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Star Trek Voyager (VOY) Guest Reviews
Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3 - Season 4 - Season 5 - Season 6 - Season 7
Caretaker
Stardate 48307.5-48315.6: Synopsis in main VOY listing
And it was all going so well. :( It had been a long time since I sat down and watched the pilot for the only Trek series I'd managed to see from pilot to finale when it started (TNG premiering the year I was born, and DS9 never got a lot of exposure on Australian TV).
So, "Caretaker", surprisingly a very solid pilot. The character development is already sorted with Paris' story about being kicked out of Starfleet due to deaths of cadets
(à la McNeill's other character Nick Locarno from TNG episode "The First
Duty"). Janeway's seen chatting with her husband Mark before embarking on the journey, and her scientific backgrounds briefly shown, indicating she's not a carbon copy of most other captains. Her friendship with Tuvok is also shown and Tuvok of course is revealed to have been a Starfleet spy serving aboard the Maquis ship commanded by Chakotay and Torres. There's also
naive Kim, and the first appearance of the Doc, who's more than annoyed with the situation at hand with the medical crew killed and people not switching off his program. How he'd change. ;) And there's Neelix and Kes of course.
And the effects are quite good, the new ship's of course of Voyager, the Maquis raider, a
brief appearance by a Cardassian warship, the Array, the Kazon ship. An impressive start showing how alien this series was going to be.
And despite how unique the story is, with the seemingly powerful and omnipotent deviating from the routine role of species like his, instead CARING for the Ocampa due to his
people's turning their planet into a wasteland, I think it's where it goes down at the end. Given the choice between using the array to send Voyager home, or violate the Prime Directive by interfering in what would've transpired had Voyager never been
there in the first place: The Kazon taking control of the Array. Janeway choosing the latter. Understandably, had she not, this series would've been over and done with in the space of 90 minutes, but I think it would've been a better option had the choice not been made so casually. The Kazon didn't seem to present much of a threat at that moment, Tuvok was
nonchalant about the process to take them home taking a few hours when that should've been made more a deterrent as to why they couldn't hang around and wait for it to take them home.
And the crews joining so easily at the very end with no qualms wasn't so satisfactory, and it's not like it's much issue later on during the series with only a few instances of Maquis insurgence.
However, I'm still happy with this, it set up the premise well and developed the characters in a satisfactory way. The effects and set pieces were great and the performances were solid. Just a shame the decision to strand the crew was one made in haste, and in a way that went against Starfleet protocol. Call me heartless, but when given the choice between getting my crew home, or dooming them to a 70 year journey while violating the Prime Directive by interfering in the balance of power (as Tuvok duly informs Janeway), the decision would've been clear to me, and you can't help but wonder what other Captains would've done in her situation.
Nitpicking: Tri-cobalt devices. What are they? How did they differ from photon or
quantum torpedoes? Why did the ship only have a rare few? Why did they even bother introducing some new flashy new weapon only to right them off almost immediatley?
Remarkable set/station: The Ocampan underground city and the Caretaker's array respectively
Remarkable fact: On its maiden voyage, Voyager lost its First Officer, CMO and Medical Staff, Chief Engineer and helm officer.
- Due to the new sets, new ships, location shooting, special effects and so on, Caretaker alone cost
as much to film as "The Wrath of Khan".
Rating: 7 (Cameron)
Parallax
Stardate 48439.7: Synopsis in main VOY listing
A decent follow up to Caretaker that does really well to address vital issues that are sadly shrugged off in
following seasons. From the start there's already issues with ship-wide systems that are being repaired, and this sort of commitment to the most 'real' consequence to the situation Voyager is in is respectable.
