“Prophecy”

The writers love putting Tuvok in situations that test his tolerance to the limits. If I was him, I'd simply warn Neelix to back off. There's a bozo that has no sense of another's individuality, unless it laughs at his corny comical attitude. I liked him better before he became the bozo-babysitter of the Voyager crew.

Sheesh. As if we really needed ANOTHER "Voyager-stumbles-across-something-from-the-Alpha-Quadrant" episode. That was one of the main problems for this series. Especially when the "something" is as trite and overused as Klingons.

"Lineage" was fine as it stood, folks. Why bother with this?

*chuckle* That Klingon's voice had indeed a large resemblance to Avery Brooks'.

Quite mediocre episode...Some bad ideas, some better ideas...

I liked the bridge-fight, though! I'm not the inferno-fan but this one was good choreographed! However - a bunch of 200 Klingons trying to conquer Voyager could have been much more interesting! As usual, we're shown only four or five!

Apart from what you and other people said about this episode, I have a tiny comment. When there was a question about where to keep the 200 klingons, and whether to assign security to keep an eye on them, Neelix (seriously, why is he there) says, "but there are women and children there." Children, fine, but I thought that by Star Trek timeline, it was already established that women were quite equal to men in every respect, especially klingon women, when it comes to physical strength etc.

Hes nothing like Sisko. No hyper-ventilating to convey emotion. Not once.

One thing I liked about this episode is that Torres seem to embrace her klingon side a little bit more in that quarter scene with Kohlar. That was the best part of the episode.

Two words: Gilligan's Island.

Oh, what a sin... This episode had SO much potential, judging by its first several minutes. (Think: Japanese Imperial soldiers found fifty years after the end of WWII hiding in the jungles of the Pacific believing the war is still going on.) And then they show these Klingons behaving in a manner that would make cavemen look like Harvard intellectuals.

Generally, the Klingons of Star Trek purport to be so dumb, violent, impulsive and primitive that it's a miracle they can operate a wheelbarrow without kicking it in a fit of rage! And they are warp-capable!?!

And as if THAT wasn't bad enough, now apparently they have "scrolls" with religious baloney of the type that most civilized humans stopped believing several centuries ago. Oy vey! Countless scenes squandered on Klingon religious crap. I wonder what the reaction would be if half an episode showed crewmembers doing Bible study and holding Xian prayer meetings! It would never happen because human/earthly religions do not exist in the 24th century... - apart, of course, from the New Agey drivel, what with scented candles, spirits, meditation and all that crock.

Anyway... Neelix: Annoying as hell. If I/d have been in Tuvok's shoes, I'd have been wiping off my fingerprints and rehearsing my alibi for the "fateful night in question."

Everything else in this episode that doesn't make sense, is inconsisten and illogical or just plain fatuous, I won't bother with. Liked the action sequences, which are the only redeeming feature of this show. Also liked the Klingon nymph :D

One star, barely.

Just a few opinions.

1) Yes, it's ludicrous to expect Voyager to encounter these Klingons, but at least the writers acknowledged this fact in the dialogue.

2) Once again, Tuvok proves he displays more emotion than he probably thinks he does. He was clearly annoyed having Neelix as a roommate and justifiably upset upon seeing the conditions of his quarters once Neelix and his Klingon one night stand were finished.

3) I find it impossible to accept any Klingon female would find Harry or Neelix as desirable mates. Was she really so eager for some non-Klingon affection?

4) In a rare instance of VOY continuity the EMH approves interspecies mating. Too bad the writers chose to express continuity with a bad episode like "The Disease."

5) I would have thought B'Elanna would have mentioned the events of "Barge of the Dead" to Kohlar, or make the remembrance prayer to her mother. Oh well. Consider it a continuity dropped call.

6) McNeill really dropped the ball in his performance this time, IMHO. He read the lines, but I didn't believe the anger he was supposed to be showing. There was no anger in Paris's voice. Granted, the episode is difficult to take seriously but it doesn't help when the actors voice it through their performances as well.

7) In a totally un PC comment, Harry Kim, man up!

"5) I would have thought B'Elanna would have mentioned the events of "Barge of the Dead" to Kohlar, or make the remembrance prayer to her mother. Oh well. Consider it a continuity dropped call."

I thought that the events of Barge of the Dead ended up establishing that B'Elanna's mother wasn't ACTUALLY dead at all.

Ew. Did we need the "Neelix gets some" story... I wonder if that planet will be hearing the pitter patter of tiny half-Talaxian half-Klingon feet - now that's going to be one ugly beast!

The episode is all over the place, certainly not quality stuff but has the odd interesting (or lame) thing worth commenting on.

"Can't" must be the most oft-used word on the starship Voyager. Can't get a lock, can't cut through the interference / radiation, can't cut power to whatever, can't go to warp, can't stop the shuttle bay doors opening, can't disable (blah) because I'm locked out, can't end the holodeck program...
Who created Voyager's systems?! They should be sacked and sent off to scrub plasma conduits. The ship is an absolute joke. Microsoft could've done a better job.

Harry gets the girl and... doesn't want her. Figures.

I could've sworn the Klingon captain was Avery Brooks. The likeness is uncanny.

Something that grated at one point was "there are women and children in there". The sexist view of women being weak and vulnerable is alive and well in the 24th century I guess, which is made all the more ironic by the fact that these are Klingon women. I'm sure they can take sitting in a cargo bay - I'd be more worried about the cargo. (Looking through the comments before submitting mine I see AJ Koravkrian made the same observation).

Paris with "stay out of it" - ah the old 'this is MY fight' macho stupidity. Puhleeze.

Tuvok looked positively angry at his trashed quarters. Obviously they're intending that one of these days he'll lose control of his emotions and snap.. this would be potentially damaging to his character so I hope when it's done, it's done well.

My comments are a mess, but then so is the episode. It's not terrible, it's kind of entertaining at times, but 2 stars seems about right.

"Tuvok looked positively angry at his trashed quarters. Obviously they're intending that one of these days he'll lose control of his emotions and snap.. this would be potentially damaging to his character so I hope when it's done, it's done well."

At this point, I'm hoping the final episode focuses on a buck-naked Tuvok chasing Neelix artound the lower decks with a chainsaw.

Back on topic, I liked this episode - I thought it was fun. But I think I'm possibly part of that demographic Jammer's always complaining that Voyager pandered to.

Ooh new anti-spam.. TNG was almost featuring Captain Jean-Luc 47 for a moment there.

There is a final Neelix+Tuvok scene. That's all I'm saying about it. :)

I also noticed the Avery Brooks-alike voice. But then I recognized the actor for who he was: the shuttle pilot that announces he's "got a passenger, a V. I. P. passenger" to bring aboard the Enterprise, just before Lwaxanna Troi cuts him off to coo at Picard herself.

If he'd been a few episodes earlier, he could have met up with Simon Tarses. Really, at this point, I'm watching the episodes partly just to see who they recycle. Voyager casts are like a Trek reunion!

