10 Times Star Trek Rewarded Audiences For Sticking With It
8. Pathfinder
To be very clear, this sixth-season episode of Star Trek: Voyager only works because the audience had followed every episode, every bump in the road, every missed opportunity, and every failed attempt to get home that the ship encountered. Those few seconds, where Janeway gets to speak to Starfleet Command, were among the most moving and tear-jerking of the show's seven-year run.
Reginald Barclay, crossing over from The Next Generation, uses his skills to finally make contact with the Delta Quadrant, though it looks as though he will lose his commission along the way. He seems to have reverted to his holo-addiction, spending most of his time with the Voyager crew. Just as it looks as though his time is up, the signal connects.
Everything about the scene works, with an added bonus for Next Generation fans as well. Hearing Admiral Paris tell his son that he is proud of him was enough to melt the coldest Vulcan, while Janeway's 'keep a docking bay open for us' is equally wonderful.
But after all of that, after the pathos of hearing Voyager get their messages from home, there is a scene between Barclay and Troi, congratulating him on his achievement. For those who have followed his arc all the way since Hollow Pursuits, this was especially gratifying.