Further, the character development continues with themes seen later on in the series. Kes and the Doctor meet for the first time in which she recognises his sensitivity as a 'person' of sorts, and we see their relationship continue to evolve later in the show. Chakotay has to fend off Tuvok AND Maquis crewmen suggestive of mutiny over B'Elanna's assault of Lieutenant Carey in Engineering. He also later
justifies his and the Maquis' loyalty to Janeway, while not entirely betraying his independence, so good work by Robert Beltran. Again, Janeway has her scientific background touched upon as she and B'Elanna work together over how to escape the first of many 'anomalies of the week'. There's also a subtle nod to Paris' crush on Kes, as he offers her his seat in the Conference room (which Janeway makes the point that she and Neelix had no place being in, but this of course changes).
And it's a good episode, the only failings I found were the constant talk scenes, the action and flow was upset a bit by casual banter as the crew waste time going into the conference area to discuss B'Elanna's plan about 'wedging' open the anomaly. The B-Story isn't exactly enthralling, simply the Doctor's program is malfunctioning due to the effect of the anomaly, causing him (or IT as Tuvok refers) to shrink in appearance.
Remarkable quote: "You know, I like you better this way..." -Paris, delighting in conversing with a 2-foot tall Doctor.
Remarkable scene: Janeway and B'Elanna on the shuttle having to decide which of the two
Voyagers they encounter is real, and which is a 'temporal reflection'.
Remarkable appearance: Seska, the recurring character of a Cardassian-spy disguised as a Bajoran to infiltrate the Maquis, appears for the first time, albeit in a
blue-science division uniform. In subsequent appearances she dons the gold uniform.
Rating: 8 (Cameron)
Parallax
Stardate 48439.7: Voyager receives a distress call from a ship obviously stuck within the event horizon of a black hole. It is noticed too late that
the calls actually originate from Voyager itself at a time when the ship is already trapped in the singularity. B'Elanna proves very helpful in finding a way out and, in spite of her unrestrained manners she is promoted to chief engineer.
This episode is awesome, I think the scene in the briefing room between
B'Elanna and the captain about the quantum singularity is classic Trek. The joke about
the Doctor shrinking is almost as funny as the later episode when he daydreamed of
Tuvok during Pon Farr. Right from the first scene where Carey's nose is broken I was blown away.
Remarkable quote: "She's not just out of control, she's out of her mind." (Lieutenant Carey)
Remarkable scene: When Janeway and Torres are in the shuttle returning to Voyager
the real Voyager and a time delayed reflection are right in front of them.
Rating: 10 (Kyle)
Jetrel
Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing
I think this episode is probably one of the better ones of the first season. While the action level never reaches an all time high like Caretaker, the episode is the really the first major glimpse into Neelix's past. I also appreciated the indirect references to the dropping of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima in this episode (For those of you out there that aren't history buffs, when Neelix is describing what the explosion of the
Metreon cascade looked like, that is almost a direct quote from a Hiroshima survivor!).
Remarkable fact: The punishment for not reporting to duty on Talax for military service is death.
Rating: 8 (Norm)
Threshold
Stardate 49373.4: Tom Paris develops a way to travel at Warp 10.
I just had to add my little tidbit about this episode. The other reviews cover it pretty well. Although I don't think this is a bad episode. Even though this episode is filled with
inconsistencies (in which every single Star Trek episode made has at least 1 inconsistency in it) it shows yet again what
Warp 10 is like. After reading the Voyager Inconsistencies page on this website I needed to say
something. Does anyone realize that the Enterprise-D went past Warp 10? So why not get on that as well and complain about
Warp 10. In the first season the episode "Where No One Has Gone Before" the Enterprise-D was taken to another galaxy and back again. If you remember Geordi said something along the lines of "We are going past Warp 10!" You have to realize this IS science fiction. FICTION therefore it is not real. Overall this is a good episode. Don't listen to the critics, they are just mad they didn't write an episode this good.
Rating: 8 (Adam)
Threshold
Stardate 49373.4: Synopsis in main VOY listing
Oof. If I were to rate the three worst Star Trek episodes, I would probably do it as follows: 1st is ENT: "Harbinger", 2nd would be "Threshold", and 3rd would be TOS: "The Alternative Factor". From what I understand, TPTB admit that this episode stinks and that it might not even be considered canon, and even Brannon Braga himself admits it was the worst episode he ever wrote. Okay Brannon, then really what where you thinking when you wrote this piece of garbage?
