Star Trek: Voyager season 2 has a handful of episodes that you really can just skip. The second year of Captain Kathryn Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) Star Trek show proves how weird the Delta Quadrant can get, as Voyager's writers took more risks. Here's where you'll see Lieutenant Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) and Captain Janeway turning into salamanders in "Threshold", Lieutenant Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Neelix (Ethan Phillips) merging into Tuvix (Tom Wright), and Janeway facing off against fear itself in "The Thaw"—but I'm not going to tell you to skip these iconic Voyager stories. They're weird, but memorable.
Unlike the best episodes of Star Trek: Voyager season 2, the skippable episodes miss the mark. I'll never fault Star Trek writers for trying something new, because high risk equals high reward, but sometimes those risks just don't pay off. Sometimes the story a writer wants to tell gets lost on the way to the screen, or it's rushed to fill a 26-episode season order. This early in a series, characterization hasn't quite solidified yet, so Star Trek: Voyager's main characters might be acting out of character. But in most cases, you'll want to skip episodes because they're forgettable.
5 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 2 - "Initiations"
The Kazon Just Didn't Work As Voyager's Villains
The best thing that Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 2, "Initiations" has going for it is guest star Aron Eisenberg, better known as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nog. Eisenberg plays Kar, a young Kazon who threatens to kill Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) as part of a coming-of-age ritual. With its close-up look at Kazon culture and what Kar has to go through to belong, "Initiations" really wants to make the Kazon interesting new Star Trek aliens. But the emphasis on ritual violence only confirms that the Kazon are basically off-brand Klingons.
"Initiations" was supposed to be the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager season 2, instead of Voyager's infamous Amelia Earhart episode, "The 37s".
"Initiations" wants to paint Chakotay as a kind and caring leader, with Kar's best interests in mind, but the young Kazon just can't be receptive to Chakotay's attempts at negotiation. Fortunately, Star Trek: Voyager realized that they couldn't actually make the Kazon happen. (Chakotay would get a few more chances to show his leadership style.) After Voyager's second season, the USS Voyager moves on, and Star Trek: Voyager's Kazon get left in the series' rearview. If you want to watch Eisenberg in Voyager, give it a shot, but "Initiations" is otherwise one to skip.
4 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 3 - "Elogium"
Neelix And Kes Definitely Shouldn't Have A Baby
The relationship between Neelix and Kes (Jennifer Lien) is deeply uncomfortable for so many reasons, and Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 3, "Elogium", puts them all in the spotlight. When Kes unexpectedly experiences the early onset of the "elogium", or the Ocampa mating period, Kes has to decide if she wants to have a baby with Neelix—and quickly, because the elogium is supposed to happen only once in Kes' nine-year lifetime.
Like the Ocampa version of Vulcan pon farr, the elogium removes Kes' agency and reduces her to singular focus to mating.
As with most Kes-centric Voyager episodes, Lien does the best she can with the material she's given, but this is barely the Kes we know. Like the Ocampa version of Vulcan pon farr, the elogium removes Kes' agency and reduces her to a singular focus on mating. And from a narrative standpoint, "Elogium" perplexingly goes out of its way to explain why it's abnormal for Kes to be going through the elogium so early, when it doesn't have to. The Ocampa are a brand-new species for Star Trek: Voyager, and we'd never know this wasn't supposed to happen yet.
Most worryingly, "Elogium" romanticizes the problematic Neelix and Kes relationship. Even when you account for the ages of the Voyager characters being relative to their overall lifespan, Kes is a young adult who had a sheltered childhood, and Neelix is a worldly middle-aged man. I firmly believe Neelix takes advantage of Kes' lack of life experience so he doesn't have to be alone, and Kes latches onto the first person who affirms her curiosity about the outside world, then calls it love. But "Elogium" doesn't interrogate this relationship. How can it, when Kes can't even think critically?
3 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 7 - "Parturition"
Tom & Neelix's Argument Over Kes Is Weird And Pointless
The heart of Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 7, "Parturition", is Tom Paris and Neelix fighting over Kes' affection, which seems like a weird argument to have when Kes has made it pretty clear she's with Neelix. Nonetheless, Paris and Neelix are forced to resolve their tension when they crash-land on a planet and have to work together to care for an egg they find in a cave.
