Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Six (1999-2000)

 

Below is a list of my favorite episodes from Season Six of "STAR TREK VOYAGER". Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor; the series starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway:

FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER" SEASON SIX (1999-2000)



1. (6.10) "Pathfinder" - Back on Earth, former Enterprise officer, Lieutenant Reginald Barclay, uses holograms to formulate a program that would enable Starfleet to communicate with the Voyager crew in the Delta Quadrant. Dwight Schultz, Marina Sirtis, Richard Herd and Richard McGonagle guest starred.





2. (6.14) "Memorial" - Following their return from an Away mission, four of Voyager's senior staff membrs start dreaming about of a species they have never seen before, engaged in a gruesome battle on an unknown planet. Lindsey Ginter and Scarlett Pommer guest starred.





3. (6.04) "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" - An alien race, sizing up Voyager for a raid, taps into The Doctor's cognitive subroutines to make him their spy, unaware they are watching his new daydreaming program. Jay Leggett and Googy Gress guest starred.





4. (6.19) "Child's Play" - When the home world and parents of former Borg child Icheb are located, Seven of Nine has suspicions of their tale about Icheb's original assimilation by the Borg. Manu Intiraymi, Tracey Ellis, Scarlett Pommer and Mark Sheppard guest starred.





5. (6.05) "Alice" - Voyager acquires an alien space shuttle with a possessiveness artificial intelligence that jealously bonds with Tom Paris. Claire Rankin and Jon Fleck guest starred.





HM: (6.21) "Live Fast And Prosper" - A trio of con artists impersonate the Voyager crew and give the latter and the Federation a bad reputation. Kaitlin Hopkins, Gregg Daniel and Francis Guinan guest starred.

Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Five (1998-1999)

 

Below is a list of my favorite episodes from Season Five of "STAR TREK VOYAGER". Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor; the series starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway:



FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER" SEASON FIVE (1998-1999)



1. (5.12) "Bride of Chaotica!" - The U.S.S. Voyager crew encounters photonic life forms that mistake warmongering characters in Tom Paris' 1930s serial holodeck program, "Captain Proton", as real. Martin Rayner and Nicholas Worth guest-starred.






2. (5.06) "Timeless" - A miscalculation by Ensign Harry Kim causes a fatal crash during Voyager's first test with slipstream travel. Fifteen years later in the future, survivors Kim, Commander Chakotay and The Doctor attempt to send a message back in time to prevent the tragedy. Christine Harnos and LeVar Burton, who also directed, guest-starred.






3. (5.15-5.16) "Dark Frontier" - While the Voyager crew plots the heist of a transwarp coil from a disabled Borg cube; ex-Borg drone Seven-of-Nine receives a communique from the Borg Queen, who wants to lure the former drone back into the Collective. Susanna Thompson guest-starred.






4. (5.09) "Thirty Days" - In a letter to his father, Chief Helmsman Tom Paris tells the story of the events leading up to his demotion to Ensign and sentence of thirty days in Voyager's brig. Willie Garson guest-starred.






5. (5.26) "Equinox - Part I" - Voyager's crew discovers the U.S.S. Equinox, another Federation starship stranded in the Delta Quadrant that had a rougher journey in the Delta Quadrant. Captain Janeway and her crew are unaware of the other crew harboring a dark secret. John Savage, Titus Welliver, Rick Worthy and Olivia Birkelund guest-starred.






Honorable Mention: (5.22) "Someone to Watch Over Me" - When the Doctor decides to help Seven-of-Nine learn about social and romantic rituals, he is drawn into a bet with Paris on how she will behave during a diplomatic reception for a visiting alien. Scott Thompson and Brian McNamara guest-starred.

Five Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Four (1997-1998)

 

Below is a list of my five favorite episodes from Season Four of "STAR TREK VOYAGER". Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor; the series starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway:

FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER" SEASON FOUR (1997-1998)



1. (4.07) "Scientific Method" - When a string of bizarre illnesses afflicts Voyager's crew, the Doctor, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres and new crewman Seven-of-Nine uncover a team of alien researchers existing out of phase and performing medical experiments on the crew. Rosemary Forsyth and Annette Helde guest starred.