Interesting, I thought he sounded like Brooks too.

Not the best Voyager episode, but not the worst either. It was nice to see Klingons again.

Micheal: "Oh, what a sin... This episode had SO much potential, judging by its first several minutes. (Think: Japanese Imperial soldiers found fifty years after the end of WWII hiding in the jungles of the Pacific believing the war is still going on.)"

I'm not sure a bunch of 70 year old soldiers could put up much of a fight. Ironically, Japanese holdouts are a historical fact and as best we can tell, the last 2 were recovered from the Phillipines and Indonesia in 1974. Can't recall every detail but some official from Japan had to be flown out to their locations to convince them that the war was really over and to come on home.

Certainly not the best episode, but it was nice to see a somewhat different breed of Klingons. Voyager was the master of femifying things (borg, Q, even species it introduced) but still refreshing to see the thoughtful and pragmatic Klingon who just wanted to end their pointless journey.

It's funny that so many people find the "Neelix sex-comedy" sub-sub-plot to be ridiculous and off-putting. I'm not saying it's NOT those things but it's still the ONLY entertaining (meaning it made me chuckle... moderately) thing in this entire episode. It's a pretty bad episode when I cite Neelix as the best part. One and a half stars from me.

I didn't dislike this episode, though I didn't love it either. Still, kinda nice to see an Alpha-Quadrant species again. I've never had a problem with the Klingons or their way of life. Every species created for Star Trek had its own culture and belief-structure. The Klingons are one of the longest-standing of these, so of course there's going to be a feeling of old-hat to them after so many years. In the very least, they're mostly consistent. Take my opinion for what it's worth, but as someone who finds anthropology interesting, I enjoy the contrasts of all of the Trekian races.

As far as Neelix goes, he'd actually been toned down for quite a while and I found myself liking him for the most part. This return to obnoxious Neelix was not welcome at all. After all of the things he's been through with Tuvok, I was hoping to see a bit more mutual respect and understanding between them. Alas...I must keep reminding myself that this is Voyager and if the writers want to throw in some sophomoric humor, no pesky character development shall stand in the way.

This kind of thing really hurts the credibility of the rant I made in Lineage's comment section. All I can say to this is that my diatribe was intended to encompass all of Trek, not just Voyager. If I were to be honest, Voyager is the Trek show most aimed at those who enjoy action and contrivance over real substance, which explains why it is lamented as falling woefully short of what it could have been by long-standing Trek fans. Still, enough of the spirit of what Star Trek was meant to be is intermittently present in Voyager for my rant to remain applicable.

Last thought, I really liked Kohlar. He was less of a cartoon-version of a Klingon and more of what the Klingons are supposed to be: honorable, dedicated, traditional, cunning but fairly even-minded despite his warrior's spirit, and concerned with what's best for his people. Reminded me of what I loved about DS9's Martok.

Why do they have to be bunkmates , if the can put an entire irish town on the holodeck, just holo some klingonhotel

Actually this was a very good episode, very similar to DS9 episode in many ways and the point is that ANY Klingon episode would be all crazy because Klingons ARE berzerkers, that is the whole point.

@Ash, great comment about the ridiculous space in a holodeck.

i too thought, man he sounds like avery brooks.

i did like his klingon character.

i dont know if you guys noticed, but neelix in the last couple seasons stopped being "comedy relief" and became more of a "wise counselor." this is what has made him more tolerable.

the paris vs klingon fight wasnt really believable. at least it mostly had paris avoiding contact.

not a boring episode, but not great.

1.5 to 2 stars.

Whether you like Neelix or not, I think the "One-Night-Stand" development was weirdly out of character. Neelix has been more of the Disney character on Voyager for some time now and this shift to "Basic Instincts" was abrupt and not very believable. If he were not bunking with Tuvok and was still engaging the Klingon female, it would have been creepy. This sub-sub-plot (as aptly named in a previous comment) was intended to exploit the Neelix/Tuvok oil and water relationship with humor and this disturbing tale was the result. Yikes.

The same can be said about Harry Kim in his own awkward situation. Intended to be humor with strange results.

The only thing I was hoping would happen in this episode involved B'Elanna finally embracing her Klingon side. Instead, she was nearly disgusted by the whole affair. I wish she didn't have the forehead as much as she wishes it. Her character does nothing to advance our appreciation of Klingon culture in Trek. Why did they bother?

I actually liked this one, it was enjoyably goofy and fun despite the lack of much plausibility. Seeing the Klingons again was almost novel after all this time.

What I enjoyed about this episode was it had a TOS feel to it with the way it was plotted and the old school charm of casually tossing in things like a fight to the death or a deadly virus almost at whim. All that was needed was some outrageous background music! There isn't any meaning behind this, but it is very entertaining and a pleasure to watch unfold with a big grin.

I found the Neelix comedy quite funny, even though I can't believe he'd go as far as trash Tuvoks' room in a night of passion (at least take it to the holodeck!) and going off Kes it's hard to imagine he'd be into fierce Klingon women. But there was good characterisations all round, I especially liked the added focus to Tom and Torress and I also liked seeing Janeway desperately trying to manage all this madness!

Yet another season 7 episode I'd rate at 3 or 3 and a half stars!

I found the Neelix sex interlude hilarious...but also in character! The guy is supposed to be a cultural attache right? Well, he's just doing his part! Besides, who could resist having a go with such a voracious Klingon?

As for the rest of it, the plot depended on a seemingly endless series of convenient occurrences, but who cares, we got to see a bunch of Klingons! Lets face it, you either like Klingons or you don't. Frankly, I'd rather re-watch this episode a dozen times than endure five minutes of 'Lineage'. Bleh.

3 out of 5

I don't know why they had to make Paris into such a schmuck this episode. I know he is kind of schmucky with his one-liners, but I know Duncan-McNeill can act, and when he's getting more than one line, it usually turns out pretty well. Someone above thought it was his acting that was the problem is this ep, but the lines he was given were so trite that I don't know how he possibly could've acted them well.

I could have happily done with some machosim on Paris' part, shoving the Klingons a little bit when they were trying to get his goat instead of just standing there and saying some truly pathetic lines. The combat scene wasn't too bad, and I thought B'Elanna's line was cute: "Today would be a very BAD day to die."

At any rate, this wasn't my favorite episode, but I did enjoy it. I'm one of those who likes the Klingons, with their honor and tradition. Seems like we should get one episode with them in the Voyager series, no matter how convoluted it has to be for them to show up :-)

This episode is the supremely clear face of lack of imagination. And also annoying as hell in showing yet-another-alpha-quadrant-buddy showing up at the delta quadrant by chance. Not to mention the vast lazy writing shown at Paris' decision to fight. Why in the universe would he make such stupid decision to put his life at risk, from nowhere, if not only to give trigger the silly combat?

Worst than that, here we have yet another example of moral misbehavior in Voyager. After all, now the crew and, of course, the always misguided captain, agree to "stretch the truth"! Meaning, of course, to lie. To deceive other bluntly. And not being enough, they even establish that it is a bit different from lying.

