Amelia Earhart (Sharon Lawrence) on Star Trek: Voyager broke a franchise rule just like Star Trek: The Next Generation had previously. Like the rest of the franchise, Voyager would sometimes depict real-life historical figures when it was necessary to the plot. Some of the real people in Voyager episodes included Isaac Newton, Ghadi, Lord Byron, Socrates, and a few memorable appearances of the holographic Leonardo da Vinci. However, the first historical figure to appear on Voyager was Amelia Earhart.
The USS Voyager encountered Earhart in season 2, episode 1, “The 37’s.” In the episode, Voyager discovered a Delta Quadrant planet where Earhart, her navigator Fred Noonan (David Graf), and six other 20th-century humans were frozen in cryogenic stasis. After reviving the group, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) learned that Earhart and Noonan had been abducted by an alien species called the Briori during their famous disappearance in 1937. Voyager’s crew meeting Earhart was the highlight of the episode, but the show including her also broke a Star Trek rule that not many other series had broken.
1 Big Fix Would Have Saved Star Trek: Voyager’s Infamous Amelia Earhart Episode
Star Trek: Voyager’s season 2 premiere featured the crew meeting Amelia Earhart, but the episode would have worked better with one big fix.
Voyager Introducing Amelia Earhart Broke A Star Trek Rule
Unlike most of the historical figures Star Trek has included over the years, Voyager‘s Amelia Earhart was the original version of herself, rather than a clone, duplicate, or hologram. Star Trek has had many memorable appearances of real people, including Abraham Lincoln (Lee Bergere) on Star Trek: The Original Series or Stephen Hawking (played by himself) on TNG. In nearly all cases, however, the historical figure was some duplicated version. Often, this was a hologram, since the holodeck lent itself well to being a place where real people could be portrayed. Sometimes, like in the case of Lincoln, the historical figure was a duplicate created by aliens.
Amelia Earheart is one of only two historical figures that did not fall into this category. The Earhart that Voyager’s crew uncovered was the original, and their discovery of her led to a concrete explanation for her disappearance in-universe. The only other time Star Trek showed the real version of a historical figure was the depiction of Mark Twain (Jerry Hardin) in the classic TNG two-parter “Times Arrow.” Twain has become Star Trek‘s favorite author since his time on TNG, appearing or being referenced multiple times throughout the franchise. While Earhart’s appearance in Star Trek was brief, the fact that it was the real Earhart made it significant.
Why Amelia Earheart Was A Great Choice For Voyager To Depict
Along with being a unique character, Earhart was a great choice for Star Trek: Voyager to include in “The 37’s”. The theory that aliens abducted the real Amelia was popular, so making it canon in the Star Trek universe was an amusing reference to the famous conspiracy. Along with this, Earhart’s interactions with Captain Janeway were delightfully memorable. The parallels between Janeway as Star Trek‘s first female lead and Earhart as a real-life pioneer for women were clear throughout the episode, and two women getting to share their love of their chosen professions was a particular highlight. Despite a brief appearance, Earhart left her mark on the franchise.
