“Time and Again”

I remember vividly loving Season 4's Year of Hell, but hating - totally hating - the "Reset Button," which by the end of VOY, was perhaps its worst offending cliche. What I had forgotten was just how early in the show the writers started leaning on that crutch.

This is only the third episode! Isn't it vital at this point to build UP the characters? Instead, what little character development occurred was all wiped away like so many other potential (but sadly, reset) twists and turns throughout VOY's seven years. What a shame. What a total waste.

P.S. Kes is no Guinan. And Time and Again is no Yesterday's Enterprise.

I'm surprised you didn't go more into Janeway's bizarre Prime Directive fundamentalism in this episode. Janeway uses the Prime Directive as a reason to not save this episode's SOTW from extinction. But considering the Voyager is so far from Federation HQ and the Prime Directive has been routinely skirted around by previous captains with little consequence, it's hard to not see Janeway's behavior here as borderline psychopathic. Kirk wouldn't have given a damn about the PD in this situation. Picard would have expressed reservations but found a way to save the species anyway. Janeway just condemns them to death without a second thought.

Her reasoning (beyond just 'the PD says so')? That it's impossible to know what consequence saving them would have. Really!? According to that logic, it's immoral to save ANYONE from ANYTHING! After all, you never know who will end up giving birth to the next Hitler after you save them. Simply preposterous.

This episode is pretty lame. Especially considering its the third episode of the series and its the second episode on a row to focus on time travel.

But there is a scene between Kes, Neelix and the Doctor that is absolute gold. The doctor has two classic lines:

"Your brain...is not on file!"

...and...

"Please advise the highest ranking crew member who is not...missing...to contact me at once"

@OddJohn

"Janeway's . . . Prime Directive fundamentalism"

That, sir, is brilliant.

@Tim

"Your brain...is not on file!"

To which Neelix could have responded, "Brain and brain, what is brain?"

Neelix: hands-down, the most annoying character in any Star Trek incarnation. Just sayin'.

Not only do the denizens of the planet look completely human, they also use human idioms like "appeared out of thin air." Amazing.

I've been rewatching Voyager for a second time with my girlfriend and she is loving it- because she doesn't care about plot. She cares about the characters, and I think this episode, while entirely useless because it resets at the end, does actually get into the characters. And I think that might just be the key to enjoying Voyager this second time around.

@destructor I totally agree. I'm rewatching Voyager for the first time since it was originally on the air and, while I think the plots are WAY lamer than I remember them being, I genuinely care about this crew. The cast had good chemistry and that is what saves the show from being a total bore for me.

This episode sucked though. @oddjohn is right about Janeway's insane prime directive fundamentalism. That was ridiculous. I won't restate everyone else's all too apt complaints. But, I agree with everything that's already been said.

Is it just me, or does Neelix kind of look like Tony the Tiger crossed with a leprechan? I'm still wondering who thought he was going to be the new breakout alien of the show. Remember that scene in caretaker where he was in a bathtub?

*shudders*

That will haunt my nightmares forever.

"Picard would have expressed reservations but found a way to save the species anyway."

Really? How about 7th season episode "Homeward" with Worf's (human) brother? Picard is willing to let the entire planet die from 'atmospheric dissipation'.

Personally, I think total destruction of an isolated society is a place where the Prime Directive should not apply. Most of the arguments for the PD don't apply when you're dealing with the annihilation of an entire civilization that has no contact with any others.

Nathan,
"Homeward" was just a fluke, just like giving Spock a brother in Star Trek V was a fluke. "Time and Again," however, proved the norm for Voyager.

Wow Tuvok was an annoying prick in this episode. The whole way through he would spout disdain for the other crew member's thoughts and ideas and had nothing to contribute himself.

An early sign that most of the writers for Voyager and Enterprise could never script the Vulcans as anything more than conceited a-holes with pointed ears.

Oh wait, nevermind, none of it actually happened! Reset button!

1.5 stars at most. It had every Star Trek cliché in the writer's guide: prime directive, technobabble gone wild,time travel paradoxes and an alien culture where everyone inexplicably dresses alike. By the time this thing as third quarters through I just didn't care. A planet with people this irritating is better off scorched beyond recognition.

While writing this script, someone somewhere noted that the most popular Star Trek episodes deal with paradoxes and time travel ("Relics", "All Good Things"... just to name two). So is the entire Voyager first season going to be time travel? We are not that gullible.

Two time travel stories in a row is bad storytelling. But what really irks me is they don't even make the effort to explain the paradox at the end, or give any of the characters any growth out of it. Well, except Tuvok, who is now established as having nobody to tell him to "Shut up".

Clearly there were set and make-up budget constraints but, unlike many of the above, I actually enjoyed this episode more than Parallax. It should get an extra half star from Parallax's 2.5. It is an entertaining plot. It is an interesting premise of "do you warn them or not? and even if you do, will they believe you?". We do see some of the Paris / Janeway relationship, and we get more of a look at our Bad Captain's decision making. So we, the viewers, get insight into the characters without them gaining anything. That's a uniquely sci-fi story element that I hope will get filled some time in the next 170+ episodes...

".. Tuvok, who is now established as having nobody to tell him to "shut up". "

Hehe - brilliant, that actually made me laugh out loud :)

About the episode: extremely boring! Next, please!

I didn't mind watching the episode, there were a few entertaining moments. However, I couldn't get past the fact that the aliens are identical to humans. And the reset button is really annoying! I remember as a little girl, watching 'Dallas' with my parents (apparently they thought that was appropriate viewing for an 8yo) and seeing the scene where JR's death was all a dream. I thought it was the laziest plot twist ever and that the writers should be fired. Lame!

Janeway says that "as a rule", the Federation doesn't deal with pre-warp species. That doesn't mean they never do so, it's just a general policy, there might be any number of circumstances where they would deal with pre-warp species. But this is different than "Homeward", in that episode, it would have been a radical intervention to save them, packing a vestige of a primitive society and relocating them on another planet. The society in this episode is at least on par with 21st century Earth. Saving them wouldn't involve a radical intervention, it would simply involve giving them a warning.

Janeway telling Tom not to intervene and Chakotay admonishing his fellow Maquis not to mutiny seem like the same thing: if there is action to be taken, they will take it themselves. If Voyager will intervene, Janeway will make the call; if there is to be a mutiny, Chakotay will make the call.

