This episode is such a gem. Ensign Kim discovers a wormhole and its discovery raises the hopes of the crew that they will be able to return home assuming the wormhole leads to the Alpha Quadrant. The good news is that the hole does indeed lead to the Alpha Quadrant; the bad news is that it is way too small for the Voyager to get through. The pace of this story is terrific - B'Elanna Torres thinks she knows a way to transport the crew to the Romulan science ship at the other end of the wormhole. Will it succeed? Even though we know it is unlikely to succeed since there will be about another 165 episodes, the writers had us almost believing it. Then the crew's hope is that they can convey messages to their families and friends through the wormhole and that the captain of the science ship will deliver them. We're left with a kind of lady or the tiger ending. I often prefer the secondary story lines to the main storyline. And this one is exceptional - Kes speaks to Captain Janeway on the Doctor's behalf; the crew are treating him badly by not even acknowledging his presence. The captain is somewhat surprised but promises to look into it. Kes and the Doctor are my favorite characters so any episodes that feature them prominently are usually winners. So main story and secondary storyline are both good which makes this a superior episode.
9 Reviews
Promise Denied
Hitchcoc10 August 2018
This is an intriguing episode. Of course, there is profound loneliness on the part of the crew. They face the possibility of never seeing their loved ones again. When a tiny wormhole is discovered, many possibilities rear their heads. It is discovered that the passageway is much too small for Voyager to get through. Now things get creative. When a connection is made with the other side, a Romulan, they believe they can send individual messages to their homes and loved ones. Then Torres finds a way to transport objects and potentially crew members. But not without pitfalls. We also get to embrace one of the best characters, the holographic Doc.
Strong episode with Katie Mulgrew and Robert Picardo on great form
snoozejonc10 May 2022
Voyager discovers a wormhole leading to the alpha quadrant.
I think this is the most enjoyable episode of the series so far, with a strong A/B plot and some great character moments.
The point of Voyager is for the crew to be stuck in the delta quadrant, so we know the premise of this story is a false dawn. However, the desperation and hope portrayed in the characters makes the situation feel real. There is a nice little twist in the tale which gives Janeway a dilemma, to which she responds in a quintessentially Star Trek way.
I enjoyed the scenes with the Doctor, who (thanks to Robert Picardo's performances) is probably my favourite character. There are similar themes emerging to TNG's Data regarding sentience, and given the very different attitude of the Voyager crew, it feels a similarly compelling arc. Picardo has some good exchanges with Jennifer Lien.
Katie Mulgrew is excellent throughout and there is also a good guest performance by Vaughn Armstrong.
I think this is the most enjoyable episode of the series so far, with a strong A/B plot and some great character moments.
The point of Voyager is for the crew to be stuck in the delta quadrant, so we know the premise of this story is a false dawn. However, the desperation and hope portrayed in the characters makes the situation feel real. There is a nice little twist in the tale which gives Janeway a dilemma, to which she responds in a quintessentially Star Trek way.
I enjoyed the scenes with the Doctor, who (thanks to Robert Picardo's performances) is probably my favourite character. There are similar themes emerging to TNG's Data regarding sentience, and given the very different attitude of the Voyager crew, it feels a similarly compelling arc. Picardo has some good exchanges with Jennifer Lien.
Katie Mulgrew is excellent throughout and there is also a good guest performance by Vaughn Armstrong.
Exquisitely written--the first really, really good episode of "Star Trek: Voyager"
planktonrules3 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This sixth episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" is the first really, really good one in the series. Like most new shows, the first few shows are a bit tentative--with characters still coming into their own and the shows not yet hitting their stride. This isn't a complaint--more just an observation. However, here in "Eye of the Needle", the show hit a home run--and it's among the better shows in the series.
When the show begins, the Voyager crew discovers a tiny wormhole. It's too small for the ship but the hope is that they can send a probe to the hole and somehow bounce a message through to the other side...into the Alpha Quadrant. Well, it is a success but not a rousing one. The ship they contact on the other side of the galaxy is Romulan and this race of beings have always been portrayed a very paranoid. Getting the Romulans to help WON'T be easy, that's for sure. But the problems get far worse, because when they finally get this Romulan commander to agree to relay messages to their families and Starfleet, there is a heartbreaking realization...and it's something you'll just have to learn when you see the show.
