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Star Trek Rewatch

BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
Hey, all...

So, I've decided to do a full rewatch of all the "Prime" universe Trek TV shows and movies. I've decided to start with Star Trek: Voyager. Below, is my review and thoughts on the pilot episode, "Caretaker". Enjoy!


STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "CARETAKER"

Okay... we start off the rewatch with the pilot episode of VOY. My general overall impression of this episode is that it's probably the most solid of any of the Trek pilot episodes. The director makes it a point to include various little details throughout, which I feel really help improve the realism of certain scenes, which I'll elaborate on as I continue. During the rewatch, I took two full pages of notes on various aspects of the episode.

First off, Chakotay's Maquis ship. I love that they reused the original film era LCARS on the ship. IMO, it really helped convey that these Maquis ships are really older used surplus ships that were repurposed by the Maquis, and aren't top-of-the-line Federation craft.

Second, the scene with Lt. Stadi and Tom Paris in the shuttlecraft en route to Voyager, which is docked at DS9... I noticed a pretty strange and puzzling VFX goof. In the scene, they somehow use two different Type-6 shuttles, both with NCC numbers on their hulls which do not match Voyager's. The first time we see the shuttle, it has a 71325 NCC number, and the second time we see the shuttle, it has a 1701-D NCC number! The Enterprise is nowhere to be seen in this episode, and I'm fairly certain it's not reused stock footage, as I don't recall seeing a 1701-D shuttle flying around DS9 on any TNG or DS9 episodes. See pics attached for proof, which I used Photoshop to clarify a bit. So, assuming the 1701-D was intended to be an actual Voyager-assigned shuttlecraft, then that means that as of this episode, Voyager has one standard TNG Type-6 shuttlecraft on board.

When we first see Sickbay, we see two confirmed medical officers - the male Human doctor, and a female Vulcan nurse. Right after Kim and Paris check in with the doctor, and they walk down the corridor to the turbolift, another Vulcan in a blue Starfleet uniform can be seen walking away, in the opposite direction. It is not known if this Vulcan is a member of the medical or sciences division. The Human doctor, as well as the Vulcan nurse, and the Vulcan in blue from the corridor are also again seen in the Mess Hall scene, where Paris orders tomato soup.

As of the ship's departure from DS9, the Voyager has a crew compliment of 141, and her deck count is established as 15 decks. I love the Mess Hall food replicator wall, and wonder why they got rid of it for Neelix's kitchen, when they easily could have had both at the same time. IMO, dismantling those replicators is a waste of resources.

The First Officer, Lt. Stadi, the Human doctor, and Vulcan Nurse, are all confirmed dead, bringing Voyager's crew compliment down to 137, as of that point in the episode. When the crew begins to recover from being thrown into the Delta Quadrant, and the Bridge is in shambles, I really enjoyed the realism of the background dialogue being spoken by the Bridge crew in the background. IMO, it really helped convey that this is a real crew, all tending to their tasks during a crisis, in a professional manner. The same with Captain Janeway helping out in Engineering - I liked how it made her seem like a really accessible commanding officer, and one who also knows her ship very, very well. A true Starfleet professional.

When the EMH is first activated, there is one Starfleet crewman in a blue uniform on the main biobed. It is unknown if he is medical or sciences division. There are also two other crew members in blue uniforms seen during the welcoming bee on the Caretaker's array - one black Human female, and one white Human male. Again, it's unknown if they are medical or sciences division. The crewman in the blue uniform on the main biobed in Sickbay is still there, when the abducted away team returns to the ship. Yet another Human in a blue uniform walks past the Transporter Room as Tuvok and Neelix leave the room, after Neelix first beams on board. Again, is this a medical or sciences crew member?

In Tuvok's absence, we learn that the acting Security/Tactical officer is Mr. Rawlins. I absolutely love this guy - he exudes professionalism in everything he does on the Bridge. He remains calm, and assists with repairs while the abducted crew are gone. We see him in upcoming episodes, and I really love his character a lot.