@K'Elvis Just a general policy? You are talking about the Prime Directive, or god sake. Maybe has it name because it is a unimportant one that be put aside in "any number of circumstances"...

Isn't the universal translator built into the com badges? How does Janeway and Paris keep talking to the aliens after the com badges are taken? Apparently the aliens not only look exactly like humans, but they speak English. (The universal translator doesn't make sense anyway, but that's a different discussion).

I'm actually going to take the opposite PoV on this episode. I liked it. It wasn't a classic, I'd not give it 3 stars, but it was good enough to be entertaining and the reset button doesn't erase anything of consequence.

The reset button is only annoying if it removes character DEVELOPMENT. The only character development lost here is that Kes doesn't start to realize her powers yet (instead the audience gets a glimpse into her future).

Most of the character moments here are to DEFINE the characters for OUR sake, in which case none of that is erased. We still learned a bit about almost every character.

Was the storyline pedestrian? Yes. Been there done that? Of course. Filled with time travel cliches? You betcha. Was it still a fun episode with an interesting twist of an ending and some needed character definition for the third episode? Yep.

Was it better than EVERY OTHER MODERN TREK'S third episode (Code of Honour, A Man Alone, and Strange New World)? I think so!

That should have read "I'd not give it MORE than 3 stars" instead of "I'd not give it 3 stars".

Robert -- you've opened my eyes. If there's another Star Trek series at any point, I will just *not* watch the third episode.

What started as a very promising episode in the first act completely derails into a nonsensical TNG season one quality disaster. It's a shame, as I genuinely liked the idea of it. Unfortunately, the shoddy execution and horrible writing makes this the epitome of missed opportunity. The final two minutes saved the closing credits from being the best part since the second act.

1 star.

@Elizabeth

"I remember as a little girl, watching 'Dallas' with my parents (apparently they thought that was appropriate viewing for an 8yo) and seeing the scene where JR's death was all a dream. I thought it was the laziest plot twist ever and that the writers should be fired. Lame!"

It was Bobby's death that was revealed to be a dream, when he turned up in Pam's shower. (Also, J.R. was shot, but he didn't die.)

@Robert

"The reset button is only annoying if it removes character DEVELOPMENT. The only character development lost here is that Kes doesn't start to realize her powers yet (instead the audience gets a glimpse into her future)."

I liked Kes, but I didn't like that they tried to make her into Voyager's Counselor Troi (not that she was the local shrink but that she had magical mental powers).

OT: I recently re-read Entertainment Weekly's preview of the forthcoming Voyager series and its characters. For Kes, they wrote, "Think Yeoman Rand, a Keebler elf, and a transporter accident."

@William - LOL

@navamske - I LIKED the mental powers, I just wish they were more telekinetic than telepathic. Telepathic characters need to be excluded from any scenes where they'd really come in handy or they'd ruin the scene.

Telekinesis would have made her have the same interesting mental power background, but without the limitations of making sure she could never use them. Considering we can vaporize most enemies by pointing and clicking a phaser having her be able to throw somebody into a wall with her mind isn't really overpowered.

And I liked the episode where she melted Tuvok's face.

I don't think Kes' upset is "needlessly melodramatic." Seeing the incineration of a civilization *should* be traumatic. If anything, it's good to see such a devastating premise respected. And I thought Lien acted this scene and its followup in sickbay well.


How did Paris interpret the timepiece numbers with no context for the count's zero-point?

OK, I think those early bits with Kes are the best part. The rest falls into a technobabble fracture from which there is no escape.


My favorite line of Doc's: "It seems I find myself on the voyage of the damned." Too true, too true.

Seems like most comments in here try to find faults and be critical. Well, you find what you are looking for. I think this episode was an ok episode.

This has never been a favorite of mine.

I come to the realization that Jennifer isn't the best actress. The scene with her crying was cringe worthy.

I've just about had enough of this time travel stuff for awhile...

So so episode, I'll give it two stars.

Can someone please help me here? How is it that these aliens who look just like humans have time pieces that display American/western Earth numerals? I mean, Roman numerals I would almost believe, but American numerals? Get the hell outta here!

Oh, just wait until "Blink of an Eye," when we literally witness an alien on a pre-warp planet writing a letter - in English.

A bit early for a time travel plot one might think? Nevertheless, this is serviceable enough although there's nothing here that could not have been seen in TNG. I wonder how many times I'm going to be saying that as I proceed. It's also fair to say that the technical elements of the plot are pretty dense and hard to follow - to the point it is certainly not entirely clear why we get a reset at the end.

But we get some nice character moments (Paris and the Doctor in particular shining) and some less nice ones (Kes channeling Troi). And we get to see Janeway smacked in the face with a baton. What's not to like about that?! 2.5 stars.

Peremensoe - hit the nail on the head! Killing without guilt only produces more carnage. The indifference towards her tears is a bit scary. It means they've become desensitized to things like the death of an entire civilization. Or maybe it just needs to happen to them or someone they love to empathize. Have we as a society become that cold towards one another? At this point it's a rhetorical question at best and naivete at worst.

"After all, you never know who will end up giving birth to the next Hitler after you save them..."

That line easily justifies what you are arguing against. The very thought of that scares the hell out of me, to be honest. No parent wants to believe their bundle of joy will grow up to be a genocidal killer.

We really don't know what tomorrow will hold for any of us. The next 10 seconds aren't even guaranteed. Victims of natural disasters probably weren't giving them a thought....until one actually occured. A life gone in an instant. It's a sobering thought, indeed.

I don't know...maybe the best thing to do is be aware of those dangers, but not to the point that it keeps one from enjoying life to the fullest.

But man made atrocities? How does one prepare for that?

We don't have full on answers for our own planet. It only makes sense to avoid them on another planet altogether. That's probably partly the reason a Prime Directive was initiated. Because we saw what the best of intentions led to in this case. Or what it could have led to. ENT showed that much with episodes like "Dear Doctor".

Personally what I find more appalling is the assumption that all these alien races are just variations of humans that just happen to speak proper English far too often. It's more likely we would come across aliens that don't come close to resembling anything we've ever seen. I give more credit to ENT at least for showing the Xindii as multiracial with bipedals and clearly nonhumanoid races. I would expect aliens with appearances more like that silly movie from the 80's "Explorers". Or more like Species 8472. Well, before S5's In The Flesh, anyways.

