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Voyager receives a distress call from a ship obviously stuck within the event horizon of a black hole. It is noticed too late that the calls actually originate from Voyager itself at a time when the ship is already trapped in the singularity. B’Elanna proves very helpful in finding a way out and, in spite of her unrestrained manners she is promoted to chief engineer. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

These first episodes, while established some sort of rapport with the new crew, were not all that great for me. Despite what I just said, I too had to overcome the initial shock of seeing a female captain.

On the search for a missing Maquis ship the U.S.S. Voyager is pulled into the Delta Quadrant by a powerful space station, the Caretaker’s Array, built to supply and protect the peaceful Ocampa civilization. After the Caretaker’s death Capt. Janeway decides against a quick return and destroys the Array so as to prevent the reckless Kazons from acquiring its technology. The crews of the Federation ship and the meanwhile destroyed Maquis ship join in their endeavor to find a way home, which would take 75 years at maximum warp. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

I know a lot of Star Trek fans who are not really thrilled about Voyager. Usually, they’re the ones whose favorite is TOS. The same fans often appreciate DS9 and are not enamored with TNG, not to mention ENT. Oh, well, I don’t belong to this category. If I were to put the series from most favorite to the least, it would go like this: TNG, VOY, DS9, TOS, ENT, TAS, Movies. But, being a trekkie at heart, I’m just glad we’re not all alike, otherwise this world would be sooo boring…

Picard finds himself slipping from one time to another: the present - seven years in the past, when he first took command of the Enterprise - and twenty-five years into the future, when his crew has scattered or resigned from Starfleet. He thinks that his time travels may be connected to an anomaly in the Neutral Zone, when suddenly Q appears and puts him on trial like he did seven years ago. Q admits that he is responsible for the time travel but claims that Picard was, is and will be responsible for the death of all humanity. He then takes Picard to primordial Earth where amino acids are supposed to combine, but they don’t do that because of an anomaly visible in the sky that Picard is supposed to have caused. The captain and his various crews can’t figure out what this anomaly, which is larger in the past, is about, until Picard gets the idea that it’s an effect of anti-time. Picard will create the anomaly by scanning the same region of space with an inverse tachyon beam in three different times, and this will cause an anomaly to grow backward in time. When finally the damage is repaired in the course of which all three Enterprises have been (temporarily) destroyed, Picard is back in his normal time, and he takes the opportunity to join his senior crew’s weekly poker game for the first time. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

Newly promoted Lieutenant Ro Laren is asked to infiltrate the Maquis which is an organization of Federation colonists who fight the Cardassians. She soon gets the attention of the group and proves herself trustworthy when she helps stealing medical supplies from the Enterprise. Ro is subsequently torn between her loyalty to Picard who always supported her and her new sympathy for the people and the cause of the Maquis. When Ro is supposed to lure the Maquis into a trap, she defects. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

The holographic Orient Express gets out of control, when it runs through Data’s program of “The Tempest”. Amazingly, Data and Geordi find a network of self-erected nodes cross-connecting ship’s functions, much like a lifeform’s neural web. They discover that characters in the train program represent various functions of the ship. The ship begins reproduction by creating a new lifeform in a cargo bay, and all this is reflected in the train. When the new lifeform needs more verteron particles and the natural sources are exhausted, Geordi launches a photon torpedo into a nebula to generate them. The new lifeform leaves the ship with unknown destination. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

DaiMon Bok blames Picard for his son’s death in the Battle of Maxia, and he threatens to kill Jason Vigo, Picard’s possible son. DNA tests prove that Jason Vigo, who has had a troubled life after his mother’s death, is Picard’s son. Bok uses a subspace transporter to kidnap Jason. In the meantime a genetic defect is revealed that Jason can’t have inherited from his mother or Picard. Actually, his DNA has been resequenced to match Picard’s. The captain uses the risky subspace transporter too, and once again he reveals Bok’s unprofitable intentions to his crew who relieve him of command. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

Not much to say about this one. Except for - me likes Picard being involved in family problems and moral / ethical problems. A decent episode to watch, if you don’t mind another piece of questionable technology, that is.

When Alexander shows little interest in warrior training, Worf takes him to a Klingon outpost’s Kot’baval festival, celebrating the battle between Kahless and the tyrant Molor. They are almost killed by an assassin apparently from the Duras family. A strange man named K’mtar shows up, who claims to be a friend of the family. When the Duras sisters are confronted with the knife that was used to attack Worf and Alexander they find the seal of B’etor’s son, but B’etor only just learned herself that she was pregnant. It turns out that K’mtar is Alexander from the future who is going to avoid to become a pacifist diplomat who couldn’t help his father when he was assassinated in the Klingon High Council. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

All right, I admit. Klingon or not, I liked this episode a lot. First, there’s the mystery. Second, there’s the dilemma. If you had this ability to go back in time and prevent yourself from doing something - what would it be? What are the possible scenarios if you failed or succeeded? I seem to never have enough of these themes, I can even forgive the Klingon costume this time…

According to the peace treaty Picard is forced to remove Federation settlers from colonies which are now in Cardassian territory. On of these colonies is Dorvan V, where American Indians have found a new home after they have escaped the cultural assimilation on Earth. Wesley arrives, and he is surprised when the Indian Lakanta tells him that he should find his own way. Wesley decides to resign from Starfleet. Lakanta reveals himself to be the Traveler and takes Wesley on his journey. The Indians decide to stay on Dorvala V, even under Cardassian supervision. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

Yup, Weasly’s gonna go, finally! That could have been reason enough to like this episode. LOL!

What I find truly appealing about this one and many others, is the reference and respect for other cultures. I’m aware that many people find it just too blatant and obvious but I don’t. Klingons are blatant and obvious - this is yet another way to show how we, as humanity en large, should be growing. Gotta love it.

After Data and Picard return from retrieving a wayward demonstration torpedo, they find the ship without control and the crew mutated to what seems lower lifeforms. Deanna is an amphibious lifeform, Riker an Australopithecine. While Picard is being chased by Worf, who has turned into a massive monster, Data discovers that a synthetic T-cell which Dr. Crusher has given to Barclay to fight a flu, has activated the crew’s dormant introns. Barclay was turned into a spider. Only the new-born kittens of Spot are immune while Spot herself is now an iguana. With the help of Nurse Ogawa who is now a primate Data is able to find a remedy to reverse the de-evolution. summary by Ex Astris Scientia

Uhm… yeah well, I just commented on the previous episode and… yeah, I’ve never said everything Star Trek is impeccable, have I? Anyways, don’t watch this one. My policy here is DIM: Delete, Ignore, Move on. Pretend nothing happened.

The unexpected suicide by promising young Lt. Kwan in the plasma stream of the warp coils is baffling to all those who knew him. When Deanna visits the site for the first time, she is overwhelmed with panic and fear. It is found that while the Enterprise was being built at Utopia Planitia that an engineer named Walter Pierce found his lover embracing another man and killed them both. The guilt he felt caused him to commit suicide by throwing his body into the plasma stream. Being partially empathic Pierce’s experience was imprinted into the bulkhead. When Kwan found it he acted out that experience. Deanna Troi being empathic also feels these experiences but is stopped just in time. summary by Ex Astris Scientia
A wonderful mystery here. I loved it how Deanna was dragged into this. Okay, I’ve also heard it ridiculed many times. OTOH, I’ve also heard Star Trek ridiculed as a whole. Don’t blame them. There are those who just don’t get it, God bless them.