Voyager 1x16 "Learning Curve"

rating: ****

the story: Tuvok runs a class for delinquent former Maquis.

what it's all about: Somehow "Learning Curve" became known as a knockoff of Next Generation's "Lower Decks."  Both episodes involve officers struggling to find their place in the crew.  For that matter, Voyager's own later "Good Shepherd" follows that mold, too.  Yet each episode approaches the same basic story from a unique perspective, and told for different reasons, and reach their own conclusions.

"Curve" is arguably the most significant of them for one very good reason: like a lot of Voyager first season episodes, it tackles one of the enduring criticisms of the series right from the start.  In this case, it's that the "Maquis problem" was never properly solved. The Maquis problem is much like "Ferengi episode" in Deep Space Nine: a problem in the cynical eye of the beholder, much ado about nothing from fans who just wanted to complain.  There was never a Maquis problem in the series, to be clear.  Right from the start, the series made it clear how and why Maquis rebels ended up joining a Starfleet crew.  For anyone who still didn't understand after the pilot ("Caretaker"), the first regular episode of the series ("Parallax") explained all over again, and then another ("State of Flux") gave those fans what they wanted (a former Maquis rebel betraying the crew).  Finally, "Curve" explains what happens to the stragglers.

Of course there would be stragglers, those who felt left behind and had trouble integrating. The task of finishing the job falls to Tuvok, which is an irony, given that he'd been secretly embedded in their crew by Starfleet, one of the best twists of the pilot.  Being a Vulcan, he's the perfect character to represent this situation, choked up with logic when the only solution is what Tuvok uniquely achieved for Vulcans, the ability to be logical and also be rebellious at the same time, which cropped up in the series time and again (previously and quite brilliantly in "Prime Factors").

Perhaps the best scene, however, belongs to Chakotay, who once and for all settles the question of how he ended up towing the Starfleet line.  He was one of the Maquis (and the unit's captain) who'd served in Starfleet before joining the rebellion.  One of Tuvok's students asks Chakotay why they can't just continue behaving like the Maquis, and Chakotay responds in the most brutal and straightforward, unmistakable manner possible: he punches him, calling that the Maquis way, which not only settles the matter but also explaining the inherent efficiency and authority of Chakotay, why he eventually faded into the background, because he prefers things running smoothly.  When a crisis happens and certainly when it affects him personally, you'll know it (the Seska crisis from "State of Flux" and the second season, for instance).  It's the character in a nutshell, and absolutely pitch-perfect. 

The only real downside of "Curve" is that it introduces a Bolian who would've been great fun to see pop up in a recurring role the rest of the series, but Chell only appears once more ("Repression") and then referenced as replacing Neelix in the mess hall.  Bolians are one of the most distinctive aliens of the Next Generation era, and yet they never quite got their due.  It would've been nice, is all I'm saying.

That this ended up as the first season finale, despite that not being the original intention of the producers, is a matter of serendipity.  Not only does it allow the second season to open with "The 37s," with its powerful moment of the crew deciding to remain together rather than split apart and colonize a planet, but it gives that wonderful sense of closure for the Maquis problem.  Not that there was one, as "Curve" once and for all proves.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Part of a tradition of exploring minor crew members.
• series - Finally explains the different mentalities of the Maquis and Starfleet.
• character - Technically it's Tuvok in the spotlight, but Chakotay steals it.
• essential - A quiet way to make history, but it happens all the same.

notable guest-stars:
Derek McGrath (Chell)

Voyager 1x15 "Jetrel"

rating: ****

the story: Neelix is confronted by the scientist responsible for a horrific weapon used against his people in a devastating war.

what it's all about: It's really quite alarming how Neelix became the Jar Jar Binks of Voyager, used as a poster child for everything that was wrong with the series.  He was considered too obnoxious, and that was pretty much all anyone who hated him and/or the series had to say.  People who either purposefully reduced his character to the basics anyone would've seen watching scraps here and there, or...I don't really know another way it could've happened.

"Jetrel" is another bold first season episode that flatly contradicts the general perception of Voyager, whether from its early years or throughout its run.  It explains Neelix's backstory in stark terms that are rare in the franchise, so that he's no longer the random passenger taken aboard in the pilot because of circumstances, but actually has a tragic reason for why he was meandering through space to begin with.  Especially, again, when you take into account the effect or even the effect of the effect the Borg had in the Delta Quadrant, the sad tales of aliens to be found throughout Voyager makes perfect sense, and there's really no more important sad tale than Neelix's, so to have a whole episode dedicated to it, right at the start, is startling foresight for a series everyone always claims didn't think anything through...

Anyway, "Jetrel" has echoes of "The Conscience of the King" in it, and is also a touchstone for Enterprise's later "Stratagem," setting during its third season Xindi arc.  The idea itself is hardly unique, but having Neelix once again contradict the impression he usually gives as unfailingly congenial (we first saw this in "Phage," and will again in the harrowing "Mortal Coil") is compelling in terms of character depth.  There's often a reason why people who seem happy all the time are so eager to project that image, which never seems to crack.  It's not even about the clown crying on the inside, but that Neelix has so many reasons to focus on the positive rather than the negative, and "Jetrel" most of all explains that: he's never really convinced by his performance, either.  So he spends all his time defying his impulses, which is why he's such a natural foil for Tuvok, not because they're opposites but because they're so much alike.  It's just, Neelix has found a way to keep his emotions.  He risks more but he's also capable of grand gestures like realizing the scientist whom he should revile deserves compassion.

