Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Basics, Part I (1996) User Reviews

Voyager, battered again...and again...and again...

[GreyHunter · 7/10 · 17 December 2019]

Rather than go too indepth into the plot -- premature when talking about the first half of a two-part cliffhanger -- I have a few questions I'd like to ask.

1) How is it that everyone, Kazon and Voyager crew alike, have an immediate grasp of and control over alien technology and interfaces? The Kazon barely paused before taking over all the ship functions without any experience. Obviously, Seska could have tutored them in general, but running a starship takes years of schooling, experience, and training and, frankly, a grasp of the Federation culture, and there's only so much they could have extrapolated from their own experience with ships, especially since so much of the technology is alien to them (that's even a major plot point in all Voyager's dealings with the Kazon.) Seska could hardly have conveyed more than a fraction of the aforementioned criteria for running a starship. And the reverse has been equally problematic, with Voyager officers in past episodes mastering technology and interfaces that are completely different from their own, including symbols on touchscreens that they have no ability to understand or translate.

2) Why does a starship with an AI and warp drives and all manner of technobabble powers apparently have less security than a 2019 smartphone? Is there no way to lock out unauthorized access to the bridge controls? Is the computer unable to recognize that the ship has been captured and refuse to allow the invaders to run the ship? It's mind-boggling that Janeway can order a self-destruct but can't swipe down to shut down the functions of the ship.

3) Why does Chakotay refuse to believe whatshisname but take no action to alter their plan until it was too late?

4) Why did they not scan whatshisname completely? That would have detected the presence of non-biological material in his toe. Suicide bombers and spies aren't an alien concept in the range of the Federation and its dealings.

5) How did all secondary command systems get knocked out by what was repeatedly referred to as minor damage, or no damage at all? That would seem an extreme oversight in the construction of a warship, wouldn't it? Amd the fact that no-one, not even Janeway or Tuvok, seemed to understand the full implications of this far sooner is a bit baffling as well.

6) A much more minor question: What happened to Wildman and her baby? Edit: I've now started Part II and am happy to report that the producers didn't forget her after all. It just seemed like an oversight not to show how she was accosted and treated when the Kazon took over the ship, so I'm pleased that she showed up.

7) I won't quibble over their plan except to say I would think better tactical minds than mine -- that is to say, most of the senior staff -- understand the idea of relays. Why not leave a shuttlecraft just within range of the Talaxians to double the distance they could travel before losing communications?

8) Why did Star Trek hire a James Bond villain to attack Voyager? It seems pretty shortsighted to bring in somebody who posed so little threat that he literally lets them all live so he can gloat. I guarantee that the Borg amd Cardassians and the Tribbles (to name the scariest villains in TNG, DS9, and TOS respectively) wouldn't have done what the Kazon did here.

Okay, I just felt these questions needed to be asked. Hit me up on subspace or KlingonMingles if you have any good answers.

The loss of Voyager

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 2 August 2010]

When Seska contacts Voyager to tell them that she has given birth to Chakotay's son and the child is in danger Chakotay thinks it is likely to a trap, but after engaging in a ritual conversation with his father he comes to the conclusion that the child is no less his just because it was conceived without his consent. As they near Kazon-Nistrim space they find an escape pod; Tierna, the man inside, says that he had only just escaped with his life after helping Seska with her broadcast, she however had been killed and Maje Culluh intends to raise the child to be a servant. As they start engaging the Kazon in battle Tierna detonates a bomb he smuggled aboard in his body; this knocks out the ship's systems and soon Voyager has fallen to the Nistrim.

As the episode opens with a scene featuring the murderer Suder it was clear that he would play some later part in the story, it was as if we were being shown him to remind us that he was still there. The episode provided a gripping conclusion to the second series; with the crew stranded on a prehistoric planet and the Kazon in control of the ship it will be interesting to see how they can retake it.

