'Voyager' is my favorite "Star Trek" TV series for a variety of reasons...
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Paramount certainly knows how to release TV shows on DVD. The studio is doing "Star Trek" fans a great service by releasing entire RUNS in one calendar year. 2002 saw the release of all seven seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", and 2003 saw the release of all seven seasons of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Now, all seven seasons of "Star Trek: Voyager" are being released in 2004, and it looks like "Star Trek: The Original Series" will be re-released in box sets in 2004, too. Coupled with the special edition re-releases of the "Star Trek" feature films, there´s an average of one new "Star Trek" release every month--a definite cause for celebration.
"Star Trek: Voyager" begins with a Federation starship being sent to look for a Maquis (i.e. rebel) raider that was lost in The Badlands, an area of space near the Federation-Cardassian border that is filled with dangerous phenomena. The Voyager finds itself being pulled by an alien force from the Alpha Quadrant (which includes Earth) to the Delta Quadrant--a distance of more than 70,000 light years. The Voyager and Maquis crews join forces to find a way back home. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) leads the Vulcan Chief of Security Tuvok (Tim Russ), pilot Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), and Operations Officer Harry Kim (Garrett Wang). The Native American Chakotay (Robert Beltran) heads a Maquis crew that includes the half-human/half-Klingon Chief of Engineering B´Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), and the combined crew picks up the Talaxian Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and the Ocampan Kes (Jennifer Lien). There´s even a holographic doctor (Robert Picardo).
Disc 1: "Caretaker", "Parallax", "Time and Again".
Disc 2: "Phage", "The Cloud", "Eye of the Needle", "Ex Post Facto".
Disc 3: "Emanations", "Prime Factors", "State of Flux", "Heroes and Demons".
Disc 4: "Cathexis", "Faces", "Jetrel", "Learning Curve".
The series begins with a two-hour pilot that establishes the basic exposition and the main characters. The show quickly begins to develop its characters the way that "Deep Space Nine" did during its latter seasons. Personally, I think that this was the main problem with Season One of "Voyager". The characters are stranded in a part of space that is 70,000 light years away from Earth, and instead of busying themselves with trying to find a way home, they get themselves into a lot of adventures and problems. Sure, we get to know the characters well quickly, but there could´ve been a better mix of character and plot development than what we have now.
Season One had a couple of stand-out moments. It was great to see the Tom-Harry friendship in its early stages. Harry and B´Elanna establish an early rapport with the latter teasingly calling the former "Starfleet" all the time. It´s also fun to see Tom and B´Elanna butt heads, especially when you know what´s going to happen to them in later seasons.
The best episode of the show´s first year is "Faces". In "Faces", the Vidiians capture Tom, B´Elanna, and another Starfleet officer in order to harvest their organs and to work in mines. (The Vidiians suffer from a disease that destroys them on the cellular level, so they need to steal body parts from others in order to survive.) The Vidiians also manage to divide B´Elanna into her human and Klingon halves, so the two B´Elannas are able to have a dialogue about what it means to be...well, B´Elanna Torres.
"Voyager" is my favorite "Star Trek" TV series for a variety of reasons. Janeway/Mulgrew is my favorite captain. I like both Tom Paris and Harry Kim, even if their friendship isn´t as close of a bond as the friendship between O´Brien and Bashir in "Deep Space Nine". I think that Roxann Dawson is the prettiest lady in all of "Trek"-dom, even with her Klingon forehead. All that Borg stuff that comes with the introduction of Seven of Nine is pretty damn cool, as is the kick ass opening sequence and theme song (which won an Emmy). Finally, there´s the Voyager ship itself, the sexiest ship ever in "Star Trek" history. Even on an off day, "Voyager" holds my attention.
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