Star Trek VGR Episode 2 - Caretaker pt. 2

Tuvok figures out that The Caretaker is dying. They confront The Caretaker about sending them back home. He reveals that his intention was to kidnap people from all over the place in order to run his Array when he was gone. With this plan not going to happen, The Caretaker now intends to destroy the Array so that it doesn't fall into the Kazon's hands. If the Array is destroyed, then Voyager will not get back home. The Kazon now begin trying to take over the Array (this is weird because previously the Kazon seemed to be desert people who barely had water and food, now they have spaceships??). Voyager and the Marquis begin fighting to protect the Array. Chakotay decides to kamikaze his ship into the Kazon ship, which is awesome and insane. They beam him out at the last second.

With the Kazon stopped. Janeway and Tuvok go to see The Caretaker. He slowly dies. Janeway now has to make a decision...use the Array to go home or respect The Caretakers wishes and destroy it, effectively trapping them 70 years from the Alpha Quadrant. She decides to destroy the Array. Flat-out, wrong decision. Even Tuvok said that interfering is a breach of the Prime Directive. Granted it would most likely mean doom for the Ocampa but still, I am not on board with this. Kirk would have figured out a way to do both, get home AND destroy the Array. Also, I remember a TNG episode in which they ended up light years away from home and they were able to get back rather quickly somehow (not sure if Q helped though). At the end Janeway gives a pep talk. She says that sure it will take 70 years to get back, but she is optimistic that they will find technology, a wormhole or a race that can help them speed up the process. After all, they are completely in unknown territory so anything is possible. She also makes the Marquis officially part of Voyager.

So right there, the setup to Voyager has awesome possibilities. It harkens back to TOS in which everything was a new discovery. The writers could make up an entire new Universe. It can really be like TOS but with far better filming technology. The characters themselves are not great, but there are a few that already standout. The Doctor is a great character, although why they made the hologram have the personality of a 1980s stand-up comic I have no idea. Neelix is already cool. He is quirky like Quark but has already proven to be a thousand times braver. Tuvok is awesome and I love having a Vulcan back on a Starfleet crew. Janeway is just OK, tough but can be annoying...and that voice. Torres and Kim so far do not have any character development. It seemed like they made a big deal about Paris and then he was completely lame in this episode. Chakotay, at least in this episode, was badass. The ship itself looks cool, typical Star Trek looking. The opening sequence was beautiful, especially when it shows Voyager travelling over Saturn. Basically, I would say so far so good with Voyager.

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