2. (4.16) "Prey" - The crew of Voyager come to the aid of a wounded Hirogen before discovering that his hunting prey, a lost member of Species 8472, has boarded the ship. Tony Todd guest starred.

3. (4.14) "Message in a Bottle" - Using an abandoned Hirogen communications net, Voyager sends their Chief Medical Officer, the Doctor, to a Federation ship in the Alpha Quadrant, where he discovers has been taken over by Romulans. Andy Dick and Judson Scott guest starred.

4. (4.18-4.19) "The Killing Game" - When Voyager is captured by the Hirogens, it is transformed into a massive holodeck, so that the Hirogens can hunt members of the crew who have been fitted with new identities in various scenarios based upon Federation history. Danny Goldring, J. Paul Boehmer and Mark Metcalf guest starred.

5. (4.23) "Living Witness" - The Doctor's backup program awakens in the museum of an alien culture seven hundred years in the future, where Voyager is thought to have been a passing warship full of cold-blooded killers in which the latter interfered in a war between the planet's two ethnic groups. Henry Woronicz guest starred.

Honorable Mention: (4.08-4.09) "Year of Hell" - Voyager comes across a Krenim timeship that is wiping whole species from existence in order to change the existing timeline. Kurtwood Smith and Peter Marx guest starred.

Five Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Three (1996-1997)

Below is a list of my five favorite episodes from Season Three of "STAR TREK VOYAGER". Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor; the series starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway:


FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER" SEASON THREE (1996-1997)



1. (3.16) "Blood Fever" - While enduring pon farr, a lovesick Ensign Vorik unexpectedly passes it to Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres, affecting her relationship with Chief Helmsman Tom Paris during an Away mission. Alexander Enberg guest-starred.





2. (3.24) "Displaced" - A mystery develops when Voyager crew members are replaced, one-by-one, with aliens from an unknown race.





3. (3.25) "Worst Case Scenario" - When Torres discovers a hidden holodeck program in which the ship's Maquis crewmen stage an insurrection, members of the Voyager crew begin clandestinely participating in it, with surprising dangerous results for Paris and Security Chief Tuvok. Martha Hackett guest-starred.





4. (3.17) "Unity" - Voyager's First Officer, Commander Chakotay, crashes on a planet with a community of unassimilated Borg drones from all over the galaxy. Meanwhile, the ship encounters a Borg cube that is "dead in space".





5. (3.02) "The Chute" - While on leave on the Akritirian homeworld, Paris and Operations Chief Harry Kim are falsely accused of a terrorist bombing. While the two men struggle to survive in a brutal prison, Captain Kathryn Janeway and Voyager's crew race against time to prove their innocence.





Honorable Mention: (3.14) "Alter Ego" - Kim falls in love with a holodeck character from Neelix's Polynesian resort program named Marayna. But when he seeks help from Tuvok to get over his "crush", Marayna begins to behave strangely when she develops an obsession toward the Vulcan Security Chief.

Five Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Two (1995-1996)

Below is a list of my five favorite episodes from Season Two of "STAR TREK VOYAGER". Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor; the series starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway: 


FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER" SEASON TWO (1995-1996)



1. (2.11) "Manuevers" - After a team of the Kazon-Nistrim warriors steal some Federation technology during a raid against U.S.S. Voyager, Commander Chakotay goes after them on his own and is captured. Martha Hackett and Anthony De Longis guest-starred.





2. (2.21) "Deadlock" - While attempting to evade the organ-stealing Vidiians, a duplicate Voyager is created after it passes through a spatial scission; leaving one of the duplicate ships under attack and the other impervious to attack. Nancy Hower and Simon Billig guest-starred.





3. (2.20) "Investigations" - Lieutenant Tom Paris leaves Voyager and joins a Talaxian space convoy. But when he is kidnapped by former crew mate Seska and the Kazon-Nistrim, Neelix tries to flush out the traitor on board who has been colluding with them. Raphael Sbarge, Martha Hackett and Simon Billig guest-starred. 





4. (2.05) "Non-Sequitur" - While on an Away mission, Ensign Harry Kim mysteriously wakes up and finds himself back in 24th century San Francisco, with no record of him ever joining Voyager's crew. Louis Giambalvo, Jennifer Gatti and Mark Kiely guest-starred.





