouldn't look at the alien too long and think, "that's Bozo the Clown!" in the midst of this dramatic moment.
The episode overall was a pretty good one. The Swarm were an interesting concept for an alien species, something that ST:VOY generally did a good job with whatever people think of the series. They were defeated a little too easily considering they were introduced as this very ominous species.
by Mike L. Jackson | 07/26/2017 at 1:01 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x05 — False Profits

Aired 1996-10-02

SpaceOpera.com rating:1

Average reader rating:2.57

Synopsis

Ferengi opportunists pose as gods.

Remarkable scenes

The Ferengi pleading to be returned to the surface. I hate the fact that Janeway returns them to the surface, but I at least enjoyed the Ferengi's performance in this scene. They were funny.
Rules of Acquisition; 10. Greed is eternal. 22. A wise man can hear profit in the wind. (We don't know the number of this rule). Exploitation begins at home. 95. Expand or die. 299. Whenever you exploit someone, it never hurts to thank them. That way it's easier to exploit them the next time. (This rule is fake; Neelix made it up.) The unwritten rule: When no appropriate rule applies, make one up.

Review

I'm not fond of this one at all as Janeway makes seriously bad decisions. A wormhole leading to the alpha quadrant is discovered, but Janeway won't go through it because Ferengi are exploiting the planet below. She beams them up and all is well, then she just lets them go for no good reason. All her problems could have been solved by just abducting them, going through the wormhole, and washing her hands of it all, but nope. Janeway's gotta do the "right thing" and let them go. She just takes the word of the Ferengi that their absence could damage the culture even more! Oh, so now we have to make it look like they leave naturally... waste more time on the Ferengi and before you know it they somehow manage to overpower ship security, steal back their shuttle, return to the alpha quadrant, and destroy the wormhole leaving it so Voyager can't go through either. And we're supposed to have sympathy for Janeway after these events? She was royally stupid! Oh yeah; and this episode features yet another alien race that looks exactly like humans. What a waste of a fantastic connection with a decent TNG episode.

7 reader comments

This is another annoying "Voyager might go home in season 3" episode. However, the connection with the TNG episode was absolutely brilliant and extremely fun to watch. AWESOME way to bring closure to that TNG episode. And of all the ways to be foiled out of returning to the alpha quadrant, it's at the hands of those damn Ferengi! :)
by Pete Miller | 08/17/2006 at 1:17 am

Janeway constantly reminds me of those British officials of the Raj in India who refused to go native in any way, giving rise to the expression, "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun." She often makes stupid decisions only for the sake of upholding an inflexible and narrow idea of Federation values. Kirk was a Federation captain too: could she not model herself after a hero of the Federation rather than some ineffective armchair admiral?
by Tallifer | 04/09/2011 at 2:47 am

The thing is, there really was a risk of damaging the culture by abducting their "gods", so I at least understand why she made that decision. Of course, the part with the Ferengi owerpowering the ship's security is beyond ridiculous, but this is the writers', not the Captain's fault.
@Tallifer In 'Flashback' Janeway mentioned that Kirk lived in a "different time", where the Captains could get away with things they wouldn't be able to in the 24th century, so that might be one of the reasons she wouldn't model herself after Kirk.
by Inga | 08/26/2013 at 10:56 am

I'm not sure, but I think they said the wormhole ends would pop up sporadically in different places on BOTH ends after the Ferengi destabilized it. I think this adds a nice touch to the story because the Ferengi might end up millions of light years away from their home. Maybe they wouldn't even go to the alpha quadrant? If I'm right, it's an appropriate punishment for them. Also, I loved the boob shots in the beginning - camera low, with the bottom of the boobs uncovered, standing directly behind the Ferengi sitting on his throne. It's the most "remarkable scene" in the episode.
by thaibites | 01/31/2014 at 7:50 am

Janeway is clearly suffering from plot induced stupidity here though. It was obvious Voyager wouldn't be getting back to the Alpha Quadruant yet, and ofcourse the Ferengi couldn't just be left alone exploiting people like that either.
by Sylvain | 04/13/2015 at 8:28 am

I'm pretty okay with suspending disbelief, and it wasn't a huge problem here, but let's be honest: there's no way a universal translator could fool a primitive society. It would look like an overdubbed movie. There's no way the speaker's lips would look like the words they were hearing.
Granted, that speaks to all ST episodes, but I'm willing to overlook the fact that Cardassians and Romulans should look like a kung-fu film. It's just better visually for them to speak English.
And that's why I'm fine with human-looking aliens. The fact is that they needed a lot of extras and making them all up (including the Starfleeters who beam down) would have eaten into the budget. So they just make them look like humans. If that means they can put more money into sets or effects or whatever, I'm good with it.
by tigertooth | 09/17/2016 at 4:17 am

How do these dimwitted Ferengi always manage to outsmart or outmaneuver Federation security? It happened in TNG episodes "Rascals" and "The Perfect Mate" and now here. These two couldn't hit someone right in front of them with a giant sword, and we're supposed to believe they overpowered a security guard and somehow managed to shoot open a shuttle bay?
And worst of all, as pointed out in the original review, they manage to persuade Janeway that removing them would somehow damage the fragile culture of the planet. Unreal…as if the inhabitants wouldn't come up with a supernatural explanation for the sudden disappearance of their "Sages".
So, actually, this is a pretty bad episode for Tuvok. Two Ferengi manage to overpower his security officers and outdo him at the logic game.
The only good thing about this episode is continuity with "The Price" which was a cool idea and made sense. But it's typical Voyager: take a great premise for an episode and execute it poorly.
by Chuck the Canuck | 07/04/2023 at 1:02 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x06 — Remember

Aired 1996-10-09

SpaceOpera.com rating:5

Average reader rating:4.39

Synopsis

Torres has troubling dreams.

Remarkable scenes

Janeway's music lessons.
Torres revealing the horrors of Anaran history to everybody.

Review

The Anarans have the ability to directly transfer knowledge telepathically, giving someone the benefit of years of experience in a few seconds. As Tuvok put it, very "fascinating." Aside from that, this episode is remarkable in that the telepathic "attacks" on Torres weren't really attacks but entirely harmless. TNG has shown us far too many telepathic attacks (on Troi), so this episode gives us a refreshing new perspective on an old concept. The telepathic stories resembled Nazi Germany toward the end, with the forced resettlements and whatnot. The "resettlements" are nothing but executions. Torres reveals the horrible truth to everybody in a fit of rage, but with no way to prove any of this, including the murder of the woman, nothing is accomplished. So she shares her new memories with another Anaran directly. The episode ends with hope that the truth behind this coverup will now be revealed. All things considered the story is quite moving. But way too much time is wasted on the flashbacks and the basic plot has been done better in episodes like TNG: The Inner Light. So this episode comes off as nicely crafted, but also as a rehashed filler.

3 reader comments

I REALLY enjoy these types of episodes, where a lifetime of experiences is transferred to someone's memory (like TNG "The Inner Light"). This episode was extremely powerful, and really is one of Voyager's better offerings in my opinion. Very Star Trekish!
by Pete Miller | 08/17/2006 at 3:29 am

Great clothes in this one for Voyager crew (Harry and Tom).
by Dejan | 12/07/2007 at 12:09 pm

One wonders why the older woman didn't try to establish more of a friendship with someone else (for example, the young woman who accepts the memories at the end) and transfer the memories more directly, having gained that person's confidence (so as to avoid any backlash from authority figures). Surely there have been opportunities over the course of her life to share these experiences without risking her safety. Or, even, why didn't she just approach Torres directly and ask to share her memories so that she wouldn't go and get any other authority figures involved? Doing this secretly only risked dragging in lots of people to suppress the knowledge. (I know, I know, this didn't happen because then we would lose a lot of the drama. Still, it feels cheap.)
Also, there's a point where Janeway is discussing some plans, and Tuvok finishes her sentence for her. She responds by saying something like, "I wonder when was the last time I actually surprised you" -- presumably referencing the fact that he knows her so well. Except he just said something to that effect two episodes ago (in "The Swarm") in response to her announcing her plans to go straight through the aliens' space against their wishes! Not sure how much time elapsed in-Universe, but it seems like she has a pretty short memory.
by Marie Douceur | 03/15/2015 at 10:18 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x07 — Sacred Ground

Aired 1996-10-30

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:3.9

Synopsis

Janeway tests her spiritual beliefs.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor coincidentally saying to Janeway everything she went through was meaningless.
The doctor explaining how the whole thing worked in the end.

Review

This episode evokes mixed opinions. Janeway's expressed respect for the culture of our aliens of the week is fantastic, along with her scientific skepticism. This episode is designed to explore the science behind religions. Though it's also designed to tell us not everything can be rationally explained, and that we should have faith in something. I'll be frank; the concept of blind faith annoys me more than most other things. Consequently, this episode comes off with an impression like a Final Fantasy game, or a Star Wars film, which is decidedly not what Star Trek is all about. But in the end, everything does have a rational explanation, thanks to the doctor's "very scientific" analysis. As a result, while I don't particularly like this episode much, a certain part of me respects its controversial nature.

5 reader comments

I have to agree that the concept of blind faith is very annoying. Some people just aren't scientific and will feel more comfortable with spiritual explanations. I can handle that. However what really annoys me about this episode is that the guide seemed out to prove a point at Kes's expence. She said that the ritual was meaningless yet the toxin was crucial to the solution. So what does she know? Frankly, I think the science vs religion concept could have been written into a better story. The ending was pretty weak.
by dr theopolis | 02/04/2007 at 5:11 pm

Ditto Eric's review.
This feels anti-Trek to me, and one of the things I like least about Voyager is that it pushes this sort of new age-y pseudo religious philosophy more than any other Trek series. Still, this could have been a cool concept with a more interesting story. The montages of Janeway's quest are terrible, the alien of the week isn't very interesting, and the whole thing just isn't very interesting.
On a side note, there must be some link between having ridges on the bridge of your nose and beleiving in vague spiritual nonsense. These people and their "spirits" are a lot like the Bajorans and their prophets.
by JRPoole | 05/30/2009 at 1:46 pm

2 1/2 seasons into voyager and I'm still incredibly underwhelmed. Bland.
There's been minor annoyances but this one is the first to really piss me off, with its ridiculous propaganda of glorifying pseudo-mystical nonsense and demonising rational thought or wanting straight answers to simple questions.
That 'spiritual' guide flat out mis-led and lied to Janeway. Janweway's purpose was very clear, she wasn't searching for their misguided version of enlightenment, she was on an urgent mission, and she was given the run-around just so they could feel superior while laying all the responsibility on Janeway. She should have slapped that smug cow.
This was just anti-intellectualism, and it's crap like pushing this new-age so-called 'spirituality' that has probably been a factor in us arriving at the internet dark-ages of anti-science ignorance we find ourselves in now.
I'm very annoyed with you Star Trek.
by L | 12/19/2013 at 12:42 am

10/10 You people may not like faith in general, but you've made a religion from science. How is blind faith in science better than any religion? Oh, I see… Because you have tricorders:) Great episode. Without a little bit of spiritualism and mystery world is boring and terrible. You really want to live in Q Continuum? Where everybody knows everything? God, it's hell:)
by McCoy | 08/08/2017 at 5:16 pm

How? It is better because (unlike spirits and superstition) science reliably works, it is not blind. Also, why are spirits always such trolls? The play silly games with Janeway while Kes' life hangs by a thread. Not to mention leaving that death trap around for tourists to wander in.
by Amelia Obumhardt | 02/14/2022 at 9:11 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x08 — Future's End, Part I

Aired 1996-11-06

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:5.93

Synopsis

Voyager visits 20th-century Los Angeles.