I love how when we first meet Neelix, his camera is hidden among a bunch of clutter on his ship. I also like how he knows of the Caretaker, and his bringing ships into the Delta Quadrant. It gives you a feeling that tales of his exploits have become things of legend in the region. It's also interesting to note that neither Neelix or the Kazon have any knowledge of transporter or replicator technology, hinting that this region of space might be the boonies or backwoods hick area of the Delta Quadrant, lol.

The Ocampa homeworld is established to be the fifth planet in its solar system. The location used for the Ocampa underground city is the Los Angeles Convention Center. I observed that when B'Elanna is trying to escape the Ocampa hospital room, there is a rip in the fabric of her white hospital robe, on the back of the right shoulder. It's somewhat disappointing that the whole issue of the Ocampan "illness" which manifests itself on Kim and B'Elanna is never further explained, nor do we ever see the two of them being cured of it on Voyager. BTW, it would seem that all the Ocampa in the city are wearing COVID-19 masks, lol.

When Tuvok goes to Neelix's guest quarters, there is yet another Starfleet crew member in a blue uniform, walking in the corridor. Once again, we don't know if this is a medical or sciences officer. On the Ocampa planet, we see three Kazon small vessels landed. One of these presumably belongs to Maje Jabin, of the Kazon-Ogla sect. Neelix's hand phaser is very small, much like the TNG "cricket" Type-1 phaser. This would appear to be a Talaxian equivalent of such a weapon. Underground, an Ocampa hands some moss-medicine to Kim and B'Elanna, but it's never stated or shown if they ever consume the medicine. I tend to guess they did not, since without a tricorder, they wouldn't know if its completely safe to do so.

The Ocampa live in a vast underground city, yet somehow, there is "sunlight", or the artificial equivalent of it seen in their "sky". Where is this light coming from, and what is supplying the power for it? The Caretaker? We learn that Kazon particle weapons are blue in beam color. Two of the small Kazon ships initially attack Voyager, and one of them is under the command of Maje Jabin. One of the big Kazon motherships shows up, to assist Jabin, but is destroyed. The two small Kazon ships survive to fight another day.

Voyager expends two tricobalt devices to destroy the Caretaker's array. We do not know yet if this is the entirety of Voyager's tricobalt device compliment or not. It is established that there is another Caretaker alien in existence, which is female. Tuvok tells Janeway he can activate the program to return them to the Alpha Quadrant, but it will require several hours to implement. We then learn that the Caretaker has activated the array's self-destruct mechanism, which is damaged when the Kazon mothership impacts with the array. I am convinced at this point, that there's nothing Janeway could have done to save the array. Even if she had not fired the two tricobalt devices, the damage resulting from the Kazon's collision would have eventually rendered the array useless, IMO.

All in all, I really enjoyed this pilot episode. I like the Kazon as enemies, despite their lower technology level. My only two wishes are that one, more of the original crew had survived longer, like the Voyager's First Officer, Lt. Stadi, and the Vulcan nurse. I would have liked to have had them keep Chakotay's ship around for at least a few more episodes, and would have liked to have seen Neelix's shuttle outside of Voyager, as we know now that it's way too big to actually fit inside Voyager's shuttlebay. Also, the issue with the actor playing Tom Paris, and the "incident" from his past - although it's at least implied that this is a different person than TNG's Nick Locarno, I suppose it could also be possible that he (and his father) changed their last name to Paris, to avoid shame from the incident. Who knows, lol. Anyway, those are my thoughts on "Caretaker". What do you think? Let's discuss below!

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  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "PARALLAX"

    Okay... episode two...

    This was a solid episode, with a nice spatial mystery and a good B-story, with B'Elanna and Lt. Carey. Right off, there are some interesting observations to take note of throughout the episode.

    Early in the episode, Tuvok's point to Chakotay is a valid one - that there is essentially no longer a Maquis crew... they are now one combined Starfleet crew, operating within the confines of Starfleet rules and regulations, and that Chakotay should be setting an example for them.

