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Star Trek Ranks, Explained

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Starting with the original series, Star Trek has adopted a quasi-military series of ranks and protocols for its characters. Starfleet is ostensibly a peaceful organization dedicated to exploration and diplomacy, but things can get dangerous on the final frontier. A functioning chain of command is necessary in the event of trouble to ensure that everyone operates at peak efficiency.

It's a bit of a paradox, since Starfleet officers also tend to be rugged individualists, but it makes a good deal of sense and over time has become an indispensable part of the franchise. A given character's rank speaks volumes about their comparative age, their position onboard, and their relationship with the other members of the crew. As with most things Star Trek, rank insignia has evolved over time. Here's a breakdown of Starfleet's ranking system in descending order from the lowliest cadets to the most powerful admirals.

Updated January 18, 2024 by Robert Vaux: Star Trek's ranking system is very stable at this point, and very little tends to change. The article has been updated to include a brief list of prominent members of each rank, along with the series and seasons they held it. It has also been updated to conform to current CBR guidelines.

9 Cadets Are Officers in Training at Starfleet Academy

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Cadets are typically students at Starfleet Academy , spending time onboard a starship as part of their training. They hold no rank and must obey the orders of any crewmen. They're often issued temporary badges or communicators and usually have a supervisory officer to watch over them. Cadets in the 23rd century wear badges with a distinctive black backing. Cadets in the 24th century wear distinctive uniforms denoting their status.

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise is used as a training vessel, with the crew consisting almost entirely of cadets. Wesley Crusher formally joins Starfleet Academy starting in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 9, "Final Mission," and spends most of his subsequent appearances at that rank. Similarly, Nyota Uhura joins the Enterprise as a cadet in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, as does Sylvia Tilly in Star Trek: Discovery.

8 Enlisted Personnel/NCO Are Starfleet's Worker Bees

While officers attend Starfleet Academy, the rank-and-file personnel attend the 24th-century equivalent of boot camp. They become the anonymous crew working in the background, performing the countless tiny tasks required to keep a starship running. Their ranks include both enlisted crewmen and petty officers (the equivalent of sergeants) who often play supervisory roles. They typically lack any insignia on their uniforms, though chief petty officers in the Next Generation era sometimes have a black pip or similar marking.

Enlisted personnel often serve as The Original Series ' infamous red shirts : doomed to die in the name of plot exposition. The Next Generation introduces perhaps Starfleet's best-known enlisted man. Miles O'Brien runs the transporters on the Enterprise-D, and later becomes Chief of Operations on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

7 Ensigns Hold The Lowest Rank

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Ensigns are the lowest-ranking officers on Starfleet vessels. Cadets typically receive the rank of ensign immediately upon graduation from Starfleet Academy. While they technically have command authority, they're usually assigned menial tasks beneath the attention of the senior officers. Like NCOs, they lack insignia on their uniforms in The Original Series era. With The Next Generation and later series, ensigns receive a single gold pip on their collar. They're often lumped into the red shirt category.

Harry Kim is probably the franchise's most famous (or infamous) ensign, failing to receive a single promotion through Star Trek: Voyager's seven seasons , despite serving with distinction on the bridge. The Original Series' Pavel Chekov also begins his Starfleet career as an ensign, though he advances at a faster rate. Of course, the four main characters in Star Trek: Lower Decks are ensigns, though they all receive a promotion to lieutenant, junior grade at the beginning of Season 4.

6 Lieutenant, Junior Grade Have More Responsibility Than Ensigns

The next step up the ladder is lieutenant, junior grade. These are officers with more authority and responsibility than ensigns, but who still require seasoning before taking higher command positions. Medical personnel typically receive the lieutenant, junior grade rank after graduating, which reflects their extended training time. The Original Series uses a single dashed bar on the uniform sleeves to denote them, though Strange New Worlds has retconned that with a connected colored bar. T he Next Generation and later series note the rank with a second black pip in addition to the ensign's colored pip.

Both Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax hold the rank of lieutenant, junior grade when they begin their duties on Deep Space 9, though Ezri receives hers as a field promotion in Season 7, Episode 3, "Afterimage." Geordi La Forge starts as a lieutenant, junior grade too, as does Mr. Worf. B'Elanna Torres receives the rank on a provisional basis when she joins the crew of the Voyager, and the Lower Decks crew are all promoted to lieutenant, junior grade in Season 4, Episode 1, "Twovix."

5 Lieutenants Lead the Away Teams and More

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Lieutenants have advanced to the point where they can take on considerable responsibilities. They may lead away teams or control key systems, and they often appear among the bridge crew or even as department heads. The Original Series notes them with a single bar on the uniform sleeve, while Strange New Worlds adds a second thinner bar above the lieutenant, junior grade's insignia. The Next Generation uses two colored pips on the collar — a method emulated by subsequent series.

Worf spends most of The Next Generation's later seasons as a lieutenant (he's promoted to lieutenant commander during the events of Star Trek Generations ) while Ro Laren is promoted to lieutenant shortly before her defection to the Maquis in The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 24, "Preemptive Strike." Lieutenants often occupy the helm position, including Hikaru Sulu in The Original Series, Keyla Detmer in Star Trek: Discovery , and Erica Ortegas in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

4 Lieutenant Commanders Head up Departments

Lieutenant commanders hold positions of senior responsibility onboard a starship, even serving as executive officers or de facto captains on small ships. One larger ships, they often serve as the head of specific departments such as science and engineering. In The Original Series , the rank is designated with two stripes on the sleeve — one thick, one dashed — which Strange New Worlds adjusts to two thick colored bands. The Next Generation and subsequent shows note lieutenant commanders with two colored pips and one black one.

Montgomery Scott holds the rank of lieutenant commander in The Original Series , acting as Chief Engineer and even commanding the Enterprise when Kirk and Spock are away on missions. Similarly, Geordi La Forge rises to the rank of lieutenant commander in The Next Generation , joining Data and Deanna Troi at the position, though the latter eventually advances to commander. Worf and Jadzia Dax are both lieutenant commanders when they begin their romance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Lastly, the original Number One — Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — is a lieutenant commander.

3 Commanders Aid and Can Take Over the Captain's Dutires

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Commanders are usually the ship's executive officers, "Number Ones," who assist the captain in their duties and step up in the event the captain is incapacitated. Commanders are often viewed as captains in training, and ultimately destined for a ship of their own in the future. In some cases, commanders are the head authority on smaller ships or space stations. Chief medical officers often hold this position as well. They're delineated by two thick bands on their sleeves in The Original Series era and three colored pips on the collar in The Next Generation and later.

Mr. Spock holds the rank of commander during the events of The Original Series , serving double duty as chief science officer as well. He's been followed by the likes of William Riker on The Next Generation and Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Picard . In addition, Beverly Crusher and Leonard McCoy both hold the rank of commander, while Deanna Tori is promoted to commander in Season 7, Episode 16, "Thine Own Self." Ben Sisko also begins his tenure on Deep Space 9 as a commander before being promoted to full captain at the end of Season 3.

2 Captains Command Starfleet's Various Starships

The captain serves as the commander of a starship, with the entire crew ranked beneath them. This affords them a great deal of autonomy, but also equal amounts of responsibility. Starships must often face dangers alone in the far depths of space. It falls to the captain to make the final call when lives are at stake. Occasionally, captains can be found in other duties, such as commanding a star base or holds an administrative position on Earth. Captains are delineated by three stripes on their sleeves in the Original Series era — two thick, one dashed — which Strange New Worlds slightly alters to a single thin band sandwiched between two thicker ones. The Next Generation era uses four full pips on the collar.

Most Star Trek series use a captain as the main character, starting with James T. Kirk in The Original Series . Their ranks include Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, Christopher Pike, and Carol Freeman. In addition, many lower-ranking characters eventually attain the captain's chair, such as Will Riker, Tuvok, and Mr. Spock. Both Ben Sisko and Michael Burnham become captain after several seasons of climbing the ranks, a change from most Star Trek series which tend to begin with their captains in place.

1 Admirals Possess The Greatest Rank and Come to Represent Starfleet Itself

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Admirals are Starfleet's major movers and shakers, placed in charge of entire fleets or overseeing vital operations. As flag officers, they no longer serve onboard starships, though they can claim command of one if circumstances dictate. James T. Kirk takes control of the Enterprise as an Admiral in both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , while both Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy and Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard are the authority on their respective vessels.

In addition to giving successful captains a cushy desk job, Star Trek often uses admirals as stand-ins for Starfleet itself: either aiding the crew in their endeavors or standing in their way when they go against protocol. They're delineated by a wide variety of methods, and hold varying ranks within the admiralty, such as Vice Admiral and Commodore, that shift from project to project.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

Star Trek: Voyager - Ranking Every Major Character Worst To Best

How do Star Trek Voyager's legendary cast of characters stack up against each other?

Ah, Star Trek: Voyager. Often viewed by fans as where the franchise started to take it's downward turn, there can be many a criticism laid at it's door, but nobody can deny that the show really did attempt to go where no-one has gone before.

With the crew of the USS Voyager and the Maquis vessel Val Jean thrown across the galaxy into the unexplored and tumultuous Delta Quadrant, there was plenty of scope for exploration and new ideas, seen through that classic Starfleet lens.

But who made up the crew of this intrepid vessel? Who struck out into the darkness of space heroically and who was simply along for the ride? Who galvanised the idealism of Starfleet and who dragged their feet? These are the major characters of Star Trek: Voyager, ranked from worst to best. See if you concur or heartily disagree!

Oh Neelix, truly you weren't a very good idea. From being in an overly possessive in a relationship with a questionable age gap, to being a bumbling nuisance whose cheese almost made the ship violently ill (don't ask), there was something that never really worked about Neelix. No matter how loveable Ethan Phillips tried to make him.

While the inclusion of a native of the Delta Quadrant to Voyager's crew seemed like a good idea, there was a literal point in season 3 when the ship reaches the Nikrit Expanse and he points out that his usefulness is at an end. This being said, the fourth season episode 'Mortal Coil' is easily the very best Neelix episode there is.

Still bitter that Star Trek Enterprise got canned and almost old enough to angrily tell the kids to 'Get Off My Lawn!'

Field commission

A field commission (also called a (battle)field promotion or battlefield commission ) was a permanent promotion given to enlisted or commissioned soldiers for outstanding leadership on the field of battle .