5. (2.19) "Lifesigns" - Voyager picks up a dying Vidiian woman and the Doctor saves her life by placing her consciousness in a holographic body. As the pair attempts to find a cure for the Phage killing her and her species, he falls in love. Susan Diol, Raphael Sbarge and Martha Hackett guest-starred. 





Honorable Mention: (2.08) "Persistence of Vision" - When Voyager enters a new region of space, the crew begins to experience hallucinations from their past and of their desires. Carolyn Seymour, Warren Munson and Marva Hicks guest-starred.

Excessive Criticism of “STAR TREK VOYAGER”

EXCESSIVE CRITICISM OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER"

For the past two decades, I have never encountered so much criticism of one particular Star Trek show than I have for the 1995-2001 series, "STAR TREK VOYAGER". 

Ironically, I used to buy this negative opinion. Or accept it. One of the reasons I had ignored "STAR TREK VOYAGER" for so many years, because I had assumed that those fans who had deemed it inferior to the other shows in the franchise were right. When my sister found out that the rest of our family was ignoring the show, she fervently suggested that we watch it. This happened when the early Season Five episodes were going through its first run. Well, we did. We watched some of those early Season Five shows. We also watched the previous episodes from Season One to Season Four that were currently in syndication. And guess what? My family became fans of the show.

I am not going to claim that "VOYAGER" was perfect. Yes, it had its flaws. I have even posted a few articles about some of the flaws I had encountered. But I was also able to pick out both major and minor flaws in the other Trek shows at the time - "STAR TREK", "STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION", and "STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE" - while still enjoying them. I never really became a big fan of "STAR TREK ENTERPRISE", but there were a good number of episodes that I really enjoyed. 

This fervent need to nitpick everything about "STAR TREK VOYAGER" in order to deem it as some kind of pop culture disaster is mind boggling to me. Every time I access an article on the Internet - especially on a Trek message board - about series, the criticism seemed to strike me as unnecessarily excessive . . . and constant. And most of the complaints I have come across are either about some ridiculously minor flaw or how Janeway was a terrible star ship captain. I do not understand this opinion. Janeway made her mistakes. So did the other Trek captains. What made her worse than the others? Her gender? Star Trek shows were not allowed to have women as the leads, or even worse, in the command position? 

More importantly, these same fans seem very reluctant to point out the flaws - both minor and major - about the other Trek shows. At least not to this extreme degree. What is going on? If you are going to state that "VOYAGER" was simply the worst show in the Trek franchise, do not expect me to buy this opinion anymore. After seeing the show and the others in the franchise, I really have great difficulty in accepting this view. So what is it? What is the real truth? I guess in the end, these are questions that no one can really answer. After all, art and entertainment are subjective.

Five Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season One (1995)

Below is a list of my five favorite episodes from Season One of "STAR TREK VOYAGER". Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor; the series starred Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway: 


FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK VOYAGER" SEASON ONE (1995)



1. (1.11) "State of Flux" - Captain Kathryn Janeway and other senior members of Voyager's crew Janeway attempt to flush out a spy who is sending information to a group of aggressive Delta Quadrant species called the Kazon-Nistrim. Martha Hackett and Josh Clark guest-starred.





2. (1.14) "Faces" - When Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Lieutenant Tom Paris and Ensign Pete Durst are captured by Vidiians during an Away mission, Torres is split into her human and Klingon halves in order for her captors to use her DNA to find a cure for their species. Brian Markinson guest-starred.





3. (1.01-1.02) "Caretaker" - While searching for a Maquis ship with a Starfleet spy aboard in the series premiere, the U.S.S. Voyager is swept into the Delta Quadrant, more than 70,000 light-years from home, by an incredibly powerful being known as the "Caretaker". Gavan O'Herlihy and Basil Langston guest-starred.





4. (1.04) "Time and Again" - While investigating a planet just devastated by a polaric explosion, Janeway and Paris are engulfed by a subspace fracture and transported in time to before the accident. Nicolas Surovy guest-starred.





5. (1.07) "Eye of the Needle" - Voyager's crew discover a micro-wormhole leads to the Alpha Quadrant and makes contact with a Romulan ship on the other side with ironic consequences. Vaughn Armstrong guest-starred.

