Episodes
Hugo Award-winner Frank Wu comes back to the podcast to talk about another big story featuring the Borg Queen. We discuss the merits of Seven’s love interest, the advisability of getting assimilated on purpose, and (our favorite subject) why Harry Kim keeps getting dissed. Even the Borg Queen zings him....
Published 05/31/22
Published 05/31/22
In the latest of our two-part Voyager stories, we spend quality time with the Borg Queen and returning podcast guest Tammy Coron. We discuss about Seven’s childhood and why the promise of connection in the collective would be so seductive. And we rank the mother figures in Seven’s life. (Her dad gets a failing grade.)...
Published 04/24/22
Jeff Gamet, tech journalist, podcaster, and big fan of Star Trek, returns to Voyager Revisited to discuss The Killing Game, a two-part story from Season 4 that lets us really get to know those scary Delta Quadrant bad guys, the Hirogen. It’s another great two-parter, in which we see our crew used as playthings for the Hirogen, whose only purpose is to hunt. Janeway is a French Underground leader, Seven is a torch singer, and Neelix is a badass Klingon, thanks to the holodeck. But we reserve...
Published 04/07/22
Don’t be alarmed! This is not a temporal incursion. Year of Hell is one of the most admired episodes of Voyager. One year ago, on episode 19 of this podcast, software developer and podcaster Tammy Coron was our guest. We were six months into the pandemic, and Year of Hell really struck home for both of us. Tammy’s situation especially, being flung into a pandemic with an unexpectedly extended family, was akin to Captain Janeway’s challenges in the Delta Quadrant. And like Janeway, we don’t...
Published 10/30/21
John Chidgey, engineer, podcaster, and big fan of Seven of Nine, returns to Voyager Revisited to discuss Scorpion, the two-part story that concludes Season 3 and opens Season 4. Scorpion is best known for the introduction of Seven, but on this rewatch, we notice that Seven doesn’t even appear until Part 2, and that the strain in the working relationship between Janeway and Chakotay is a key part of this story....
Published 10/18/21
We are covering all the two-part stories in Voyager. They are all excellent. The Voyager crew return to Earth.🎉 But wait, it’s 1996 Earth. 🤦‍♀️ It’s Future’s End, and if it weren’t such fun, time travel would give us a headache. We get to watch our crew explore SoCal wearing a variety of late 20th-century outfits and hairstyles, teaming up with geek girl Sarah Silverman to battle hippie-turned-tech mogul Ed Begley, Jr. Returning to the podcast is James Dempsey, who knows a thing or two about...
Published 10/03/21
We are covering all the two-part stories in Voyager. They are all excellent. We’ve already done Caretaker (“Invitation to a Holographic Hoedown”). Next up is Basics, in which the Kazon, under Seska’s treacherous leadership, take over Voyager, maroon the crew on a primitive planet, and find that they are no match for a hologram and sociopath. Casey Liss of The Accidental Tech Podcast joins us for this classic Star Trek action adventure story....
Published 08/30/21
We’re celebrating the 30th anniversary Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country this week on The Incomparable network. Have a listen to not one but two panels, on the mothership episode and on Random Trek. Then come back here for the two podcasters missing from those panels as we take a deeper dive into the Vulcan who was missing from the film, Voyager’s own Tuvok. Flashback (S3E2) was itself a 30th anniversary homage to the original series. Tuvok returns to the Excelsior, serving under Captain...
Published 04/10/21
Psychotherapist and host of a weekly tech and culture show, Georgia Dow talks about the mental health consequences for the Voyager crew as they travel through a large swath of space empty of stars, planets, and other ships. In “Night,” Janeway obsessively dwells on her decision that stranded Voyager in the Delta quadrant four years earlier. The rest of the crew also experiences the deleterious effects of nothing new to see or do, ranging from constant bickering to panic attacks....
Published 02/27/21
Podcaster and comic con host Moisés Chiullán returns to the podcast for a romance-themed episode inspired by Valentine’s Day. We watch the classic episode “Resolutions” which finds Janeway and Chakotay stranded on a planet together, possibly for the rest of their lives, left to fend for themselves. They do have prefab housing, scientific equipment, a replicator and other tech, but only each other (and one inconvenient monkey) for company. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew hates Acting Captain...
Published 02/13/21
This episode’s guest is Bob MacDonald Sr., self-proclaimed 85-year-old codger, retired teacher, and the man who bought our family a color TV so we could watch Star Trek when it first aired in 1966. We talk about space mission launches we witnessed in our home state of Florida, I try to explain the multitude of new Trek series, and I fail completely to turn him into a fan of Voyager and Captain Janeway....
Published 02/01/21
Shelly Brisbin is the latest guest. She’s a fan of B’Elanna Torres and The Doctor, so we chose Revulsion (S4E5) for our homework. The story of the lonely hologram, stranded on a ship by himself, is one of the best Voyager episodes, with Torres and The Doctor forming an away team to help repair both the ship and the holographic matrix. But something is wrong, which leads to a tense and fascinating story. Guest star Leland Orser is one of the best in the Voyager series, with a creepy...