It's a shame that we didn't see more Talaxians in the series, but it makes sense.  Neelix represents them well.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The familiar trope of the man behind a terrible event being exposed.
• series - Gives a context to Neelix.
• character - Gives Neelix some of his best material.
• essential - It helps explain a lot of fans tend to overlook about Neelix.

notable guest-stars:
James Sloyan

Voyager 1x14 "Faces"

rating: ****

the story: B'Elanna Torres is split by the Vidiians into her Klingon and human halves.

what it's all about: "Faces" ought to be remembered in the same league as Deep Space Nine's "Duet," at the very least, an unexpectedly deep first season episode.  It's another of Voyager's first season knockouts, at any rate, proof that the series started out as boldly as it could, in a lot of ways setting a mark that would be difficult to reach in later seasons.  If fans want to question any of that, it's their own problem.

In the vein of "The Enemy Within" from the original series, "Faces" finds an excuse to split a character into two individuals, but this time it's an intense character study featuring Voyager's most fascinating conundrum, the half-Klingon who seemingly retread ground covered by Spock and Worf before her but who somehow continually made the results fascinating.  Torres had already reconciled her Maquis allegiances to her new Starfleet status in "Parallax," the first regular episode of the series, and then somehow does a good turn one better. 

While Spock (half Vulcan, half human) and Worf (all Klingon, raised by humans) had struggled with finding their place in society, Torres struggled first and foremost with accepting herself.  The Vidiians, who might've been a one-off wonder in "Phage," provide a handy excuse for Torres to confront her anxieties in the most literal way possible.

Apparently there were quibbles with the ending, with how the crew approaches the reunited Torres, but any other choice than the quiet one where she has to try and figure it out for herself would've robbed Torres of everything she'd gained and would continue to tackle ("Lineage," for instance), with an equally classic mirror in the later Doctor spotlight "Latent Image," which features an equally ambiguous conclusion.

Brian Markinson has one of the most unique guest-spots in franchise history, playing both a fellow Starfleet captive and the Vidiian scientist holding them prisoner (with a grim twist explaining why).  The producers were clever enough to insert Markinson into the prior episode ("Cathexis") to help set it up.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Giving the Star Trek theme of mixed identity a bold new spin.
• series - Officially dubbing the Vidiians a Voyager classic species.
• character - B'Elanna Torres sets the bar very, very high.
• essential - See above.

notable guest-stars:
Brian Markinson

Voyager 1x13 "Cathexis"

rating: **

the story: Chakotay's disembodied mind helps the crew thwart a takeover.

what it's all about: The alien possession trope is, well, a well-established trope in the franchise, so there's really not much to be said about that.  It's one of those odd sci-fi plots thrown into the first season to try and satisfy general viewers, which only infuriated fans joining the emerging serialization bandwagon, and fans who just didn't want another Star Trek.

Fans of Voyager, can rejoice to a tiny extent, because "Cathexis" is an excuse to explore the crew a little, with the odd central premise of being a Chakotay episode without Chakotay, which is a unique franchise experience (Deep Space Nine's "Who Mourns for Morn?" is the only other example that comes to mind, but that one's a different story entirely, as the title character famously never spoke).  So there's more of his Native American elements, which for some viewers always felt forced, but then, why have a Native American if there's nothing particularly Native American about him?  This was one of the most unique celebrations of diversity in the whole franchise (where Deep Space Nine did pretty much nothing to indicate Bashir's ethnic background, which in hindsight was a huge, huge missed opportunity), so anytime there was a spotlight on it, I say, all's the better.  And of course like Chakotay in general it was most likely to happen in the first two seasons.

Also of note is Janeway's "holo-novel" based loosely on Jane Eyre, which makes its debut here.  Holo-novels were intended to be a signature element of the series, but Janeway's didn't turn out to be one of them.  Instead, it was Tom Paris who came up with all the memorable ones, including the one he helped develop with Tuvok ("Worst Case Scenario") and the one he based on vintage sci-fi serials ("Bride of Chaotica!"), the latter of which is...surely one of Voyager's great ironies...

Finally, the most grim aspect of the episode is actually the appearance of Lieutenant Durst, who in "Faces" one episode later finds a whole new definition of facelift.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A classic trope revisited.
• series - Not much of true relevance here.
• character - Chakotay without Chakotay! 
• essential - How much better would this have been if it'd taken place before "State of Flux" and actually featured Chakotay, being guided by Seska?

notable guest-stars:
Brian Markinson (Durst)
Carolyn Seymour

Voyager 1x12 "Heroes and Demons"

rating: ****

the story: The Doctor enters the story of Beowulf.

what it's all about: This is one of those episodes where if I tell you it's a classic, you'll agree, because most fans, even the ones who don't generally like Voyager, will say the same thing.  It's hugely entertaining, and a great spotlight for the Doctor.

That it's a "holodeck episode," where some sort of malfunction means the holodeck is more than just entertainment, is well beside the point, as with the best "holodeck episodes." 

The Doctor had an uphill battle, in a lot of ways, right from the start.  On a superficial level, he was already a redundant character, the second franchise artificial life form, after Next Generation's android Data.  The Doctor, of course, was, as his full title explains, an Emergency Medical Hologram, forced by circumstances to remain in operation far longer than originally intended.  This had the effect of making him grumpy, and until "Heroes and Demons" that was pretty much all there was to him.

