VOY: “Caretaker: Parts 1 & 2”

Date: September 7, 2020

Season 1, Episode 1

Musical Accompaniment: I’m feeling this violin mix today

Interstellar News: For the first time in at least five years, I did not have Labor Day off. Husband did, though, and was able to get some things done that have been on his to do list for some time. Oh, and we bought a couch that won’t be ready until November and I’m not sure why.

As we’re starting a new series, I though it was time for a bit of a change. The summary, now titled “TL;DR” will be just enough to remind you what the episode was about. If you’ve never seen it, this is probably not the post you should be reading. I’ll still keep my favorite quote(s) and my thoughts, as always.

TL;DR: A Maquis ship (led by Chakotay) goes missing and Voyager (captained by Janeway) goes after them in the hopes to rescue their Security Chief (Tuvok) and arrest the Maquis. An entity known as “the Caretaker” abducts both ships in the hopes of finding a suitable replacement as he’s dying and has been taking care of the Ocampa people. Unfortunately for them the Caretaker lives in the Delta quadrant, 70,000 light years (75 calendar years) away from home. The crews work together to rescue Kim (Starfleet) and Torres (Maquis) and they receive help from Neelix and Kes, but eventually Janeway makes the decision to destroy the array once the Caretaker dies so that the enemies of the Ocampa will not destroy them. They combine the crews, determined to still explore new worlds, but also to make it home before 75 years have elapsed.

Favorite Quote:

Emergency Medical Hologram: That’s enough. This is a sickbay, not a conference room. Visiting hours are over. Everyone except my patient is to leave immediately.

Janeway: Computer, end Medical Holographic Program.

The EMH disappears.

Having already met Robert Picardo in “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?“, I’m super excited about the EMH

“Didn’t they warn you about Ferengi at the Academy?”: A new crew, a new introduction with new music, and a new format to my posts. The beginning of the episode gets me interested in all of these new characters, though it was great to get a glimpse of Quark and Morn. Also, the beginning of the episode started with a Satr Wars-esque word scroll, so that was fun.

Chakotay is the first indigenous character I’ve seen outside of one TOS episode and when the Cardassians were being bullies in TNG and I’m happy to see him in a starring role. Torres is another half-Klingon half-human character who I’m instantly excited about because of my love for Klingons and K’Ehleyr. As soon as Janeway mentioned someone had infiltrated the Maquis, I knew it was Tuvok because Vulcans and renegades don’t really make sense. I’m also pretty sure Tuvok was in one of the DS9 Mirror Universe episodes, because he looks familiar. Paris is going to be a complete and utter tool and I’m pretty sure I’m going to hate him, especially with the things he said to Chakotay… simply vile. Kim is the green one on the team but I think I’m going to like watching him grow up. Most of the medical staff is killed so we get the EMH and I am totally going to love him, I can just tell. Neelix and Kes did not leave much of an impression for me, but maybe they’ll get better as time goes on. Last, but certainly not least, is Captain Janeway. She’s already so fantastic because she prefers to be addressed by her rank, which makes so much more sense than calling everyone “sir” , and does what she needs to do. I loved how she was a disheveled mess but multi tasked on the way down to engineering and fixed her hair because she’s the captain damn it and she needs to look nonplussed. Her decision at the end was perplexing, but she made the call and right away it shows us what kind of captain she’s going to be.

I spent a lot of the episode muttering “what the fuck?”, especially when it looked like the Beverly Hillbillies had taken over the episode. I would have liked it better if the self-destruct had just worked and Janeway didn’t make the conscious decision to destroy the array, but I also understand she felt responsible once the Caretaker died. I didn’t understand, however, how the Kazon lived on a desert planet and couldn’t find water… but they had spaceships with firepower. Yeah, that totally makes sense (as I wave my hands in abject sarcasm). I was also disappointed that the speech at the end was so upbeat and there was no mention of the crew members on either side that were killed. I get during the middle of everything that there was so much going on and they were stranded, you don’t really have time to think about it. Once things settled down, however, there should have been some mention of the First Officer, the Chief Engineering, the entire damn medical staff, and any Maquis that were lost… but there was nothing. Stadi, for example, I was excited to get to know and I even gasped when she died because I thought she would at least be a recurring character. Overall I’m already invested in finding out how they cut 75 years into 7, but there’s still a lot of questions and some things that I just didn’t jive with. That leaves this season and series opener with 6.5 pumpkin spice donuts.

TA Out!