Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Cathexis (1995) User Reviews

Another non-corporeal being

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 23 June 2010]

As a shuttle containing Chokotay and Tunok returns from an away mission it is clear that something is very wrong; they are transported to sick bay where The Doctor states that Commander Chakotay is brain dead. The shuttle's records suggest that it was attacked by a ship that then retreated into a nebula. Janeway orders the crew to turn the ship around and head into the nebula thinking the attackers may be able to reverse what they did to Chakotay. As they approach the nebula Voyager changes direction to head away again; the evidence suggests that Tom Paris changed the heading but he strenuously denies this. He is further implicated when he was the closest to the scene when second course change occurs. A medical examination suggests at the moment of the changes he was under the influence of another consciousness. It soon becomes apparent that this consciousness can jump between people when B'Elanna ejects the warp core. As the entity clearly doesn't want to go back to the nebula Janeway becomes more determined that they must go there. When they finally get there it becomes apparent that the real danger didn't come from the 'entity' which was trying to stop them going into the nebula but one that possessed a single crew member and was determined to get the whole crew into the nebula.

This was a decent episode with a twist that I had not seen coming although it was a pity that this episode about a non-corporeal being followed another episode about such a being. The opening scene in which Janeway started a new holodeck program seemed a little out of place as it played no further part in the episode, I can only assume it was setting things up for a later story. It was nice that Kes could sense the beings presence even though it didn't lead to its identification it kept us reminded that she has some limited telepathic powers.

It's ok.

[brianjohnson-20043 · 7/10 · 10 February 2021]

Not the best episode in terms of the logic of the story of character decisions and motivations. More than once I felt like the characters were being a bit stupid. But if you get over that, it's a fun mystery storyline to try to figure out as a spectator once the storyline gets going. The concept for the story was good. It just didn't get the care that it deserved. And speaking of when the story gets going, the first scene goes on way too long!!! And it doesn't seem to be relevant to the overall story.

Brains... Need brains...

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 27 March 2020]

I would call this a fun mystery episode that had me in suspense for most of the episode. I enjoy creative storylines like this ---- the idea that an alien corporeal creature needs to 'feed' on our energy always scratches that fascinating itch for me.

I feel they could have gone further with the avatar corporeal battle on the ship. What they had on the ship deck was great!

I enjoyed the scene with Torres respecting Chakotay's beliefs and I expected the Doctor to come by and provide a terse comment about it but he actually provides insight into properly placing the spirit stones!

Overall a fun episode.

Chakotay's Brain

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 14 June 2022]

After an encounter with a mysterious nebula Chakotay is rendered brain dead.

This is an entertaining episode, but partially for the wrong reasons.

The plot has some intriguing moments and even hits the same paranoid notes as John Carpenter's The Thing in a few scenes, but for me it gets overly silly and contrived towards the end.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting to happen but when the main reveal comes the plot holes that arise from it feel inexcusable.

That being said it still amuses me. Particularly all the shenanigans with the medicine chart and some quite cheesy delivery of some of the more dramatic dialogue.

Robert Picardo is genuinely good as always though, delivering his lines exceptionally well and using his dry wit and persona to great effect.

Cathexis

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 22 November 2023]

Cathexis wants to infuse the paranoia of movies such as The Thing.

So it opens with a Holodeck program where Janeway' is a new Governess in an English house falling out with the sinister housekeeper.

Janeway is disturbed by an emergency. Chakotay and Tuvok return from an away mission where they were attacked by an alien ship that hiding out in a nebula.

Both are injured but Chakotay is brain dead. The crew of the Voyager learn that something else entered the ship. It takes over members of the crew and control their actions.

Therefore anyone of the crew could be vulnerable. Only the Holo-Doctor is resistant to it.

Superficially entertaining although it does not take long to work out that it is Tuvok that is affected. Anyone he comes into contact with seems to come of worse.