Like most Trek shows, this one has a secondary plot--but it's NOT an unimportant or slight one. Kes is a good study and is now working with the holo doctor. But she also notices that the humans on the ship treat him like dirt. After all, he's NOT alive and he's basically a tool. But she sees that he is much more and begins to bond with him and treat him as an equal. Kes then takes it upon herself to approach the Captain and request that something be done to remedy the crew's interactions with the doc--and thus begins the slow evolution of the doctor through the course of the film into an important and fully realized character. And, considering he IS the best character on the show, it's a journey I really enjoyed seeing.
Overall, the reason I score this one a 10 is that it really is exquisitely written--and a bit heart-felt and sad near the end. There are so many clever things that the script contains and it's well worth seeing.
When the show begins, the Voyager crew discovers a tiny wormhole. It's too small for the ship but the hope is that they can send a probe to the hole and somehow bounce a message through to the other side...into the Alpha Quadrant. Well, it is a success but not a rousing one. The ship they contact on the other side of the galaxy is Romulan and this race of beings have always been portrayed a very paranoid. Getting the Romulans to help WON'T be easy, that's for sure. But the problems get far worse, because when they finally get this Romulan commander to agree to relay messages to their families and Starfleet, there is a heartbreaking realization...and it's something you'll just have to learn when you see the show.
Like most Trek shows, this one has a secondary plot--but it's NOT an unimportant or slight one. Kes is a good study and is now working with the holo doctor. But she also notices that the humans on the ship treat him like dirt. After all, he's NOT alive and he's basically a tool. But she sees that he is much more and begins to bond with him and treat him as an equal. Kes then takes it upon herself to approach the Captain and request that something be done to remedy the crew's interactions with the doc--and thus begins the slow evolution of the doctor through the course of the film into an important and fully realized character. And, considering he IS the best character on the show, it's a journey I really enjoyed seeing.
Overall, the reason I score this one a 10 is that it really is exquisitely written--and a bit heart-felt and sad near the end. There are so many clever things that the script contains and it's well worth seeing.
A visit from the Alpha Quadrant
Tweekums15 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
When Ensign Kim detects a wormhole the crew are hopeful that it might lead back to the Alpha Quadrant the crew is understandable excited, unfortunately when they get to it they discover it is far too small for Voyager to pass through. It is just large enough for a probe to enter but it looks like even that idea won't work as it gets stuck before it exits the worm hole. On the off chance anybody is near the other end of the worm hole they send a signal and they do indeed get a reply which to their great pleasure is indeed from the Alpha Quadrant; it looks as though they will at least be able to send a message home. The first problem they have though is that their message has been received by a Romulan scientist who is sceptical when they tell him where they are, and once he has come to believe them and B'Elanna comes up with the idea of transporting the crew through the wormhole he says they wouldn't be allowed on his ship. He does offer to call a troop ship to help but before doing that he transports to Voyager to check that it is possible to transport through the wormhole and only then do they make an important discovery about the wormhole; not only does it go to the Alpha Quadrant, it also goes more than twenty years into the past. Realising they can't go back the crew record messages and give them to the Romulan who promises to give them to Star Fleet after Voyager has gone to the Delta Quadrant. In a secondary story thread Kes goes to the Captain to argue that the crew need to treat The Doctor with more respect as he has become more than just a standby and should be treated like any other member of the crew; to this end the Captain offers to change his program so that he is in control of when he gets deactivated.
This was a good and memorably episode of Voyager. The story was well written, nicely raising hopes that they might get home before inevitably dashing them. While they mat have lacked the drama of the main story, the secondary scenes between Kes and The Doctor were some of the best in the episode, Jennifer Lien and Robert Picardo did very well injecting a lot of feeling into those scenes which helped show how caring Kes is and how the Doctor has real feelings even if he is just a holographic program.
This was a good and memorably episode of Voyager. The story was well written, nicely raising hopes that they might get home before inevitably dashing them. While they mat have lacked the drama of the main story, the secondary scenes between Kes and The Doctor were some of the best in the episode, Jennifer Lien and Robert Picardo did very well injecting a lot of feeling into those scenes which helped show how caring Kes is and how the Doctor has real feelings even if he is just a holographic program.
First great voyager episode
firefalcoln25 August 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This episode might not be as good as the first great episode of Next Generation which is commonly considered, The Measure of a Man. However This voyager episode arrives much sooner than The Next Generation's first great episode, and is special in a different way.