    Throughout this episode, we see Seska in a blue uniform, and, as has so far been the tradition, we do not know if it's meant to be a medical or sciences division post. However, later in the episode, Seska is seen on the Bridge, manning the Engineering II station (see attached pic), still in her blue uniform. Seska is also seen in Engineering itself, when Carey informs B'Elanna that the Captain wants her to attend the staff meeting, again, as before in her blue uniform. There is also one Human male, and one Human female on the Bridge in blue uniforms, during the scene where the ship is returning from the singularity. Again, unknown if they are medical or sciences division, but the female does appear to be manning one of the Bridge science stations.

    Following up on "Caretaker", we learn that Voyager lost a Transporter Chief, a Chief Engineer, an Astrogation Plotter, plus an unknown number of medical staff, though we know that the CMO and nurse were lost. This makes at least 5 crew members lost, which would bring the crew number down to at least 135, which conflicts with the figure of 137 from the end of "Caretaker".

    We learn that the EMH channel is Monitor Input 47.

    Janeway and B'Elanna use a Type-8 shuttlecraft in this episode, which remains intact. This brings Voyager's shuttle compliment to one Type-6, and one Type-8 shuttle.

    I enjoyed Janeway's enthusiasm with B'Elanna, during their exchanges in the Briefing Room. I also loved how Lt. Carey was so gracious to B'Elanna, after her promotion. As I said... all in all, a solid and enjoyable second episode.

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    evil_genius_180
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    edited June 2020 #3
    I liked this episode, but my biggest issues with Season 1 from this point onwards is that all the friction between the Starfleet personal and the Maquis disappeared.

    I think I would have been better story point for the rest of the season were both crews have not fully integrated and there are still issues that flair up thought-out the season.
    I would have liked that by the end of the season, that while they had agreed to be a Starfleet crew, given their situation they now do thing a little on the Maquis way just survive.

    It would have made the show from being just a copy and paste of TNG, which is what it turned out to be in those first few seasons.
    Post edited by Freak on
    BolianAdmiralcaveat_imperator
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "TIME AND AGAIN"

    Okay... episode number three...

    Pretty standard fare, regarding time paradoxes and the Prime Directive. Not too many huge surprises or notable instances. However, there are a few things worthy of some note...

    As with "Caretaker", I really enjoy the added level of realism given, with the background dialogue of the Bridge crew, during the initial shockwave, and also when Kes enters the Bridge for the first time. We never really had that on the Bridge of the 1701-D, when the ship was jolted or whatnot, so I like that Voyager has so far added this level of realism to the crew reactions.

    No new crew observed in any blue uniforms in this episode.

    The Class-M planet is in a system with a red dwarf sun, yet the lighting level during daytime on the planet is like that of Earth, so it must be very close in orbit to the red dwarf star.

    The repetitive colors of the native clothing the aliens wore was the butt of a joke between my friend and I in high school - we referred to the planet as the "Charlie Brown shirts planet", lol.

    Mention is made of Transporter Room 2 on Voyager, so we know there are two confirmed transporter rooms thus far. According to Tuvok, there was a Polaric Test ban Treaty put into effect in the year 2268.

    The child's scream in the alien city is actually pretty chilling... it got my attention, and I could really feel the terror behind it. A small thing, but the kid has some decent acting chops.

    The exterior location used for the alien power plant is the Japanese Garden at the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.

    I like the EMH's observation that Kes' brain is not on file. The same should hold true for Neelix. The alien handguns resemble semi-automatic pistols, yet presumably fire some form of energy rounds. I like how Kes somehow retained knowledge of the polaric disaster - it made her somewhat El-Aurian-like in that regard.

    All in all, a good episode, very enjoyable to watch.
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited June 2020 #5
    I watched all of those episodes not too long ago. They're decent, but nothing monumental as Star Trek goes. Caretaker did a great job of setting up the series and introducing us to the main cast and the Ocampa, Talaxians and Kazon. (it's always nice to get new aliens, and Voyager has gobs of them) I thought having the ship launch from DS9 and having the interior we saw be the set of Quark's was really nice. It was cool that Quark was the character they had in it too, rather than a more obvious choice, like one of the Starfleet or Bajoran Militia main characters. I know from seeing him in interviews that Armin Shimerman was honored to play the character who "passed the torch" to the new series.