"STAR TREK VOYAGER" RETROSPECT: (7.21) "Friendship One"

"STAR TREK VOYAGER" RETROSPECT: (7.21) "Friendship One"

For such a quietly presented episode, the "STAR TREK VOYAGER" Season Seven episode, (7.21) "Friendship One" packed quite a powerful punch. For the first time . . . or perhaps not . . . audiences saw the dangers of exploration - not just for the explorers, but for also the explored. 

The episode explored the impact of a late 21st century Earth deep space probe called "Friendship 1" that had made its way to a Delta Quadrant planet called Uxal over a century later. After being lost in the Delta Quadrant for three years, the U.S.S. Voyager managed to contact Starfleet after the crew used a Hirogen relay network to send their holographic Chief Medical Officer to the Alpha Quadrant in the Season Four episode, (4.14) "Message in a Bottle". 

Nearly two years later in the Season Six episode, (6.10) "Pathfinder", Starfleet officer Reginald Barclay managed to contact the stranded Voyager using Starfleet's Pathfinder project. This allowed Voyager and Starfleet to contact each other on a monthly basis. Over a year later, Starfleet assigned Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew their first assignment - to retrieve the "Friendship 1" probe. The crew's efforts to accomplish their mission led to their discovery that the probe had a negative effect upon Uxal. By the time of Voyager's arrival, it was undergoing a nuclear winter, which had a major negative impact upon the Uxali inhabitants. When an Away team consisting of Lieutenant Tom Paris, ship's cook/morale officer Neelix and Lieutenant Joe Carey landed on the planet, they were taken hostage by a group of Uxali led by someone named Verin. The latter demanded that Voyager's crew transport his people to a safe planet . . . a process that would take at least three years. Naturally, Captain Janeway refused to capitulate to Verin's demand and a tense standoff commenced that eventually led to tragedy. 

During my recent viewing of "Friendship One", I found myself remembering the 1993 movie, "JURASSIC PARK". The episode especially reminded me of the comments made by Jeff Goldblum's character about the dangers of exploration. Yes, some of you might be turning up your noses at such a comparison. But "JURASSIC PARK" and "Friendship One" provided some strong lessons. These lessons seemed to have gone over the heads of both Janeway and most of Voyager's crew. 

The crew's attitude toward the planet's inhabitants struck an interesting note within me. They seemed to be embarrassed by the destruction caused by "Friendship 1", especially since it was an Earth probe. And at the same time, they were angered by Verin's murder of Lieutenant Carey. Janeway seemed only concerned with saving the hostages and acquiring the probe. It took Tom Paris and Neelix - two individuals dismissed by the crew as worthless when the series first began, to remind her and other Voyager crewmen that as Humans (at least a majority of them) and representatives of Starfleet, they had a responsibility to help clean up the mess caused by their ancestors' irresponsibility. If Starfleet had been in contact with "Friendship 1" up until the mid 23rd century, why they fail to recover it before it had disappeared? Especially if Starfleet had known about the probe's antimatter, of which the Uxali were unfamiliar. The Uxali's attitude also struck me as interesting. They were so full of bitterness at what happened to them. Then again, who could blame them? But due to this bitterness, the Uxali failed to realize that taking and killing hostages had only their situation even worse. The Uxali scientist, Otrin, had to remind his people that their bitterness and paranoia were keeping them from accepting the help they needed.

Someone had complained that the solution to Uxal's radiation came too quick and easy. I disagree. Otrin had been working on a solution for years. Voyager's technology, along with Seven's comments to Otrin, finally provided a means to use that solution. But even providing the solution to Uxal brought danger upon Voyager's crew, since the embittered Verin seemed determined to consider Janeway and her crew as the enemy and destroy them.

One of the episode's surprises is that a small moment between Paris and his wife, Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres would end up symbolizing the Chief Helmsman's encounter with a pregnant mother named Brin. Even more surprising, his successful efforts to save Brin's newborn baby from the radiation eventually save the hides of Voyager's crew and Starfleet's reputation. And despite this solution for the Uxali, Voyager still lost a valuable crew member. Also, the episode ended with Starfleet and the Federation's reputations on a shaky ground.