Remarkable scenes

Tuvok catching Janeway's ball.
Braxton trying to destroy Voyager.
Janeway: "I won't sacrifice this ship and crew based on a ten second conversation, I need proof!"
Tuvok: "We could have worn our starfleet uniforms. I doubt anyone would have noticed."
Braxton describing the temporal paradox.
Braxton lamenting about the 20th century.
The phaser fight just after Tuvok wipes Raine's computer.
The soap opera scene.
Tuvok and Paris in Raine's van. Not very good spies. :)

Review

This episode used to be one of my favorites of Voyager, but in later years I've grown to like it less. The main problem is that they get a few things just wrong, and during this time in Earth's past the Eugenics wars are going on, yet there is no mention of it. None of the little problems in this episode are serious, but they make the episode that much less effective to the seasoned Star Trek viewer. Some details that annoyed me were the way computers were handled in the episode; I rather like how when people type for two seconds and suddenly the computer does fifteen things automatically. Other than that, captain Braxton was a cool, albeit badly written initially and underused character. The first part presents a convincing story, though not without its flaws.

6 reader comments

I'll gladly take a million sub-par ferengi episodes to this flaming pile of human crap. We all know what happens when star trek meets 20th century earth. Stupid fill-in-the-blank jokes about spock not being able to swear right. Doesn't the joke get old after 2 minutes? Seriously, I had all I could take of star trek visiting 20th century earth when the whales needed help. Why do I need to see a rehash of a gimmicky 20 year old idea? This gets my personal worst of trek award. Enough with the social commentary nonsense.
by what the? | 02/05/2007 at 4:49 am

Actually, I rather like this one. It's fun; the temporal paradox is the usual head-f**k; Tuvok and Paris sparring makes me smile; Harry in the big chair; Neelix watching soaps - loads of good stuff. On the niggle side - Janeway tells Chakotay she has no idea what her ancestors were doing in 1996. Jars rather with her obsession with Shannon O'Donnell in 23:59 who was apprently the reason she went into Star Fleet.
by Dave Edsons | 02/04/2009 at 3:53 am

Take a look outside and you will see that the Eugenics Wars clearly did not happen in the 1990s: the dates of history from that chaotic time must have become jumbled and confused during the chaos of post-armageddon Earth as portrayed in "Farpoint Station." (My justification anyways.)
by Tallifer | 04/09/2011 at 9:37 am

As of right now, this two-parter is one of my favorites of Voyager. This could've been a complete catastrophe, full of painfully cheesy and gimmicky moments. Instead, it's a solid, immersive, intensely comical, action-packed, intriguing portrayal.
It's not perfect, but it's damn good. Braxton is a great character. The time paradoxes are excellent, including how a time anomaly and Voyager's battle with Braxton led to the computer revolution, and thus to the technology that made Voyager, Braxton's ship, and all of Starfleet (and it's "Timefleet" successor) possible.
Rain is a great character. Starling is a great character. His silent henchman is suitable. It all works, as far as I'm concerned. Harry even gets to be captain for a day, libertarian secessionist survivalists get a cameo (love the bookcase full of canned and pickled food detail), and to top it all off the Doc is granted freedom from sickbay/holodeck! Man this thing was packed, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Notable Lines:
-Braxton to LAPD: "Quasi-Cardassian totalitarian!"
-Janeway: "The future is the past, the past is the future, it all gives me a headache."
-Braxton: "Temporal prime directive."
Notable Details:
-VW/Truck chase scene is pretty awesome, for a TV show
-Paris tells Rain that her VW van's engine is flooded. His knowledge of 20th century cars proving useful (sort of, at least for continuity's sake).
-Doc is visibly gleeful and excited about being "out and about." It's funny how Janeway is slightly annoyed when he demands his own quarters. It's that existential dilemma creeping in again - is he a person, or a ship function?
-The time-ship and the time rift looks awesome as far as I'm concerned.
Minor Problems:
-(this is really about Voyager: Death Wish, not about this episode) It's cool how Janeway at least asks Braxton to return them to the Alpha quadrant. I wonder why she didn't even ask Q when she had the opportunity (I mean after the hearing was over, not when he tried to bribe her with it)?
-OK. The shuttle crashes in Arizona. Chakotay and Torres are captured. One of the survivalists spots "the Feds" already on their way: there are three cars and a chopper. Tuvak, Paris, and the Doctor are still in LA, when they find out the news. They take off immediately, and somehow beat the U.S. government there? Isn't there an army base or an FBI office or even a police precinct closer to the crash site than LA? Kind of weird, no? The only way I can make it work is… well… maybe if the events are not quite shown in chronological order (I'm stretching it, I know). So that the Feds are not spotted and not "on their way" before Tuvak/Paris/Doctor even hear about it, but rather after, when they are almost there. We are shown things out of order for some mysterious reasons (hey, it's a time paradox episode, why not). I'm stretching it, but the episode is good enough to deserve wiggle room.
-The very last scene is just a tad too cheesy.
by fromfuture | 09/10/2011 at 2:45 am

To all you Trek geeks that have a problem with no Eugenics wars. "I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT TIMELINE." Isn't that what Braxton says at the end of the next episode? Works for me! My problem with this 2-parter is that we yet again have another Voyager episode dealing with Earth. I thought the whole point of creating this series was to get away from Earth and Federation Space so that we could truly "go where no one has gone before". What happened? Did the writers run out of ideas? Did the corporate bean-counters upstairs tell the producers that the show would appeal to more viewers if it had familiar themes and would then increase advertising revenue?
by thaibites | 03/06/2014 at 12:11 pm

This is a case in which Voyager actually does several things really well, and I generally approve of the effort.
I really, really like Tom Paris in this. They've done a good job (using actual continuity!) of establishing that Paris is a history buff (maybe American history from what we've seen), so it makes sense that he's comfortable here. His love of cars and his comments about "Secret Agents" makes me wonder if he enjoys James Bond movies. Despite that, even he's not perfect-his focus was always more on the early part of the 20th century, so he gets details wrong, like when the Cold War ended. It really humanizes him that he can be an expert without having an encyclopedic memory-it would have been easy for the writers to just have him know everything and fill in the rest of the crew.
The mobile emitter is another brilliant thing to come out of this-it actually develops the Doctor's character, and the Doctor's character development is one of the most interesting things to happen on Voyager. Plus, it's a piece of tech that you can use to let the Doc explore, but you can always lose it later on if you feel it ruins the Doctor's character.
Heck, I even loved Sarah Silverman in this.
Things I don't like:
1) Braxton at the beginning. Not in so much of a rush that he can't explain what he's doing, but in so much of a rush (why? he's in a TIME SHIP) that he tries to murder everyone on Voyager instead of evacuating them.
2) Starling is a bit cartoonish as a villain.
by Bronn | 07/24/2015 at 7:23 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x09 — Future's End, Part II

Aired 1996-11-13

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:6.51

Synopsis

The crew races against time in the 20th century.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor psychoanalyzing Starling.
"I'm a doctor, not a database." Count 19 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
The doctor sporting his new mobile emitter.
Voyager attempting to beam away Starling.
The doctor not being phased by punches.
Chakotay and Torres captured by right wing paranoid fools.
The doctor's new nickname: "Mr. Leisure Suit."
Starling: "What are you gonna do, shoot me?" Janeway: "The thought has crossed my mind."
The doctor taking several bullets.
The doctor doesn't know his way around the ship.
The manual torpedo launch, killing Starling.

Review

The second part is more successful than the first. It avoids none of the first's flaws, but manages to salvage a rather drab time travel story, and make Braxton look less like an idiot. Voyager's inability to get home using the events of this episode is convincingly presented, though still annoying. The thing that I really liked about this episode the most was the doctor's mobile emitter. Setting aside the fact that the emitter is 29th century technology out of time, which in and of itself is annoying, it's something the show definitely needed. The time in this episode could have been better used if it was about how Torres was inventing a mobile emitter, or something similar. Despite my criticisms, this is a decent offering from Voyager.

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x10 — Warlord

Aired 1996-11-20

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:4.52

Synopsis

Kes' body is taken over by a ruthless political leader.

Remarkable scenes

Kes and Neelix adversarial date.
Kes phasering people.
Tieran using Kes' body to make Resh bleed Darth Vader style.
Teiran's coup.
Kes' personality surfacing in Teiran.
Teiran discovering undercover Tuvok.
Teiran using Kes' mental powers against Tuvok.
Kes fighting Teiran's in his sleep.
Teiran beginning to slip into insanity thanks to Kes' influence.
Paris to Tuvok regarding the Vulcan neck pinch: "Some day you're gonna have to show me how to do that."

Review

I like this one, for Jennifer Lien gives a spectacular performance playing possessed Kes, just as when Keiko was possessed in DS9: The Assignment. Moreover, the character of Teiran was nicely presented. Even better a character than the rather simplistic Pah-wraith on DS9. Also in this episode's favor was Janeway; she once again shows us how awesome a diplomat she is. Overall, a rare great Kes episode.

2 reader comments

Nice little homage to characterization and visual style of Dune. Probably the best 'possession' episode in Trek, but that's not saying much…
by Adam Loewen | 09/23/2010 at 10:24 am

I think TNG: Power Play was pretty good too, with solid acting by Meaney, Sirtis and Spiner. But this one was very exciting and Lien was surprisingly awesome. I say surprisingly only because no other Kes focused episode came close to giving Lien the chance to act like this, so it was cool to see.
The only problem area I saw was that in the end, you have an infiltration assault on the palace involving Janeway, Chakotay, Neelix, and the alien prince. But no Starfleet security personnel? I doubt the ship's two senior leaders would charge in without at least a couple of other officers especially since they were outnumbered 2:1.
by Mike L. Jackson | 07/09/2017 at 1:36 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x11 — The Q and the Grey

Aired 1996-11-27

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:5.09

Synopsis

Q asks Janeway to be the mother of his child.

