Star Trek: Voyager
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{{infobox television | show_name = Star Trek: Voyager | image = Image:Voyager-bottom.jpg | caption = | format = Science fiction | runtime = Approx. 45 minutes per episode | creator = Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor | starring = See cast | country = United States | network = UPN | first_aired = January 16, 1995 | last_aired = May 23, 2001 | num_episodes = 172 | imdb_id = 0112178 | tv_com_id = 274 }}
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. It was produced for seven seasons from 1995 to 2001, and is the only Star Trek series to have a female captain, Kathryn Janeway, as a lead character. The show was a spinoff of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor. The show was based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. It is sometimes shortened to ST:VOY or VOY.
The series follows the adventures of the USS Voyager and her crew who have become stranded in the Delta Quadrant, seventy thousand light-years from Earth. Unless they can find some kind of shortcut, it will take them seventy-five years to return to the space of the United Federation of Planets.
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Plot Overview
In the pilot episode, "Caretaker", Voyager is sent on a mission to locate a ship piloted by a cell of the Maquis, a terrorist organization created in protest of a treaty between the Federation and Cardassians. Tom Paris (a former member of the Maquis) is brought out of prison to help find the ship. During a chase through the dangerous Badlands, both ships are transported to the other side of the galaxy by an ancient alien known as the Caretaker. While being pulled across the galaxy, several members of Voyager's crew are killed, including the ship's first officer and doctor.
Both ships are attacked by Kazon raiders intent on capturing the Caretaker's Array. Rather than using the Caretaker's Array to return home, Captain Janeway decides to destroy it to prevent it from being misused.
The raiders destroy the Maquis ship, but not before its crew are able to transport safely to Voyager. The Starfleet and Maquis crews are forced to integrate and work together as they begin the long journey home. Chakotay, the leader of the Maquis group, becomes first officer. B'Elanna Torres, a half-human, half-Klingon female, becomes chief engineer, beating out Lieutenant Carey, a Starfleet crewman who would have been promoted to the position. The Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH Mark I), designed for short term use only, becomes ship's doctor after the death of the entire medical staff. Along the way home, the crew must contend with organ-snatching Vidiians, the relentless Borg, and the extra-dimensional Species 8472.
The conflict between the fiercely independent Maquis revolutionaries and the by-the-book Starfleet crew is a central theme of the first season, but by the second season, it is largely forgotten and there is scarcely any conflict among the crew. Only Janeway remains anguished for the entire run of the series over the consequences of her decision to destroy their way home.
Themes
Voyager continues the themes presented in the original Star Trek series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, such as explorations of space and of the human condition. It also demonstrates democratic principles (peace, openness, freedom, cooperation, and sharing) and philosophical issues such as the sense of self and what it means to be human. In the Star Trek series, the examination of humanity is typically explored by contrasting non-human characters with human ones (for instance, the Earth-born Kirk and McCoy against the Vulcan Spock). On Voyager, these aliens include the Emergency Medical Hologram (The Doctor), who is actually a computer program, Vulcan security officer Tuvok, Talaxian Neelix, half Klingon - half Human B'Elanna Torres, Ocampa Kes, and the former Borg drone Seven of Nine. It should be noted that although, biologically speaking, Seven is a bona-fide Homo sapiens, having been a Borg drone for most of her life means that she has not developed normal human behavior patterns when she first becomes part of Voyager's crew.
Voyager was probably more reminiscent of the original Star Trek series than Star Trek: The Next Generation, (although greatly technologically advanced, the size of the ship is almost identical to the original series' Constitution class Enterprise. Seven of Nine's post also grew similar to that of Science Officer, as held by Spock in the original series.) albeit with characters displaying postmodernism's trademark moral ambiguity at times, rather than the straight gung-ho cheerfulness of the 60s. The show was also substantially grittier than Star Trek: The Next Generation, with the heavy sentimentality of that series being almost entirely absent.
Another of Voyager's most interesting elements is the radical departure from the "best and the brightest" theme of Star Trek: The Next Generation in particular. Rather than a group of ace Starfleet Academy graduates, the characters in this series included an ex-convict, former terrorists, a notably unseasoned captain, and an unusually militant Vulcan.
