Voyager S1E1 "Caretaker" Review by AnswerMan

Horrible:Meh:Adequate:Good:Fantastic

"Our thing is that we cover random parts of our heads with cloth"

There's something about going back and watching the very first episode of a favorite show that is just...exhausting. I watch these shows because they are comfortable and familiar. I don't need to watch a pilot where the characters are introduced because I already know them. Furthermore, I do not wish to see strange characters, like the original first officer, that I know are going to get killed off in the next five minutes. I just don't need to watch this episode, which is why I haven't ever re-watched it. Until today, and I'm glad I did.

The show begins with Janeway visiting Paris on a penal colony to recruit his help in tracking down his former Maquis shipmates, who have gone missing. I had completely forgotten that Paris was actually serving in the Maquis with Chakotay and crew, and was booted and captured. Janeway's affection for him and the trust that she places in him seems out of nowhere and frankly unearned. He admits that Chakotay pinning him as more of a mercenary for hire than a man of principle is accurate. But nevertheless, helping out Voyager sure beats serving time, so off he goes. I just never really bought Tom Paris as a bad boy, but if it works in any episode, it's this one. It's also fun to see Voyager docked at Deep Space 9, and Quark (and Morn) even make a guest appearance.

This might hurt a bit, Harry.

Immediately the same wave of who knows what that zapped the Maquis ship across the galaxy does the same with Voyager, killing many of its crew in the process. They find themselves 70,000 light years away in the Delta Quadrant, which is more than a 70 year trip home. The entire crew are then suddenly beamed onto an array, where they are greeted by southern charm in an obviously manufactured environment. Eventually the pleasantries subside, and they all receive a proper probing, as one would expect from an alien abductor. Afterwards, they are all returned to their ships, except for Kim from Voyager and Torres from the Maquis ship. Janeway and Chakotay agree to work together to find them. He and two of his crew beam over to strategize when a plot twist is revealed: Chakotay's man Tuvok is actually Janeway's security officer that has been spying on them undercover. Which is awkward, now that they've formed an alliance.

Disco fever.

Together the two crews go back to visit the strange fake people, but they only become more confused by the behavior there, and are banished back to Voyager by the array. This is when they stumble into Neelix, who lies to them to trick them into rescuing his girlfriend Kes from the Kazon that inhabit the desert remains of a nearby planet. That's a nice way to start a relationship. But Neelix has his fun moments, too. After taking his first ever bath, Neelix asks Tuvok if the replicators can make him a uniform like the crew wears. Tuvok disgustedly replies, "Absolutely not." So instead he has a strange pastel disco suit made. The chemistry between the two characters is immediate, and the viewers get the feeling that their interactions will be providing periods of comic relief throughout the series.

Meanwhile Kim and Torres are trapped in an underground city and told that they've been infected with an illness that will kill them. So that's nice. The people there don't know why this has happened, they just know that it happens all the time and is the will of The Caretaker, a strange being that lives on the array and supplies the people who live there, the Ocampa, with everything they need. Also, they used to have super powers, but forgot how since their lives are such cake now. Janeway and the crew show up to rescue Kim and Torres, and Paris daringly risks his own life to save a wounded Chakotay while making racist jokes about Native American beliefs.

The crew pieces together that The Caretaker is dying, and confront him in person where he levels with them on exactly what is going on. He is a being from another galaxy, and his people came here about a thousand years ago and accidentally made the Ocampa's planet uninhabitable. There is the hint of an annoying analogy about carbon emissions and global warming, but it doesn't get too preachy. The rest of them went back home, but two stayed behind to care for the Ocampa, since they felt bad about destroying their planet and all. The female being left at some point for unknown reasons, but I imagine it had to do with boredom. He has been abducting random species from across the galaxy with the array and attempting to procreate with them. Here's where I get lost. Kim and Torres are immediately cured without incident by The Doctor. It's such a given that a cure is simple that we don't even get an explanation as to how he does it. This seems to be the major plot hole in the episode, in my opinion. Why did just those two get the illness? After all, everyone got probed. Did he only pick the best two to actually mate with? If so, what is special about this pair? After being infected, The Caretaker won't let them go back to their ships because he doesn't want them to infect the others. But under the care of the Ocampa the sufferers always die, and the crew of Voyager has the know-how to save them instantly. So how is forcing them to stay on the planet protecting anybody? Plus, why isn't The Caretaker advanced enough to know that his procreation techniques suck, or how to cure them once he's done the nasty with them? None of it makes sense to me.

Anyway, The Caretaker intends to destroy the powerful array rather than risk it falling into the hands of the Kazon, who will certainly use it to enact genocide on the Ocampa. When we see his actual form, he is a giant blob of jelly, and when he dies he shrinks into a small rock, which Janeway picks up and looks at lustfully. Does she keep it forever as memento, or just throw it on the ground indifferently after a bit? We may never know.

Janeway decides to blow up the array herself, as opposed to upsetting the balance of power by letting either of the factions control the array. I'm really not sure that the Prime Directive is applied properly here. Wouldn't the path of non-interference be to just use the array to go back home and let the chips fall where they may? They are not responsible for the death of The Caretaker, or the powerlessness of the Ocampa, or the warring nature of the Kazon. The crews of the two ships don't belong in this fight, or even in this Quadrant of space. Bugging out and heading back to the Alpha Quadrant is certainly a viable option. But here we get a glimpse of who Janeway is. She makes tough calls. She bends the rules. And she looks after the innocent.

"Looks like we're taking the long way home."

Also, Chakotay's ship is intentionally destroyed kamikaze-style in the battle with the Kazon. So now the two crew are one big happy Star Fleet family on Voyager. Neelix and Kes are staying too. Oh and Paris is forgiven by Chakotay, and given his Star Fleet rank back by Janeway. They set a course home, with a promise from the captain that they'll somehow find shortcuts, and we have a series on our hands.

For setting the table properly for the series, and introducing some new and interesting species and characters, as well as providing a proper level of familiarity, this opening episode of Voyager is actually quite Good.

Published Mar 18, 2017