Voyager 4.23 FAQ
Don’t these usually get posted on Saturday?
Thursday marks my 16th anniversary manning the TV desk here at Ain’t It Cool; I thought it’d be fun today to revisit an episode of “Star Trek Voyager” that aired before I became our TV critic.
What’s it called?
“Living Witness.”
Who’s responsible?
Teleplay is credited to Bryan Fuller (“Dead Like Me,” “Wonderfalls,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Hannibal,” CBS’ fast-approaching new Star Trek series), Brannon Braga (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Generations,” “Star Trek: First Contact”) and Joe Menosky (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”), based on a story credited to Braga. Braga and Menosky recently collaborated on WGN’s much-ignored period drama “Salem.”
What says Fake UPN?
“Some 700 years after Capt. Janeway’s exploration of the Delta Quadrant, The Doctor’s newly discovered back-up module seeks to correct historical accounts of Voyager’s role in The Great War with the Vaskans – and the new facts threaten to exacerbate old ethnic tensions.”
How does it start?
“When diplomacy fails, there’s only one alternative: violence,” explains an oddly attired Kathryn Janeway, gesturing with sinister-looking black gloves. She is offered a faster way back to Earth via a hidden wormhole in exchange for using Voyager’s superior technology – technology that would help a government looking for an upper hand.
700 years in the future? Do we run into FutureGuy or the Temporal Cold War from “Star Trek: Enterprise”?
Not in the Delta Quadrant we don’t.
The big news?
While “Deep Space Nine” and “Enterprise” repeatedly revisited Goatee Spock’s Mirror Universe, “Voyager” never made that leap – but “Living Witness” likely brought Janeway’s crew closer to the concept than any other episode. This is another of the most engrossing Treks ever televised. Its 44 minutes flew by.
What else is UPN not telling us?
The episode’s denouement, which tells us The Duplicate Doctor had a big career in the Delta Quadrant before eventually setting off for Earth, would seem to beg for a sequel. Would Fuller be willing to tackle it in his fast-approaching CBS Trek? Actually, now that I think of it, how cool would it be if Picardo’s Doctor hired on as a regular? Or if the entire next Trek series took place in this era, subsequent to the Temporal Cold War?
What’s great?
The masterstroke of zipping the Star Trek universe ahead seven centuries. Robert Picardo as The Duplicate Doctor. Jeri Ryan as the Borg Queen. Kate Mulgrew as Fascist Janeway. The “reenactment” universe and the vast number of historical inaccuracies that inhabit it. “The Warship Voyager.” The crew’s black turtlenecks. Chakotay’s supersized facial tattoo. Janeway’s murderous ruthelessness. The Android Doctor’s Data-eyes and the wires sticking out of his skull. The sadistic smile that crosses Tuvok’s face. Harry Kim’s new role as ship’s torturer. A surly Tom calling Neelix a “hedgehog.” Seven’s SEAL team of Borg soldiers. The remains of the city-destroying Voyager torpedo. The Doctor’s allowance that the historians did get Tom Paris right. The clever ending, set even farther in the future. “Even today, 700 years later, we are still feeling the impact of ‘The Voyager Encounter.’” “The chemical is dissolving your optic nerves.” “That’s right. And you’d do the same in my position.”
What’s not so great?
Roxann Dawson’s mysterious absence.
How does it end, spoiler boy?
“He said he had a longing for home. This way.”
April 28, 1998. UPN.