Hostile Takeover

[Bolesroor · 8/10 · 2 February 2011]

"Basics, Pt. I" is a great cliff-hanger, and it's always great to see Brad Dourif back as Suder. He is such an interesting actor, always playing strange and unusual characters, and always full of surprises. He is an actor you really have to Watch, because there is so much going on.

There's also a lot going on in this episode, in which Janeway unrealistically endangers the life of her entire crew so that Chakotay can take custody of his son. Priorities, people. If he wants to pursue his bastard baby give him a shuttlecraft, a replicator and a firm handshake- don't risk the ship.

Plot contrivance aside, the crew of Voyager also fall for one hell of a trap when they "kidnap" a Kazon "defector" and trust all the information he provides... clearly their think-boxes were busted that day. It's shocking to see Voyager commandeered by the Kazon and the crew forced off their ship. I could see the writers had no idea how to resolve this, but I could also see they left their options open with Tom, the Doctor, AND Suder all being wildcards.

A great season finale, though... looking forward to Season Three! GRADE: B+

Entertaining Certainly/But Some Really Bad Judgment for People With Their Abilities

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 21 August 2018]

Chikotay becomes the fulcrum in this final episode of Season Two. Once again, Ceska, one of the biggest rats in any setting, pretends she is in grave danger, showing Chikotay "his son." He is not his son. He is a product of deception and is used to play on human sympathies and good will. When that Kazon guy comes on board, it should have been obvious that there was something up. Funny, the Doctor didn't notice his planted device. I am tired of the Native American stuff and the literal appearance of spirits on demand. I think this is a bit insulting. Did anyone notice how the father didn't let his son tell him a few more details. Did anyone ever weigh the value of the entire crew over Chikotay's forced paternal being? But all the foolishness of Janeway and the rest, we are left with a cliffhanger going into Season Three. The crew is on a prehistoric planet. By the way. Why did the Kazon not just kill everyone? They would have eliminated a lot of trouble. They are a bloodthirsty lot and it would have been in character.

DUMB CHOICES & THEIR CONSEQUENCES

[awbusa · 10/10 · 13 June 2021]

I would've ignored SESKA'S message & set course for EARTH at WARP 9.95 for as long as possible & then WARP 9 for as long as possible & then WARP 8 indefinitely & the KAZON couldn't have kept up - I HATE how stupid the crew of the USS VOYAGER can be by falling into various traps set by ALIENS

9 STARS ⭐ out of 10 STARS ⭐

The Best and First Multi-Ep Arc of Voyager

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 6 June 2013]

-Well, not taking into account some of those Borg arcs from later seasons.

This Cliffhanger is a resolution of something that has been building up on Voyager - The Tom Paris side-story, where he seemed to be becoming more and more unwilling to follow orders. Also, the Seska story, who began as a Bajoran but ends up being Fully Cardassian. And, the Kazon Nistrum(?) story.

Many things are happening at once - Paris leaves Voyager and joins a ship of Neelix's People, a Kazon in a Kazon shuttle is "saved" by Voyager, and even Ensign Sudor (Brad Dourif) - Who is still locked in his room as punishment for killing a crewman and enjoying it too much.

Voyagers Kazon "Guest" suggests to them a path they could take to escape from a huge gathering of Nistrum ships. But this is a trick, the question always is, "If it's a trick, why is it being done?" - Little attacks by smaller Kazon ships focus on one particular section of the ship - One which if hit too much, would cause the secondary command processors to fail.

But the little ships can't cause that much damage - The damage has to be done from Inside, therefore the Kazon Guest blows himself into tiny molecular chunks, and finishes the Job- Taking All of Voyager's BrainGel packs offline.

Seska (Martha Hackett who is always a great Romulan or Klingon) has been teaching the Kazon some Cardassian Tricks, this was a worthy adversary for Season 1-2. We know from DS9's "Garak" and "Dukat" that Cardassians have eidetic memory. So while Seska was still alive, Voyager had little chance of getting out of the Delta Quadrant. Obviously, this has to be dealt with in some way.

