The Star Trek series has endured generations (no pun intended),
and even its fourth installment managed to stomp its way through seven seasons.
This fourth Trek series is none other than Star Trek: Voyager. Season
One of Voyager comes complete with all fifteen original episodes across
four discs, and a fifth disc containing a load of extras. Any fan of Star
Trek will indeed find this a great addition to their collection.
Voyager premiered during the run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
A trend that also worked marvelously for the premiere of Deep Space Nine –
which came while Star Trek: The Next Generation was still on.
Both of those series are already available on DVD. But there needed to be something
different with Voyager to make it successful. I’m sure if you’re
even reading this you already have a vested interest in the Star Trek universe,
and therefore know much of what I’m about to say. But if you are not,
here’s what Voyager is all about, and what made it different – and
a success.
The Star Trek universe (still the Milky Way Galaxy), is divided into four quadrants:
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. Most of the action in any Trek series takes place
in the Alpha Quadrant. This is where Earth is, along with many of the other
staple Trek species like the Klingons, the Romulans, Cardassians, the Ferengi,
etc. Some also are in the Beta Quadrant – to be honest I don’t know
which exactly. Everything takes place around those parts because it’s
close to home, and the United Federation of Planets. You may think “close
to home” is a weird way of putting it – well it’s not. The
galaxy is huge. Much of the Gamma Quadrant is still being explored though. And
the Delta Quadrant? Well – this is where Voyager comes into play. Little
is known about this area of space. Mostly because it’s far away. Very
far away. In the premiere episodes, USS Voyager is whisked away from the Alpha
Quadrant while on a mission all the way to the Delta Quadrant. When the dust
settles the crew finds out that at maximum speed it would take them over 70
years to get back to Federation Space…home. So, as you can see, even with
all the marvelous technology, the galaxy is anything but small.
Just how did Voyager find itself on the opposite side of the galaxy? A being
known as The Caretaker (introduced in the first episode) has brought them there
as he is searching for a suitable replacement. The Caretaker is dieing. Voyager
finds itself sitting in space outside of an enormous space station that is sending
power to a planet. Several generations ago, the Caretakers species accidentally
caused massive devastation to a planet home to the Ocompa. Distraught with guilt,
two of them remained behind to attend to the damage they had done. But now,
only one is left, and it (he) is dieing. Even though it sent the Ocompa enough
energy and supplies for five years, it needs a replacement to continue to repay
its debt. It’s found that none of the crew on Voyager is compatible, but
it has no time to send them back to the Alpha Quadrant. Baring down on the space
station is another species, the Kazon, and they want to harness the power and
technology of The Caretaker. The captain of Voyager can allow no such thing
to happen, and destroys the space station – and the crews only way home.
Being stuck alone in the far reaches of space isn’t the only thing that
makes Star Trek: Voyager different from its predecessors. For the first time,
the starship has a female captain. Kate Mulgrew takes her shot at sitting in
the big chair, and does a fantastic job pulling it off. The rest of the supporting
cast is also pretty good. Of course, for many fans, nothing can compare to the
original cast with William Shatner, or the Next Generation crew with the smooth-headed
awesomeness of Captain Picard. But the Voyager team works well together. Captain
Kathryn Janeway (Mulgrew) is a convincing, and strong captain as far as I’m
concerned.
Apparently fans of the series also didn’t mind the change as Voyager lasted
strong for seven seasons. If you’re put off by the idea – get with
the times, and give it a chance. You’ll realize she’s a pleasant
change of pace. Complementing the captain is the usual group on the bridge:
Lieutenant Tuvok (Tim Russ) the Vulcan security officer, Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett
Wang), the First Officer Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Chief Engineer
B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Biggs-Dawson), helmsman Tom Paris (Robert Duncan
McNeill), and a holographic doctor played by Robert Picardo. Accompanying the
normal Starfleet crew are a few aliens picked up along the way; Kes (Jennifer
Lien), an Ocompa, and her friend Neelix (Ethan Phillips), a Talaxian. Together,
the ultimate goal is to get home. But as we all know along the way there’s
bound to be trouble…seven seasons worth of trouble.
Season One offers a nice array of complications and storylines though. It kept
me interested 9 years ago, and it kept me interested this past week as I watched
through them all over again. Some episodes that stick out as decent ones are:
“Time And Again,” “Eye Of The Needle,” “State
Of Flux,” “Learning Curve,” and “Phage.” The great
thing is that being out in unexplored regions of the galaxy; the number of potential
plots increases exponentially. The writers aren’t confined to the known
universe – they can literally make it up as they go along. And it works.
As I mentioned previously, there are a number of special features included with
this set. Most are only watchable once, but still provide a good insight behind
the show. Here’s the listing:
-Braving The Unkown: Season 1 – The executive producers discuss the issues
facing creating a new series with new people, a new plot, and a new part of
the galaxy to explore. Short, but a good look at how the show started.
-Voyager Time Capsule: Kathryn Janeway – Kate Mulgrew lends her insight
and discusses her part as the leading role. Some old footage and interviews
included.
-Cast Reflections: Season 1 – Cast members recall beginning a brand new
Star Trek series. Also short, but good to watch once.
-Real Science: This was probably the most interesting. See how the science of
Star Trek is related to real science today and its theories.
-Red Alert: Visual Effects Season One – Take a quick look at the special
visual effects used in the first season. Keep in mind this was 1995, and things
have progressed a lot since then. Worth a view.
-The First Captain: Bujold – Take a look behind the scenes at the woman
who was originally cast as Captain Janeway. A French Canadian woman who was
reconsidered after taping of the pilot. In my opinion, a wise choice by the
producers…she was terrible.
-Other extras include Photo Gallery, Launching Voyager On The Web, and On Location.
On the whole, the balance of extras with episodes is quite satisfying. While
pretty much all of them won’t need to be watched more than once, they
are still decent viewing material for anyone. And along with the 15 episodes,
there are over 13 hours of entertainment.
However, with all this praise, I do have one gripe. A gripe you may have heard
from me before: the packaging. This casing for this set is utterly atrocious.
While the actual plastic casing that holds the actual DVDs is okay at best,
the plastic covering that goes over it is foolishly designed, and a pain to
put on and take off. It’s sad that most likely the six seasons to follow
will be just the same. So, just a heads up – be prepared to fight with
the packaging here and there.
So there you have Star Trek: Voyager Season 1. A good set overall
with many redeeming qualities, and a few cutbacks. In the end, the positives
do outweigh the negatives. It’s a solid addition to the already extensive
Star Trek series sets. Collectors will certainly want a copy. Though if you
are not already a fan of Star Trek, I wouldn’t start here. The only major
downsides are the terrible packaging and the extras that can only stand to be
watched once. But either way, I happily look forward to season two, and all
that awaits me out in the galaxy.
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