This episode has two great story-lines and they go together very nicely. The crew discovers a tiny wormhole. It's too small to fly through, and the probe they send in doesn't make it all the way through it. However, the probe is able to make contact with a ship on the other side. They also learn that the wormhole, to their luck leads to the Alpha Quadrant. The bad news is that the ship they contact is a Romulan ship. The Romulans predictably don't trust the federation ship, but Voyager persistently keeps after them. They finally build some understanding and positive terms with the captain of the other ship. There is a touching moment where the Romulan captain informs Janeway that he travels through space over years without seeing has wife, and has never met his 7 month old daughter. The Romulan agrees to send a message to Starfleet informing them of their location. But next thing, Belanna discovers a possibility of beaming crew members from one ship to the other.
This possibility really relates the the other storyline in the episode. Like many great story lines in Voyager, the Doctor is right in the thick of it. The doctor, in the very early stages of becoming more than a human convenience, becomes a sympathetic figure for Kess, who is learning to become a medical assistance. Only the crew being able to activate and deactivate the doctor, as well as the crew talking rudely to the doctor begin to agitate Kess. She bring up her concerns to the Captain. The captain then visits the doctor for the first time to treat him like a crew mate with feelings and needs, rather than a lifeless human serving hologram. The Captain decides to have engineers work to allow the doctor control his program's on or off state. Shortly after this good news for the doctor, Kess informs the Doctor that the entire crew might be able to beam off voyager through the wormhole into the alpha quadrant. The doctor would be left behind. The doctor asks Kess to make sure to turn off his program if he is left behind. The doctor's status is explored so well in this episode with him receiving news of more power in the future, before realizing he could be left behind all alone without the ability to turn hims program off, if it weren't for Kess.
Back in the other story-line the crew becomes capable of transporting sample packages over to the Romulan ship, but the Romulan captain informs Voyager that the Romulans won't allow the Voyager crew to beam onto his ship, but the Romulan Captain says that the Romulan people might sent another ship for the Voyager crew to beam upon. The Romulan Captain does agrees to beam to voyager. The transport takes a lot of extra configuration and time, but is successful. Tuvoc then realizes by scanning the Romulan, that the wormhole transports through space and time. the Romulan captain is actually from 20 years in the past. The crew then are left unable to beam to the alpha quadrant, but the Romulan Captain agrees to relay their status to star-fleet in 20 years time. The viewer is just now thinking that the show has thrown the last good curve-ball, and the result of the episode will be a first contact back with earth. However, Tuvoc informs the ship the moment the Romulan is beamed back, that the Romulan entrusted with their information, according to computer records, dies 4 years before Voyager get lost in space. It's really a very sad moment for everyone but the doctor, who's the lone beneficiary of the bad news because his crew doesn't leave him behind.
The strange connection between the rival federation and Romulans is very interesting and touching. The Doctor's story arc is gripping and emotionally contemplative. And Overall they make the episode distinctive, exciting, melancholy, memorable, and IMO the best Voyager episode prior to Scorpion episodes.
This episode has two great story-lines and they go together very nicely. The crew discovers a tiny wormhole. It's too small to fly through, and the probe they send in doesn't make it all the way through it. However, the probe is able to make contact with a ship on the other side. They also learn that the wormhole, to their luck leads to the Alpha Quadrant. The bad news is that the ship they contact is a Romulan ship. The Romulans predictably don't trust the federation ship, but Voyager persistently keeps after them. They finally build some understanding and positive terms with the captain of the other ship. There is a touching moment where the Romulan captain informs Janeway that he travels through space over years without seeing has wife, and has never met his 7 month old daughter. The Romulan agrees to send a message to Starfleet informing them of their location. But next thing, Belanna discovers a possibility of beaming crew members from one ship to the other.
This possibility really relates the the other storyline in the episode. Like many great story lines in Voyager, the Doctor is right in the thick of it. The doctor, in the very early stages of becoming more than a human convenience, becomes a sympathetic figure for Kess, who is learning to become a medical assistance. Only the crew being able to activate and deactivate the doctor, as well as the crew talking rudely to the doctor begin to agitate Kess. She bring up her concerns to the Captain. The captain then visits the doctor for the first time to treat him like a crew mate with feelings and needs, rather than a lifeless human serving hologram. The Captain decides to have engineers work to allow the doctor control his program's on or off state. Shortly after this good news for the doctor, Kess informs the Doctor that the entire crew might be able to beam off voyager through the wormhole into the alpha quadrant. The doctor would be left behind. The doctor asks Kess to make sure to turn off his program if he is left behind. The doctor's status is explored so well in this episode with him receiving news of more power in the future, before realizing he could be left behind all alone without the ability to turn hims program off, if it weren't for Kess.