Remarkable scenes

Q's appearance and declaration that he wants Janeway to be the mother of his child.
Chakotay regarding Q: "What did he want?" Janeway: "Let's just say he had a personal request."
The female Q calling Janeway a dog.
The visit to the American Civil War version of the Q Continuum.
The female Q's confrontation with Torres.
Voyager entering the Q Continuum.

Review

A good sequel to Voy: Death Wish. While the episode is thoroughly enjoyable, it does suffer from a distinct lack of realism. This isn't a major problem; the Q are omnipotent and can therefore do anything. But Star Trek viewers like plausibility and the Q civil war just didn't make too much sense on certain levels. In this respect the episode seems more of the fantasy genre than science fiction. That said, virtually every Q episode is a good episode and this is no exception. I'd say the biggest highlight of the show as the female Q and her interactions with the Voyager crew. I rather liked her conversation with Torres. When Torres mentioned something about her having a superiority complex, the female Q responded with something like, "It's not a complex, dear, it's a fact." Good stuff.

4 reader comments

Factoid: The actress that plays the female Q also played worf's baby momma in tng. Interesting because of her conversation with the other half klingon in this episode.
by Rick Smith | 03/28/2013 at 3:55 am

This episode was painful to watch. And not just because I hate most of the Q episodes. The biggest problems were:
1) Omnipotent beings with Earth-like gender and relationship stereotypes? Seriously? The interactions between the two Qs seemed like they've been taken out from a cheap soap opera. Not a fan of that.
2) Again with parallels to American history. And (at least) a second parallel to the Civil War (the first one is in TOS).
3) Wait, how did the Q suddenly lose their powers?
4) And I'm saving the best for last - that horrible chauvinism of Q's, which he didn't demonstrate with the female crew members aboard the Enterprise.
I wish this episode didn't exist, so I'll give it a 0.
by Inga | 09/02/2013 at 6:43 am

A fun Q-episode, and quite some mudslinging from Janeway.
Problem, a serious problem. How the heck do the shockwaves from the supernovas affect the warpfield of the starship before said wave yet have to reach Voyager? So the cause and effect breaks down here.
As said in the main review, even though we cant expect scientific correctness in any episode. We do need things to be believable - and this detail make the episode fail. Which is too bad, since I do enjoy the interaction and banter of episodes like this one.
by TheAnt | 09/21/2013 at 4:56 pm

This episode absolutely sickens me. It's an abomination. It completely destroys the mysterious nature of the Q by giving them human attributes - quarreling, unresolvable conflicts, male/female relationships, war, and procreation. It's so wrong, I don't even know where to begin! I love the Q episodes, especially the one before this where the one Q committed suicide. ARRRRGGHHH! Plus, this episode also cheapens the Q because of its disgusting jumping on the bandwagon of civil war mania during the time this was made. Remember, Ken Burns and his Civil War documentaries? This idea had to have come from the bean counters upstairs. If it didn't, there's no forgiving the writers and producers. I seriously hate this episode.
by thaibites | 03/09/2014 at 11:25 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x12 — Macrocosm

Aired 1996-12-11

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:4.46

Synopsis

Voyager comes under siege.

Remarkable scenes

Janeway making a fool of herself in front of the Tak Tak.
Ensign Wildman was watching Neelix' "Good Morning Voyager" program. Good continuity with Voy: Investigations.
Janeway says Neelix has a high fever and fluid in his lungs. Neelix replies, "Lung." Good continuity with Voy: The Phage.
Janeway suiting up for war.
The doctor's "attention to detail."
The doctor grabbing a macro virus and killing it with a hypospray. He then says: "Well, one down, ten billion to go."
Janeway using Neelix', Paris', and Kim's resort program as bait for the macro viruses. Just like Picard luring the Borg in Star Trek VIII: First Contact. :)
Janeway knifing one of the macroviruses then unleashing her antigen bomb.

Review

So the diplomatic genius Janeway finally falters and Neelix has to save the day in the beginning of this episode. That's a detail I like on many levels. It shows that Janeway isn't perfect, and that Neelix is actually useful. That may sound somewhat cruel, but that's the impression the writers have been giving us since day one. That Janeway is infallible and Neelix is just a cheerful passenger. Unfortunately, this episode spends most of its time on these "macro" viruses which are utter scientific nonsense. The main issue is a scaling problem; the characteristics of viruses scaled a meter wide don't translate at all. My favorite tidbit in this episode is how they were somehow able to hover. In the end, this episode has the same problems that TAS: The Infinite Vulcan had, really. A giant Spock is no better than a meter-wide hovering virus. At the risk of bashing this episode Voy: Threshold style, I must say I'm far more forgiving of this episode than I am of TAS: The Infinite Vulcan or Voy: Threshold because once you get over the science of the episode, it's really quite good. And honestly, some of the macro stuff could be rationalized. Aside from the opening scene where Neelix shines, this is Janeway's episode. I can't really say much else besides bravo and good job. This is one of Janeway's better episodes. The doctor too was also fun to watch. A decent episode.

4 reader comments

Trying to be Ripley from Alien..? Interesting. Didn't realize how buff Janeway was.
by Adam Loewen | 09/27/2010 at 6:57 am

@adam that's exactly what I thought! :)
by Inga | 09/03/2013 at 4:35 pm

Something that doesn't make sense - they are growing a lot, but out of what? They would need to harvest matter out of somewhere (proteins/atoms etc)…
by Hugo von Ahlenius | 10/30/2013 at 12:36 pm

OK, here's one more for you. When the creatures emerged from a victim, they made a sound like a buzzing fly. They had no wings, so how could they make that sound? (I guess if you can magically hover in air, you can make any sound you want.) I liked this episode a lot. Good action and suspense - Janeway was a badass bitch!
by thaibites | 03/12/2014 at 1:46 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x13 — Fair Trade

Aired 1997-01-08

SpaceOpera.com rating:1

Average reader rating:4.78

Synopsis

Neelix gets involved in a narcotics ring.

Remarkable scenes

The plasma explosion.
Janeway confronting Neelix.

Review

This episode is particularly annoying. Neelix' sudden lack of self confidence is explained well; he doesn't know anything about space beyond this point. Unfortunately, it takes him the entire episode to talk to Janeway about it. Janeway had every right to be angry with him. I would have been too.

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x14 — Alter Ego

Aired 1997-01-15

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:4.79

Synopsis

A holodeck character is obsessed with Tuvok.

Remarkable scenes

Tuvok regarding the Vulcan game of Kalto: "Kalto is to Chess and Chess is to Tick Tack Toe."
Tuvok playing Kalto with Marayna.
Harry: "Hi. My name is Harry read-me-like-a-book Kim."
Harry freaking out at Tuvok for playing Kalto with the Marayna.
Marayna transferred herself to sickbay, stole the doctor's mobile emitter, and went to Tuvok's quarters. Hilarious!
I like the discussion about just what Marayna could be. Nice references to TNG: Elementary, Dear Data and TNG: Ship in a Bottle.
Tuvok, Paris, and Torres all being attacked by Hawaiian holodeck characters.
Tuvok beaming to Marayna's space station.
Tuvok and Harry making up in the end.

Review

This episode is interesting and original in a few ways. Firstly, we have our main characters obsessing over a holographic woman. First Harry wants to learn to be more Vulcan, then Tuvok seems to act more human when he lets himself get swept away by Marayna. Then Marayna turns into Moriarty style sentient hologram and attempts to take over the ship. Well, Marayna actually ended up being a woman on a space station keeping the nebula from blowing up; controlling the holographic woman remotely. The episode nicely explores the personalities of Harry, Tuvok, and Marayna respectively. The only thing neglected is this fascinating dampening technology. Personally, I would have liked Voyager to have spent some time figuring out how to adapt the technology to come up with a new way to prevent a warp core breach.

4 reader comments

I suddenly realized that they are writing Tuvok as Warf. That's kind of annoying, but promises to be comical.
by Adam Loewen | 09/27/2010 at 8:16 am

Did we really need to go all the way to the Delta quadrant to have another holodeck episode? WTF!?!
by thaibites | 03/21/2014 at 8:31 am

At first I thought this was a rehash of both Minuet and Moriarty. It got saved - sort of - by the twist in the end. But, frankly "an alien in the nebula" is not fresh enough to be a really GOOD twist. Also, why didn't the aliens have a small team aboard their vessel instead of one lonely individual slowly going mad? If they can afford this level of technology just to preserve a thing of "beauty" then it seems they should be able to provide life support for more than one person.
But the exploration of Tuvok's emotions was great. I like that he is shown to be truly an emotionally disciplined being who sometimes has to work to find balance, rather than an emotionally cripple being struggling to repress herself, like T'Pol. When it comes to this whole emotion vs. logic dilemma, I think Tuvok is the best-written Vulcan of all time. If it wasn't for Spock's inexplicable charisma, Tuvok would be my personal favorite Vulcan…. Yeah, I know it's "illogical" to prefer someone just because of "charisma" :-)
by Jadzia Guinan Smith | 06/02/2015 at 4:58 pm

They could have made a better reveal of the twist:
Kim should not have gotten jealous over a character in a computer game. He should have just played with another copy. And then they might have noticed that there is more to this character!
I mean I didn't get jealous when my brother also romanced the govenour in Monkey Island, I had my own savegame!
by Amelia Obumhardt | 02/14/2022 at 9:41 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x15 — Coda

Aired 1997-01-29

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:4.55

Synopsis

Janeway is trapped in a time loop.

Remarkable scenes

The repeating time loop.
Everyone forgetting the time loop except Janeway.
Janeway contracting the Vidiian Phage.
The doctor attempting to euthanize Janeway.
Janeway being disembodied.
Janeway's dead father appearing.
The memorial service.
Janeway discovering what's really going on.
Alien: "You're in a dangerous profession, captain, you face death every day. There'll be another time and I'll be waiting. Eventually you'll come into my matrix. And you will nourish me for a long long time." Janeway: "Go back to hell, coward."

Review

First a repeating time loop TNG: Cause and Effect style. Then nobody remembers the time loop but Janeway. Then Janeway gets the Phage. Then the doctor tries to kill her. Then Janeway is disembodied TNG: The Next Phase style. Then Janeway's dead father appears and tells her she's dead. Then Janeway realizes she dreamt it all. I'm not sure this episode could get more random if it tried! There are mixed opinions about this of course. Some of the beginning is largely a waste of time, but it's done in such a nicely exciting way that I forgive it. Honestly, the episode gets better and better as it goes along. The teaser was a lousy shuttle crash. We've seen enough of those and they're not particularly remarkable stories. In the end we have an alien who seems to feed on consciousness playing a game of illusions with Janeway. In this respect, the episode is much like TOS: The Cage, which also made good use of illusions. Much like TNG: Where Silence Has Lease, I must say bravo to this episode for it's skillful waste of time. Filler with style.

