Star Trek Voyager Feature Length Episodes: Ranked

12. Caretaker

The opening of Star Trek Voyager is by no means the worst pilot in Star Trek history - the honour is still afforded to the Next Generation. However, like any of the series, everything had yet to fall into place and there were issues that needed ironing out.

Kate Mulgrew, now instantly recognisable as Kathryn Janeway, was a late in the day addition to the cast. The rest of the cast were both solid and over-written, handed dialogue that was both clunky and full of exposition. The visuals were brilliant and the designs of Voyager, the Kazon vessels and the Caretaker's array are all top-notch.

Janeway's speech at the end of the episode is suitably stirring and there is enough in this episode to bring the viewer back for the next episode. Quite a lot happens in the episode that would either go nowhere (Chakotay and Paris's rivalry being one of them) and the female caretaker was a clear addition to allow the show to find a quick way home if it was cancelled.

It is not that this episode is bad, it is more a sign that the show took off quickly after that. While Voyager's early seasons are certainly its weakest, there was a thread of stellar quality from the off, that only improved as the show went on.