"Heroes" supersizes the character into an instant icon of the series.  He doesn't even interact with the crew for most of the episode, but rather characters in a Beowulf program, including a buxom warrior so electrifying in the episode the actress playing her (Marjorie Monaghan) would later be considered for the part of Enterprise's T'Pol.  (It's kind of sad she never makes another Star Trek appearance, although maybe that's the price for being that distinctive the first time out, rather than impressing with supporting roles like Michelle Forbes and Jeffrey Combs before her.)

The episode makes the Doctor instantly sympathetic in ways he hadn't been before, shoving him well out of his comfort zone and exploring his full potential, which would lead to six seasons of highlights that would've been previously unimaginable, and a level of poignancy that's tough to match in the rest of the franchise.  The simple search for a name, seemingly attained in "Heroes" and all but abandoned in it, too, because of the events therein, became a hallmark that stretched into an alternate timeline during the final episode ("Endgame"), where he settles on...Joe.

And at its heart, it really is just a retelling of Beowulf, right down to how the Doctor ends up being selected for the "away mission" in the first place.  One of the cleverest episodes ever, really.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Really hard not to love.
• series - Helps make the Doctor a standout and pillar of the crew.
• character - See the above.
• essential - See the above.

notable guest-stars:
Marjorie Monaghan
Michael Keenan

Voyager 1x11 "State of Flux"

rating: ****

the story: Seska defects from the crew, betraying Chakotay and joining the Kazon.

what it's all about: Inarguably, "State of Flux" is the most important early episode of Voyager after the pilot ("Caretaker") and once and for all settles whether the Maquis proved to be a wasted opportunity or in fact the most fruitful storytelling opportunity of the series.

You can probably guess that I throw my vote in with the latter (incredibly tiny) lot, because "Flux" begins a story that continues throughout the second season and isn't resolved until "Basics, Part 2" at the start of the third season (and then reprised at the end of that season in "Worst Case Scenario").  All that in finally deciding if the Maquis were a bunch of irredeemable bad apples (as fans inexplicably had determined them to be) or good people with at least one really bad apple (Seska) among them. 

And what a bad apple!  Not only was Seska willing to betray the crew, she betrayed Chakotay, with whom she had her closest relationship, the remaining Maquis allegiance that went beyond the new Starfleet code everyone else (including belligerent B'Elanna Torres) went along with (well, aside from the folks featured in "Learning Curve").  And she wasn't even Bajoran, as she'd appeared throughout the season to this point, but Cardassian!  What a twist! 

All of it plays like a knowing nod toward Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which Valeris is revealed to be a Klingon stooge, down to a trick played on Seska to get her to expose herself.  (See "Flashback" in the third season for another Undiscovered Country callback, and also Enterprise's "Judgment.")

And again, it's a huge, huge moment, both for the season and continuity of the series itself, an unprecedented one that wouldn't be duplicated until Eddington is revealed to be a member of the Maquis in Deep Space Nine (he's the only character, actually, who plays the Maquis off as the bad guys, across three series). 

Anyone still trying to figure out whether or not Chakotay was a wasted opportunity needs to watch "Flux" and the second season (particularly "Maneuvers") over again, because they spell out exactly what happened to him and feature his biggest moments, bigger than any first officer, arguably, aside from Spock, in franchise history.  How do you follow something like that up?  Especially when fans great the material with apathy?  (It wasn't the series that rejected the character, but the fans.)

criteria analysis:

• franchise - If you're one of the fans who thinks Voyager wasted the potential of the Maquis, this episode is required viewing.
• series - As stated above, after "Caretaker" this is the most important episode of the first season.
• character - Begins the epic showdown between Chakotay and Seska.
• essential - Entirely must-see.

notable guest-stars:
Martha Hackett (Seska)
Anthony De Longis (Culluh)
Josh Clark (Carey)

Voyager 1x10 "Prime Factors"

rating: ****

the story: The crew discovers a culture seemingly capable of giving them a good boost home, but which refuses to help.

what it's all about: Let's just get out of the way that any complaints about "Prime Factors" usually involve the alien culture.  For supposedly enlightened people, I often have cause to remark that Star Trek fans can be surprisingly bigoted and petty.  Enough of that.

This is the first of an incredibly strong end run for the first season, where the supposedly neglected premise of the series was handled with remarkable finesse.  While "Factors" shares with the earlier "Eye of the Needle" a kind of fake-out ending and tease, it also demonstrates that the crew will have to work extremely hard to find a solution to the problem of getting home in a reasonable length of time (read: soon).

And it gives a lot of good material to a lot of characters.  Harry has an excellent spotlight, in stark contrast to the previous episode ("Emanations"), where you get to see his remarkable, eager young mind at work, how in any other circumstances his career would've advanced rapidly (that he never gets promoted during the course of seven seasons is likely a symptom of a lack of upward mobility, considering no officers above him have anywhere else to go, either; only Tuvok and Tom Paris advance in rank). 

Besides Harry, B'Elanna Torres remarkably collaborates with Lt. Carey, with whom she'd fought over the role of chief engineer in "Parallax," as well as Seska, for whom this foreshadows developments in the next episode ("State of Flux").  Everyone else who rebels against Janeway's and Starfleet expectations does it for the good of the crew; it's Seska who proves the bad apple.