The only other twist is what is swooning around the ship? The force turns out to be the ship's protector and it is Chakotay's spiritual consciousness.

Good season 1 episode

[tom992 · 8/10 · 18 November 2021]

Oh common why the hate, almost every star trek show needed at least 1 or sometimes even 2 seasons to eventually find their footing. This episode is a great season 1 episode for voyager, some mystery, drama, even some funny scenes. Overall good episode!

An engrossing mystery that falls flat in the final act

[alexandrajade · 4/10 · 2 March 2012]

Tuvok and Chakotay return from an away mission injured. Tuvok has a simple concussion, but Chakotay is braindead. Oh no! Captain Janeway decides to take the ship back to the site of where Tuvok says they were attacked, but strange things happen on the way there; various crew members seem to sabotage the voyage by turning the ship around, but without knowing that they're doing it. The Doctor investigates, and finds evidence that these crew members have been temporarily possessed by an alien intelligence, one which migrates from person to person.

Engaging setup, no? Unfortunately, the big twist is that the "alien intelligence" is CHAKOTAY. Oyyyyy. Tuvok has been possessed by a noncorporeal creature throughout the episode, and the two of them have been fighting to keep the ship from returning to the nebula where "Tuvok"'s people live. The bridge crew successfully overpowers Tuvok, the noncorporeal creature leaves him, and all is well.

Even Chakotay! The Doctor just, um, re-integrates his consciousness. Isn't that something! I know you have to push the reset button at the end of the episode, but geez this takes WAY too much suspension of disbelief, even in freaking Star Trek.

I loved the setup with a mysterious being taking control of crew members to do its bidding, but it didn't end up paying off with much at all.

This is not Spock's Brain.

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 17 July 2022]

Besides, I liked Spock's brain. They made mistakes with the general story in that, but they were talking about the division of a culture where men and women were separated, and that's what Spock's brain was about.

This episode isn't even close to the same kind of story.

We get Tuvok and Chakotay, back from an Away Mission, both of them appear to have been assaulted but Chakotay is in bad shape.

If you want to relate this to an original series episode, it would probably be more similar to "The Day of the Dove"- but only in that there is a mysterious presence on the ship, floating from room to room.

Early on in the episode, we discover that people had been doing things that they could not remember doing. The ships course is changed. The doctor is mysteriously accosted.

What could be going on? The only clue that we are given is that we are shown the point of view as if we are flying from one person's brain to the next. It was just a little bit of exposition that was simply performed to give us the concept of what was actually happening on the ship.

And then Chakotay is in sick bay, visited by Torres, who had brought all of his Native American accoutrements including something that looks similar to map. Which is appropriate for a later part of this episode, "File for future reference". Voyager was a good show for remembering details because they would crop up later.

Also this Voyager episode is less similar to any original series episode and more related to a TNG episode, particularly, "Times Arrow".

Because of the "Triolic" properties of an entity. But these entities are not capable of taking on human form, although they are capable of influencing a human.

I simply don't want to give away any of this to anybody who has not watched it, there is something rather interesting going on, and we of course try to figure it out as the episode progresses. Personally, I could not figure it out, not until Torres does something completely crazy, that's when the pieces started coming together. I had to ask myself why would she do that? Well, she wouldn't.

But I am bringing up this episode because of one scene where there is a struggle on the bridge, which includes the use of a phaser.

I think this is the first time in any Star Trek show of the 90s, where they show the use of a phaser in "wide beam" configuration... Tuvok uses it this way, it comes in handy.

There are so many other episodes of TNG, DS9, maybe even Enterprise, where the use of a phaser in this way would have been extremely convenient, but yet it had only ever been done in this one episode. Actually, Seska threatens to use a phaser in this configuration in "worst case scenario"... but it doesn't actually show her doing it.

It was good in this one episode to break up a tense situation, but the fact that the phasers had never been used in this fashion after this, well it would have solved quite a few conundrums in other shows.

