Captain’s log: stardate 54868.6

LeVar Burton directs this episode from a script by Raf Green, and sees Neelix’s (Ethan Phillips) departure from the series when the Voyager comes across a Talaxian settlement which needs help, and Neelix finds his place among them. It first aired on 9 May, 2001.

There’s some nice continuity within the Trek universe, as the episode opens on First Contact day (5 April).

And with the close of this episode, any viewer would realise that yes, we are on our way to the series end, because of the send off Neelix gets. Characters have thought about leaving the ship before, but usually something happens to make them stay aboard, and continue the journey.

This time, however, we get a proper goodbye as well as seeing how much the character has grown and changed over the course of the series. It’s a very nice swan song for Neelix (though he will make one more appearance in the series).

It’s also nice to see that not only has he grown as a character, he has become a valued member of the crew, and the choices he makes for his own life don’t only affect him, but the Talaxians and the crew of the Voyager.

This is probably the best goodbye any of the cast get in the series, seeing how we only have two episodes left. That’s a lot of threads to tie up, and a lot of moments to create, to make sure everyone gets their due.

I like that we were able to give Neelix a proper goodbye here.

Captain’s log: stardate 54890.7

Phyllis Strong and Mike Sussman wrote this episode from a story by Andrew Shepard Price and Mark Gaberman. It debuted on 16 May, 2001, and gave us one final Doctor (Robert Picardo) story.

Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) has been kidnapped, and its down to the Doctor to save her, and the Emergency Medical Hologram will have to pull out all of his tricks to do it. This includes impersonating other members of the crew, which gives the cast a chance to play their characters a little differently.

He’s doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, and we get to see an old villain from a prior episode make a reappearance. It’s a fun episode that is a bit out of the ordinary, but doesn’t do much to move us to the conclusion that has to take place in the next episode. It feels like one last romp before we say goodbye.

Still, the Doctor-centric episodes tend to be fun, and this is no exception.

Next week, the Human Adventure continues as we come to the final episode in Star Trek: Voyager, and the conclusion of The Complete Series on DVD. There’s more Trek to come though, thanks to Paramount Canada.

Boldly go…