Amazing. Now Voyager is increasing the frequency and severity of the moral missteps made by the crew. Maybe the show could had even got an award at this point: the right to be labeled with the twisted DS9-style "shades-of-grey" stamp...


Anyway, a very meh episode. With another offensive and out-of-franchise (im)moral step by the captain. And this time, also the crew.

PS: talking about DS9, Jammer's acid definition "usual Klingon mumbo-jumbo" is very right on the spot - although sure I regret that he wasn't that sensitive to DS9's Bajoran mumbo-jumbo.

PS2: I am another one who, at first, also thought the guy was played by Brooks.

PS3: Neelix finds a new mate in the show before Harry. Now, that is wicked!

I haven't seen this episode in quite some time.

A skipper for me. I'm not interested in another Klingon mumbo-stupid episode.

1 star because Jammer's review made me remember too much about this one.

Wow, surprised no one likes this one; I thought it was excellent.

No particular comment other than the fact that I was reading these comments on my smartphone before the episode was even finished. I didn't have the stomac to go through another round of cliché Klingon philosophy.

Except maybe, one more comment: before I started reading the comments I was looking for the name of the actor who played the leader of the Special K's. What do I know him from? Which series did he play in for me to recognise his voice. I was suprised to find a completely unfamiliar name and no series or movie to link him to. And then came the answer in Jammer's review. Funny how many people thought the same thing.

Haha, I'm another one who wondered if that Klingon was Avery Brooks. But when he never got around to doing the bizarre Idi Amin overacting thing that Brooks always did, I realized it wasn't him.

One interesting (if unfortunate) thing I've noticed rewatching the last two seasons of Voyager is Robert Beltran's complete lack of interest in the show and the character. Just look at his face when he's not saying dialogue. He's just letting his mind wander or looking bored. Then suddenly he remembers that it's his turn and says his line and goes back to staring. And these are the takes they KEPT!

There's a reason Beltran isn't bothered (and admits to it in an interview): The writing is crap. Really crap. There is no continuity, very little sense and internal logic, and very little character growth at all. Is it any wonder he is showing the show contempt?

@dlpb: Regardless of his opinion on the show, I find it remarkably unprofessional on his part. If he was that dissatisfied he could have asked to leave the show. Instead he stuck around (probably for the paycheque) and slacked off.

Blame the writers... Beltran made it clear that he had no time for their nonsense and admits that he expected to be fired. You can't blame him for staying on a show that doesn't even care enough. Not only did the writers write garbage (on the whole), but they were also too lazy to care what their actors were saying or doing.

I find the fact that B'elanna and Tom's baby has two episodes devoted to her already (and she's not even born yet!) hilarious.

I don't really care about Klingon religions and all that, but I do have to admit that if they stuck to their guns and continued their mission faithfully for 4 generations, that that is some serious devotion to your faith. Especially considering the fact that it was not originally their idea to start the journey. The fact that even the great-grandchildren of the ones who originally began the mission are still devoted to it, is a testimony to the faith of the Klingons. Too bad they didn't adress that, at all.

The Neelix subplot was meh. Harry shoves a Klingon female once and suddenly he's got a 'fiery spirit that makes him a worthy mate'. Neelix shoves Harry one time and says one harsh thing and suddenly he's an even worthier mate. This particular Klingon sure is easily impressed...And yeah, more forced Tuvok/Neelix comedy routine, which never works, including this time.

Can we move on to something Delta Quadrant related now? Like the Borg or a native alien species or some unique space phenomenon or something?

Voyager appeared to turn into the "hurumph!" scene from Blazing Saddles when Paris accepted the fight.

And the usual utter incompetence from Janeway. "Phaser fire in transporter room one". Janeway stares into space for a bit, calls Chuckles (?), nods at Tuvock, then stares some more. How about, ooh I don't know, isolating the transporters?

I did laugh at the Nelix scene though, with his post coital flush.

The writers seemed to just throw whatever out there and hope people would turn their brains off for 45 minutes in the hope they don't see the episode (and the whole season in general) for the hot mess it was. Not to mention the human arrogance they employ in the story. The alleged savior of the Klingon empire can only have human DNA in it, I suppose.

Meanwhile humanity can't even save itself. I know that this is set in a future fantasy and that humans were to have attained some kind of enlightenment from the society we currently find ourselves in. But it seems even in the future humans are far too prone to the same self serving, destructive behavior they exhibit now. It makes stories like these even more preposterous. I really detest the way the writers trivialize all the other races whilst painting the human race in the best light possible. Watching this and Enterpise all we've seen is the human race being the most immature, childlike (unlike the emotional balance of a Vulcan) and warmonger-like (Even more prone to violence to employ their will than the Klingons. At least Klingons value honor). And so far they've proven themselves far more dangerous than a Romulan. At times you would think they aspire to be the Borg. They certainly glamorized them enough in the series. They sure weren't the intimidating prescence they were in Next Gen.

Sometimes I wish Q would appear and put humanity on trial again. So many moments between Voyager and Enterprise that would have resulted in summary judgement against them. Enterprise was rudimentary in terms of deep space exploration but the enlightened values were supposed to already have been there. Watch the series and you may be hard pressed to find them.

The writers continue to show B'Elanna's contempt at her Klingon DNA. When in fact it's her human half clearly causing all this internal conflict. Think back to Season 1's "Faces" and you will see my point. The inconsistency in the writing alone is another testament to the indecisiveness humanity has. And yet she's supposed to love her human half more. It was her human parent that abandoned her. Her Klingon parent, however remained with her thru thick and thin. And yet she still feels the human half serves her better. How?


Worf was full Klingon and yet there were no inner conflicts with that. He knew who he was, made no apologies for it and still had an upstanding career in Starfleet. He became Chief of Security on the flagship after Tasha Yar's death. And his honor stayed intact. For both Starfleet and the Klingon Empire.

In any event this episode I would have docked a star on. It also gets old seeing Tim Russ being the foil of Neelix's obnoxious ways. Watch Meld or Repression to see what happens when they actually allow him some screen time.

@TJ - I love Roxanne and Torres but you are so right about how she learns to make peace/deal with contempt for her Klingon half so often you wonder if the writers didn't watch past episodes. It was really cool in Faces. It made some amount of sense in Day of Honor. By S7 it was silly.

Absolutely brilliant and heartfelt episode. Drama, sorrow, humour, hope, reminiscing, honour and culture - the writers achieved the perfect balance. This episode is a great example of why voyager is by far the best Star Trek show. If you don't like this type of episode, this isn't the show for you. 5 out of 5

@ Cloudane
"Microsoft could've done a better job." Now that's low lol.

If the Voyager series could only pick ONE species from the Alpha Quadrant to run into, I would hope it would be the Klingons. The Borg don't count as we knew they were based in the Delta Quadrant, and also knew their space was vast. However, the 2 episodes with the Ferengi, and the episodes with the Romulans, I could have lived without.

