I'm working my way through Voyager for the very first time (having previously watched just the first 3 eps & a bunch of later ones) and I just finished season 1 last night. My top 3 eps: 1. Caretaker 1 & 2- great intro to the show and sets the stage for the entire series quite well imo (looking at an older thread here with a poll this seems like it might be the general consensus?) 2. Cathexis- might be more "horror-like" upbringing and tendencies, but I loved the body-hopping alien and some other aspects of this ep. Some of the ideas reminded me of the movie "Fallen". 3. The Cloud- I enjoyed some of the early development between the Captain/Chakotay, and Paris/Kim. Also loved the animal guides and I wish they'd explored that further (maybe they do; haven't seen season 2 yet!) I also liked both Faces and Eye of the Needle. they'd prob be next in line. What are your favorite episodes (or favorite episode) from this season?
I thought "CARETAKER" was a very strong pilot. Other beight spots for me in season 1... "STATE OF FLUX" "HEROES AND DEMONS" "CATHEXIS" "FACES" I also add "PROJECTIONS", since it was produced for season 1, but held for season 2. Of the four that were held back, that was definitely the best one.
I liked Eye of the Needle. Bittersweet ending. It was like a realization there would be no quick fix to them getting home.
Interesting... I'll keep my eye out for Projections once I start s2. Any idea why they held some episodes out of season 1? (logistics maybe? it is a shorter than normal season)...
Here are my ratings of the Voyager season 1 episodes: 1. Caretaker, 5 points 2. Projections, 5 points 3. Time And Again, 5 points 4. Jetrel, 5 points 5. Ex Post Facto, 4 points 6. State of Flux, 4 points 7. Cathexis, 4 points 8. Twisted, 3 points 9. Eye Of The Needle, 3 points 10. The 37.s, 3 points 11. Learning Curve, 3 points 12. The Cloud, 3 points 13. Prime Factors, 3 points 14. Parallax, 3 points 15. Faces, 3 points 16. Phage, 3 points 17. Heroes And Demons, 2 points 18. Elogium, 1 point 19. Emanations, 1 point
I'm not a fan of season 1 (or 2). i think the best episode in the first season is Jetrel. I always enjoy Neelix episodes. He is an underrated actor in my opinion and a complex character that doesn't get the credit he deserves
I'm trying to reserve judgement until I see the entire series, but I did not enjoy anything in season 1 as much as some of the later eps (s4-5) that I've seen. I did think the pilot was pretty strong though. Easily my fav from s1. I haven't seen a single episode in s2, so that's really uncharted waters for me...
For me the show really became excellent in season 4. There were several changes that I think really helped
Most of my previously watched eps are in seasons 4 and 5. I've seen a few others in 6-7, but none in season 2 and probably just two at most in s3. When I went back and watched the earlier stuff the characters, logically, did seem more polished in the later eps. I actually preferred what I saw of Chakotay in the first season though. Even just in 1 or 2 episodes he seemed to have more depth than he did later on (and I kind of know the story about why this may be). Regardless, I'm looking forward to some of those later eps that I haven't seen in hopes that the ones I did watch were a solid representation.
UPN wanted to begin their season earlier than the other networks, so they held back 4 episodes from season 1 so they can start a month earlier than everyone else. "THE 37's" was filmed as the season 1 finale, and you can tell this was the case when watching the last act... at least, I feel it would have worked better as a season finale than a premiere. The other 3 episodes were... "PROJECTIONS", "ELOGIUM", and "TWISTED". They also held over 4 episodes produced in season 2 for the same reason for season 3. However, they cut the amount of produced episodes for season 3 by four, which is why VOYAGER has 4 less episodes in total than DS9. The four episodes produced on season 2 but held over for season 3 are... "SACRED GROUND", "FALSE PROFITS", "FLASHBACK", and "BASICS, PART II".
