Captain’s log: stardate unknown

Joe Menosky penned this Chakotay (Robert Beltran) episode from a story by Micheal Taylor. It first aired on 24 March, 1999.

As the Voyager travels through a region of ‘chaotic space’ wherein the usual laws of physics don’t always apply, Chakotay begins to have visions, which may be an attempt by the alien species that live within that realm of space to contact the Starfleet vessel, and maybe able to help them out.

The visions are centered around a boxing round that Chakotay was in during his Academy days, and apparently Boothby (Ray Walston) served as his coach (apparently he was more than the Academy’s groundskeeper).

As the Voyager struggles to escape from this region of space, Chakotay begins to fear he is losing his mind, much like some of his relatives, and he struggles to hold onto his sanity. This is a nice idea, and concept to explore, but the story seems a little convoluted, and in fact seems to have too much going on, which detracts from the personal journey of the Voyager’s First Officer.

His visions center around the boxing ring, and all of the regular cast make appearances there, either in support or warning, but he keeps coming back to the concept of his grandfather’s (Ned Romero) madness and his own fear.

But perhaps he needs to face that fear to get through, and discover what he really has to do to save the Voyager.

Not my fave episode of the season.

Captain’s log: stardate unknown

Micheal Taylor pens the teleplay for this episode from a story by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga which allows guest star Jason Alexander to join the Trek universe on 31 March, 1999.

The Voyager is being pursued by a group of bounty hunters known as the Hazari. A group of very intelligent aliens, including Kurros (Alexander) offer to aid the Voyager elude the Hazari… in exchange for one of Neelix’s (Ethan Phillips) recipes, one of Chakotay’s artifacts, and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).

But Kurros and his think tank of alien geniuses, abiding on their remote station, are not to be trusted. And what if the Think Tank is maneuvering both the Hazari and the Voyager to get what they want.

Realizing this, Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) plans to out think the Think Tank.

It’s a well-crafted, well-played out episode that is part adventure, part con, and it works wonderfully for the Voyager crew. The series, despite a few missteps so far this season, and early in the game, has proven to be smart, entertaining, and just as important, Trek.

The fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager carries on next week as the human adventure continues with The Complete Series on DVD from Paramount Pictures.

Boldly go..