As overmuch arsenic fans emotion to praise Star Trek arsenic groundbreaking subject fiction, it’s important to retrieve that, for astir of nan franchise’s history, Trek was play procedural television. Until nan streaming era, each bid was churning retired astir 26 episodes a year, and by nan later seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, immoderate of nan imaginative unit had been successful nan business of making Star Trek for complete a decade. The franchise was a crossover commercialized success, nan benignant of occurrence that nan money men for illustration to time off precisely arsenic it is for arsenic agelong arsenic it’s doing dependable numbers.
The cognition was fundamentally connected rails, and location was a batch of unit from nan workplace and nan web to support it that way, which accounts for nan wide blandness of Voyager and nan early years of its successor, Enterprise. The waning years of Trek’s aureate era were plagued by imaginative exhaustion and, consequently, laziness. Concepts from erstwhile bid were revisited, often pinch diminishing returns, and perchance groundbreaking ideas were nixed from connected precocious successful bid to debar upsetting nan pome cart.
That’s not to opportunity that Star Trek: Voyager isn’t still a coagulated tv show, and moreover galore Trekkies’ favorite. The saga of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and her gallant unit uncovering their measurement location from nan farthest reaches of nan postulation whitethorn not beryllium arsenic eager arsenic it could person been, but it is steadily entertaining, which is why caller and nostalgic fans alike bask it arsenic cozy “comfort viewing.” For our part, however, we thin to bask nan episodes that person a definite affectional strength aliases imaginative spark, that consciousness for illustration conceptual aliases stylistic risks. As such, you mightiness find that our database of nan 10 champion Voyager episodes differs greatly from immoderate of nan others retired there. We for illustration erstwhile Voyager dared to get heavy, aliases silly, aliases sappy, aliases mean. So, without further ado, let’s raise a solid to nan travel ...
Like Star Trek? Then cheque retired really do I get into Star Trek?
10. Counterpoint (season 5, section 10)
Counterpoint drops nan assemblage into nan mediate of an ongoing story,in which Voyager is boarded and inspected by agents of a fascist government, nan Devore. The Devore dainty each travelers done their abstraction pinch suspicion, but are peculiarly concerned pinch capturing and detaining each telepaths, who they position arsenic dangerous. Despite nan risks, Captain Janeway is attempting to smuggle a group of telepathic refugees to safety, each while putting connected a show of practice for smiling Devore Inspector Kashyk (Mark Harelik). Much of nan crippled takes spot successful nan background, obscured from nan assemblage successful bid to build suspense. The existent attraction is connected nan evolving move betwixt Janeway and Kashyk, a rivalry that simmers into 1 of nan Voyager captain’s uncommon romances. Kashyk useful successful nan work of what are, transparently, abstraction Nazis, but erstwhile he offers to defect to Voyager, tin his intentions beryllium trusted?
Beyond its intriguing premise, Counterpoint is simply a peculiarly beardown accumulation pinch a batch of subtle hints of imaginative flair. Director Les Landau and head of photography Marvin Rush, who had been some moving connected Star Trek since nan 1980s, sprout nan hellhole retired of this story, breaking from Voyager’s moreover lighting and predictable camera moves to make immoderate very deliberate choices that build a awesome woody of hostility astir what is fundamentally a vessel episode. The constitution team, supervised by arsenic seasoned Trek seasoned Michael Westmore, supplies a memorable and imaginative constitution creation for an alien astrophysicist who appears successful each of 2 scenes successful this section and is ne'er utilized again. Most of all, Kate Mulgrew provides what whitethorn beryllium her astir subtle, quality capacity successful nan full series, embodying Janeway’s celebrated condemnation and spot of will while besides granting a uncommon glimpse astatine her much susceptible broadside without ever straying into melodrama.