I don't know if this concept had just been forgotten, or, it just never came up in any future episodes of Voyager or other Trek shows.

People forget that writing for television shows, sometimes you don't get to revisit things that would have made a difference later on sometimes you just have to drop a subject. For instance, they never rescued Thomas Riker from Cardassian prison.

I know that the various showrunners have wanted to do a lot more when it comes to revisiting things that we have seen in one episode like this, but time constraints, and in the case of Voyager, blatant network interference, prevented it from happening.

Oh goody, another non-corporeal entity!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 5 February 2015]

When the show begins, the shuttle returns to Voyager and Chakotay is brain dead. Tuvok was injured and SOMETHING is responsible. What follows are a long series of possessions by an invisible alien presence--and what it wants and how to stop it are all unknown. So, it's up to some faux American-Indian mumbo-jumbo and a brainless Chakotay to save the day.

The early days for "Star Trek: Voyager" were rough ones. Despite a lot of very favorable reviews for the shows here on IMDb, the early ones had a lot of problems--such as an over-reliance on dull aliens and holodecks. Already in the series, there have been several instances of body- less aliens and quantum singularities--very, very dull stuff indeed. The show's only enemies at this point are the Kazon...and they really aren't very threatening. So, this is yet another example of this sort of boring alien encounter that made this a rather weak series at the beginning. While this episode on its own is not horrible, in light of the other shows it is quite disappointing.

Star Trek: Voyager - Cathexis

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 21 January 2017]

One of the most bizarre twists in Trek history, in my opinion, closes this episode of Voyager as Chakotay and Tuvok return from a trade negotiation having encountered a mind-hopping entity out of a dark matter nebula. Chakotay has no brain function, while Tuvok experiences mind possession along with other members of the crew. Janeway wants to return to the nebula to find the ship Tuvok says the shuttle came across, but the alien moves from one brain to another and seems set on them not, interrupting course by whatever means necessary. Meanwhile the crew soon believe, besides the alien moving about, there's another consciousness also alternating from one officer to another opposing it in regards to the course towards the nebula. Chakotay's involvement in the storyline, regarding out of body consciousness able to use crew members like the alien possessor, and how Doctor can return it to his body just had me in ribbons...I just found all of this preposterous. I did enjoy the medicine wheel as a character device but it telling Janeway about planets in the nebula by Chakotay's consciousness invading Neelix had me tickled. An invasion-of-the-body-snatchers plot seems ideal to me, and I thought the episode is quite fast paced and fun for the majority but that ending just collapses all the good will it built with this viewer. Seeing the crew grappling with a ship controlled by a force invading their mind momentarily in order of course correction/stop conveys all the perplexity, paranoia, surprise, puzzlement, anxiety, and frustration obviously suffered by them all considering their situation. Tuvok invaded and commandeering the Bridge with a mass phaser burst is a startling moment. Seeing Doctor seriously considered as a fail safe for captaining the ship by Janeway really speaks volumes with how disruptive the non-corporeal entity was to the crew of the ship. Kes and her telepathic abilities viewed as a threat, with possessed Tuvok unknowingly using a Vulcan neck pinch to injure her conveys just how dangerous the entity is. A potentially great episode undermined by silly conclusion.

Too Many Narrow Escapes Based on an Incredible Guess

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 11 August 2018]

With Chikotay unconscious and presumed brain dead, the crew being inhabited by foggy beings, how can they bring him back? Fear not! The engineers always seem to come up with some twisting of matter or reversal of polarity or whatever and it is used to save them again. The problem with this show early on is like the weakness of the terrible "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" years earlier. It's like what is the monster of the week and in whose body is it hiding? This is a really weak episode. There is suspicion among the crew even though they've been here before. Oh well. I know from having watched the whole thing before that there were growing pains.

I only have two words...

[xmlrider · 1/10 · 2 August 2020]

To put this in perspective, on a sliding scale with TOS, think "Spock's Brain." Yeah. It's that bad.