In 2153 of an alternate timeline , T'Pol received a Starfleet field commission to the rank of Captain in command of the Enterprise NX-01 after Captain Jonathan Archer was infected with interspatial parasites which rendered him unable to command the ship anymore during the Xindi incident . ( ENT : " Twilight ")

In 2155 in the mirror universe , Jonathan Archer reminded Admiral Black that he had the authority to give him a battlefield promotion. When Black reminded him that they had no starship to give him command of at the moment, Archer requested the USS Defiant . ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

In the alternate reality , Captain Christopher Pike gave a field promotion to Commander Spock , to acting captain , and Cadet James T. Kirk , to first officer . After Spock was revealed to be emotionally compromised by the destruction of Vulcan , he resigned his command, per Starfleet Regulation 619 , which automatically field-promoted Kirk to acting captain. Kirk was formally recognized by Starfleet as the captain of the USS Enterprise , while Spock resumed his original rank and position as first officer. ( Star Trek )

In 2350 , Martok , who had served as a laborer in the Klingon Defense Force , received such a battlefield commission from General ShiVang due to his actions in defending the general's flagship from the Romulans . ( DS9 : " Once More Unto the Breach ")

In Starfleet , starship captains were given much leeway in interpreting Starfleet regulations and assigning crew positions. Wesley Crusher was field-promoted from " acting ensign " to full ensign by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2366 , in recognition of Wesley's academic accomplishments and sacrifice in a rescue mission saving William T. Riker , Deanna Troi , and Lwaxana Troi . ( TNG : " Ménage à Troi ")

In 2367 , Vice Admiral J.P. Hanson gave Commander Riker a promotion to the field commission of captain. Riker chose to resume his previous rank and position as first officer when Captain Jean-Luc Picard was recovered. ( TNG : " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ", " Family ")

These types of promotions were done without the approval of the organization's central authority, but by commanding officers who operated outside communication with authority. For example, Captain Kathryn Janeway , after having "invited" Chakotay and the other Maquis to become part of the crew of USS Voyager , with Chakotay serving as first officer in 2371 , she granted Tom Paris a field commission of lieutenant and an assignment at the conn . ( VOY : " Caretaker ") Several other Maquis were also granted provisional officer ranks, such as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres , Ensign Seska , and Ensign Lon Suder , while others were given the rank of crewman . ( Star Trek: Voyager )

Tim Watters of Red Squad was given a battlefield commission to captain and command of the USS Valiant by Captain Ramirez , after the remaining officers of that ship were killed. Using that authority, Watters " commissioned and promoted other members of Red Squad as needed " with acting ranks and titles. Later, following the rescue of Ensign Nog , Watters promoted him to lieutenant commander and the position of chief engineer . ( DS9 : " Valiant ")

In the Species 8472 simulation, Commander Valerie Archer was offered a field commission to first officer of the IKS Hor'Cha . ( VOY : " In the Flesh ")

In 2375 , Captain Benjamin Sisko gave Major Kira Nerys of the Bajoran Militia a field commission in Starfleet at the rank of Commander in order to give Kira more legitimacy during her work with the Cardassian Liberation Front . Kira resumed her old rank following the end of the Dominion War . ( DS9 : " When It Rains... ", " What You Leave Behind ")

As her Starfleet commission was the result of a transfer from the Vulcan High Command , T'Lyn received a provisional rank, at first as an ensign, then as a lieutenant junior grade . ( LD : " The Stars At Night ", " Twovix ")

In 2385 , Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway and Captain Chakotay gave Dal R'El , Rok-Tahk , Jankom Pog , Gwyndala , Murf , Zero and Maj'el field commissions to the rank of ensign . ( PRO : " Ouroboros, Part II ")

In 2401 , after securing the trust of the new Borg Queen Agnes Jurati , Admiral Jean-Luc Picard used his authority to grant Seven of Nine a field commission and command of the USS Stargazer . ( PIC : " Farewell ") Seven later held the rank of Commander and served as the first officer of the USS Titan -A before being promoted to Captain of the rechristened USS Enterprise -G . ( PIC : " The Next Generation ", " The Last Generation ")

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

Magdaleno's provisional rank pins

The first draft of the Voyager episode "Deep Time", which was the working title for " Parallax ", noted, in the case of the introduction of B'Elanna Torres ' first time donning a Starfleet uniform, that it has " a special PIP in the collar which signifies her "provisional" rank. (NOTE: All Maquis crewmembers will be wearing the same uniform with the same pip.) " This note was removed from later drafts, but does indicate the early intentions of the production staffers, with regards to wardrobe.

The rank insignia worn by the ex-Maquis crewmen aboard Voyager were lozenge-shaped rank pins with black or gold stripes rather than the standard pips used to show Starfleet rank .

The design art for these rank pips was designed by Jim Magdaleno appeared in the Star Trek Encyclopedia , 2nd ed., p. 211, The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine (#1, p. 72), and in print in the first issue, " Vacation's Over ", of the Malibu Comics miniseries Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Maquis: Soldier of Peace (image shown).

External links [ ]

• Battlefield commission at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Field commission at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Battlefield commission at Wikipedia
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• Star Trek Series | 2364 - 2378
• Star Trek: Voyager

Voyager's Rank Structure

• Thread starter ThatsMrCaptaintoyou
• Start date Dec 16, 2022

ThatsMrCaptaintoyou

• Dec 16, 2022

Rewatching Voyager I'm uncertain who the 3rd and 4th Officer is. We have Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok but is it Rollins next? It was established that he was Paris superior Officer so is it Paris after him, Torres who was 2 days outranked by her husband, then Kim  

Unfortunately, there's really no way to know since you can't get a reliable crew manifest. Given that Torres, Ayala, and Paris were all junior lieutenants, any senior lieutenant would have outranked them, if there was one onboard.  

Farscape One

Vice admiral.

There's also the fact that a higher rank doesn't necessarily mean you have a higher position. Take Data... a Lt. Cmdr. who was Second Officer, but Troi ended up outranking him. Same with Beverly. (In that case, it's more an apples to oranges comparison since there are scenarios where the CMO would have the final say on things.) Another example of rank not having the same meaning as position is in "TWISTED" and "THE HAUNTING OF DECK TWELVE", Kim is ordering people (Lt. Baxter in the former, Mess Hall full of people in the latter) to their duty stations. Back to VOYAGER, I can't believe I'm going to reference this horrible episode... "UNIMATRIX ZERO, PART II" has Tom tell Chakotay that he was acting XO while he was making a suggestion in the ready room. While Rollins may have outranked Paris, we don't know what his position was, and we never see him again after the pilot and was referenced only in "DREADNOUGHT". He could have been killed for all we know. It was clearly Tuvok after Chakotay, and I'm thinking it was Paris after Tuvok. Mainly due to the fact they are bridge officers. TOS gives us precedent for this, too. There have been times when Sulu was in command even though Scotty was right there. (Scotty was actually like Data... every time he was in a command situation, he was flawless.) I think since engineering is such a major department, it's hard to split focus between that and bridge command at the same time. Also, something about the chief engineer not being a line officer is a reason. (I'm not entirely sure what that term means, as I have never served. But it sounds like a form of chain of command.) I don't think it's a coincidence that TOS and ENT are the only shows where we see the chief engineer (Scotty and Trip) in command on the bridge. Maybe in the 22nd and 23rd centuries, Starfleet had their chief engineers act as third in command, but change that in the 24th century. This actually makes sense, as the bridge is where we see all the stuff happen.  

Paul Weaver

Holly-deck One said: I don't think it's a coincidence that TOS and ENT are the only shows where we see the chief engineer (Scotty and Trip) in command on the bridge Click to expand...

LOGAN: If we follow that plan, we'll lose the Enterprise. In view of the present crisis, I believe you should relinquish command to me. LAFORGE: No. LOGAN: I outrank you. LAFORGE: Mister Logan, I'm in command. LOGAN: The Captain did not anticipate the Enterprise would come under attack. If he had, would he have left the Bridge to you? ..... LAFORGE: The best thing, Mister Logan, is for this discussion to end and for you to return to your duties. Now, I'm in charge until relieved by Commander Riker or Captain Picard. LOGAN: You're ignoring my greater rank and experience. LAFORGE: Not at all. In fact, just to opposite. I'm counting on it. Now I need you to get back down to Engineering and get me every available scrap of emergency power you can. The more power we can channel to the shields, the longer we'll be able to hold out. Now, Mister Logan. Click to expand...

To be honest, it's probably best if you not try to make any sense of Voyager's rank structure. It was created by people who thought it made perfect sense to stick a newly minted ensign in a senior officer post, then not promote him for seven years.  

Fleet Captain

Crazy 4 XmasLights said: To be honest, it's probably best if you not try to make any sense of Voyager's rank structure. It was created by people who thought it made perfect sense to stick a newly minted ensign in a senior officer post, then not promote him for seven years. Click to expand...

fireproof78

Fleet admiral.

Paul Weaver said: That conversation then confirms that who is in command of the ship is not always rank related. La Forge indicated that even Data wouldn't be able to relieve him (although that was probably hyperbole -- he didn't mention another ship arriving and their XO taking command either). Click to expand...

Regarding O'Brien, given his lengthy service and wide experience, it's clear he was valued. He stayed an enlisted man because he didn't want to have to attend formal functions. ("PAST TENSE, PART I") O'Brien was certainly happier as an engineer, and the ones who were officers under him probably figured the experience under him would be a good step in their career. Work under O'Brien for a year or two, take a promotion opportunity if it arises, and continue on that course until they hit whatever goal they want, whether it's command or becoming chief engineer of a ship. Of course, given how O'Brien is, I imagine a vast majority of his engineers probably stick with him because he's a good boss. Best example of his leadership is in "STARSHIP DOWN" when he gives Worf command advice. Regarding Admiral Janeway on PRODIGY, we've seen this before... Kirk in TMP. In the case of Janeway, it's very possible the Protostar was a project that was directly under her command. And given her personality, I can totally see her strongarming other admirals to give her a ship to look for Chakotay.  

ThatsMrCaptaintoyou said: Kim took command of Voyager more so than Paris or Torres who did it for about 45 seconds combined Click to expand...

Summer Solstice

ThatsMrCaptaintoyou said: Rewatching Voyager I'm uncertain who the 3rd and 4th Officer is. We have Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok but is it Rollins next? It was established that he was Paris superior Officer so is it Paris after him, Torres who was 2 days outranked by her husband, then Kim Click to expand...

I know Paris was left in command in "INITIATIONS" while Janeway and Tuvok beamed down to rescue Chakotay. I don't think he was in command any other time. Torres... I don't think she was ever left in command.  

Holly-deck One said: Torres... I don't think she was ever left in command. Click to expand...

Crazy 4 XmasLights said: Neither was Geordi, once he became chief engineer. Click to expand...

Holly-deck One said: I know Paris was left in command in "INITIATIONS" while Janeway and Tuvok beamed down to rescue Chakotay. I don't think he was in command any other time. Torres... I don't think she was ever left in command. Click to expand...

I completely forgot about "TSUNKATSE". You are right. While Chakotay, Paris, and Kim were on the surface, Janeway on the Delta Flyer on a survey, and Tuvok kidnapped with Seven, Torres was the last senior officer left on Voyager .  

There were several occasions when La Forge was left in charge of the bridge while the senior officers were away. For example, in the season 4 episode "The Loss," La Forge was left in charge of the bridge while Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Counselor Troi were on an away mission. In the season 5 episode "Power Play," La Forge was left in charge of the bridge while the senior officers were on an away mission to try to rescue an alien scientist. Click to expand...

The Wormhole

Holly-deck One said: I know Paris was left in command in "INITIATIONS" while Janeway and Tuvok beamed down to rescue Chakotay. I don't think he was in command any other time. Click to expand...

FederationHistorian

I think VOY’s ranking is as followed: Janeway Chakotay Tuvok Doctor Torres Paris (demoted and them promoted) Kim Seven (Janeway made it clear that Harry Kim outranked her) Its just a matter of figuring out where Kes and Neelix fit.  