    The next two are pretty standard Star Trek episodes. Nothing to really hate or be super thrilled with in either. I did like the chemistry between Roxanne Dawson and Kate Mulgrew in "Parallax." It was clear early on that Torres would be made chief engineer, but I like how they didn't just give her the position. She had to impress Janeway to be made a senior officer. "Time and Again" is one of those episodes that slightly annoys me because, at the end of the episode, nothing actually happened, yet the have the old cliche of one person on the ship knowing something was altered. But, neither were bad episodes. The series was still finding its footing at this point.

    Now, the next episode on the list has a pretty significant impact for the series, as it introduces another of the early season baddies....
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "PHAGE"

    Okay... right off, this episode was much more powerful to me now, since I can relate to a lot of what went on in it, which I'll elaborate on as we go.

    First, a few notable things... we see one Human male in a blue uniform walk down the corridor as Chkotay and Janeway are on the way to the Mess Hall. As always, it's unknown if he's sciences or medical division. Supposedly, Janeway has a private dining room, which to me, makes no sense, on a ship as small as an Intrepid-Class. Picard didn't even have a private dining room on his Galaxy-Class ship, so, yeah...

    The attack on Neelix is pretty chilling, and to see him struggling to breathe is heart-wrenching... say what you will about Neelix, but Ethan Phillips is a good actor... he really did a good job with that scene. I also like how the EMH convinced Paris of the realism of holotechnology, lol. Among the organs in the Vidiian repository is a Kazon liver.

    This is the episode where Neelix's jealousy begins, regarding Tom and Kes.

    This episode made me cry this time, because I can relate to so much of it from personal experience. I'd spent literally 8 months in the hospital between 2019 and 2020, due to issues which ultimately required a liver and kidney transplant, so I could relate all too well, with how utterly frustrating it is to be confined to a hospital bed, and have to rely on others do do even the simplest things for you, like scratch an itch. I've also had moments where I did the "I'm the patient, you should listen to me" routine. I also know all too well, how trapped one can feel after a long time in a hospital bed, and how badly they want to just get out, no matter what.

    The hall of mirrors effect in the asteroid was cool. I liked that. I also liked how when the phaser sweep was activated, it kind of resembled the look of a Tholian web, lol.

    I like how the EMH reiterates that it's a supplement to the medical team, not intended for extended or singular use. We finally see Seska in a yellow engineering uniform, as she IS in Engineering. We are also treated to some more realistic background dialogue from the engineering crew, when the warp core goes offline.

    We learn that the Vidiian government is called the Vidiian Sodality. I like how open and brutally honest the Vidiians are, in explaining the Phage to us. This scene also made me cry, because the two Vidiians are such good actors, that they really convey the total despair their people feel, and force you to feel such sympathy for them, and feel sorry for them, knowing that their culture was once beautiful, artistic, and had a thirst for exploration. The Vidiians are my favorite of the Voyager enemy races. I wish the ship had remained in their space longer.

    All in all, a great and powerful episode. I really enjoyed it.
    Freak
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "THE CLOUD"

    Okay... all in all, a basic space life-form episode The ship inadvertently enters a space organism, injures it, and must find a way to fix the damage they've caused. Solid enough story and episode.

    A few notables...

    Janeway tells us that the ship has been in the Delta Quadrant for several weeks now.

    Leaving the Mess Hall, we see one Human male in a blue uniform. We also observe one female in a blue uniform walking into the turbolift outside the Mess Hall. I cannot tell if she is Human or Vulcan. There is also a Human male and one Human female in blue uniforms IN the Mess Hall, when Neelix tells Janeway she should set an example, by not using her replicator rations. We see another Human male in blue in the corridor outside the Mess Hall, as Janeway leaves for the Bridge.

    The little banter between Tuvok and Kim on the Bridge is cute, but unrealistic, IMO. According to Chakotay, the ship currently carries 38 photon torpedoes, which quickly becomes 37, after Janeway orders one torpedo to be fired.

