10 Times Star Trek: Voyager Didn’t Hit the Reset Button

There are times when Star Trek: Voyager didn’t actually hit the so-called “reset button”, as the series was prone to doing at the end of most of its standalone episodes. Over the course of its seven-year journey through the Delta Quadrant, Voyager excelled at delivering stories that generally wrapped up all major plot points within a single, self-contained episode, with the occasional 2-part Star Trek: Voyager episode occurring roughly twice per season. This was a stark contrast to the ongoing drama of the contemporaneous Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which favored serialized storytelling to a much higher degree than Star Trek had previously.

Despite Voyager‘s proclivity for single-episode stories, Star Trek: Voyager doesn’t avoid serialization entirely. There’s a through line that carries through Voyager‘s seven seasons regarding the way characters act and respond to one another and new situations, as the main characters of Star Trek: Voyager learn to adjust to their changing circumstances, with new friends and enemies, and new developments to ongoing problems. Sometimes, plot arcs continue through several episodes, and although they can be watched individually, they make more sense when watched in order.

10
The USS Voyager vs. Seska & The Kazon

The Kazon and Seska are Voyager’s first challenge in Star Trek: Voyager seasons 1 & 2.

The Kazon are Star Trek: Voyager‘s first big bad but aren’t half as interesting as classic antagonists like Klingons or Romulans. The different Kazon sects are intended to echo warring gang factions, but the Kazon’s internal discord does little to pose an actual threat to the USS Voyager’s crew. Meanwhile, one of Voyager‘s recurring crew members, Ensign Seska (Martha Hackett), fans the flames of dissent between Voyager’s Maquis and Starfleet crews, until Seska reveals herself to be a Cardassian spy who may or may not be carrying Commander Chakotay’s (Robert Beltran) baby.

The soapy intrigue of the Seska storyline converges with the Kazon posturing against Voyager for dominance in their own corner of space, as Seska infiltrates the paper-thin Kazon hierarchy in a bid for power in the sector. With the Kazon-Nistrim wrapped around her finger, Seska’s coup on the USS Voyager culminates in Star Trek: Voyager’s season 3 opener, “Basics, Part 2”, and ends there … at least until Seska’s holographic parting gift is activated in Voyager season 3, episode 25, “Worst Case Scenario”, nearly a year later.

9
Kes Develops Ocampa Powers

Jennifer Lien’s Kes grows stronger telepathy in Star Trek: Voyager seasons 2 & 3.

The USS Voyager picks up some Delta Quadrant natives to guide the first leg of their journey, the romantic pairing Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and Kes (Jennifer Lien). The Talaxian trader Neelix becomes the USS Voyager’s chef and morale officer, while Ocampa Kes fits right in as assistant to the Doctor (Robert Picardo). Kes is kind and ingenuous, but there’s little else for Kes to do in Voyager‘s first season, so in Voyager season 2, Kes’ telepathic powers develop.

Kes’ powers grow rapidly, aided by meeting other Ocampa who have mastered their abilities in Voyager season 2, episode 10, “Cold Fire”. Aboard the USS Voyager, Kes trains with Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) to help Kes control her powers even though Tuvok’s Vulcan telepathy operates differently from Ocampa talents. Kes’ telepathy leads to telekinesis, which grows beyond the Ocampan’s control, so to keep Voyager’s crew safe, Kes must leave in Voyager season 4, episode 2, “The Gift.”

8
Tom Paris & B’Elanna Torres’ Romance

Tom & B’Elanna’s relationship evolves in Star Trek: Voyager seasons 3 – 7.

The romance between Lieutenants Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) isn’t planned, but instead evolves from the characters’ chemistry with each other. Tom and B’Elanna play off of each other well in their earliest scenes together, and develop a friendship that manages to break through the ways that both Paris and Torres use to avoid getting close to people. B’Elanna sees through Tom’s casual charm just as easily as Tom sees through B’Elanna’s intentional hostility, and it turns out they have a lot in common.

The Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres romance grows over the course of Voyager‘s entire run, from their initial meeting to their marriage, and the birth of their daughter, Miral. The relationship softens both Tom and B’Elanna, who learn to accept love from each other, despite difficult relationships with their parents making them feel unworthy of it. Paris and Torres are one of the best Star Trek romances, and a great part of Voyager‘s subtle serialization.

7
Captain Janeway vs. The Borg

Voyager survives the Scorpion’s sting in Star Trek: Voyager seasons 4 – 7.

Unlike other Delta Quadrant species, Captain Janeway knows what she’s getting into by engaging the Borg. Rather than avoid the Borg entirely, as Chakotay suggests, Janeway faces the Borg head-on, making a deal exchanging safe passage through Borg space for Voyager’s help fighting Species 8472, who can’t be assimilated. The Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige) and her drones become Janeway’s true nemesis through repeated encounters, with each one stacking on the last before Admiral Janeway from the future and the Queen face off in a final battle.

Captain Janeway’s tension with the Borg is also exemplified in Janeway’s relationship with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). In Janeway and Seven of Nine’s best Voyager episodes, Janeway’s insistence on Seven’s humanity regularly clashes with Seven’s own connections to the Collective, in a one-step-forward, two-steps-back progression that nonetheless moves forward, resembling how people escape toxic systems or overcome addiction far more than a strictly linear telling would.

6
Letters From Home

Hope comes in the form of a relay station in Star Trek: Voyager season 4.

The discovery of an abandoned subspace relay station kicks off a story arc that connects the USS Voyager with Federation space in Star Trek: Voyager season 4. By using the station, Voyager’s crew can finally send and receive messages from the Alpha Quadrant, letting their loved ones know they’re alive, but stranded. The initial messages are few and far between, sent only when certain conditions make it possible, and these infrequent missives find their way into the crew’s hands in a few Voyager season 4 episodes, while setting up the upcoming Hirogen arc as well as Voyager season 6’s Pathfinder Project.

Contact with family and friends after four years in the Delta Quadrant reveals a lot about Voyager‘s characters. Many, like Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), are excited at the prospect of an early return, while some, like Paris and Torres, are less enthused about reuniting with estranged family members, or face Federation judgment after crimes committed as members of the Maquis.

5
The USS Voyager vs. the Hirogen

The nomadic hunters appear throughout Star Trek: Voyager season 4 – 7.

The predatory Hirogen come calling as owners of the relay station after discovering that the USS Voyager’s crew have been using it to communicate with the Alpha Quadrant. The concept of “the hunt” is central to Hirogen culture, which sorts alien species according to their worthiness as prey. Despite their initial reservations, the Hirogen deem Voyager’s crew particularly interesting targets, between Voyager’s ability to subdue the villainous Species 8472 even when the Borg have failed to do so, and Federation holographic technology that makes the Hirogen’s sacred hunt more exciting than it has been in years.

Each Hirogen episode lays the groundwork for the next one, and the overall Hirogen arc sets up at least two other separate storylines that emerge from the consequences, with Janeway’s gift of hologram technology playing into Star Trek: Voyager season 7’s hologram rights arc, and the Hirogen relay station kicking off the domino effect of contact with the Alpha Quadrant, the Pathfinder Project, and the USS Voyager’s eventual return home.

4
Seven of Nine Becomes More Human

From Star Trek: Voyager season 4 – 7, Seven of Nine adapts.

Seven of Nine’s character arc is perhaps the most important in all of Star Trek: Voyager because Seven’s development after being liberated from the Borg Collective practically requires a serialized progression in order to work. Seven of Nine initially resists Janeway’s insistence that Seven is human, and an individual, but that resistance plays out like a teenager’s; in order to discover her own identity, Seven must first rebel against authority, so she can learn how to define herself for herself.