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rank and insignia

Non-Commissioned Officer ranks:

Archivist's note: All ranks award to Maquis and Equinox crew are field ranks. While the captain can award a field rank or promotion, such as Jean-Luc Picard did with acting Ensign W. Crusher, such ranks are subject to review by Starfleet Command and may not stand once Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant.

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The 15 greatest Star Trek: Voyager episodes, ranked

Credit: CBS

Star Trek: Voyager was a series with a great premise and stories that somewhat frequently — but not always — lived up to it.

25 years ago today, Voyager premiered with the two-hour pilot "Caretaker" and forever changed the franchise with its introduction to the first female Captain, Kathyrn Janeway (a perfect Kate Mulgrew). Resilient, Janeway was unyielding in her efforts to get her untested crew home after they were zapped to the uncharted Delta Quadrant, 75 years away from Earth. Starfleet personnel mixing with former officers/current members of a resistance group known as the Maquis promised great, "only-on- Star-Trek " conflict — coupled with a ship stranded from the usual resources and aid afforded Kirk and Picard’s Enterprises.

Sadly, Voyager never fully embraced the full potential of that core conceit, leading Voyager to spend a big chunk of its seven-season run feeling like " Star Trek: The Next Generation lite." The ship was usually always fixed the next week if the previous one had it under attack or badly damaged. And the crew seemingly didn't mind too much about taking detours to explore and map this unknown area of space instead of doing what normal humans would — less sightseeing, more getting this 75-year journey underway as soon as possible and without distraction.

Despite Voyager 's uneven feel, when the show hit its stride, it produced some of the most entertaining hours the genre has ever seen. To celebrate Voyager 's 25th anniversary, here are the 15 best episodes.

15 . “Caretaker” (Season 1)

Voyager 's feature-length series premiere is one of the strongest pilots ever for a Trek show. Starting off at Deep Space Nine before stranding Captain Janeway and her motley crew of Maquis deserters in the Delta Quadrant, "Caretaker" has a riveting first half, peppered with exceptional character interplay. Then the pacing and tension slow in the second hour where we spend way too much time with an alien race that seems to have modeled itself after the citizens of Mayberry and The Waltons.

14 . "Eye of the Needle" (Season 1)

"Eye of the Needle" has a bittersweet twist that ranks up there with some of the best Twilight Zone endings. With the help of an anomaly via a wormhole, Voyager is able to communicate with a ship in the Alpha Quadrant. The catch? It's a Romulan vessel and not one in the same time as our lost heroes.

13 . "Dreadnaught" (Season 2)

If Speed and Runaway Train had a kid, it would be "Dreadnaught."

This compelling and tense hour of Voyager centers on engineer — the Klingon-Human Torres — struggling to reprogram a deadly missile designed by her enemy, the Cardassians, before it destroys a planet. Most of the hour is just Torres in a room, talking to a computer, and it is some of the most harrowing scenes in all of Trek history.

12 . "Mortal Coil" (Season 4)

Neelix, as a character, struggled to find solid footing among the ensemble jockeying for meaty storylines. But "Mortal Coil" remedies that with a dark, brooding storyline that takes on the afterlife and Neelix's near-death experience with it. After realizing the afterlife his culture believes in isn't really there, our favorite Talaxian suffers a heartbreaking existential crisis.

11 . "Tinker, Tailor, Doctor, Spy" (Season 6)

Veteran Star Trek: The Next Generation writer Joe Menosky — with a story from cartoonist Bill Vallely — crafted one of The Doctor's funniest outings, as the sentient hologram struggles with the hilarious consequences of giving himself the ability to daydream. The good doctor's fantasies catch the attention of an alien race's surveillance, but they think they are real — which brings about some trouble for the crew. How the Doctor saves the day is one of the best scenes Voyager has ever done.

10 . "Blink of an Eye" (Season 6) / "Relativity" (Season 5)

"Blink of an Eye" has a perfect Trek premise — Voyager orbits a planet where time passes differently for its inhabitants that for the ship's crew, so Janeway is able to watch this society evolve in, well, a blink of an eye.

This first contact scenario allows the show to invest the "explore strange new worlds" mandate with more emotion and nuance than Voyager usually affords its stories, giving fans a surprisingly poignant episode that still holds up to this day.

And despite time travel being a popular narrative trope in Star Trek , the show never failed to find new ways to explore and subvert it. "Relativity" is a fun, ticking-clock caper that sends former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) back in time to prevent the destruction of Voyager. Co-written by Discovery co-creator Bryan Fuller, this exciting episode keeps you at the edge of your couch cushion with an impressive act four twist.

09 . "The Equinox, Parts I & II" (Seasons 5 & 6)

In a plot worthy of a Star Trek movie, Janeway and her crew encounter another starship stuck in the Delta Quadrant, The Equinox. Commanded by a battle-hardened, Ahab-like figure, Captain Ransom (John Savage), The Equinox plots to hijack Voyager and strand her crew aboard their dying ship — in order to escape a race of subspace aliens that have been plaguing them.

Part of the fun of this excellent two-parter is never really knowing for most of its run time where the plot is going to go — for a moment, we actually think Janeway will lose this one.

08 . "Deadlock" (Season 2)

"Deadlock" is one of the few bright spots from Voyager 's bumpy early days. While the episode could take place on any of Trek 's ship-based shows, the stakes feel higher and for Janeway and her crew as they must work with those belonging to an alternate version of Voyager to get out of trouble.

When our Voyager — Voyager Prime — becomes fatally disabled, Janeway volunteers to sacrifice her ship so the other Voyager can go on. How Janeway handles the idea of this sacrifice results in the Ensign Harry Kim (Garret Wang) the show started with being replaced by his doppelganger.

07 . "Scorpion, Parts I & II" (Seasons 3 & 4)

"Scorpion" is action-packed Season 3 finale/Season 4 premiere that kicks off with a hell of a hook for a teaser: A small fleet of Borg cubes easily destroyed by an offscreen threat.

That threat is revealed to be Species 8472, a long-standing rival of the Borg in this quadrant of space — the only thing the Borg are afraid of. Enter Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), a Borg attache who becomes a remember of Janeway's crew as Voyager teams up with the enemy of their enemy to both defeat the Borg and shave some time off their trip home.

"Scorpion" represents a turning point for the series and for the franchise, with the introduction of the instantly-iconic Seven — another member of Trek’s deep bench of alien characters struggling to learn what it takes to be human. Or, in Seven's case, rediscover her humanity.

06 . "Counterpoint" (Season 5)

"Counterpoint" (Kate Mulgrew's favorite episode) is arguably Voyager 's most underrated episode, with a storyline whose elevator pitch could be "The Diary of Anne Frank" in space.

Voyager is secretly providing safe harbor to a group of telepaths being hunted by an alien race that hates them. (So, basically, Space Nazis). When the latter's charming leader defects to Voyager, and sparks a relationship with Janeway, it's instantly fraught with suspicion that boils over into bittersweet betrayal. The hour is an acting showcase for Mulgrew, as she pushes Janeway to uneasy places with the hard choices only this captain can make — and learn to live with.

05 . "Latent Image" (Season 5)

The most successful medical storylines on Star Trek are those that tap into moral/ethical dilemmas with a tech twist. In "Latent Image," the Doctor finds himself caught in the middle of both as he and Seven work to uncover who appears to have tampered with his memory — and why.

What starts as a whodunit becomes a powerful drama dealing with consent and the rights afforded all lifeforms — including artificial ones like the Doctor — when he discovers that Janeway altered his program against his will. Why? Because the doctor was confronted with a hard choice that broke him: With two patients' lives on the line, and only enough time to save one of them, the Doctor chose to save his friend.

04 . "Hope and Fear" (Season 4)

A rare non-two parter season finale, "Hope and Fear" is a landmark episode in the Janeway-Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) dynamic that puts the two at odds — only to come together in the end — in ways that echo Kirk and Spock.

When a sketchy alien (Ray Wise) shows up with the promise of getting Voyager home with the help of an all-too-convenient new starship, everyone fantasizes about the pros and cons of their long journey coming to an end. But the alien's plan is revealed to be a long con — he is a Borg attack survivor seeking revenge on Voyager, specifically Seven.

After he suffers a fitting but tragic end, "Hope and Fear" wraps up with a crew overcoming the letdown of still being stuck lightyears from home by focusing on a renewed purpose to keep going.

03 . "Message In a Bottle" (Season 4)

This fast-paced mix of action and comedy is a solid two-hander between Voyager’s EMH and a more advanced version (Andy Dick) aboard a sophisticated new starship that’s been hijacked (naturally) by Romulans. The two unlikely heroes are Voyager's only hope as they must use the ship's unique ability to separate into three different sections to defeat the bad guys.

Star Trek is hit and miss when it comes to comedy, but "Message In a Bottle" finds a near-perfect balance between laughs and sci-fi action while providing further proof that actor Robert Picardo is the series' MVP.

02 . "Timeless" (Season 5)

Voyager 's 100th episode is one of the greatest ever produced on any Star Trek series. "Timeless" opens in a future where Voyager crashed on an ice planet while on its way home, and centers on Ensign Harry Kim's efforts to save his crew in a very "timey wimey" fashion. (Captain Geordi La Forge, played by LeVar Burton — who directed the episode — stands in the good Ensign’s way).

With "Timeless," showrunner and writer Brannon Braga set out to do for Voyager what "The City on the Edge of Forever" did for the classic Original Series . A high bar this entertaining, high-concept hour effortlessly reaches.

01 . "Year of Hell," Parts I & II (Season 4)

Voyager achieved feature film-level quality with this epic two-parter.

Janeway and crew struggle to defeat time-manipulating genocidal villain (a perfect Kurtwood Smith) as he risks breaking the laws of physics — and chipping away our heroes' starship with battle damage — all so he can get back to his lost wife. To right that wrong, and alter the timeline by doing so, he and his time ship destroy an entire civilization. With some of the best space battles in the franchise's history, coupled with the moral and ethical dramas only Star Trek can do, "Year of Hell" is an all-timer.

• Star Trek: Voyager

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The Best Star Trek Villains of All Time, Ranked

Star Trek has had some great bad guys over the decades, especially these 15 terrors to Starfleet and the universe.

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As a franchise about human progress and the values of cooperation instead of competition, Star Trek is more about its heroes than its villains. We tune in to see how Kirk will inspire his crew or to watch Picard call upon logic and empathy to solve problems. That focus might be why Trek has had some awful villains over the decades, stinkers like the Ferengi in Star Trek: The Next Generation , Armus, or the Kazon.

But when Star Trek does introduce a character who truly challenges our heroes, not in terms of might or even cunning, but in terms of their principles, then things get interesting. The series has always done well with baddies such as Gary Marshall, a human who went too far in his search for more, traitors like Michael Eddington and Seska, or the incomprehensible and uncaring Kivas Fajo from TNG ‘s “The Most Toys.”

But the very best of the worst, those who challenge the very concept of Starfleet and the Federation and leave us wondering about our heroes, are these 15 stand outs.

15. The Duras Sisters

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock completed the Klingon reinvention that began with The Motion Picture , changing not just their physical appearance but also their attitudes. From that point on, Klingons became more warlike and obsessed with honor, mostly losing the duplicitous qualities on display in The Original Series .

