star trek voyager collective cast

Star Trek: Voyager Cast and Character Guide

For seven seasons, the crew of Star Trek: Voyager sought a way home from the Delta Quadrant.

Star Trek: Voyager premiered in January 1995 as the flagship for the nascent United Paramount Network. The network didn't survive, but the show completed seven lively seasons and 172 episodes, joining the ranks of other classic Star Trek series of the era. The show trapped its crew in the Delta Quadrant: decades from the nearest Starfleet outpost, they were left to find a way home. It was intended to return to The Original Series' loose idea of a starship left to its own devices deep in unexplored space.

Today, Voyager is noted for taking big creative risks, resulting in both classic and risible episodes. But through it all, the sterling cast and unique characters always provided a strong reason to tune in. Below is a breakdown of the ten main members of the Voyager's crew.

RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks Just Simplified Voyager's Biggest Moral Dilemma

Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Janeway is notable for being Star Trek's first female lead: a no-nonsense leader willing to make hard choices to keep her people safe. With her ship stranded far from home, she places the crew above all other considerations, often finding bold, unorthodox methods to get them out of trouble. After successfully returning to Earth in the series finale, she's promoted to the rank of admiral, which she holds when she returns to the franchise in Star Trek: Prodigy .

Kate Mulgrew cut her teeth on the soap opera Ryan's Hope, the short-lived Mrs. Columbo series, and a bevy of made-for-TV movies. She stole the show in Danny De Vito's Throw Momma from the Train as Billy Crystal's scheming ex-wife and made a prominent appearance in the cult classic Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins . She has continued to work steadily in television since her stint on Voyager , most notably as one of the leads in Orange Is The New Black, for which she received an Emmy nomination in 2014.

Robert Beltran as Lieutenant Commander Chakotay

Chakotay begins Voyager as a member of the Maquis, a terrorist organization in conflict with Starfleet, shortly before the Dominion War. His ship is thrown to the far side of the galaxy along with Voyager's, forcing his crew to integrate with Starfleet to survive. He becomes Janeway's second in command: quick to support her actions and ultimately evolving into a stalwart officer. He's notable for his Native American ancestry – a first for a Star Trek lead character – and returns to the franchise as a captain in his own right in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy .

Besides Voyager , actor Robert Beltran is best known for the 80s cult movies Eating Raoul and Night of the Comet . He also appeared in Barry Levinson's Bugsy , Oliver Stone's Nixon , and many guest roles on television series throughout the 80s and 90s. Like many Star Trek actors, he has a prominent history in the theater as well, with an emphasis on Shakespearean productions.

RELATED: Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Clip Brings Back Voyager's Robert Picardo as The Doctor

Robert Picardo as The Doctor

The Doctor is a singular character in the Star Trek franchise: a living hologram created out of necessity after Voyager's chief medical officer is killed in the series premiere. Originally intended as a short-term stop-gap, the "Emergency Medical Hologram" soon grows beyond his programming into a full-fledged crew member. He's often played for comic relief, with a snippy bedside manner and difficulty understanding the nuance of human emotions. Despite that, his unique capabilities and stalwart loyalty make him one of Voyager's most popular characters.

Picardo has enjoyed a long and successful career both before and after Star Trek: Voyager . His IMDB page lists a staggering 250 credits as an actor – including multiple upcoming projects – that speaks to his versatility and range. Outside Star Trek, he's probably best known for his long association with celebrated director Joe Dante , with prominent roles in The Howling, Small Soldiers , and Matinee.

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine

Star Trek: Voyager explores the Borg in more detail than any other series, as Janeway's crew must pass through the heart of their territory. That leads to the arrival of Seven of Nine onboard: a former Borg drone disconnected from the collective and returning with the crew to the Alpha Quadrant. She initially struggles to shed her cybernetic chilliness and adapt to life onboard. She eventually finds acceptance, thanks partly to her friendship with The Doctor and Janeway's dogged efforts to connect with her human side.

Like many Star Trek actors, Jeri Ryan found steady work guest starring on television series in the 1980s and 1990s before becoming famous as Seven. After Star Trek: Voyager , she starred in the final three seasons of Boston Public and appeared in the James Woods legal drama Shark . Her return to the franchise in Star Trek: Picard has been cause for celebration among fans, many of whom are actively lobbying for further Seven of Nine stories.

RELATED: Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine and Chakotay Romance Was a Mistake

Tim Russ as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok

Tuvok opens Voyager as a Federation mole inside Chakotay's Maquis crew. Once the ruse drops, he becomes the Voyager's chief of security and top tactical officer, serving as Janeway's trusted advisor during their long journey home. Tuvok is notable for being the first Vulcan to appear as a series regular since Leonard Nimoy's legendary run as Mr. Spock. He's different from his predecessor in many ways – moodier and more introspective – while never being less than logical.

Tim Russ guested on several TV series before playing Tuvok, including several appearances as different characters on Star Trek: The Next Generation . He continues to work on television to this day. Notable roles include Principal Ted Franklin in i Carly and Frank the Doorman in Samantha Who? and one-off appearances in American Horror Story and Poker Face . He returns as Tuvok – now promoted to captain – in the third season of Star Trek: Picard .

Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres

B'Elanna is a Maquis engineer who takes over the spot on Voyager when her crew transfers to the Federation ship. She's half-Klingon, with an ambivalent attitude about her heritage and trouble controlling her temper. She runs the engineering department with little concern for protocol or even safety at times, pushing Voyager's capabilities further in the process. She and Tom Paris fall in love, and she eventually becomes the mother of his child.

Roxann Dawson had minor appearances on various television shows before landing the role of Torres. Like many other franchise alum, she parlayed her experiences on Voyager into a career behind the camera: directing numerous episodes of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , Under the Dome and Bates Motel , among others. She remains active in that capacity as of this writing.

RELATED: Star Trek: Lower Decks Supervising Director Reveals How They Animated the USS Voyager

Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris

Paris is the Voyager's helmsman, the first franchise character to hold the position permanently since Mr. Sulu in The Original Series . The son of a prominent Admiral was drummed out of Starfleet and later joined the Maquis, only to be caught and sentenced to prison, where Janeway finds him in the series premiere. He's released to help her hunt down his former compatriots, then becomes Voyager's pilot throughout its journey through the Delta Quadrant. His is a redemption story, as he goes from bitter washout to valued and respected crew member. He and Torres fall in love during the events of Voyager , and the series ends with the birth of their child.

Robert Duncan McNeill is known among Star Trek fans for playing Cadet Nicholas Locarno in The Next Generation : a one-shot character almost identical to Tom Paris, who never appears again. That came atop a number of TV and movie appearances before Voyager , most notably the cult classic Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lundgren. He used his experience on Star Trek to springboard into a director's career, and has amassed a prolific resume behind the camera since. He remains active as of this writing, and returned to the role of Paris in the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks .

Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Harry Kim is Starfleet's perennial ensign: a top-flight Starfleet cadet assigned to Voyager just before it was lost in the Delta quadrant. He serves as the ship's chief of operations during its journey home, remaining a stalwart member of the bridge despite his low rank. He's dependable and intelligent, with a love for the clarinet and a firm grounding in several scientific fields. He's also a little unsure of himself, at least in the beginning. He and Tom Paris quickly become friends on their long trip home.

Garrett Wang had only been acting a short time when he was cast as Kim, previously appearing in just a single episode of All American Girl . He has worked sporadically since then, and appears regularly at Star Trek conventions and expos. He co-hosts a podcast with fellow Voyager alum Robert Duncan McNeill called The Delta Flyers.

RELATED: Voyager's 'Dark Frontier' Episode Foreshadowed Picard Season 3

Ethan Philips as Neelix

Neelix is a Talaxian trader, native to the Delta Quadrant , who finds himself onboard Voyager and opts to stay. He serves as a guide to the region for the Voyager crew and the ship's cook, morale officer, and general jack of all trades. He's gregarious and friendly, with an eccentric sense of humor and an eagerness to please. He stays behind in the Delta Quadrant when the Voyager completes its mission to return home.

Neelix was played by veteran actor Ethan Phillips, who boasts many supporting roles in film and television. Prominent appearances include Glory, Critters , and Lean on Me on the big screen, though TV fans know him best as sensitive press secretary Pete Downey on Benson . He's still active as of this writing, with regular guest appearances on numerous TV shows.

Jennifer Lien as Kes

When the series begins, Kas is Neelix's lover and a native of the Delta Quadrant. Her species, the Ocampans, age much more quickly than most humanoids, growing old and dying after just a handful of years. She serves as the ship's botanist and medical assistant to The Doctor and displays mild telepathic abilities. She departs the series midway through Season 4 – effectively giving way to Seven of Nine – though she returns in Season 6 to give her character closure.

Jennifer Lien's career began promisingly, with a recurring role in the TV series Phenom and a part in the animated Men in Black series after departing Voyager . She also had a prominent role in American History X alongside fellow Star Trek alum Avery Brooks. She was let go from Star Trek after mental health issues began to affect her performance. She has since retired from acting and remained largely out of the public eye.

• Web Channels
• Star Trek: Voyager

A Borg ship captures a  Voyager  shuttle with Chakotay, Kim, Neelix, and Paris on board. Janeway enters hostage negotiations with a gang of dangerously erratic Borg children, who the Borg rejected as unworthy drones.

Manu Intiraymi

Cody Wetherill

Kurt Wetherill

Marley McClean

Cast Appearances

Kate Mulgrew

Robert Beltran

Roxann Dawson

Robert Duncan McNeill

Ethan Phillips

Robert Picardo

Garrett Wang

Episode discussion.

No comments yet. Be the first!

Screen Rant

Star trek: voyager cast & character guide.

In its seven seasons, Star Trek: Voyager introduced many new faces to the Trek universe. Here is a breakdown of the show's main cast and characters.

As the fifth official Star Trek series, Star Trek: Voyager introduced audiences to an entirely new Starship and her intrepid crew. After the stationary setting of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Voyager brought things back to the stars by flinging the titular ship into an unexplored part of the galaxy. As Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) fought to bring her crew home, the USS Voyager encountered all kinds of new life forms and strange new worlds. In addition to Captain Janeway, Voyager would introduce several new characters to Star Trek , some of whom have made appearances in current Star Trek shows

The series began with Captain Janeway leading a mission to find the missing Maquis ship the Val Jean, on which her colleague and friend Tuvok (Tim Russ) was serving undercover. After Janeway found the Maquis ship, both ships were thrown 70,000 light-years across the galaxy, from the Alpha Quadrant to the Delta Quadrant, by a dying entity known as the Caretaker. Over the course of the seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager , Captain Janeway and her crew encountered alien species both old and new, as they made their way home through the uncharted Delta Quadrant.

10 Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

The Captain of the USS Voyager, Kate Mulgrew's Kathryn Janeway has the distinction of being the first female Captain to lead a Star Trek show. Janeway initiated first contact with many new alien species across the Delta Quadrant and would eventually become an Admiral in Starfleet . As Captain of Voyager, Janeway had the difficult task not only of navigating the unfamiliar Delta Quadrant, but also of merging a crew of Starfleet officers with a crew of rebel Maquis. She managed both tasks admirably and did her best to uphold the ideals of Starfleet even 70,000 light-years from home.

9 Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay

Captain of the Val Jean, Chakotay (Robert Beltran) was a former Starfleet officer turned Maquis who became First Officer of the USS Voyager after the destruction of his ship. Chakotay helped smooth over relations between the Starfleet officers and the former Maquis, and devoted himself to serving Voyager and Captain Janeway. Despite Robert Beltran being Mexican American, his character Chakotay was of Native American descent and had a strong connection to the spirituality of his tribe. He also had a strong sense of justice and, while he mostly supported Janeway, would occasionally speak up against her, particularly if he felt she was being reckless with her own life.

8 Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok

Lt. Tuvok served as the Chief Security and Tactical Officer aboard Voyager, as well as Janeway's Second in Command. When Star Trek: Voyager began, Tuvok was undercover as a member of the Maquis abroad the Val Jean, but he was quickly reinstated as a security officer after the ships were thrown into the Delta Quadrant. As a Vulcan, Tuvok valued logic and reason , and Janeway often relied on him for advice and counsel. Tuvok and Janeway had served together before their time on Voyager and had become close friends. Despite his Vulcan stoicism, Tuvok seemed to feel deeply and often expressed himself with biting sarcastic remarks.

