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Star Trek: Voyager's Original Plan Would Have Delayed Seven of Nine's Introduction

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• Star Trek: Voyager explores themes of grief, loss, redemption, and persistence in the face of astronomical odds.
• The show's characters learn to cope with a changing definition of normal and the loss of what they once knew, while trying to navigate personal relationships and find a route back home.
• Voyager may not be the highest regarded series, but it offers comfort and hope in a world marked by rapid, unexpected changes, making it worth watching.

The 20 best episodes of Star Trek: Voyager highlight its overarching themes of grief, loss, redemption, and persistence in the face of astronomical odds. Voyager, at its heart, is about its characters learning to cope with a changing definition of normal and the loss of what they once knew, while trying to figure out how to navigate both personal relationships and a route back home. Exploring the final frontier comes with difficult choices, and Voyager isn't afraid to admit that. It may not be the highest regarded Star Trek series, but there is something nonetheless comforting about Voyager. It's familiar, and particularly hopeful in a real world that's also marked by rapid, unexpected changes.

Star Trek: Voyager follows the USS Voyager, an Intrepid Class Federation starship led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), on its long journey back to the Alpha Quadrant and Earth after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant. The crew of Voyager , made up of Starfleet and Maquis officers, encounters new foes like the Kazon, Vidiians, Hirogen, and Species 8472, and memorable Star Trek villains the Borg. While its commitment to episodic storytelling sometimes stifles character growth, the format allows Voyager to take risks without permanent consequences, which makes it the source of some of Star Trek 's most bizarre episodes -- but also some of the best.

20 "Deadlock" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 21)

A divergence field splits the USS Voyager into two versions of itself, which are connected through a shared antimatter supply, so only one version can survive in the end. Because both Voyagers are equally real, it's never really clear which Voyager is going to survive. One Voyager takes more damage and even suffers two significant losses of life. The other is more intact, with a full crew complement, but when they're boarded by Vidiians, it's up to both equally stubborn versions of Captain Janeway to determine which ship must self-destruct to save the other.

19 "Pathfinder" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 6, Episode 10)

"Pathfinder" guest stars Star Trek: The Next Generation actors Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay and Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi, as it checks in on Barclay's progress on the Pathfinder program. He dips back into his comfortable holodeck programs, this time in the guise of working on the project, with holographic versions of Voyager's crew. The episode is largely focused on Barclay, but it's very much a Voyager episode, with his determination to bring Voyager home from the other side nearly matching Janeway's, and his fervent hope, even when odds don't look good that it will work.

18 "Infinite Regress" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 7)

As Voyager approaches a destroyed and seemingly abandoned Borg cube, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) becomes overwritten by those of people that she was personally responsible for assimilating as a Borg drone. She doesn't remember what she does when she's suppressed by these alternates, and there's a real concern that she might lose herself in the different and warring voices that vie for control, as time between the shifts lessens. Jeri Ryan is great in this episode, embodying each of the different people in Seven's mind with care, believability, and a great balance between humor and drama.

17 "Eye of the Needle" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 1, Episode 7)

Early Voyager episodes indicate that the show is still finding its feet, but "Eye of the Needle" is an emotional exception. Shortly after becoming stranded, Voyager discovers a wormhole that leads directly to the Alpha Quadrant. The catch is, it's only large enough for a microprobe, and the person on the other side of their subspace transmission is Romulan Telek R'Mor (Vaughn Armstrong). The erstwhile enemies drop their prejudices to work together towards a solution that can safely bring Voyager home using the tiny wormhole, only to find that there's yet another catch: the sides of the wormhole are separated by about twenty years, in addition to the thousands of lightyears of distance.

16 "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 22)

The Doctor has been helping Seven of Nine adjust to life as an individual ever since she arrived, and he believes it's time for her to try engaging in romantic social situations -- in other words, dating. He creates a series of holodeck lessons designed to prepare her for the real thing, but in doing so, accidentally falls in love with her. The scenes between them are sweet and touching, particularly because neither of them are actually fully human, and neither quite understand what's happened until it's happened. She lets him down easy, but the friendship between Seven and the Doctor isn't destroyed; it's stronger in the end.

15 "Bride of Chaotica!" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 12)

Star Trek 's best holodeck episodes are often the most fun ones, and "Bride of Chaotica!" is a delightful season 5 outing revolving around Tom Paris's (Robert Duncan McNeill) "Adventures of Captain Proton" program. Photonic lifeforms, not unlike holograms themselves, register only the holodeck as being reality, and take the program at face value. It's up to the crew to ensure that first contact goes off without a hitch, while making sure the retrofuturistic program's story keeps going. Even Captain Janeway reluctantly participates, as the titular bride for campy villain Doctor Chaotica (Martin Rayner), and it's clear Kate Mulgrew is having a blast hamming it up for the black-and-white serial's style.

14 "Extreme Risk" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 3)

"Extreme Risk" is notable as the episode in which the Delta Flyer is developed and built, but the emotional center of the episode is half-Klingon Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), and the realistic depiction of her depression. She's using the holodeck to engage in increasingly risky behavior, with the safeties off, in hopes of being able to feel something, anything, after receiving a communication from the Alpha Quadrant with devastating personal news. Her close friendship with Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) takes center stage with his validation of her feelings in a particularly moving and hopeful scene between the two of them. Even if things aren't okay now, they can be.