Tuvok has perhaps his most notable moment of the whole series when he elects to join the conspiracy.  His relationship with Janeway would end up being one of the most neglected aspects of the series, but they have a powerful moment as Janeway expresses disappointment in the Vulcan who somehow managed to out-stoic even the famously stoic Spock, rarely breaking discipline except when confronting Neelix.  This makes "Factors" kind of the final episode necessary to understand how the crew functions the rest of the series, why Tuvok never questions Janeway again.  The weakness, if there truly is one in the episode, is the absence of Chakotay offering any significant contributions to the proceedings.  But like Seska he'll be in "Flux" to a greater degree.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Casual fans will want to take note on how the episode reflects the premise of the series.
• series - See the above.
• character - Harry, Torres, Tuvok, Janeway...a lot of characters make a positive impact on the proceedings.
• essential - In a lot of ways this could've functioned as a season finale, so strong is its statement on both the series and the characters who populate it.

notable guest-stars:
Martha Hackett (Seska)
Josh Clark (Carey)

Voyager 1x9 "Emanations"

rating: *

the story: Harry gets mixed up in an alien culture's rituals concerning the afterlife.

what it's all about: "Emanations" is a perfectly serviceable episode for fans just looking for a cool sci-fi concept and/or examination of existential matters.  Where it fails is exploring its nominal lead, Harry Kim.

So this is probably why fans began to think Harry was basically worthless.  His first spotlight barely has anything to do with him, or say anything about him.  Already we've seen B'Elanna Torres ("Parallax"), Neelix ("Phage"), and Tom Paris ("Ex Post Facto") command spotlight episodes, so it's not as if the series has proven deficient in that regard at this early stage of the game.  It's certainly true that fans didn't end up caring all that much for just about any character in Voyager, but it wasn't for lack of effort.  Somehow, however, Harry ended up being pigeon-holed as the most meaningless of the bunch, and I have little doubt that it stems from "Emanations."  It's a shame, too, as he turns out much, much better in the second season episode "Non Sequitur."

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A casual fan's kind of episode.
• series - Nothing much to do with Voyager, alas.
• character - A poor spotlight for Harry Kim.
• essential - Not hardly.

notable guest-stars:
Martha Hackett (Seska)
Jerry Hardin

Voyager 1x8 "Ex Post Facto"

rating: ***

the story: Paris is convicted of murder, and sentenced to relive the crime repeatedly.

what it's all about: Somewhat predictably at this point, "Ex Post Facto" is one of those early episodes that negatively affected general perception of the series, on two counts.  One is that it's similar to Next Generation's "A Matter of Perspective."  (It's also similar to Deep Space Nine's "Hard Time," in some respects, but I doubt this is brought up much.)  The other is that it fails to clarify the character of Tom Paris.

The first can be dismissed out of hand.  Both episodes are ultimately defined by how the truth is revealed; in "Perspective" it's with the clever use of the holodeck, while in "Facto" it's with Tuvok's investigation, which actually serves to make it as much a Tuvok episode as a Paris episode.  This one's not really worth talking about.

The second is patently ridiculous.  Paris was introduced in "Caretaker" as a "bad boy" who'd gotten booted out of Starfleet and subsequently locked up, which is kind of a mash-up between the character Robert Duncan McNeill previously played in Next Generation's "The First Duty" and the backstory of Ensign Ro in the same series from the eponymous episode.  But fans found it difficult to accept McNeill as a "bad boy," as he didn't seem the type.  I'd argue that anyone who really needs convincing only needs see "Non Sequitur" in the second season to see where Paris might have ended up if he'd never been recruited by Janeway.  Anyway, "Facto" also features him in the ladies man role Kirk and Riker previously filled, and that seems to make him not only redundant but a complete failure to convincingly pull off any aspect of his character.

But it actually fills both nicely.  Riker might have ended up in a similar situation in "Perspective," but he didn't have anyone questioning his integrity, either before or after the episode, much less during.  Kirk had numerous affairs, but it was considered part of his charm.  Paris does it and pays a horrific price, right at the start of the series, and it's an important and necessary experience that helps define him.  The problem with Paris wasn't so much that he was a "bad boy," but that when he got in trouble, he got in trouble.  There was a running "joke" in Deep Space Nine (and Next Generation previously) that O'Brien always ended up in situations meant to torture him (such as "Hard Time"), but he was able to walk away from all of them (doubtless today he'd be portrayed with a permanent case of PTSD after just one of them) with little consequence.  Paris debuted with plenty of consequence, and "Facto" affirms how these things tend to happen to him, and it's much the same reason why he seems like a Kirk or Riker style ladies man, because he doesn't think about the consequences of his actions (also explains why he ends up in a relationship with B'Elanna Torres).  "Thirty Days" later in the series is another great illustration of this.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Helps find a contrast in the archetype Paris shares with Kirk and Riker.
• series - If events involved the crew in a more deliberate fashion it might seem more relevant.
• character - Explains Tom Paris.
• essential - See above statement.

Voyager 1x7 "Eye of the Needle"

rating: ***

the story: The crew finds a wormhole that allows them to contact the Alpha Quadrant, but it's a Romulan on the other side...

what it's all about: "Eye of the Needle" is an incredibly clever way to introduce the difficulties of finding shortcuts home (three episodes later, "Prime Factors" hits the mark more squarely), but it's almost more about the Romulan played by Vaughn Armstrong than the crew he has the unexpected opportunity to encounter.

