Captain’s log: stardate unknown

Micheal Piller pens the script from a story by Larry Brody, that first aired on 6 November, 1995. This is a Chakotay (Robert Beltran) heavy script that sees the Voyager’s First Officer drawn into a mystery that connects his present with his past.

While on an away mission, Chakotay comes across a symbol that resonates with him, it has similarities, and recalls, an experience he had with he was a young man (Douglas Spain) on an expedition with his father (Henry Darrow).

The sigul leads them to another planet, one with strange electromagnetic weather energy and an eventual encounter with a somewhat familiar looking alien race.

The b-story follows the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and what happens when he becomes a patient, after ‘infecting’ his program with a flu. He does this to better understand his patients.

On a continuity note, a Captain Sulu sponsored Chakotay’s enrollment in the Academy.

This is a bit of a dull episode, and while I like that it fills out Chakotay’s backstory nicely (and it’s always fascinating to get history on these characters), it’s a little upsetting to see how engaging the stories of Deep Space Nine were at the same time. Sure, Voyager is only it’s sophomore year, and DS9 it’s fourth but the stories over there seem to be much stronger than a lot of the tales I’m encountering on this section of the Delta Quadrant.

Captain’s log: stardate 49164.8

The Voyager has been in the Delta Quadrant for ten months, and they come across the Caretaker’s companion in this strong episode written by Brannon Braga from a story by Anthony Williams. It first aired on 13 November, 1995.

The Caretaker’s mate, known as Suspira (portrayed in corporeal form by Lindsay Ridgeway) may have the ability to send the Voyager home, but complications arise when it’s learned it may want revenge, and that the station it inhabits serves as home to a number of Ocampa who take an interest in Kes (Jennifer Lien) and developing her telepathic abilities.

Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the rest of the crew are going to have to deal with an angry alien being that may not want to send them home, and the threat of Kes’ growing power.

The episode features Gary Graham as Tanis one of the Ocampa leaders. A few years later he would take in the recurring role of Ambassador Soval on Star Trek: Enterprise. But in this episode he serves to help educate and empower Kes’ psychic abilities, in an attempt to seduce her into joining Suspira and the Ocampa aboard the station, against Voyager.

There’s more next week as I continue the exploration of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. The Complete Series for both classics are now available on DVD from Paramount Pictures.