    It was cool to see a small centrifuge being used in Engineering, to analyze a sample. IDK why I like that, but I do. The scene with the EMH on the viewscreen in the background on the Bridge was amusing, where he tells the crew about all the weapons they fired at the creature. We see yet another Human female in a blue uniform in the Mess hall. Voyager then launches one microprobe. We don't know exactly how many of these types of probe Voyager carries. At the end of the episode, Janeway tells us the energy reserves on the ship have been depleted a further 20%.
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    "There's coffee in that nebula."
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    Turns out there wasn’t, lol. I love the look on Janeway’s face, when she sees the stuff Neelix is pouring into her coffee cup in the morning, lol. Also, it’s ironic that Janeway sees a lizard as her animal guide, then later turns into one, to have space-babies with Tom.
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Yeah, we don't really talk about "Threshold."
    BolianAdmiral
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    But you still got to Review "Threshold". LOL
    BolianAdmiralevil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Freak wrote: »
    But you still got to Review "Threshold". LOL

    Indeed, that's how a total watch through works. You take the highs and the lows. And, with Voyager, there are some pretty bad lows. Some really good highs too, but I think that series has more bad episodes than the others. I don't know if they just ran out of good ideas or what.
    BolianAdmiral
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    I think it more a case of the writers wanting to do things but Berman saying no.
    We all know that the Year of Hell was meant to be a season long story, but Berman said they could only have two episodes and that what we got.

    Now can you imagine how good it would have been if they had done a season long story. It would have change the show up and stopped it being a basic copy of a TNG.
    evil_genius_180BolianAdmiral
  • sorceress21sorceress21269 Posts: 577Member
    Hey, all...

    So, I've decided to do a full rewatch of all the "Prime" universe Trek TV shows and movies. I've decided to start with Star Trek: Voyager. Below, is my review and thoughts on the pilot episode, "Caretaker". Enjoy!


    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "CARETAKER"

    snip -

    As of the ship's departure from DS9, the Voyager has a crew compliment of 141, and her deck count is established as 15 decks. I love the Mess Hall food replicator wall, and wonder why they got rid of it for Neelix's kitchen, when they easily could have had both at the same time. IMO, dismantling those replicators is a waste of resources.

    snip

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    Actually, the space Neelix took over for his kitchen was the Captain's private dining room just to nitpick.
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    ^

    Yeah, but it's clearly the same room... especially since whenever they refer to the room in the future, they call it the "Mess Hall". But aye.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited July 2020 #16
    Janeway's private dining room was adjacent to the crew mess. I think when Paris stands up, you can see the door that was supposed to go to the dining room:

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    That's clearly not the door he entered through:

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    (though, it could have been the other exit from the room)

    As also seen in the above screenshot, there are clearly multiple replicators in the room. To Paris's right, there's someone in science blue at what is clearly a replicator and to his front there's someone in operations yellow. That's where he walks to get his soup. You can still see the replicator where the dude in science blue was in this screenshot:

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    There's also at least one other replicator in that room:

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    It's possible they took down the wall where the replicators were when they modified the dining room to make the kitchen. They also added the counter and other stuff like the window. Since they weren't supposed to be using the replicators except for sparingly, it makes sense to take some of them out. Aside from those replicators, everyone has them in their quarters and they're in various other rooms too.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    Ahhh, okay. I never noticed that! Thanks for pointing that out!
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Yeah, I suspect the whole story arc with Neelix taking over Janeway's dining room to make a kitchen was planned from the beginning. Hell, the wall you saw in the pilot episode could have just been temporary. It was basically just a wall of replicators and what looks like a menu, or something else connected to the replicator systems.

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    Since this was a launch show for UPN, there was no worry that it wouldn't get picked up when they did the pilot, so they could have planned all of that out.
    BolianAdmiral
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited July 2020 #19
    Well, I'm a nerd and I've got nothing better to do, so I was just taking a look at "Caretaker" on Netflix. From the way Tom enters the room and the way the wall of replicators is situated, it definitely looks like it could be a temporary set piece designed to be used by him and to cover up the fact that there's more to that room. Just from the screenshots from when the kitchen was added I can see that the wall is too far forward to still be part of the room when the kitchen is there. They were pretty clever in putting it there, though, as it served is purposes well.