Tom and Neelix bonding over the egg—and subsequent hatchling—echoes episodes like Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Darmok" or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "The Ascent", where a common goal on a hostile planet forces two characters to discover they aren't truly enemies. But "Parturition" is a far cry from those much better Star Trek episodes.
It's frustrating seeing men in Star Trek's enlightened future discussing a woman like she's a prize instead of a person.
"Parturition" resolves the argument between Tom and Neelix in a way that reflects Star Trek: Voyager as a product of the 1990s. Paris assuages Neelix's paranoia by promising he won't pursue Kes romantically, even if Tom is attracted to Kes. It's frustrating seeing men in Star Trek's enlightened future discussing a woman like she's a prize instead of a person. Surely, the more respectful solution would have been to include Kes in a conversation about what she wants. But "Parturition" doesn't do that, so it's better off skipped.
2 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 12 - "Resistance"
Nothing Happens In This Forgettable Janeway Story
In Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 12, "Resistance", Captain Janeway is kidnapped by an aged resistance fighter, Caylem (Joel Grey), who believes Janeway is his missing daughter. Meanwhile, Lieutenants Tuvok and B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) are imprisoned by the authoritarian Mokra. From there, "Resistance" goes pretty much how you'd expect it to go: Janeway and Caylem break Tuvok and B'Elanna out of prison, and we learn that Caylem's wife and daughter died long ago. But this isn't as exciting as it sounds.
Essentially, "Resistance" is, well ... futile.
Essentially, "Resistance" is, well ... futile. The pacing is laborious and frustrating, with awkward beats in the scenes where the USS Voyager crew members face opposition. Like B'Elanna, I kept wondering when someone would actually do something. Janeway doesn't bother correcting Caylem after a while, because he's so entrenched in his belief that Kathryn is someone else. Tuvok follows protocol while bearing the pain of his torture in true Vulcan fashion. Neither of them gets very far, so the episode moves at a snail's pace.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Second Skin" does a deeper dive and more character-driven version of an old man believing Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) is his missing daughter.
Joel Grey is excellent as Caylem, of course, but the decision to highlight Grey as a notable guest star forces the Star Trek: Voyager regulars to become reactive instead of proactive. Instead of "Resistance" being a proper Janeway story, Kathryn is just dragged along for the ride; it doesn't feel like she really bonds with Caylem, even though they're both separated from their own loved ones. Nothing changes for Janeway, in the end. There's no lesson learned, and not even a real moral dilemma, so it doesn't even feel particularly Star Trek. Go ahead and skip it.
1 Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 22 - "Innocence"
Tuvok Babysits Some Benjamin Button Kids Without Realizing It
The second half of Star Trek: Voyager's second season promises improvement until episode 22, "Innocence". While Captain Janeway opens talks with the xenophobic Drayan First Prelate Alcia (Marnie McPhail), the A-story finds Voyager's Lieutenant Tuvok stranded on one of Draya's moons, accompanied by three very curious children. Tuvok does the best he can to simultaneously fix the downed shuttlecraft and protect the kids, who are certain they were sent there to die, but it's a frustrating watch. Vulcan logic only goes so far when the Drayan kids test Tuvok's seemingly infinite patience with ceaseless questions.
Drayans age in reverse, so the children are sent to the moon to die at the end of their lives.
The biggest problem with "Innocence" is that it's supposed to be a mystery, but it isn't written like one. Near the end of the episode, Alcia reluctantly reveals the answer to a question that the episode never actually asked: Drayans age in reverse, so the children are sent to the moon to die at the end of their lives. It's weird that the truth is just handed to us, when Tuvok—a natural investigator—never suspects the children are anything other than what they appear to be, and never uncovers any clues that the children are actually elderly.
Despite these 5 duds, Star Trek: Voyager's second season is relatively solid, even if the Star Trek show is still finding its feet. The division of Starfleet and Maquis crew members is largely abandoned now, with more focus on the USS Voyager trying to find a quick way home. Each character gets their time in the spotlight, with a chance to show what they're about, and how they do (or don't) work together. I like how weird Star Trek: Voyager is willing to be, and it's fun to see what out-there concepts actually work, compared to these 5 skippable episodes.