These 'aliens' were far too similar in likeness to humans to the very layout of the land for me to believe they were ever on another planet. I just wish there were more aliens that were completely different from anything earthly. But that would be a tall order, I guess.

Story and plot were doable, nothing to marvel at. Another time travel related ep. 1.5 stars would be preferable, but I guess two works. The extra half star was for the kind and gentle Kes whom still seemed more human than...well...humans. Their reactions weren't much different than Tuvok's.

Someone remind me: did past Janeway survive after she thwarted the rescue attempt? If so, she remained marooned on the planet while her temporal doppelganger sailed on.

Janeway aside, there remains a timeline where the crew failed to rescue Janeway & Paris, so they continued homeward without their captain.

Would it be rude to ask if they got home earlier?

@Grumpy well theirs a better chance they'd actually ally with somebody and with chakotay in charge Seska has no reason to betray voyager and join the Kazon so for sure 5 or 7 crew members survive.

Chakotay definitely wouldn't have allied with the Borg so no 7 of 9. of course that means 8472 is still riding roughshod over the Borg so maybe they could just avoid the Borg like other civilizations were doing.

For sure more people would have survived without Janeway and Chakotay in charge. Maybe that wormhole in "False profits" did lead to the alpha quadrant or at least beta. I don't think they would stop to deal with the 2 Ferengi

Hello Everyone

No in-depth nit-picky-apart for this one from me. Well, maybe one nit to pick...

There had been a mild incident at the gate to the power plant, with a few townsfolk fighting with some security guards. Janeway and Co. go back to the power plant to do/prevent some sabotage, and there is one stationary guard in a booth and one that intercepts them. And that's it. They are then able to run in and around the place, where no-one seems to work. That just seemed... weird to me.

Have a Great Day... RT

@Grumpy, to answer your question as to whether or not they would have gotten home earlier my guess would be probably not. Remember in S3's Scorpion when chuckles wanted to go around Borg space to avoid the Borg/8472 conflict which would have taken them an extra two or three years to complete.

Also did anyone else notice that the name of the Province just happened to be the same name as that Vulcan game?

So we're three episodes in and I really did start this off telling myself I won't listen to all the negativity surrounding Voyager and I'll go in and try to be positive about what I'm watching.

It started off well - I enjoyed the pilot and the premise for the series.

Episode 2 then goes on to have a very dull story, but interesting character development.

Episode 3 then goes on to have both a dull story and no character development.

It's not looking promising.

Why are the Star Trek writers in general so obsessed with time travel around this period? We get 'All Good Things', followed by Star Trek Generations, followed by two episodes at the start of Voyager all about time travel. They need some new material at this stage.

OK, so I'm 3 for 3 in liking these episodes more than Jammer or most of the commenters. I'm not typically a big special effects guy, but I was impressed with the laser-beamy things they were using to try to punch through the time gap or whatever. I also liked snippet of dialogue here, like Paris threatening the kid; and the interplay with the terrorists as they prepared to plant the bomb.

As for the plot in general - it's a bit of a remix of City of Tomorrow - how do we deal with what "our presence here" will do to affect what already happened once - but I thought the idea of having their presence be the cause of the disaster in the first place was a deft twist. But yes, three episodes, and three temporal shifts of one kind or another. Time (pun intended) to switch playbooks....

I like the premise. Janeway and Paris trap in timeloop, the crew made rescue attempt and set the whole motion of catasthropy and timeloop. It's reminisence of 'TNG-Cause and Effect', but the premise is sound good to me.

Alas, not the execution though. After Janeway and Paris trap into the loop, the stories practically going (almost) nowhere, and we have to endure bad dialogue and terrible guest star performance until the last part when everything revealed and matter.

The excessive use of technobable also not helping. I can't help thinking they don't have enough material to fit the scene time. The away team keep repeating technobable to explain everything unnecessarily while circling around to attempt rescue.

While I'm at the away team. Why the heck is all senior officer go on rescue/away team?
They have Janeway and Paris trapped. Now Chakotay, Tuvok, Harry, B'ellana, and Kes sent on rescue too. Who's in charge on the Voyager bridge then? Neelix? They don't have 'redshirt' to spare for away team? All senior officer go down to the planet?
Guess they're lucky no Hard-Headed-Allien or another anomaly appears while the away team down there, otherwise the whole ship will be at the mercy of Neelix, Lt. Carey, plus a bunch of unnamed ensign and cadet. This is absurd!
Doc was spot on "It seems I found myself on the voyage of the damn"

All the sign for the big RESET BUTTON [TM] is flashing with all senior officer down there. It's obvious no way something really bad going to happen on the planet, or they will lost all the regular cast bar Neelix and Doc.

The conclusion is a big confusion, messed, and a let down. So what's really happen?
Was they really come to planet? Was preventing the rescue break the loop? How Janeway, Paris and the rest of the away team can back to the ship after the disaster been prevented? The loop start on the planet, why suddenly they comeback at the ship?
Heck, was it really happen anyway or was it all just Kes dream?

I suspect the writer don't even have the answer for the conclusion so they left this messed unanswered. It just too ambigous and don't make sense! (I knew better know, that this is one of many episodes on VOY that you have to disengage your brain to enjoy it) So here comes the cleanest Reset button. It never happened eh....

It tries to emulate 'Cause and Effect', but not even came close (pace, acting, directing). On 'Cause and Effect' the loop was broken by (finally) avoiding The Bozeman, and concluded it took 17 days for the Enterprise crew to break free.
Here on Voyager... They're just fooling around, without knowing what happen and Reset It. The ship is perfectly fine and shiny.. Nothing happen guys, we're just kidding!

What a waste of premise
2 (**) stars seems about right

"While I'm at the away team. Why the heck is all senior officer go on rescue/away team? "

Oh that's been established since TOS of course, you always send the absolute most important people down on the most dangerous away missions at every opportunity!

At least TNG started to address this (a bit) by having Riker go instead of Picard, but still he's the second in command and pretty important.

May as well bump this thread as a newbie as I've attempted a rewatch after watching it on DVD 10 years ago, and occasionally watching when originally released.

