Feeling somewhat bored of his routine aboard Voyager Tom has been avoiding his voluntary time helping in sick bay and has retreated into the holodeck where he is running a program simulating the repair of an old car. He regains interest in real life when an alien ship with an advance propulsion system turns up needing help to repair his engine. Tom asks if he can be assigned to helping Steth, the Alien pilot. The two of them quickly become friends and Steth invites Tom to join him on his travels. There is something strange about Steth though; he keeps changing appearance but only briefly when nobody is looking at him. We learn what he is up to when he is preparing to leave; he does something to Tom which causes them to swap appearances. He then stuns Tom and sends him away on his ship before returning to Voyager where he attempts to take over Tom's life. His friends think he is acting some what strangely but as he'd been somewhat withdrawn before Steth's arrival it is just assumed Tom is just distracted. Meanwhile when Tom wakes up he finds himself in a strange body being confronted by an alien fleet which is chased off by an alien woman claiming that Tom is actually in her body which was stolen over a year before. With this new alien Tom returns to Voyager where he must convince the crew that he really is Tom Paris.
This was a good enough stand alone episode centred on Tom and Steth, you certainly don't have to watch the series regularly to enjoy this episode. For regular viewers it may seem odd that Tom has suddenly got withdrawn when he seemed to happy enough with his position on the ship.
This was a good enough stand alone episode centred on Tom and Steth, you certainly don't have to watch the series regularly to enjoy this episode. For regular viewers it may seem odd that Tom has suddenly got withdrawn when he seemed to happy enough with his position on the ship.