13 "Timeless" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 6)

Fifteen years after Voyager's attempt at an experimental quantum slipstream drive to cross the galaxy crashes it on an ice planet, Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and Chakotay find a way to make sure the accident never happens. It's a memorable episode for Kim in particular, who doesn't often get a chance to shine; Wang portrays the older Kim with a poignant blend of regret and anger, with his determination to correct his own past mistakes as his driving force. "Timeless" feels like a better and more contained version of Star Trek: Voyager 's finale, "Endgame" , with bonus points for LeVar Burton's cameo as Captain Geordi LaForge.

12 "Mortal Coil" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 12)

When Neelix (Ethan Phillips) dies in the cold open, it's obviously not going to stick. The answer to his revival is Borg nanoprobes, handily provided by Seven of Nine, and from there Neelix is physically fine, but he begins to question how the experience of being brought back to life fits in with his Talaxian religious beliefs. He's Neelix, so he's a master at staying positive in even the most dire situations, but this existential crisis hits home for him, and it's not as easy to cover his concern with a smile. It's refreshing to see a more serious take on Neelix, with added depths to his inner thoughts, his family and culture, and his reasons for even being on Voyager.

11 "Body and Soul" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 7, Episode 7)

When Harry Kim, the Doctor, and Seven of Nine are arrested by Lokirrim authorities in search of "photonic insurgents," Seven downloads the Doctor into her cybernetic implants in order to save him. What follows is a series of misadventures in the Lokirrim prison involving mistaken identities, misplaced romance, and the Doctor's pure enjoyment in discovering that having a physical body, even if it's borrowed, means he can experience the delight that is New York cheesecake. Also enjoyable is the B-Plot, which explains how Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) gets through pon farr in the Delta Quadrant.

10 "Message in a Bottle" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 14)

The Doctor has a rare opportunity to make in-person contact with a Starfleet vessel in the Alpha Quadrant when Voyager encounters an abandoned relay station that lets him transmit his program in lieu of messages. He discovers his successor, the EMH Mark II (Andy Dick) is online and hiding from Romulans who have taken over the ship. Mark II is a more advanced Emergency Medical Hologram, but the Doctor's growth as a person means he has more or less the right skills to foil the Romulans' plot, and their joint mission results in comedic misunderstandings, holographic hijinks, and a real win for not just the Doctor, but Voyager's ultimate return.

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

Casually known as "the one with the dinosaurs," "Distant Origin" posits that hadrosaurs departed Earth in their own spaceships prior to the extinction event that ended the dinosaurs' reign, and the inhabitants of those ships found a new home as a Delta Quadrant species . When it's discovered that the genetic similarities between the saurian Voth and Voyager's crew proves a theory relating to their origin, it sparks a powerful philosophical debate between Voth scientists and religious leaders. The silly sounding premise belies a poignant story about truth, doctrine, and how powerful people mold truth to suit a narrative that keeps them in power, even when it's patently false.

8 "Equinox" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 26 & Season 6, Episode 1)

Voyager encounters another Starfleet vessel that's also lost in the Delta Quadrant courtesy of the Caretaker. The USS Equinox hasn't fared quite so well as Voyager, however, with their first contacts in the Quadrant killing a large percentage of their crew. They've had to resort to some unsavory acts just to survive, seemingly abandoning the Starfleet principles that Janeway has desperately held onto as a guiding star. Janeway is at her most ruthless here, pursuing Equinox's Captain Ransom (John Savage) with determination to both make him pay for his actions and bring him back to the guiding light of the Federation.

7 "Latent Image" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 11)

When the Doctor discovers that his memory may have been comprised, he initiates an investigation to find out what exactly happened during his missing time, and who might have been responsible for tampering with his files. A compelling mystery leads him to the unfortunate possibility that his memory was deliberately erased -- repeatedly. The true moral quandary is whether it's right to erase a traumatic memory when it's possible to do so, and who has the authority to do it when it might be a medical necessity. There's also a great moment in Seven advocating for personal rights, an important step on her own journey.

6 "Scorpion" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 3, Episode 26 & Season 4, Episode 1)

After dropping hints throughout its third season, Voyager finally comes to the edge of Borg space. Janeway's solution of allying with the Borg to cross their space safely is a radical one, and Chakotay expresses his obvious displeasure, but Janeway has something the Borg wants: the ability to harm fluidic space natives Species 8472 , a Borg enemy that defies assimilation. "Scorpion" marks a turning point in the series, with the introduction of Seven of Nine and the overall quality of Voyager episodes beginning to increase. Correlation isn't always causation, but it just might be in this case.

5 "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 6, Episode 4)

Frequently cited as a favorite among Voyager 's comedy episodes, "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy" sees the Doctor develop a new daydreaming subroutine, which allows him to explore the possibilities of expanding his role beyond simply medical professional. It seems harmless, until would-be invaders find a way to spy on Voyager through the Doctor's program, and interpret his daydreams as reality. To them, he's a man of infinite talent and a formidable foe, so maybe, just this once, the Doctor might be allowed to live out his dreams if it means Voyager can avoid confrontation.

4 "Counterpoint" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 5, Episode 10)

As Voyager travels through Devore space, they're subject to frequent routine searches for renegade telepaths. The Devore believe that telepaths are immoral, inherent criminals, even as children, and insist on relocating them. Janeway won't be party to such prejudice, so hides a dozen Brenari telepaths in the transporter buffer. The Devore commander, Kashyk (Mark Harelik) defects, initiating a romance with Janeway as they work together to help the refugees find freedom. There's beauty and tension in the way their conversations dance around each other, with loyalties weaving in and out of the believable romance and their obligations to lead their people in what they believe is right.