My God it's hard work, but then I found the first series painful first time around.
This episode in particular following on from the dire Paralax ('frog at the bottom of a frozen pond') grinds some gears.

Most of the previous commenters get it right;
1) the Prime Directive has mutated to the point where starship captains are prepared to witness civilsational annihilation unless they were er... responsible for it.. surely as a point of principle and consistency Janeway ought to have self destructed her own ship after this debacle to adhere to such a draconian interpretation. O wait... the reset button..

2) the reset button. Where the the script writers sweep everything under the carpet with a 'let's pretend this never happened'. Audience reaction? 'Oh let's... next episode please'.

3) in way of mitigation there is some character embellishment and colouring in but as has been noted, the stuff that really should have been the engine of the series (the maquis dynamic, and integration) is just... gone. Nothing to see. Move along.

Fortunately the series begins to establish some of its own identity in Phage onwards but it is a remarkably weak arsed start to series.

The second consecutive episode with (to use Bashir's term from "Trials and Tribble-ations") a pre-destination paradox. Really?

Anyway, yeah, I agree with the general consensus on this episode's overall quality. I will say I don't have the reaction to Janeway wanting to not get involved in the planet's upcoming catastrophe that others do, partly because I think part of the point of the PD is that it's really important to impose strict limits on Starfleet officer's authority lest they develop god complexes; saving one civilization is maybe a good by itself, but the temptation to abuse the power of interference is too great for the next civilization around. It's even worse in this case than in some "natural disaster" eps because the civilization destruction seems to be self-inflicted (before it turns out it's a paradox etc.). In this case it's not really about fairness or even in some cases about the good of an individual species but about heading off god complexes on the part of Starfleet, which comes up often in Trek (in fact, it's pretty foundational; The Cage has the Talosians as vain quasi-gods and Where No Man Has Gone Before is about the dangers of a human developing godlike powers at the space frontier without the experience necessary to wield it properly). In that sense, it's even more important for Janeway to not start randomly interfering when she's far from home, because the temptation to start rewriting the universe is greater with no oversight. I think that the PD is maybe somewhat arbitrary in practice, but I get it as fundamental principle that should only be broken in very specific instances.

Anyway, yeah, this ends up being pretty dull, without much character work to speak of. The Doctor's "voyage of the damned" scene is great. I guess maybe the thing with Paris and the kid is significant especially since we were reminded of Paris' contentious relationship with his father; the kid has an Important Father too, after all, and maybe Paris' initially antagonistic and later warm interaction with the child tells us about Paris' dislike and underlying compassion for himself. The episode flirts with making some kind of statement about dangerous energy sources and environmentalism (along with eco-terrorism) but doesn't really build to any point -- we don't even learn what the eco-terrorists' actual plan was, nor is there any attempt to give any hints as to what this civilization is going to do, if their super-dangerous energy system will blow them up a year from now or whatever. It's refreshing I guess that they don't really try to push a "message," but what remains is just some hints at some kind of environmentalism-themed story without any actual, well, story. It becomes pretty painful to sit through the "integrating into society, pretending to be from another province, getting kidnapped after a demonstration," etc. scenes, none of which really go anywhere. And Janeway and Paris end up passive through most of this, which makes it harder to watch.

The longterm arc significance is mostly the Kes hints, I guess. I don't really mind the reset button in and of itself -- whatever, as people said above, if we learn something about the characters, it doesn't matter if they learn it too -- but it's maybe a bit much in the third episode. A misfire. 1.5 stars.

One more thought: I was thinking of Pompeii (in addition to Chernobyl) in the early scenes of the ep, which generally worked for me, and I think living more fully with a civilization about to be destroyed (maybe without the Prime Directive elements, which are a little tiresome after all that TOS/TNG did with it) might have been a better direction for the episode.

Awful.

They pass a destroyed planet. They take up valuable time to check it out. Why? For what purpose? If they found out that it was from a war or natural disaster or whatever, what use is that to them? The decision to go there in the first place makes no sense. But none of it ever happened anyway, so who cares?

1/2 star. For the Doc scenes only.

I remember really enjoying this episode when I first saw it 20 or so years ago (I would have been in my early teens) so when I remembered the premise it was a little nostalgic.

The good things first: I genuinely liked the premise. It was an interesting exploration of a society evolving technology that eventually leads to annihilation. There was a nice message here about global warming but it wasn't shouty and this could have been a good jumping off point for a story.

It goes downhill from there of course. Kes being psycic about things that happened in the past with zero explanation. Time travel because it was needed for the story and human looking aliens.

The paradox at the end is never explained. As Tom Paris says in the episode "How can we have caused the explosion if we weren't even here?" More importantly, though, why did everything reset at the end? And if it did, surely it should have been in the same state as the first time around.

I was not as keen on this episode as I remembered, which is a shame. I think the biggest problem is there is no payoff, whether it's showing why the prime directive matters or helping the civilisation learn why that power source is a bad idea. Nothing comes from the episode. They save the planet. Only they didn't because it never happened.

And another thing. Time travel is so easy in Star Trek, there are all kinds of ways to achieve it and in one of the movies they fly around the sun to go back in time. In DS9 Kira goes back in time to meet her mother.

If time travel is so easy why not go back and:
- Stop Gul Dukat from making an alliance with the dominion and save billions of lives
- Stop Voager getting trapped in the delta quadrant
- Stop tasha yar/jadzia dax/whoever from dying
- Prevent the disasters that occur in nearly every episode

>> If time travel is so easy why not go back and: [...]

The only reproducable, easy-to-use method for time travel that I can remember is indeed the one from TOS (can be seen in a TOS episode, and later in a movie), where they simply fly around the sun. Let's just label this one as a funny idea of the 1960s, when the Star Trek universe wasn't fully developed yet.

When Kira travels back, it only works because the Prophets grant her wish to time-travel. Which they probably won't do for everyone.

What I find a bit difficult to explain though is how the Borg obviously have time-travel technology (the sphere in the 8th movie, and also shown several times on voyager), because such a tech would make the Borg absolutely invincible. They could send themselves messages everytime when they lose a battle, with tactical information about the loss and how to avoid it, and re-try every assault until they get it perfect. It was one of the biggest mistakes surrounding the Borg in "Voyager" to show them having this tech.