The story is almost too clever by half.  On the one hand it explains why the seventh hour of the series doesn't present the opportunity it seems to, revealing how the Romulan is actually decades in the past (Deep Space Nine's "The Sound of Her Voice" uses a similar plot device more artfully), but the reasoning behind why this isn't as helpful as it seems is shoddy at best, one I don't believe for a minute anyone in that crew would've taken seriously (again, "Prime Factors" proves how even a slim chance will cause considerable divisions among them).

So it's necessary to take the proceedings at face value, and on that level "Eye" is just about clever enough, and as a Romulan episode is one of the best in the franchise, following in the fine tradition of the classic "Balance of Terror."  The big reveal at the end hits like a gut punch regardless of how well it holds up to scrutiny, and the whole experience is an exercise in proving just how committed the series was at the beginning in exploring the full potential of its premise.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Casual fans will want to take note, thanks to the clever appearance of a Romulan.
• series - The first look at possible shortcuts to the long journey home.
• character - This would've been a great place to preview the later schisms of "Prime Factors."
• essential - It's a clever experience all around that suggests the true dramatic potential of the series.

notable guest-stars:
Vaughn Armstrong

Voyager 1x6 "The Cloud"

rating: **

the story: The crew bond while exploring the Delta Quadrant version of weird space phenomena.

what it's all about: At first blush "The Cloud" seems like a pointless franchise template episode that has no business being done in a Voyager context ripe for bold new storytelling.  But the premise of the series was always about what it would be like to be Star Trek with no safety net sort of like the nebulous state of the backdrop during the original series, when the concepts of Starfleet and the Federation were in a constant state of flux and development, and anytime anyone else from them showed up it only served to prove how much Kirk and company stood out from the pack, and were in a sense isolated.  Janeway really only codified that concept, in a lot of ways.

So when she decides to explore weird space phenomena, it's not really just a matter of deciding to explore it, but an occasion for the crew to decide how much of typical Starfleet business they're going to do.  Fans thought this was a waste of time, but in the grand scheme of things no matter how often the ship stopped to look at something there was still a long journey if carried out in the original estimate no one but maybe Tuvok and the Doctor would be around to see completed satisfactorily...The idea was always to find shortcuts, which was why episodes like "Prime Factors" (later in the season) happen, which couldn't be done if all they did was follow a single course toward Earth. 

Ipso facto: they would have to behave like a Starfleet crew, and so episodes like this would be necessary to further develop the concept of the series, which along with "Parallax" serve to flesh out the premise laid out in "Caretaker."

And besides, "Cloud" gives the crew a chance to bond, see how they function practically together, now that they've begun to settle in. This is the episode where Janeway famously declares, "There's coffee in that nebula," which is about as Voyager as it can get.  It also features the debut of Chez Sandrine, a holodeck program that was kind of Deep Space Nine's Vic Fontaine before there was a Vic Fontaine, a standard period setting where the crew could hang out on a regular basis.  Of course, there's no Vic equivalent in Chez Sandrine, but it's still one of the signature elements of the early series.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Another episode casual fans will probably find difficult to appreciate.
• series - Helps flesh out the premise and how it functions on an ongoing basis.
• character - This is an ensemble episode, which helps demonstrate how effortlessly Voyager did these.
• essential - The McGuffin at the heart of the episode kind of drags down the proceedings, and there's no single character to rally around. 

Voyager 1x5 "Phage"

rating: ***

the story: The crew meet the Vidiians, and Neelix faces his first existential crisis.

what it's all about: In hindsight, "Phage" becomes infinitely more important than it might have seemed when it first aired.  Later in the first season the Vidiians appear again in "Faces," which is a better episode and in fact a classic, and the aliens make a few more appearances after that, too, and become one of the signature aliens of the whole series.  That they happen to embody the scavenger, desperate nature of the whole Delta Quadrant is probably icing on the cake.

(In case you don't remember, the Vidiians are the ones who harvest without remorse organs from unwitting donors.)

But perhaps more importantly, "Phage" also suggests the hidden depth of Neelix.  Neelix kind of became the poster child for everything that irritated fans about Voyager, the Jar Jar Binks of the series.  He was found to be too lively.  Or something.  I never really understood it, so don't ask me to explain.  Go find some irrational observer.  You'll find plenty.  Anyway, this was a character who was perhaps one of the most interesting characters of the series, right from the start, the Delta Quadrant native who volunteered to join Janeway's crew and help them navigate (and there would be plenty of material about how Neelix's feelings on this decision evolved, mirroring Janeway's to try and reach home, or blowing up the original solution).  And yeah, he always seemed a little too chipper, but as it turns out this was always a case of the clown crying on the inside.  This was a guy who was capable of going as dark as anyone ever did in Star Trek.  "Phage" was the first time we see this side of him.