3 "Living Witness" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 23)

In the closest thing Voyager has to a Star Trek mirror universe episode , an inaccurate future museum exhibit tells the tale of how the warship Voyager's involvement led to inequality between the planet's two species. Fortunately, the Doctor's program has survived for hundreds of years, and he can explain how things actually happened, and correct all the inaccuracies in not just the small details but also the broader motives of Voyager's presence. There's always more to the story when history is written by the victors, and the second reveal later in the episode makes this one of Voyager 's very best.

2 "Blink of an Eye" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 6, Episode 12)

In "Blink of an Eye", Voyager is pulled into the gravity of a planet that experiences time at a much faster rate. Generations rise and fall on the planet below, while Voyager becomes a fixture in its sky and -- perhaps more alarmingly -- its culture. Its presence inspires mythology and science alike, as the stories told by the planet's people drive its inventors forward into the future, with technology designed to reach "the skyship," as they call it. It's a beautiful sci-fi concept that works excellently on Voyager , with seemingly ephemeral people living and dying in mere moments, yet building a legacy that remains after they're gone.

1 "Year of Hell" (Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episodes 8 & 9)

Star Trek: Voyager doesn't get much better than "Year of Hell", a season 4 Voyager two-part episode that sees Janeway face off against Annorax (Kurtwood Smith), a man obsessed with restoring the Krenim Imperium to its former glory by changing the timeline until it's perfect. Annorax is a perfect foil for Janeway, since both of them are equally determined to return to worlds they've left behind, whether in space or time, but they handle the pain of their losses quite differently. Voyager's damage is more extensive than ever, and Janeway fights on out of devotion to protect her crew; Annorax, by contrast, is only chasing ghosts, desperate to hold onto something that's already gone.

So many of Star Trek: Voyager 's best episodes stand out as unexpected surprises. It's a series that certainly takes risks, but once it finds its feet around its fourth season, its broader themes begin to coalesce. Its characters become less static, as they're allowed to learn, grow, and change, with particularly memorable arcs for the Doctor, Seven of Nine, and Captain Janeway. Star Trek: Voyager , for all its memorable duds, should be recognized for its truly great episodes, with their explorations of grief, change, recovery, and reputation; and how not just its crew, but also its viewers can learn to cope with the most unprecedented of events, and hold onto hope when it seems lost.

• Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

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Season 1 – Star Trek: Voyager

Where to watch, star trek: voyager — season 1.

Watch Star Trek: Voyager — Season 1 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Star Trek: Voyager breaks the Star Trek mold with a brand new final frontier and the fierce leadership of the franchise's first female captain.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Kate Mulgrew

Capt. Kathryn Janeway

Robert Beltran

Roxann Dawson

B'Elanna Torres

Robert Duncan McNeill

Jennifer Lien

Ethan Phillips

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Season info.

Let’s Watch Star Trek

Voyager Episode Guide

Season One Caretaker   Rating: 4 – Watch Parallax   Rating: 2 – Skippable Time and Again   Rating: 2 – Skippable Phage   Rating: 2 – Skippable The Cloud   Rating: 2 – Skippable Eye of the Needle   Rating: 4 – Watch Ex Post Facto   Rating: 2 – Skippable Emanations   Rating: 1 – Skip Prime Factors   Rating: 4 – Watch State of Flux   Rating: 3 – Watch Heroes and Demons   Rating: 2 – Skippable Cathexis   Rating: 2 – Skippable Faces   Rating: 1 – Skip Jetrel   Rating: 1 – Skip Learning Curve   Rating: 2 – Skippable

Star Trek Best Trek

Star trek: voyager.

Voyager starts a few seasons into Deep Space Nine ’s run, but very much tells its own story. After being thrown seventy thousand light years across the galaxy, the crew of the USS Voyager and a rebel Maquis vessel are forced to work together to survive and slowly make their way home. Along the way they encounter many new (and a few familiar) races and challenges that they must handle without any support from a Federation that’s too far away to even contact.

Episodic or serial?

Mostly episodic. Similar to The Next Generation , there are arcs, two-part episodes, recurring characters, and consequential events, but most episodes are largely standalone. It’s slightly less episodic due to the ship heading consistently in a specific direction (so the arcs have more continuity and change more about the ship’s status and what races are around) and relationships between characters are allowed to evolve a bit more than they did in The Next Generation (though not as much as in Deep Space Nine ), so the show is still best enjoyed in order.

Idealistic or cynical?

Idealistic. Like Deep Space Nine , the circumstances of Voyager ’s crew allow for testing of the Federation’s principles, but it’s an even gentler deconstruction in which it’s clearly correct to stick to those principles.

Worth watching?

Yup! Voyager gets a bit of a bad rap for being a step back in serialization and depth from Deep Space Nine while not being as iconic as The Next Generation , but it absolutely has its share of excellent character- and relationship-developing pieces, well-executed high-concept adventures, and thought-provoking moral dilemmas. It also has some stinkers, but every series does. If you enjoy The Next Generation , odds are good you’ll enjoy Voyager as well.

Anything else that should be watched first?

No hard requirements. Some characters or concepts were first introduced in The Next Generation or Deep Space Nine (or, rarely, The Original Series ), but you don’t need to be familiar with them to enjoy Voyager .