This episode really angers me. Are the writers really stupid, or do they simply think we, the viewers, are really stupid? I know this is science fiction and that it should not be taken too seriously, but "Threshold" crosses the line and even more. How can a small group of officers on a small ship figure out something so amazing when oodles of scientists back at the Federation could not? Also, couldn't Voyager get some valuable information on getting home faster from the 900 thousand zillion teraquads the shuttle supposedly logged from all over the universe?
The writers also seem to not have a clue as to how evolution works. A species does not have a predetermined path in evolution, unless you factor god in, but
let's not have that debate here. Evolution is an incredibly slow process that involves countless generations of minor mutations and natural selection. You don't just turn into a lizard/salamander thingy overnight.
Bogus molecule: Acid Dichloride -- Someone with more chemistry background may know better than me, but this nomenclature is screwed up. I never heard of a compound name that starts with
"acid". If this is supposed to be two chlorines bonded with hydrogen, wouldn't it simply break down into HCl, hydrochloric acid? Brannon Braga obviously pulled this one from his ass probably because the name sounds cool and "technical". Give me two minutes and I could look up something else that is both cool sounding AND is an actual, real poisonous gas.
More nitpicking: It was bad enough is previous Trek episodes to see humans morph into something completely different and then somehow be able to come back to their normal state. TNG:
"Identity Crisis" and TNG: "Genesis" come to mind. One curious question pops in my mind any time I watch one of this episodes: Would an old scar, mole, or freckle reappear as it was before the radical transformation? Also, would these people really be able to retain all their memory?
Rating: 0 (Chris)
Deadlock
Stardate not given: Subspace anomalies inside a nebula cause a quantum duplication of Voyager and crew. One version is heavily damaged by the Vidiians, Ensign Wildman loses her baby and Harry is blown off the ship through a hull breach, while an undamaged version of Voyager occupies the same space at the same time. In order to save the intact ship, Capt. Janeway of the damaged ship decides to activate the self-destruct. However, as the Vidiians enter the undamaged Voyager, this ship has to be destroyed, after Kim and Naomi Wildman have been transferred to the other ship.
This episode was a little confusing at first, but made more sense as we find out about the duplicate Voyager. I like the fact that Naomi was born in this episode and was taken to the other ship in the end with the other
Harry. It was a good episode that I could never get tired of.
Remarkable quote: "Mr. Kim. We're Starfleet officers, weird is part of the job."
(Janeway)
Remarkable scene: When the Janeways are talking in engineering. When the two voyagers try to merge and pass through each other.
Rating: 8 (Kyle)
The Chute
Stardate 50156.2: Harry and Tom find themselves in an Akritirian prison, surrounded by prisoners. They have been implanted with 'The Clamp'. This device stimulates their violent tendencies. When Harry gives in to the device, Tom saves him and when Tom gives in, Harry saves him. While the Akritirian government is stubborn, Janeway mounts a rescue operation which involves using Neelix' ship and some deception.
Contrary to Bernd's review of this episode, I did not find this a episode worth a rating of 1. I thought it was quite exciting to watch, keeping the viewer on their toes. Harry and Tom's situation looked very desperate and the 'oh no' feeling was quite prominent throughout.
The manifesto of the one person being able to survive in the prison for six years (imagine counting 2191 or 2192 days) was forced onto Harry although he did not take much interest in it. The fact that the species which was introduced as violent at first could produce an individual capable of controlling the clamp is remarkable. This means that, however violent, at least this individual had far more willpower than Starfleet-trained humans (Tom and Harry).
I liked this episode because it gave me the same feeling as TNG: "The Game" and it kept me thinking about the situation. I thought it was quite a unique episode.