    Now I'm about to watch one of my favorite parts of "Caretaker," where the Caretaker's energy thing is about to hit Voyager and Janeway orders everyone to brace for impact. Her first officer then decides to go running across the bridge, pretty much the opposite of bracing for impact. I realize the guy was supposed to die so that Chakotay could take his place, but that makes the dude look incompetent.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    BolianAdmiral
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
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    Look, it's the missing replicator wall. That screenshot is from "Phage," when Tom is replicating a piece of medical equipment for the doctor. As that's also the first episode with the galley in it, I think we can see a clear intent to use it in the mess at first, then move it to its permanent home in sickbay.
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    Good catch! I totally missed that in the episode!
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - "EYE OF THE NEEDLE"

    Okay, not much to really nitpick about this episode - it was a really solidly written and really enjoyable episode. Pretty flawless, really.

    It was good to see the EMH finally give someone the business for treating him rudely. We find out in this episode that the EMH cannot be downloaded, due to its level of integration within the ship's computer systems. We also see one Human female Science officer at a Bridge science station.

    This episode is the first occurrence of technobabble in great quantity on VOY. I do like the stuff with the microprobe and the wormhole's density and all that.

    The Romulan, Telek R'Mor, is played brilliantly by Vaughn Armstrong, and is a very likable character. I really enjoyed his interaction with Janeway. You really get the impression that this could have perhaps led to some sort of lasting relationship, or an olive branch for peace, if it had continued. I love how R'Mor is not the typical, cookie-cutter toy soldier of the military state - he's a scientist, and a decent man with a family.

    Like I said, not really much to dissect here. An all-around fun, good, and solid episode, that doesn't have any problems or issues with it. A very good episode, indeed.
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited August 2020 #23
    I agree on all accounts. It's the second possible chance that Voyager would have to make it home, the first being the Caretaker array. Unfortunately for our friends on Voyager, it just wasn't to be. I also like the character of Telek R'Mor. He's the first really sympathetic Romulan we've seen since Unification. Seeing Voyager encounter a Romulan who's not that typical military type is refreshing, since it seems like Starfleet usually only encounters the military types. The lengths that both R'Mor and Janeway were willing to go through to try and help the Voyager crew get home are admirable on both accounts. R'Mor was willing to help them transport to the Alpha Quadrant and Janeway was willing to risk the entire crew becoming Romulan prisoners. In the end, both characters trusted each other enough to exchange messages. Also, Tuvok's commitment to upholding the Prime Directive by not revealing the fate of R'Mor until he'd left the ship is amdmirable. Other outstanding characters in this one besides R'Mor, Janeway, Tuvok and The Doctor have to be Kim and Torres. Both of their technical expertise comes into play as they try to come up with a way to get the crew home.

    All in all, a very good Star Trek episode.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    edited August 2020 #24
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - “EX POST FACTO”

    Okay, all in all, I really enjoyed this episode. Once again, there’s not too much to nitpick about it. It seems Voyager wanted to do a kind of film noir sort of crime story, within their own setting. For the most part, it works really well... it’s a solid story, which gives Tuvok his first opportunity to really shine, and own his own episode.

    The episode features a Type-8 shuttle again, and the name of the shuttle is never stated, so it’s unknown if this is the same Type-8 from a previous episode, or a new one. I will say that I love the Baneans... I love the look of their makeup... the incorporation of feathers into their hair... I just love that look. I also loved the design of their interior sets - the Banean homes. A nicely designed alien species.

    The only real thing I can find to gripe about in this episode, is how when they get Kim back, Janeway basically ignores his condition, immediately asking about Paris, and telling him not to worry, that they’ll get Paris back. She never asks how he’s doing, or if he’s okay, etc.

    It seems the Numiri have equal technology to us, in terms of energy weapons, and have regenerative shielding, which is better than ours. The Baneans have artificial life forms, which serve as hosts for the memory engrams of the deceased during a trial. It’s not stated if these are androids or not. It would be really interesting to have learned more. If they are androids, it could be conceivable that the Baneans have positronic brain technology.