What should be watched after this?

The closest thing Voyager has to a direct follow-up is Prodigy , which features some Voyager characters and species, but is quite tonally different as it’s targeted at kids.

If you’d rather stay with adult-targeted series, head on over to Enterprise . (And possibly right past it to Discovery .)

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Graeme McMillan

WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Voyager

If space was the final frontier, the thinking behind Star Trek: Voyager goes, then a wholly-unexplored region of space must be the most final-est frontier of all.

That's why the crew of the eponymous starship end up trapped on the other side of existence from their home for the seven-year run of the third Star Trek series from the franchise's 1980s/1990s heyday, and although the franchise was beginning to look a little tired by this point, there was still a lot of juice left in those dilithium crystals when it counted.

Voyager took some important steps forward for Trek —not least of which was bringing a female captain onboard the mission—but it's not the most highly-regarded of Trek s by fans. If that suspicion has kept you away from the show until now, then it's clearly time to take the plunge. Here's a how-to join the voyage for yourself.

Number of Seasons: 7 (172 episodes)

Time Requirements: Consider yourself exiled in the Delta Quadrant for the next three months, making your way back to civilization at a rate of two episodes per day (three on weekends).

Where to Get Your Fix: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, CBS.com

Best Character to Follow:

There's no way to get around it; the cast of Voyager are oddly off-putting souls who don't really get much chance to progress. Nonetheless, there are three options for characters to follow through the series: Firstly, Captain Katherine Janeway is the series' lead character, played by *Orange Is the New Black'*s Kate Mulgrew as the literal personification of "What if Katherine Hepburn was the captain of a starship?" There's also Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), who starts as a somewhat bitter former traitor trying to work his way back into Starfleet society and ends up a valued part of the crew, which is pretty much what counts as a character arc in this show. Most importantly, there's the Doctor (Robert Picardo), an emergency hologram who—thanks to being left active far longer than he was ever intended to be—evolves into something far more than he'd ever anticipated. Sardonic, melodramatic, and ironically the most human member of the crew, he's definitely our pick for the character you should be using as your throughline for the series.

Seasons/Episodes You Can Skip: Voyager is actually a relatively consistent series in terms of quality, especially compared with something like Star Trek: The Next Generation . The problem is the series as a whole is less exciting overall. As a result, it's not as if there are a number of episodes or seasons to avoid altogether; if you make it through the pilot and are into it, you're pretty much set for the long haul. With the exception of the following, of course.

Season 2: Episode 24, "Tuvix" On paper, the idea of an episode about a transporter accident that merges two characters likely seemed a great, thought-provoking idea. In practice, it's an awkward, embarrassing mess that fails to land any of the deeper points it so desperately wants to make.

By Kim Zetter

By Chris Baraniuk

By Mark Harris

By Vittoria Elliott

Season 5: Episode 19, "The Fight" In a way, it's almost surprising that it took Voyager five years to put their Native American character through an embarrassing "vision quest" storyline, especially one that sees him going on a vision quest with aliens after being knocked out during a boxing match. And yet, wouldn't it have been better had they managed to never quite get around to this story? (Spoilers: Yes.)

Season 5: Episode 23, "11:59" It's clear that "11:59" was meant to be a "special episode" of the show, dealing with Janeway's ancestor and inspiration. But instead of showing that, hey, women can be important astronauts too, the episode instead detours into an awkward It's a Wonderful Life -esque morality play about big business crushing the little guy around the turn of the millennium, which... what ?

Season 6: Episode 11, "Fair Haven" Proving once and for all that not all holodeck episodes can be winners—although Voyager has its fair share of fun ones—this episode manages to bore the audience into submission by showing the crew finding peace in a virtual playroom program. No, really.

Season 7: Episode 18, "Human Error" Of all *Voyager'*s weaknesses, none are larger than its writers' obsession with recovering Borg Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). As soon as she's introduced into the show, her presence starts to overwhelm events, with her reintegration into society being the basis for some embarrassingly unsubtle reprises of earlier "What Is Humanity?" storylines from other series featuring Spock, Data, and Odo. This seventh season episode, in which Seven deals with matters of the heart, is one of the worst.

Seasons/Episodes You Can't Skip:

Season 1: Episodes 1 and 2, "Caretaker" The pilot sets the stage for the series in a surprisingly speedy manner, while also unfolding a suitably Star Trek plot about first contact with an alien that's unlike anything the crew have ever encountered before. It's the best episode the show manages in the first couple of years, but it engenders enough goodwill to keep you watching for some time.

Season 2: Episode 21, "Deadlock" What if there were two Voyager s, with identical crews? Well, maybe not entirely identical, which is what provides this episode with much of its drama—especially with the way things end up. (No, no spoilers.)

Season 3: Episode 2, "Flashback" The episode's title should be a giveaway that this isn't going to be the usual episode, and it really isn't; celebrating *Star Trek'*s 30th anniversary, it features appearances by George Takei and Grace Lee Whitney from the original series as Tuvok remembers his time onboard Sulu's first command. Fan service? You bet, but it's particularly fun fan service, which is always allowed.

Season 3: Episodes 8 and 9, "Future's End" Parts I and II Time travel episodes are always fun, and this chance for Voyager to visit the late 20th century is no exception, especially when you add in Ed Begley Jr. as a former hippie that started the computer revolution with stolen future technology. More shows should make Ed Begley Jr. into the bad guy.