7 Roxann Biggs-Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres

Though B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) initially attended Starfleet Academy, she eventually dropped out to join the Maquis. As a half-Klingon half-human, B'Elanna struggled with her anger and was prone to lashing out, which was part of the reason why she chose to join the rebels. She and Chakotay would become friends as they fought together with the Maquis, and Chakotay helped her work through some of her anger. When she joined the crew of Voyager, B'Elanna became the Chief Engineer after she saved the ship from a quantum singularity. She would eventually begin a romantic relationship with pilot Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill​​), and the pair got married early in season 7.

6 Robert Duncan-McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris

The USS Voyager's helmsman Tom Paris had been kicked out of Starfleet and was serving prison time when Janeway approached him to join Voyager's crew. Janeway had previously served under Tom's father, Admiral Owen Paris, and she wanted to help Tom turn his life back around. Due to Tom's less-than-stellar reputation, it took time for his Voyager crew mates to trust him. He would eventually become close friends with Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and enter into a romantic relationship with B'Elanna Torres. Tom had a particular fascination with 20th-century American culture, and created a holodeck program called The Adventures of Captain Proton inspired by the science fiction serials of the 1930s.

5 Robert Picardo as The Doctor

After Voyager's first Doctor was killed when the ship entered the Delta Quadrant, the Emergency Medical Hologram or EMH known as The Doctor (Robert Picardo) became the ship's Chief Medical Officer. In the Star Trek: Voyager season 3 two-part episode "Future's End," The Doctor acquired a futuristic mobile emitter, which allowed him to move freely about Voyager and even join away missions. Since he was a created hologram, The Doctor's rights were sometimes called into question, much like the android Data (Brent Spiner) from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The longer he stayed active, the more human traits The Doctor acquired, and his crewmembers on Voyager stuck up for him when his sentience was questioned.

4 Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Eternal Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) had recently graduated from Starfleet Academy and was on his first deep space mission when Voyager was flung across the galaxy. Over the course of his time on Voyager, Harry became close friends with Tom Paris, and the two would often go on adventures together in the holodeck. Though Harry was a bit naive and overeager when he first joined Voyager's crew, he had a brilliant mind and was valedictorian of his class at the Academy. He had always wanted to join Starfleet and requested Voyager as his first assignment.

3 Ethan Phillips as Neelix

When Voyager first arrived in the Delta Quadrant, they found a Talaxian named Neelix (Ethan Phillips) near the Collector, as well as the Ocampa homeworld. He helped them navigate the underground Ocampan city where Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres were being held prisoner. Neelix and the Voyager crew also rescued Kes (Jennifer Lien), an Ocampan woman and Neelix's romantic partner. Neelix and Kes then joined the crew of Voyager and Neelix acted as a guide for their journey through the Delta Quadrant. Neelix would serve as Voyager's chef as well as the "chief morale officer," a title he created for himself. Though Neelix was not the most popular character among fans, his stories improved after Kes left the show.

2 Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine

Assimilated at the age of six when she was still Annika Hansen, Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine joined Voyager's crew for the show's fourth season after she was disconnected from the Borg collective. After their introduction in Star Trek: The Next Generation , the Borg became one of the Federation's most dangerous foes, and Seven was the first former Borg drone to join the crew of a Federation Starship. It took Seven a while to adapt to her newfound humanity and Captain Janeway became a mentor to her. Seven used her knowledge of the Borg and their technology to build an astrometrics lab on Voyager, and she would prove instrumental in helping the ship make it back to the Alpha Quadrant. Seven would become a fan-favorite character, and Jeri Ryan later reprised Seven in Star Trek: Picard .

1 Jennifer Lien as Kes

As a member of the Ocampan species, Kes had a very short life span of only eight or nine years, as well as a natural telepathic ability. Kes chose to join Voyager's crew with Neelix after they helped rescue her, and she soon began studying medicine with The Doctor. She and The Doctor became close friends and she fought for him to be treated better by the crew. She also worked with Tuvok to hone her telepathic abilities. At the start of the series, Kes was involved in a romantic relationship with Neelix, but they broke up in season three. Kes left Voyager early in season 4 after her psychic abilities grew too strong, but she returned for one episode of season 6. With Kes and the rest of the USS Voyager's crew, Star Trek: Voyager introduced some truly compelling characters to the Star Trek universe.

• Buy the Book…
• Reviews Hub

the m0vie blog

Following Us

• Adding Our RSS Feed to Your Gmail
• Following our Feed in Internet Explorer
• Millennium (Reviews)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Reviews)
• Star Trek: Enterprise (Reviews)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (Reviews)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (Reviews)
• Star Trek: Voyager (Reviews)
• The X-Files (Reviews)
• X-Files Fandom Poll Form

Check out the Archives

Awards & Nominations

Star Trek: Voyager – Collective (Review)

Watching Collective , it’s strange to imagine a time when the Borg were considered a credible threat to the larger Star Trek universe.

Collective alludes to this palpable sense of menace in its opening scene. Several members of the crew are playing poker in the Delta Flyer. They are playing in the cockpit, for some reason, rather than in the aft section that would seem to lend itself to such recreational activities. The reason for this storytelling decision comes at the end of the teaser, when something catches Paris’ eye in the middle of one hand. The other members of the away mission follow his gaze, spotting a Borg Cube in the shuttle’s path. Panic ensues. The crew rush to their stations. This,  Collective seems to scream, is a big deal.

Baby on Borg.

Of course, this is not actually a big deal. Collective focuses on a Borg Cube that has effectively run aground, a ship that has been disabled. The crew are dead, the result of “a space-borne virus that adapted to Borg physiology” that Child’s Play would reveal to be a form of biological warfare. It should be noted that “the crew discover a disabled Borg Cube” is something of a recurring trope on Star Trek: Voyager , with a similar plot beat employed in both Unity and Scorpion, Part I during the third season. When Kim talks about “bad memories” while skulking through the Cube, it initially seems like he might be referencing the latter.

(Ultimately, Kim is not referring to his traumatic experiences in Scorpion, Part I , which left the character on the verge of death after being attacked by a member of Species 8472. Although the Borg Cube in Collective evokes such memories for the audience, Kim is insulated by Voyager ‘s stubborn refusal to acknowledge its own internal continuity. As a result, the memories stoked by the trip to the Borg Cube are generic in nature, of “a haunted house [his] parents took me to when [he] was six.” This is never referenced again. This reveals nothing of Harry Kim. It is just empty filler.)

Dead circuits.

There are plenty of reasons why Voyager keeps stumbling across damaged and derelict Borg Cubes. From a narrative perspective, it allows Voyager to tells stories featuring the Borg without have the crew overwhelmed. Voyager has allowed its characters major victories over the Borg in episodes like Drone or Dark Frontier, Part I and Dark Frontier, Part II , but understands that having a lone lost ship triumph repeatedly over the Borg Collective would strain credulity. So having the ship repeatedly encounter broken-down Borg Cubes allows the series to involve the Borg in these stories while nominally preserving their menace.

However, there is also a sense that there might just be something more at work here, that the sad and story state of the Borg Collective across the seven-season run of Voyager might reflect more than just the demands of the production team. It would seem to hint at a broader sense of social anxieties.

“For the promo!”

The Borg Collective does occasionally appear at something approaching full strength across the run of Voyager . Their appearance in Endgame is perhaps the most obvious example, in which two versions of Janeway effectively go head-to-head with the Borg Queen as part of one last daring attempt to get the crew home. Again, there is some obvious narrative logic at play here, where for that final victory to really matter, the writers need the stakes to be as high as physically possible. Similarly, the Collective seems to be functioning efficiently in Dark Frontier, Part I and Dark Frontier, Part II .

At the same time, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of depictions of the Borg in Voyager suggest that the Borg Collective is downright dysfunctional. A Borg Cube has broken down in Unity , and its drones are forced to grapple with individuality. A vessel crashes in Survival Instinct , and those drones on board find themselves forced to fend for themselves. In Unimatrix Zero, Part I and Unimatrix Zero, Part II , the Borg Queen finds that there is a threat to harmony within the Borg Collective that leads her to mount heads on spikes.

Better assimi-late than never.

Even outside of these most obvious examples, there is a sense that the Borg Collective is no longer the confident monolith that it once was, no longer secure in its identity and no longer a scourge of the larger cosmos. In Scorpion, Part II , it is revealed that the Borg Collective suffered from something approaching an existential crisis; concerned at the limited capacity for growth and expansion within their own universe, they actually opened portals into other universe so that they might have more to conquer and consume. This suggests a culture wrestling with a fundamental anxiety.

It seems fair to observe that the Borg Collective was working through something close to a nervous breakdown on Voyager . To be fair, a lot of this approach can be traced back to Star Trek: The Next Generation , which used the Borg a lot more fleetingly. The crew discovered a crashed Borg ship in I, Borg and confronted a group of disconnected drones in Descent, Part I and Descent, Part II . In many ways, Voyager is just extending this approach to the Borg Collective to its logical extreme, without the buttress of stories like Q Who? , The Best of Both Worlds, Part I , The Best of Both Worlds, Part II and Star Trek: First Contact .

Of course the Borg forget about Kim. I mean, who’s really going to be bothered about Kim?

While there are pragmatic narrative justifications for this recurring portrayal of the Borg Collective as on the verge of collapse across the run of Voyager , largely down to the idea that the Borg Collective should be an existential threat to the entire galaxy and the fact that Voyager is a series about a lone ship stranded on the far side of the galaxy without any support structures, there is also a sense that Voyager is hinting at something more significant in its fascination with a deeply dysfunctional Borg Collective.

Voyager is a television series firmly anchored firmly in the nineties, like most television series are rooted in their particular cultural moments. The series reflects certain social anxieties, and offers an insight into the contemporary zeitgeist. This can be seen in any number of aspects of Voyager , from the fear of gang violence reflected in the Kazon in Caretaker to the worries about the end of history evoked by Future’s End, Part I and Future’s End, Part II . In their own sorry way, the diminished and decaying Borg Collective that is frequently discordant and disconnected across the run of Voyager speaks to broader cultural trends.

Playing their cards right.

As with a lot of classic Star Trek aliens, the Borg provide a contrast to the Federation; the Klingons were the Russians or the Chinese to the Federation’s United States, the Cardassian Union was effectively Nazi Germany. More broadly, alien species in Star Trek tend to amplify certain base human characteristics; the Ferengi embody human greed, while the Vulcans give expression to mankind’s attempt to balance rationality with emotion. The Borg have always been a more particular Jungian shadow of the Federation, particularly the Federation as it existed in the era of The Next Generation .

The Federation has always been an extension of the United States, projected into the future. It is possible to read the Borg as a metaphor that exists in opposition to that reading, with the Borg representing collectivism in contrast to liberal democracy or communism in the face of rugged individualism. In that sense, it is possible to read the recurring collapse of the Borg Collective as a metaphor for the fall of the Soviet Union and the ensuing chaos during the nineties. This is definitely an influence on Descent, Part I and Descent, Part II , and perhaps even in Unity .

At the same time, the Borg can also work as a twisted reflection of the United States, a gigantic and potent cultural force that invades and transforms other entities. It is an unstoppable all-consuming cultural hegemony. Although Star Trek: Deep Space Nine never really featured the Borg outside of a brief appearance in Emissary , it made a point to have Michael Eddington describe the Borg and the Federation as equivalent forces in For the Cause . The Borg and the Federation are both expanding cultures that seems to “assimilate” other entities into themselves to create a homogeneous whole.

If the Borg are a reflection of the Federation, then they also serve as a mirror to the United States. During the nineties, the United States was in effect the only global superpower, having a great deal of influence on the larger world. American popular culture was more widely exported than ever, and American businesses expanded to a variety of markets around the globe. The Federation represented the most idealised expression of American influence during the “American Century” , but Borg represent a more cynical and monstrous interpretation of the same basic idea.

And so ends the Delta Quadrant’s “Borg Century.”

However, in its recurring fascination with the collapse and decay of the Borg Collective, Voyager hints at a recurring anxiety of the nineties. The Borg Collective is the perfect metaphor for a community, a group of highly-integrated individuals working together for the greater good. However, Voyager repeatedly undercuts that idea of the Borg Collective, suggesting a community that is built like a house of cards and that can be destroyed with so much as a light breeze. Voyager repeatedly reminds viewers how precarious that bond is, how delicate this seemingly harmonious institution has become.