Published 01/09/21
Star Trek is giving some attention to the junior crew this year in Lower Decks, the animated series available on CBS All Access. In this episode of Voyager Revisited, our homework was to watch Good Shepherd (S6E20), in which Janeway gives some attention to three misfits by leading them on their first away mission. Return guest Miraz Jordan suggested this focus on the crew that we don’t usually see, and we both enjoyed it! (Special bonus celebrity sighting: Tom Morello of Rage Against The...
Published 11/30/20
Tammy Coron, software developer, author and podcaster, comes back to Voyager Revisited to discuss Janeway again. Tammy appeared on our second episode, “What Would Janeway Do?” We continue to take lessons from Voyager’s captain, this time examining Janeway’s leadership style under extreme duress, and we glean some inspiration for our own extraordinary challenges this year....
Published 10/29/20
James Dempsey returns to Voyager Revisited to chat about our favorite Talaxian, Neelix. This week’s homework, Rise (S3E19), gives us a chance to appreciate the challenges that Neelix has overcome, making his characteristic sunny disposition even more remarkable. But there is only so much sniping he can tolerate from his Vulcan commanding officer Tuvok as they attempt to rescue themselves after a shuttle crash. The episode is a classic action adventure story, mixed with bits of the classic...
Published 10/12/20
Playwright David J. Loehr, fellow podcaster on The Incomparable network, discusses one of his favorite episodes of Star Trek ever: Bride of Chaotica! (Yes, the title has an exclamation point.) David has a deep love of the 1930s serial adventure form, so it’s a treat to listen as he admires all the beautiful touches which elevate the episode well above a typical holodeck shenanigans story. When Captain Janeway must play Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People, to prevent a war between photonic...
Published 09/26/20
Frank Wu is back! Besides being a Hugo Award winning artist, Frank holds a Ph.D. in Bacterial Genetics. He’s the perfect guest to analyze—and criticize—the Vidiian scientists and their method for finding a cure for that debilitating and disfiguring curse known as The Phage. With his genetics expertise, Frank also explains how unlikely it would be to successfully divide B’Elanna Torres into two individuals. Jean questions whether Klingon B’Elanna would actually know how to replicate a soufflé,...
Published 09/06/20
We finally set our sights on Tom Paris. I admit that gingers are my weakness, so I’ve always had a bit of a crush on Paris. Jeff Gamet of Smile Software and former editor at The MacObserver (who happens to be a ginger) is this episode’s guest as we talk about what makes Paris tick, and why his character is redeemable. This episode’s homework is “Thirty Days,” which shows us how Paris gets demoted and confined to the brig. So even if you don’t like Tom, maybe you’ll enjoy watching him be...
Published 08/01/20
Miraz Jordan, a writer, educator, and longtime Mac nerd who lives in New Zealand joins Jean to talk about one of our favorite crew members, B’Elanna Torres. The homework for this episode is to watch Dreadnought, a brilliant showcase of B’Elanna’s engineering skills. We talk about how the missile is such a perfect foil for B’Elanna strengths and foibles, and how her deep insecurities about doing the right thing set her back....
Published 05/01/20
STAR TREK: PICARD SPOILERS ABOUND! On a special episode of Voyager Revisited, Brianna Wu returns to discuss the new Picard series, which just wrapped, from Voyager fan point of view. Of course we talk about Seven Of Nine’s new incarnation as badass Fenris Ranger; we imagine how Robert Picardo and the Voyager EMH might have been integrated into Picard; and we complain about the short shrift accorded a favorite Voyager character....
Published 04/03/20
Why spend all our time watching a virus on the news when we could watch a virus on Voyager? A virus that mutates and grows to be huge. Bonus: our Captain really kicks virus ass. If only we had antigen bombs in the 21st century. Joe Rosensteel is here to wade through the gooey moments of this Alien-style scary story. Is this an escapist romp suitable for self-quarantine viewing, or a bit too close to home? It depends on how much you’ll enjoy a bad ass Janeway in a tank top blasting these...
Published 03/23/20
In the latest of our character-focused episodes, Frank Wu joins Jean to talk about Harry Kim. Frank is a four-time Hugo Award winning artist, who recently designed the bookcover for the Klingon translation of The Art of War. He is a super enthusiastic fan of all things Star Trek. We touch on some of the issues related to Asian representation in Kim’s character. Kim is possibly the least upwardly-mobile Starfleet officer ever, having spent at least 7 years as an ensign. For this episode, we...
Published 12/22/19
Podcaster and comic con host Moisés Chiullán joins Jean to talk about Star Trek’s first Native American main character and a great first officer, Chakotay. We also chose to focus on the episode “Initiations,” in which Chakotay is ensnared in a Kazon rite of passage, to pay tribute to Aron Eisenberg, best known for portraying Nog on Deep Space Nine for seven seasons. Eisenberg passed away this fall at the age of 50. As Robert Beltran noted, “We both had a good time. Aron’s a lot of fun to work...
Published 12/07/19
Our guest this week is prolific podcaster from Trek.fm, Justin Oser, who co-hosts Earl Grey and The Line, the latter focused on the new Picard series. Given Seven Of Nine’s return in Picard, Justin’s been rewatching Voyager and recently watched one of our favorite episodes, Gravity (S5E13). Rewatching together gave us a chance to talk about another favorite character, the Vulcan Tuvok, played by Tim Russ, and one of the great series guest stars, Lori Petty, whose character falls in love with...
Published 10/18/19