Another common plot theme is the implications of being stranded far from home. Voyager has only limited resources and no easy way to replenish them; its crew is cut off from the normal chain of command and institutions of its society. Janeway often expresses that though they are cut off from Starfleet, it is still their duty to live by Starfleet values and regulations. Their situation frequently faces them with difficult choices of necessity versus idealism. Unlike the other Star Trek series, the crew of the Voyager cannot just stop at a starbase for repair or resupply. They often have to make trades with alien cultures or find completely new solutions to unforeseeable problems.
Episode List
Season 1, 16 episodes: Caretaker / Caretaker, Part II / Parallax / Time and Again / Phage / The Cloud / Eye of the Needle / Ex Post Factor / Emanations / Prime Factors / State of Flux / Heroes and Demons / Cathexis / Faces / Jetrel / Learning Curve /
Season 2, 26 episodes: The 37's / Initiations / Projections / Elogium / Non Sequitur / Twisted / Parturition / Persistence of Vision / Tattoo / Cold Fire / Maneuvers / Resistance / Prototype / Alliances / Threshold / Meld / Dreadnought / Death Wish / Lifesigns / Investigations / Deadlock / Innocence / The Thaw / Tuvix / Resolutions / Basics, Part I /
Season 3, 26 episodes: Basics, Part II / Flashback / The Chute / The Swarm / False Profits / Remember / Sacred Ground / Future's End / Future's End, Part II / Warlord / The Q and the Grey / Macrocosm / Fair Trade / Alter Ego / Coda / Blood Fever / Unity / Darkling / Rise / Favorite Son / Before and After / Real Life / Distant Origin / Displaced / Worst Case Scenario / Scorpion, Part I /
Season 4, 26 episodes: Scorpion, Part II / The Gift / Day of Honor / Nemesis / Revulsion / The Raven / Scientific Method / Year of Hell / Year of Hell, Part II / Random Thoughts / Concerning Flight / Mortal Coil / Waking Moments / Message in a Bottle / Hunters / Prey / Retrospect / The Killing Game, Part I / The Killing Game, Part II / Vis à Vis / The Omega Directive / Unforgettable / Living Witness / Demon / One / Hope and Fear /
Season 5, 25 episodes: Night / Drone / Extreme Risk / In the Flesh / Once Upon a Time / Timeless / Infinite Regress / Nothing Human / Thirty Days / Counterpoint / Latent Image / Bride of Chaotica! / Gravity / Bliss / Dark Frontier / Dark Frontier, Part II / The Disease / Course: Oblivion / The Fight / Think Tank / Juggernaut / Someone to Watch OverMe / 11:59 / Relativity / Warhead / Equinox, Part I /
Season 6, 26 episodes: Equinox, Part II / Survival Instinct / Barge of the Dead / Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy / Alice / Riddles / Dragon's Teeth / One Small Step / The Voyager Conspiracy / Pathfinder / Fair Haven / Blink of an Eye / Virtuoso / Memorial / Tsunkatse / Collective / Spirit Folk / Ashes to Ashes / Child's Play / Good Shepherd / Live Fast and Prosper / Muse / Fury / Life Line / Haunting of Deck Twelve / Unimatrix Zero, Part I /
Season 7, 25 episodes: Unimatrix Zero, Part II / Imperfection / Drive / Repression / Critical Care / Inside Man / Body and Soul / Nightingale / Flesh and Blood / Flesh and Blood, Part II / Shattered / Lineage / Repentance / Prophecy / The Void / Workforce, Part I / Workforce, Part II / Human Error / Q2 / Author, Author / Friendship One / Natural Law / Homestead / Renaissance Man / Endgame / Endgame, Part II /
Reactions
Image:TVGuidestartrekvoyager.jpg
The reception from Star Trek fans has been mixed. Like Deep Space Nine before it, Voyager did not attract the same ratings as Star Trek: The Next Generation. There were concerns from the beginning that Voyager and Deep Space Nine would compete for ratings within the Trek fandom.
