10 PERFECT Scenes In Hated Star Trek Episodes
6. Does It Really Matter Which Kes Goes Home? - Fury
Fury is a maligned episode, with strong arguments against it. Though it brought Jennifer Lien back to the show, it did so in a way that felt jarring. Kes had never been vengeful, nor cruel. Here, she arrived, slamming her ship into the side of Voyager, then cutting a swathe of destruction on her way to engineering. She even kills B’Elanna before she zaps herself into the past - something Kes, no matter how lost, could never do.
That leads to the scene that stands out for the right reasons. Thanks to a bit of time travel, Janeway is warned when Kes returns. She clears a path, meaning Kes can get to the warp core unimpeded. There, she finds a hologram of herself, recorded years before, waiting for her. After all of the trauma, the destruction, and the damage, Kes is there to remind herself that she is, was, and can be in the future - a good person.
When Janeway and Tuvok enter (on his birthday, no less!) they talk, rather than come in firing. Jennifer Lien delivers a strong performance here, slowly realising not simply who she is, but who she was. In the end, she accepts Janeway’s advice, choosing to travel back to the Ocampa. Though her discomfort hasn’t entirely left her, one can see the old relationship between Lien and Ethan Philips as Neelix bids her farewell.
As a coda for the character, having her become so full of rage left us sad, rather than fulfilled. Yet that scene in engineering is a true gem, highlighting everyone’s strengths.