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Introduced in The Next Generation , the Duras Sisters Lursa and B’Etor do talk a lot about honor and they do go into battle to prove their worth in war. But they are also two of the most treachorous characters in Trek history. Wonderfully played by Barbara March and Gwynyth Walsh, Lursa and B’Etor plague Picard and Worf throughout TNG , at least until their death in Star Trek: Generations . Even then, however, their legacy remains so odious that Worf still refers to himself as the Bane of House Duras.

14. The Diviner

Star Trek: Prodigy is a very different style of series, not just because it’s an animated kid’s show. The series also features an overarching villain in the form of the Diviner, who rules the asteroid Tars Lamora where the Prodigy kids were enslaved. Voiced by the great John Noble , the Diviner was pure evil in Prodigy ‘s first season, despite his connection to daughter Gwyndala, a member of the Protostar crew.

However, Prodigy ‘s triumphant second season fleshed out the character, making him more of a three-dimensional antagonist than a standard baddie. Throughout the season, we see how a hopeful Vau N’Akat called Ilthuran witnessed the destruction of his planet during a civil war sparked by the arrival of the Federation, and how he became the Diviner to stop it. The revelations add shades of complexity not just to the Diviner as a villain, but to the United Federation of Planets itself.

13. Admiral Cartwright

Star Trek has a long history of terrible admirals who compromise Starfleet’s morals for their own ends. Few, however, can do worse than Admiral Cartwright, one of the true villains in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . Played by Brock Peters, who would go on to portray the much more lovable Joseph Sisko in Deep Space Nine , Cartwright violates the very principles of Starfleet.

Star Trek VI revives the Cold War metaphor that drove many TOS episodes, presenting Klingon Chancellor Gorkon ( David Warner ) as a Gorbachev-type person who tries to broker peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. Cartwright represents American right-wing hawks, as he undermines those talks through Gorkon’s assassination, hoping to keep the war going and shore up his power in Starfleet.

12. Gul Madred

Speaking of David Warner… Captain Jean-Luc Picard is the picture of dignity and self-control. So anyone who reduces him to a trembling, self-doubting mess must be truly evil. That’s the case for Gul Madred, who captures and tortures Picard in the classic TNG two-parter “ Chain of Command .”

Forever keeping his cool and even presenting himself as a friend, Madred plays a simple game with Picard. Madred promises to cease the torture and set Picard free, if the Captain will just admit that he sees five lights in front of him despite it actually only being four. Knowing that the first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, Picard refuses, insisting that there are four lights. The apparent simplicity of Madred’s demand, and the ruthlessness in which he pursues it, makes Madred one of the worst.

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11. Captain Gabriel Lorca

We should have known Lorca was bad when he listed Elon Musk as one of history’s great inventors. As played by Jason Isaacs (hello), Captain Gabriel Lorca is one of the highlights of Discovery ‘s tortured first season. Presented as a wartime Captain of a science vessel, Lorca initially appears as a means for Michael Burnham to make her way back into the Federation’s good graces, after she’s charged with mutiny and blamed for starting a war with the Klingons.

However, as the season progresses, we learn that Lorca is an escapee from the Mirror Universe who wants to use Discovery ‘s spore cell warp capabilities to his own ends. Mirror Universe stories tend to divide Trekkies, even more so than Discovery itself. But no one can deny Isaacs’s always-magnetic performance and his unique twist on the “evil Starfleet” trope.

None of the Kelvin-verse movies have good villains. Even the best film in the trilogy wastes the great Idris Elba by burying him under makeup and saddling him with dumb motivations. It’s not hard to see the Romulan Nero from 2009’s Star Trek going the same way, with his ostentatious face tattoos and ridiculous ship that’s apparently a mining vessel but looks like Satan’s hair pic.

However, Eric Bana saves Nero from the reboot dustbin with a committed performance and surprising line readings. His outburst when hearing that Romulus did not get destroyed, or his way of saying “Hello Christopher, I’m Nero” to Pike bring an unpredictability to the character, fitting the non-stop action that is J.J. Abrams’s version of Star Trek .

9. Nick Locarno

Even if he never returned as a big bad in Lower Decks , Nick Locarno would be a pretty notable Star Trek villain. After all, he used his standing as the son of a prominent Starfleet admiral (seriously, those guys are no good) to pressure his fellow Academy cadets in Nova Squadron into trying a restricted maneuver. When the attempt inevitably led to the death of one of their members, he forced the others to stay quiet, including Wesley Crusher .

Because contract shenanigans drove Paramount to change Locarno into Tom Paris for Voyager (while still keeping a similar backstory and the same actor, Robert Duncan McNeill), Locarno never got a redemption arc. Instead, he shows up in Lower Decks as a baddie who tries to turn the lower ranking members of various crews into a resistance force… albeit one with him at the center.

8. General Chang

William Shatner naming the heaven planet “Sha Ka Ree” wasn’t enough to pull Sean Connery to play Spock’s renegade brother Sybok for Star Trek V . But Shatner’s time as a stage actor did lead the great Christopher Plummer to signing on to play loquacious and battle-hungry Klingon General Chang in The Undiscovered Country .

General Chang isn’t quite as devious as the aforementioned Admiral Cartwright, but he ranks higher on this list, thanks to Plummer’s delightful villainous performance. With an eyepatch screwed right onto his face and a predilection for quoting Shakespeare in Klingon (that’s the only way to enjoy it, after all), Chang steals every scene that he’s in.

Let it never be said that Brent Spiner let an opportunity pass him by. As soon as Data became the de facto second lead of TNG , Spiner took every chance he could to put new spins on his character. We can debate the merits of the Soong family he played or of his various holodeck characters, but Spiner’s best non-Data character remains Lore.

Through Lore, Spiner channels the inherent kindness of Data and spins it into an evil other. Lore has the same sense of wonder about humanity that drives Data, but it makes him want to study them like a scientist dissecting a frog. The fact that he does it with charm and a smile, even when aligning himself with the pathetic Pakleds, makes him all the better.

6. Kai Winn

Oh my child, you didn’t think Kai Winn would make this list? No villain worth their salt thinks of themselves as a villain. They always believe their cause righteous, and no one has ever been more self-righteous than Kai Winn, the Bajoran religious leader from Deep Space Nine .

Played with spine-chilling condescension by the great Louise Fletcher, who puts a warmer and crueler spin on her signature Nurse Ratched character, Kai Winn serves as a counterpoint to Sisko. Where exposure to the Prophets gives Sisko an insight that no one in Starfleet or on Bajor can understand, Kai Winn shows how that confidence can turn cruel, self-serving, and, in the end, self-destructive.

With apologies to Worf, Kor might be the greatest Klingon in Star Trek history. After all, Kor alone properly bridges the two generations of Klingons (we’re all still ignoring the Discovery redesigns, right?), making the two different takes feel of a piece. Kor first debuted as a glowering opponent to Captain Kirk in TOS . There, the boisterous figure prided himself on his ability to match wits and outsmart Starfleet’s finest.

Although he ascended to Dahar Master, he and his associates Kang and Koloth were shells of themselves when they returned to the screen on Deep Space Nine . It was only through his friendship with Jadzia Dax that Kor regained his honor, eventually sacrificing himself in the Dominion War. With every version of Kor, actor John Colicos met the moment (except for the version from The Animated Series , in which James Doohan voiced Kor), the first to show the depths within the Klingon hearts.

4. The Borg

The terrifying part of the Borg is right there in their name. There isn’t one Borg, nor is there properly plural Borgs. There is just the Borg. The Borg are the dark mirror of the Federation, who likes to believe that they recruit new planets and civilizations with a hand of welcome and allow for difference. The Borg labor under no such delusions, understanding that they force other cultures to assimilate, taking in their knowledge and leaving nothing else behind.

While it is true that concepts such as the Borg Queen and overexposure have dulled some of the Borg’s power, those early appearances still send a chill down this viewer’s spine. The sight of Picard revealed as Locutus, or even the way Q hurls the Enterprise into deep space to meet the Borg, still carries a power that no bad seasons of Picard can change.

Then there’s Q. Like Mirror Universe or Holodeck episodes, Q is an acquired taste. He brings the many god-like characters from TOS into the TNG -era, and their silliness along with them. After all, for all of his power, Q prefers pranks over actual menace, making the Enterprise crew act out a Robin Hood story or battling Sisko as an old-timey pugilist.

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Yet, we can never forget the stories that bookend Q’s appearances (at least at this point). He was introduced as a powerful being who judges humanity for their brazenness to travel so far from home. As the teaser at the end of Picard season three shows, that trail still continues today. Furthermore, John de Lancie manages to sell every part of Q’s behavior, from his playfulness to his cruelty.

2. Gul Dukat

Everything hinted by Gul Madred came to full fruition in Gul Dukat, played by Marc Alaimo. It’s not just that Dukat is heartless, such as when he called up Kira to remind her about his romance(?) with her mother. It’s not just that he’s delusional, wondering why there are no statues of him on Bajor. It’s that he’s dedicated to a might-makes-right philosophy that the Federation shares, even if they won’t admit it.

Dukat believes in the supremacy of the Cardassians, and believes that it was proven by their conquest of Bajor. He can accept that Starfleet defeated the Cardassians, at least temporarily, but that’s not enough to make him respect the Bajorans, who did after all need someone stronger to set them free. Spouting the logic of despots, both real-world and imagined, with a lizard’s smile on his face, Dukat is the ideal enemy to the morally-complex Sisko because he knows what he wants and believes and isn’t afraid to go for it.

1. Khan Noonien Singh

So great was Khan as a challenge to Kirk, so powerful was Ricardo Montalban as a double to William Shatner, that the two characters never actually share the screen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . If Shatner and Montalban were somehow in the same shot, there would be no scenery left, as the two would devour it all by the end of their first scene. That sounds like an insult, but it’s truly not. Khan is so imperious that we believe he’s an unfrozen conqueror who could convince a Starfleet officer to abandon her post and follow him. We believe that Khan is so filled with righteous anger toward Kirk that he would do anything to destroy the Captain, even killing himself in the process.

Khan is everything that Star Trek needs in a bad guy. He’s an explorer and at the peak of human ability. He’s strong and brave and philosophical. And he’s gone bad, humanity’s hopes for itself gone wrong and evil, perhaps proving that Q is correct to doubt us.

Joe George | @jageorgeii

Joe George’s writing has appeared at Slate, Polygon, Tor.com, and elsewhere!

Every Season Of Star Trek: Voyager Ranked Worst To Best

When "Star Trek: Voyager" premiered on Monday, January 16, 1995, it didn't just mark the launch of the fourth live-action "Star Trek" series. Its broadcast also marked the launch of UPN, Paramount's stab at establishing a fifth American television network after CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX.

Picking "Voyager" for this important corporate duty was, to borrow a phrase, flawlessly logical. At the time, executives at Paramount saw the 1960s science fiction program and its spin-offs as so important to the studio that they reportedly referred to it as "the franchise." Indeed, with "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" in the midst of its third successful season in first-run syndication and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" having made the jump to the big screen with the box office success of "Star Trek Generations," the "Star Trek" franchise was at an all-time high.