In Unity , a bunch of drones are disconnected from the Borg Collective as a result of an “electrokinetic storm.” In Survival Instinct , a bunch of drones become disconnected when their ship crashes on the surface of an alien world. In Collective , a virus kills all of the Borg drones on board a ship and forces the developing entities in the “maturation chambers” to emerge before they are fully developed. This is ignoring the discovery of a wrecked Borg ship in Scorpion, Part I , devastated by Species 8472, or the collective unconsciousness causing disharmony in Unimatrix Zero, Part I and Unimatrix Zero, Part II .

“Greatest threat the galaxy has ever seen, eh?”

It should also be noted that Voyager has a long-standing trend of depicting alien species without a centralised government or power structure, civilisations where the social fabric seems to have been eroded to such a degree that groups wander the cosmos like violent gangs. The Vidiians encounter Voyager repeatedly in episodes like Phage , Deadlock and Lifesigns , but they never seem to have a centralised government. The Hirogen hunt in small packs in episodes like Hunters and Prey , the Alpha Hirogen lamenting this decentralisation in The Killing Game, Part I and The Killing Game, Part II .

However, this idea of disharmony and disintegration is perhaps best expressed by the Kazon, the primary antagonists of the first two seasons of Voyager . They are explicitly described as “sects” and implicitly likened to “gangs.” In episodes like Manoeuvres , Maj Cullah dreams of reunifying the Kazon as a singular political entity, instead of a collection of discordant factions scrambling for dominance. On paper, the Borg Collective should be the literal opposite of the Kazon. Instead, Voyager seems to suggest that Borg are perhaps undergoing the same collapse that defines the other Delta Quadrant powers.

Talk about character growth.

Political theorist Francis Fukuyama was one of the most influential political commentators of the nineties. Even if a lot of the specifics of his observations have been disproven or undermined by subsequent events, Fukuyama seemed to understand the mood of the times in which he was writing. Even if the nineties weren’t really the “end of history” , they certainly felt like it. Fukuyama spoke about fears of social disintegration in The Great Disruption :

Since the 1960s the West has experienced a series of liberation movements that have sought to free individuals from the constraints of traditional social norms and moral rules. The sexual revolution, the feminist movement, and the 1980s and 1990s movements in favor of gay and lesbian rights have exploded through the Western world. The liberation sought by each of these movements has concerned social rules, norms, and laws that unduly restricted the options and opportunities of individuals-whether they were young people choosing sexual partners, women seeking career opportunities, or gays seeking recognition of their rights. Pop psychology, from the human-potential movement of the 1960s to the self-esteem trend of the 1980s, sought to free individuals from stifling social expectations. Both the left and the right participated in the effort to free the individual from restrictive rules, but their points of emphasis tended to be different. To put it simply, the left worried about lifestyles and the right worried about money. The left did not want traditional values to unduly constrain women, minorities, gays, the homeless, people accused of crimes, or any number of other groups marginalized by society. The right, on the other hand, did not want communities putting constraints on what people could do with their property-or, in the United States, what they could do with their guns. Left and right each denounced excessive individualism on the part of the other: those who supported reproductive choice tended to oppose choice in buying guns or gas-guzzling cars; those who wanted unlimited consumer choice were appalled when the restraints on criminals were loosened. But neither was willing to give up its preferred sphere of free choice for the sake of constraining the other. As people soon discovered, there are serious problems with a culture of unbridled individualism, in which the breaking of rules becomes, in a sense, the only remaining rule. The first has to do with the fact that moral values and social rules are not simply arbitrary constraints on individual choice but the precondition for any kind of cooperative enterprise. Indeed, social scientists have recently begun to refer to a society’s stock of shared values as “social capital.” Like physical capital (land, buildings, machines) and human capital (the skills and knowledge we carry around in our heads), social capital produces wealth and is therefore of economic value to a national economy. But it is also the prerequisite for all forms of group endeavor that take place in a modern society, from running a corner grocery store to lobbying Congress to raising children. Individuals amplify their own power and abilities by following cooperative rules that constrain their freedom of choice, because these also allow them to communicate with others and to coordinate their actions. Social virtues such as honesty, reciprocity, and the keeping of commitments are not worthwhile just as ethical values; they also have a tangible dollar value and help the groups that practice them to achieve shared ends.

The recurring motif of social collapse in the Delta Quadrant seems to play into this political idea of loosened civic bond, much like Voyager ‘s recurring fixation on a stable and recognisable future that is largely indistinguishable from the present seems to play into Fukuyama’s idea of “the end of history.” The Borg Collective once again serves as both a metaphor for Russia and the United States, as an empire collapsing to individualism and disconnect.

Left holding the baby.

Indeed, Collective plays into other recurring tensions and fears within the seven seasons of Voyager . Most obviously, Voyager seems anxious about children. It seems wary of youth. The Kazon are very obviously a metaphor for gang violence, which was largely rooted in fear of young and violent children. Although initial plans to cast teenage actors as the Kazon did not pan out, this metaphor is made explicit in the episode Initiations . Similarly, Innocence found Tuvok stranded on an alien planet with just a group of children for company.

Collective even suggests a broader context for the crisis facing these young drones. Discovering that they had already signalled the Collective for assistance, Seven reports, “ A vessel was not dispatched. The Collective declared the neonatal drones irrelevant and severed their link to the Hive permanently.” Janeway is horrified, “They see them as damaged, unworthy of re-assimilation.” Seven almost agrees with that assessment. “Not all drones can be saved, Captain.” The horror of Collective is that of a society that would give up on its children, abandoning them to the cruel universe. It plays into nineties social fears; no child left behind .

No drone left behind.

This anxiety about children is in some ways an extension of the fear about the decaying social fabric. As the United States approached and crossed the millennium, there was a great deal of uncertainty around the way in which younger generations were engaging (or failing to engage) with civic society :

More fundamental, Xers have internalized core beliefs and characteristics that bode ill for the future of American democracy. This generation is more likely to describe itself as having a negative attitude toward America, and as placing little importance on citizenship and national identity, than its predecessors. And Xers exhibit a more materialistic and individualistic streak than did their parents at a similar age. Moreover, there is a general decline in social trust among the young, whether that is trust in their fellow citizens, in established institutions, or in elected officials. These tendencies are, of course, related: heightened individualism and materialism, as Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out, tend to isolate people from one another, weakening the communal bonds that give meaning and force to notions of national identity and the common good.

To be fair, older generations had always been wary of the challenge that the youth pose to the status quo . It may even be read in Freudian terms, children as a reminder of their parents’ mortality. Star Trek expressed this anxiety in episodes like This Side of Paradise , The Way to Eden or And the Children Shall Lead .

“Do you think we were Borg yesterday?”

On paper, Collective is a ridiculous story, and it undoubtedly contributes to the decline of the Borg as a credible nemesis in the Star Trek canon. It is another episode about a damaged Borg ship, but this one happens to have a group of homicidal children on it. Nevertheless, Collective feels very much in keeping with the general mood and aesthetic of Voyager , reflecting its own anxieties and uncertainties through a story in which the crew find themselves held hostage by a group of dangerous children living in the ruins of a broken social network.

Indeed, Collective could arguably be seen to exist in the context of the more specific anxieties of the sixth season of Voyager , which is a season that seems very anxious about the passage of time and how Voyager has somehow positioned it outside of that flow. The Voyager Conspiracy found Seven of Nine attempting to stitch together a meta-arc spanning the five-and-a-half seasons of the show to date. Blink of an Eye imagined the ship literally positioned outside the flow of history. Pathfinder was effectively a lost episode of The Next Generation . Meanwhile, Tsunkatse looked around at contemporary television.

Drone warfare.

Collective is one of those relatively rare episodes of Voyager that has actual long-term implications for Voyager . It would get a direct sequel in Child’s Play , which even retroactively explained how the Borg Cube was disabled. More than that, the Borg children would become a recurring part of the series’ (relatively small) ensemble. The children would reappear in both Ashes to Ashes and The Haunting of Deck Twelve , while Icheb would appear in ten more episodes across the remaining season-and-a-half of Voyager . His future self would even appear in Shattered , wearing a Starfleet uniform.

It is that last appearance that suggests the objective here. The introduction of the Borg children into the Voyager ensemble serves a very particular function. It allows Voyager to have children, for the crew to take on another generation of crew members as part of a journey that should (theoretically) span the better part of half a century. Obviously, Voyager already has a child on board in the person of Naomi Wildman, but Collective allows Voyager to welcome four children into the cast all at once. It allows for something that Voyager has never really acknowledged to this point, progeneration.

Tuvok is consistently a-mazed.

After all, this relative absence of this idea of continuation and continuity across the seven-season run is one of the long-standing criticisms of Voyager , an example of how the series squandered its unique premise. Ronald D. Moore was quite blunt about this in his infamous exit interview, which would have been released shortly before Collective went into production :

I don’t know what the difference is between Voyager and the Defiant or the Saratoga or the Enterprise or any other ship sitting around the Alpha Quadrant doing its Starfleet gig. That to me is appalling, because if anything, Voyager—coming home, over this journey, with that crew—by the time they got back to Earth, they should be their own subculture. They should be so different from the people who left, that Starfleet won’t even recognize them any more. What are the things that would truly come up on a ship lost like that? Wouldn’t they have to start not only bending Starfleet protocols, but throwing some of them right out the window? If you think about it in somewhat realistic terms: you’re on Voyager; you are on the other side of the galaxy; for all you know, it is really going to take another century to get home, and there is every chance that you are not going to make it, but maybe your children or grandchildren will.

Voyager never really dealt with that question, which is one of the most provocative aspects of the entire premise. The series raised the point in Elogium and had Samantha Wildman give birth to a daughter in Deadlock . By the time that B’Elanna Torres discovered that she was pregnant in Lineage , it was too late to explore the point. In fact, Miral Paris was only born at the end of the journey, as Voyager travelled through a transwarp tunnel in Endgame .

They grow up so fast.

As such, the introduction of the Borg children in Collective feels like a very half-hearted solution to a very deep-seated problem. It recalls the manner in which Tsunkatse and The Voyager Conspiracy acknowledged changes in contemporary American television in the most superficial manner possible before ignoring any potential insight. Collective allows Voyager to introduce a set of children to the cast at the last possible minute, without doing any of the planning that would be required to do it properly.

Naturally, Voyager cannot even follow through on this modest effort. The Borg children become a part of the Voyager cast, but only superficially. The characters popped up twice over the remainder of the sixth season, helping to give a very slight domestic flavour to the show, something that had been sorely lacking to that point. However, Mezoti, Azan and Rebi would all leave the ship in  Imperfection , when Janeway just happened to run into the Wysanti. It seems a massive contrivance that all Icheb, Azan and Rebi were all assimilated along Voyager’s flight path and that Mezoti is happy to leave with Azan and Rebi.

In fact, Voyager never even bothers to explain what happened to the baby that is recovered in Collective , which seems like a big deal given how much attention is paid to the child within the episode itself. Brannon Braga insisted that the child was reunited with its people off-screen :

The Borg baby was prepared in a delicious orange glaze sauce by Neelix. Just kidding. The baby was returned to its people, which you did not see depicted in an episode. We considered showing it onscreen, but decided it would be best to focus on the remaining Borg kids. They have given us some great story material so far.

Ironically, Icheb would soon be the only “remaining Borg kid.” This feels like a very calculated and cynical way for the writing staff to avoid writing about children on Voyager , writing out all but the most mature of the young drones. Voyager cannot even commit to a half-hearted execution of a bold concept.

Got to be kidding…

Of course, Collective resembles Tsunkatse in other ways. This is very consciously a sweeps episode, an episode designed to lure in a larger audience than usual, with the production team pulling out all of the proverbial stops. The presence of the Borg is enough to make Collective a big deal, even in their sadly diminished state. There was clearly a lot of money spent on the episode, including the model of the baby and all the associated computer-generated special effects, not to mention the shots of the Delta Flyer trapped inside the damaged ship.

The plot of Collective is also clearly designed for a broader audience. Strip away all the big-ticket Star Trek elements like the Borg, and all the weird thematic choices like the children, and Collective is a fairly bog-standard hostage drama in which members of the crew are held hostage by an alien power and Janeway is forced to navigate a very precarious situation. It is a very basic thriller scenario, one that is accessible to people even without an understanding of the mechanics of a given television series. A hostage crisis is easy to understands and generates immediate tension.