The Klingons are still to be feared, unlike the other species Star Trek has castrated. The Borg, the Ferengi, the Romulans, all were more threatening in the beginning of TNG. The Klingons are still agressive and threatening. They also haven't been corrupted by human values. Even in DS9, Martok was the only one who drank on the Battlefield of Victory on Cardassia. Captain Sisko and Admiral Ross refused to drink over the dead bodies and dumped their glasses.

Klingons are still Klingons. I don't want them, or their values to change.

I liked this episode - 3 stars.

A Telaxian/Klingon baby. An ugly s#!t with a bad temper. Wait a minute...
www.mwctoys.com/images/review_lostpred_1.jpg

Kinda like a Star Trek does Life of Brian episode. "She's not the Messiah..." etc. I thought this was a really interesting premise - if you can put aside the contrivance of it all of course - and I liked the idea of Klingons on a holy quest. But the episode itself ran itself down a number of fairly cliched rabbit holes - bat'leth duel? Check. Phaser fight. Check - even as it came up with some good ideas - such as the illness, which did represent an unexpected plot twist.

As to Neelix getting his oats? Good on him, I say. That 'phwoar' moment after he sees off Harry to claim his prize is about as close to Benny Hill as you're ever going to see in the Star Trek universe, and I commend it to you. 2.5 stars.

...speaking of cutesy ideas that don't go anywhere...

Stray observations:

1) As Paris rightly asks, "What were the chances that they'd run into the one ship with a Klingon on board?"

2) Those must be some pretty gullible Klingons to blow up their own ship over a prophecy broad enough to include almost anyone.

3) It's now possible to beam over 200+ people in 10 seconds? Good thing the Klingons anticipated Voyager's highly advanced transporter technology or else most of them would have gone down with the ship. Apparently Voyager even had time to spare so they graciously beamed over all those bat-leths too!

4) "Have you ever made a plea for the dead?" Um... wasn't that the whole conceit behind Barge of the Dead? Whether it was 'real' or not, I'd like to think that had a pretty big impact on B'Elanna, enough for it to be worthy of mention.

5) "The Nehret always comes without warning..." Yeah, no kidding. Like during battle at a pivotal moment, or when you're about to cancel a an ill-advised self-destruct sequence... nobody expects the Nehret. It is most inconvenient, mhm, yess.

6) I hope Neelix's romp with that skanky disease-ridden Klingon was approved by Janeway and the Doctor, but considering his impulsive behavior this episode, I doubt it was.

7) Kohlar: "The Kuva'Mach has healed all of us. She truly is our savior."
T'Greth: "... She?!" *rages and rebels all over again*

Not my favorite, but not for the same reasons other people are complaining about. Basically, I really, really liked this idea, and just wish they did more with it. The very first Klingon episode of TNG (Heart of Glory) and the very last Klingon episode of DS9 (Tacking into the Wind I think?) dealt with the same theme, as did many of the episodes in between. That the Klingon Empire, with all its emphasis on honor and tradition, had lost its way and was a shell of what it used to be. There was constant tension between those trying to revive the empire (the dissidents in Heart of Glory, the monks in Rightful Heir, etc.), those trying to keep the status quo (K'Mpec, Gowron), and those willing to abuse the lack of honor for their own gains (Duras and company).

Even Undiscovered Country, although it didn't focus on the honor aspect, showed us dissent among the Klingons. It's not surprising that this concept keeps coming up; it's so rich with so many possibilities to mine for from all sorts of angles. We saw political intrigue, religious revivals, good people swallowed up by the infighting, everything you could think of. So another episode in this vain is not a bad idea, but I just wish they did it better. And spent less time focusing on the standard action (of course there will be a bat'leth fight, right?) and more of fleshing out these characters.

For starters, the main Klingon guy frustrated me. So, um, does he still believe in his mission or not? The fact that he flat out tells B'Elanna to lie and claims he only wants to settle down suggests strongly that he doesn't. And yet, he is genuinely shocked that B'Elanna doesn't practice any aspect of the Klingon religion, and then offers his own prayer. He also seems to genuinely want the daughter to be the messiah, even if he doesn't believe it. So which is it? People who have lost their faith often become 100% opposite and turn into militant atheists. They also occasionally slowly fall out of belief, in which they look at their belief with embarrassment but still feel uncomfortable with a complete split. He didn't act like either of these. Instead, he acted how Hollywood seems to think religious people are, that's it's akin to a fashion statement that people choose or not choose on a whim. That the truth doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if she's the messiah or not, just what we can get away with.

If you're going to have a show about religion, why is the main guest star so cavalier about it?

Instead, I think they could have worked it in that he was still a true believer. The bit about convincing B'Elanna to go along with it could still work. He could have talked to her that it doesn't matter what she believes, and tried to convince her to look at it that way. Remember how Kira basically explained the prophecy in scientific terms for the Starfleet crowd in Destiny? And the rest of the crew could have convinced B'Elanna to go along with it. I think it would have been stronger if he had been so desperate to have finally found the messiah that he wanted to believe anything, that he would go to any length to dispel any doubts he may have had. He would have been a more believable character and made his situation more tragic. Instead, he was just the designated hero for the episode with inconsistent writing. What a waste.

Meanwhile, the giant elephant in the room that NO ONE was mentioning was what was going to happen if the Klingons did accept her daughter as the Messiah? Wouldn't they then want to stick around and follow her? Wouldn't they demand B'Elanna stay with them? Surely the scrolls don't suggest the messiah's mom should find them a new home and then leave them, correct? This could have added more tension to the episode.

Speaking of which, the episode completely failed to really show how B'Elanna would feel about this. For one thing, her incredulousness about the whole deal was disappointing after Barge of the Dead. She was willing to risk her life based on her belief in the Klingon religion. Yes, it was ambiguous, and it was more about saving her mother than her own spiritual growth, but it means she's open to believing in such things. So why did she completely reject the possibility? As Tom said, it's an incredible coincidence that they ran into them, that B'Elanna was pregnant at the time, etc. No, she isn't going to suddenly become a true believer, but I could imagine she would be more conflicted. At least give a hint that this whole situation is troubling her beyond simply being annoying...

And again, why did she think the problem would simply go away at the end of the episode? The Bible states Mary would have great sorrow in her life, so being the mother of a messiah is not an easy task. And if you want a more pop-culture, secular example, look at Sarah Conner from Terminator. The knowledge that her son was the savior of the world turned her life completely upside down. John Connor did not have a normal childhood. Sarah was not a normal parent. If she was going to go along with saying her daughter was a messiah, wouldn't B'Elanna have to eventually tell her daughter? Isn't that a huge responsibility for her daughter? What if these Klingons somehow find a way to contact the rest of the Klingon empire? What if the entire Klingon race knows about her by the time they get back home? Unlikely, perhaps, but how would they know that? Again, the episode does not treat this idea with the weight it requires.