Back in the other story-line the crew becomes capable of transporting sample packages over to the Romulan ship, but the Romulan captain informs Voyager that the Romulans won't allow the Voyager crew to beam onto his ship, but the Romulan Captain says that the Romulan people might sent another ship for the Voyager crew to beam upon. The Romulan Captain does agrees to beam to voyager. The transport takes a lot of extra configuration and time, but is successful. Tuvoc then realizes by scanning the Romulan, that the wormhole transports through space and time. the Romulan captain is actually from 20 years in the past. The crew then are left unable to beam to the alpha quadrant, but the Romulan Captain agrees to relay their status to star-fleet in 20 years time. The viewer is just now thinking that the show has thrown the last good curve-ball, and the result of the episode will be a first contact back with earth. However, Tuvoc informs the ship the moment the Romulan is beamed back, that the Romulan entrusted with their information, according to computer records, dies 4 years before Voyager get lost in space. It's really a very sad moment for everyone but the doctor, who's the lone beneficiary of the bad news because his crew doesn't leave him behind.
The strange connection between the rival federation and Romulans is very interesting and touching. The Doctor's story arc is gripping and emotionally contemplative. And Overall they make the episode distinctive, exciting, melancholy, memorable, and IMO the best Voyager episode prior to Scorpion episodes.
More than a bunch of emitters.
thevacinstaller26 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode is a study of humans and aliens and holographic life forms grabbing with universal emotions and they guide our decisions. In this episode we get presented with a fascinating view of a reasoned and thoughtful Romulan science officer grappling with his conflict between duty to the Romulan empire and his innate sense of morality/compassion towards this trapped Starfleet crew.
Janeway is the most sympathetic and sincere captain that we have been presented with throughout all the series and I feel that in her talk to the Romulan about the crew wanting to make contact with their families. I also enjoyed the conversation that Kes had with Janeway in her ready room capped off with the line, "Because it is a hologram it doesn't have to be treated with respect?"
Thankfully Janeway is intelligent enough to possess the ability to have her mind changed and she embraces the idea that the Hologram doctor should be treated with respect and offers him the option of having control over his ability to turn his program on/off.
The best star trek makes you feel some emotion and this one succeeds in that regard.
Janeway is the most sympathetic and sincere captain that we have been presented with throughout all the series and I feel that in her talk to the Romulan about the crew wanting to make contact with their families. I also enjoyed the conversation that Kes had with Janeway in her ready room capped off with the line, "Because it is a hologram it doesn't have to be treated with respect?"
Thankfully Janeway is intelligent enough to possess the ability to have her mind changed and she embraces the idea that the Hologram doctor should be treated with respect and offers him the option of having control over his ability to turn his program on/off.
The best star trek makes you feel some emotion and this one succeeds in that regard.
Star Trek: Voyager - Eye of the Needle
Scarecrow-887 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A "micro-wormhole" is discovered by Ensign Kim as a possible way out of the godforsaken, uncharted Delta Quadrant, leaving the crew of the Voyager in excitement at the prospects of getting home by traveling through it back to the Alpha Quadrant. However, they realize, when sending a probe into it, the wormhole is decaying, deteriorating, dying. Much to their delight, a response from the other side of the wormhole reveals a Romulan science officer, Telek R'Mor (a subtly rich performance from Vaughn Armstrong), who reluctantly corresponds with the Voyager crew, admitting his distrust in their mission, considering them Federation spies. When Janeway convinces R'Mor that her crew is in fact genuinely lost and trying to find their way home to the Alpha Quadrant, his suspicion fades. Even more promising, Torres believes they have produced a potential breakthrough in transport technology
the ability to transport off of the Voyager through the wormhole onto the Romulan vessel. They will need to get Telek R'Mor's cooperation, though. The twist involving the wormhole's rift not only in space but time produces devastating results. Could R'Mor perhaps relay a message to the Federation? R'Mor does say he would tell his homeworld of the Voyager "at the appropriate time".