Season 3: Episode 25, "Worst Case Scenario" Reality and fantasy blur when a holodeck simulation gets out of hand, and the crew are faced with alternate (and less friendly) versions of themselves in an episode that finally embraces the social conflicts that the series sidestepped in its beginning. What happens when theoretically mortal enemies are forced to work together? Finally, fireworks.

Season 3: Episode 26 and Season 4: Episode 1, "Scorpion" Parts I and II The two-parter that spanned the show's third and fourth seasons reset a bunch of elements from the series, ditching one character and introducing Seven of Nine (sadly). As a two-parter, however, it's both frenetic and enjoyable, and definitely unmissable for those wanting to keep track of who's who in the larger scheme of things.

Season 4: Episodes 8 and 9, "Year of Hell" Parts I and II The title of this two-parter isn't kidding; everything that could go wrong for the crew of Voyager pretty much does, thanks to forces playing with the timestream for their own nefarious purposes. Wonderfully bleak in places, this might be the highlight of the entire series, and something that the show should've aspired to from that point onwards.

Season 5: Episode 6, "Timeless" The show's 100th episode doesn't just feature a welcome guest-star in LeVar Burton, reprising his Star Trek: The Next Generation role as Geordi LaForge, but it also offers more time-travel hijinks, as well as a hint that the way home wasn't as far away for the crew of Voyager as it might have seemed earlier.

Season 5: Episode 26 and Season 6: Episode 1, "Equinox" Parts I and II The fifth season finale (and subsequent follow-up) reveals that the Voyager wasn't the first Starfleet ship lost in the Delta Quadrant, with the fate of that crew serving as an uncomfortable sign of what might be lying ahead for the show's stars if they can't get home faster than they'd been planning.

Season 7: Episodes 25 and 26, "Endgame" The show's final episode opens with the Voyager crew back on Earth, only to suggest that maybe things hadn't gone as planned—and that Janeway wanted to change that. Yup, it's time for one last time-travel drama that also manages to bring a number of other plot threads to a surprisingly satisfying close, even if the episode itself has an impressively abrupt conclusion. (No, really; you'll understand what we mean when you get there.)

Why You Should Binge: Voyager holds a strange place in the Star Trek franchise, being a series that simultaneously goes furthest in exploring the new frontiers that Star Trek should be visiting—they're on the other side of the universe, cut adrift from Starfleet!—while also feeling like the most conservative and safe of all the series to date. Despite that confusion, those that love Star Trek will find a lot to enjoy in Voyager , not least of which is the show's increasing weirdness in the third and fourth seasons as it starts to play with audience expectations and starts to do things that you just know aren't going to last. When Voyager played against its inherent safeness, fun things happened.

Best Scene— 'It's Time We Faced Reality': At the end of the first half of "Year of Hell," the end is more nigh than it is at any other point in the series ... to the point where Janeway gives the order to abandon ship. Considering the show is named after the ship , it was a great cliffhanger that really left the viewer wonder what was going to happen next. (Never expecting what did actually happen next.)

The Takeaway: Like the Next Generation episode that ended up informing so much of the show's second half, Star Trek: Voyager really is the best of both worlds, feeling as much like a series of missed opportunities as a great Star Trek show. But if you've made it through the three other series up to this point, you'll likely enjoy a lot of what's on offer here.

If You Liked Star Trek: Voyager You'll Love: Both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are the most obvious suggestions for further viewing if you somehow haven't watched yet. Perhaps a more suitable companion would be Stargate: Universe , a short-lived series based around much the same premise as Voyager , albeit approached from a more realistic point of view, asking all the questions that Voyager didn't, like "What if you run out of food?" and "Wouldn't power be a problem after a while?"

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• Star Trek Series | 2364 - 2378
• Star Trek: Voyager

Is Voyager worth watching? What season to begin?

• Thread starter GlennSTL
• Start date Aug 2, 2019

Rear Admiral

• Dec 14, 2019

Danja said: (there's a REASON the show was facing cancellation after S3). Click to expand...

sleepyjaffa

Lieutenant junior grade.

• Dec 31, 2019

Honestly, Voyager is my favourite of all of the series and always has been. Just like all of the series it has it's terrible episodes and it's filler episodes but it has some incredible episodes too. The characters are well fleshed out, Janeway is an excellent lead and The Doctor is comedic gold. It's got something for every kind of fan, IMO, be it casual or otherwise. So if you've not watched Voyager, give it a go. If you like it, awesome, if not, that's fine too.  

Boris Skrbic said: VGR may be popular among Star Trek fans, but the general public really knows mostly TOS and TNG — that’s why VGR doesn’t even have a movie Click to expand...

let alone a revival show. Click to expand...

Boris Skrbic

• Jan 1, 2020

The year 2002 wasn’t “pre-Internet”, and if VGR had really made an impact with its own seven seasons, surely it would’ve made business sense to invest in their own movie instead of Nemesis , perhaps as a series finale? The actors wouldn’t have been as expensive, but even you acknowledge that ”the mighty TNG crew” as you put it held greater appeal; VGR never surpassed them. And if a movie is part of an outdated business model, then why did TOS get three more in recent years, with a fourth up in the air? Because TOS made an impact like none of the other shows did; that’s all it takes. Downton Abbey got a successful theatrical film with another a possibility because the show was well-received worldwide. PIC may have a different focus than TNG but it’s still about Picard, not Janeway. That’s the question here: why couldn’t VGR make a greater impact than TNG ever did or even TOS? These spinoffs were supposed to take risks and grow the franchise, not take it on a downward slope that eventually led back to TOS as something that seems to work, so let’s have more of it.  