4 reader comments

I largly agree with our all powerful master reviewer man here. However, I do NOT think this is a time-waster, however skill full yet random it is. I think the time loop, humour and touching memorial sequence work very well together and are very interesting. I found this surprisingly emotional, actually.The part When Janeway is strangled is really carried of well- and I did feel quite distressed. Also- the memorial scene and the stuff leading up to it was very moving- eventhough you knew the captain was really alive. ( unlike the irritating sequence in 'Resolutions' where the crew acted as if Janeway would never come back- but you knew she would anyway cos there was still another 5 seasons to do). All in all an enjiyable, touching episode.
by JennyDaTrekkie | 07/25/2006 at 7:28 pm

Is it just me, bit I don't get what the time loops and the phage had to do with the odd alien…
Also, the alien, what was he, a spirit just floating around? They could detect him on the tricorders, but only when he was active…? And this alien had no material substance at all?
by Hugo von Ahlenius | 11/08/2013 at 2:13 am

I ended up liking this episode a lot. There was a point in the middle where it got a bit too sentimental for me, but the ending really justified all the sentimentality and launched this episode into the upper echelon of Voyager episodes. Well done!
by thaibites | 03/28/2014 at 12:27 pm

I was wondering, why was Janeway so skeptical all the time? Only a couple of episodes earlier she learned that she should just believe everything "spirits" tell her, and then they cure death ^^
by Amelia Obumhardt | 02/14/2022 at 8:29 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x16 — Blood Fever

Aired 1997-02-05

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:4.62

Synopsis

Torres gets involved in a Vulcan mating ritual.

Remarkable scenes

Torres' very polite reaction to Vorik's proposal of marriage.
The doctor: "For such an intellectually enlightened race, Vulcans have a remarkably Victorian attitude about sex." Tuvok: "That is a very human judgment, doctor." The doctor: "Then here's a Vulcan one. I fail to see the logic in perpetuating ignorance about a basic biological function." Tuvok: "There is nothing logical about the Pon Farr."
Torres' mood swings.
Tuvok confronting Vorik.
The doctor suggesting that Vorik take out his... desires... on a holographic Vulcan female.
Torres finding Tom irresistible.
Vorik challenging Tom.
Vorik fighting Torres.
Tom and Torres discussing what happened in the turbolift at the end.
The Borg corpse...

Review

Vorik undergoes the Pon Farr, showing us once again how ridiculous Vulcan mating rituals are. I couldn't agree more with the doctor's complaints. The episode does make for some interesting entertainment though. Vorik pursues Torres, Torres pursues Tom. Tuvok tries to stay neutral but can't, and the doctor complains the whole way. Besides the emotional characters and the fighting, I was quite impressed with Chakotay's and Tuvok's handling of the xenophobic aliens in this episode. Someone invaded their world, so they dug deep underground and camouflaged their colony. At the very end of the episode, we find out who it was that invaded their world. The Borg... a very interesting cliffhanger.

9 reader comments

I like how B'Elana was fighting for her own 'hand', instead of having been a hopeless observer of two men fighting over her. That's one of my most hated stereotypes in TV shows/movies, so I find Voyager's take on it very refreshing.
by Inga | 09/15/2013 at 10:31 am

Totally ridiculous that they would allow anyone to be a crew-member when they are guaranteed at some point to become a severe and dangerous liability and may compromise the ship's survival. Why are Vulcan's allowed to serve and still keep this condition a cultural secret so it can't be planned for or mitigated medically? If they want to serve then they should have to be candid about this condition.
Exactly what is the status of holograms as sex-relief devices? It seems that is an accepted and known use, so it's a bit strange that the Doctor's brain-wave is any kind of breakthrough solution - it should have been the obvious one.
This episode made me dis-like Torres more.
And was that Gul-Dukat in the caves?
by L | 12/21/2013 at 3:14 am

I agree with L's comments. Torres is normally an extremely unlikable person, but in this episode she's completely out of control.
I'm sick of her ranting and raving. I'm sick of the actress hopping around like a bunny rabbit every time she's supposed to show that the character is upset. And, I'm sick of the crew always ENABLING (remember that politically correct word?) her to act like an emotionally out of control lunatic whenever the poor, spoiled child gets frustrated. Please kill Torres. Please.
by thaibites | 03/30/2014 at 8:38 am

Oh my goodness, this is some sci-fi writer's greatest sexual fantasy come to life! This girl I'm hot for is literally throwing herself at me, but I'm going to be a perfect gentleman and insist that she keep her lady parts under wraps. Whoa, she threw herself at me again? No, you're not in your right mind right now! Oh, wait, if we don't get naked and squishy she's going to die? Oooh-kaaaay, I GUESS I'll do it, but only because it's the only right thing to do!
I bet I would've loved this episode when I was 13.
by Dstyle | 05/01/2015 at 2:23 pm

@Dstyle --LOL. You're so right. This is SOOO a piece of fan service for 13-year-old boys. I think sometimes "romance" and sex are also thrown in as a misguided attempt to lure female viewers. Just as they want to hook the teenage boy viewership with gratuitous sex, they want to hook women with the underlying "romance" (e.g., Tom being turned on, but still refusing to take advantage of his love object). But I can tell you, as a woman, it's exactly this kind of overemphasis on relationships and degenerating into a soap opera in space that made me like Voyager (as a series) a LOT less than I would have, otherwise. I have to say, though, given the contrived script, the actors did a phenomenal job of keeping the urgency of the scenes quite natural. Paris and Torres have incredible on-screen chemistry and they managed to give a mature performance out of a silly, fans-ervice type script.
by Jadzia Guinan Smith | 06/02/2015 at 12:15 am

A rather silly episode, which could have been much better. The fight between Torre and the Vulcan is ridiculous. I simply cannot believe that this tender woman/klingon could knock out a Vulcan. The whole Vulcan/Klingon/human strenth issue is rubbish. The well trained James Kirk was equal to the "super-human" Spock (of course only half Vulcan!) in hand to hand combat. So I think the whole issue is not well integrate d in Star Trek and badly executed.
by peterwolf | 07/07/2015 at 9:19 pm

Disagree that this is some kind of sci-fi sex fantasy for 13-year-old boys. First of all, I refer you to Counselor Troi's wardrobe in ST:TNG. There is no more flagrant example of selling sex to the young male fan base in the entire franchise and one scene where Paris and Torres get a little steamy isn't even close to that. Also, other episodes in other ST series have dealt with these kind of issues (interspecies mating and sex themes) before. Admittedly this one is a bit more focused on the primal urges and a couple lines are rather cheesy, but I don't think they got as carried away with it as the above reviews claim. I laughed at Janeway's reaction to the Doctor's thoughts on Torres' prescription.
Also, it's true that Vulcan mating rituals are odd but I thought of it more as a culture which has embraced logic and dispassion struggling to deal with a remnant of its more extreme evolutionary past. What's more, I don't see Pon Farr as conflicting with male Vulcan service aboard starships any more than the unique challenges other species face. You have races that embrace ritual suicide, races that require special breathing apparatus, and races that have special sensitivities to heat and cold, all of which are potentially more problematic than having to mate every seven years.
All that being said about the overreaction to the mating aspect of this episode, I also enjoyed the subplot involving the Sakari. Another ominous reference to a species that was nearly wiped out by the Borg, all the more imminent of a threat given that this is the Delta Quadrant. We pretty much knew Voyager would encounter them eventually, it was just a matter of when.
by Mike L. Jackson | 05/27/2017 at 10:58 pm

Mike: just because Troi's plunging neckline exists doesn't make this any less of a 13-year old geek fanboy fantasy. Just because it happened before doesn't mean it can't happen again: it's not a zero-sum game here. Speaking as someone who was once a shy, nerdy 13-year old sci-fi fanboy, I can assure you that this ABSOLUTELY meets that criteria.
by Dstyle | 10/02/2017 at 6:30 pm

Yeah Star Trek went off the rails a little bit with pon farr. I have a hard time believing that a benevolent philosophy based on logic could stick in a society where half the population goes through this every seven years. They should've had pon farr be an Orion thing, not Vulcan. Or, hell, make it a Klingon mating ritual….although pon farr may already be mild flirting by Klingon standards.
The absurdity of all of this, combined with the Doctor's legitimate and unrefuted criticisms of pon farr, almost makes this episode a Star Trek self-parody, but I doubt that was the intent. And while I agree this doesn't exactly help Torres character development, I doubt it was the writers who wanted this to look like a masturbatory fantasy; historically with Star Trek, sex appeal has been the network or producers. Remember, this is the show that kept Garrett Wang purely because he made a list of TV's sexiest people, and is also the show that put Jeri Ryan in a tight "skin-regenerating" suit. Granted, keeping Wang and hiring Ryan both worked out, I feel, for story purposes, but both actions were taken for the sake of the show's sex appeal.
Anyway, trivia time: Alexander Enberg, who played Vorik in this episode, also played a Vulcan named Taurik on TNG: Lower Decks. Thankfully, Taurik did not go through pon farr in that episode, but the fact that the same actor played both characters has led some to speculate that, within the Star Trek universe, the two were twin bros :)
And yes, the Sakari subplot was a chilling reminder and preview of the crew's coming encounter with the Borg!
by Axel | 06/11/2018 at 11:50 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x17 — Unity

Aired 1997-02-12

SpaceOpera.com rating:8

Average reader rating:6.32

Synopsis

Chakotay becomes involved with Borg exiles.

Remarkable scenes

Voyager running into a Borg ship. Creepy.
Chakotay discovering his guests' little secret.
The doctor: "I must say, there's nothing like the vacuum of space to preserve a handsome corpse."
The Borg corpse waking up in sickbay.
Chakotay's neural link with the ex Borg.
The Borg ship reactivating.
The Borg ship self destructing.

Review

First, the bad. This episode suffers from redshirt syndrome. Ensign Kaplan is quickly disposed of to make this a Chakotay episode. That said, this is a great episode. It picks up on the cliffhanger in Voy: Blood Fever, the Borg Cube ghost ship is creepy and cool, and Torres' notion that the Borg may have been defeated by an enemy more powerful than they were is chilling, even if it turns out to be be incorrect. This episode creates good continuity also with TNG: The Best of Borth Worlds. Some of the people in this mini Collective were assimilated at Wolf 359. The moral dilemma of this episode is well presented. A group of ex Borg are killing each other so a faction pushes for the establishment of a new, independent Collective. In the end, Janeway refuses their request. I would too. But they impose their collective will on Chakotay and get their way. It is regrettable that Janeway squandered her opportunity to steal technology from the Borg ship, though she'll learn to stop playing it so safe later.