In the original series Uhura could lose her memory and "have it reprogrammed" and no one ever really bothered to think twice about it ("The Changeling").  Neelix agonizes over the loss of his lungs and the Doctor's terrible solutions (no offense to the Doctor) to keep him alive, and it makes for tough viewing, far more difficult than Worf wishing he were dead (Next Generation's "Ethics"), the first sign that this was going to be a first season totally unafraid of pushing traditional franchise storytelling limits ("Faces," again, proves that all over again).  Somehow fans totally overlook that.  Again, don't ask me to explain.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - I don't want to say casual fans can't appreciate it, but it becomes much more significant later.
• series - Introduces a key alien species in the Vidiians.
• character - The first hint at the true depth of Neelix.
• essential - For Voyager fans it's a can't-miss.

notable guest-stars:
Martha Hackett (Seska)

Voyager 1x4 "Time and Again"

rating: *

the story: Janeway and Paris are confronted with a paradox concerning their involvement in the annihilation of a planet's population.

what it's all about: Likely a lot of fans settled their opinion of Voyager not to much on the pilot or the premise and whether or not subsequent episodes lived up to it, but on the second regular episode of the series, which jumped right into a fairly generic Star Trek, high concept story.  Now, this would not have been a problem thirty years earlier.  NBC wanted cool sci-fi concepts to define Star Trek, not the kind of cerebral material Gene Roddenberry kept delivering.  This is not to say that Voyager was incapable of being cerebral, but as the first Star Trek series to air on a broadcast network since the original, it's perhaps not unexpected that somewhere along the way network executives finally got their way.  Sometimes.

This just happened to be one of those times.  Again, there's nothing particularly wrong with "Time and Again" itself.  The closest it has to any significance is the emergence of Kes as a kind of series regular version of Next Generation's Guinan, someone who could sense when something wasn't right.  I'm not sure Kes ever quite became another Guinan (not mysterious enough), and there's other material later to sells this version of the character better.

So that leaves us with how well the concept actually works.  It's another problem of who they chose to focus the episode around, I think, something that later in the series often fell to Chakotay, who never gets the credit he deserves for selling just about any concept (high point: "Distant Origin").  It was more Janeway's determination than her science background that made her stand out, so having her lead a story like this was one of its weak points, I think.

But on the whole, I think it's a pretty fun experience.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The idea of Star Trek featuring cool sci-fi concepts shows up here.
• series - Not hugely impactful in this regard.
• character - Soft start to the evolution of Kes.
• essential - Not especially.

Voyager 1x3 "Parallax"

rating: ***

the story: Torres proves herself qualified to fill the role of chief engineer.

what it's all about: Now, here's where the pilot continues, and in some respects it's the episode every fan who argues Voyager never figured out its premise really needs to see.  As sketched above, it's the one where B'Elanna Torres earns her way into the command crew position of chief engineer.  Torres was one of the Maquis stranded along with Chakotay in the Delta Quadrant, and arguably the one who most exemplified the group's inability to conform to Starfleet standards of conduct.  In fact she'd struggle with her temper and general discontent (mostly with herself) for the duration of the series.  But in "Parallax," Janeway is able to see past the surface and accept her valuable contribution to the combined crew, a brilliant mind not afraid to challenge even the captain herself.

Honestly, I have no idea why Torres isn't more embraced by fans.  In a lot of respects she, along with Deep Space Nine's Kira, was patterned after Next Generation's Ro Laren, a popular character who addressed frequent concerns about everyone being too chummy chummy in Star Trek.  But like Kira, Torres branched off in unique directions; it wasn't so much her background as an internal conflict with her mixed race identity that set Torres apart from nearly everyone around her, and yet the result was one of the most endearing characters in franchise history, capable of great depth and therefore the "humanity" Star Trek was always about.  And wasn't that the point of Voyager's premise, to discover that quest for identity all over again?

She embodies everything that set the Maquis apart, and why they were set apart, a continuation in some respects of Ro's story, where it might have picked up again if we'd ever seen her past "Preemptive Strike."  The first time we saw her ("Ensign Ro"), she'd already been struggling with much the same issues as the ones that drove her to the Maquis.  Torres would struggle, too, as I've already said, but it was finding not just one or two helpful individuals (Guinan, Picard) but a whole crew, united in unique circumstances, less able to ignore the problems that would usually have divided them, that saw her find a positive way forward.

Of course, "Parallax" is also the first appearance of Seska, the very embodiment, eventually, of fan expectations for the Maquis, and she was never really embraced for what she represented, either.  So go figure.

"Parallax" also makes it clear that the producers were always going to be interested in embracing a part of the franchise legacy Deep Space Nine neglected, for the most part, which was to be a vehicle for cool sci-fi storytelling, where just about anything is possible.  Though thinly sketched, the subplot of the episode involves the crew having to figure out how to handle an echo of the ship, and eventually Janeway and Torres being forced to decide which is the real one.  It's fascinating that Janeway decides Torres is fit to assume the post of chief engineer even after they violently disagree over it.  Clearly Janeway values someone whose passion, though not always contained, is capable of the bold thinking required of leaders. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - For skeptical fans who still don't understand what Voyager was all about, this is pretty much the poster episode.
• series - Features the mechanics of how the Starfleet and Maquis crews learn to integrate.
• character - The first spotlight episode for B'Elanna Torres, arguably the series MVP.
• essential - As "merely" a character episode, it proves that everything fans like to claim Voyager wasn't...probably was, all along.

notable guest-stars:
Martha Hackett (Seska)
Josh Clark (Carey)

Voyager 1x1/1x2 "Caretaker"

rating: ****

the story: Janeway goes hunting for the Maquis and her ship ends up stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

what it's all about: What an incredibly strong beginning.  I think that's really the problem fans had with Voyager, that it had such a strong push out of the gate, subsequent episodes that seemed to take forever to be relevant to the first episode (it's really not until "Eye of the Needle" five episodes later that episodic material gives way to series-specific matters again).  Context is really the key, here.  Fans had gotten used to Deep Space Nine's interest in continuing arcs, which at the point Voyager premiered was a series at the midpoint of its third season, when the Dominion had already appeared numerous times.  It had also, along with Next Generation, spent some time laying the groundwork for the concept of the Maquis, whom fans thought would make a significant impact on the dynamic of Star Trek storytelling, introducing more conflict between characters.  And in "Caretaker," that plays out nicely, but after "Parallax" (the first regular episode of the series) it seemed to fade into oblivion (always something of a myth, really).  That, and the franchise had lost the genre mandate among the fans, who had begun embracing Babylon 5 as the first of many viable cult alternatives, and of course that was a series built on serialization. 

