10 Star Trek Production Secrets Behind These Cliffhangers
3. Basics
The second season of Star Trek Voyager came to a close with the crew marooned on a barren world by the Kazon and Seska, who stole the ship. While Basics would serve as the coda to the Kazon storyline and also become the last main appearance of Martha Hackett as Seska, outside of the holodeck or time vortexes, it was at its heart something much simpler.
It was a dare, by outgoing executive producer Michael Piller, to himself. He wanted to see if he could one-up himself after creating the Best of Both Worlds cliffhanger!
The idea of leaving the crew at the mercy of this volcanic world was an instant draw for him, which led to the name of the episode. It was Voyager's people going 'back to basics', with no advanced technology to help them out. They are also left in a position where they have no hope of retaking the ship which, for all that they know, has flown away for good.
The second part of the episode was a strong season opener, delivering on the premise, arguably, better than the second part of the Best of Both Worlds did. Voyager's third season saw an overall rise in the quality of the show.