I always felt that it makes the "Endgame" finale of Voyager kind of ridiculous, if you consider that in this two-parter the Borg receive a great amount of damage (transwarp hub destroyed or something like that). Why don't the Borg use their time-travel technology to prevent the thing from happening in the first place? So Future-Janeway can travel back in time to bring Voyager home, but the Borg can't simply do the same to undo the whole thing? Yes, giving Borg time travel tech = bad idea.

Dull, lame episode that kind of picked up at the end when Janeway takes matters into her own hands and figures out it's her crew's rescue attempts that cause the annihilation. Does make me think a bit about TNG's "Cause and Effect" or even the movie "Back to the Future".

As the 3rd VOY episode, it would have been better to focus on more character development, instead we get something incomplete about Kes and her unique abilities. Not sure what to make of that right now as it is treated incompletely. Good lines (as usual) from Doc about not having their medical files. We do see Janeway being able to think quickly on her feet, fearless, and prepared for a fight.

I didn't mind the premise -- seeing an annihilated world and wondering WTF went wrong. The time rifts are also interesting but then that brings in a whole lot of technobabble (which made little to no sense) for the crew led by Chakotay to rescue Janeway and Paris. Plenty of time spent with the rescue team putzing around while Janeway/Paris try different tactics on their captors.

Interesting examination of the PD here with Janeway, I think, getting it correct. Initially she warns Paris not to forewarn the people -- even if they are to be annihilated (as ridiculous as that sounds -- it's probably a strict interpretation of the PD without using any common sense judgment). Then she realizes she's messed with the PD just by being on the planet and delaying things etc. so she's all-in at this stage.

A high 2 stars for "Time and Again" -- maybe the wrong "time" to air this episode as it seems like the crew is perfectly suited to working with each other. Why not a deeper character examination of Janeway or Chakotay? Instead, it's a play on a well-worn idea of going back in time to fix something although those tales are usually far more compelling than this one. Don't think too many people will shed a tear for the annihilated society since we hardly got to know it. Too much technobabble weighing it down as well.

The ending couldn't have been anything else. Basically the show was a closed paracausal loop, much like "Cause & Effect". Voyager detects the polaric ion explosion, investigates, Janeway and Paris get pulled back in time a day, and the crew's rescue attempt triggers the explosion. It happens, as the episode title suggests, "time and again". And again and again and again. The only difference with "C&E" is that we don't see the multiple iterations of the same sequence of events. It (implicitly) keeps happening until Janeway breaks the loop by preventing the rescue attempt. Since there was no explosion, Voyager doesn't divert to the planet because it has no reason to do so, since sensors indicate it's a pre-warp civilization protected by the Prime Directive. The crew has no memory of the events of the time loop because its effects went backwards in time, whereas those in "Cause & Effect" went forward in time.

That's not to say that "Time & Again" was a good story. But the time travel element of it does make sense. What would have helped it is if, just after Voyager moved out of scanning range, there'd been another explosion on that planet brought about by the native ecoterrorists - an outcome quite likely given how their zealotry was portrayed in the plot. Something to give the viewer a little food for thought, or at least to disrupt the episode's nice, neat "happy ending" and provide a foreboding note of what the Delta Quadrant was going to be like for our "intrepid" heroes.

First time watcher of voyager here...

I didn't hate this episode. I'm disappointed to hear that time travel is super common of this series. I'm coming off watching DS9 and i was a huge fan of it's originality. So my standards are set high. I thought this episode was good, but I was annoyed with the reset. It felt like an unresolved copout.

I think because this is a new series at this point, we need this basic-ish episodes so we can focus on the characters. I really care about these characters, even 3 episodes in. So the series is going okay for me for now.

This episode had lots of bits that raise the rating at least half a star. A couple:

1) Janeway getting clocked in the face

2) Tuvok saying "I feel it is my duty to point out there is absolutely no logical reason to believe Kes is correct. However, since I have no alternative course of action to recommend at this time, I suggest we proceed."

In comical #2, Tuvok is aware he is adding absolutely nothing.

Seems like he's also wrong,. At a minimum, Kes had been shown somehow detecting the cracks in technobabble.

@Grumpy You asked "Someone remind me: did past Janeway survive after she thwarted the rescue attempt?"

My understanding, though it wasn't really explained, is that the timelines were integrated. We see past Janeway and Paris disappear in a sort of light show and the crew looking for them experienced the same--so I thought it was meant to indicate it had never happened at all, or been erased by Janeway's actions. None of them had any memory of the events we saw previously.

Like the damnable "Year of Hell," their experience had no impact on them.

I guess I'm just more forgiving than most, but I really liked this episode. My only problem with it is the same as the problem I mentioned in TNG's "Clues" and that is that I don't like that our heroes never find out about what really happened. This actually would make sense here as it reasserts the wisdom of the prime directive. Something Voyager might be tempted to break with Starfleet 75 years away (and no one to look over their shoulder)

Teaser : .5 stars, 5%

On the bridge, Paris and Kim are about to go off duty. Paris is eager to dissuade rumours that the two are...cuddle buddies by finding them girlfriends on the ship. It's no surprise that Paris is looking to get his dick wet, but Harry insists he has a girl back in Canada, I mean the AQ. Apparently, there are a pair of twins on board—which strains credulity—and that they only date men together—which, unless they're Binars, is completely ludicrous. Before long, we get more shaky cam and Janeway comes to the bridge.

At that moment, Kes awakens in her quarters, disturbed and bugging out, Deanna Troi-style. The ship was hit by a shockwave, the result of a massive explosion, according to technobabble. Neelix is basically no help—wasn't he supposed to be a guide or something? Well, Janeway decides they're going to check it out, and Kes makes her way to the bridge. Question: what time is it that Harry and Tom were about to go off duty, Janeway is having a meeting with Neelix and Kes is sound asleep? Well, they arrive a dead planet, covered in “polaric” radiation, the remains of a civilisation. For no particular reason, Janeway decides that she herself will lead an away team to the planet.

Act 1 : *.5, 17%

The explosion has vaporised all organic matter on the planet. Tuvok recalls a similar tragedy involving a Romulan experiment some years back, leading to the establishment of a ban on polaric-energy among the AQ powers. While the Romulans were developing a weapon, these people used the energy as a power source.

