Post by Dimitris on Mar 4, 2004 3:06:23 GMT -5
Star Trek: Voyager The Great Episodes of Season One
When Star Trek: Voyager debuted on January 16, 1995, fans were launched on a journey unlike any seen before. Not only was the action of the series to take place far away from the confines of familiar Federation space, but the familiar, seamless Starfleet crew interaction (which could lack conflict) was jettisoned in favor of a mixed crew of Maquis and Starfleet survivors banding together to make it back from the Delta Quadrant.
The first season laid the table and began the first course of a long meal for Star Trek fans as they watched the crew pursue an overarching objective — getting home — without compromising the ideals they stand for. To mark the occasion of the release of Voyager on DVD this week, below you will find a few of Season One's memorable episodes.
Caretaker
Introducing new characters while maintaining a quick pace is tough business, and the premiere episode manages to set up the upcoming series while moving the action along at a brisk pace. The opening few moments (which may or may not be a winking tip of the hat to another franchise) kick the series off with high-octane action, as a Cardassian ship chases Chakotay (Robert Beltran), B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), the undercover Tuvok (Tim Russ) and the rest of the Maquis crew into the Badlands.
The introductions of the Starfleet show regulars Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and the disgraced Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) as well as the U.S.S. Voyager itself roll off quickly, with a guest-appearance from Quark (Armin Shimerman) added, linking the show to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which was the other Star Trek series airing at the time. And sooner rather than later, the ship and its crew suffer the same fate as Chakotay and his crew, displaced 70,000 light years away to the Delta Quadrant, and the game is afoot.
Alone in a strange and uncharted realm of space, the crew had no choice but to set course for home, all the while hoping for the best but always experiencing that nagging feeling that odds were their descendants may be the only Voyager passengers to set foot again on home soil. The journey, at maximum warp, would take a minimum of 75 years. Such a worst-case-scenario notion as never making it home within one's lifetime is something prior Star Trek shows may have toyed with within an episode and resolved by the fourth act, but the specter of such a grim reality is built right into the premise of Voyager.
Parallax
The conflict between the two sides of Voyager's inhabitants — Starfleet and Maquis — flares up almost immediately as the two disparate groups try to coexist in order to attempt the journey home. This episode gives us a deeper insight into Torres and the kind of adjustments she'll have to make to function aboard Voyager — as well as the adjustments the rest of the crew will have to make to function with her.
The underlying allegory of radically different-minded people having to set aside their differences to pursue a greater objective is obvious, but in demonstrating that the devil is in the details. This episode reflects how simple it is to allow smaller issues to overwhelm the larger.
Phage
What could be more terrifying than a villain who can snatch away a vital body part with ease? The Vidiians, who suffer from the horrendous phage, follow a dark existence, taking vital organs from healthy beings as their means of survival. This disturbing development adds to Voyager's sense of being far, far from home and having only their technology, skills and will between them and unspeakable horrors.
This episode also allowed for more development of the Doctor (Robert Picardo), giving him something more serious to work with. The balance between him as comic relief and the serious realities a ship's physician has to contend with. The integration of the crew's Delta Quadrant additions — Kes (Jennifer Lien) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) continues as the Doctor has Kes begin training to be a medical assistant.
Eye of the Needle
The first glimmer of hope and its subsequent dashing gives a taste of the crushing despair that being isolated so far from home can feel like. As the plan of using a wormhole to transport back to the Alpha Quadrant forms then falls apart, the rollercoaster ride of morale is apparent. Despite the distance from the known Star Trek universe, fans are treated to a Romulan appearance (Star Trek veteran character actor Vaughn Armstrong as Telek), and the bittersweet result of the contact underscores the series' theme of pushing forward despite whatever setbacks occur.
Another interesting component in this episode is the further development of the Doctor as a character — when Kes notices that he's treated like a piece of equipment, it reminds the crew that all sentient life deserves respect, and the Doctor is allowed to control his own deactivation, having been at the mercy of the crew to turn him off when they leave the room. The themes of holographic life (and the rights inherently implied) that the Doctor represents will be explored further in the series, and it's in moments like this where that exploration finds its roots.