Almost 30 years later, interest in "Voyager" remains high, with characters from the series featured in prominent roles on "Star Trek: Lower Decks," "Star Trek: Prodigy" and "Star Trek: Picard." A crowdfunding campaign for a retrospective "Voyager" documentary successfully raised more than $1.3 million from nearly 12,000 backers. And many fans who didn't love the show at the time have developed a new appreciation for "Voyager."

In light of all that renewed interest in "Voyager," let's take a look at the show's seven seasons, which originally ran from 1995 until 2001, and see how they stack up against one another, from worst to best. We'll highlight specific episodes that characterize each season, but won't discuss every one — after all, there were 172 of them!

7. Season 7

They saved the worst for last. Season opener "Unimatrix Zero, Part II" all too neatly resolves the previous season's cliffhanger, but ends with an intriguing premise: a Borg civil war is brewing. The first of many empty promises. "Repression" seems like it will finally confront the fact that a quarter of the Voyager's crew are former Maquis, terrorists in the eyes of the Federation. Instead of examining this long-dormant dynamic, however, the episode veers off into a silly mind-control plot that is easily resolved and utterly without consequences.

Even the season's best installment, "Author, Author," dealing with The Doctor (Robert Picardo) and his pursuit of holographic rights, feels like a warmed-over version of "The Next Generation" episode "The Measure of a Man" and derivative of earlier episodes like "Living Witness" or "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy."

And lastly, there's "Endgame." The out-of-left-field romance between Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) is awkward and unconvincing. Alice Krige reprises her role as the Borg Queen for the first time since "Star Trek: First Contact," but is utterly wasted. There's a disjointed and obligatory action finale. "Hull breaches on decks six through twelve!" shouts Ensign Kim ( Garrett Wang ), going through the motions. That much of the final episode is spent in an alternate future soon to be erased by the reset button of temporal intervention, rather than truly confronting what it will mean for these characters to finally return home, is a perfect distillation of the show's worst impulses.

6. Season 5

Season 5 is the epitome of conservative and unambitious television. There are good, even great episodes here, but they're trapped in an episodic formula with a perpetual status quo.

Consider "Timeless," the best episode of the season and a series standout. It has a cracking teaser (Voyager frozen in the ice, nearly all of the crew dead) and focuses on a character rarely in the spotlight, Harry Kim. Mostly set 15 years after the show's "present," Kim believes he made a mistake that killed all of his friends and is obsessed with traveling back in time to change history. It's a terrific yarn, but it reveals the limitations of the "Voyager" format. In an alternate future, Kim's personality can change, Chakotay can have a lover, series regulars can die, and characters can return home, but in the Season 5's perpetual present, every character is the same week in and week out.

Similarly, in "Extreme Risk," B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) confronts her trauma after learning that all of the Maquis left behind in the Alpha Quadrant perished. The thing is: B'Elanna learned this 15 episodes ago, but hasn't displayed any such behavior before now. Worse, when Torres resolves the problem du jour, it seems to magically cure her psychological problems. In the end, Torres orders a stack of banana pancakes with maple syrup, smiles, and all is well, her issues never to be mentioned again in any meaningful way. This is emblematic of the season's problems.

5. Season 6

Season 6 has several ongoing storylines that leave its characters a little less frozen in amber than in Season 5. While only one actually works, Season 6 ranks just a bit higher than Season 5 for at least trying to be more ambitious.

Voyager regains contact with the Alpha Quadrant — the season's best storyline — in "Pathfinder" and "Life Line." There's no reset button at the end of either; after "Pathfinder," the Voyager is in regular contact with the Alpha Quadrant for the remainder of the series. A second storyline involves a group of Borg children who are discovered in "Collective," then recur in three other episodes. That all adds up to a season low point, as they further the show's defanging of the Borg as a meaningful adversary. Even more unfortunate is an Irish village on the holodeck. It was abandoned after only two episodes, "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk," but not before subjecting audiences to more grating stereotypes than even "The Next Generation" stinker "Up The Long Ladder."

Beyond these three storylines, this is a season once again driven by episodic fare, and although there are some worthwhile installments (including "Survival Instinct" and "Barge of the Dead," both written by Ronald D. Moore), there are quite a few clunkers. Those clunkers, including "Alice," "Virtuoso," "Tsunkatse" (aka "The One with The Rock"), "Ashes to Ashes," and "Live Fast And Prosper," have nothing on "Fury," a series nadir. Marking the return of Kes (Jennifer Lien), it is a total misuse of the character, whose motivations are paper-thin and inconsistent with previous characterization.

4. Season 3

After the cliffhanger resolution in "Basics, Part II," Season 3 ditches Seska (Martha Hackett) and the Kazon. Other early-season elements, including the Vidiians, the Caretaker's race, and the Ocampa (outside of Kes) are also dropped. What's left is a series looking to remake itself as more plot-driven and episodic, and the results were mixed.

"Flashback" has fun revisiting the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," but it's a hollow nostalgia trip. "The Swarm" features a great performance by Robert Picardo as both The Doctor and a hologram of his creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, but it ends with a promise immediately broken. The Doctor's memories are erased. How would this rest affect the rest of the crew, who have formed relationships with the EMH that he can't remember? Doesn't matter, it's forgotten and ignored! "False Profits" asks us to swallow the premise that the Ferengi lost in the Delta Quadrant during "The Next Generation's" "The Price" are somehow along the Voyager's narrow path home. Another miss.

The season picks up steam with "Blood Fever," a Vulcan mating story with a cliffhanger three seasons in the making: the Voyager approaches Borg territory. Followed up in "Unity," which has Chakotay encounter a group of humanoids who separated from the Borg Collective, this is more fully paid off in the season finale, "Scorpion, Part I." The Borg would become a well that "Voyager" dipped into too many times, but in Season 3 they were still a dangerous adversary.

3. Season 1

"Voyager" kicks off with "Caretaker," a solid premiere that introduces a cast of nine regulars and establishes the Delta Quadrant's new aliens, including the Kazon, Ocampa, Talaxians, and the Caretaker's species. It's the only season that treats the show's premise seriously. Janeway's abrupt integration of the Starfleet and Maquis leads to interpersonal conflicts, most notably in "Parallax" and "Learning Curve." The Voyager's need to replenish energy supplies is covered in "The Cloud," which also establishes that the ship's stockpile of photon torpedoes is finite. But, as early as the second episode, we're told the holodeck's energy matrix "isn't compatible with other power systems," which allows the writers to pay lip service to supply shortages without curtailing their holo-addiction.

The series also kneecaps itself by opting to use the Kazon as its primary villain. Deliberately modeled after street gangs in Los Angeles , the Kazon (primarily white actors in brownface) come off as a less interesting and more racist iteration of the Klingons. The Vidiians should have been the focus instead. Featured in two of the season's best episodes, "Phage" and "Faces," the Vidiians are driven by an illness that breaks down their internal organs and can only be staved off by frequent transplants, which some acquire by force.

Although front-loaded with two awful episodes ("Parallax" and "Time and Again"), the first season picks up as it goes along and really finds its swing in the back half. That cements its position on this list.

2. Season 2

Season 2 features some of the show's finest episodes and tries to push what a "Star Trek" series can be. There was even an attempt at more serialized storytelling — involving Seska, the Kazon, and a traitor aboard Voyager — which doesn't stick the landing ("Investigations" in particular is anticlimactic), but at least they tried.

"Death Wish" is the best use of Q (John de Lancie) outside of "The Next Generation." Quinn (Gerrit Graham), a fellow Q, wants to commit suicide in defiance of the Q Continuum and seeks asylum with Janeway in order to do so. Janeway pleads with Quinn to "think hard" before he gives up his life, but with Q's help, he goes through with it. Brad Dourif plays his usual character type as Lon Suder in "Meld," but he's so good at bringing sociopaths to life that it's hard to fault the casting director. His interplay with Tuvok (Tim Russ) provides the Vulcan with some of his best scenes in the entire series, and their relationship pays off when Suder returns in "Basics."

But this is also the season of "Threshold," a nonsense warp 10 story that climaxes with Janeway and Paris as salamanders. Worse is "Tattoo," the pinnacle of patronizingly vague Native American spiritualism that defined Chakotay early on. It's unsurprising that "Voyager" had no American Indian writers on staff and that Jamake Highwater, the show's Native American advisor,  was a complete fraud,  an Italian American posing as a Cherokee.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

1. Season 4

The arrival of Seven of Nine as a new regular in "Scorpion, Part II" is a hypo in the arm for the series. And although Seven's introduction means Kes' departure, the show gives the latter character a fitting send-off in "The Gift."

"Year of Hell" was originally conceived as a season-long arc  but cut down to a two-parter. It truly delivers on "Voyager's" core premise. As the ship is attacked and damaged, it stays damaged. As power becomes rationed, the crew gets dirtier, and everyday survival becomes difficult. Tuvok's blindness is the kind of character turn that should have been made permanent. Alas, even in Season 4, "Voyager" is still an episodic series, and all is undone by a reset button. "Mortal Coil" is a frank tale about death that rejects the magical realism often embraced by televised science fiction. And "Living Witness," a format-defying story that confronts the politically driven revision of history, is even more relevant today than when it first aired. On top of all this is a six-episode arc about the Hirogen, an imposing race of big-game hunters who provide the ship with its first chance in four years to (briefly) communicate with the Alpha Quadrant, finally letting people back home know that they're alive.

If there's one major misstep, it's the finale, "Hope and Fear," which dangles the possibility of returning home before the inevitable bait-and-switch. But at least it has the decency of forgoing a thunderous cliffhanger.

All Star Trek: Voyager main characters ranked worst to best

By michael atkins-prescott | jun 6, 2023.

Ranking Star Trek: Voyager’s characters from worst to best.

Star Trek: Voyager was a show of extremes. Even though it was remembered as the runt of the litter of 90s Star Trek, it had its highlights. Back in the days of episodic TV, when there were 26-odd episodes to a season, there was a lot of room for both highs and lows, and on Voyager, the highs were high, and the lows were low. Just like Voyager had both great and terrible episodes, it had both great and terrible characters.

It’s hard to know where to start in talking about what was wrong with Kes, easily the worst character in the main cast of any Star Trek show. Kes was a big nothing of a character. She exemplified what was wrong with the writing on Voyager, in that nothing was made of some potentially interesting ideas.

Kes’s people, the Ocampa had psychic abilities which they’d lost and all but forgotten when they were forced to live underground after an ecological disaster. As the first Ocampan to leave the homeworld in generations, her powers were beginning to manifest, and even she did not know how powerful she’d become. Foreshadowing that she may become too powerful for the safety of the rest of the crew went nowhere, which was frustrating, as that would’ve given her a darker side. Instead, she remained blandly two-dimensional. The one time she almost displayed a sense of humor, it turned out to be a hallucination .

It may be tempting to lay the blame on actress Jennifer Lien (it still tickles me that “J. Lien” rhymes with “alien”), but reading the production notes on the character, it’s clear that she was written that way. Lien was actually doing a remarkable job of giving the producers what they (for some reason) wanted. Those production notes describe her as “fragile” and “childlike”, which speaks to the now-unavoidably problematic nature of the character. The Ocampa only live to about eight or nine years old, so as a young woman, Kes was only two. The resident hottie was canonically only two years old. Whose idea was that, and are they allowed within a hundred feet of schools and playgrounds?