Meanwhile, Kes is in tears, confessing to Neelix that she had a vision of the disaster, a byproduct of her Ocampa telepathy. While this has the signature Troi “PAAAAAIIN AND LONELINESS!” vibe of drecky TNG, Jennifer Lien at least provides a convincing performance of the type Sirtis rarely managed, even after years on the show. Neelix, because he's a condescending man-splainer of the most irritating kind, dismisses her vision, telling Kes that her people's history of mental powers is apocryphal. Yeah. Healthy, healthy relationship.

On Polaris or whatever, Paris discovers a “time piece.” This thing is the size of a softball and displays “time” in Arabic numerals. Nifty. For a moment, he finds himself in the same spot, but surrounded by bustling people and sunshine. Janeway surmises that there are “subspace fractures floating like icebergs across the planet surface.” Sure. Well, because she takes the moment to explain her thinking before doing anything about it, her attempt to beam out is unsuccessful for her and Paris, who find themselves back in time in the bustling city.

Their appearance causes a boy to scream. Absolutely no effort has been made to make these people look alien, so, lucky them, Janeway and Paris don't arouse too much suspicion. Paris finds the same time piece as before and calculates that the catastrophe will occur within about a day.

Act 2 : **.5, 17%

Channeling Vanna White for some reason, Harry explains the techno-science to the remaining senior staff on the Voyager. Tuvok suspects that Janeway will activate her time-beacon combadge—just like Jadzia did in “Past Tense.” Torres and Kim begin devising a means of locating the missing crew.

Meanwhile, the EMH is scanning Kes' brain for signs of telepathic activity. He laments his lowest-rung status preventing him from adequately performing his one function of being de facto CMO, in an amusing scene. He also tells Kes not to worry about her emerging abilities.

In the past, Janeway and Paris have donned local garb—even by Trek standards, these corset-tunic things are fucking hideous. Then again, they provide an apt metaphor for the polaric energy issue: so long as you don't eat too many “confection bars,” the seams of your corset will keep you svelte and trim-looking enough to star in a Fanta commercial, but overdo it and you'll explode. Paris ponders prophesying to the Polarans about their pending planetary problem, putting aside the prescriptive proclamations of the Prime Directive, but Janeway joylessly adjudicates that it's just not their job to jinx these jerks with judicious jive.

I go on at length about the PD on the page for “Dear, Doctor,” but I'll distill the issue down from my perspective to this: a single person, captain or crew cannot assume responsibility for an entire civilisation. Whatever the outcome of interference, the future of this planet would become Janeway's responsibility if she chose to involve herself. It's grim, but it's also the only sane, non-emotional choice a person can make. That's probably why it's a doctrine—it can be difficult to make dispassionate decisions when facing such emotional issues as planetary destruction, but that is exactly what is required at this scale.

Home Alone Boy or whatever confronts the pair, having investigated their fabricated backstory. Paris manages to scare him off by threatening to eat him. Eh, B+ joke, I'd say. Together, they determine to track down the source of the polaric energy, believing they might be able to devise a method to return to their present. Cut to a demonstration before the polaric energy plant. Janeway is injured and the two retreat with the protestors as the police become increasingly violent.

On the Voyager, Kim and Torres have built a magic device to rescue Janeway and Paris, as well as armbands to repel further time icebergs, à la “Timescape.” Kes asks Chakotay to join the away team, because “she has to go.” M'kay.

Janeway and Paris chat with the protestors, whose names I can't even guess at, so we'll call them Lindsay Graham and Paul Ryan, for irony's sake. These guys accuse our heroes of being government spies, having measured their bodies for polaric energy rads or whatever.

Act 3 : zero stars, 17%

So...Kes is sensing things, for all the good that does, while Vanna White and co. set up their magic devices. Kim locates Janeway's combadge, and we're moving along...

In the past, she and Paris continue being interrogated. She attempts to demure, so as not to alter history and further. Home Along boy is brought in, having been caught spying and is seated by child-eater, Tom Paris.

More nothing, pointless questions. More nothing...

Finally, Lindsey Graham decides to change the time table for their raid on the power plant. Kes makes contact with Janeway through time, sort of. Janeway tells the terrorists the *truth*, violating the PD, because she wants history to play out the way it was going to. Vanna activates the magic machine, Paul Ryan and Lindsey Graham don't believe Janeway's admittedly ridiculous-sounding story. Their combadges are removed—thus explaining how they ended up in the explosion, and the trio are carted off to the raid.

Act 4 : *, 34% (no act 5)

Janeway explains herself to Paris on the way to the plant. She realised that the explosion takes place only minutes after the changed time of the raid, thus in some way, their presence causes the disaster to begin with. So, just like in “Caretaker,” Janeway resolves to replace her divot and correct this mistake.

In the present, Torres and Kim suggest searching at the explosion flashpoint, reasoning Janeway might have tried to prevent the explosion. Tuvok points out that this would be questionable behaviour for her, but as he has no other ideas, Chakotay just glares at him and orders the Wheel of Fortune crew to proceed.

Sigh...what else? The Terrorists and their hostages arrive at the plant with a gun trained on Home Alone Boy for “morally grey” reasons or whatever. Janeway tries to prevent them from entering by telling the guard the truth, who reacts too slowly and gets shot and killed. The Boy tries to run away and Paul Ryan shoots him, but Paris eats the bullet. Lindsey Graham tells Janeway that the guards' lives are “on her conscience.” Ah. Irony. Neat.

The away team arrives at the post-explosion plant, and in the past, the terrorists make their way inside—wow, good thing there were a whole three security guards protecting this highly dangerous power plant. Janeway gets the drop on them with her gun, complete with schlocky action-hero sneaking around. Kes is able to sense, over Tuvok's skepticism, that Janeway was indeed in this place. The captain decides they'll wait until the clock runs out on their time of armageddon. Finally, as the Wheel of Fortune machine starts cutting through time before their eyes, Janeway realises that the rescue itself will cause the disaster. Janeway convinces Lindsey Graham to let her shoot the energy portal with her phaser, there's a flash of light and...

...we're back in the teaser. So, having prevented the explosion, they never felt the shockwave, except Kes still has her transtemporal vision, the planet (pre-warp) is left un-contacted and Harry and Tom are off for their double date after all.