3 reader comments

This was a great little episode with a number of highlites and redeeming features.
It explores the nature of the Borg and raises some interesting propositions: is a benevolent Borg collective possible? And is imposing such a collective on others - in the name of planetary peace and/or one faction's survival - morally justified?
I liked also how Chakotay's skepticism and then surprisingly positive experience of being linked was portrayed.
Another small thing was the good use Chakotay and (forget her name) make of the "after-effect" - the linked love scene. One can only imagine what it would be like to touch someone and simultaneously feel both sides of the experience, literally. They probably had the best sex in the galaxy, perhaps the universe.
A small question mark I have about this episode is Janeway's readiness to "upgrade their security systems." Isn't that just a euphemism for arming one faction among many? Without even much deliberation or contact with the other groups in the conflict? Perhaps it doesn't fall within the prime directive because many of the "new collective" group were former Federation citizens. On the other hand… it still seems applicable. In either case, Janeway seems a little all too willing to share technology and weapons. I suppose it shows Chakotay's influence. Janeway's famous for her principles, but sleeping with her first officer can get you exclusive access, and do wonders for your cause, it would seem. (To be fair, perhaps the critical factor is linking with her first officer. Janeway explicitly asked if Chakotay detected any malice or ulterior motives, and he said he did not. Still iffy though.)
by formborg | 09/18/2011 at 10:06 pm

If some of the Borg were assimilated at Wolf 359, then how did they get back to the Delta quadrant? The Borg cube was destroyed! Maybe a sphere travelled back…
But other than that I like this episode. It doesn't make the Borg look less awesome than in TNG, which happens in later Voyager episodes. The idea of a disconnencted collective is cool!
by Lee | 04/08/2012 at 5:23 pm

The idea of the powerful Borg collective is the deepest fear of America: Communism. However, in this episode a different type of collective is presented. Indiviuals may join sometimes for the good of the community, e.g. when it is threatened, and it seems that the link is not permanent. Overall, this approach appears to be more acceptable than the true Borg collective. The exBorg unity looks a bit like the kibbutz communities. The episode itself is very well done with many important and serious issues. High above the Voyager average until now (I know that some very good episode will follow).
by peterwolf | 07/07/2015 at 10:25 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x18 — Darkling

Aired 1997-02-19

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:4.15

Synopsis

The Doctor turns violent.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor consorting with holographic historical figures.
The doctor displaying odd behavior to Torres.
The doctor's fire assault. Clever, seeing as how he can't be burned. :)
Torres explaining to the doctor that by integrating personalities of historical figures, he also acquired the "dark" traits of their personality as well, explaining his odd behavior.
The evil doctor torturing Torres.
Evil doctor regarding the doctor: "What a hollow excuse for a life."
The holograms of historical figures after being tortured by the evil doctor.
Kes: "What you're doing is wrong." The evil doctor: "Not at all! It's working perfectly!"
The mid air beam up.

Review

A largely unremarkable episode. The doctor is once again yelled at for tweaking his program and causing it to glitch; one wonders why he keeps attempting this if he keeps screwing it up. Kes broke up with Neelix in Voy: Warlord and finds a way to fall in love at first sight with alien of the week. She eventually realizes such a relationship is a bad idea and opts not to leave the ship; all very predictable. The evil doctor was overly cliched and the focus of the episode was too much on interpersonal relationships and too less about the doctor's struggle to improve himself at all costs. Having said all that, there were many scenes to redeem this episode, even if it was flawed somewhat in premise and execution.

11 reader comments

Kes could easily remove Doctors mobile emitter in transporter room..
by Dejan | 12/17/2007 at 11:54 am

Perhaps I missed something, but as far as I can tell it was not Kes that broke it off with Neelix in 3x10 Warlord - it was that controlling entity Teiran. I assumed after Teiran was defeated/exorcised, that Kes and Neelix were back together. I was taken aback seeing her rub up on an alien of the week.
by JR | 06/04/2012 at 12:58 am

^ I thought that as well, I kept expecting to see them back together
by Psycroptic | 08/28/2012 at 8:03 pm

The 'Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde' episode.
I like this episode, for several reasons. And Picardo really do carry the part well. For example when his evil self tell Kes how much he 'hate him' - the nice version of the doctor. The trek up on the mountain side really hints of the kind of scenario we were shown in the old kind of horror movies as Dr Jekkyl and Hyde belong to.
Even so one have to admit that this is one of the more average episodes, and admittedly a filler.
by TheAnt | 10/09/2013 at 10:33 pm

Something that is quite bothersome, and it's present all over SF shows: almost all alien species, in all the corners of the galaxy, have the same basic ways of expressing affection/attraction: kissing, touching faces, etc. Why? The only exception that comes to mind is the Vulcan hand touch, but even that was neglected with the new (Abrams) Star Trek. It shows a disappointing lack of imagination, and a missed opportunity to challenge our assumptions in interesting ways.
by zooky | 12/23/2013 at 10:30 pm

Zook, it's all part of Trek's remarkable take on convergent evolution. Most intelligent life is humanoid. Humanoid life all share a great deal of anatomical features due to convergent evolution. As such, all humanoid life expresses love (and other emotions) in similar ways, also due to convergent evolution.
by Eric Newport | 12/24/2013 at 7:59 pm

Kethinov, I think this explanation would make sense if behavior were determined on a strictly biological basis; as we all know, that is not the case. Also, it would not explain the Vulcan hand touch. Unless it's different for touch-telepathic species, like the Vulcans. But then again, Kes is also a telepath…
by zooky | 12/24/2013 at 10:54 pm

Of course it's all biology. Emotional states, psychological conditions, even Vulcan telepathy, it's all from the brain, which is biology. And since Star Trek is asserting that most aliens are very much like us (by being humanoid) then it's reasonable to assume that they experience all these things in a sufficiently analogous way.
by Eric Newport | 12/25/2013 at 3:15 am

Not to drag the conversation on too long, but I should point out that the view you just expressed is not immediately obvious, and needs justification. It's an interesting question to ask whether all human behavior can be reduced to biology, or if there is also a cultural component. There is evidence for the latter, since groups of the same species (so with identical biology) develop quite different customs, behaviors and sets of values. It's not only plausible, but much more probable, that different species will be even more different in their inter-personal conventions, even if they are part of some convergent evolution narrative.
by zooky | 12/25/2013 at 3:50 am

I totally agree that it's not immediately obvious and should have been explained by the show at some point. Unfortunately, it's one of the Star Trek franchise's many unstated premises as I like to call it.
Fans have had to come up with their own off screen rationalizations to explain many things that are peculiar or counterintuitive for years. Probably the biggest one, which I think is a more generalized version of your question, is "why are all aliens mostly like humans?"
The official explanation is it's a TV show and bumpy foreheads are easier on the budget. The best in-universe explanation is convergent evolution. It's a shame the show never mentioned it (although there are hints of panspermia on occasion, which is helpful), but unfortunately that's all we've got! :)
by Eric Newport | 12/25/2013 at 6:22 am

TNG - The Chase is all about the discovery of the progenitor species who infected the alpha, beta, gamma and delta quadrants with their mitochondrial DNA, adding it in the primordial soup of thousands and thousands of planet.
This is explained by a hologram at the end (the actress who plays the female shapeshifter in DS9 plays the role) as a smoothed off less featured humanoid of the long distant past appears as the puzzle is solved, one of my favourite ST episode just for having the audacity to try and explain away the wrinkly forehead cheaper on the budget choice way back when it happened in a plausible enjoyable episode, very entertaining Klingons too like the meeting with Data in the mess hall.
Slight sidetrack there lol not like me hahahaha so we all look alike because we are all alike deep down where it matters.
With a little bit of nature vs nurture thrown in the mix.
Just incase anyone missed the anti racism message that Star Trek has carried in style since day one.
by Rob UK | 12/25/2013 at 5:51 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x19 — Rise

Aired 1997-02-26

SpaceOpera.com rating:4

Average reader rating:4.16

Synopsis

A planet is bombarded with deadly asteroids.

Remarkable scenes

Neelix' overly enthusiastic attitude and his fumbling with the backpack.
Tuvok's little strength pissing contest with one of the aliens, crushing his fist.
Neelix freaking out at Tuvok.
Tuvok: "I am looking for Mr. Neelix' instinct. Perhaps it will be marked."
Alien regarding having pushed Tuvok off the lift: "Mr. Tuvok returned to the surface."
Neelix to the ambassador: "Mr. Sklar returned to the surface."

Review

Redirecting asteroids to planets as a method of conquest is an interesting concept and an original plot. Unfortunately the episode concentrates very little on these would-be conquerors and nearly exclusively on Tuvok and Neelix. Not that there's anything wrong with that; it's just that the aliens of the week were particularly more interesting to me than another Neelix vs. Tuvok conflict. With respect to their conflict though, the episode reminded me quite a bit of the conflicts Spock and Dr. McCoy used to have. And in that respect, the episode was quite entertaining. Overall the episode is decent. It has some untapped potential though.

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x20 — Favorite Son

Aired 1997-03-19

SpaceOpera.com rating:2

Average reader rating:3.05

Synopsis

Kim becomes convinced he's a native of Taresia.

Remarkable scenes

Tuvok: "Perhaps you are experiencing a paradoxical state-dependent associative phenomenon." Janeway: "Déjà vu."
Kim firing on the alien ship seemingly unprovoked.
Harry tying up one of the women and knocking out the other to escape.
The beam out.
Harry and Tom talking in the end.

Review

Another "Harry finds paradise" type episode. Unfortunately, the aliens in this episode were far more interesting than Harry's situation. I would have preferred to see more confrontation between the two peoples and perhaps some kind of outlining of their history, but we didn't get it. It's remarkable to note that every time Harry finds paradise, it's a fake and it's ripped away from him. I wonder why the writers enjoy doing this to him? Poor guy.

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x21 — Before and After

Aired 1997-04-09

SpaceOpera.com rating:9

Average reader rating:6.39

Synopsis

Kes begins moving backward in time.