The episode featured some solid performances, including those from Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Robert Beltran, Tim Russ and Roxann Dawson. Among the guest stars, I was especially impressed by the performances of Ken Land as Verin, John Prosky as Otrin and Bari Hochwald as Brin. But I have to give special kudos to Robert Duncan McNeill for his performance as Tom Paris in this episode. He did an excellent job of portraying Paris' quiet conflict between his desperation to live, his desire to help some of the Uxali - especially the pregnant Brin, and his quiet disapproval of the crew's arrogant attitude toward the Uxali. I was also impressed by Ethan Phillips' portrayal of Talaxian crewman, Neelix. The latter's quiet recall of his homeworld's destruction seemed even more powerful that the time we first heard about it in the Season One episode, (1.15) "Jetrel". And I also enjoyed how Neelix pointed out the Humans' flaws in a conversation with Verin:

NEELIX: "When I first met them, I thought they were arrogant and self-righteous."
VERIN: "I suppose you're going to tell me you've changed your mind."
NEELIX: "Well, not completely."

Joe Carey. I am quite certain that a good number of the show's fans were upset by his death. To be honest, I thought his character had died a long time ago. Josh Clark's last two previous appearances on the show - Season Five's (5.24) "Relativity" and Season Six's(6.23) "Fury" - had occurred in time travel episodes that featured his character during Voyager's first year in existence. Someone had complained that his death would have been more relevant if he had appeared on "STAR TREK VOYAGER" a lot more often. Again, I disagree. The circumstances surrounding his death made the story dramatic enough. His death proved to be pointless and tragic, due to Earth's carelessness and the aliens' unwillingness to trust. I found Crewman Hogan's death in (3.01) "Basic, Part II"and Ensign Marie Kaplan's death in (3.17) "Unity" upsetting enough. And they were not as well known to "STAR TREK VOYAGER" fans as Carey. Anyway, it was good to see Josh Clark, who provided one last excellent performance before the series' end. 

I might as well be honest. "Friendship One" is not a big favorite of mine. My attitude has nothing to do with the episode's quality. Frankly, I consider it to be one of the most interesting episodes of the series. But I did find it rather depressing. Some did not care about the arrogant or careless portrayal of both Voyager's crew and Starfleet in general. I had no problem with that. Considering the franchise's habit of nearly putting humanity on a pedestal, this portrayal of Starfleet and humanity as flawed - even in the late 24th century - struck me as refreshing.

"STAR TREK VOYAGER" RETROSPECT: (3.26-4.01) "Scorpion"

"STAR TREK VOYAGER" RETROSPECT: (3.26-4.01) "Scorpion"

After three seasons, the series "STAR TREK VOYAGER" entered into a new era with the two-part episode, (3.26-4.01) "Scorpion". In "Scorpion", the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager finally reaches Borg space after three seasons - an event that would serve as a turning point for the series.

Aired at the end of Season Three and the beginning of Season Four, "Scorpion" finds the Voyager entering Borg space. To the crew's surprise, they discover that the Borg is engaged in a major conflict with another alien race called Species 8472. An even more discovery awaits when Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew learn that the Borg is losing its war with Species 8472. But when the crew's Ocampa nurse, Kes, receives hostile telepathic messages from Species 8472 and when Operation Officer Ensign Harry Kim has an encounter with a member of Species 8472 that nearly costs him his life, Janeway decides that the only way for Voyager to survive this new conflict is to form an alliance with the Borg that would guarantee the ship's safe passage through Borg space.

Written by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky, and directed by David Livingston ("Part I") and Winrich Kolbe ("Part II"); "Scorpion" turned out to be an excellent story that is regarded as the best two-part episode in the entire series by TREK fans. Personally, I do not share this particular opinion. But I must admit that it was first-rate. As I had stated earlier, "Scorpion" served as a turning point for "STAR TREK VOYAGER". First of all, the episode featured Voyager's first encounter with Species 8472. The episode - at least "Part II" introduced new crew member, Seven-of-Nine aka Annika Hansen. Consequences from Janeway's alliance with the Borg not only left her with a new crew member, but would end up having consequences in future episodes such as (4.16) "Prey", (4.26) "Hope and Fear", (5.04) "In the Flesh" and (5.15-5.16) "Dark Frontier".