It’s hard to imagine that when they needed to get rid of a character to make way for Seven of Nine’s introduction in season 4, they considered getting rid of anyone but Kes (more on that later).

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TREKNEWS.NET | Your daily dose of Star Trek news and opinion

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Review: Star Trek: Picard — No Man’s Land

In what might be the first for a Star Trek audiobook, Star Trek: Picard: No Man’s Land gets a physical release treatment. The audiobook, which came out in 2022 and was written by Trek vets Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson , tells a story centering on Raffi Musiker ( Michelle Hurd , who reprises her role from Star Trek: Picard ) and Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan , reprising her role from Star Trek: Voyager and Picard ) set in between the first and second seasons of Picard . Whereas before today fans could only enjoy this story in its original audiobook form, those who eschew audio dramas can now read the script of this production. But the question is: would you want to?

It’s important to drive home that this release isn’t a novel; it’s the script of the audiobook. That means the story unfolds without the detailed comforts of a novelization; readers read what the actors and production staff would have read when the audiobook was recorded. As such, it’s a brisk 147-page drama that forces the reader to imagine details otherwise filled by voice recordings or sound effects.

As it stands, having the script of an audio production available is pretty neat. When you open this script, it’s like reading a blueprint, rather than viewing the finished product. Normally, it would be up to actors to breathe life and personality into the words you read, so don’t be surprised if the words by themselves in this script can feel a bit hollow, lifeless, or lack the dramatic timing you’d listen to in an audiobook or read in a novel. Ultimately, you’ll use your imagination quite a bit to fill in the purposefully missing details in this sparse script; hopefully, you know Star Trek well. If this seems like something your mind is up for, give this script a chance.

“ Star Trek: Picard – No Man’s Land  picks up right after the action-packed season one conclusion of  Star Trek: Picard.  While Raffi and Seven of Nine are enjoying some much-needed R&R in Raffi’s remote hideaway, their downtime is interrupted by an urgent cry for help: a distant, beleaguered planet has enlisted the Fenris Rangers to save an embattled evacuation effort. As Raffi and Seven team up to rescue a mysteriously ageless professor whose infinity-shaped talisman has placed him in the deadly sights of a vicious Romulan warlord, they take tentative steps to explore the attraction depicted in the final moments of  Picard  season one. Based on the hit audio original, fans can now read this riveting script with fan-favorite characters.” – Official summary of No Man’s Land .

If this doesn’t sound like something you’d find enjoyable, that’s okay. The script release of No Man’s Land isn’t designed to appeal to everyone. It’s a collector’s item, an example of how many minds – actors, voiceover directors, sound engineers, producers, and whoever else – need to come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Importantly, we doubt non- Star Trek fans would get much from this release, which isn’t usually our observation for Star Trek publications.

We never reviewed the original No Man’s Land release back in 2022, so this was our first time visiting the story. As fans of Star Trek: Picard, we appreciated learning how and why Seven and Raffi awkwardly interact the way they do in season two of that show. We also appreciated the story’s attempt to tackle a quintessential science-fiction theme – immortality – and place that within what’s essentially two love stories.

These love stories, one between Raffi and Seven and another between Doctor Gillan and his wife, are placed within what’s become a major event in Star Trek history: the evacuation of Romulan worlds preceding their home star going supernova. Seven, still with the do-gooding Fenris Rangers, enlists Raffi to help stop a rogue Romulan warlord from uncovering the secret to immortality. Unfortunately, we can’t say this story ranks highly among the best in Star Trek’ s pantheon thanks to its cookie-cutter villain and cliché dialogue, but it at least provides context for season two of Picard .

Our advice: if you’re interested in seeing the blueprint of an audiobook, and you’re a Star Trek fan through and through, give this script a shot. It won’t be the best way to absorb the story, but it will be a novel experience.

You can buy Star Trek: Picard: No Man’s Land  now on Amazon . The audiobook can be purchased on Amazon , too.

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Prodigy , Star Trek: Starfleet Academy , Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Lower Decks , and more.

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Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

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The 10 best Star Trek: Voyager episodes, ranked

As much as fans love to praise Star Trek as groundbreaking science fiction, it’s important to remember that, for most of the franchise’s history, Trek was weekly procedural television. Until the streaming era, each series was churning out roughly 26 episodes a year, and by the later seasons of Star Trek: Voyager , some of the creative crew had been in the business of making Star Trek for over a decade. The franchise was a crossover commercial success, the kind of success that the money men like to leave exactly as it is for as long as it’s doing steady numbers.

10. Counterpoint (season 5, episode 10)

9. the thaw (season 2, episode 23), 8. mortal coil (season 4, episode 12), 7. latent image (season 5, episode 11), 6. bride of chaotica (season 5, episode 12), 5. living witness (season 4, episode 23), 4. prime factors (season 1, episode 10), 3. year of hell, parts i & ii (season 4, episodes 8 & 9), 2. blink of an eye (season 6, episode 12), 1. timeless (season 5, episode 6).

The operation was essentially on rails, and there was a lot of pressure from the studio and the network to keep it that way, which accounts for the general blandness of Voyager and the early years of its successor, Enterprise . The waning years of Trek’s golden era were plagued by creative exhaustion and, consequently, laziness. Concepts from previous series were revisited, often with diminishing returns, and potentially groundbreaking ideas were nixed from on high in order to avoid upsetting the apple cart.

That’s not to say that Star Trek: Voyager isn’t still a solid television show, and even many Trekkies’ favorite. The saga of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and her gallant crew finding their way home from the farthest reaches of the galaxy may not be as ambitious as it could have been, but it is steadily entertaining, which is why new and nostalgic fans alike enjoy it as cozy “comfort viewing.” For our part, however, we tend to enjoy the episodes that have a certain emotional intensity or creative spark, that feel like conceptual or stylistic risks. As such, you might find that our list of the 10 best Voyager episodes differs greatly from some of the others out there. We like when Voyager dared to get heavy, or silly, or sappy, or mean. So, without further ado, let’s raise a glass to the journey …

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Counterpoint drops the audience into the middle of an ongoing story,in which Voyager is boarded and inspected by agents of a fascist government, the Devore. The Devore treat all travelers through their space with suspicion, but are particularly concerned with capturing and detaining all telepaths, who they view as dangerous. Despite the risks, Captain Janeway is attempting to smuggle a group of telepathic refugees to safety, all while putting on a show of cooperation for smiling Devore Inspector Kashyk (Mark Harelik). Much of the plot takes place in the background, obscured from the audience in order to build suspense. The real focus is on the evolving dynamic between Janeway and Kashyk, a rivalry that simmers into one of the Voyager captain’s rare romances. Kashyk works in the service of what are, transparently, space Nazis, but when he offers to defect to Voyager, can his intentions be trusted?

Beyond its intriguing premise, Counterpoint is a particularly strong production with a lot of subtle hints of creative flair. Director Les Landau and director of photography Marvin Rush, who had been both working on Star Trek since the 1980s, shoot the hell out of this story, breaking from Voyager ’s even lighting and predictable camera moves to make some very deliberate choices that build a great deal of tension around what is essentially a bottle episode. The makeup team, supervised by equally seasoned Trek veteran Michael Westmore, supplies a memorable and imaginative makeup design for an alien astrophysicist who appears in all of two scenes in this episode and is never utilized again. Most of all, Kate Mulgrew provides what may be her most subtle, human performance in the entire series, embodying Janeway’s famous conviction and strength of will while also granting a rare glimpse at her more vulnerable side without ever straying into melodrama.

If you look back at Star Trek: The Original Series , in-between the deep dramas and camp classics, you’ll find a lot of episodes that are just plain weird. The same is true for the best Star Trek spinoffs, and there’s no Voyager story as boldly off-putting as The Thaw , which guest stars This is Spinal Tap and Better Call Saul ’ s Michael McKean as a maniacal AI who literally scares people to death. In this episode, Voyager comes across a group of aliens who have been trapped in suspended animation ever since an environmental disaster struck their planet two decades earlier. To pass the time while in hibernation, the survivors have hooked their brains up to a virtual reality, where they are supposed to be entertained by a wacky character known only as “the Clown.”

Unfortunately, what the Clown finds most entertaining is probing their minds for their innermost fears and turning it into weird performance art, and he refuses to let his audience leave. When the Voyager crew attempts to rescue them, the Clown takes Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) hostage and proceeds to menace him for most of the episode. And, folks, it’s a trip.

The Thaw is a colorful, not entirely comprehensible, totally unclassifiable episode. It’s sort of horror, it’s sort of comedy, it’s sort of character study, but mostly it’s just entertaining. And for however much of it is up to interpretation, it’s a rare glimpse at the psyche of Harry Kim, one of Voyager’s least explored characters. Above all, however, it’s a delight to watch McKean perform what’s essentially his take on the Joker, a homicidal clown with a genius intellect and a poetic flair. Mulgrew, consequently, gets to play Batman, facing down his gleeful menace with stillness and determination. It’s one of the few real treats from the early seasons of the series, one whose reputation among fans has only grown since its premiere in 1996.

Aside from maybe The Next Generation ’s Wesley Crusher, no Star Trek character was as immediately reviled as Voyager’s chef, ambassador, and morale officer Neelix (Ethan Phillips). On most episodes of Voyager , Neelix is the goofy comic relief, performing folksy, unfunny antics around the mess hall or annoying the stoic Vulcan Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) with his naivety and effervescence. His unsettling long-term romantic relationship with Kes, who is technically a two-year-old when the series begins, is also part of Trek’s most irritating love triangle.

And yet, when Neelix is the center of an episode, it often reveals him to be one of the show’s most textured and interesting characters. Neelix is a survivor of a devastating war that destroyed his home and claimed the lives of his entire family. Beneath the persona of a “happy wanderer” resides a deep sea of melancholy and a predisposition towards depression. It’s a performance for his own benefit, as well as for the weary Voyager crew, and if it seems like he’s trying too hard, that’s because he is.

In the episode Mortal Coil , Neelix is killed on an away mission, only to be resuscitated 18 hours later by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and her advanced Borg medicine. The crew is happy to have him back, but the experience rocks Neelix to his core. Neelix has always believed that he would be reunited with his family in the afterlife, but upon his death, he experienced no such thing. Neelix’s crisis of faith provides Phillips an opportunity to really dig his teeth into his character, and to take a heavy, nuanced look at belief, mortality, depression, and suicidal ideation.

Writer Bryan Fuller, who would go on to create NBC’s Hannibal , puts his psychological horror chops to great use here, and director Allan Kroeker sustains a feeling of dread that places the audience on edge and off-balance. The story resolves itself a little too quickly and is never mentioned again, but that’s par for the course on Voyager. But when evaluated on its own, Mortal Coil  holds up against some of Trek’s best character studies.

Following up on the popularity of Data on The Next Generation , Voyager debuted with its own artificial crewmember, the Emergency Medical Hologram (Robert Picardo), usually just called “the Doctor.” Rather than a supposedly emotionless android , the Doctor is a hologram based on the grouchy engineer who designed him and endowed with the medical knowledge of the entire Federation. At the start of the series, everyone — including the Doctor himself — considers him to be a tool intended for short-term use, rather than a person, but since he’s left online for years rather than hours, he gradually develops his own personality and preferences, becoming a sentient individual.