Boris Skrbic said: The year 2002 wasn’t “pre-Internet”, and if VGR had really made an impact with its own seven seasons, surely it would’ve made business sense to invest in their own movie instead of Nemesis , perhaps as a series finale? Click to expand...

The actors wouldn’t have been as expensive, but even you acknowledge that ”the mighty TNG crew” as you put it held greater appeal; VGR never surpassed them. Click to expand...

And if a movie is part of an outdated business model, then why did TOS get three more in recent years, with a fourth up in the air? Because TOS made an impact like none of the other shows did; that’s all it takes. Click to expand...

why couldn’t VGR make a greater impact than TNG ever did or even TOS? These spinoffs were supposed to take risks and grow the franchise Click to expand...

not take it on a downward slope that eventually led back to TOS as something that seems to work Click to expand...

Danja said: Voyager HAD a series finale: "Endgame". Click to expand...

Danja said: TMP up to the mid-90's WAS pre-Internet. Click to expand...

Danja said: The fact remains that Nemesis bombed at the box office. Their appeal extends only so far. Click to expand...

Danja said: They rebooted the series (to the dismay of a great many OS fans). It was not without controversy. Click to expand...

Danja said: It DID grow the franchise. (It expanded upon and embellished the Borg. It gave the franchise its first female starship captain.) Without Voyager, we wouldn't be talking about Picard and the impact Voyager's actions had on ITS universe. Click to expand...

Danja said: I don't see the franchise as going down a "downward" slope. Click to expand...

Boris Skrbic said: For now it seems to be trying different things and seeing what sticks, with showrunners coming and going all the time, but without any kind of impact on the television landscape. Click to expand...

It’s hardly perfect since when have you seen genre-defining, award-winning television made that way, recently or in the past? The way it works is that those in charge take a risk on an experienced writer who then becomes a showrunner motivated to stay with a project for a number of years, developing it with a unique vision until the show makes a name for itself. That’s how we got The Twilight Zone, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones , as opposed to something like the Star Wars strategy which is what CBS seems to be going for. Yes, they’ll maintain hype and interest and people will be excited there is Trek in the air and I’ll watch everything for the canon at least but how much of it will matter in the long run? In the case of Star Wars , Rogue One is great. The Last Jedi is solid. Solo is quite rewatchable. Rebels has its moments. The Mandalorian sounds good (Disney+ won’t be here until next year or so). DSC keeps changing showrunners and Chabon couldn’t stick with PIC for more than one season, so I’m not holding out hope for anything more than a tonally inconsistent streaming show for the ‘20s.  

Boris Skrbic said: I’m asking why that couldn’t have been the VGR movie. Click to expand...

Boris Skrbic said: It’s hardly perfect since when have you seen genre-defining, award-winning television made that way, recently or in the past? The way it works is that those in charge take a risk on an experienced writer who then becomes a showrunner motivated to stay with a project for a number of years, developing it with a unique vision until the show makes a name for itself. That’s how we got The Twilight Zone, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones , as opposed to something like the Star Wars strategy which is what CBS seems to be going for. Click to expand...

VGR wasn’t a show which needed that kind of commitment. Yes, in Season 7 the setting was far closer to home than in Season 1, with a main character who wasn’t there at the beginning and Barclay showing up from time to time, but still the producers chose the traditional route of the ship coming home at the very end, and it was easy to guess that the ending would work out that way. Something happens, the crew is back safe and sound. Therefore, since nobody was at the edge of their seats for the ending anyway, why not make them care a bit more by making a theatrical event out of it? I’m not saying it was the only way to make a VGR movie, just that it would’ve fit the show better than getting the band back together so they could somehow travel back to the Delta Quadrant and solve a problem after the fact. Sure, fan campaigns or crowdfunding can lead to low-budget movies ( Serenity, Veronica Mars ), but a wider impact is needed to generate something on the scale of Star Trek: First Contact, let alone the Abramsverse films. I’m not too interested in Star Trek as a way of competing with Star Wars , but more in Star Trek as prestige television which can lead to movies and other TV as a side effect, not as part of a pre-programmed strategy.  

Danja said: I'd watch "Caretaker" and then skip most of the first three seasons to "Scorpion, Part I" (there's a REASON the show was facing cancellation after S3). If you REALLY want to see Jeri Ryan rock n' roll, watch "The Gift" and "Infinite Regress" (The woman can turn on a dime. She is THAT damn good.) The competition is stiff now ( Game of Thrones was shut out of the Golden Globes this year). Click to expand...

Boris Skrbic said: Therefore, since nobody was at the edge of their seats for the ending anyway, why not make them care a bit more by making a theatrical event out of it? I’m not saying it was the only way to make a VGR movie, just that it would’ve fit the show better than getting the band back together so they could somehow travel back to the Delta Quadrant and solve a problem after the fact. Click to expand...

I’m not too interested in Star Trek as a way of competing with Star Wars , but more in Star Trek as prestige television which can lead to movies and other TV as a side effect, not as part of a pre-programmed strategy. Click to expand...