That's what's missing, the weight. The writers seemed to just have this episode for the fun of having Klingons around. We had bat'leth fights, Klingon romance, trying to take over the ship, boasting about battles, all the usual tropes. Yet the story of a crumbling empire, a decaying culture, and B'Elanna caught in the middle of a religious revival sounds really awesome to me. Too bad that was so downplayed.

I think it would be the right time to create a new Trek series and have competent writers write great stories to make right what Voyager made wrong.

I liked it...there, I've said it. And I have to say that Jammer's clear-as-crystal anti-Voyager and pro-DS9 leanings are getting irritating! Everything always is "not nearly as well done as the XYZ episode of DS9", blah blah. And does every nitpicky observation have to have its own pretentious adjective? ("...the dialog was disconnected, the Klingon stuff was derivative, the ship takeover was gratuitous,,,")?? Voyager was light years better as a show than the boring, stay-in-one-place, Ferengi-ridden mess that was DS9.

@BobT - Really? THIS is the episode you're going to thrown down as VOY is better than DS9?

This episode is better than the worst of DS9, I can give you that. LOL. I didn't want my hour back, but that's hardly an endorsement. It was an uninspired mess.

You know, for a show about staying in one place, DS9 sure went places no other Trek had, while VOY, in exploring an entirely new region of space, mostly retread much of the same ground covered by the Treks before it. Voyager is a show about playing it safe, sticking to the familiar tried and tested, but also mayhaps a little tired by now concepts of Trek. But there are those that prefer that kinda comfort zone TV, able to enjoy the stories couched in that familiar story-telling.

DS9 on the otherhand, is a show of risks, trying new things, focusing on different things more than other series, yet retaining the core of Trek.

Two vastly different ways of telling Trek, and providing fans with a diverse sent of storytelling. IDIC.

There really should be no proper Trek, but nuTrek for example exemplifies only the action, popcorn stuff, so hopefully we can start moving away from that now that we've had it.

That said, of the original Treks VOY is my least liked series, ranking last on my ratings. It was fun in Junior High when it was on after school in reruns when I hadn't seen it before, and it had the flash of special effects, but ultimatly I was personally left uninspired once it ended. There's maybe twenty episodes I would count as really good, but the rest were largely mediocre to me. I mean, Seinfeld, a sitcom had better continuity than Voyager at times. But again, it's familiar Trek going back to the well of what Trek had been. For some that's enough. And that's okay. For me and many others, it was not enough, and so VOY's flaws showed through just a bit more. Particularily in counter-point to DS9 which was newand shiny, but not what everyone wanted. Granted, some of DS9's flaws were apparent enough that they showed through despite the sense of wonder it gave it's fans . Different shows for different desires.

Harry Kim's penis is racist against Klingons. Ambassador Neelix's enlightened, adventurous penis to the rescue!

@JD did you see the size of that Klingon? she would have broken poor harry's pelvis! and with his luck he'd catch a klingon STD.

This episode starts out well but "loses the plot". Rick Berman wouldn't allow his cast to show emotions when acting. This hinders Torres throughout the show's run - she should have been hilarious, flying into rages, yelling and insulting people, but instead she just offers one lukewarm performance after another.

It also hinders Paris here: for some reason I saw him as overweight and out of shape, and his chances against the Klingon looked laughable. I would have expected Captain Proton to behave with verve and sarcasm, but instead he looks like he's crapping himself (although in fairness, so would most people).

The usual Neelix bashing is totally out of place here. Neelix was hilarious from start to finish. His character has consistently embraced alien cultures, particularly Klingon culture, so the continuity basically came from Neelix in this episode. His long-running "friendship" with Tuvok featured when he crashed tuvok's quarters. I laughed out loud when Neelix had sex with a Klingon in Tuvok's quarters, wrecking the place in the process.

I also thought it was interesting (and funny) that Harry Kim is gifted a woman by the Plot Gods - but he didn't want her. Any woman who's eight feet tall, rips your head off and has gunk stuck between her teeth is a woman I'd probably want to avoid. And I'm sure that most men find that when a woman hits on them, it usually seems threatening, is inappropriately timed, and the advances are made by a woman who you're just plain scared of. That's how it usually is in my experience anyway. Kim is a rounded, decent young man, he does not automatically need to shag everything female. This is not American Pie.

The battle on the bridge was pathetic. Then again, DS9 proved that Kira and Sisko can take Klingon warriors hand to hand, why wouldn't Paris and Janeway be able to outshoot a few rogue warriors? It's not like Klingons exist for battle and Starfleet crew exist for peace.

Overall, an episode which could have been really good (as most Klingon episodes of Trek are) but which ended up somewhat bungled, and which does not appear to have been appreciated for the things it actually got right.

Why would they leave Klingon space to find their chosen one thousands of light years away?

Funny in spurts (**)

Watching the not-so-climactic fight scene which proves that Klingons learned to fight at the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy, I was just struck by how bland, boring and formulaic the fights were despite the effects being miles ahead of TOS or even TNG. Hardly any of the fight/battle scenes in VOY or ENT were anywhere near as engaging as, say, the final standoff in TNG's "The Defector" where no ships blew up and only a few warning shots were fired at all, or the epicness of the battle in DS9's "Sacrifice of Angels" where once they were built up to properly, the fight scenes actually meant something. The fight scenes began feeling like they were put there just to satisfy the formula.

Star Trek definitely lost something when it decided to go the easy "pew pew" route for cheap thrills sometime around the middle of DS9. After a while, they lose their impact and it takes more and more to get the audience's attention, which in turn alienates more core fans, which in turn causes the people upstairs to put in more mindless battles...

Which would explain a lot about the manner of two recent deaths on a certain currently-running TV show about survivors of a zombie apocalypse. This isn't a perfect analogy to VOY/ENT, but I hope my point is clear. (I don't watch the show, but I heard enough from my friends who felt said deaths crossed the line, most of whom swore off the show for good as a direct result.)

Let's hope the makers of Discovery learn from Berman's and Braga's mistakes.

Jammer describes this as a "mostly aimless story," which is kind of what I like about it. People always say that you need conflict to make a good story, or some sort of deep meaning, but sometimes I just enjoy watching the people I like do normal stuff. Or not normal, perhaps, in the case of Neelix and his Klingon romance, but fun anyway. I LIKE an occasional story where the imminent threat of death or privation is not driving it.

And this one delivers. We are given Kohlar as a crazy religious leader, then find out he's actually really smart and trying to find a permanent home for his people. He's awesome. It's funny Jammer says he sounds like Sisko--I was actually mildly distracted that some of his facial expression were Worf-like.

I loved Neelix's girlfriend. I have often wished to be the type of woman who could pull off that sort of raw sexuality. But alas, I am cursed to be a Lwaxana, lol

I thought everyone behaved here as they would--Tom and BLT were just normal. The battle was a bit much, but believable, given Klingon predilections.

And I loved the final scene in their quarters when BLT hangs the bat'leth on the wall. I like that she came closer to her Klingon heritage without hating it, for once. And I liked Tom's suggestion of naming the baby "Kuva'Mach." How cute would that be? "Kuva! Get in here and clean up after your targ!"