Unlike in Data’s case, however, it takes the crew a long time to get used to the idea of the Doctor being his own man, and they continue to infringe on his rights, his privacy, and his very programming for much of the series. Sometimes the Doctor’s indignity is played for laughs, sometimes for sympathy, and in our next episode, for horror.

In Latent Image , the Doctor discovers evidence that he performed a delicate neurosurgery on Ensign Kim 18 months earlier, but he has no memory of the event, and neither does the rest of the crew. With the help of Seven of Nine, who joined the cast in the intervening year, the Doctor attempts to unravel the mystery of what really happened, leading to a terrible discovery that calls his relationship with Capt. Janeway and the rest of the crew into question. We won’t give away the answer here, but the story digs deep into the complexity of the Doctor’s character and his nature as an ascended artificial intelligence, and offers Picardo his meatiest acting challenge. You won’t find it on a lot of Best of Voyager lists, but it remains one of the show’s greatest hidden treasures.

Lest we leave you with the impression that the best of Voyager is all gloom and doom, our next entry is one of the lightest and funniest episodes of the series. Despite being set aboard a Starfleet vessel blasted to the far side of the galaxy with limited resources and no support, Voyager assures the audience early on that the ship’s holodecks are still fully functional, allowing the crew to go on their LARPing (live-action role-playing) adventures just like on The Next Generation . Most of the crew’s fantasies proved to be pretty forgettable, until the introduction of Tom Paris’ (Robert Duncan McNeill) new favorite holonovel, The Adventures of Captain Proton . Modeled after the classic Flash Gordon film serials — right down to the cheap effects and black-and-white photography — Captain Proton became a recurring treat during Voyager ’s fifth season, and is at the center of the No. 6 pick on our list, Bride of Chaotica!

In this episode, Tom and Harry’s latest excursion into the monochrome world of Captain Proton attracts the attention of photonic beings from another dimension, to whom the fictional villain Doctor Chaotica (Martin Rayner) is terrifyingly real. War breaks out between the photonic sentients and the 1930s-style bad guys, and the only way to save the day is for the crew to play along with the campy program. And because no Star Trek series is complete without the captain getting into a silly outfit and hamming it up, Janeway must pose as Chaotica’s evil bride, the devilish Arachnia! Mulgrew and the rest of the cast are plainly having a ball with this episode, and the fun is contagious. Keeping the holodeck around for the run of Voyager  may have been one of the signs that the series was going to play things relatively safe, but it did give us one of the franchise’s best holodeck episodes.

History is written by the victors, and subject to countless revisions over the passing centuries. How much of what we think of as historical fact is actually widely accepted conjecture or outright fabrication? We’ll probably never know, unless some eyewitness from the distant past turns up in our present to set things straight. This, naturally, is exactly what happens in Living Witness , as a backup copy of the Doctor is reactivated on an alien planet 700 years after Voyager participates in a pivotal political conflict.

For the Kyrians, it’s a well-known fact that the Warship Voyager eagerly aided their aggressive neighbors, the Vaskans, in unleashing a weapon of mass destruction against their homeworld. Captain Janeway is a cutthroat who will stop at nothing to get her crew home, Seven of Nine habitually assimilates her enemies and maintains her own small Borg collective onboard, and the Doctor is an android. When the holographic Doctor is awakened, he is aghast at the way his friends have been mischaracterized and sets out to prove what really happened, or else be punished for the genocide they’re accused of committing.

The Voyager cast never got the chance to play in the famous Star Trek Mirror Universe, home to the over-the-top evil versions of our Starfleet heroes, but Living Witness offers Mulgrew, Robert Beltran (Commander Chakotay), and company the opportunity to go full cartoon baddie, all in the name of poignant satire. It’s a bizarre comedy episode with an uncomfortable, but undeniable lesson: Time flattens everything. From a distance, every person, group, or thing becomes either all good or all bad, and that evaluation changes depending on who’s looking, and from where. In order to preserve the nuance of truth, we have to be willing to treat history as a process rather than a product, or else lose all sense of reality.

For fans who hoped that Voyager would lean into its intriguing premise of a motley crew of officers and terrorists having to rough it in the wilderness of space, much of the series turned out to be a real letdown. Almost immediately, the tension between the upstanding Starfleet and scrappy Maquis crewmembers, and the added tension of having to scrape and forage to survive, began to dissolve until Voyager was more or less the same familiar Trek that fans had been getting for the previous seven years. However, early on, there are a few episodes that truly capitalize on the show’s potential. The best example of this is Prime Factors , which introduces a dilemma that divides the crew between those who hold Starfleet’s principles as sacrosanct and those who didn’t sign up for this and just want to go home.

The setup is a terrific reversal of a classic Star Trek problem. A group needs help, but helping them means violating the Prime Directive, which forbids interfering in the internal affairs of other cultures. The twist? This time, our heroes aren’t the technologically advanced institution debating the virtues of foreign intervention, they’re the party in need. The friendly, benevolent Sikarians have the technology to send Voyager home instantly, but their own Prime Directive dictates that they not share it. How do Janeway and company feel when the shoe is on the other foot? How will a divided crew take the news, and will they all be inclined to abide by the Sikarians’ ruling?

It’s a fascinating study of ethics, ethical relativism, and the smugness often projected by even the most well-meaning of privileged do-gooders. How many planets have been a Federation ship’s “problem of the week” to be solved (or not solved) and then forgotten? In Prime Factors , our Starfleet stalwarts experience what it’s like to become someone’s pet cause, and learn that the charity of the privileged and comfortable only lasts as long as it’s convenient and self-gratifying.

If Prime Factors exemplifies the potential of Voyager ’s beginnings, Year of Hell  is a glimpse of what the show could have become if it had stayed the course. In this episode, which was initially envisioned as a season-long arc , Voyager’s long journey home takes them through the Krenim Imperium, whose brutal militaristic regime treats them as invaders and repeatedly kicks the crap out of them for 12 long months. The situation aboard Voyager gets increasingly dire as the crew takes casualties and the ship falls into disrepair. Hard choices have to be made about how to survive, and whether or not their goal of reaching Earth is even attainable. Janeway and company are pushed to their limits and left with permanent physical and psychological scars.

Or, they would be, if this wasn’t also a time travel story. The thrill of Year of Hell is undercut somewhat by being a “What If?” story whose events are erased from the timeline before the credits roll on Part II, but the actual time travel mechanics of the episode are fun and interesting. From the outset, the audience knows that the timeline of the story is in flux, as the power-mad Krenim scientist Annorax (Kurtwood Smith) selectively erases entire civilizations from time in order to restore his planet’s empire to full strength and rewrite his wife’s untimely death.

However, the characters don’t learn this until nearly nearly a third of the way through the story, after we’ve already seen their circumstances suddenly change a few times. Year of Hell  becomes a story about causality, about the reverberations of the smallest actions upon the grand tapestry of history, and the futility of trying to curate one’s own fate. It’s a terrific two-hour epic, and even if we’d rather have seen it play out over the course of an entire year, we wouldn’t dare try to go back and change it.

If Voyager isn’t going to be about a struggle for survival in the wilderness of space, then it damn well ought to be about exploring its wonders. Blink of an Eye is the kind of episode that could easily fit into any Star Trek series (or a non-Trek one, as its premise is suspiciously similar to the 1980 Robert L. Forward novel Dragon’s Egg ). Here, Voyager becomes trapped in the orbit of a planet with a strange property — for every 1.03 second that occurs in normal space, a year passes below. As the civilization on the planet evolves over centuries from a pre-industrial society to a futuristic one, the starship Voyager remains a fixture in their sky, inspiring religion, folklore, and a cultural obsession with reaching the stars.

The story cuts back and forth between the Voyager crew’s attempts to escape the planet’s orbit and generations of scientists and philosophers as their understanding of their celestial visitor evolves. Where some Trek episodes such as A Piece of the Action or Who Watches the Watchers frame accidental interference into an alien culture as a irreversible calamity, Blink of an Eye  takes a more subtle approach, showing the often inspiring ways that a civilization grapples with the great mysteries of life.

The highlight of the episode is guest star Daniel Dae Kim (pre- Lost ) as one of the first astronauts from the planet to set foot aboard Voyager. Through his eyes, we get to experience the joy and overwhelming emotional power of discovery, the very thing that inspires our Starfleet heroes to explore space in the first place. Star Trek is, ultimately, a show about curiosity, about humanity’s irrepressible drive to learn and understand our universe. There are few episodes in the entire Star Trek canon that capture this feeling more perfectly than Blink of an Eye . It’s the kind of story that, though simple and relatively low-stakes, should tug on the heartstrings of anyone who has sought inner peace through knowledge and appreciation of their outside world.

For Voyager ’s 100th episode, producers Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Joe Menosky decided to crash the ship into a planet and kill off almost the entire cast. We’re kidding! Well, sort of. Timeless  follows future versions of Chakotay and Harry Kim, the only survivors of Voyager, which was destroyed during a test of a new form of propulsion. This new technology brought Chakotay and Kim’s shuttle all the way home, but the rest of the crew was condemned to an icy grave. Racked with guilt over his role in their deaths, Kim becomes obsessed with going back in time to undo the disaster.

The story is told across two time frames, splitting between the present of the show and a future in which Kim and Chakotay’s quest to fix their mistake has made them outlaws. It’s a thrilling time travel episode that puts the focus on the show’s most neglected regular characters. Chakotay gets to be roguish again, a quality he’d long since shed along with the rest of his personality. For his part, Wang actually gets to show some range, playing a brooding, self-loathing wreck with nothing left to lose.

Even though it’s a foregone conclusion that the time travel mission will succeed and none of this story will have happened, Timeless truly feels like an event. It’s emotional, it’s visually striking, and occasionally very funny. (Seven of Nine’s first experience with alcohol ranks among the most quotable and memetic scenes in the series.) It’s only an hour long, but it plays like a movie. The stakes are high, the scope is vast, the characters are rich, and there’s even a cute cameo from Next Generation star LeVar Burton, who also directed the episode.

Voyager is often feather-light, and occasionally, as the rest of this list demonstrates, super heavy. Timeless perfectly captures the balance of intensity and fun of a great “Star Trek” feature, akin to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan or Star Trek: First Contact . It probably shouldn’t be anyone’s first Voyager , but when we’re in the mood to check out just one of the show’s episodes, this is the one we reach for.

For more Star Trek content, please check out the best Star Trek: The Original Series episodes , the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes , and the best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes .

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This is sure to be an unusual year for Hollywood cinema. With the regular cadence of franchise blockbusters disrupted by the Hollywood strikes of 2023, there are fewer surefire bets at the box office. And some of the studios’ supposedly safer gambles, like Madame Web and Argylle, have already fallen flat upon release. Of course, this doesn’t mean there hasn’t been anything worth seeing in theaters or streaming at home. In addition to a few standout franchise entries, the year to date has seen a number of terrific smaller-scale dramas, horror flicks, and indie comedies, many of them by debuting filmmakers. With luck, the relative lack of competition for audience attention will allow one or more underdogs to make a big cultural splash.