Episode as Functionary : *, 10%

The Prime Directive aspect to this story is okay—derivative in many ways, but adequate. The characters are consistent but, besides Kes' lurking mental powers, we don't learn anything new or interesting about anybody. What really hampers this episode is the execution which is unforgivably dull, from the music to the perfunctory action to the tedious dialogue to the ridiculous costumes and props, to the human-looking aliens, to silly technobabble. There's just not a lot of meat here, and what we do get isn't very informative or engaging. A disappointment.

Final Score : *

A cheapo been there, done that, time twist paradox jaunt to a planet whose population are undisputed members in the Worst Trek Costumes Ever Hall of Fame®, and which, just like Parallax preceding it, plays out like a threadbare TNG hand-me-down. Because other than introducing the resident pixie gurl's "psychic" talent(s), the Delta Quadrant setting is immaterial to the plot; it might just as well have taken place in the Alpha Quadrant or David Kemper's basement.

- **** unoriginality
+ * no forehead bumps

Final Score: *

"While this has the signature Troi “PAAAAAIIN AND LONELINESS!” vibe of drecky TNG, Jennifer Lien at least provides a convincing performance of the type Sirtis rarely managed, even after years on the show."

Jennifer Lein usually managed to rise to the challenge of competently acting out histrionics, as long as she wasn't asked to scream. Lien had arguably the most inhuman sounding scream I've ever heard.

This was a bit of a weak outing. I am not sure why we always have to have a character with telepathic, psychic, empath, or other advanced mental abilites on a Sci Fi show. Why not have one with a wand and do some Gandalf as well? That being said, even the weak episodes have some character development to this point, but I agree with much of what is being said above.

It's been interesting seeing this episode for the first time since I was a kid (I was abour 12-13 when I originally saw it and remember really liking it and thinking a lot about it afterwards)... so I echo TB's comment. I still think the plot and concept are good (original and engaging), but the execution is remarkably bad, something I didn't notice as a kid at all (amazing how imagination counts for so much when you're younger, and you mentally paper over the cracks and don't notice plot holes and shoddy production as much). As noted by others above, the alien society is really unconvincing - they're not just totally human but even seem American, and then there's even the laughable digital clock with Arabic numerals. Kes's parts are fairly effective, and I like how Janeway and Paris are in this episode (they're a big part of what makes it work), but the way they get caught up in the environmental protest group seems really contrived and convenient - then there's the fact the power plant has one solitary guard (who's easily overpowered) and appears to have no staff at all on the inside, so they just walk in. The ship-side material isn't too bad (and the post-destruction set is convincing), but rather tech-heavy and rote, and the characters haven't quite found their footing yet (which is to be expected at this stage in the series). Most of all, because the budget constraints are so visible, I just didn't feel the stakes or the impetus this time - it was much harder to get invested in the situation and outcome than when I watched it as a kid. Then there's the sudden reset ending, which just doesn't work in the way it's intended. Think I'm gonna settle on a 2.5 star rating - the script is 3*, but the execution is about 1.5*.

This should have been a Star Fleet / Marquis conflict episode, not some time anomaly filler.

Sometimes, it's really hard to guess what was passing through the minds of the writers and producers for Voyager.

I mean, we're in this brand new quadrant of space. Completely unexplored: a blank page on which virtually anything can be written, far away from the existing lore which has grown up around the Klingons, Romulans and the Federation itself.

So, with the first post-pilot episode having been focused purely on the crew, with a primary plot based around time travel caused by an anomaly, what do they choose to do with the second episode?

Time travel. Caused by an anomaly, no less.

To be fair, this episode does take a different approach to the "time travel anomaly" concept - and we do get to visit an alien planet - but it's still curiously similar to the previous episode.

Unfortunately, it's arguably also a weaker episode than the previous episode, too.

The aliens are frankly embarrassing, with their virtually-human appearance, gaudy pastel-coloured shellsuits and oddly cheerful police officers, who don't bat an eyelid when confronted with people dressed in completely unfamiliar clothing and an blatantly fake backstory. I know this was the 90s, but it's still ridiculous. And the fact that this alien species uses clocks with Arabic numerals is a contrivance worthy of a Picard forehead-slap.

Then there's the actual time-travel aspect, and Janeway's reaction to it. More precisely, her invoking of the Prime Directive.

First, the planet is using this week's technobabble technology: polaric energy. It's debatable as to whether or not this implies they're capable of warp travel, but at the same time, they're clearly not primitives who are liable to suffer significant societal damage from a First Contact - in fact, they're arguably more advanced - and have a more stable civilisation - than Earth had when the Vulcans did their flyby.

Secondly, the entire plot revolves around the fact that Janeway and Paris have only travelled back a single day. Twenty-four hours, or the local equivalent thereof.

I'm therefore struggling to see how intervening to prevent the accident (which also triggered the time-travel anomaly) could be seen as a significant causal infringement. Especially /if/ the civilisation isn't warp capable; the causality impact on the rest of the universe from a single day's "rewind" would be minimal. If time is an ocean, this is the equivalent of dropping a pebble into the foam on the beach.

(Then too, there's the fact that in the end, the rewind happens anyway!)

Perhaps more importantly, I'm not sure this incident should have been classed as a Prime Directive issue. A /Temporal/ Directive issue perhaps, but stopping an explosion which kills billions of sentient beings and wipes out the entire biosphere of a planet? That's not interfering with the natural development of a species: it's preventing it from becoming extinct.

You can perhaps argue about how far you should bend the Primary Directive when intervening, but fundamentally, there's no further natural development possible for an extinct species!

So yeah. Between the oddly recycled time-travel-anomaly gimmick, the woefully presented aliens and the distinctly weak callback to Federation principles, this didn't exactly sell Voyager to me...

Jamie, probably related to the fact that the “idealistic utopian sci-fi future” writers ditched DS9 in order to work on Voyager.

Rewatching Voyager for the first time in 15 or so years. I don't know, I don't disagree with the criticisms leveled against this episode. I don't even remember it from my first viewing. It doesn't make a lot of sense, and the reset doesn't affect the characters in the long run.

And yet...