• Jan 2, 2020

I read about what VGR novels did, which is one reason I wouldn’t want to see that artificial “let’s reset some elements so we can have something that makes sense as VGR” approach if the series had a movie. And how about you don’t call people “terribly naive” if they just explained how “corporate strategy” can lead to hype and revenues but not necessarily impact? No one disputes that SW let alone MCU are based on successful business models making billions of dollars, but they’re not likely to generate something that completely surpasses their origins. Which Star Wars films will be forever lauded more than the original trilogy? I want to see them.  

Boris Skrbic said: No one disputes that SW let alone MCU are based on successful business models making billions of dollars, but they’re not likely to generate something that completely surpasses their origins. Which Star Wars films will be forever lauded more than the original trilogy? I want to see them. Click to expand...

• Jan 3, 2020

Boris Skrbic said: The year 2002 wasn’t “pre-Internet”, and if VGR had really made an impact with its own seven seasons, surely it would’ve made business sense to invest in their own movie instead of Nemesis , perhaps as a series finale? The actors wouldn’t have been as expensive, but even you acknowledge that ”the mighty TNG crew” as you put it held greater appeal; VGR never surpassed them. And if a movie is part of an outdated business model, then why did TOS get three more in recent years, with a fourth up in the air? Because TOS made an impact like none of the other shows did; that’s all it takes. Downton Abbey got a successful theatrical film with another a possibility because the show was well-received worldwide. PIC may have a different focus than TNG but it’s still about Picard, not Janeway. That’s the question here: why couldn’t VGR make a greater impact than TNG ever did or even TOS? These spinoffs were supposed to take risks and grow the franchise, not take it on a downward slope that eventually led back to TOS as something that seems to work, so let’s have more of it. Click to expand...

Blooded said: You're demonstrating a real lack of understanding at the current business model for Trek. They're not just "trying different things and seeing what sticks," they're crafting individually very different shows so to target different audiences for each one, whilst also ensuring that the Trek fans who watch all the new shows get variety Click to expand...

Vice Admiral

• Jan 4, 2020
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Guy Gardener

Fleet admiral.

• Jan 5, 2020

Danja said: Voyager HAD a series finale: "Endgame". Have you even SEEN the show? Click to expand...

Agony_Boothb

Voyager is a show that asks very little of it's audience and doesn't require you to think to much. I loved it when i was a kid but i struggle to watch it as an adult. Whereas DS9 took risks and shook up the trek formula, Voyager was the polar opposite and it's really evident by the end the mid point of season 1 when a TNG plot gets recycled that Voyager is just a cog to keep the trek cash machine spinning. I say watch it and make up your own mind.  

Agony_Boothb said: Voyager is a show that asks very little of it's audience and doesn't require you to think to much. Click to expand...

I'd say Voyager is worth watching, once. I went through the entire series a few years ago and while I enjoyed it I have no desire to watch it again.  

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Star Trek's Kate Mulgrew Reveals The Janeway Story She Wished Voyager Would've Explored, And I Totally Agree

The star made a great point.

With the current lull in Star Trek programming, it's a great time to look back and reflect on all the shows released thus far. While some might choose to do so by watching past series with a Paramount+ subscription , others were psyched to visit Fan Expo Boston to watch Kate Mulgrew speak about her time on Voyager . Among other things, the star who played Captain Janeway revealed the storyline she wished the series would've dove deeper into, and I agree with her.

Star Trek: Voyager has some WTF moments , but it also contains some of the best story and character ideas the franchise has ever delivered. I love the series and think it's great, but I can't help but think it would be that much better had the writers had the same thought Kate Mulgrew talked about during her fan Q&A. In a video uploaded by Craig Semon , Mulgrew talked about the one episode she felt should've been stretched across the series, saying:

They did one episode on the Captain's loneliness. It didn't seem to have much traction, but I thought they should've explored that throughout the run. I gave up my life as a young woman. I gave up the chance to have children. I had to break up with my fiancé, who quickly remarried. I had to say goodbye to my dog. As Captain, I could love, but only to a certain extent. And Janeway chose not to have a lover. I chose–Kate Mulgrew chose not to do that. So, the loneliness was harrowing. And I think it should've been a bit better revealed that just under the surface of her absolute devotion to this crew and her passion for science and exploration. But, you have to show the person, you know?

I agree with Kate Mulgrew, and I wouldn't be surprised if her take was somewhat influenced by the way current and upcoming Trek shows emphasize character-driven storytelling. It almost sounds like she wishes Captain Janeway could've been explored in the same way that Michael Burnham was in Discovery , and as someone who thinks Burnham is one of the best Trek characters specifically because we see so much of the captain's growth, I can't blame Mulgrew for wishing she had that same experience as Janeway.

Of course, Star Trek: Voyager had an entire ensemble cast to worry about, and not every adventure was Janeway-centric. Even so, Kate Mulgrew feels there was another reason the writers didn't harp on the Captain's loneliness too much, but why she still feels like it was a missed opportunity:

I suppose they were a little afraid that would be feminine or something, but I think it's crucial. Women doing brave things, and bold things, and unprecedented things are often lonely. Anyway we are lonely in life. The only thing we can do is be the best we can be under the circumstances. So I gave Janeway everything I had.

I think many Star Trek fans would agree Kate Mulgrew gave one of her best performances as Captain Janeway, and she's even continued to do so as Admiral Janeway in Prodigy . With Season 2 on its way to those with a Netflix subscription in July, maybe the writers gave her the wish of diving deeper into exploring the lonely side of Janeway.