Remarkable scenes

Doctor "Van Gogh", complete with hair.
Captain Chakotay.
Kes married to Tom.
Harry married to Tom's daughter...
Neelix: "It's good to see that old lung is still working, Kessie."
Neelix as a security officer.
Neelix: "You keep working on that sense of humor, Commander Vulcan. You'll get it one of these days."
Tom describing the Krenim and the Year of Hell. Janeway, Torres, and Carey all died in the Year of Hell.
Tom regarding the chronoton torpedos: "They were able to penetrate our shields because their torpedos were in a constant state of temporal flux."
Harry: "So how does it feel to be a grandfather?" Tom: "A lot better than it does to have you as a son in law."
Tom: "Doctor Van Gogh? I thought you settled on Mozart?"
Kes giving birth to her daughter.
Chakotay: "I don't understand how these torpedos are ripping right through our shields!"
Kes: "These torpedos are chronoton based. They're passing through our shields because they're in a state of temporal flux."
Kes discovering the temporal variance of the chronoton torpedo.
Kes jumping back to the end of Voy: Caretaker.
Kes' birth.
Kes' mother: "I think one day she'll see the sun."
The doctor asking what kind of medical breakthroughs he's going to make, and the crew asking about other future events.

Review

This episode is much like TNG: Future Imperfect, TNG: Cause and Effect, and TNG: Parallels all combined. And I must say, a fantastic combination. There is one episode which uses the Kes character better than any other, it is this one. There are numerous repercussions of this episode. One interesting, though perhaps trivial change, is that Kes now has long hair. This perhaps signifies that the time period Kes woke up in as the "present" is in fact quite a bit later than the time period of the previous episode. Besides this, Kes has given Janeway foreknowledge of the Krenim, a race which they will encounter later. Additionally, this episode predicts that Tom and Torres will form a relationship, as well as Lt. Carey's death. I hate putting mass spoilers in a review, but this is the most prophetic episode of Star Trek ever done. I'll be referencing it several times in later Voyager episodes.

5 reader comments

Why was Janeaway so eager to hear about the Krenim from future Kes? Uhhhhh…Prime Directive anyone?
by Pete Miller | 09/22/2006 at 9:37 pm

At Pete. This has nothing to do with prime directive. Maybe Temporal prime directive.
by Dejan | 12/17/2007 at 12:53 pm

Kes as a new-born baby has human ears. Not terribly plausible that the Ocampa develop their distinctive physiology later in life.
by zooky | 12/21/2012 at 4:00 am

The only good thing about this episode is that Torres dies. It was awesome! I laughed, I cried, I ate salami. Then, after I thought I had found paradise, it was ripped away from me. Torres died in an alternate time-line. Now I know how Harry feels…
by thaibites | 04/13/2014 at 7:18 am

This all seems to be about Kes's hair in the end. A contrived way to get her to have long hair. If not then why didn't the episode reset at a time when she had short hair? And we're also left with the feeling we've missed out on a chunk of Voyager life with the jump from short to long hair. The long hair makes her look like a librarian instead of an alien. No wonder she fell out of favour.
by Jon C | 08/04/2017 at 3:55 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x22 — Real Life

Aired 1997-04-23

SpaceOpera.com rating:6

Average reader rating:4.91

Synopsis

The Doctor experiences family life.

Remarkable scenes

The doctor's "ridiculously perfect" family and Torres' reaction.
Tom hitting on Torres.
Tom getting sucked into the space anomaly.
The death of the doctor's holographic daughter.

Review

The doctor chooses another name in this episode. This time it's "Kenneth". I guess the events of the episode make it seem pretty obvious why he doesn't stick with this name either. One wonders how Torres could be so cruel to the doctor as to program up something like that. The episode would have been better if Torres' involvement in it hadn't ceased immediately after she reprogrammed the doctor's family. Overall, it's very moving in the end, and I enjoyed the anomaly of the week plot too. But the distinct lack of real consequences leaves one sort of unsatisfied.

4 reader comments

I cannot stand these 'holodeck emotional attachment' stories. None of these characters are real… they aren't sentient, they're just 3-D video game characters. I don't understand why anyone would get so invested in a simulation that they wouldn't just "reset program" when its not going the way they want. I have the same problems when Fair Haven comes into the picture later. None of the emotional struggles people seem to have with these make-believe characters makes any sense to me, so I can never get into the emotions of the story.
by Rob Gnow | 04/26/2008 at 7:52 pm

Yet look at how passionate some people are in discussing their favourite Star Trek characters. They are no more real to viewers than holodeck characters are to the crew - indeed, perhaps less so, as it is possible to directly interact with holodeck characters in a way we cannot with TV characters.
Should we discard any episode dealing with the Doctor as he is not "real" and thus nobody should care about events involving him? Are any scenes suggesting the crew has an emotional attachment to the Doctor inherently meaningless and silly?
Further, in this episode, the focus of this episode is on the family's impact on the Doctor, rather than the family themselves. If holodeck characters are a tool to develop main characters, that seems quite a useful purpose for them.
by Nicholas Donaghy | 05/07/2008 at 4:41 am

I always used to complain that TNG was a soap opera. Well, this tear-jerker is more soap opera than All My Children. It's well-done, but it's still a soap opera. I have some new names for this series: As the Voyager Turns All My Voyagers Voyagers Hope Secret Voyager Days of Our Voyager The Young and the Voyager Guiding Voyager Another Voyager
by thaibites | 04/20/2014 at 2:24 pm

Can anyone claim they don't feel anything at all when reading a depressing story? People get upset when their favourite characters from a book or TV series die, so I find it perfectly logical that The Doctor would be devastated after these events. He was quite emotionally invested in the program.
Kethinov, in your review you're calling Torres cruel, but I'm not sure you understood that she only added some randomized behaviour to the characters. The development of the family could've gone in any direction. I'm quite sure she did not plan the dramatic end of the program.
by Sylvain | 04/14/2015 at 10:43 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x23 — Distant Origin

Aired 1997-04-30

SpaceOpera.com rating:10

Average reader rating:7.97

Synopsis

An alien professor kidnaps Chakotay.

Remarkable scenes

The Voth analyzing the human remains.
Gegen approaching the Ministry of Elders with his Distant Origin theory, the human remains, and his request for an expedition.
Good continuity with regards to the station at the Nekrit Expanse from Voy: Fair Trade. It's kind of ironic that the Voth believe the fake green plasma is actually Voyager's warp plasma.
Gegen: "Simple binary system. I've downloaded their database." Wow. That was fast.
Veer regarding the Voyager social structure: "It's obviously hierarchical with clear differences in status and rank. The males appear to be subordinate to that female. Perhaps a matriarchy." Gegen: "My conclusion exactly."
Chakotay's meeting with Gegen.
Janeway plotting the evolutionary model of the Voth.
The Voth city ship beaming Voyager into its hull... Wow.
Gegen and Chakotay confronting the Ministry of Elders.
Chakotay: "I know from the history of my own planet that change is difficult. New ideas are often greeted with skepticism, even fear. But sometimes those ideas are accepted and when they are progress is made. Eyes are opened." Minister: "When I open my eyes to this theory, what I see appalls me. I see my race fleeing your wretched planet. A group of pathetic refugees. Crawling and scratching their way across the galaxy. Stumbling into this domain. I see a race with no birthright. No legacy. That is unacceptable." Chakotay: "I see something very different, minister. An ancient race of saurians. Probably the first intelligent life on Earth. Surrounded by some of the most terrifying creatures that ever lived. And yet they thrived. Developed language and culture. And technology. And when the planet was threatened with disaster, they boldly launched themselves into space! Crossed what must have seemed like unimaginable distances! Facing the unknown every day. But somehow they stayed together. Kept going. With the same courage that had served them before. Until they reached this quadrant where they laid the foundation of what was to become the great Voth culture. Deny that past and you deny the struggle and achievements of your ancestors. Deny your origins on Earth and you deny your true heritage."
Minister to Chakotay: "It would be in your best interest if I never saw you again."

Review

For almost the first entire 15 minutes of the show, there isn't a single scene aboard Voyager. We're shown the perspective of a mysterious reptilian alien race, the Voth, investigating what is to them a strange species: humans. We get the rather surreal experience of watching "dinosaurs" excavate human bones (who is actually Hogan who died in Voy: Basics, this is genius writing in more ways than one), then as they catch up to Voyager we get to see them analyze the alien human culture. Some great funny tidbits, like the Voth watching Tom court Torres, the conclusion that Voyager is a matriarchy after watching Janeway for a few minutes, and Gegen's first words to Chakotay: he knew his instinct was to flee. ;) These details aside, the critical issue of the episode is of religion vs. science and it couldn't have been explored better. The Voth culture satirizes our own present day culture's evolution vs. scripture controversy with this fictional Distant Origin theory vs. Doctrine controversy. The dialogue of the episode couldn't be more nicely constructed; there is pointed discussion all around. No character involved is wasted and the episode leaves the viewer profoundly moved, with a deep sympathy for Gegen, for he, like our very own historical Galileo Galilei goes down a martyr. He sacrifices his science to save Voyager from the wrath of the Minister's power; her power is absolute, like a 16th century Pope. She prevails despite the fact that she neither disproves Gegen nor seems entirely convinced of her own Doctrine herself. My final comment regarding this episode is that I hope we once again some day see the Voth. They've got to be one of the best alien races ever presented in Star Trek and this episode was one of the best Star Trek episodes I've ever seen. Well done.

16 reader comments

Wow! That was ridiculously good! I can't believe I missed seeing this one until now. The early change of narrative perspective, the delightful humor in the first half, the performances of all the supporting cast playing the Voth, sets, dialogue, costumes. I found myself wondering how the production team could suddenly raise their game for one episode to this extent. Coming here now and seeing it's highly rated by others confirms I'm not going mad. :)
by David from California | 10/04/2007 at 7:46 pm

I actually found the life form count to be rather low, as I assumed it included all life forms - including the ocntents of the hydroponics bay.
by EKH | 11/23/2007 at 7:11 am

This is easily my favourite episode of Voyager to date (watching it for the first time). Nice to see them taking a leaf out of TOS - tackling issues that are topical back here on present-day Earth and presenting them in an original way.
It would have been pretty well perfect if not for a little silliness at the start with the Voth's attempt to track down Voyager. They may be advanced, but being able to translate one word ("VOYAGER" from the uniform) with no knowledge of the language, alphabet or any kind of context to work with is simply impossible.
That, and the fact that the Voyager crew seem to have been giving away technological souvenirs to alien races along the way (handing out tricorders and containers of warp plasma - didn't Neelix find it impossible to get hold of that for his drug-dealing in "Fair Trade"?)
Only minor flaws, and totally forgivable considering the excellence of the rest of the episode. I'd give it a 9.5, but since I can't vote halves on here I'll round it up to a nice fat 10.
by Mark McC | 07/03/2009 at 9:38 pm

I agree this is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever made. The struggle between honest science and hypocritical religious doctine was never dealt with this well. However, there is quite unnecessary misrepresenting of evolution again - surely not nearly as bad as in "The Threshold". However, the scene with holo-evolution of the Voth implied quite the same evolution=progression-misunderstanding. There are no most "higly evolved" lifeforms and certainly the extrapolatation of how the dinosaur evolved wouldn't work this way, not even with extremely advanced computers. You just cannot predict to such detail how a species will evolve, because of random environmental changes. Another real mystery is how the Voth culture could evolve on earth to a spaceage technology level without leaving any trace at all.
by Thomas | 10/01/2009 at 11:15 pm