Clearly, I've seen better episodes though and the four missing points are for the lack of
Star Trek technology, the stupidly stubborn Akritirian government, the lengthy prison scenes and the easy way out at the end.
Rating: 5 (Tijmen de Haan)
Future's End
Stardate 50312.5: Synopsis in main VOY listing
"Future's End" is a great story that never left me bored. I have to admit that I was skeptical about this episode before actually watching it. The synopsis made it sound ridiculous like so many Voyager episodes. "Future's End" was a pleasant surprise as it did not reveal too much 29th century technology to the viewer and risk becoming too ridiculous. The episode reminds me a lot of TNG: "Time's Arrow" and seems just as good, especially considering the time loop issue is similar.
I know the idea of the Doctor's mobile emitter was a controversial one. Too many times in Voyager the writers seem to go a little too far with the science fiction they come up with. One would think that the Federation would be radically different after Voyager comes home at the end of the series, but nothing seems much different about it in ST:N.
I appreciate how the side jokes in the episode were treated as well. They never got too out of hand like so many other Voyager episodes, and the writers had a lot of opportunities to make a lot of tiresome jokes considering the 20th century setting.
Remarkable guest appearance: Sarah Silverman
Rating: 8 (Chris)
Day of Honor
Stardate not given: B'Elanna reluctantly faces the Klingon Day of Honor, and it turns out an awful day indeed. First she has to accept that her arrogant new crewmate Seven is going to work in engineering, then she has to drop the warp core after a failed experiment. Next, she and Paris take a shuttle to search for the core, but are attacked by the Caatati. An imminent hull breach forces them to leave the shuttle in spacesuits. Their oxygen having dropped to a minimum level, B'Elanna admits that she loves Tom. Most of the Caatati have been assimilated by the Borg, and besides the warp core they also demand the extradition of Seven of Nine. Seven succeeds in finding a solution for the energy shortage of the Caatati who agree to return the warp core.
I loved this episode for a few reasons. I like how they put B'Elanna
on the holodeck for the Klingon day of honor ritual. I also liked how for the first time we see a species that was almost extinct by the
Borg and Seven ends up greatly helping them. About the scene where B'Elanna tells Tom she loves him:
It's about time, to any serious Voyager fan we figured that out like a month before.
Remarkable scene: The day of honor ritual includes eating the heart of a targ and the
drinking from the grail of Kahless.
Remarkable quote: "We've dumped the core. Welcome to the worst day of my life."
(Torres to Janeway)
Rating: 9 (Kyle)
Nothing Human
Stardate not given: An alien organism rescued by Voyager attaches itself to B'Elanna, intertwining
its tendrils around her vital organs. To assist in removing the creature, the Doctor and Kim construct a holographic assistant specialising in exo-biology; Cardassian scientist, Crell Moset who performed experiments on Bajorans during the
occupation of Bajor. Despite the ethical issues at hand, Janeway greenlights the operation, which is a success. The Doctor decides that Moset's and his knowledge has no place in a medical database to later draw upon and deletes his program.
This is a frustrating episode that tried to shield itself behind the wall of human (or in this case, Bajoran) experimentation and the ramifications it has when it comes to using the gathered information on B'Elanna to remove the 'alien pest' of the week to cover up the blandness of the episode, but in the end makes the crew look really bad and I wanted to slap them all except Paris. The crew take the high road too in order to make themselves feel better by condemning the holographic Moset, perhaps I relate to Tom most of all in his frustrations over the senior staff busy having a debate over morals while B'Elanna's life was slipping away. They all seem to act as if THE Crell Moset on their ship was the real one and it were up to them to judge him. B'Elanna herself of course objecting to Moset operating on her, and all but forbids it happen.
The random Maquis officer we haven't seen before nor since (Tabor) is embarrasing in his 'attack' on the holographic representation of Moset, did he seriously think that the Cardassian
scientist had 'Wizard of Oz-ed' his way onto Voyager from Cardassia Prime and that throwing a swing at him would achieve anything? Could this goldshirt not discern from a real person and an autonomous representation? And his threats to resign his
commission are hollow, as we never knew of this character before and he only appears once more in the series in 'Repression'.