10. Abigail

Netflix is home to many great shows. It's also the most prolific and well-known streaming service of them all, with a large catalog of original and acquired content. However, the King of Streamers is also famous for being quite trigger-happy. Indeed, Netflix is no stranger to canceling its shows, even if it spent millions producing them; if they don't yield immediate results, the streamer will pull the plug without blinking an eye.

Still, many original shows have beaten the cancellation curse and had a successful life, at least by streaming standards. These shows are Netflix's best efforts that actually got to enjoy a full life cycle, receiving more than five seasons. None might come close to the 100-episode mark, but these beloved series prove to hopeful showrunners everywhere that there is indeed life on Netflix after season 5. 10. Virgin River (2019-present) - 6 seasons

The 2010s was a fantastic decade for sci-fi, as it gave fans and critics numerous modern classics that redefined and pushed the boundaries of the genre. The diverse selection of science fiction movies from that era underscores the boundless creativity and innovation that went into creating these films, with each one inviting viewers to explore the unknown through groundbreaking storytelling and artistic execution.

From mind-bending depictions of the cosmos as seen in Interstellar to chilling examinations of AI like Ex Machina, the top sci-fi movies from the 2010s are often counted among the greatest from the genre overall. With stunning visuals, compelling performances, and an array of thought-provoking stories that reflect the best aspects of science fiction today, these films will undoubtedly continue to enjoy their enduring legacies as contemporary masterpieces. 10. Gravity (2013)

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This Star Trek: Voyager Episode Subtly Confirmed Captain Kirk Broke A TOS Promise

Jeri ryan would have turned down star trek: voyager because of 1 scene, jeri ryan's seven of nine costumes in star trek: voyager made no sense.

As with most Star Trek shows, Star Trek: Voyager had certain seasons that were better than others in its seven season run. Voyager was the fourth television series in the Star Trek franchise and ran congruently with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , premiering in January 1995 and ending in May 2001 for a total of 172 episodes. The show was notable for introducing many popular characters including Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and maintains a devoted following among Star Trek fans today.

Star Trek: Voyager 's overarching plot about the crew attempting to return home after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant created numerous opportunities for great storytelling. Voyager introduced new sci-fi challenges and alien races to a well-established franchise, while still taking the opportunity to explore already popular Star Trek aliens , concepts, and characters. Like any TV show, however, Voyager included a mix of episodes in terms of quality, some that were well-crafted and executed, others less so. These episodes, in turn, added up to make certain seasons of the show better than others, creating a definitive hierarchy of Voyager' s seasons that can clearly be seen when the show is looked at as a whole.

Related: Why Star Trek: Voyager Ended (Was It Canceled?)

Season 2 of Star Trek: Voyager got off to a rocky start from the beginning, with four episodes originally intended for the end of season 1 being moved to the beginning of season 2. This created an underwhelming Star Trek premiere episode in "The 37's" which saw the crew discovering a planet inhabited by humans abducted from Earth in 1937, including Amelia Earhart (Sharon Lawrence). While the concept might have been executed better under other circumstances, issues with the writing and production of the episode caused the plot to feel a bit contrived and left lingering, unanswered questions that hurt the episode as a whole.

Season 2 of Star Trek: Voyager also included some of the worst-reviewed episodes of the series, such as "Elogium" and "Threshold". "Threshold", in particular, continues to be one of the most divisive episodes in the whole Star Trek franchise, with a plot revolving around Tom Paris' (Robert Duncan McNeill) transformation into a salamander-like creature after he breaks the Warp 10 speed barrier. The episode ends with him and a likewise-transformed Captain Janeway mating and creating offspring on an unknown planet after Paris abducts her. While some episodes were better, including one introducing John de Lancie's Q to Star Trek: Voyager , season 2 is the worst season of the series when looked at collectively.

While it didn't have as many divisive episodes as season 2, season 3 of Star Trek: Voyager still struggled to make a big impact on the series. The season did include a number of episodes that connected Voyager more concretely to the wider Star Trek universe. The episode "Flashback" revealed that Voyager's Vulcan security officer Tuvok (Tim Russ) had served on the USS Excelsior under Captain Hikaru Sulu, with George Takei reprising his iconic role, and episodes like "False Profits", "The Q and the Grey", and "Unity" included such iconic Star Trek aliens as the Ferengi , Q, and the Borg. However, these wider franchise connections weren't enough to carry the episodes they appeared in. Even "Flashback" was not able to become one of Voyager 's most memorable episodes despite the popularity of Sulu and Takei.

Season 3 did include a few better episodes in contrast with the bad. "Future's End, Parts I and II" had a well-executed time travel storyline, and guest-starred popular actors Ed Begley Jr. and Sarah Silverman. Likewise, the season finale "Scorpion Part I" definitively introduced the Borg as one of Star Trek: Voyager 's main villains and created another truly terrifying villain in Species 8472. The episode's second part, which acted as the season 4 premiere, was when Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine joined Star Trek: Voyager 's cast as a series regular however, meaning that season 3 falls just short of being able to claim the distinction of having introduced such a popular character to the Star Trek franchise.

Related: Every Star Trek Character Guest Star On Voyager

Season 1 of Star Trek: Voyager still had its fair share of middling episodes. In particular, Voyager 's pilot episode, "Caretaker, Part I and II," is one of the better-reviewed pilots in the Star Trek franchise, eclipsing Star Trek: The Next Generation 's pilot, "Encounter as Farpoint" in terms of writing and acting quality. "Caretaker" introduced both a diverse, interesting cast of characters and a compelling overall theme for Voyager , and allowed the series to branch out into new territory by setting it in a region of space the Star Trek franchise had never explored.

That said, season 1 was also Star Trek: Voyager 's shortest, coming in at just 16 episodes instead of the usual 26. Additionally, while Voyager season 1 did include some truly great episodes with solid Star Trek concepts, such as "Heroes and Demons" and "Faces", it suffered from a curse that almost every Star Trek series encountered, and was not able to capture audience attention or acclaim as well as later seasons did. Season 1 was a good introduction to the series, but when compared to other seasons of Voyager , it consistently falls short in terms of episode quality.

Star Trek: Voyager season 7 ended the show and saw the crew achieve their goal of returning home in its finale "Endgame, Part I and II". While this might seem to indicate a satisfying conclusion, "Endgame" did not end up being a complete success. The episode's use of time travel failed to live up to expectations, and included a baffling (and ultimately failed) romance between Seven of Nine and Robert Beltran's Chakotay, as well as a slightly abrupt ending that left viewers wanting more. "Endgame" ranks right in the middle of other Star Trek series finales overall, and while not the worst-reviewed finale of any series in the franchise, did not hit the mark for many viewers.

The rest of the season also failed to include any particularly iconic episodes outside of the finale. While episodes like "Body and Soul", "Shattered", and "Author, Author" played around with some distinctly Star Trek sci-fi concepts such as body swapping, parallel timelines, and the question of sentience when it comes to inorganic beings, the season as a whole did not add up to more good episodes than bad. Star Trek: Voyager season 7 may have been the show's final outing, but it would not end up being the season that devotees of the show ranked the highest.

Related: Star Trek: Voyager Series Ending Explained - How The Crew Gets Home

With the introduction of Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager 's season 4 premiere, and the establishment of the Borg and the Hirogen as villains for the later half of the series, season 4 saw Voyager truly begin to hit its stride. Seven of Nine , in particular, was given some extremely compelling episodes for her first season with the crew, including "The Gift" and "The Raven" In part because of these episodes, Seven not only became one of the most popular characters on the show but has gone on to become a particular fan-favorite, so much so that she was brought back years after Voyager 's finale as a series regular on Star Trek: Picard .

Season 4 also included some truly iconic Star Trek: Voyager episodes, such as the two-parters "Year of Hell" and "The Killing Game", and riveting, dramatic storylines for often underutilized characters like Neelix (Ethan Phillips) in season 4 episodes like "Mortal Coil". While not every episode hit the mark, season 4 was arguably the season that held more successful episodes than any other season before it. This holds true today as well, with specific episodes still ranked consistently higher than others in Voyager 's previous seasons.

Star Trek: Voyager 's season 6 ended up being a better entry in the series than the show's final season. Season 6 began with the conclusion of "Equinox", a two-part episode that combined high-stakes drama with a classic Star Trek moral dilemma as Voyager's crew battled against the crew of the USS Equinox, another Star Trek Federation ship stranded like Voyager that was using the murdered bodied of an alien race as a fuel to help them return home faster. With this intense start, season 6 went on to be a mix of incredibly funny, entertaining episodes like "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" and extremely well-crafted, poignant plots such as "Blink of an Eye", the highest-rated episode of Voyager according to IMDb .

While episodes like "Fair Haven" and its sequel "Spirit Folk" are often ranked low by critics and viewers, season 6 of Voyager maintained a comfortable level of popular episodes during its run. The season also included cameos from two iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), once again finding an entertaining way to connect Voyager to the wider Star Trek franchise . While not the absolute best season of Star Trek: Voyager , season 6 is a close second.

Related: Every Troi Star Trek Appearance After TNG

With a cadre of high-quality episodes that flow well together, season 5 of Star Trek: Voyager is generally considered the series' best season overall. Season 5 included such memorable episodes as "Timeless", the 100th episode of Voyager , and a tour de force for Garrett Wang's Ensign Harry Kim as future versions of himself and Chakotay rush to prevent a piloting accident from causing Voyager's entire crew to perish in a deadly crash. Like season 4, season 5 was also an important season for Seven of Nine, with episodes like "Drone", "Dark Frontier Part I and II", and "Relativity" allowing Jeri Ryan's acting talents to shine.

Classic Star Trek holodeck accident episodes such as "Bride of Choatica!", and thought-provoking episodes centered around Robert Picardo's The Doctor like "Latent Image" meant that season 5 included something for everyone in terms of entertainment. Although the season still had episodes that didn't perform as well, these were much fewer and farther between than in previous seasons. Star Trek: Voyager took a bit of time to find what worked and what didn't for the series, but many of the later seasons, and season 5 in particular, ended up being Voyager 's best entries into the Star Trek franchise.

More: Every Voyager Character's Star Trek Return (& How

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Star Trek: Voyager

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home. Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home. Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is seventy-five years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

• Rick Berman
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• 433 User reviews
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• 33 wins & 84 nominations total

Episodes 168

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• Trivia When auditioning for the part of the holographic doctor, Robert Picardo was asked to say the line "Somebody forgot to turn off my program." He did so, then ad-libbed "I'm a doctor, not a light bulb" and got the part.
• Goofs There is speculation that the way the Ocampa are shown to have offspring is an impossible situation, as a species where the female can only have offspring at one event in her life would half in population every generation, even if every single member had offspring. While Ocampa females can only become pregnant once in their lifetime, if was never stated how many children could be born at one time. Kes mentions having an uncle, implying that multiple births from one pregnancy are possible.

Seven of Nine : Fun will now commence.

• Alternate versions Several episodes, such as the show's debut and finale, were originally aired as 2-hour TV-movies. For syndication, these episodes were reedited into two-part episodes to fit one-hour timeslots.
• Connections Edited into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (1999)

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• Mar 7, 2021

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• January 16, 1995 (United States)
• United States
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• Runtime 44 minutes
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