One obstacle that the show faced was that Voyager was the first Trek series to air on network television since the original series. This factor stripped Voyager's writers and producers of a certain amount of creative control. UPN wanted the show to move away from its more "sci-fi" background to more of an action show.
The central character of Captain Kathryn Janeway has brought praise and criticism. Although female captains had been featured as guest characters in each of the previous Star Trek series, as well as in several theatrical movies, Janeway was the first female character to star in a Star Trek series in the role of captain. Some women who watched the show claim Captain Janeway as a role model. While Kate Mulgrew's acting on the show was often regarded as superb, some (including short term writer Ronald D. Moore) criticized the inconsistent command style of Captain Janeway.
Voyager is often praised for its humor, and for delivering it in higher quantity than any of its sibling series. The contrast between Neelix and Vulcan security officer Tuvok is often played to, as is the contrast between hot-headed Chief Engineer (B'Elanna Torres) and calm and cool assimilated Borg (Seven of Nine): "The Borg wouldn't know fun if they assimilated an amusement park."
General criticism of the show includes lack of character growth and repetitive storylines — especially past season four. There were complaints that the show was trying to mold itself too closely on Star Trek: The Next Generation instead of trying to find its own path. Many fans complained about the show's secondary characters not getting enough background information, or enough air time as the show progressed.
Other notable issues were a lack of ongoing plot continuity or story arcs, generally resolving conflicts and dilemmas within the confines of a single episode, and rarely revisiting past story plots, characters or events. Many viewers also found it frustrating that the series drifted away from the main premise of being stranded and alone in space, and that any sense of realism was seemingly ignored within this situation. For example, the ship's fuel supply and general condition remained virtually unaffected and intact throughout its seven-year journey, despite the situation of being tens of thousands of light years away from any Federation outposts. In essence every new episode, more often than not, ignored previous ones. Fans often humorously referred to this phenomenon as pressing "the reset button".
The show came in for particular criticism from hardcore Star Trek fanatics for several factual inconsistencies. In the series' sixth episode, one character declares that the ship has a non-replaceable supply of 38 photon torpedoes, but by the end of the series' run a minimum of 93 have been fired (fansite). These extra torpedoes are never explained. Others have pointed out the fifteen shuttlecraft lost by the crew (on a ship that, according to the show's "bible", carries only two). There are also inconsistencies in trans-warp theory, Borg technology and technological supremacy over the Federation, and astrometric data. Even the color of the trans-warp conduits changed between the episode entitled "Dark Frontier" and the series' finale, "Endgame." In addition, aliens that Voyager encountered thousands of light-years ago would reappear on the show. For example, in the seventh season episode entitled "Homestead," Voyager encounters a Talaxian colony deep in the Delta Quadrant. The Talaxians claim they fled the war that tore their planet apart and created this colony. However, their homeworld is 40 thousand light-years away from the colony, meaning it would have taken them forty years to travel that distance. However, it only took them about five.
Voyager 's ratings declined throughout its run, yet like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine before it, it aired for seven seasons. While part of Voyager's critical failure has to do with its weaker storylines and poor character development, there was a much wider selection of science fiction and fantasy programming on the air during its run, and TNG had no serious competition most of its run. As well, Voyager had to compete with its critically acclaimed "big sister" DS9.
Star Trek fans have been long divided on Voyager's contribution to the Trek mythos. Its female characters were much stronger than in other Trek series, although it was widely speculated by fans that Seven of Nine was often used to acquire a larger male audience.