It's really pathetic to see the crew acting thick to treat a few beams of light and photons with a voice box dressed up like a Cardassian as a war criminal and the ending is unsatisfactory, with the Doctor
conveniently washing his hands of the situation by deleting Moset's program. It doesn't help of course when yet another sentient hologram is brought into the series, of course, this was only done to try and make the viewer detest Moset even more, a more realistic hologram (compared to the ones in say, the Hawaiian resort program) wouldn't have made for an easier target for the crew's vitriol ;)
Anyway, the episode is nothing special, the commentary takes the spotlight and the B-Plot is largely routine, the Alien is removed, mainly due to the Doctor's compassionate tactics just to show up Crell's torturous methods, and is returned to
its ship. Seven of Nine takes over engineering while B'Elanna's KO'd, not like it matters though. B'Elanna snaps at Janeway for allowing the surgery to go ahead, Janeway, in her hypocritical fashion brushes off Torres' protests and berates her for it with her usual 'I'm the Captain, therefore God' rationalisation, even if it's a true rationalisation.
Remarkable quote: "Fine. Let's just deactivate the evil hologram and let B'Elanna die. At least, we'd have our morals intact." -Tom Paris
Remarkable scene: Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris and the Doctor in the conference room debating over Torres' fate, it's a shame more scenes like this weren't in the series which showcased the abilities of all these actors, great scene in a dull episode.
Remarkable set: Crell Moset's laboratory, I'm guessing they had some leftover decor' from DS9 that needn't have gone to waste ;)
Remarkable fact: Roxann Dawson had claimed this was her least favorite episode to work on, due to the death of her dog during the episodes filming, and all her work on set was limited to lying on a biobed :(
Rating: 3 (Cameron)
The Fight
Stardate not given: Voyager is trapped in "Chaotic Space" and the way to getting out is with Chakotay.
I hate this episode.
Okay, that's a bit strong, but I hate this episode. It's 45 minutes of nothing. When it first aired I fell asleep. I figured it was because I had gotten up early that morning. When I talked about it to a friend of mine, he told me that he also fell asleep.
When it was shown during the rerun, I again, fell asleep. I don't know why. When it went to weeknight rerun syndication I caught this episode and with enough coffee and
Mountain Dew I managed not to fall asleep. I regret that.
This is the only Star Trek episode every to put me to sleep. I was awake through "11:59", I was awake during "Threshold", "Carpenter Street" and that episode of DS9 with the cross dressing Quark.
This episode goes nowhere. This episode does nothing. If it wasn't because it kept putting me and my friends to sleep, it would be an episode that I would have forgotten. If 'Voyager' was still being shown in reruns this would be one of those episodes that I would go out of my way not to watch.
Rating: 0 (Jason Feagans)
11:59
Stardate not given: Captain Janeway is inspired to tell the story of Shannon O'Donnell and the
Millennium Gate to her senior officers.
This episode has received extremely harsh and undeserved criticism from fans. I will admit it isn't the highlight of the season, but it does have a good plot, strong characters and above all it is light hearted. The episode is surrounded by others such as
"Juggernaut", "Warhead" and "Equinox" which are much much darker. This is the only Star Trek episode of this nature and I believe it to be a
suitable tribute to the dawn of the millennium, let's face it, Star Trek had to do something. It really annoys me when fans dismiss episodes just because they are different. What is important is that you have a good time watching them, and I did with
"11:59". I know a lot of you will disagree with me, but I thought that this episode was better then most of season four of Enterprise, after
"Storm Front". Granted, many of the other cast were not in the episode very much, but it isn't exactly a first for Star Trek episodes. (I am a massive Enterprise fan by the way just if you were wondering by my
comment.)
Remarkable fact: The Millennium Gate
Rating: 6 (Craig Flint)
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