Every character has a good reason to be where they are in the premiere, and some of them have surprises that couldn't be seen coming (Tuvok as a Starfleet spy among Chakotay's Maquis crew).  Torres and Kim play wonderfully against each other.  (Of course, that's a dynamic that largely vanishes from the rest of the series, as too does any resentment about Tuvok's double-turn.)  It's expected that the common problem of the need to return home against incredible odds thoroughly unites them, setting aside most differences...After all, this is still Gene Roddenberry's hopeful vision of the future, right?

And that's really what's at the heart of all the complaints about Voyager, a growing disconnect between concept and audience.  The long-existing fans had begun to grow restive at the prospect of embracing new material, and the newer ones had begun to move on.  And both blamed their lack of interest in Voyager on the show itself.  See any problems with that kind of logic?

The concept was always supposed to be key, here, a way to rejuvenate the simple exploration imperative of the franchise while also embracing some of the ethos that had cropped up during Next Generation, having plot threads that propelled interest forward, a compelling drama like the Klingon political intrigue or problems between Cardassians and Bajorans.  Voyager couldn't possibly have been conceived more cleverly to fulfill those objectives; its crime was not committing to the extent that fans were coming to expect, which would have only further alienated older fans...Basically a no-win scenario, which ironically was a classic Star Trek concept, too. 

Every character gets a clear introduction in the episode, which was following in the tradition set by Deep Space Nine's "Emissary," but where someone like Bashir was only suggested to be fresh out of the Academy, Harry Kim was depicted as so completely inexperienced he was almost taken in by, of all people, Quark, who even Bashir was never snookered by.  Tom Paris, meanwhile, is a kind of replacement for a similar character found in Next Generation played by the same actor (Robert Duncan McNeill), the bridge between Starfleet and the Maquis, really, the explanation as to how any of the Maquis could end up in a Starfleet uniform.  Where fans ended up assuming all Maquis were hopeless degenerates (a startling conclusion, considering the most famous and successful groundwork Maquis episode was Next Generation's "Preemptive Strike," which saw the beloved Ro Laren join the cause), Paris and Chakotay embodied redemptive arcs, which Torres (in "Parallax") would best illustrate, so that it wasn't so much where we first meet them that defines them but the reasons they ended up there, and how "Caretaker" gives them a second chance to make things right.

And there's the Doctor, and Neelix, and Kes, and the Kazon.  Fans hated the Kazon, too, considering them Klingons who'd fallen on hard times.  And would that really be such a bad thing?  The Delta Quadrant was supposed to be fresh territory.  In the breadth of the series, in hindsight, it's clear that the only unifying presence there is the Borg Collective, and that everyone else basically avoids each other or lives desperate lives, or both, or merely keep to themselves.  The Kazon are an excellent introduction to that concept, and if they are Klingon analogs, so much the better.  We think the Klingons are awesome because they were always presented as the Federation's opposite number.  But what if there was no Federation?  That's what Janeway's crew had to contend with, too, wasn't it?  Well, it's true of the Kazon as well.  They suddenly gain a lot of momentum with Voyager around, something to rally around, an enemy. 

Well, I always liked the series.  But the pilot even if considered in isolation is a heck of a concept.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The clearest pilot of a Star Trek show to date.
• series - Sets up the concept nicely.
• character - Everyone gets a turn to shine here.
• essential - Everything you need to know, or will need to reference, or figure out about this show, can be found in the premiere.

notable guest-stars:
Richard Poe (Gul Evek)
Josh Clark (Carey)
Scott MacDonald
Armin Shimerman (Quark)

Star Trek: Voyager Season One

In 1995, Paramount achieved its greatest dream buy launching its own TV network with a Star Trek, something it had been trying to do since the 1970s. That show was Voyager, conceived to replace Next Generation as a traditional space-faring adventure and contrast to Deep Space Nine. But it wouldn’t be entirely episodic, since it was equipped with the high concept of a Starfleet crew abandoned far from home, and forced to join with rebels who had previously rejected everything it had stood for.

1x1/1x2 “Caretaker”
Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is assigned to track down a Maquis ship but is instead fatefully drafted into a new mission, the long journey back home after she destroys the one means to make it a swift trip thanks to her Starfleet ideals. Trouble is, she got those Maquis along with her now, which will certainly help to make things interesting.

1x3 “Parallax”
While a surprising amount of the season was devoted to surprisingly generic problems, there was also a fair bit of character work to counterbalance this, which was always the strength of the series. Seska (Martha Hackett) and Lt. Carey (Josh Clark) debut, which is appropriate, given that they are Maquis and Starfleet, respectively, and the episode is really all about B’Elanna Torres (Roxanne Dawson) proving that she can integrate these two worlds, no matter how difficult it may seem.