I find something totally haunting about it. Perhaps it, like some of the other time travel episodes, gives the audience a "god's-eye" view of the characters, rather like the view Tom and Janeway have during the time they are with this society, knowing it will be destroyed. At the end, WE are the ones who know something that our characters don't, and I find that kind of powerful.

The moment when Tom turns to the boy and says "I'm sorry" is very poignant.

Despite the logical fallacies, and Tuvok being rather dickish, I would give this one 2.5 stars for it's emotional impact...on me, at least.

Jamie Mann said: "First, the planet is using this week's technobabble technology: polaric energy. It's debatable as to whether or not this implies they're capable of warp travel, but at the same time, they're clearly not primitives who are liable to suffer significant societal damage from a First Contact"


Me: Warp capability seems to be the major milestone that the Federation is concerned with. From the script:




TUVOK: Sensors do show humanoid life. There is no satellite system and no indications of space craft in the vicinity. It appears to be a pre-warp civilisation.




Jamie Mann said: Secondly, the entire plot revolves around the fact that Janeway and Paris have only travelled back a single day. Twenty-four hours, or the local equivalent thereof.

I'm therefore struggling to see how intervening to prevent the accident (which also triggered the time-travel anomaly) could be seen as a significant causal infringement. Especially /if/ the civilisation isn't warp capable;


Me: The most important fact to consider is that the anomaly is actually caused by the Voyager crue. Since they are responsible for its creation, Janeway rightfully concludes that they have already violated the Prime Directive. Her actions both save her and Tom, but also rectifies the P.D. Violation.






Complaints: The aliens are too human. The plot feels like a leftover TNG script, which makes it so disappointing to see it as the third episode of Voyager since it doesn't take advantage of the show's fantastic premise. Neelix's value as a guide (the whole point of his being on the ship) is dropped right off the bat. There's excessive technobabble. There's a reset button.

Having said all that, I still think it's an ok episode. I can see why reviewers would think it's skipable (it is) but I still think it's an ok hour of Trek. It's not a terrible episode, it's just formulaic. It's just a basic, no frills, Berman era Trek episode, and that's good enough for me. YMMV.


DF said: "The moment when Tom turns to the boy and says "I'm sorry" is very poignant. "


Yeah, that was a nice touch. I also liked Tom's "demons" line.


My rating: As average as average gets.

I have no idea why I went out of my way to give this episode the benefit of the doubt in my previous comment. Voyager certainly never does anything to earn it. One more episode to add to my "skip" list.

I liked this and the previous episode, but having two timey-wimeys in a row was kind of weird coming right after the pilot.

It makes me wonder if they were worried that having a female lead might make people expect it to be soap opera-ish, and wanted to establish quickly that this was definitely TNG type sci-fi.

It was a bummer how familiar the aliens looked. Not just basically letting them look like humans, even down to the clothes. This really did feel like a TNG script, and not even a particularly good one. Janeway/Paris also isn't the fun combination I think the writers want them to be. They've got a lot of work to do to make Paris non-annoying (and the flat child actor he was paired with did not advance this).

Ok ...so it wasn't a masterpiece, I still enjoyed it. I also happen to like reset buttons.

One thing stood out....in the outdoor scene when Janeway, Paris and the little boy are being marched toward the power plant, a huge egret or maybe even a pelican or stork lands in the the forested background. We don't have egrets, pelicans or storks in my region so that was a real treat. I also liked Janeway in the little orange dress. 2.0 stars and better than I could have done back in '95.

".. Tuvok, who is now established as having nobody to tell him to "shut up". "

Hehe - brilliant, that actually made me laugh out loud :)

***

"Mr. Data."
"Yes, sir."
"Shut up."
"Yes, sir."
"I’ve been waiting twenty years to say that."

@Robert

"Telekinesis would have made [Kes] have the same interesting mental power background, but without the limitations of making sure she could never use them."

All those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.

4 episodes into the series, and already two time paradox encounters! Technically only 3 episodes since Caretaker is a two part episode! Sorry Captain Braxton, Janeway's just getting started!!

So I've finally decided to watch this series all the way through, mainly since it's the only Star Trek series that I haven't done that yet(aside from the most current series that haven't completed their runs, of course). Tried to tackle this one years ago but fell off somewhere near the end of season one on that attempt. So far, I see why I didn't make it through last time: only three episodes in and it's already feeling like a slog. The stories so far have felt like leftover TNG scripts, and I can't say I like any of the characters yet, except the doctor. This is gonna be tough.

Teejay: it's a slog. Voyager gets a lot better in mid season 3.


FWIW, I believe I read that most early Voyager actually was from the unproduced eighth season of TNG.

The odd thing with TNG is it was ended with high ratings-- they could have continued and simply had crew transfers, a completely normal thing for a ship. But Paramount really wanted to move TNG to the big screen.

TNG could have run for many more years. Though, I'm personally glad they didn't go that route. It would have been bled dry.

Initially, Paris remains in the present as he goes to the past. Janeway says he never left the room, and she reaches out to touch him.

But when they all go, they all go. Why? Shouldn't they have been beamed away even AFTER they went to the past?

I just watched it. Not bad. Enjoyed it. Wasn't a barn burner, but it made some smoke.

And this time it's "polaron radiation." Yawn.

What was up with those eco protester/terrorist guys grilling Janeway and Paris like they were in hiding or something? If security and secrecy are such big deals for you maybe:

a) don’t organize and participate in open public spectacle like protesting in front of the very thing you’re aiming to sabotage.

b) don’t scoop random people off the street and drag them back to your super secret headquarters.

Rather than trying to determine if Janeway and Paris were government infiltrators and holding them at gunpoint, they could have simply asked them politely to leave. It’s not like Janeway asked to be brought there in the first place.

I’ll admit I was a little stoned while watching this episode so maybe I missed something, but that whole thing just felt so goofy.

So, the 24th century has prison groupies? Tom claims to have 5 women back home. But, until Janeway recruited him to join the voyage of the damned, he was in a prison colony.

Gee, it sure is a good thing that when Janeway and Paris flew backward in time, they ended up in a society that looked perfectly human!

Wow. Season 1. This is on my top 5 list. A good old fashioned cheesy space opera actioner.

Light fare, but I enjoyed it. I'm not that much of a stickler for paradoxes or violations of same. I violate them all the time. Just ask my last week's self, who absolutely hated this episode.