Star Trek has always been fascinated with the idea of characters pulled between two worlds. Spock’s exploration of his human heritage, Worf’s status on TNG as an early example of post-peace Klingon integration with the Federation, even Sisko’s position as a Starfleet officer thrust into the simultaneous roles of guiding diplomat, military leader, and spiritual emissary—time […]
Seska Was Voyager’s Perfect, Messy Foil
Voyager and Deep Space Nine draw many intriguing parallels as sister series that aired in tandem for a good chunk of their airings. Voyager‘s more episodic format and tone struck an altogether different approach to DS9‘s increasing lens on the dark heart of Star Trek‘s ideas and universe, digging into wider and deeper interconnected storylines. But one little […]
This Is the Best Scene in Star Trek: Voyager’s First Season
Star Trek has always found great strength in the episodic format. Sure, the classic shows all dabbled in serialized elements, and some of them excelled in those elements the further they played with them, like Deep Space Nine did in its back half. There’s a reason that, when Trek was revitalized for the streaming age in a […]
Voyager’s First Riff on the Star Trek Trial Episode Is a Weird Experiment
As Star Trek: Voyager turned 30 at the start of this year, I’ve had a lot of fun revisiting the first season of the show and re-examining what really works about that debut season three decades later. I’ve hit my first snag, perhaps of many to come in Voyager‘s decidedly mixed run of episodes: the first one […]
Star Trek: Voyager’s First Brush With Getting Home Is One of Its Best
Star Trek: Voyager‘s premise was both its greatest boon and its biggest curse. Flinging the titular Starfleet vessel tens of thousands of lightyears away from Federation space into unchartered territory wasn’t just a fantastic evolution of the franchise’s original intent to boldly go where no man had gone before, but a vector for fascinating story […]
I Love Captain Janeway’s Love of Coffee
From Kirk’s occasional snifter of Saurian brandy, to Archer’s love of sweet tea, a Star Trek captain can be defined by their drink of choice as much as they can how they tell their conn officer to engage the warp drive. It’s a choice that can say so much about a character, in such a simple […]
One of Star Trek: Voyager’s First ‘Villains’ Still Stands Among Its Best
Lots of people get sick or wounded in Star Trek—it’s why a medical officer is always a vital character in a series, why their sickbay is as crucial and oft-visited a locale as a starship bridge. And part of that is that occasionally Trek dabbles with the idea of depicting chronic illness, for better or worse, […]