Implanting the seeds of doubt.

As such, it is no surprise that “hostage crisis” is a go-to plot template for Sweeps and event episodes. It could be argued that the mythology on The X-Files was kick-started with a “hostage crisis” plot in Duane Barry , which was such a success that it set the template for what would follow over the next seven seasons. Alias would do something similar with The Box during its first season, a two-part episode that combined the “hostage crisis” template with the special celebrity guest star by casting Quentin Tarantino as the hostage-taker.

Collective hits all of the expected beats in a “hostage crisis” plot. There are delaying tactics, deliberate threats, high stakes. The hostage-takers want something that the heroes cannot possibly surrender, the ship’s deflector dish. Janeway’s primary objective is to stall the enemy long enough to put a contingency in place. There is even a sequence in which the hostage-takers threaten to execute one of the hostages to raise the tension during the final act. Along the way, there is a suggestion of Stolkholm Syndrome as Seven undermines the hostage-takers’ hierarchy.

Borg Day Afternoon .

It should be noted that Collective is far from the first hostage drama within the Star Trek franchise. There are a number of antecedents in the canon, from  Whom Gods Destroy to  Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . However, there are also much more straightforward examples like  Power Play , the subplot from  Starship Down , or Invasive Procedures . However, what is most striking about Collective is how awkwardly it tries to position itself as a very generic and formulaic hostage crisis, instead of one specific to the Star Trek canon.

Collective is not exactly subtle in framing itself in terms of broader pop culture. When Seven refuses to comply with First’s demands, First states, “That wasn’t the agreement.” Seven responds, “I’ve modified the agreement. I didn’t realise I’d be dealing with children. Your behaviour is erratic. I can’t be certain that you–“ This feels very much like a conscious nod to an exchange between Darth Vader and Lando Calrissian from  Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back . The First responds, “No modifications. We show you the hostages, you give us the deflector. Comply. Comply!”

“Pray I do not alter it further.”

There was reportedly some tension behind the scenes during the production of the episode. In Science Fiction Television Series, 1990–2004 , director Allison Liddle confesses that the production team overrode a lot of her original plans for the episode:

I liked [my] episode … well, my cut. The producers had other ideas in mind. They cut out a beautiful crane shot wither all of the children surrounding the big light [in the Borg ship]. I also didn’t agree with the producer’s choice for the lead kid. I thought that his voice was odd. I come from the theatre and I thought that his voice was immature and didn’t land.

This is very much in keeping with other stories about the production of Voyager , most notably the recurring inference that the series would temper the ambition of those working on it to avoid anything that might be considered a creative risk; the neutering of stories like Once Upon a Time and The Fight comes to mind.

A charged debate.

Indeed, the casting of the First is something of an issue with the episode. To be clear, it is difficult to cast young actors; there are so few good ones. It often takes actors years (if not decades) to grow into their craft. The casting of Scarlett Pomers on Voyager is a minor miracle, and arguably the exception that proves the rule. Indeed, the production team scuppered the idea of casting teenage actors of the Kazon in large part because of how hard it would be to find large quantities of good teenage actors on a television schedule and budget.

Collective requires the casting of a number of talented child performers. To be fair, not much was required of the younger children, but the script had two meaty roles for older teenage boys; First and Second. However, while the character of First was more important in terms of the episode, it was very clear that the character of Second would be have greater importance in the longer term. As a result, it was more important to properly cast the secondary supporting role in Collective than it was to cast the primary antagonistic role.

“It’s okay. We’re going back to Fair Haven next week.”

Indeed, actor Manu Intiraymi recalls auditioning for the role of First before being cast in the role of Second :

No, they didn’t tell me it would be a recurring role. I guess they must have known, right? But I went in for Collective, and I actually auditioned for First, the bad guy that got killed at the end of that episode. They brought me back, all the way to the producers, to Rick (Berman) and Brannon (Braga) and the director, who was Allison Liddi. I got the role and then, when my character didn’t die off, I got a call about a month later saying, “Hey, would you like to do another episode?” Then I got another call a couple of weeks after that and another call after that. That was season six, and when I was still getting called about episodes when season seven started, I figured, “Hey, I think I’m going to be on this show for a while.”

This makes a certain amount of sense. The role of Second would become the role of Icheb, and so it was more important to find a stronger actor for that role.

Enemy Nine.

Even watching Collective , it is clear that Manu Intiraymi is an appreciable stronger actor (and presence) than Ryan Spahn. It is worth noting that Intiraymi was also an appreciably more experienced actor than Spahn. Intiraymi had a wealth of experience under his belt, including television appearances in shows as diverse as JAG , Sabrina the Teenage Witch and King of Queens . He also had a number of small roles in relatively big films like Go or Senseless . In contrast, Spahn had only one credit to his name; the role of “Boy” in Polish Wedding two years prior.

Although the reason for casting the more experienced Intiraymi in a supporting role in Collective is very obvious in hindsight, it creates a frustrating dynamic within the episode itself. Second is much a more interesting character than First, and Intiraymi’s performance is much more nuanced and compelling than that of Spahn. This isn’t simply down to the writing. On paper, First should be a tragic character; a teenager abandoned by his parents without the necessary survival skills or a willingness to ask for help. This was Seven’s arc in Survival Instinct . There is real pathos there, but Spahn never truly sells it.

Hostages of fortune.

In contrast, Intiraymi is appreciably stronger as Second. He is more interesting to watch. His scenes with Jeri Ryan work better. As a result, there is an imbalance within Collective , where the primary antagonist simply is not as interesting as he should be. This undercuts a lot of the episode’s dramatic tension. In many cases, a hostage crisis is only as compelling as the hostage-taker; Die Hard would not be as effective without Alan Rickman, there’s a reason that Alias stunt-cast Quentin Tarantino, and even the Under Siege movies have vaguely memorable antagonists. Collective falls flat in this regard.

At the same time, it makes sense to cast the stronger actor in the supporting role in Collective in the long term. Intiraymi might not be among the strongest performers ever to appear in Star Trek , but he is appreciably stronger than a lot of the recurring actors within his age bracket; Wil Wheaton on The Next Generation , Marc Worden on Deep Space Nine . While Collective might have been more effective with Intiraymi in the primary guest role, it would greatly diminish later episodes like  Child’s Play or Imperfection to have cast a weaker performer in the secondary role here.

Manu Intiraymi would be very proud of the work that he did on Voyager , citing it as something of a creative second chance following an early setback in hise career :

“I was cast on Voyager by a man named Ron Sterma, and Ron gave me my first job ever on a movie called Senseless with David Spade and Marlon Wayne in 1998,” said Intiraymi. “I was working with them and it was my first job. I was nervous, because I wasn’t from Los Angeles. I was from out of town. I was blown away by the spectacle of a movie production. Suddenly I’m working with two famous people. This was the real deal. I did so many takes that I remember the director started yelling to nobody on set in particular, ‘This horrible actor, what’s this guy’s problem?’ The director grabbed me by the shoulders and got in my face. It was just a horrible day. But that got back to Ron, that I was terrible, so two years later I’m auditioning for Voyager and my agent and Ron are getting a pedicure together, and my agent tells Ron that I’m auditioning for Voyager. Ron says, ‘Oh not that guy, he was awful! We can’t hire him.’ My agent got mad and yelled at him, and the lady who was doing his pedicure cut his foot, so he used that and said, ‘Ron, I cut my foot, you are going to see my client. I’m bleeding for my client! You are going to at least read him.’ And so they brought me in and I read.”

There is something very charming in the way that Intiraymi talks about his time on Voyager , offering a somewhat more affectionate portrayal of life on the series than the unvarnished accounts of many of his older co-stars.

Collective is a very strange episode, which manages to wed a gonzo (and thematically rich) premise to a decidedly mediocre execution. Like a lot of Voyager episodes, it’s not particularly terrible. It’s just not especially good, either.

Share this:

Filed under: Voyager | Tagged: anxieth , borg , borg collective , children , social , star trek , star trek: voyager , voyager , youth |

8 Responses

Great review, Darren! I think this is the only place I can go to read a review of an utterly forgettable hour of Voyager and walk off with an extended riff on Gen X and the end of civilization and trivia about Icheb’s agent getting a pedicure with Voyager’s casting manager.

I think that these mediocre episodes are good for creativity, because without anything outstanding or outright terrible, they force the writer to really scrounge for something interesting to say about the topic 😛 Rationally I know I’ve probably seen this episode, but mentally there’s just a weird jump between “episodes without borg kids” and “episodes with borg kids” in my memory. This must mean we’re getting close to the Haunting on Deck Twelve, I guess.

Ha! Thanks!

It is a bit of a challenge, to be honest. There are so many generic and bland episodes of Voyager, that it’s kinda hard to come up with an interesting angle on them. But I do think that this stuff is all there, of course. But there is a bit of digging to get to it.

Despite effective CGI the first scenes were somewhat ludicrous. Even the propulsion system of a damaged and unfocussed Borg cube should not be so easily destroyed by the tiny Delta Flyer in this absurd pseudo-Star Warsian maneuver.

And Kim not remembering the events of “Scorpion”, but his grandpa’s haunted house? Seems unlikely, to say the least. It almost appears as if Voyager deliberately, intentionally tries to avoid continuity. Why? Out of fear of losing audience? Well, there was only the hardcore fanbase left at this moment in the series’ run.

I found the baby Borg somewhat horrifying, and it is interesting that Janeway seemed to develop instantaneous motherly feelings for it. Even in that case the Borg seemed to have lost the aura of menace and horror. Interesting that I did not lose my memory about the Borg baby, as you, Darren, point out it was merely forgotten. Could have been an interesting arc, clearly more interesting than some stuff around the children.

Still, as a whole package I enjoyed this episode. Seeing Voyager being routinely not good nor too bad is one more incentive to keep on doing my rewatch, and knowing some of the episodes around the corner there is clearly a shortage of good reasons 😉 (In my recollection though season 7 was pretty decent and I look forward to the impostor episode.)

Rewatching the seventh season of Voyager really, really drained me. Take a look at the dates on the reviews. It was a real slog to watch and review for me, at least.

I enjoy it at times, if not for the fact that it is soon to be over. There are some kind of good episodes and it all looks very convincing. But yes, especially near the end of the show, it really is a challenge. All the more Kudos to you for bravely writing your reviews! It certainly contributes to this not being as hard as it could be… I am always in suspense how you evaluate individual shows.

It is taking me a huge amount of time to work through Voyager, as compared to any of the prior Star Trek series. I often take breaks for many days.

I think it’s telling that here we have yet another Seven of Nine episode, and that Voyager is now producing families for her rather than any of the actual crew. Seven spends more time with Naomi than her own mother does. Seven gets an instant family. No one else on board is reproducing. Seven is literally carving out her own show-within-a-show.

We are never really informed why these Borg children cannot properly assimilate people, or why Kim passes out rather than join their collective when he is assimilated. I’ll tell myself it was the virus, but if that’s the case then Seven of Nine should be experiencing extreme health problems as well. The cube should be a bio-hazard site for her.

As usual, logic problems and plot holes abound.

I enjoyed the small homage to TNG poker at the beginning, even if it was contrived.

Stay tuned next week, for another episode of Star Trek: The Adventures of Seven of Nine!

“As with a lot of classic Star Trek aliens, the Borg provide a contrast to the Federation; the Klingons were the Russians or the Chinese to the Federation’s United States, the Cardassian Union was effectively Nazi Germany.”

“The Borg Collective once again serves as both a metaphor for Russia and the United States, as an empire collapsing to individualism and disconnect.”

I’ve seen it suggested that the Borg were meant to represent expansionist Stalinist Communism. They were presented as an almost-unstoppable expansionist menace bent on leveling all differences between peoples, fanatical collectivism, destroying the uniqueness not just of individuals but of civilizations/cultures/nations/peoples. Almost a purely destructive energy.

To the extent this is the correct political/geopolitical reading of the Borg I agree with your analysis here.

if the Borg were tied to the USSR and the prospect of expansionist Stalinist-Communism, the events of late 1989 to late 1991 themselves all but inevitably set up the long Borg arc that you describe in Voyager. I refer of course to the dissolution of the Communist bloc in Europe, followed by the dissolution of the USSR itself, accompanied by the apparent mass-abandonment of Socialism/Communism by its hitherto rhetorical standard-bearers and regimes, at least in the ‘White’ world.