I'd give this a solid 3. Very enjoyable.

Kim - I really think they messed up using him in any attempt to make angles with women . Look, the guy is gay in the real world. And while acting is acting, it is damn tough to be convincing when you do not have attraction to that gender. very few actors can pull of convincing portrayals of sexual orientations they are not. They wanted to go with "sweet guy who is looking for love but never finds it or has bad luck"... fine and dandy... however, back when the series was on (and I didn't know he was gay), it seemed to unconvincing that he even liked women and I remember saying to friends 'Harry Kim has to be gay and is in denial, and this show will have him come out as a social statement". I don't even know if Wang had more potential as an actor, but they really torpedoed him from day one. I feel sorry for the guy to have to play this type of character. The worst was when he has a dream of Seven wanting to have sex with him and he considered it a nightmare... embarrassing writing.

Beltran - he phoned it in in the 2nd half of the series in a big way. He really truly didn't give a crap and all his interviews since have verified that. I think the Seven love angle in Season 7 jazzed him up (getting to pretend Jeri Ryan is hot for you will jazz up a lot of guys).. other than that, he was used so poorly he didn't even need to be there. The guy folded to Janeway 99% of the time without any fire to him. He showed a spine a few times and I wish it was more. The other Trek first officers actually changed their Captain's mind and were insubordinate at times in order to make their point, not this guy.

I liked this episode more than most..... add a half star for me to the ranking here. what spoke to me was the concept that prophesies can be interpreted and applied to anything, and end up being BS just to placate followers who pinned their dreams on it. Just like Revelation in the Bible has been connected to major "world ending" events for the last 100 years . The events it is applied to change every decade to keep people fired up. I thought it was cool for the captain to do that because that is how prophesies stay alive... leaders take real life sitautions and apply them to the very general prophesy in order to keep people in faith.

As for the Klingon woman wanting Harry. Think about it. She was born on this ship.. likely has only had sex with Klingons..... the excitement of beating the crap out of a human for sex would likely excite her.

Torres did great in that speech she made selling the prophesy and talking about her great battles. Tom seemed like he was way out of the mood for this, he looked too relaxed and quiet to be a guy defending his wife and going into a fight.

This episide reminded me that the toughest characters in Voyager are the women, and the weakest are the men.

@dave johnson: 'The guy folded to Janeway 99% of the time without any fire to him.'

I always thought that was because he was desperately in love with Janeway, haha!

I don't understand the 2 star rating for the episode, I really enjoyed it and it kept my attention for the better part of an hour. The plot moved forward at a brisk pace and the Klingon actor who was a dead ringer for Sisko was suitably charismatic and had enough of a screen presence to make us care about him. I'm starting to agree with some of the other posters here who said that Jammer's major beef with this show was that it wasn't DS9. In any case it was nice to see some more Alpha Quadrant aliens.

Did anyone else make a face when Tuvok stepped into his room, right after Neelix and the Klingon woman had finished their business? EEW! If I were Tuvok I'd have lost it then and there and strangled Neelix's Talaxian neck for real. So gross.

Though I can't stand the character, Neelix taking over Tuvok's room and getting some Klingon poontang was hilarious. Although, it would be out of character, I would have loved for Tuvok to flashback to the time when he was strangling the Neelix facsimile in the holodeck. That would've been a welcome bit of continuity to laugh about.

1 1/2 stars from me.

Blunted bat'leths? What?

They use them so Klingons won't fight each other to the death and will kill their enemies instead? What?

Since when?

Klingons kill each other constantly.

More lame made-up Voyager nonsense, just to get out of having Paris fight to the death. And as if he would have lasted as long as he did in that 'duel' as it was.

And why does Voyager even have a transporter room and pads? Janeways asks that the klingon guy be escorted there so he can go back to his ship. Why? He can be beamed from anywhere to anywhere easily. They beam people to sickbay all the time. No pad. Torres beams herself from engineering to her room in this episode. No pad. And they beam 200! people from one ship to a cargo bay all at once in this episode. No pad. So wtf are the pads for?

Just curious, did it not bother anyone else that Torres's baby held 'the cure' being of mixed blood, but wouldn't that make B'ellana also immune/ carrier of the cure as she is 1/2 human?

The Doc mentions stem cells, I think fetal stem cells are somewhat special? So maybe that's why its the baby who can help make the cure?

Very well said, grumpy_otter, from a year+ ago.

Sometimes it’s just enjoyable to watch the people we LIKE do stuff. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Reading the comments on all these episodes would almost imply a Voyager episode had to be Citizen Kane level before people would say, “ OK... yeah, I enjoyed it.” haha

One could almost get the impression (mistaken, I’m sure) that all these people watched the episodes and never once stopped out of extreme displeasure... but for some reason felt a need afterwards to pontificate their whole-hearted disapproval on sites such as this.

Guilt, perhaps, that they enjoyed something lesser than their standards of excellence and need to vent it out? ;-)

Who knows... their motivations shall, and should, remain their own. But to come full circle, I’m with you. Sometimes it’s enough just to watch people we like doing stuff in their own environment.

Oh yeah... and to TJ up there on October 23, 2015... exactly what battle are you fighting with the human-centric plot? Were you under the impression there ARE actual Klingons pirating terrestrial cable programming and watching this episode aghast at their on-screen treatment?

It’s a show by humans, and to the best of my knowledge *viewed* only by humans (Not that I’m entirely sold on Area 51’s purpose haha) and thus the majority of plot points will necessarily tilt towards humanity.

But regardless if that’s a good or bad thing, I ask once again what is your enmity with it? These Star Trek aliens don’t really exist, ya know...

Lots to dislike here - Harry running around the ship trying to avoid being raped while people tell him how lucky he is comes to mind. But Tim Russ is absolutely priceless in this episode - one of the funniest performances he's ever given as Tuvok.

Not an awesome episode, but far more entertaining than the Barge of Dead.

I've been rewatching Voyager on Netflix. I found this thread because I was wondering if it was Avery Brooks as a Klingon... He seemed very familiar and I realized it was his voice that sounded familiar- his inflections are just like Avery Brooks.

I figure I might as well do this one for various characters:

B'Elanna (or sufficiently B'Elanna-heavy) episodes ranked (IMO) -- for both overall quality and for B'Elanna handling:

Lineage (I know it's controversial but count me among the fans)
Barge of the Dead
Flesh and Blood Part 2
Muse
Remember
Random Thoughts (mostly a Tuvok show though)
Day of Honor
Prototype
Dreadnought
Faces (I know a lot of people like this one more than this but I have problems with it)
Parallax
Drive
Blood Fever (fun but thin)
Juggernaut
Extreme Risk
Prophesy
Alice (Paris show which she has a role in)

So obviously there are some problems and there's a lot of repetition, but overall I think that she has a decent set of shows, some of which play off her Core Issues (Klingon/human stuff), some of which have her as a competent nerd/engineer, some of which even use her effectively as a bystander who can carry an episode (Muse/Remember), and mostly there weren't that many turkeys associated with her in comparison to other characters.