Cast
Main characters
Recurring characters
- Ensign Seska, a Cardassian agent (Martha Hackett)
- Ensign Vorik, a Vulcan (Alexander Enberg)
- Naomi Wildman, the first child born on Voyager (Scarlett Pomers)
- Lieutenant Ayala (Tarik Ergin)
- Nozawa Kashimuro (John Tempoya)
- Ensign Samantha Wildman, Naomi's mother (Nancy Hower)
- Lieutenant Joseph Carey (Josh Clark)
- Lieutenant Hogan (Simon Billig)
- Lieutenant Susan Nicoletti (Christine Delgado)
- Lieutenant Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz)
- Ensign Michael Jonas (Raphael Sbarge)
- Lieutenant Walter Baxter (Tom Virtue)
- Icheb, formerly a Borg drone (Manu Intiraymi)
- The Borg Queen (Alice Krige in "Endgame", Susanna Thompson in all others)
- Mezoti (Marley S. McClean)
- Rebi (Cody Wetherill)
- Azan (Kurt Wetherill)
- Ensign Lon Suder, convicted of murder (Brad Dourif)
- Lieutenant Peter Durst (Brian Markinson)
- Crewman Tal Celes (Zoe McLellan)
- Q, galactic gadfly (John de Lancie)
- Captain Proton, intergalactic superhero (Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill))
- Doctor Chaotica, (Martin Rayner)
- Captain Braxton, Starfleet captain from the 29th century (Allan G. Royal, Bruce McGill)
- Admiral Owen Paris, father of Tom Paris (Richard Herd)
- Leonardo DiVinci, (John Rhys-Davies)
One-time, cameos or infrequent spots
- Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis)
- William Riker (Jonathan Frakes)
- Quark (Armin Shimerman)
- Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton)
- Ambassador Tomin (Scott Thompson)
- Arridor (Dan Shor)
- Arturis (Ray Wise)
- Boothby (Ray Walston)
- Crewman Chell (Derek McGrath)
- Q2, Son of galactic gadfly Q, (Keegan de Lancie)
- Extra on Episode 36: Investigations (King Abdullah II of Jordan)
- The Rock, as a professional fighter in the Episode "Tsunkatse"
- Kurros (Jason Alexander) in the 20th episode of season 5 "Think Tank" (Production-number 214)
- Andy Dick, as Emergency Medical Hologram, Mk. II in the episode "Message in a Bottle" (Season 4, Ep. 14)
- Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, as Crewman Mitchell in one episode.
Alien races
See also List of Star Trek races
| Race | Episodes of appearances |
|---|---|
| Borg |
"Blood Fever", "Unity", "Scorpion, Part 1 & 2", "The Gift", "The Raven", "The Omega Directive", "Living Witness", "One", "Hope and Fear", "Drone", "Infinite Regress", "Dark Frontier", "Survival Instinct", "Collective", "Child's Play", "Unimatrix Zero", "Imperfection", "Shattered", "Q2", "Endgame" |
| Ferengi | "Caretaker", "False Profits", "Inside Man" |
| Hirogen | "Message in a Bottle", "Hunters", "Prey", "The Killing Game, Part 1 & 2", "Flesh and Blood, Part 1 & 2" |
| Kazon | "Caretaker", "Maneuvers", "Alliances", "Investigations", "Basics, part 1 & 2", "Initiations" |
| Klingon | "Day of Honor", "Barge of the Dead", "Prophecy" |
| Krenim | "Before and After", "Year of Hell, Part 1 & 2" |
| Ocampa | "Caretaker", "Cold Fire", "Fury" |
| Nacene | "Caretaker", "Cold Fire" |
| Q | "Death Wish", "The Q and the Grey", "Q2" |
| Species 8472 | "Scorpion" (Parts 1 & 2), "Prey", "In the Flesh" |
| Talaxian | "Basics" (Parts 1 & 2), "Fair Trade", "Homestead" |
| Vidiian | "Phage", "Faces", "Deadlock", "Lifesigns", "Fury" |
Relaunch on book
In the wake of a successful series of original novels collectively known as the Deep Space Nine relaunch, featuring stories placed after the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a similar relaunch was planned with regards to Voyager, with novels based upon events occurring following the end of the series. In the relaunch, several characters are reassigned to other posts, some new characters are introduced (such as Kaz, the new Trill ship's doctor), Kathryn Janeway is promoted to Admiral, and Chakotay is promoted to Captain of Voyager. Most of the other characters are promoted two steps in rank (for example, Ensign Harry Kim is promoted directly to full lieutenant, and Tom Paris is promoted from Lieutenant junior grade to Lieutenant Commander) to make up for time spent in the Delta Quadrant where they could not normally receive promotions.
So far, only a few Voyager Relaunch novels have been published, beginning with Homecoming and The Farther Shore in 2003. More novels are planned, both in the Relaunch and also other novels set during the original 7-season run of the show.