The Warsaw Bloc Collapse and all that was associated with it set up a likely trajectory for the Borg themselves, so a sharp observer could hypothetically have predicted, by 1992/93 or so, that within five to ten years the Borg would (also) dramatically loosen up, their threat slacken, and they become sorta-friends, sorta-pitiful, seldom-threatening. And, as your review here (and other of your Borg episode reviews) says, this happened.

If this episode (‘Collective’)’s creative genesis came from the minds and discussions of astute world-observers in either 1998 or (more likely) 1999 (and I assume the creative team behind the show were all such people), seven+ years after the USSR itself dissolved and by then nearing ten years after the Berlin Wall fell, it’s hard even to imagine it any other way.

Looking it up via google just now, I see the Borg were first introduced in a ‘Next Generation’ episode which I think would have been conceived and written first in 1988(?) (aired May 1989), then the Borg were established as a recurring and particularly terrifying villains as of episodes that aired in 1990 (perhaps conceived and written pre-Berlin Wall Fall, the year prior, and in any case their original origin is definitely pre-Berlin Wall Fall).

The perceived Communist Threat will therefore still been “in the air” at conception/introduction of the Borg. And there was still a strong living-memory-tether to peak Anti-Soviet feeling back from its seemingly unstoppable Stalinist and early post-Stalinist eras. Many of the writers themselves may have been slightly too young to remember that first-hand, but even the younger ones have been well aware of attitudes during the Peak Fear of Soviets era of the mid-20th century, being just one generation removed. For a young writer today in the 2020s to come up with something similar, when the living-memory-tether is so much weaker, is harder to imagine.

In any case, if anyone knows of any good commentary on this topic (the Borg as metaphor for the USSR), especially contemporary 1990s commentary on the matter, I’d love to see a link. Thanks!

“The Borg and the Federation are both expanding cultures that seems to “assimilate” other entities into themselves to create a homogeneous whole. […] During the nineties, the United States was in effect the only global superpower, having a great deal of influence on the larger world. American popular culture was more widely exported than ever, and American businesses expanded to a variety of markets around the globe. The Federation represented the most idealised expression of American influence during the “American Century”, but Borg represent a more cynical and monstrous interpretation of the same basic idea.”

The scary and villainous Borg’s association of the word “assimilation” (and its variant forms) strikes as really notable in the late-1980s/1990s/2000s US domestic context, a topic which I see only alluded to in this review but not explored.

“Assimilation” as practiced by the Borg is one of those things that broke into wider culture. In other words, most pop-culture-literature Americans, even those who have never seen Star Trek, and a good deal of other Westerners (especially English speakers), born (say) 1965 to 1995 (and maybe even later), will recognize “Resistance is Futile” as a phrase, and will recognize association of “Assimilation” (and “You will be Assimilated”) with the Borg, and therefore with this terrible menace.

“Assimilation” in US political discourse/rhetoric was a highbrow way to refer to the “Melting Pot” idea, that all immigrants either did or should “melt” into some generic whole and abandon uniqueness. This has long been a ‘meme’ in US culture, and in the early 21st century I sense other Western nations’ discourses have all also adopted it — the question of whether immigrants should ‘assimilate’ or stay separate and retain their original cultures, the latter I suppose what is meant by Multiculturalism as most people understand it.

So the Borg desiring “assimilation” may be a double-metaphor — clearly signaling Collectivist Communism at times and in general but by this strong tie-in to the word ‘assimilation’ also secondarily symbolizing the people who demand Immigrant Assimilation and oppose Multiculturalism.

From Google-Ngram you’ll see that in the 1980s the word “assimilation” began to increase in US political discourse, really breaking out in the 1990s, associated with immigration and the presence of foreigners in the United States, especially ones particularly culturally distinct, as the large waves from Latin America and Asia which date to the 1970s were. (You can find this in Google-Ngram by searching the AmE corpus for phrases like “assimilation to american, assimilate to american, immigrants assimilate.” All begin to increase in the 1980s and become especially prominent in the 1990s). I point this out to say that when the Borg and their “You Will Be Assimilated” slogan-threat first entered the public consciousness, the word had already begun to emerge more and more in the immigration discourse.

The word “assimilate” was always used in the context of “immigrants should assimilate to US culture,” or some variant of that kind of usage either pro or con, and the word was almost never otherwise heard by the 1990s (except for Star Trek using it as the Borg’s own twisted and horrifying civilizational-imperative). To me the word become so tightly associated with immigrants/immigration in US rhetoric that the word itself became archaic outside that narrow band of usages — again except on Star Trek.

And by the 1990s in left-wing circles, assimilation was becoming a bad word, something mean ogres would impose on people, stripping them of their identities. I think by the 1990s some of these academics were proposing, and pushing, a model saying the metaphor of a melting pot (and its associated “assimilationism”) should be discarded and a “tossed salad” approach adopted to immigrants. We can still make a palatable dish out of these parts, but no need to melt them down into a giant cultural mishmash stew.

This is another way to see the humanization of the Borg, including through the character of Seven of Nine herself (as a tossed-salad ingredient in the Voyager crew), and more overtly than even by the early-2000-airing ‘Collective’ and its Borg children.

This also signaled a sense of (if not an actual) defeat by the Anti-Multiculturalists as Assimilationists within this secondary (US-domestic) reading of the Borg-as-metaphor (the primary reading arguably being as the USSR/Communism): The fearsome “assimilationist” Borg had been so defanged by 2000, and offers/threats of assimilation seemed much less credible than the early Borg of the late-1980s and early-1990s.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Recent Posts

• 373. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (#225)
• 371. Poor Things (#246)
• 370. Dune: Part Two (#12)
• 369. Memento (#57)
• 368. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (#154)

Recently tweeted…

• "I Simply Am Not There": The Existential Horror of Eighties Excess in "American Psycho"...
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Reviews)
• X-Men: Fatal Attractions (Review/Retrospective)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (Reviews)
• X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance (Review/Retrospective)

Available at…

Blogs Well Worth Your Time

• 1001 Must See Films
• Andrew at the Movies
• Anomalous Material
• Cut the Crap Movie Reviews
• Encore Entertainment
• Fandango Groovers
• FlixChatter
• Four of Them
• It Rains… You get Wet…
• Jameson Cult Film Blog
• Jar Watches Films
• Let's Go To The Movies
• M. Carter at the Movies
• Marshall and the Movies
• Movie News First
• Musings from a Man Lost in La Mancha
• Never Mind Pop Film
• Paragraph Film Reviews
• Roger Ebert's Journal
• Ross v. Ross
• Scannain.com
• Screenwriter (Donald Clarke, Irish Times)
• Strange Culture
• The Film Cynics
• The Pompous Film Snob
• The Projection Booth
• Things That Don't Suck
• Too Busy Thinking About My Comics
• Undy a Hundy

Film Nerd Resources

• CinemaBlend (News)
• Internet Movie Database
• Rope of Silicon
• The Guardian Film Blog
• James Berardinelli
• Roger Ebert

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

Sign me up!

Blog at WordPress.com. WP Designer.

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Star Trek: Voyager

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home. Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home. Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

• Rick Berman
• Michael Piller
• Jeri Taylor
• Kate Mulgrew
• Robert Beltran
• Roxann Dawson
• 427 User reviews
• 26 Critic reviews
• 33 wins & 84 nominations total

Episodes 168

Photos 2084

• Capt. Kathryn Janeway …

• Cmdr. Chakotay …

• Lt. B'Elanna Torres …

• Lt. Tom Paris …

• The Doctor …

• Lt. Tuvok …

• Ensign Harry Kim …

• Lt. Ayala …

• Voyager Computer …

• Seven of Nine …

• William McKenzie …

• Naomi Wildman

• Ensign Brooks

• Science Division Officer …
• Jeri Taylor (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Stellar Photos From the "Star Trek" TV Universe

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia When auditioning for the part of the holographic doctor, Robert Picardo was asked to say the line "Somebody forgot to turn off my program." He did so, then ad-libbed "I'm a doctor, not a light bulb" and got the part.
• Goofs There is speculation that the way the Ocampa are shown to have offspring is an impossible situation, as a species where the female can only have offspring at one event in her life would half in population every generation, even if every single member had offspring. While Ocampa females can only become pregnant once in their lifetime, if was never stated how many children could be born at one time. Kes mentions having an uncle, implying that multiple births from one pregnancy are possible.

Seven of Nine : Fun will now commence.

• Alternate versions Several episodes, such as the show's debut and finale, were originally aired as 2-hour TV-movies. For syndication, these episodes were reedited into two-part episodes to fit one-hour timeslots.
• Connections Edited into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (1999)

User reviews 427

• twanster-97655
• Feb 11, 2021
• How many seasons does Star Trek: Voyager have? Powered by Alexa
• Why do the Nacelles of the Voyager pivot before going to warp?
• Is it true there is a costume error in the first season?
• How many of Voyager's shuttles were destroyed throughout the course of the show?
• January 16, 1995 (United States)
• United States
• Heroes & Icons
• Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki
• Star Trek: VOY
• Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant - 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Paramount Television
• United Paramount Network (UPN)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 44 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast & Crew

Manu Intiraymi

Marley McClean

Kurt Wetherill

Cody Wetherill

Information

© 2011 CBS Corp.

Accessibility

Copyright © 2024 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

Internet Service Terms Apple TV & Privacy Cookie Policy Support

The Cast of Star Trek Voyager – Then and Now

By: Author Brad Burnie

Posted on Published: January 30, 2022  - Last updated: September 22, 2022

Share the Universe!

The Star Trek Voyager is the fifth series and fourth sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. It originally aired on the then United Paramount Network (UPN) from January 1995 to May 2001 and lasted 172 episodes spanning over seven seasons.

The pilot episode, Caretaker , was actually shot in September 1994, meaning the cast had worked together on set for more than six years, making them almost family.

The series was a big hit as it introduced new ideas to the franchise, like the first female captain of a Starfleet vessel, new alien species, and the use of CGI technology for the first time on Star Trek, which rendered better space shots.

The show’s success meant the cast also became household names, and it was a defining period in their careers.

Because we (Trekkies) were stranded right there with them in the uncharted Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-years away from the Earth, we became invested in their lives as well. We were together for an entire seven seasons, trying to find the way back to Earth through seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Therefore, it should not be a surprise that we have been keeping up with them beyond Star Trek: Voyager. Here is what they have been up to.

Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (Kate Mulgrew)

She played Captain Kathryn Janeway, Commander of the USS Voyager . The first-ever female captain to be featured in a Star Trek series and the lead character.

During the Voyager filming, Kate was also featured in animations like Aladdin as Queen Hippsodeth’s voice and Gargoyles as Titania. She has been cast in several other animations since Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters , Infinity Train, and other cameo roles. She has also done voice-overs for a host of video games, Star Trek-related and otherwise.

Her television presence is also flourishing as she has been cast in some highly-rated shows like Mr. Mercedes , Warehouse 13 , Mercy , The Black Donnelly’s, and Orange Is the New Black . She won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014 for her role as Galina Red Reznikov in Orange Is the New Black . The same year she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in the Primetime Emmy Awards for the same role.

Since then, she has also featured in a number of movies, documentaries, short films, and Broadway productions.

She is still involved in expanding the Star Trek franchise and has been cast in the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Prodigy, currently in production for Nickelodeon.

Personal Life

Kate was finalizing her divorce with Robert Egan, with whom they had two children when the Voyager was first airing in 1995. She was still searching for the daughter she had placed for adoption earlier in her career as a single terrified actor. She got married to Tim Hagan in 1996, but they later divorced in 2014. She reconnected with the daughter she had placed for adoption in 2001.

Robert Adame Beltran

He played Commander Chakotay, the Native American First Officer of the USS Voyager. He reluctantly assumes the position after his crew of Maquis rebels is forced to join forces with the USS Voyager when they are both stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

Robert won the Outstanding Actor in a Television Series at the Nosotros Golden Eagle Awards in 1997 after getting nominated for Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role at the NCLR Bravo Awards the previous year.

Beltran would get nominated again in 1998 and 1999 at the same awards, now renamed the American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Awards for the same role in the category Outstanding Individual Performance in a Television Series in a Crossover Role.