1x5 “Phage”
Neelix (Ethan Phillips) displays the first signs that he is going to be more than the oddball source of suspect comic relief that he at first seemed, and rather a source of unusual dramatic pathos, and the Vidiians make their debut, a species that would become known almost exclusively for the bizarre illness that defines their appearance - and motives.

1x7 “Eye of the Needle”
Since it was pointedly set up to avoid everything that was familiar, Voyager wasn’t supposed to do an episode like this, but it was both necessary and compelling, as the crew comes into contact with a Romulan (portrayed by Vaughn Armstrong in just one of his many Star Trek faces) who has the potential to solve their dilemma, but is instead revealed to be communicating with them from the past. Not the only time the series would manage to use the Romulan in such a refreshingly new way.

1x8 “Ex Post Facto”
One of the charges leveled against the show that it lacked the conviction to truly pull off what it set out to do, and Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) was probably seen as one of the prime examples. Labeled a rebel, he didn’t seem to act the part, at least not in any way Star Trek would be willing to do, the worth of the character was really lost by the audience. Here was an early episode that helped illustrate the character for what he actually was, someone who just seemed to walk into trouble because he couldn’t help himself. But then, even the show’s creators didn’t seem to understand this one, considering it at the time to be a mistake!

1x9 “Emanations”
Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), the naïve young ensign who never managed to be promoted, even though he was easily one of the most consistently brilliant and useful members of the crew, has his first real spotlight, in one of those episodes you really have to watch again to fully appreciate, exploring the idea of culture contact that Star Trek used, as an idea, as one of its central tenets, but rarely really pulled off. This is one of the winners.

1x10 “Prime Factors”
Here’s another episode that was deemed a failure, but is really an undeniably important and interesting story for the series, in which stoic Tuvok (Tim Russ), Janeway’s best friend and closest associate, especially now, begins to wonder if there are ways to look beyond normal ideas of what’s appropriate, aligning himself with Carey and Seska in accepting alien technology that has previously been officially denied the crew, even though it would be of tremendous help.

1x11 “State of Flux”
One might even argue that, at least in its early seasons, that Voyager was far more serialized than Deep Space Nine, especially with an episode like this one already playing a confident and bold hand, turning recurring character Seska into a completely different but entirely natural new role, as an enemy, while twisting the knife still further by revealing new aspects of her relationship with Chakotay (Robert Beltran), the Maquis captain who accepted a reduced position as Janeway’s first officer and who has been struggling all this time to encourage the integration. Also the debut of Maje Culluh (Anthony DeLongis), the highest profile Kazon, a signature alien race of the early seasons, introduced in the first episode.

1x12 “Heroes and Demons”
The Doctor (Robert Picardo), in his first starring role, on the holodeck, naturally, since he’s an emergency medical hologram, and until this point, hasn’t been able to leave sickbay. Basically a riff on the story of Beowulf, still serves as a more than adequate humanization of a previously cantankerous character. Easily an early favorite.

1x14 “Faces”
The show takes the bold step of addressing the Klingon-human struggle of Torres pretty directly, and pretty early in the series, while also bringing back the Vidiians, and attempting to humanize them, too. Brian Markinson, a character actor not unfamiliar in the franchise already, marks his second appearance as Lt. Durst, so he can “borrow” the face for the Vidiian he’s actually been cast to play. But this episode is really all about Roxanne Dawson, who is easily one of the finest actors to grace Star Trek, though she hardly ever gets that recognition.

1x15 “Jetrel”
We learn a great deal about Talaxian history when Neelix meets Star Trek’s version of Oppenheimer, portrayed by troupe regular James Sloyan. This is basically the Voyager answer to “Duet,” the defining episode from the first season of Deep Space Nine, but again, as is the show’s fate, you’d hardly know it from reputation.

1x16 “Learning Curve”
Tuvok trains a bunch of delinquent former Maquis, marking his defining moment of the season, and effectively the concluding note on the struggles to integrate the crews.

Well, how you read that last one really goes a long way to explaining how you feel about the series, because believe it or not, most fans seemed to think that the Maquis should have been a regular and frequent thorn in the side of the Starfleet officers (would it be worth noting that even Kira pretty quickly warmed to the idea of serving Starfleet masters, or that Ro did it during the course of a single episode?), and was thus indicative of the weakness of the series, that it wasn’t serialized enough, a view that persisted for seven seasons. This despite the fact that for seven seasons, even Deep Space Nine was never fully serialized, except for limited and specific arcs, and rarely delineating specific arcs beyond the general Dominion arc, which Voyager did on a regular basis, right from the start.

I think what really bothered certain Star Trek fans was that Voyager was able to do Next Generation with a Deep Space Nine flavor, right from the start, which even Deep Space Nine, when it was more interested in episodic material, couldn’t do. It wasn’t, and this is not the argument I’m trying to make, that Voyager was better, but that it was always better than fans allowed it to seem, that its hallmark was an extreme understanding of its characters, how to use them, and how to move them along, because that’s exactly what the series was about, and what it needed to do. In a sense, there was never a Star Trek that better exemplified the warm feelings that the original series had engendered in the first wave of fans. And yet, it was Voyager that truly began the exit of those fans, and the inability to make new ones.

Go figure…