In November '04 Pocket books published Spirit Walk [Book One], closely followed a month later by Spirit Walk [Book Two]. The stories are based on the Star Trek Voyager episode 'Tattoo' however are set in the Alpha Quadrant when Captain Chakotay has been sent on assignment to transport a set of colonists back to the planet of Loran II...
Trivia
- Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Tim Russ (Tuvok), and Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris) are the only actors to appear in every episode of the series.
- Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, TNG stars LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes, and recurring DS9 player Andrew Robinson all have had a hand at directing episodes of the series. Dawson, McNeill, and Burton have also directed episodes of Enterprise. McNeill has since directed in several TV shows including Dawson's Creek, The O.C., Las Vegas, One Tree Hill, Dead Like Me and Summerland.
- Several famous guest stars have included Sharon Lawrence, Saro Mardikian, Andy Dick, Jason Alexander, Michael McKean, Sarah Silverman, John Rhys-Davies, Virginia Madsen, The Rock, McKenzie Westmore of Passions, TNG stars Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, John de Lancie, Dwight Schultz, and DS9 star Armin Shimerman.
- Robert Duncan McNeill appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty" as Nick Locarno, a Starfleet cadet expelled for covering up a classmate's death in a banned aerobatic stunt. Locarno was originally planned to return as part of the Voyager cast, but a similar character was created instead - officially because Locarno was felt to be beyond redemption, although a reluctance to pay ongoing royalties to the writers of "The First Duty" likely also played a part.
- Ethan Phillips appeared as a Ferengi in a Star Trek: Enterprise episode, as a different Ferengi in Ménage à Troi (TNG episode) and as a maitre d' in the film Star Trek: First Contact.
- Tim Russ played the character Devor in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Starship Mine," and also played Tuvok in a mirror universe on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Through The Looking Glass." Also, he appeared as a human on the bridge of the Enterprise-B in the film Star Trek: Generations and as a Klingon named T'kar in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Invasive Procedures". In effect, this makes him the actor to have stood beside the most captains in Star Trek history. In addition, he auditioned for the role of Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but did not receive it.
- King Abdullah II of Jordan, a well-known Star Trek fan, appeared as an extra in the episode "Investigations". Abdullah's role was not given any speaking lines because he is not a member of the Screen Actors' Guild.
- The Doctor utters several lines that recall Doctor McCoy's famous "I'm a Doctor, not a ..." quips. In "Phage", he says, "I'm a doctor, not a decorator." In "Gravity", he says, "I'm a doctor, not a battery," and in "Bliss", he says, "I'm a doctor, not a dragon slayer". Perhaps most famously, in Star Trek: First Contact, when asked to halt the approach of the Borg in sickbay, he says, "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop". This would possibly emanate from the Doctor's programming, which, as the doctor mentions several times, includes procedures and personality from Dr. Leonard McCoy, among others. (By the same token, Tom Paris also follows this pattern with the line, "I'm a pilot, not a doctor.")
- Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway) was cast in the series after the original star, Canadian film actress Genevieve Bujold, quit after one day of filming citing exhaustion and incompatibility with television filming.
- This was the first program ever to air on the UPN network. The "network" was a loose association of locally owned and operated stations that officially became UPN when the first episode began to air at 8:00 pm on January 16,1995.
See also
- List of Star Trek: Voyager episodes
- Omega Particle from the episode The Omega Directive.
External links
- Star Trek: Voyager at StarTrek.com
- Template:Memoryalpha article
- Janet's Star Trek: Voyager Site
- Delta Quadrant Cafe - Includes a crew manifest, ship specifications, guide to aliens, holodeck programs, and other show trivia.
- startrekvoyager.com
- A Whisper to a Scream - non-canon fanfiction, but quintessential Voyager.
- Episode reviews and fanfiction.
| Star Trek television series and feature films | ||
| Television Series The Original Series · The Animated Series · Phase II · The Next Generation · Deep Space Nine · Voyager · Enterprise | ||
| Feature Films The Motion Picture · The Wrath of Khan · The Search for Spock · The Voyage Home · The Final Frontier The Undiscovered Country · Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis · XI | ||
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