Playing Chakotay remains his most celebrated television presence, although he has made cameo appearances in many TV series, films, and documentaries since then. He has appeared in a few movies and is also featured in Star Trek Voyager’s game : Elite Force .

Robert lives in Los Angeles and is a big supporter of the National Down Syndrome Society. He even hosts an annual Galaxy Ball as a fundraiser for the Down’s Syndrome Association of Los Angeles to connect those afflicted with the condition and their families with resources and support systems. He says he is driven to do something because his youngest sibling has down syndrome and knows what the children go through without professional help.

Roxann Dawson

She was Lieutenant B’Elanna Torres, the Klingon-Human hybrid who got to be Chief Engineer of the USS Voyager after the unplanned merger of Voyager and Val Jean crews in the Delta Quadrant. She remains relevant throughout the series for many reasons, the least of which is her long courtship with Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas Eugene Paris, which leads to marriage and their daughter Miral Paris’s birth.

Dawson got to direct two episodes of the Star Trek: Voyager while still a part of the cast: Riddles and Workforce , then went on to direct 10 episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. This means she was already a director and an actor while shooting the Voyager.

She won an ALMA Award in 2001 for Outstanding Achievement in a Television Series for her role in the Star Trek Voyager after being consistently nominated in different categories in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. She was also involved in other award-winning during this period, like the Foto Novelas, which took ALMA Awards in 1998 for Outstanding Latino Casts.

She has since focused on directing several episodes from a host of TV shows, documentaries, and films under her belt. In 2008 she was nominated in 3 separate awards, the ALMA, Hugo, and NAACP Image Awards, for her directed episodes in Heroes.

Dawson has two adopted daughters, Emma and Mia (who was adopted from China), from her marriage to Casey Biggs before the voyage. She is currently married to casting director Eric Dawson.

Robert Duncan McNeill

He played Thomas Eugene Paris, a disgraced pilot from a renowned family who gets a chance to redeem himself when assigned to spy on the Marquis rebels. He will proceed to be the helm engineer and supporting medic of the USS Voyager.

After the Star Trek Voyager, he has featured in the Voyager video game ‘Elite Force ’ and Star Trek Online. He has also acted in a couple of episodes in TV shows. He focused on directing and producing and has quite a number of films and TV shows to his credit. Most notable is the series Chuck which he was involved in all 73 episodes.

Robert lives in Los Angeles and has three children, Taylor McNeill, Kyle McNeill, and Carter Jay McNeill.

Brad Burnie is the founder of Starships.com. He loves all video game genres. In his spare time, he loves reading, watching movies, and gaming

List of Star Trek: Voyager cast members

Star Trek: Voyager is an American science fiction television series that debuted on UPN on January 16, 1995, and ran for seven seasons until May 23, 2001. The show was the fourth live-action series in the Star Trek franchise. This is a list of actors who have appeared on Star Trek: Voyager

Recurring cast

Guest appearances, connections with other star trek incarnations, characters and races, actors from other star trek incarnations who appeared on voyager, actors from voyager who appeared in other star trek incarnations, appearances.

• Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway , commanding officer of the USS Voyager .
• Robert Beltran as Chakotay , Janeway's first officer and former member of the Maquis .
• Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres , chief engineer and former member of the Maquis .
• Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris , conn officer.
• Jennifer Lien as Kes , nurse and medical apprentice until her departure from Voyager in 2374.
• Ethan Phillips as Neelix , chef , morale officer, and later Federation Ambassador to the Delta Quadrant .
• Robert Picardo as The Doctor , chief medical officer.
• Tim Russ as Tuvok , chief security/tactical officer.
• Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine , stellar cartography and former Borg drone liberated from the Collective.
• Garrett Wang as Harry Kim , operations officer.
• Simon Billig as Hogan, engineering officer and former member of the Maquis until his death in 2373.
• Josh Clark as Joe Carey, engineering officer until his death in 2378.
• Anthony De Longis as Jal Culluh , First Maje of the Kazon -Nistrim.
• John de Lancie as Q , a member of the Q-Continuum who frequently visits the USS Voyager .
• Christine Delgado as Susan Nicoletti, engineering officer.
• Brad Dourif as Lon Suder , engineering officer and former member of the Maquis until his death in 2373.
• Susan Patterson as Kaplan, security officer until her death in 2373.
• Alexander Enberg as Vorik , engineering officer.
• Tarik Ergin as Ayala , security officer, conn officer, and former member of the Maquis .
• Martha Hackett as Seska , Cardassian operative and Kazon collaborator until her death in 2373.
• Richard Herd as Owen Paris , flag officer at Starfleet Command , officer of the Pathfinder Project, and father of Tom Paris .
• Nancy Hower as Samantha Wildman , science officer.
• Manu Intiraymi as Icheb , a former Borg drone liberated from the Collective.
• Marley S. McClean as Mezoti , a former Borg drone liberated from the Collective.
• Derek McGrath as Chell , operations officer and former member of the Maquis .
• Zoe McLellan as Tal Celes , operations officer.
• Scarlett Pomers as Naomi Wildman , daughter of Samantha Wildman .
• John Rhys-Davies as the holographic recreation of Leonardo da Vinci .
• Raphael Sbarge as Michael Jonas , engineering officer and former member of the Maquis until his death in 2372.
• Martin Rayner as Doctor Chaotica, a holodeck character.
• Dwight Schultz as Reginald Barclay , officer at Starfleet Communications and the Pathfinder Project.
• Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi , ship's counselor on the USS Enterprise -E .
• John Tampoya as Kashimuro Nozawa, operations officer.
• Susanna Thompson as The Borg Queen , leader of the Borg Collective .
• Cody Wetherill as Rebi , a former Borg drone liberated from the Collective.
• Kurt Wetherill as Azan , a former Borg drone liberated from the Collective.
• Prince Abdullah of Jordan (now king ) played an unnamed ensign (science officer) in the episode " Investigations ". [1]
• Musician Tom Morello played Crewman Mitchell, seen when Captain Janeway asks him for directions on Deck 15, in " Good Shepherd ". [2]

Source material: [3]

• Jason Alexander played Kurros, the spokesperson for a group of alien scholars, in " Think Tank ".
• John Aniston played the Quarren Ambassador in the two-part episode " Workforce ".
• Ed Begley Jr. portrayed Henry Starling, an unscrupulous 20th-century industrialist, in " Future's End " parts 1 and 2.
• Dan Butler played Steth in " Vis à Vis ".
• Robert Curtis Brown portrayed Neezar, the Ledosian ambassador, in " Natural Law ".
• David Clennon played Dr. Crell Moset in the episode " Nothing Human ".
• Henry Darrow appears in the episodes "Tattoo" and "Basics: Part I" as Chakotay's father.
• Andy Dick plays the Emergency Medical Hologram Mark 2 on USS Prometheus in " Message in a Bottle ".
• David Graf appeared as Fred Noonan , Amelia Earhart 's navigator in the episode " The 37's ".
• Gary Graham , who portrayed Ambassador Soval on Star Trek: Enterprise , played Ocampan community leader Tanis in the season-two episode " Cold Fire ".
• Gerrit Graham played a member of the Q Continuum called Quinn in " Death Wish " who sought asylum on Voyager .
• Joel Grey played Caylem, in " Resistance ".
• Lori Hallier played Riley Frazier, one of a group of former Borg drones, in " Unity ".
• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson portrayed the Pendari Champion with whom Seven of Nine and Tuvok are forced to compete in the episode " Tsunkatse ".
• Leslie Jordan played Kol, a Ferengi, in the episode “ False Profits ”.
• Alice Krige and Susanna Thompson both played the Borg Queen. Krige, who had originated the role in the movie Star Trek: First Contact , returned for Voyager's series finale; Thompson had portrayed the character earlier in the show's run.
• Sharon Lawrence played the famous aviator Amelia Earhart in the episode "The 37's".
• Michael McKean plays a maniacal clown character in a simulation in which the crew's minds are held hostage in the episode " The Thaw ".
• Virginia Madsen played Kellin, a Ramuran tracer, in " Unforgettable ".
• Marjorie Monaghan played Freya, a shieldmaiden , in " Heroes and Demons ".
• Leland Orser played Dejaren, an unstable hologram, in " Revulsion "
• John Savage plays Captain Rudolph Ransom of the USS Equinox , another Federation starship that Voyager encountered in the Delta Quadrant, in " Equinox " parts 1 and 2.
• Lori Petty played Noss in the episode "Gravity". Tuvok and Tom become stranded on a planet and befriend Noss, an alien stranded there many years before.
• John Rhys-Davies plays Leonardo da Vinci in Janeway's holodeck program. He appeared in " Scorpion: Part I " and " Concerning Flight ".
• W. Morgan Sheppard appeared as Qatai, an alien trapped by a telepathic "pitcher plant" anomaly masquerading as Voyager's savior, in " Bliss ".
• Sarah Silverman appeared as Rain Robinson, a young astronomer who finds Voyager in orbit of 20th-century Earth, in " Future's End " parts 1 and 2.
• Kurtwood Smith , who played the Federation president in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , played Annorax, a Krenim scientist who was determined to restore his original timeline, in " Year of Hell " parts 1 and 2.
• Comedian Scott Thompson played the alien Tomin in " Someone to Watch Over Me ".
• Ray Walston , who appeared as Starfleet Academy groundskeeper Boothby in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty", reprised the role in the episodes " In the Flesh " and " The Fight ".
• Songwriter Paul Williams played Prelate Koru in " Virtuoso ".
• Titus Welliver played Lieutenant Maxwell Burke in "Equinox" parts 1 and 2.
• Joseph Will played Tellis in " Muse ".
• Ray Wise played Arturis in " Hope and Fear ". He also had an appearance in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called " Who Watches the Watchers ".
• Tom Wright appeared as Tuvix in " Tuvix ".

As with other Star Trek series, the original Star Trek ' s Vulcans, Klingons, and Romulans appear in Star Trek: Voyager . [4] Voyager had appearances by several other races who initially appear in The Next Generation : the Q, the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, Betazoids, and Ferengi , along with Deep Space Nine ' s Jem'Hadar (via hologram), as well as the Maquis resistance movement, previously established in episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine . [4]

One notable connection between Voyager and The Next Generation appears regarding a wormhole and the Ferengi. In The Next Generation season-three episode " The Price ", bidding takes place for rights to a wormhole. The Ferengi send a delegation to the bidding. When the Enterprise and Ferengi vessel each send shuttles into the wormhole, they appear in the Delta Quadrant, where the Ferengi shuttle becomes trapped. In the Voyager season-three episode " False Profits ", the Ferengi who were trapped have since landed on a nearby planet, and begun exploiting the inhabitants for profit.