Let's make this happen.

And if not, Kate Mulgrew can take solace that Captain Janeway was never neglected as a character on Star Trek: Voyager . Lest we forget there are characters like Harry Kim who really got screwed over on the series, it could always be worse.

Kate Mulgrew expressed an interest to reprise her character in live-action in the modern era of Star Trek , but we haven't seen it happen yet. Top brass Alex Kurtzman told CinemaBlend "surprises" are on the way after Discovery 's end, so maybe there is something we don't know about yet in the works. Cross those fingers if you'd like to see it happen, because we're not that far off from San Diego Comic-Con, so there could be some big announcements for the franchise there. I'd hate to be so bold to ask for a Voyager movie , but c'mon, isn't that way overdue at this point?

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While we wait for updates on that front, many other Star Trek fans and I will be watching Season 2 of Prodigy when it arrives on Netflix on July 1st. Hopefully, the latest season will be just as good as the first, and enough fans will watch to encourage Netflix to greenlight more seasons.

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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Terry Matalas Has Found Things to Do Besides Waiting For a Star Trek: Picard Spinoff

Per the Hollywood Reporter on Friday, Matalas has been tapped to write a remake of 20th Century Fox’s 1985 film Enemy Mine. The original film starred Dennis Quaid as a human pilot named Davidge and the late Lou Gossett Jr. as Jerry, a reptilian alien who crash land on an inhospitable planet and have to work together to survive, with Davidgeeventually tasked with caring for Jerry’s baby. Despite its troubled production (including the firing of original director Richard Loncraine) and low box office, the film took on a cult status, and since it’s the summer of remake announcements , what’s one more to the list?

Between that and Vision, Matalas is going to be busy for a bit, in turn meaning it’ll likely be a while before he gets to his proposed follow up to Picard. Before and after the show wrapped its final season last year, he and several of the show’s actorsactors talked up a hypothetical Star Trek: Legacy series that’d function as the Next Generation equivalent to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine leading the adult kids of several Next Generation characters on weekly adventures (with potential cameos from their parents) was an idea fans really glommed onto, but since Paramount didn’t get that ball rolling once Picard wrapped, Matalas got scooped up by Disney.

Hope for Legacy still exists among the cast, and Patrick Stewart’s even said a movie for his Enterprise captain is in the works to help build off the show’s momentum. Should Matalas not return to Paramount once Vision and Enemy Mine wrap, that film may be the closest equivalent to his would-be show that Trek fans get.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery free

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The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery has come to an end, concluding the sci-fi series. But this doesn't mean it's not worth rewatching or bingeing all the way through if you missed it the first time. We've got everything you need to know about the show, including where to watch Star Trek: Discovery free.

Star Trek: Discovery premiered in 2017 and follows in the decades-long tradition of Star Trek stories. The series is set about five years before the original Star Trek, which chronicled Captain Kirk's five-year journey. In Star Trek: Discovery, the U.S.S. Discovery travels through space on a mission of exploration. Season 5 saw Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the U.S.S. Discovery crew on the hunt for an ancient power in a tight race against others to find it.

The series wrapped with its 65th episode on May 30, 2024, but you can catch up on every season now. Keep reading to learn how.

• See also: Where to watch American Horror Story | Where to watch 9-1-1 | Where to watch Game of Thrones

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery quick links

• US: Paramount+ (one-week free trial)
• Canada: Paramount+ (one-week free trial)
• UK: Paramount+ (one-week free trial)
• New Zealand: TVNZ+ (FREE)
• Access accounts from anywhere via ExpressVPN (30-day money-back guarantee)

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery in the US

All five seasons of Star Trek: Discovery are streaming on Paramount+ in the US. Subscriptions start at $5.99 a month and come with a one-week free trial. In addition to other contemporary Star Trek series (more on that later), Paramount+ is also the streaming home to several other older Star Trek series, including the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, and more. 

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery in Canada

Paramount+ is also the home to Star Trek: Discovery in Canada. Plans start at CAD$6.99 and come with a one-week free trial. All episodes are available to stream here.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery in New Zealand

Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream for free on TVNZ+ . You'll need to create a free account to start streaming. In addition to new season 5 episodes, Seasons 1-4 are also streaming on the site, so you can find every episode here.

How to watch Star Trek: Discovery from anywhere

If you're not in New Zealand at the moment, you can still access the above streaming option with a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs alter your electronic device's location so you can use websites that might not be available in certain regions. They're popular among people looking to boost their online privacy and access their usual websites and apps while traveling abroad. We recommend ExpressVPN , a user-friendly option with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check out our ExpressVPN review for additional details and see below to learn how to use a VPN. 

How to watch Star Trek: Discovery with a VPN

• Sign up for a VPN if you don't have one.
• Install it on the device you're using to watch Star Trek: Discovery.
• Turn it on and set it to New Zealand.
• Go to TVNZ+ and create a log-in profile.
• Watch Star Trek: Discovery.

Other Star Trek shows

If you're sad that Star Trek: Discovery is over and can't get enough of the franchise, there are multiple other contemporary series you can check out. Star Trek: Picard wrapped its third and final season in 2023 and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (a spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery) is slated to release a third season next year. Like Discovery, Picard and Strange New Worlds are Paramount+ originals and are available to watch on the streamer.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

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