1. Why is Neelix talking about having “served over 300 meals” ? 204 Klingons + 150 Voyager crew = over 350 meals, at least. That is a lot more than “over 300” would suggest. Those replicators must have been working overtime.

2. Why is Janeway endangering her crew by beaming aboard more Klingons than she has crewmembers ?

3. Neelix, yet again, has all the tact and consideration for Tuvok of a Hutt (OK, different ‘verse, but anyway).

4. Why secular folk like Klingons, whose gods are dead, would have hopes of a saviour, is anyone’s guess. Maybe this Klingon sect has a different theology ?

5. I can’t decide whether this episode is mocking certain Jewish or Christian beliefs, or pillorying the abuse of those beliefs for selfish ends, or alerting attention to the manipulation of religion for selfish ends, or a bit of all three.

Since ST is fond of issues-driven episodes, it is only to be expected that religion, that plays so prominent a part in US culture, should come in for some attention. The uncertainty of tone is a pity nonetheless, seeing as other programmes - The Simpsons, South Park - have been able to explore this topic without this uncertainty. Maybe cartoons are a better medium for exploring certain issues than more “realistic” drama ?

6. A Klingon with what appear to be three (adamantium ?) claws ? Hmm...OK. Since he is aggressive, fair enough.

7. BLT’s semi-quotation from “Starship Troopers” was fun.

2.5 stars, I think.

Really sloppy, stupid episode that doesn't know what it wants to achieve. Such a convoluted mess of an hour going in multiple directions trying to provide some cheap entertainment. It's S7 of VOY so they've long since run out of really great ideas.

Klingons in the DQ...first have to wonder what they're doing here and if this is some dream or holodeck nonsense. But the idea that they've traveled 30K light years for a century on some wild goose chase is pretty amusing. They don't know about the Federation peace treaty or anything -- reminds me of TNG's "The Emissary" where a Klingon ship in stasis is about to wake up and unleash hell on the Federation. So the fact that after firing on Voyager, Janeway just invites the Klingon captain over and he comes solo struck me as odd. This whole episode lacked integrity big time.

The whole idea of re-interpreting some prophecy to serve the Klingon captaiin's purpose just led to plot twist after plot twist. The whole thing makes very little sense. Paris is challenged to a fight to the death, he accepts, but then the prophecy can be interpreted to mean a non-lethal match etc. etc. I think VOY did its bit here to diminish any remaining Klingon respect for tradition, honor etc.

I actually enjoyed the humor with Kim and the Klingon female combined with Neelix damaging Tuvok's quarters when he got some. This was just some cheap humor thrown in with a cheap main plot but I didn't mind it. Always fun to see Tuvok get irked by Neelix, though it can be silly.

And of course it wouldn't be a VOY episode without the gratuitous phaser battle on the bridge and Doc waving his magic wand and coming up with a cure to a Klingon old age disease.

A low 2 stars for "Prophecy" -- this episode could have followed the template of DS9's "Destiny" more closely instead of going for so many twists and turns. The prophecy coming to life is a good one, provided it's an interesting prophecy. Here it wasn't. Seems VOY wanted to get the Klingons involved in an episode through some contrivance but it didn't do the Klingons justice IMHO.

"The only Klingon I'm afraid of is my wife after she's worked a double shift."-Paris

Teeheeeheeee...

2 stars

This has no center to the story idea which had potential just a bunch of prophecies and interpretations saddled with a dumb dumb dumb dumb Neelix screwing a Klingon. Yawn

Not a good one. Decent premise but mediocre execution, especially the idea that Janeway would give the Klingons such easy access to everything.

Clever resolution though, as far as the child actually saving the Klingons.

The Neelix stuff with the Klingon babe was truly, truly horrendous.

I liked the way B'Ellana started to remember her prayers. It reminded me of when I heard some of the Catholic prayers again so many years after learning them as a child - memorizing them, saying them over and over. It just all floods back. Once a Klingon, always a Klingon, I guess.

Some nice moments within the blah. Tom and B'Ellana were cute together, especially at the end.

Yawn.

This happens to be on UK TV right now. Struggling my way through it. Nobody in it seems interested in the laughable storyline(s) - its sapping my will to live. Shame, I remember years ago enjoying some of Voyager. Awful.

Watching Voyager back to back for past couple months and whilst this episode is not perfect it is much better than the dross served up in some of the first 2/3 seasons.

If anything, that line near the end by the doctor on his vanity of taking the

(actually deserved) credit: "Well I was the one that devised the treatment" and Janeway cut him off with DOCTOR!......

Was the funniest line of the series in the context of the moment and circumstances!!!

I am still laughing at that!!!

Overall a nice interesting episode that really hit the mark on giving some of

the Klingons more empathy and ability to see the big picture for the betterment

of the whole. I always liked Klingon episodes especially when they feature

inner conflicts other than just warrier mentality...though I admire that as their

front emotion. Excellent episode!!

Loved the episode, too. Any episode with much intended humour is usually a good watch. I also like that the head Klingon is smart enough to mention that the scrolls could have been written by some crazy guy in a cave. However, he is finding the believable aspects in them to help his people make a home. And perfect that all worked out and B’Elanna saved his family. Obviously all a coincidence, but the gang can go on believing the prophecy.

The Neelix stuff was funny. Any time he can bother Tuvok is the best. And saving poor Kim from the lady - perfect. These episodes are simply comic relief and I welcome them after some of the intense and dramatic episodes. As some poster mentioned above, I am probably in that group of people that Voyager writers were catering to.

I also read that when Star Trek was on the air, more people watched Voyager than all the other series besides TNG. So the writers must have been doing something right.

I don’t need character development in my shows, just fun characters experiencing life.

Just if people are interested: http://www.madmind.de/2009/05/02/all-star-trek-movies-and-episodes-in-two-charts/. You'll note that in absolute terms, DS9 had better ratings than Voyager, aside from a handful of short periods (including right at the beginning). Both declined sharply over time, however, which TNG did not.

I was referring to a poll about what Star Trek series people had seen. In that poll, Voyager beat everything but TNG. I shouldn’t have mentioned “on the air” since I have no clue about Nielsen ratings and such.

Wasn’t Voyager released on the new Paramount network? Would that alter rating results? I also saw that the most watched Star Trek episodes on Netflix are Voyager ones.

I am watching both season 7’s of TNG and Voyager right now. Voyager is 100% more entertaining. And I grew up with Next Generation.

Voyager was the highest rated show on UPN, which is a tad like being the thinnest kid at fat camp. It meant that it kept getting resources and advertising, but a rising tide floats all boats, and UPN was anything but.

I'm curious what poll you mean -- among general viewers? It does seem generally true that Voyager had more visibility. That does not innately translate to people watching it regularly, much less liking it.

If you like Voyager, that's great. But I'm afraid I've never found the "millions of viewers can't be wrong" argument a pretty meaningful one, about anything.