• Michael Ansara , who played the Klingon commander Kang on the original series (" Day of the Dove ") and Deep Space Nine (" Blood Oath ") also appeared as Kang on Voyager ("Flashback").
• Vaughn Armstrong , who portrayed a wide variety of guest characters throughout the show's run, later went on to portray Admiral Forrest in Star Trek: Enterprise .
• Majel Barrett voices the ship's computer, having performed the same role in previous Star Trek series. [4]
• LeVar Burton , who played Geordi La Forge on The Next Generation , appeared as Captain LaForge of USS Challenger in an alternate future in the episode "Timeless".
• Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun and Brunt of Deep Space Nine and Shran of Enterprise ) appeared in "Tsunkatse" as Norcadian Penk.
• Leonard Crofoot , who appeared in "Virtuoso" as a Qomar spectator, [5] appeared in The Next Generation episodes " Angel One " and as the prototype version of Data's daughter Lal in " The Offspring ".
• John de Lancie plays the mischievous Q, who also annoyed Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the Enterprise and Commander Benjamin Sisko on Deep Space Nine in the Deep Space Nine episode " Q-Less ". He appeared in " Death Wish ", " The Q and the Grey " and " Q2 ".
• Aron Eisenberg (Nog of Deep Space Nine ) appeared in " Initiations " as a Kazon adolescent named Kar.
• Jonathan Frakes played Commander William Riker from The Next Generation , appearing in " Death Wish ".
• Gerrit Graham , who played the Hunter in a Deep Space Nine episode called " Captive Pursuit ", and later played a Q (Quinn) in the Voyager episode " Death Wish ".
• J. G. Hertzler (Martok of Deep Space Nine and Klingon advocate Kolos in the Enterprise episode: "Judgement") appeared in "Tsunkatse" as an unnamed Hirogen.
• Suzie Plakson , who portrayed Dr. Selar in The Next Generation episode The Schizoid Man " as well as Ambassador K'Ehleyr , Worf 's mate in "The Emissary" and " Reunion ", appeared as the female Q in the episode "The Q and the Grey".
• Joseph Ruskin played a Vulcan Master in the episode "Gravity". Ruskin also played Galt in the Star Trek Original Series episode " Gamesters of Triskelion ", the Klingon Tumek Deep Space Nine episodes " House of Quark " and " Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places ", a Cardassian informant in the Deep Space Nine episode " Improbable Cause ", and a Suliban doctor in the Enterprise episode " Broken Bow ".
• Dwight Schultz played Reginald Barclay on Star Trek: The Next Generation and in the film Star Trek: First Contact . He appeared in the following Voyager episodes: " Projections ", " Pathfinder ", " Life Line ", " Inside Man ", " Author, Author " and "Endgame".
• Mark Allen Shepherd also appeared uncredited as Morn , alongside Quark in the pilot.
• Armin Shimerman , who portrayed Quark on Deep Space Nine , appeared in the pilot "Caretaker".
• Dan Shor , who appeared as the Ferengi Dr. Arridor in The Next Generation episode "The Price", reprised the role in Voyager episode "False Profits", having become stranded in the Delta Quadrant at the end of the Next Generation episode.
• Marina Sirtis , as Counselor Deanna Troi from The Next Generation , appears in "Pathfinder", "Life Line", and "Inside Man".
• James Sloyan portrayed Alidar Jarok (a defecting Romulan admiral) in " The Defector " and Alexander Rozhenko (Worf's son) as an adult in the future in "Firstborn", both Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , he portrayed the Bajoran scientist Mora Pol and Odo's "father" in the episodes "The Begotten" and "The Alternate". The Star Trek: Voyager episode entitled "Jetrel" featured Sloyan as the title character.
• Kurtwood Smith , who plays Annorax in "Year of Hell", appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Things Past" as Thrax. Before this, he also appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as the president of the Federation.
• George Takei from the Original Series reprised his role as Hikaru Sulu , who became Captain of USS Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . He appeared in Voyager episode "Flashback", commemorating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek . [6]
• Tony Todd , who played Worf 's brother Kurn in The Next Generation episodes " Sins of the Father ", " Redemption ", parts 1 and 2 and the Deep Space Nine episode " Sons of Mogh ", also the adult Jake Sisko in the Deep Space Nine episode " The Visitor ", played an unnamed Hirogen in the Voyager episode " Prey ".
• Gwynyth Walsh (B'Etor of The Next Generation and Generations ) appeared in " Random Thoughts " as Chief Examiner Nimira.
• Grace Lee Whitney from Original Series reprised her role as Janice Rand in Voyager episode " Flashback ", commemorating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek . [6]
• Martha Hackett (Seska) appeared in deleted scenes from the finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation , " All Good Things... ", and as Romulan Subcommander T'Rul in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine two-part episode " The Search ".
• Robert Duncan McNeill (Paris) appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " The First Duty " as Cadet Nicolas Locarno. The character of Locarno was used as a template for Tom Paris. [7] He also appeared as Tom Paris in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "We'll Always Have Tom Paris".
• Kate Mulgrew appeared again as Kathryn Janeway, now promoted to vice admiral, in Star Trek: Nemesis . [8] Mulgrew also voiced Admiral Janeway and a training hologram based on Janeway in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy . [9] [10]
• Ethan Phillips (Neelix) was featured in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Ménage à Troi" as Farek, the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Acquisition" as Ulis, and in Star Trek: First Contact as the maître d' in the Dixon Hill holodeck program. He voiced a docent for the decommissioned USS Voyager in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "Twovix" in season 4.
• Robert Picardo (The Doctor) appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" as Dr. Lewis Zimmerman and an EMH Mark I, and made a cameo appearance in the film Star Trek: First Contact as the EMH aboard the Enterprise -E.
• Tim Russ (Tuvok) appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " Starship Mine ", the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes " Invasive Procedures " and " Through the Looking Glass " (in the latter as a mirror version of Tuvok), and Star Trek: Generations . He appeared first as a Changeling impersonating Tuvok and then as the real Tuvok in the episodes "Surrender" and "The Last Generation" of Star Trek: Picard respectively.
• Jeri Ryan appeared as Seven of Nine as a regular cast member in Star Trek: Picard. [11]
• Robert Beltran appeared as Captain Chakotay of the USS Protostar in Star Trek: Prodigy . [12]
• List of Star Trek: The Original Series cast members
• List of Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members
• List of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine cast members
• List of Star Trek: Enterprise cast members
• List of Star Trek: Discovery cast members
• 1 2 Lien is still credited as "Also Starring" following the opening credits in episodes 4.01, 4.02 and 6.23, instead of in the opening credits.
• ↑ The character was played by Warren Munson in Seasons 2 and 5.
• ↑ The character was played by uncredited babies in Seasons 2 and 3 and by Brooke Stephens in season 4.
• ↑ In the series finale, the character was played by Alice Krige .
• ↑ Krider, Dylan Otto (6–12 November 2008). "Righteous anger" . BoulderWeekly.com . Archived from the original on September 26, 2015 . Retrieved June 27, 2016 .
• ↑ Ruditis (2003)
• 1 2 3 Okuda (1999)
• ↑ "Full cast and crew for "Star Trek: Voyager" – Virtuoso" . Virtuoso . IMDB. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020 . Retrieved October 6, 2011 .
• 1 2 McMillan, Graeme (2015-05-27). "WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Voyager" . Wired . ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2019-07-15 .
• ↑ Star Trek The Next Generation DVD set – Season 5, disc 7, "Memorable Missions" featurette
• ↑ Blauvelt, Christian (2020-10-08). "Janeway Returns! 'Star Trek: Prodigy' to Feature Kate Mulgrew's Voice Talents as 'Voyager' Captain" . IndieWire . Retrieved 2021-02-16 .
• ↑ Blauvelt, Christian (2020-10-08). "Janeway Returns! 'Star Trek: Prodigy' to Feature Kate Mulgrew's Voice Talents as 'Voyager' Captain" . IndieWire . Retrieved 2022-01-12 .
• ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-10-08). " 'Star Trek: Voyager' Actress Kate Mulgrew To Reprise Iconic Role Of Captain Janeway On Nickelodeon's 'Star Trek: Prodigy' " . Deadline . Retrieved 2022-01-12 .
• ↑ Nemetz, Dave (July 20, 2019). "Star Trek: Picard to Bring Back Trek Veterans Jeri Ryan and Brent Spiner" . TVLine . TV Line. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020 . Retrieved 29 July 2019 .
• ↑ "Star Trek: Prodigy Reveals the Protostar's Original Captain Is a Familiar Face" . CBR . 2022-01-06 . Retrieved 2022-01-12 .

Related Research Articles

Kathryn Janeway is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. She was the main character of the television series Star Trek: Voyager , which aired between 1995 and 2001. She served as the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager while it was lost in the Delta Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. After returning home to the Alpha Quadrant, she is promoted to vice admiral and briefly appears in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis . She is seen again commanding the USS Dauntless in Star Trek: Prodigy , searching for the missing USS Protostar which was being commanded by Captain Chakotay, her former first officer on Voyager , at the time of its disappearance.

Chakotay is a fictional character who appears in each of the seven seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager . Portrayed by Robert Beltran, he was First Officer aboard the Starfleet starship USS Voyager , and later promoted to Captain in command of the USS Protostar in Star Trek: Prodigy . The character was suggested at an early stage of the development of the series. He is the first Native American main character in the Star Trek franchise. This was a deliberate move by the producers of the series, who sought to provide an inspiration as with Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series for African Americans. To develop the character, the producers sought the assistance of Jamake Highwater who falsely claimed to be Native American. Despite first being named as a Sioux, and later a Hopi, Chakotay was given no tribal affiliation at the start of the series, something that was later resolved in the episode "Tattoo".

In the Star Trek science-fiction franchise, the Maquis are a 24th-century paramilitary organization-terrorist group. The group is introduced in the two-part episode "The Maquis" of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , building on a plot foundation introduced in the episode "Journey's End" of Star Trek: The Next Generation , and appear in later episodes of those two series as well as Star Trek: Voyager . The Maquis story debuted when three Star Trek television shows running from 1987 to 2001 took place in the same fictional science-fiction universe at the same time in the future. As a result, the Maquis story was told across several episodes in all three shows. The Maquis are especially prominent in Star Trek: Voyager , whose premise is that a Starfleet crew and a Maquis crew are stranded together on the opposite side of the Galaxy.

Star Trek: Voyager is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor. It originally aired from January 16, 1995, to May 23, 2001, on UPN, with 172 episodes over seven seasons. It is the fifth series in the Star Trek franchise. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS  Voyager as it attempts to return home to the Alpha Quadrant after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant on the far side of the galaxy.

The Star Trek fictional universe contains a variety of weapons, ranging from missiles to melee. The Star Trek franchise consists mainly of several multi-season television shows and a dozen movies, as well as various video games and inspired merchandise. Many aspects of the Star Trek universe impact modern popular culture, especially its fictitious terminology and the concept of weaponry on spacecraft. The franchise has had a widespread influence on its audiences from the late 20th to early 21st century. Notably, Star Trek 's science fiction concepts have been studied by real scientists; NASA described it in relation to the real world as "entertaining combination of real science, imaginary science gathered from lots of earlier stories, and stuff the writers make up week-by-week to give each new episode novelty." For example, NASA noted that the Star Trek "phasers" were a fictional extrapolation of real-life lasers, and compared them to real-life microwave based weapons that have a stunning effect.

USS Voyager (NCC-74656) is the fictional Intrepid -class starship which is the primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager . It is commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway. Voyager was designed by Star Trek: Voyager production designer Richard D. James and illustrator Rick Sternbach. Most of the ship's on-screen appearances are computer-generated imagery (CGI), although models were also sometimes used. The ship's motto, as engraved on its dedication plaque, is a quote from the poem "Locksley Hall" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: "For I dipt in to the future, far as human eye could see; Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be."

Tuvok is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise and a main character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager . Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's second officer, Chief of Security, and Chief Tactical Officer. He was portrayed by Tim Russ throughout the show's run from 1995 to 2001, as well as in subsequent portrayals.

Seven of Nine is a fictional character introduced in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager . Portrayed by Jeri Ryan, she is a former Borg drone who joins the crew of the Federation starship Voyager . Her full Borg designation was Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One. While her birth name became known to her crewmates, after joining the Voyager crew she chose to continue to be called Seven of Nine, though she allowed " Seven " to be used informally.

" Caretaker " is the series premiere of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager . It was first broadcast as a double-length episode on January 16, 1995, as the first telecast of the fledgling UPN network. It was later split into two parts for syndication, but released in its original one-episode format on DVD and streaming services. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant far from the rest of the Federation.

Star Trek: Titan is a series of science fiction novels set within the Star Trek media franchise, which detail the adventures of the USS Titan under the command Captain William T. Riker, who was part of the main cast the 1987-1994 TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its spinoff films. The series was published by Simon & Schuster imprints Pocket Books, Pocket Star, and Gallery Books from 2005 to 2017. The novels are set after the events depicted in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis .

" Unimatrix Zero " is a two-part episode of Star Trek: Voyager , the cliffhanger between 26th episode of the sixth season and the first episode of the seventh season. Starfleet's USS Voyager, stranded on the other side of the Galaxy, once again encounters a race of cybernetic organisms called the Borg as the ship journeys back to Earth.

" Resistance " is the 28th episode of Star Trek: Voyager , and the 12th episode in the second season. It is one installment of a Star Trek television series that aired on the United Paramount Network in November 1995. With a teleplay by Lisa Klink and story by Michael Jan Friedman and Kevin J. Ryan, the episode depicts the USS Voyager, a space ship stranded on the other side of the galaxy, encountering an alien planet. Starship Captain Kathryn Janeway must rescue officers Tuvok and B'Elanna Torres from an alien prison. The episode was directed by Winrich Kolbe.