    I love Tom’s line, “Her eyes were a million kilometers away, staring at stars I’d just flown by the day before”. That felt like a very kind of 1940’s pulp fiction detective kind of line, like something out of a Dixon Hill novel, lol.

    I like that they had complications integrating Banean neurotechnology with Human... I liked that little bit of realism. I really liked the design of the Numiri ships, which were modified Pakled freighters. Finally, the blue uniform count... we get one Human female in blue outside the Mess Hall corridor, 3 Human males in a blue uniform in the Mess Hall, and one more Human female in blue, in the Mess Hall. Like I said, all in all, another solid episode.
    Post edited by BolianAdmiral on
    evil_genius_180
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited August 2020 #25
    That one is next on my list on Netflix. But, I've seen it before plenty of times. It's a solid episode for sure. I love seeing Tuvok play detective with the cool logical nature that only a Vulcan is capable of. He's not even really trying to get Paris off, he's just worried about justice being done.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - “EMANATIONS”

    Okay... this episode is about a species that basically kills its own people, in order to enter into the afterlife, which they call the “next emanation”. To achieve this, they place the body inside a pod, which creates a subspace vacuole, which deposits the physical remains upon an asteroid, where it begins to decompose.

    During an emergency beam-out, Harry Kim gets caught up in a vacuole, and emerges inside one of the transference pods on the alien homeworld, while one of the alien women is transported to Voyager in Kim’s place.

    There’s not much to really nitpick about this episode on a technical level. However, the fact that the aliens willingly kill themselves at a certain point in their lives seems similar to the TNG episode “Half A Life”, with the Timicin character, as well as the reaction of the family member, when the alien begins to question going through with the death ritual.

    It’s a pretty decent exploration of the whole metaphysics thing... do we have a soul? Where do we go after death? Where is the afterlife? The reaction of the alien women to waking up on Voyager is convincingly portrayed fright and panic. I do like how the alien doctor, albeit being an antagonist in the story, was very soft-spoken, for the most part, and never seemed like a “bad” guy... just a guy wanted to do his job, and seize upon an opportunity. The alien who was going to kill himself was also very gentle and soft-spoken.

    No shuttles used in this episode, lol, and I didn’t see any new people in blue Starfleet uniforms. No ship’s weapons were used, so the torpedo count remains the same as last.
  • psCargilepsCargile417 Posts: 620Member
    Is is me, or did anyone else think Kes was always using her "sexy voice?"
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    I love Kes. I need to get back to the rewatch... just had a lot on my plate with real life lately.
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - “PRIME FACTORS”

    This episode is definitely an episode with surprises. It’s actually one of the nicer gems in the first season. Voyager makes contact with a seemingly friendly race called the Sikarians, who extend the crew an invitation to use their planet for shore leave and recreation. The Sikarians are a very pleasure-oriented society, that happen to have the technology to fold space.

    The surprise in this episode is that it flips the tables on the Prime Directive, making US the ones on the other end, as it were - the ones who are told “no”, when we make a request for technology that could be of great benefit to us. Janeway wants and diligently pleads for the subspace trajector technology, but the Sikarians are adamant that they cannot furnish Voyager with their technology, for to do so, would be to risk their technology being used for nefarious purposes.

    Suffice it to say, some members of the crew don’t want to take no for an answer, and get their hands on the trajector, only to find out that it is incompatible with Voyager’s systems, as it is the structure of the Sikarian planet itself that holds the key to how it works. As a result, Voyager is almost destroyed by a warp core breach.

    The blue division uniforms count for this episode is 4 - 1 blue uniform female on the Bridge, 1 male and 2 female blue uniforms in the Mess Hall, all of them Human. I like the design of the Sikarian ship, and I like that little wire-ring headdress they wore… it looked unique and cool, without being some heavy-handed wardrobe prop.

    I really like that Harry Kim goes to Janeway to confide in her about the trajector… IMO, that showed a great deal of maturity and personal integrity. I really liked that. I feel that his doing so is probably a huge part of why she was so open to explore the possibility. I think if he had gone behind her back early on, the situation would have been far worse.