But Seska herself has taught Janeway how to be devious - And Paris was part of this deviousness. It was set up so he would be captured by Seska and "First Maje Culluh" of the Kazon Nistrum in an earlier episode, in fact it was so that he could find out what they were up to and then make contact with Neelix's people for support.

So - Paris barely gets away from the Kazon, but the Kazon have stopped Voyager dead in it's tracks - And they drop off the entire Voyager Crew onto a Volcanic World populated by Neanderthal Native Americans.

Every Voyager crewman but two: The Doctor, and Ensign Sudor. But we know that Sudor is capable of spanking the Kazon- If he could be talked into Killing, once again. But he wanted to "Do Something for The Ship" - This is his chance.

They missed an amazing storyline.

[Minniehaha74 · 8/10 · 21 February 2022]

The episode itself was good. Solid characters and good storyline, however, why didn't they make it Chakotays child. To have a reoccurring character where Chakotay has a child without Seska. Would've made a excellent storyline.

Can the crew be this dumb? Apparently so.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 February 2015]

Although "Basics" is an enjoyable episode of "Star Trek: Voyager", it's also one that strains common sense. After all, to believe it, you must also believe that the Federation folks are amazingly dumb!

When the show begins, Mr. Suder (the murderer from several episodes back who is confined to his quarters) is frustrated. Now that he's learned some self-control through the help of Tuvok, he wants to give back something to help the crew--but the Captain is apprehensive considering his track record. This will become important later in the episode as well as in the second part of the show.

Soon Voyager hears from Seska. She indicates in a distress call that she and Chakotay's baby are in trouble and the message cuts off. Although EVERY SINGLE #*@$ing time they deal with her she lies and tries to destroy the ship, Voyager responds to what obviously must be a trap and gets itself trapped. Why? Because Chakotay went on some spiritual journey to talk to his dead father and dead daddy told him to! Is that any way to run a starship?!?! This is insultingly stupid and I also assume most Native Americans would also be insulted that their culture would be represented this way.

Soon the Kazon easily take the ship and transport the crew to a desolate planet where they dump them. Why not kill the Federation crew?! Additionally, Paris escapes in a shuttle to look for help and aboard the ship are Suder and the Doctor. Can these three possibly do anything to help regain the ship?!

As I said, this show has some major logical problems--too many. Because of this, I'm knocking off a few points. But it is watchable and enjoyable nevertheless.

This episode is gangsta/beastin

[robert-macc · 9/10 · 23 February 2024]

And Chakotay, you are the father. Richard Bey (whose show was de-facto on the network much like "Voyager," although he wasn't a UPN show in reality, but a syndicated show) would be proud.

I say that joke because someone said that the crew acted stupid because they essentially abandoned ship because Chakotay had child support payments. Jokes aside, the show is interesting. Basically put the crew battle a few Kazon, who are manipulated by Seska (of the more advanced Cardassian race), although in reality she really is truly part of the Kazon tribe, that she married into as isn't manipulative, but is opportunistic, as she and the Kazon hate Voyager). The entire episode is a vicious thrill ride. And I also want for those who think "Voyager" had the reset button, this was a prototype to "Year of Hell." Voyager gets bombed in this episode very badly. And the crew have to abandon ship. Plus, as part of the show, replicator rations were common.

Let's Save Da Baby

[hassankukucr · 7/10 · 7 August 2021]

I was quite impressed with Janeway's decision making so far. "Deadlock", "Tuvix" and "Resolutions", show her as being mostly utilitarian. Sacrificing herself and others to do the most good. And I, a utilitarian, admired her and thought of her as a role model. In this episode, Janeway decides to try and save a baby, even though this would be an unlikely result. Chakotay himself says that "the safest thing is to continue on our journey." Janeway tells him that she and the whole crew are ready to give their lives for his child. I was disappointed. A few in-universe explanations include: guilt about Tuvix, worries that leaving the baby would result in problems later on, a romantic attachment to Chakotay, or valuing family much higher rate than I would. Out-universe, perhaps, different writers, or an attempt at "redeeming" Janeway by making her more deontological.