Thanks for the info, Farscape. That makes sense regarding the finale for s1. At the conclusion of Learning Curve I felt it was an odd season ender, kind of anticlimactic I guess. I thought that was just my off the grid opinion reasserting itself, but seems like there was a more justifiable reason other than my faulty judgement.
Actually, the episodes "Projections", "Elogium", "Twisted" and "The 37's were produced as season 1 episodes, therefore the Stardates for those episodes. But for some reason, those episodes were aired in season 2 in the US. In most other countries there were aired as season 1 episodes. Personally I go for the Stardates and count them as season 1 episodes. For me, Voyager ended after season 3 because of some unnecessary changes.
My fav Season One ep is undoubtedly CARETAKER, closely followed by PRIME FACTORS. Next in line would be EYE OF THE NEEDLE (wallpapers for this episode are in the making, guys ...). However, with the exception of EMANATIONS I liked all of them. That one was too dark for VOY in my book. For me there's no difference in the quality of eps during the Kes or the Seven years. I practically love them all. As for Season One, there's a certain charm about this season. You know ... the characters haven't really realized yet what's happening to them ... there's a certain innocence about them that I think is lost in later years. They don't even know each other ... let alone newcomers like Neelix and Kes ... So yes, episodes might not be as exciting as in later years ... but there's a certain appeal about them.
I very much enjoyed the first half of Caretaker, however I though the quality of the second half dropped massively. I didn't enjoy the "waiting room" being a form of holographic copy of Earth, the Kazons desperate for water despite having warp-capable starships and killing off everyone who disliked Tom Paris in the very first episode. Instead of creating 3 characters who were simply portrayed as nothing but unpleasant and unlikeable (Cavit, Stadi and the original doctor) just for the sake of having someone die when Voyager was sent to the Delta Quadrant, I thought perhaps an ensign on their very first assignment not surviving the disease B'Elanna and Kim caught would've been made for a more emotional and memorable end to the pilot episode. In my opinion, Parallax is one of the only other episodes in VOY apart from Caretaker with interesting conflict between Chakotay's crew and Janeway's crew. We also got to see a lot of B'Elanna Klingon side as well which I loved (thought she ended up being too human after a while)! I enjoyed how the writers put a mystery into Ex Post Facto. I also liked the dark tone of Emanations more than a lot of the people on this thread seem to.
That's something I like better about the later seasons. They're not generally as consumed with the thought of getting home, they're just exploring the Delta Quadrant, the characters know each other better and there's more a feel of them being family. The actors know the characters better and are more comfortable in the roles and the writers know the characters better so they can write for them better. I think a lot of characters had some great growth in the later seasons and overall I feel that the storylines were just more exciting and better
I recently began re-watching Voyager. My favorites from Season 1 are: Parallax, ignoring the faulty black hole science, but I agree w Lonely Horse that it is the best at showing the tensions between the two crews and the realistic challenges of trying to integrate the crewmembers. State of Flux, loved the demonstration of why sharing technology can go horribly wrong and then the mystery of trying to figure out who was the guilty party. The big twist regarding Seska. Others I liked for character moments: The Cloud, Cathexis, Learning Curve, Twisted Caretaker 1&2 did its job, and I like watching the Maquis beam over for the first time. I will always lament that they domesticated the Maquis way too fast. I always thought they needed a scene at the end of Caretaker 2 where Chakotay explains to his crew what they are going to do, and we see the distrust of their Starfleet hosts. They could have given some shading to Chakotay that he wants it to work, but will put his people in key departments, just in case... Could have given us some suspense and doubt, rather than everyone pulling together so quickly.
I noticed that when the writers stopped giving chances for a quick route home and started embracing the adventure, the crew actually made great strides in getting home. It was sort of like the physical embodiment of the phrase "you find love when you are not looking for it". In this case, they found shortcuts home when they stopped groaning at being so far away.
Yep, and while I thought that The 37s made for a decent enough opener it would have been a much better finale... further proof that you can't just "plug in" art and expect it to perform to the highest level. ...not sure what that means precisely, because I haven't had any coffee yet, but it makes sense in my brain.