I recently acquired the first season of Voyager on DVD. I originally caught the series in strip syndication around 1999/2000 (and then watched the last season during its first run), and aside from a handful of episodes here and there I really haven't watched it since. I thought I might share my views as I watch through the set, so this will be a series of posts.
Caretaker - I've always thought this was a strong pilot. It keeps my interest all the way through, does a good job of introducing all the characters, gives us an interesting dilemma with the Caretaker and the Ocampa, and establishes several interesting relationships aboard ship (with the Tuvok / Neelix pairing being my favorite at this point). Good production values also, and a nice unobtrusive DS9 tie-in to boot. I'd still rate "Emissary" higher in terms of modern Trek pilots, but "Caretaker" is still a winner.
Parallax - This episode is okay. The storyline setting up B'Elanna as chief engineer makes this worth watching, but the plot involving the quantum singularity is not very interesting. That may be because the briefing scene really gets on my nerves - it drives me crazy when Janeway tells Paris his recap of what's happening doesn't make sense, when he's the only one in the entire scene that does make sense!
Time and Again - This is more like it. An interesting dilemma for our heroes - do they try to save the planet or not? Paris' interaction with the kid is fun, and there's a nice little environmental message to boot. My only knock against it is that this is that it's only the second hour-long episode, and it's already the second episode where we see effect preceding cause as a source of Voyager's trouble. I'll cut this one some slack because the delimma is much more interesting than "Parallax".
Phage - I like this one as well. The Vidiians are an interesting race, and well realized in terms of their look. I also like how well Neelix's panic at his confinement is presented. Best of all, there's a nice Star Trek solution at the end when Janeway's compassion inspires the episode's antagonists to help solve the problem they created. Plus, the debut of Neelix's kitchen! "Phage" is definitely a season one highlight.
The Cloud - another merely okay episode. The living nebula brings back memories of TAS's "One of Our Planets is Missing", although they do take it in a different direction here. Chakotay helping Janeway find her animal guide is well done, however. Add another fun Neelix cooking scene, and this one is worth a viewing even if the main plot doesn't grab me.
I'll be back with more thoughts soon.
Caretaker - I've always thought this was a strong pilot. It keeps my interest all the way through, does a good job of introducing all the characters, gives us an interesting dilemma with the Caretaker and the Ocampa, and establishes several interesting relationships aboard ship (with the Tuvok / Neelix pairing being my favorite at this point). Good production values also, and a nice unobtrusive DS9 tie-in to boot. I'd still rate "Emissary" higher in terms of modern Trek pilots, but "Caretaker" is still a winner.
Parallax - This episode is okay. The storyline setting up B'Elanna as chief engineer makes this worth watching, but the plot involving the quantum singularity is not very interesting. That may be because the briefing scene really gets on my nerves - it drives me crazy when Janeway tells Paris his recap of what's happening doesn't make sense, when he's the only one in the entire scene that does make sense!
Time and Again - This is more like it. An interesting dilemma for our heroes - do they try to save the planet or not? Paris' interaction with the kid is fun, and there's a nice little environmental message to boot. My only knock against it is that this is that it's only the second hour-long episode, and it's already the second episode where we see effect preceding cause as a source of Voyager's trouble. I'll cut this one some slack because the delimma is much more interesting than "Parallax".
Phage - I like this one as well. The Vidiians are an interesting race, and well realized in terms of their look. I also like how well Neelix's panic at his confinement is presented. Best of all, there's a nice Star Trek solution at the end when Janeway's compassion inspires the episode's antagonists to help solve the problem they created. Plus, the debut of Neelix's kitchen! "Phage" is definitely a season one highlight.
The Cloud - another merely okay episode. The living nebula brings back memories of TAS's "One of Our Planets is Missing", although they do take it in a different direction here. Chakotay helping Janeway find her animal guide is well done, however. Add another fun Neelix cooking scene, and this one is worth a viewing even if the main plot doesn't grab me.
I'll be back with more thoughts soon.