There's a really generous subplot involving "holodeck doc" Robert Picardo portrays, as Kes goes to Janeway with a plea to recognize him as more than just a hologram that can be deactivated when not in use. That Picardo is more than just some program that can be adjusted if Janeway so orders is a plot that I fully embrace. An ever evolving character that is more than what was initially intended, and how Picardo offers quiet reflection and surprise to others like Kes and Janeway who inform him that he is beyond just a computer simulation that can be reprogrammed is a huge step forward for the character. Then the Doctor gaining confidence in how patients treat him, encouraged by Kes' support, addressing others to realize he exists and doesn't deserve their disrespect, is a pivotal moment in his development as a character. His wanting a name adds gravitas to the Doctor but will he ever be able to find a satisfactory name? Armstrong's reactions—with all the hesitation, distrust, and calculated response—to distance himself from the Federation, as he's always been taught and trained, gradually uncoiling didn't go unappreciated by this viewer. I think just responding to the crew, considering the time he comes from in difference to them, when beamed on the Voyager, and the disappointment that he couldn't help them shows you this change in a character initially not resolved to talk to them much at all. I like how it tells you that despite Romulan and Federation relations, over just a small period of time there can be progress between them. It just takes the willingness to try. The near rescue of the wormhole, only to be dealt the blow of what lies at the other side in regards to time, is the perfect let-down. This was only the first season and the Delta Quadrant had plenty of unknowns yet to explore. But their being so close to a chance of returning home only to be denied is tragic.
There's a really generous subplot involving "holodeck doc" Robert Picardo portrays, as Kes goes to Janeway with a plea to recognize him as more than just a hologram that can be deactivated when not in use. That Picardo is more than just some program that can be adjusted if Janeway so orders is a plot that I fully embrace. An ever evolving character that is more than what was initially intended, and how Picardo offers quiet reflection and surprise to others like Kes and Janeway who inform him that he is beyond just a computer simulation that can be reprogrammed is a huge step forward for the character. Then the Doctor gaining confidence in how patients treat him, encouraged by Kes' support, addressing others to realize he exists and doesn't deserve their disrespect, is a pivotal moment in his development as a character. His wanting a name adds gravitas to the Doctor but will he ever be able to find a satisfactory name? Armstrong's reactions—with all the hesitation, distrust, and calculated response—to distance himself from the Federation, as he's always been taught and trained, gradually uncoiling didn't go unappreciated by this viewer. I think just responding to the crew, considering the time he comes from in difference to them, when beamed on the Voyager, and the disappointment that he couldn't help them shows you this change in a character initially not resolved to talk to them much at all. I like how it tells you that despite Romulan and Federation relations, over just a small period of time there can be progress between them. It just takes the willingness to try. The near rescue of the wormhole, only to be dealt the blow of what lies at the other side in regards to time, is the perfect let-down. This was only the first season and the Delta Quadrant had plenty of unknowns yet to explore. But their being so close to a chance of returning home only to be denied is tragic.
Eye of the Needle
Prismark1024 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
A micro wormhole found by Ensign Kim leads to a possible way to get home back to the Alpha Quadrant.
It is only the sixth episode so it is bound to end in disappointment.
The wormhole is collapsing. So the Voyager only has a short time to get a message across. Unfortunately the message gets to a Romulan science vessel.
Of course there is distrust from the Romulan side, disbelieving that the ship is trapped in the Delta quadrant.
However Captain Janeway manages to get through to the Romulan ship captain by talking to about his personal life.
What began as maybe just passing messages to the loved ones of the Voyager crew back home. Amounts to possibly transporting back to the Alpha quadrant on the Romulan ship.
This is an old school episode, very much a Gene Roddenberry type one. The sucker punch being that the wormhole also displaces time. The Romulan captain existed 20 years in then past.
There is also a much needed secondary story about the ship's Holo doctor. A story that mirrored the New Generation crew's relationship with Data.
Can a computer program made up of light rays can come to be regarded as a person.
It is only the sixth episode so it is bound to end in disappointment.
The wormhole is collapsing. So the Voyager only has a short time to get a message across. Unfortunately the message gets to a Romulan science vessel.
Of course there is distrust from the Romulan side, disbelieving that the ship is trapped in the Delta quadrant.
However Captain Janeway manages to get through to the Romulan ship captain by talking to about his personal life.
What began as maybe just passing messages to the loved ones of the Voyager crew back home. Amounts to possibly transporting back to the Alpha quadrant on the Romulan ship.
This is an old school episode, very much a Gene Roddenberry type one. The sucker punch being that the wormhole also displaces time. The Romulan captain existed 20 years in then past.
There is also a much needed secondary story about the ship's Holo doctor. A story that mirrored the New Generation crew's relationship with Data.
Can a computer program made up of light rays can come to be regarded as a person.
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