Otherwise the episode was entertaining.

Try not to take certain plot details too seriously and it's great

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 11 November 2022]

Voyager has another encounter with Seska and the Kazon.

This is a strong episode that makes you want to find out what happens next.

The key to enjoying Basics: Part 1 is having the willingness to suspend the disbelief about one key decision Janeway makes that sets up the premise of the story. If you are willing to go with it then it is very entertaining. I think there is plenty of excitement, suspense and clever little moments of Kazon strategy against Voyager that work very well. Characters like Janeway, Seska and Cullah have strong material and their actors are great.

For me the set up of Suder's arc feels a bit heavy handed, especially with him repeatedly saying how much he wants to do something for Voyager. That does not take away the fact that I am intrigued to see what he does. Brad Douriff is brilliant as always.

Feeble script

[lahilaastravnar · 6/10 · 11 January 2022]

The plot makes not any sense. The Captain Janeway and the first officer Chakotay decide to fall in a evident trap with the happy support of all the crew. The kazons have a lower technology of Federation, but are able to hide a powerful bomb in a infiltrated humanoid, take the Enterprise, pilot correctly the enterprise without any help and any security code.

A space battle longer than usual helps to see the episode till the end.

Starfleet = Best of the best?

[tomsly-40015 · 5/10 · 18 December 2023]

Man it hurts to see so much amateurism again from the Voyager crew. They fall for every trap and risk the ship and the lives of the crew for a baby from a traitor that has impregnated herself with the DNA of Chakotay. There is absolutely zero connection Chakotay or anyone on board the ship has with this baby and it is definetely not worth to risk the whole ship and its crew and the endevour to fly home! No one owes this baby anything. If they care for this baby, they could also just stop at every planet they encounter to save every baby there, that is sick or in any form of danger. Sometimes you have to realize, too, that you are outgunned, outshipped and outmanned. Being heroic in the end often proves to be being dumb. And Star Trek captains and officers have a long history of being dumber than dumb. I really don't know what they are taught at the Academy. Obviously only tech mumbo jumbo and how to recalibrate phaser arrays or scan for warp anomalies (I tell you: 80% of the tasks of a Starfleet officer is about scanning and calibrating!). Tactictal skills are really weak among the officers.

Also: In one of the last episodes they traveled 70 light years in a short time after they left Janeway and Chakotay on that planet. Considering the fact, that this is the end of second season, they must have been travelled over a thousand light years at least, several thousands more likely. Yet, they still run into Maje Culluh (who is typed into the console on Voyager as Cullah by the way) at any occassion. He is behind them, in front of them, near every planet they pass... How the heck is this guy and Seska everywhere when the Voyager is not flying circles in Kazon space but in a straight line (most likely) back to the alpha quadrant??? It gets old to constantly run into the two and it makes absolutely zero sense why this constantly happens.

And it is quite impressive, that a species over 70,000 light years from the alpha quadrant, without any knowledge of the Federation, their tech, their culture etc. Is completely able to operate a foreign space ship with unknown tech through consoles with an unknow computer interface, visuals and most of all unknown letters and symbols. People today already struggle in operating an Android smartphone if they are used to iOS only. You know which functions should exist but you have a hard time finding them in the settings on the phone. And some features that only exist on Android might be completely hidden from you because you don't even know they exist, what they do and where to look for them. And now consider that this smartphone is set to Chinese language. Good luck in making this device work! The Kazon would not even be able to start the engines of a space ship with that kind of technology. And obviously no one of the crew is able to lock the consoles from unauthorized access either.

And last but not least: Aren't there around 170 people on board the ship? When they are all marooned on the planet, they are maybe just 50. Where is the rest?