1.12 cathexis

Chakotay and Tuvok (what is it with these two trouble-finders – in the last episode they were both ‘killed’ on the holodeck) return from a shuttlecraft away mission injured. Chakotay is ‘brain-dead’; he is missing all of his consciousness. Tuvok is injured but recovers. According to Tuvok, they were zapped by an alien ship that hides out in a nebula. As Voyager heads for the nebula, various members of the crew are taken over by an alien presence that keeps changing the ship’s course away from the nebula. A clever little mystery.

1.11 heroes and demons

When Harry Kim disappears on the holodeck while taking part in the ‘Beowulf’ legend, Chakotay and Tuvok investigate, but they are zapped by a mysterious surge of photonic energy. Are they all dead, or could their energy matrix be recoverable? Only the holographic doctor can safely venture in to find out. It’s the doctor’s first away mission, his first interaction with mythical characters from the middle ages - and his first kiss. A fun episode.

1.10 state of flux

A Kaizon ship sends out a distress call. Subsequent investigation proves that someone from Voyager has been giving Federation technology to the Kaizon. The evidence points to former Maquis crewperson Seska, although she denies it to her former lover Chakotay. He doesn’t know what to think – but he’s smart enough to play along with a clever trap to find out who the traitor is. In the end, Seska beams to the Kaizon ship and gets away. Hopefully, she can do something about their sideshow Bob-like hair. Another interesting episode. Great line by Tuvok to Chakotay: "And how may I be honest with you today?"

Nitpick: Torres examines the wreckage, and determines that because it contains the bio circuitry used on Voyager, and that Voyager is the only ship to have this circuitry, that it must have come from Voyager. My question: could it not have come from a ship from the future? Every second episode deals with time travel.

1.09 prime factors

Voyager is intercepted by an alien ship, from a race of people known to Neelix and renowned for their hospitality. They allow shore leave on their home world and shower the crew of Voyager with gifts. Harry Kim gets chummy with a female alien. She loves his stories; she uses a special transporter device to take him to one of her favorite places. Kim asks her how far away it is, and is excited to find out it is 40,000 light years away! He bursts in on Janeway and the ‘head’ alien just as they are about to kiss, and asks if they can use the device to transport Voyager. Though it is physically feasible, the aliens have a strict code about sharing their technology less it is misused, and the alien leader declines. Janeway proposes a swap of the ship’s entire library – with millions of ‘stories’, but while the leader negotiates, Kim is taken to an unauthorized alien who is willing to trade the technology for stories. Kim takes the offer to the captain, but, meanwhile, Seska and others are plotting to take it upon themselves to use the technology, and B’Elanna has to choose sides. Eventually, the evil Seska convinces her to get and use the technology, but just as they are about to beam down to get it, Tuvok of all people shows up and says he will make the exchange. The part is tested but is incompatible and almost destroys the ship. Faced with the opportunity to cover it up, B’Elanna insists on reporting the truth and taking her medicine. Tuvok admits to being the senior officer involved, saying that he felt it was his logical duty to compensate for Janeway’s inability to get the crew home within the bounds of her obligation to follow Starfleet laws.

Nit: I think it was contrived for Tuvok to use logic to break the chain of command. This is even less believable than when Chakotay stole a shuttlecraft on a Kamikaze mission to deal with Seska (see ‘basics’).

1.08 emanations

Investigating high energy readings, Chakotay leads an away mission to the source: an asteroid. Dead alien bodies are found there, with more appearing every minute. While Chakotay is lecturing the away team on proper etiquette in burial grounds, an energy wave permeates the cabin. An emergency beam-out only nets Chakotay, B’Elanna, and a new dead body; Kim finds himself on a planet, inside a pod. The doctor is able to revive the freshly deceased body. The alien believed it was going to an afterlife, a ‘second life’, where she would maintain corporeal shape and continue to live, and to see all those who ‘died’ before her. Kim, meanwhile, is believed to have come from this emanation, although he tries to explain carefully that in his reality, all he saw were a bunch of dead bodies. Considered a threat by the people in charge, he begins to influence one alien who has just been convinced to die by family pressure. As Kim is about to be whisked even further away for more study, he devises a plan whereby he will take the place of the alien, allowing the alien to escape into the hills and continue to live; Kim will die, but is banking on the doctor being able to revive him. Fortunately, it works, and Kim also gets a few days off, and is advised by Janeway to take the time to think about what has happened.

1.07 ex post facto

On an alien world, Tom Paris is accused and convicted of murdering the ageing husband of a sexy young woman whom he has gotten involved with. "Nothing happened," explains Tom; then he adds, "Well, almost nothing." We'll leave the meaning of this to your imagination. Paris' punishment is to relive the crime through the eyes of his victim, over and over, every 14 hours, and the implants that accomplish this are destroying his brain. It's up to Tuvok to dispassionately investigate and discover the truth. Lauren Bacall she is not, but that woman is sexy, and I like the revealing yet subtle outfits that are designed for her.

1.06 eye of the needle

Janeway and the crew are excited by the long-range discovery of a wormhole. However, upon closer inspection, the hole is only a few millimeters wide, offering no escape from the Delta quadrant. A micro-probe reveals that the Alpha quadrant is on the other side of the wormhole, as is something that is scanning the probe. This turns out to be a Romulan ship, whose commander is quite suspicious of Voyager’s intent and doubts their location. Slowly, he begins to believe Janeway’s sincere speeches and to empathize with their plight. Meanwhile, Torres discovers a way to transport matter through the wormhole. The Romulan agrees to be the first being to transport. It is when he is on Voyager that Tuvok discovers that he is from 20 years in the past, meaning that the crew cannot beam over without polluting the timeline.

In the meantime, Kes asks the captain to help the doctor gain more respect from the crew. She even kisses the doctor goodbye when she thinks she is going to have to leave his program aboard the ship when they transport to the alpha quadrant.

A good episode, filled with ups and downs, and with good character development by the doctor, who ends the episode by asking for a name.