    The scene in Engineering when the trajector technology goes bad was great… the fear and panic from everyone was very palpable, and you could really feel the tension and panic. Very well acted and directed scene. In all reality, however, after all that, B’Elanna should have been stripped of her rank and status as an officer, as she literally did almost destroy the ship, as a result of her actions. Janeway is wrong… she doesn’t NEED her… she wants her. She could very easily replace B’Elanna with Carey, so I felt Janeway was extremely lenient in this situation.

    All in all, a terrific episode, which I said, is a hidden gem of the first season, mostly because of how it flips the Prime Directive.
  • darkthunderdarkthunder408 SwedenPosts: 102Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - “PRIME FACTORS”
    The scene in Engineering when the trajector technology goes bad was great… the fear and panic from everyone was very palpable, and you could really feel the tension and panic. Very well acted and directed scene. In all reality, however, after all that, B’Elanna should have been stripped of her rank and status as an officer, as she literally did almost destroy the ship, as a result of her actions. Janeway is wrong… she doesn’t NEED her… she wants her. She could very easily replace B’Elanna with Carey, so I felt Janeway was extremely lenient in this situation.

    To be fair, Carey was equally guilty in almost destroying the ship as he was part of the group fiddling with the alien tech in the hopes of getting home sooner. So I feel neither B'Elanna or Carey would've retained their ranks, especially in light of Janeway demoting Paris for "disobeying orders", and sent to the brig for 30 days in a later episode...

    That being said, it is definitely one of the better season 1 episodes. I feel Voyager doesn't get the positive credit it deserves.
    BolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    STAR TREK: VOYAGER - “STATE OF FLUX”

    Okay… here we go… the beginning of the Seska arc. This episode also marks the first appearance of First Maje Culluh, of the Kazon-Nistrim. Voyager receives a distress call from a Kazon vessel. Upon arrival, the away team discovers numerous Kazon embedded in the walls of the ship. A force field is surrounding a piece of equipment on the ship. I have to wonder how the Kazon have force field technology, when they don’t even have replicator or transporter technology, but, whatever… I guess one could speculate that they stole it from another race down the line. It is discovered that the Kazon were trying to make their own food replicator, and that the technology was incompatible with their systems. It is also discovered that a key element of the technology was Federation in origin. Obviously, someone on Voyager has been leaking information to the Kazon.

    It is here where I feel the show missed a real great opportunity to create some good foreshadowing, and could have stretched this story arc even further. Tuvok tells Janeway that he sees three explanations for how Federation technology could have ended up in the hands of the Kazon. One of those possibilities, is that a second Federation starship was also brought into the Delta Quadrant. I feel this could have been a great buildup to the introduction of the U.S.S. Equinox. In fact, I feel it actually would have been cool if they HAD made it the Equinox that gave the Kazon the technology, and somehow it went wrong, and their budding partnership came to a quick end. It fits with Captain Ransom’s profile - that he’d do whatever it takes to forge alliances and get his crew home, ethics be damned. They need not have mentioned the Equinox right then - just have the Kazon survivor mutter something about another Federation ship. But, whatever, lol.

    The blue uniforms count for this episode is 3 - two Human women and one Human male on the planet surface. I like that B’Elanna reiterates to the Captain that when she says tomorrow, she means tomorrow. I like that she doesn’t stretch things like Scotty. Carey also puts off a kind of O’Brien-like vibe, in the way he responds to answers.

    This episode reveals that Seska is, in fact, a Cardassian by birth, and that she’d been surgically altered to look Bajoran, to gather intelligence on the Maquis. She does have one pretty valid point, when she says that Voyager should be building a base of power in the Delta Quadrant. I always wished Janeway would have visibly tried to forge more alliances with more species.

    All in all, a decent episode. Nothing bad about it. I’ll state for the record, that First Maje Culluh is my favorite villain on Voyager. I know many people hate the Kazon, but I really like Cullah. The actor who plays him just infuses so much personality in him throughout the series.
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