" Resolutions " is the 41st episode of the science fiction television program Star Trek: Voyager . The episode originally aired on May 13, 1996. The series follows the adventures of the Federation starship Voyager during its journey home to Earth, having been stranded tens of thousands of light-years away. This episode focuses on the relationship between Captain Janeway and First Officer Chakotay, who have been left on a planet after contracting a virus, and the rest of the crew search for a cure under Tuvok's command.

" Hunters " is the 83rd episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager , the 15th episode of the fourth season, and the first episode of the Hirogen story arc. The series is about a spaceship returning to Earth, after being flung to the other side of the Galaxy, and is set in the 24th century of the Star Trek science fiction universe.

Several characters within the Star Trek franchise, primary and secondary, often made crossover appearances between one series and another. This included appearances of established characters on premiere episodes of new series, a few long-term transfers from one series to another, and even crossovers between Trek films and television. A few crossover appearances, such as that of Spock on The Next Generation and the time-travel of the crew of Deep Space Nine to the era of The Original Series were especially lauded by both fans and critics.

The fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager commenced airing on UPN in the United States on September 3, 1997, and concluded on May 20, 1998, after airing 26 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series followed the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they were stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation. Season Four featured the debut of new main cast member Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, nicknamed Seven, and the departure of Jennifer Lien, who portrayed Kes during the first three seasons of the show. At the end of the season, co-creator and executive producer Jeri Taylor retired.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Star Trek :

8 Alpha Quadrant Things Star Trek: Voyager Found In Delta Quadrant

• Star Trek: Voyager finds familiar things from the Alpha Quadrant in the Delta Quadrant, sparking important questions and connections.
• Encounter with Ferengi negotiators leads Voyager crew to stop their interference in a pre-warp civilization for profits.
• Janeway and crew discover humans abducted by aliens in the 1930s living in the Delta Quadrant, including Amelia Earhart.

For a show with the conceit of being so far from home, Star Trek: Voyager found a surprising number of things in the Delta Quadrant that originated in the Alpha Quadrant, including several from Earth itself. The USS Voyager, commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and Commander Chakotay's (Robert Beltran) Maquis raider Val Jean were both brought to the Delta Quadrant in 2371 by the Caretaker (Basil Langton). After Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array to save the Ocampa , Voyager and the Val Jean were left without a ticket back to the Alpha Quadrant, and banded together to make the long journey.

Finding something familiar in an otherwise totally alien corner of the galaxy brought a sense of familiarity to the USS Voyager crew and viewers at home alike, but the presence of something from the Alpha Quadrant in the Delta Quadrant inevitably raised important questions , like how familiar people and objects traveled 70,000 light years from home in the first place, and whether the find could lead Captain Kathryn Janeway towards a quicker path home to Earth.

Star Trek: Voyagers 20 Best Episodes Ranked

A pair of ferengi negotiators, arridor and kol, star trek: voyager season 3, episode 5 "false profits".

The USS Voyager encounters a pair of Ferengi negotiators, Arridor (Dan Shor) and Kol (Leslie Jordan), who claim to be the prophesied Great Sages of the Takarians, a society with Bronze Age level technology. The Ferengi have no Prime Directive to deter them from interfering with the Takarians' development , so they're performing "miracles" with a standard replicator to reap the monetary benefits of the Takarians' worship. Voyager's crew know the Ferengi reputation well enough to know they're no Sages, so they must figure out how to put a stop to Arridor and Kol's grift.

"False Profits" serves as a Star Trek sequel episode to Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 8 "The Price", as Voyager catches up with Arridor and Kol (formerly played by J. R. Quinonez) seven years after their Delta Quadrant arrival. The Ferengi took a test flight through the supposedly stable wormhole near Barzan II, which was supposed to emerge in the Gamma Quadrant, but instead stranded the Ferengi in the Delta Quadrant, where they made the best of their situation as only Ferengi can.

Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 23 "Distant Origin"

"Distant Origin" opens on Forra Gegen (Henry Woronicz), a scientist who discovers that his people, the Voth, share certain genetic similarities with the humans aboard the USS Voyager. While this confirms Gegen's theory that the Voth are the descendants of a species brought to their homeworld millions of years ago , religious leader Minister Odala (Concetta Tomei) refuses to accept the truth. Even with Commander Chakotay present as a living specimen of humanity, Odala pushes Gegen to recant, because Gegen's theory goes against the Voth Doctrine that keeps Odala in power.

After meeting Gegen's assistant, Tova Veer (Christopher Liam Moore), Janeway and the Doctor use the holodeck as a research guide to extrapolate how hadrosaurs might look in the 24th century if they'd been able to evolve into a humanoid form with comparable intelligence. The result resembles Veer, so Janeway and the Doctor conclude, like Gegen, that the Voth evolved from hadrosaurs into a highly advanced species on Earth , then fled to the Delta Quadrant in spacefaring vessels instead of being wiped out with the other dinosaurs.

The Friendship One Probe

Star trek: voyager season 7, episode 21 "friendship one".

By Star Trek: Voyager season 7 , the USS Voyager is in regular contact with Starfleet Command, and Starfleet gives Voyager a mission to retrieve a 21st-century Earth probe, Friendship One . The probe proves difficult to find, but once discovered on an alien planet suffering devastating climate collapse, the implications of Friendship One's launch become clear. Besides the irreversible damage to the planet's climate, the inhabitants are all suffering from radiation sickness, and bear understandable hostility towards Earth, because the aliens believe humans orchestrated their destruction with the Friendship One probe.

The United Earth Space Probe Agency was one of the early names for the organization the USS Enterprise belongs to in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "Charlie X".

Friendship One was launched in 2067 by the United Earth Space Probe Agency with the intention of making friends with whomever found it, as the name implies. Although Friendship One, the 400-year-old Earth probe, traveled for centuries carrying messages of peace, musical recordings, and ways to translate languages, the people who discovered Friendship One in the Delta Quadrant took a greater interest in the antimatter it used to travel across space. Without the proper knowledge of its use, antimatter proved devastating to the planet and its people, resulting in death and disease for generations.

Dreadnought, a Cardassian Missile

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 17 "dreadnought".

The USS Voyager discovers a dangerously powerful, self-guided Cardassian missile in the Delta Quadrant, which Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) recognizes as one nicknamed "Dreadnought" . When B'Elanna was with the Maquis, Torres had actually reprogrammed the missile herself, with the intention of turning the Cardassians' own weapon against them. Without a Cardassian target in sight, the artificially intelligent Cardassian Dreadnought targets a heavily-populated Class-M planet , Rakosa V. B'Elanna determines she must be the one to keep Dreadnought from hurting anyone else, and boards the missile to convince it to stand down.

While no concrete reason is given for exactly how the Dreadnought wound up in the Delta Quadrant, its last known location in the Alpha Quadrant was the Badlands, the same rough patch of space where Voyager and the Val Jean, Chakotay's Maquis raider, fatefully met. Because of this, Torres theorizes that Dreadnought arrived in the Delta Quadrant the same way that Voyager and the Val Jean did , courtesy of the Caretaker.

Star Trek: Voyagers BElanna Is More Klingon Than TNGs Worf Ever Was

A klingon d-7 class cruiser, complete with klingons, star trek: voyager, season 7, episode 14 "prophecy".

The USS Voyager certainly never expected to find a Klingon ship in the Delta Quadrant, but more surprising is the fact that the crew of the Klingon D-7 Class Cruiser believes their savior, the prophesied kuvah'magh, is aboard Voyager . Janeway assures the Klingon captain, Kohlar (Wren T. Brown), that the Federation and Klingon Empire have been allies for the past 80 years, and offers Voyager's own half-Klingon, Lt. B'Elanna Torres, as proof their societies are working together now. The kuvah'magh is Torres' unborn daughter, who does save the Klingons, but not the way they expected.

Centuries ago, Kohlar's great-grandfather set off on a quest to find the kuvah'magh, and the Klingon D-7 Cruiser became a generation ship that is now crewed by the descendants of its original crew . The quest begun by Kohlar's great-grandfather brought Kohlar and his crew to the Delta Quadrant after four generations of searching. Whether B'Elanna's child is actually the kuvah'magh or not, Kohlar desperately wants the baby to be their savior, so that his people may finally rest.

Amelia Earhart

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 1 "the 37s".

The discovery of a 1936 Ford truck, seemingly disconnected from any parent vehicle, leads the USS Voyager to a nearby Class-L planet, where they find eight humans who have been in cryo-stasis since they were abducted by aliens in the 1930s. Among them are one of Janeway's personal heroes, legendary American aviator Amelia Earhart (Sharon Lawrence) , who disappeared without a trace while attempting to fly around the world, and Earhart's navigator, Fred Noonan (David Graf). Earhart and the other preserved humans are known by the planet's inhabitants as "The 37s", and revered as sacred.

Originally thought to be aliens, the natives of the unnamed planet are the descendants of humans. A species called the Briori abducted the natives' ancestors, along with Earhart and the other 37s, from Earth centuries earlier , and took them to the Delta Quadrant. Once held as slaves, the humans who weren't in stasis revolted to free themselves from the Briori, and developed a thriving, Earth-like civilization in the Delta Quadrant. Voyager's crew consider staying with the humans in their little slice of home, while Janeway also offers a ride back to Earth to anyone who wants it, including Amelia Earhart.

The USS Equinox

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 26 & season 6, episode 1 "equinox".

The crew of the USS Voyager believe they're the only Starfleet vessel in the Delta Quadrant until they find the USS Equinox, five years into their journey home. Captain Rudolph Ransom (John Savage) and the Equinox crew have had a harder time in the Delta Quadrant than Voyager, with more damage, fewer starting resources, and fewer opportunities to make friends along the way. Ransom's survival tactics include sacrificing innocent nucleogenic life forms for a more efficient form of fuel, which Janeway finds hard to stomach, and decides that Ransom needs to be held accountable for defying Federation ideals, regardless of how badly the Equinox is damaged.

Although Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) suggests that the Equinox might be in the Delta Quadrant on a rescue mission to find Voyager, the USS Equinox's specs don't fit the profile of a starship that would be assigned to a long-range mission. The explanation of how the Equinox arrived in the Delta Quadrant in the first place seems fairly simple, because Captain Ransom tells Janeway that the Equinox was also abducted by the Caretaker , just like Voyager, but the Equinox has only been in the Delta Quadrant for 2 years, and Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array 5 years earlier.

Seven of Nine

Debuts in star trek: voyager season 4, episode 1 "scorpion, part 2".

When Captain Kathryn Janeway allies with the Borg in order to secure safe passage across Borg space, Janeway refuses the cursory assimilation that the Borg want to use to communicate with Janeway and Voyager's crew, and instead requests a speaker for the Borg, citing the existence of Locutus (Patrick Stewart) as precedent. Seven of Nine , Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, is selected as the Borg drone to act as liaison between the Collective and Voyager, likely because Seven of Nine had once been a member of Species 5168, like most of Voyager's crew -- in other words, human.

Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16, "Dark Frontier" provides even more detail of the Hansens' fateful journey.

After Seven's link with the Collective is severed, more information about Seven's human origin comes to light. In Voyager season 4, episode 6 "The Raven", when Voyager nears the Hansens' ship, the USS Raven, memories of Seven's early life surface, revealing that Seven had been six-year-old human Annika Hansen , the daughter of Magnus Hansen (Kirk Baily) and Erin Hansen (Laura Stepp), Federation scientists who were studying the Borg when they were assimilated. Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16, "Dark Frontier" provides even more detail of the Hansens' fateful journey, showing the Raven arriving in the Delta Quadrant by following a Borg Cube through a transwarp conduit.

10 Ways USS Voyager Changed In Star Treks Delta Quadrant

Star Trek: Voyager links back to the greater Star Trek universe with people and starships from the Alpha Quadrant. Connections to the familiar were especially important early on, because Voyager 's place in the Star Trek franchise was established and aided by the legitimacy these finds offered. Later, when the USS Voyager used the Hirogen communications array to communicate with Starfleet Command, links back to the Alpha Quadrant were plentiful again, not only to prove that the USS Voyager was closer to home, but to help Star Trek: Voyager maintain connections to Star Trek and carry the franchise in its final years.

Star Trek: Voyager is available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast Jennifer Lien, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo

Release Date May 23, 1995

Genres Sci-Fi, Adventure

Network UPN

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Michael Piller, Rick Berman

Showrunner Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Rating TV-PG