The emotional consequences of "Scorpion" was also well-handled by the screenwriters and the directors. One thing, the episode revealed that aside from the "Q" Continuum, a race more powerful than the Borg existed in "TREK" universe. Many fans saw the weakening of the Borg in the following "VOYAGER" episodes as something to mourn. I found this opinion amazing, considering that an episode highly popular with the fans, would prove to provide the first real sign of weakness with in the Borg. I had no problem with the gradual weakening of the Borg. If the Borg had remained the near unbeatable nemesis first introduced in "STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION", their story arc would have remained stuck in perpetual stagnation. And it only seemed proper that the Borg's gradual decline would occur on "VOYAGER", considering that the series was set in the Delta Quadrant, their base of operation. There were other aspects of "Scorpion" that I found admirable - namely Jeffrey Baxter and Dick Brownfield's special effects, along with Marvin V. Rush's cinematography that greatly enhanced the sequences featuring the Borg's confrontations with Species 8472.

"Scorpion" also revealed that the Janeway/Chakotay command team had yet to be fully been realized by the end of Season Three. When I first saw this episode, it amazed me that the Captain and her First Officer had failed to perfect a command style after three years in the Delta Quadrant. Now I realized that I should not have been surprised. Janeway and Chakotay spent the first two seasons trying to merge the Starfleet and Maquis factions of the ship's crew. Once the two factions learned to regard themselves as one crew, both Janeway and Chakotay spent all of Season Three congratulating themselves for achieving this fusion and ignoring the fact that they had yet learned to create a stable command team. They only had one misstep during Season Three - namely Chakotay's experiences with a colony of former Borg drones in (3.17) "Unity". Seasons One and Two served as Janeway and Chakotay's attempts to fuse Voyager's two factions into one. Season Three served as their honeymoon period. But during Seasons Four and Five - starting with "Scorpion" - the two senior officers were finally forced to confront each other's personality quirks and form a solid command team.

Both Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay had made serious mistakes in "Scorpion". Janeway blindly refused to accept Chakotay's warnings about the Borg, believing that her position as Captain made her supremely right. She also allowed her disappointment in Chakotay's doubts to blind her and take his criticisms personally. As for Chakotay, he allowed his past experiences with the former Borg drones in "Unity" to disobey Janeway and literally make a mess of the alliance she had formed with the Borg. It is possible that in this episode, he made a lousy First Officer, because he had yet to recover from no longer being the Captain of his old Maquis star ship. Now, I do not expect the First Officer to follow his/her captain blindly. It might make for great screen chemistry, but in reality, I cannot help thinking that would be a dangerous situation. Imagine how the crew of the "U.S.S. Caine" would have fared if Van Johnson's character had blindly followed Humphrey Bogart's in 1954's "THE CAINE MUTINY". Or how would the U.S.S. Enterprise-E have fared if Doctor Beverly Crusher, Lieutenant-Commander Worf and Lily Sloane had allowed Captain Jean-Luc Picard to continue his obsession against the Borg in 1996's "STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT". I cannot help but feel that this conflict between Janeway and Chakotay should have been experienced by their first or second year together as Captain and First Officer. Not after three years. But unusual circumstances - namely their efforts to fuse the Starfleet and Maquis factions - prevented this.

Before I end this article, I have to comment on the acting featured in this episode. The supporting cast gave their usual solid performances - especially Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok, Garrett Wang as Harry Kim, Jennifer Lien as Kes and Robert Picardo as the Doctor. But the truly outstanding performances came from three people - Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran and Jeri Ryan. The latter would prove to be an interesting addition to the "VOYAGER" cast as the ambiguous soon-to-be former drone, Seven-of-Nine. Beltran, who has always been belittled by "TREK" fans as a wooden performer, was far from wooden as a doubtful and paranoid Chakotay. Kate Mulgrew gave an equally first-rate performance as always complex and interesting Kathryn Janeway.

In a way, I can see why "Scorpion" is regarded by many "VOYAGER" fans as the high mark of the series. It is a well-written episode that steered the series into a new direction. But there are other two-part episodes that are bigger favorites of mine. I would not regard "Scorpion" as the high mark of "VOYAGER", but perhaps as one of the series' high marks.