Voyager (abridged)

[Captrek]

It’s Voyager’s turn to be abridged!

Last year, I created an abridgment of TNG, which is a carefully selected set of episodes. Here it is for reference, spoilerized to save space.

Spoiler: captrek’s abridgment of TNG

Encounter at Farpoint
The Naked Now
Where No One Has Gone Before
Hide and Q
Datalore
Skin of Evil
The Neutral Zone

Elementary, Dear Data
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who
The Emissary

The Enemy
The Defector
Déjà Q
Yesterday's Enterprise
Sins of the Father
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
Ménàge a Troi
The Best of Both Worlds

The Best of Both Worlds, Part II
Family
Brothers
Reunion
Final Mission
Data's Day
The Wounded
The Nth Degree
The Mind's Eye
Redemption

Redemption, Part II
Darmok
Ensign Ro
Unification
Unification, Part II
The First Duty
I Borg
The Inner Light

Chain of Command
Chain of Command, Part II
Ship in a Bottle
Face of the Enemy
Tapestry
Starship Mine
The Chase
Descent

Descent, Part II
The Pegasus
Lower Decks
Journey's End
Preemptive Strike
All Good Things

Star Trek Generations
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: Nemesis

I described it in a post as follows:

The first criterion is that the [abridgment] should include all of my favorite episodes.

The second criterion is that the [abridgment] should feel reasonably complete, so the inclusion of some episodes may mandate the inclusion of others.

For example, “The Naked Now” is not a particularly good episode, but is required because it is mentioned in “The Measure of a Man” that Data and Yar had been intimate. If you are not familiar with the events of TNN, that revelation in TMOAM is likely to have you thinking “WTF?!!!” and be distracting enough to affect your appreciation of the rest of the episode. To a lesser extent, TNN is required by “Where No One Has Gone Before”; if WNOHGB is the second episode in the marathon, the “Wesley as Mozart” thing seems to come out of nowhere, but the various depictions of Wesley’s ingenuity in TNN set that up nicely.

Another less obvious example is “Ménàge a Troi,” which was not included in the first draft of [the abridgement], but I found it jarring to see Wesley, without explanation, wearing a Starfleet uniform at the start of “The Best of Both Worlds.” So, yes, I included MAT for the Wesley subplot that I think gets less than five minutes of screen time. Fortunately, when I watched the episode, I found it not nearly as bad as I thought I remembered it being, and it doesn’t require any previous familiarity with Lwaxana or the Ferengi.

Or, as I later put it, “the best episodes and narratively significant episodes.” (This means narratively significant in the context of the abridgment, not the whole series. For example, “New Ground” is narratively significant to TNG as a whole, since this is the episode in which Alexander comes to live on the Enterprise. My abridgment contains none of the later episodes with Alexander, so it doesn’t need New Ground.)

A couple of months ago I posted a thread in the Enterprise forum asking for an abridgment of Enterprise. Several Enterprise fans contributed their opinions. Using them as guidance, I have had a great time watching the series. It’s probably a much more enjoyable experience, and certainly a less time-consuming one, than watching the whole series would be.

Now it’s Voyager’s turn, and I turn to Voyager fans for advice. Create an abridgment of the series that feels like a complete work and, to the extent possible, includes the best episodes while excluding episodes that are mediocre or worse.

 

[ialfan]

Caretaker
Parallax
Phage
State of Flux
Faces
Jetrel

Elogium
Cold Fire
Manuevers
Alliances
Meld
Dreadnought
Death Wish
Lifesigns
Investigations
Deadlock
The Thaw
Resolutions
Basics

Basics, Part II
Future's End
Future's End, Part II
Warlord
Macrocosm
Fair Trade
Coda
Blood Fever
Unity
Before and After
Real Life
Worst Case Scenario
Scorpion

Scorpion, Part II
The Gift
Day of Honor
The Raven
Scientific Method
Year of Hell
Year of Hell, Part II
Waking Moments
Message in a Bottle
Hunters
Prey
The Killing Game, Part I
The Killing Game, Part II
The Omega Directive
Living Witness
Hope and Fear

Night
Drone
Extreme Risk
In the Flesh
Once Upon a Time
Timeless
Infinite Regress
Thirty Days
Counterpoint
Latent Image
Bride of Chaotica!
Bliss
Dark Frontier
Think Tank
Someone to Watch Over Me
Equinox

Equinox, Part II
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Collective
Life Line
Unimatrix Zero

Unimatrix Zero, Part II
Drive
Imperfection
Inside Man
Body and Soul
Shattered
Lineage
Prophecy
The Void
Workforce
Workforce, Part II
Human Error
Author, Author
Natural Law
Homestead
Endgame

I realize I've included 93 episodes (more than half the series) but quite a few of these are necessary since other more important episodes reference them. Believe it or not Voyager has far more continuing plots and story arcs than TNG so if you miss certain episodes on this list you might be fine but left thinking certain things are abrupt or came out of nowhere. Others I've included as they are strong character episodes that help flesh them out and develop the relationships among the crew. All the main alien species and story arcs remain with this list. I've also thrown in a few episodes that I particularly enjoy even if they aren't "critical". I hope this helps!

 

[Captrek]

I realize I've included 92 episodes (more than half the series) but quite a few of these are necessary since other more important episodes reference them. Others I've included as they are strong character episodes that help flesh them out and develop the relationships among the crew. All the main alien species and story arcs remain with this list. I've also thrown in a few episodes that I particularly enjoy even if they aren't "critical". I hope this helps!

ialfan, I can see you’ve put a lot of thought into this. Thanks!

The ultimate goal is to maximize the quality of the viewing experience, getting most or all of the cream of the crop, getting as few as possible average or bad episodes, and avoiding the “Huh? What did I miss?” experience. I’m not a Voyager expert and you seem to be, so if you say it takes 92 episodes to best realize those goals, it’s not my place to question your judgment.

Of course, if other Voyager fans question your judgment, that’s another matter. I’m looking forward to seeing what other Voyager fans have to contribute to this discussion and whether a kind of consensus emerges. Hopefully soon, because I plan to start watching Voyager in a week, maybe two.

 

[MDMart]

I couldn't possibly make a such list, as you are talking about, seeing as Voyager truly is a very complex series, and also holds as many great epiesodes as (if not more than) TNG does.
Ilooked at ialfan's list, and though I couldn't recall all the episodes mentioned, it seemed like a list, similar to what I would'ave come up with, should I have made such a list. And it also seems logical (to me at least), that it would indeed take this many episodes, to understand and enjoy Voyager fully.

My advice: Follow ianfan's list

 

[vas2009]

ialfan You need to at least add Counterpoint to that list.

 

[ialfan]

ialfan You need to at least add Counterpoint to that list.

It's on there!

It's one of my favorite episodes. I wouldn't forget it, trust me.