Seven’s humanity is revealed slowly, realistically, with new information that comes to light about Seven’s pre-assimilation life as Annika Hansen, Annika’s scientist parents, and the Borg Queen’s proposal to Seven of Nine to return to the Collective. By rejecting the Queen, Seven of Nine truly chooses herself, in a stark contrast to the desires of the drone who begged for the Collective. With help from friends like the Doctor (Robert Picardo), Seven of Nine finds the balance between individuality and a new collective aboard Voyager.

3
Icheb and the Borg Kids

Juvenile Borg drones are liberated in Star Trek: Voyager season 6.

In Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 16, “Collective,” the USS Voyager encounters young Borg drones operating their own Cube after being cut off from the larger Collective. After rescuing the drones, it would have been easy to simply forget the Borg kids, but this far into the series, the small liberated Collective of children become recurring characters on Voyager. Icheb (Manu Intiraymi) is the eldest, followed by Mezoti (Marley S. McClean), and twins Azan (Kurt Wetherill) and Rebi (Cody Wetherill).

Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers), the only other child aboard the USS Voyager, is quick to befriend these newfound peers. Already a friend to Naomi, Seven of Nine develops a maternal relationship with the liberated drones, and Icheb in particular. Taking a page from Janeway and the Doctor, Seven instructs the children on how to discover their individuality, and learns how to take care of other people who rely on her for guidance.

2
The Pathfinder Project

Reginald Barclay returns in Star Trek: Voyager seasons 6 & 7.

A few years after the discovery of the subspace relay station that allows Voyager to communicate with the Alpha Quadrant, Voyager catches up with Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s own Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz), who has immersed himself in the Pathfinder Project. The Pathfinder Project’s aim is to find a way to bring the USS Voyager home quickly, and to do so, Barclay has created a holographic version of Voyager’s crew based on reports received from the Delta Quadrant in Voyager season 4’s “Letters from home” arc.

While Reg’s hyperfocus on the Voyager simulation shares some similarities with Barclay’s disordered holodeck use on TNG, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) returns to ensure that Barclay doesn’t take it too far this time. Instead of contributing to Barclay’s maladaptive daydreaming, the Pathfinder Project and Barclay’s holographic friends lead to an actual solution.

1
The Doctor’s Arc of Self-Actualization

Throughout Star Trek: Voyager’s entire run, the EMH proves that holograms are people, too,

After years of buildup, the Doctor’s character arc comes to a head when Star Trek: Voyager season 7’s recurring theme is the rights of holograms as photonic life forms. The Doctor’s exploration of humanity in Voyager‘s early seasons, prompted by Kes’ friendship, leads to experimentation with additions to his program, like hobbies, new skills, and even a family. With the addition of a mobile emitter in Voyager season 3, the Doctor is no longer confined to sickbay and the holodeck, and the Doctor’s emotional horizons begin to broaden as widely as his physical ones.

Each subsequent season of Star Trek: Voyager expands on the Doctor’s character, introducing new friendships, like Seven of Nine, and new challenges, like encountering other photonic life forms, that give the Doctor reason to reflect on the nature of his own existence. The Doctor learns how to stand up for himself as a person, owed the same rights and privileges as any other member of Voyager‘s crew. By Voyager season 7, the Doctor demands agency for holograms by fighting prejudices against photonic beings, calling out the mistreatment of holograms, and asserting his rights as an author.

Much like in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Voyager‘s serialization is the result of consequences influencing what happens next. Engaging the Borg introduces Seven’s arc towards individuality, which in turn influences character development for the Doctor and Janeway. The discovery of the abandoned relay station catches the attention of the Hirogen, dovetailing with the hologram rights storyline later, while also facilitating the letters from home. The letters trigger character development for B’Elanna, Tom, and their relationship, and later introduce the Pathfinder project. It may be subtle, but Star Trek: Voyager doesn’t always hit the reset button.

Star Trek: Voyager is streaming on Paramount+.