Unfortunately there was something that bugged me. When the Minister asked Gegen if he could have been mistaken, Gegen should have said yes. Because he said no, he appeared as stubborn, but no where near as heartless, as the Minister and the Doctrine she represented. In spite of all the evidence supporting this notion, that they were in fact Dinosaurs from Earth, it is entirely possible (though completely implausible) that they could have developed native to the Delta Quadrant. Science itself is not about believing in the infallibility of whatever theory you have with enough evidence to make it seem real, it is about challenging the status quo and reaching beyond the world as it is and seeing what it will be tomorrow.
Even so, apart from that minor blemish, I readily enjoyed it. 9/10.
by Scholar Dennis | 09/14/2011 at 2:44 am

Agree with everything above. Great episode.
One thing I would've enjoyed more: the "change in narrative perspective" in the very beginning could've been kept up a bit longer. That was really fascinating and novel to watch.
There is also a minor wrinkle in the plot: at the trial, Chakotay refers to Janeway's and the Doc's research and analysis of the Voth… but he's been more or less kidnapped during that time, and as soon as he got on decent terms with Gegen, Voyager itself ended up kidnapped, its systems locked down and overrun. We neither see Chakotay communicate with Voyager, nor is it even very likely that he could do so off screen… So it's kind of implausible that he'd have access to that information.
But who really cares about a wrinkle in this case? I agree with the general consensus: this episode fries some pretty big fish, and does it well.
by distant@origin | 09/18/2011 at 7:52 pm

One of the best Star Trek episodes of all time. It's incredibly refreshing to see such a solid example of 'hard' sci-fi on Star Trek, let alone on television in general.
Obviously they missed some of the finer scientific points, but its easily forgiven considering the rare form of the episode's subject matter. Arthur C. Clarke would be pleased.
by Josh | 09/29/2011 at 3:36 am

Without question one of the most compelling Star Trek episodes, and probably the very best Voyager episode. I only wish the writing team had stuck to such rigorous attention to detail throughout the series.
by Joseph Angeles | 08/09/2012 at 11:23 pm

I cant but chime in with most other comments here.
The idea of what the dinosaurs might have become have gotten a treatment in pop science. So the story is not entirely original.
Even so it really reminds me of the episodes in TOS and TNG where science fiction writers provided the storyline and resulted in outstanding episodes. Distant origins can only compare with those few and in my opinion is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever made.
by TheAnt | 09/24/2013 at 8:31 pm

Finally, a good episode! The last 2/3 of season 3 has been poo-poo. I loved how the the first part of the show is seen through the eyes of the aliens. It was really refreshing to get away from the Voyager crew and get a different perspective on things. This episode affected me deeply because I live in Thailand, which is on the brink of a civil war as I write this. The cause of the problem that is splitting the country is dogma. The royalist side wants to continue lies that have portrayed the king as a god. They have a law called lese majeste where anyone who challenges dogma (the myth that the king is perfect) gets thrown in jail. The royalists only have money and power as long as the myth continues to be believed in by the citizens. It's the same with the Minister in this episode. Her power is built around myth. Take away that myth and she loses everything. Awesome!
by thaibites | 05/11/2014 at 4:41 am

Besides starting from the Voth perspective, after some Voyager perspective in the middle, the trial is Voth-centric with Chakotay offering a well-done but ultimately ineffectual (plotwise) monologue. This episode is Gegen's story, and Voyager is just a supporting player.
If you gave this a "Filler Quotient" it would actually be high, since it has little to do with the Voyager crew. But of course this is not an episode to be skipped.
One quibble I have that I didn't see mentioned: it seems implausible that a species could have warp technology but A) not leave any trace of their existence on Earth and B) not keep records of their history that would survive. Yeah, it's 65 million years, but still - this is the most important thing to happen to this species: packing up and leaving their planet of origin. How could that ever be lost to history?
It's a shame Voyager didn't offer Gegen a chance to get away from his sad fate by coming with them. I don't recall him mentioning having a family, and joining Voyager would be vastly more scientifically rewarding.
by tigertooth | 10/08/2016 at 5:57 pm

D'oh - of course Gegen's daughter was in the episode. So yeah, he had family.
by tigertooth | 04/26/2017 at 3:56 am

I dont see the problem with the way evolution is presented on the holodeck. Janeways asks the computer to display what would be the most highly evolved species from that specific dinosaur. Since Voyager has all environmental data from Earth's history, it has a basis for making a reasonable extrapolation of evolution from that dinosaur. The end result isnt exact, which is a nice nod to the fact that it is just a guess and not meant to be perfect.
by Rick | 05/02/2017 at 1:02 pm

I was also expecting that this would end with Gegen joining the Voyager crew, maybe as some form of exile. It would've made sense: the Voth authorities clearly would see life among a mammalian species as being fitting punishment. But that, of course, would've necessitated the addition of yet another character so within the show's constraints it was good enough ending.
I agree, this one begins fantastically well and immediately piques your interest. It's a great piece of science fiction, and the problems to me are excusable as it tells a compelling story and deals with important themes. The most glaring problem is that raised by the reviewer above, that in the ST universe there is no archaeological evidence for a spacefaring race of hadrosaur descendants on Earth. Keep in mind that how the Voth left Earth is up to the imagination. Maybe they joined with another spacefaring species that was visiting Earth. It's a detail, that's all.
What matters is that the truth of their origin is a threat to the species' mythology about itself. I remember studying Darwin in college, and that he clearly did not set out to overturn and eliminate all religion. He merely sought to explain something he observed in the natural world, and could not have foreseen the implications of his theories or how they would be perceived as such a threat by religious authorities. Gegen, in this story, asserts that he isn't trying to upend the Voth worldview entirely, just bring some truths to light that may require some adjustment in the historical record. For a scientist, this isn't a problem because science is constantly challenging itself until left with the truth. But challenging even a small part of a religious belief has historically been seen as dangerously disruptive to the socio-religious order, and that has led to countless wars and persecutions. THat's really what this episode is about.
by Mike L. Jackson | 05/28/2017 at 10:58 pm

It's an enertaining episode, but a 10? Best of Voyager? With all that nonsense included? Please… This episode is based on silly idea of advanced warp capable dinosaurs escaping Earth - it's almost as stupid as newts from "Threshold". Am I suppose to believe, they didn't left any signs of existence and after millions of years further evolution are only a bit more technologically advanced than humans? As was written above - holodeck reconstruction of evolved dinosaur is based on complete lack of understanding what evolution is. We have plenty of evolved dinosaurs aroud us - they're called birds… Next - it's really that strange voth and humans have common parts of DNA? It's Trek! Almost every race can mate with another and have children, so humans, vulcans, klingons, ocampa and so on… - they all must have similar DNA. So even in delta quadrant the voth could find plenty of other "cousins". Sorry, but I just can't take this episode seriously, it's almost a parody. PS - Galileo's conflict with Inquisition and pope (who was in fact his former friend and supporter) wasn't such simple and one dimensional as we may think:) I recommend further investigation of this matter, off duty:)
by McCoy | 08/11/2017 at 3:46 pm

Some interesting criticism of this one in the fan comments. I don't share most of it though. I think the overall lessons and themes of this episode are more important than any science-fiction blunders, and if anything, the "blunders" get you thinking about the science rather than forcing you to suspend logic so badly.
First, on the question of how a civilization of evolved, space-faring hadrosaurs could have existed without any trace: I recommend an excellent article in the The Atlantic back in April by Adam Frank. It was more about how long the impact we humans are currently leaving on Earth's geological and atmospheric record will be available, but it posed some questions that made me think of this episode. We assume that we'd be able to detect an ancient civilization, and if it's a few thousand years ago, we could. But that ability becomes a lot murkier if you turn back the clock several million years. An advanced civilization may not be as traceable as we think, especially if it only lasted a few thousand years itself. Just some modern science to inject into a sci-fi premise :) Could something like the Voth have actually existed? Of course it's extremely unlikely. But if nothing else, it raises some interesting questions about the long-term impact a civilization can make on a planet, depending on its technology.
Second, I don't think the Saurian they show in the holodeck, or the Voth themselves, are such an outrageous slap in the face to evolutionary biology because of the existence of modern birds. Homo sapiens and other modern species of ape share common hominid ancestors that no longer exist. And, the more fossils we uncover, the more complete our understanding of the evolutionary process becomes. The only known evidence linking birds and dinosaurs used to be Archaeopteryx; now we have a lot more. It's fun to imagine, I think, that in the distant future, when every continent on Earth has been excavated, how much more we'll know about evolution. That's how I looked at the holodeck extrapolation: just a sci-fi imagination of a real-world future technology. We'll one day be able to fill in a lot of gaps that we currently can't.
All in all, this was badly in need of a sequel. If you accept the webmaster's view that the last couple seasons of Voyager could've been spent back in the Alpha Quadrant, then you would have the makings for that sequel. Of all the discoveries Voyager made along their journey, this would be earth-shattering, and they could've done a great sequel involving Federation efforts to re-establish contact with the Voth. Maybe then, some doctrines change.
by Axel | 06/11/2018 at 12:12 am

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x24 — Displaced

Aired 1997-05-07

SpaceOpera.com rating:3

Average reader rating:5.17

Synopsis

Voyager is pirated by an alien race.

Remarkable scenes

Torres and Tom arguing in the teaser.
Torres asking hostilely asking Harry if she's in fact hostile. Irony.
The doctor: "Welcome to sickbay. Take a number."
Chakotay sabotaging the ship.
The doctor, regarding Torres reconfiguring him: "Then I can begin my new career as a tricorder."
Torres disabling the doctor's speech during her and Tom's argument.
Torres: "Klingons have much less tolerance for the cold than humans do." Tom: "I thought that was the Cardassians?" Torres: "They just complain about it more."
Janeway taking over the translocator.

Review

The extraordinary is becoming routine. This episode is totally boring. Only the basic premise is actually interesting; taking over a starship with a long range transporter, making it look like an innocent anomaly. Speaking of this transporter, one would think that a transporter with 10 light years range would be something Janeway might want to appropriate for her troubles. Oh well. A decent premise with an annoying execution. An extra point for some good scenes with the doctor as well as Torres and Tom.

