Star Trek: Every Two-Parter Ranked From WORST To BEST

29. Basics, Part I, Basics Part II

There is nothing basic about Basics — the first of several two-parters in Star Trek: Voyager's run home. For a moment, it looked like the crew would be living out (or dying out) the rest of their days on Planet Pliocene, forever sprinting away from the locals.

Of course, the cliffhanger was never 'Are they going to make it?' but 'How are they going to make it?' back to the ship. Tom Paris, the Talaxians, a hologram, and a repentant murderer, that's how! That was one hell of a plan to have come up with in one hour, Tommy boy!

Stripped down to the essentials, the plot is not dissimilar to that of Workforce and Workforce, Part II — rescue from an alien world. If the Basics two-parter places higher on this list, then it's because, so early on, the stakes were extra cataclysmic. And, at the time, you had to wait the summer to see Voyager fly back through the atmosphere.