State of Flux
In keeping with Voyager's departure from other Star Trek series, it's revealed that there's a traitor onboard who is defying the Federation's Prime Directive by sharing Starfleet technology with the Kazon-Nistrim. Ongoing storylines are rocked as the deck gets reshuffled when Seska is revealed not only to be a Cardassian in disguise, but is also not interested in Voyager's plans to return home. Seeking to grab as much power as possible, she escapes the ship and allies herself with the Kazon against Voyager.
Voyager as a series had, up to this point, relied mostly on one-shot episodes that stood alone. While individual characters and relationships were being built in previous episodes, "State of Flux" laid the groundwork for future episodes by providing an enemy who has inside knowledge of Voyager's workings and its crew, providing another obstacle in its long journey. No one ever said getting home would be easy, and Seska's treachery will only make things harder.
Jetrel
In an harshly emotional episode, Neelix is confronted with his past and we learn that the Delta Quadrant is no stranger to the horrors of war. While Voyager's resident Talaxian has been seen up to this point as mostly comedic to balance his more serious counterparts amongst the crew, a new depth in his character is forged when he is contacted by Dr. Jetrel, the Haakonian scientist responsible for creating a weapon of mass destruction called the Metreon Cascade.
Neelix had done his best to bury the pain, but the events of the past (the weapon killed 300,000 Talaxians, including his family) surfaces for him, and he also must deal with a hidden shame he'd harbored for years. This episode is a demonstration of how science fiction can, by use of allegory and broad metaphor, give insight into our own experience on modern day Earth. Many scientists who worked on early atomic bomb programs were tormented with a similar guilt as Jetrel, and the episode's exploration of such big issues shows once again how Star Trek can be devastatingly relevant as long as a viewer is willing to make connections.
Since Voyager debuted halfway through the typical television "calendar year," the first season was a good ten episodes shy of what normally constitutes a "season." (There were more episodes produced, though they turned up at the beginning of the second season.) Throughout the year, Paramount Home Entertainment will be releasing the entire series on DVD, so look forward to more examples of great Voyager episodes from each season as the year goes on.
www.startrek.com
When Star Trek: Voyager debuted on January 16, 1995, fans were launched on a journey unlike any seen before. Not only was the action of the series to take place far away from the confines of familiar Federation space, but the familiar, seamless Starfleet crew interaction (which could lack conflict) was jettisoned in favor of a mixed crew of Maquis and Starfleet survivors banding together to make it back from the Delta Quadrant.
The first season laid the table and began the first course of a long meal for Star Trek fans as they watched the crew pursue an overarching objective — getting home — without compromising the ideals they stand for. To mark the occasion of the release of Voyager on DVD this week, below you will find a few of Season One's memorable episodes.
Caretaker
Introducing new characters while maintaining a quick pace is tough business, and the premiere episode manages to set up the upcoming series while moving the action along at a brisk pace. The opening few moments (which may or may not be a winking tip of the hat to another franchise) kick the series off with high-octane action, as a Cardassian ship chases Chakotay (Robert Beltran), B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), the undercover Tuvok (Tim Russ) and the rest of the Maquis crew into the Badlands.
The introductions of the Starfleet show regulars Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and the disgraced Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) as well as the U.S.S. Voyager itself roll off quickly, with a guest-appearance from Quark (Armin Shimerman) added, linking the show to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which was the other Star Trek series airing at the time. And sooner rather than later, the ship and its crew suffer the same fate as Chakotay and his crew, displaced 70,000 light years away to the Delta Quadrant, and the game is afoot.
Alone in a strange and uncharted realm of space, the crew had no choice but to set course for home, all the while hoping for the best but always experiencing that nagging feeling that odds were their descendants may be the only Voyager passengers to set foot again on home soil. The journey, at maximum warp, would take a minimum of 75 years. Such a worst-case-scenario notion as never making it home within one's lifetime is something prior Star Trek shows may have toyed with within an episode and resolved by the fourth act, but the specter of such a grim reality is built right into the premise of Voyager.