4 reader comments

How could they communicate with the alien with no communicator? ;-)
by Dejan | 12/19/2007 at 11:39 am

Well obviously voyager's prison guards had them in some way, ya hairsplitter.
by Scholar Dennis | 06/09/2010 at 5:44 am

This episode has to be the writers' ultimate fantasy - not only is it a holodeck episode, the alien ship has holodecks everywhere! The writers must've been creaming in their pants while they were writing this. It's like mega-mega hoo-haw holdeck extravaganza. How can they top this? How about a wormhole full of holodecks, and each holodeck leads to another wormhole full of holodecks, which leads to another…
by thaibites | 05/22/2014 at 8:17 am

Paris and Torres in the frozen world: the acting, makeup, set design… pretty much everything looked so fake. I never believed for a second that they were even slightly chilly. And when they phasered the ice above the aliens to make it crash down on them? Ooof. Awful.
by tigertooth | 10/08/2016 at 6:38 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x25 — Worst Case Scenario

Aired 1997-05-14

SpaceOpera.com rating:5

Average reader rating:6.35

Synopsis

A holo-novel program becomes all too real.

Remarkable scenes

Chakotay starting a mutiny out of nowhere...
Seska's appearance.
Tom walking in on Torres' holodeck experience.
Neelix, Tom, and Torres discussing the how the holonovel reacts to different situations.
The holonovel ending right when Tom meets Tom. :)
Tuvok declaring himself the author of the holonovel.
Janeway showing enthusiasm for the holonovel. That's kind of surreal.
Holographic Janeway vaporizing herself due to the sabotaged phaser rifle.
Tuvok reconfiguring the phaser to overload on Seska.

Review

The writers were trying to set up a mysterious opening plot, similar to what they did in Voy: Distant Origin. But it seemed pretty obvious directly after the opening credits that things weren't exactly as they seemed. Tuvok mentioned something about Chakotay's "new duties" as first officer, and Torres was called an ensign by Chakotay. If the mystery was to be successful, they should have cleaned up those details. Instead, the mystery was totally unsuccessful and I knew right off the bat that this was all holographic. Seska's appearance kind of solidified this. Yes, we're on Voyager in early season one. Either through a holodeck program or some kind of temporal anomaly. At least the holodeck thing was more original. That said, I did enjoy the concept of this story quite a bit. And it's something of an irony that in the last aired episode of Star Trek, we get a story in which all the Maquis are slaughtered. (DS9: Blaze of Glory) In this episode they come back in full force through Voyager. I guess the writers don't want to let them die. ;) This harmless and cute story goes quickly sour once again though. It seems so petty that Seska had nothing better to do than to tamper with Tuvok's holonovel in the small chance that it might score her some revenge some day. So while the episode is entertaining and exciting, the flaws make an average episode at best.

7 reader comments

Holy crap. This episode just placed in my list of (underrated) favorites. It has an excellent premise and the "mutiny simulation" is just damn cool to watch. Especially the very beginning, before Paris interrupts Torres' simulation. Somewhere in those first ambiguous minutes I started to think, "This has got to be some kind of holoprogram or something," but even with those suspicions the initial scenes have a certain undeniable "HOLY SHIT" factor. Chakotay takes over Voyager. There's a shootout on the bridge. Torres shoots Harry. Full-scale mutiny. Just awesome.
It's also neat how everyone IRL is part secretive, part excited, part embarrassed about the whole thing, and I love Janeway's reaction to the matter: "I'm not just a captain of a ship. I'm the leader of a community, and communities need entertainment." Interesting to see how the crew and leadership reacts to an "inflammatory" subject matter.
The twist at the end with "Seska's ghost" haunting and torturing Tuvok and Paris is satisfactory and quite plausible (a "booby-trapped" holoprogram, safeties off, makes sense to me). The insane doctor is quite amusing to watch as well. Ending is fine.
IMHO, it's the basic premise that earns this episode its points, not so much the specific details.
(RE whether or not Seska had better things to do than booby trap Tuvok's holonovel… hmm.. kind of a fair point. She's not really an irrational character… or at least, she's only irrational when it comes to Chakotay. At the same time, this may not have been such an irrational thing for her to do. If her intent was to eventually take control of Voyager, what better thing to do than to kill off Voyager's security officer? Tuvok would've been priority one (after Janeway) and this holo-boobytrap thing selectively targets Tuvok, as opposed to some kine of less specific form of sabotage that could kill potentially useful Maquis crewmen.)
by holy@crap | 09/16/2011 at 3:24 am

I don't think it was a matter of Seska hoping to get retribution one day. I imagine that she thought Tuvok would activate her version of the program much sooner, probably prior to when she eventually left the ship. I figure that she was not expecting Tuvok to begin to trust the Maquis crew members and stop creating additions to the program.
by Vincent | 10/03/2011 at 4:26 am

This is perhaps my favorite star trek episode of all time. The part I liked best was in the beginning when all those Borg cubes were coming at the voyager when all of a sudden,they were destroyed by an aliens phaser(8472)
by Janice Trekkie | 07/06/2012 at 6:00 pm

I just love this one, especially that everyone have the notion that they are so well fitted to contribute and improve on the revolt scenario. Neelix, Torres and in the end even Ceska.
With just a few small changes this could have been one fantastic episode…
-Someone stop me, now I am doing it too!!!!
by TheAnt | 10/10/2013 at 9:50 pm

Some amusing ironic meta-commentary from Chakotay on the illogic of Voyager's usual episode formula… "Under my command, we won't let almighty Federation principles get in the way of opportunites, the way Janeway did when she destroyed the array that could have gotten us home. And we won't be wasting precious time stopping to investigate every insignificant anomaly that we come across. What we will do is use any means necessary to acquire technology that can shorten our journey home. To hell with Starfleet regulations."
Seems like the writers acknowledging some of the inconsistent decisions given Voyager's prime motivation.
by L | 12/22/2013 at 7:23 am

The Vulcan book Dictations on Poetics surely must reference Aristotle's Poetics. A book most hollywood writers are acquainted with.
by Mikael | 01/28/2014 at 10:49 pm

Oh boy, what a surprise - another holodeck episode! Thank goodness we traveled all the way to the Delta quadrant just to have half the episodes from this season be about the holodeck. How did this show last 7 seven seasons? Does it get better? It has to, it couldn't get much worse…
by thaibites | 05/19/2014 at 12:13 pm

Star Trek: Voyager — 3x26 — Scorpion, Part I

Aired 1997-05-21

SpaceOpera.com rating:10

Average reader rating:6.77

Synopsis

Janeway faces an enemy more dangerous than the Borg.

Remarkable scenes

Seeing the Borg annihilated so easily in the teaser.
15 Borg vessels passing by Voyager. Chilling.
Janeway: "In the words of Jean-Luc Picard: 'In their collective state, the Borg are utterly without mercy. Driven by one will alone. The will to conquer. They are beyond redemption. Beyond reason.' Then there's captain Amisov of the Endeavor: 'It is my opinion that the Borg are as close to pure evil as any race we've ever encountered.'"
Paris upon seeing the destroyed Borg vessels: "Who could do this to the Borg?"
The alien attacking Harry. I love his blood curdling scream.
The alien bio ship firing on Voyager.
Kes, regarding the alien that spoke to her: "It said the weak will perish."
Chakotay regarding the Northwest Passage: "It's clear of Borg activity for a very good reason."
Leonardo: "What do you see?" Janeway: "A wall. With candlelight reflecting on it. Why? What do you see?" Leonardo: "A flock of starlings. The leaves of an oak. A horse's tail. A thief with a noose around his neck... And a wall with the candlelight reflecting on it."
Chakotay: "A scorpion was walking along the bank of a river wondering how to get to the other side. Suddenly he saw a fox. He asked the fox to take him on his back across the river. The fox said, no. If I do that you'll sting me and I'll drown. The scorpion assured him, if I did that, we'd both drown. So the fox thought about it and finally agreed. So the Scorpion climbed up on his back and the fox began to swim. But halfway across the river, the scorpion stung him. As the poison filled his veins, the fox turned to the scorpion and said, why did you do that? Now you'll drown too! I couldn't help it, said the scorpion. It's my nature."
Voyager confronting a Borg vessel.
Species 8472 destroying a Borg planet. The cliffhanger with a Borg vessel fleeing 8472 with Voyager in tow was fantastic.

Review

One of Voyager's best offerings. Right from the beginning we're shown the ominous destruction of Borg ships by an unseen force. Afterward, we see more Borg ships in one episode than we've seen in all of Star Trek so far. The exciting plot and the great musical score grow more and more intense as the episode progresses until finally it ends with the best cliffhanger since TNG: The Best of Both Worlds.

2 reader comments

I didn't really like the conversation between Janeway and Chakotay after she proposes the Borg alliance. Chakotay raises some good points and Janeway gives some good rationale for her decision. But she forces Chakotay into a bit of a false dilemma when she claims she is dealing with this alone. Chakotay never said he or the crew will abandon Voyager; they will indeed face the threat together. He owes her support once the decision's made, but he doesn't owe her complete agreement with everything. He's right when he says he's no good to her as just a nodding head.
by Mike L. Jackson | 05/28/2017 at 6:07 pm

I haven't seen much past season 2 of Voyager yet but I'm jumping around to get some backstory for Picard. It's cool to get more exposition about Borg tech and I'm looking forward to Seven's introduction. It's rather chilling how much of the Milky Way has been assimilated by the Borg in the Trek universe.
I'm always salty how they never send specialists with things like armor, helmets, gas masks, and specialized tools into hazardous away missions like this. Nope! Send three of our vital bridge crew with a couple guns and tricorders, that should do it. I know this is endemic in Trek and well-established by TOS and TNG, but this episode made me extra salty, especially juxtaposed with Enterprise, which I'm just getting into, and which actually uses freaking armored environment suits like any sane person would. And leaving Kim by himself? Rookie mistake! If they'd had a data collection specialist trained in hazardous environments and xenotechnology, accompanied by armed and armored security guards, all in environment suits, Harry wouldn't have gotten into trouble! #TrekkieProblems
Janeway imitating captains was funny.
Nice rope lights inside the biomass ship!
Replicator rations while "Catarina" idles away in the holodeck? Urgh.
Some Kind Of Counting: a drinking game!
I might be able to create some sort of medical defense.
Maybe we can develop some type of protective shielding against them.
Some kind of subspace turbulence.
Imitating the captain, huh? Surely that violates some kind of Starfleet protocol.
I'm picking up some sort of bio-readings.
It looks like a warp propulsion system of some kind.
We think it might be a ship of some kind.
The bioship is powering up. Like it's charging some kind of weapon.
Some kind of parallel universe?
SKO count: 9! Do these writers even hear themselves?
Good episode though. Unique plot, lots of suspense, excellent cliffhanger. The scorpion parable is a pretty good analogy here. Looking forward to part 2.
by Azalea Jane | 08/17/2021 at 11:58 pm