Star Trek: 10 Times Captain Janeway Was Right And Everyone Else Was Wrong

In the episode Counterpoint, Voyager must traverse a region of space controlled by the Devore Imperium, an alien civilisation that outlaws telepaths. To save the telepathic members of her own crew, and a group of refugees they have rescued, Captain Janeway must play a careful game of wits with Devore inspectors.

Whilst Janeway certainly gets no opposition from her shipmates, she must still prove herself right against an entire authoritarian government, and particularly against lead inspector Kashyk.

Janeway’s success lies in playing note against note with Kashyk. Each are performing a piece of deception: the latter defects to Voyager but is really only there to capture the telepaths; the former does not know Kashyk’s true intentions, so adeptly plays both melody and countermelody to their resolution.

It is no coincidence that the music which bookends the episode is the second movement of Mahler’s First Symphony. The piece is written in the form of a Ländler, a popular folk dance that preceded the 'more sophisticated' Viennese Waltz. At the start of the episode, it is Kashyk’s choice of music as his team are ransacking Voyager, and he is boasting about his knowledge of Earth culture. At the end, Janeway is victorious over the Devore; she has ensured the safety of the telepathic refugees whatever Kashyk’s motives. She switches the music back to Mahler as if to mock him for his civilised façade, and to let him know that she has outdanced him.