Parallax
The conflict between the two sides of Voyager's inhabitants — Starfleet and Maquis — flares up almost immediately as the two disparate groups try to coexist in order to attempt the journey home. This episode gives us a deeper insight into Torres and the kind of adjustments she'll have to make to function aboard Voyager — as well as the adjustments the rest of the crew will have to make to function with her.
The underlying allegory of radically different-minded people having to set aside their differences to pursue a greater objective is obvious, but in demonstrating that the devil is in the details. This episode reflects how simple it is to allow smaller issues to overwhelm the larger.
Phage
What could be more terrifying than a villain who can snatch away a vital body part with ease? The Vidiians, who suffer from the horrendous phage, follow a dark existence, taking vital organs from healthy beings as their means of survival. This disturbing development adds to Voyager's sense of being far, far from home and having only their technology, skills and will between them and unspeakable horrors.
This episode also allowed for more development of the Doctor (Robert Picardo), giving him something more serious to work with. The balance between him as comic relief and the serious realities a ship's physician has to contend with. The integration of the crew's Delta Quadrant additions — Kes (Jennifer Lien) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) continues as the Doctor has Kes begin training to be a medical assistant.
Eye of the Needle
The first glimmer of hope and its subsequent dashing gives a taste of the crushing despair that being isolated so far from home can feel like. As the plan of using a wormhole to transport back to the Alpha Quadrant forms then falls apart, the rollercoaster ride of morale is apparent. Despite the distance from the known Star Trek universe, fans are treated to a Romulan appearance (Star Trek veteran character actor Vaughn Armstrong as Telek), and the bittersweet result of the contact underscores the series' theme of pushing forward despite whatever setbacks occur.
Another interesting component in this episode is the further development of the Doctor as a character — when Kes notices that he's treated like a piece of equipment, it reminds the crew that all sentient life deserves respect, and the Doctor is allowed to control his own deactivation, having been at the mercy of the crew to turn him off when they leave the room. The themes of holographic life (and the rights inherently implied) that the Doctor represents will be explored further in the series, and it's in moments like this where that exploration finds its roots.
State of Flux
In keeping with Voyager's departure from other Star Trek series, it's revealed that there's a traitor onboard who is defying the Federation's Prime Directive by sharing Starfleet technology with the Kazon-Nistrim. Ongoing storylines are rocked as the deck gets reshuffled when Seska is revealed not only to be a Cardassian in disguise, but is also not interested in Voyager's plans to return home. Seeking to grab as much power as possible, she escapes the ship and allies herself with the Kazon against Voyager.
Voyager as a series had, up to this point, relied mostly on one-shot episodes that stood alone. While individual characters and relationships were being built in previous episodes, "State of Flux" laid the groundwork for future episodes by providing an enemy who has inside knowledge of Voyager's workings and its crew, providing another obstacle in its long journey. No one ever said getting home would be easy, and Seska's treachery will only make things harder.
Jetrel
In an harshly emotional episode, Neelix is confronted with his past and we learn that the Delta Quadrant is no stranger to the horrors of war. While Voyager's resident Talaxian has been seen up to this point as mostly comedic to balance his more serious counterparts amongst the crew, a new depth in his character is forged when he is contacted by Dr. Jetrel, the Haakonian scientist responsible for creating a weapon of mass destruction called the Metreon Cascade.
Neelix had done his best to bury the pain, but the events of the past (the weapon killed 300,000 Talaxians, including his family) surfaces for him, and he also must deal with a hidden shame he'd harbored for years. This episode is a demonstration of how science fiction can, by use of allegory and broad metaphor, give insight into our own experience on modern day Earth. Many scientists who worked on early atomic bomb programs were tormented with a similar guilt as Jetrel, and the episode's exploration of such big issues shows once again how Star Trek can be devastatingly relevant as long as a viewer is willing to make connections.
Since Voyager debuted halfway through the typical television "calendar year," the first season was a good ten episodes shy of what normally constitutes a "season." (There were more episodes produced, though they turned up at the beginning of the second season.) Throughout the year, Paramount Home Entertainment will be releasing the entire series on DVD, so look forward to more examples of great Voyager episodes from each season as the year goes on.
www.startrek.com