I read a poll where Enterprise beat every other show on television. It also had the highest rated season 7 on YouTube somewhere. These sources are indisputable facts!

Okay, okay, here's the poll link:

https://ca.startrek.com/article/poll-fans-most-watched-star-trek-series-is

Sure, only a group of 25,000 people asked, but it has to have some weight. Came up as first search result in my "most watched Star Trek poll" Google find.

And the Netflix results:

https://nerdist.com/article/star-trek-netflix-most-rewatched/

But you can get links to those stats just by doing any "most watched Star Trek" and "Netflix" search. That was just one link that loaded the quickest.

Although, I'm not saying that millions are wrong. I know DS9 features all all these Trek sites. But I'm just saying what I liked, what I've tried to watch, and what my favourite is out of them all. Nice to have found links to support that.

Season 7 of Enterprise, eh, petulant?

That is one Trek I never tried, but even I know it only goes to season 4. Someone is a funny man.

Interesting! The poll question "Which series have you watched the most?" inherently disadvantages series with shorter runs. It perhaps goes without saying that this is at best "infotainment" rather than anything empirical. At best it would seem to indicate that regular browsers of startrek.com skew towards Voyager fans... or perhaps that people who elect to participate in such polls skew Voyager. It's not a ton to hang one's hat on, but it's at least interesting.

I believe DS9 was a lead in to TNG as part of the syndication deal, so there’s an argument that can be made that VOY was at a disadvantage by itself on UPN. Of course, TNG/DS9 only lasted 1.5 seasons together and I believe Paramount spent a small fortune promoting Voyager as the flagship show to its new network, so that might be a wash.

Not surprised VOY ranked better than TOS on a poll in 2013, though. I don’t think TOS gets enough love by newer fans.

@Abby
"Season 7 of Enterprise?"

Well, Enterprise is the only post-TOS Trek series with zero negative reviews for its 7th season. ;-)

Discovery and Picard have zero negative season seven reviews, either.

Man, don’t leave the “eh, petulant” out of my quote, Omicron! Eek, looks like I’m the goon who said there was that many seasons.

That’s what I thought, Chrome. That UPN just didn’t have enough viewers to begin with. Since a new network and all.

True about the polls potentially being skewed, Top Hat. I mean, I’d have fun voting.

But I see it the same as DS9 being skewed to all the internet posting fans liking that Trek the best. So in the end I say watch what you like and still support our aged series the best you can.

@William B

I said TREK series. ;-)

Two stars for this shit, are you kidding Jammer? Why are you so scared to give one star OR LESS for utter crap?

@petulant

If you keep using the name petulant, people will think you're me. I've been using that name for some time on here.
I find it kind of weird and more than coincidental that you not only chose the same name as me but also chose to spell it with a lowercase p.
Pick your own name.

Really the only problem I have with this episode is the Neelix annoys Tuvok thing. Again. How many times are we going to be subjected to this bad sitcom pairing of the “Interstellar Odd Couple“? It’s been done to death by this point and it was never funny. They’re not Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, they can’t sell this material. I mean ffs Neelix isn’t an idiot, nor is he a rude prick. So why would he just announce he’s moving in without asking first? And besides, the episode is already overloaded with too much stuff. This is a kin to DS9’s overuse of the Ferengi for comedic purposes. It was never necessary nor particularly compelling comedy.

Although I didn’t mind the Neelix gets laid thing. That was done rather well and it was cute, they just didn’t need to involve Neelix’ obnoxious taking over of Tuvok’s quarters.

An unfocused mess that ultimately feels like a total waste of time. Everything about this episode comes off as tired, whether its the reheated Klingon business or the incredibly laboured comedy. I can only assume the writer's room had "Klingons in the Delta Quadrant?" written on a whiteboard for years and just thought "eh why not" when they ran out of ideas.

I’m pretty sure all the Klingon lady did was aggressively pull on Neelix’s whiskers. That’s all my brain will allow me to imagine what happened. Overall, 2.5 stars from me. Slightly above average. I don’t mind Klingon stuff but I kinda want more this late in the game.

Well, I enjoyed it. Switch brain off, sit back, and go with the ride. And besides, when have you seen Tuvok in his pyjamas before?

A shame they deep sixed Ronald D. Moore by being so glaringly icy with him in the writers room. He left because he knew he was not welcome, even by his old writing partner. Maybe they felt insulted or threatened after the 1st two episodes he did at the beginning of Season 6. He could have whipped this season 7 episode into shape fast.

When you need six writers to pull a story together that is a huge problem, and a sign of interference from the suits. They do it in Hollywood movies all the time. I personally think Robert Beltran is a D*!# and really has some out there obnoxious views, including today, but i do not blame him for having expected more from the writers on this one, and overall. It was UPN for Godsakes.

Leave Klingon Stories to the experts and swallow your pride when you know it is time to bring them in.

Kind of strange seeing B'elanna go from violating tons of Starfleet security protocols and ethical concepts trying to forcibly genetically modify her baby to remove the forehead ridges, to allowing her baby to potentially be named after the prophet in a Klingon fringe cult, all in the span of a few episodes.

One cool thing - the baby mobile in the crib uses painted Hallmark Ornaments!

1 star. Is the Delta Quadrant out of interesting species to write about? There was no need for a klingon episode, especially this late in the show.

What irks me the most though is how time and time again non-Starfleet personnel have 100% computer access just by using a panel. The Klingons push Harry to the side and can transport the entire crew? No fingerprint ID? No access code? And they can also lock out Tom from shutting down power? The bridge has no administrative control?

Let's do some math:
Chance of Voyager coming across a Clingon ship traveling from the Alpha Quadrant:
1 in 1,000,000
Chance that the same ship is following a prophecy that perfectly fits in with the life situation of the only Clingon crew member:
Priceless

I usually steer clear of any episode with more than two Klingons, but I actually enjoyed Prophecy. T'Greth (Sherman Howard/ the Talarian father in TNG's season 4 "Suddenly Human") was good as a non-stop pain-in-neck.

Although I had difficulty accepting that Harry Kim clearly had never learned that "Loose lips sink ships" , I found the attempted takeover of Voyager to be very tense and exciting. The battle on the Voyager bridge was one of the best action sequences in the series, IMO.

I liked the many-sided quality of the plot....I just can't criticize it for having alot of angles. It all got handled

B'Elanna's emerging respect for her Klingon heritage was well acted and very touching.
3 stars.

I would happily give this episode negative stars. B'Elanna is pouty, random Klingons, Paris being Captain Bland - it's dull and predictable.

The worst thing about is it that the crew of Voyager somehow manage to beam 200 Klingons onboard all in one go. This is after six seasons of not being able to get a lock on anything.

As chief of security, Tuvok could probably get away with vaporizing Neelix with a phaser.

After seeing this for the third time yesterday, I gotta say it's actually a pretty neat episode. As long as one not over think the premise of Klingons in the Delta quadrant the story is both well written and skillfully executed.

Here's a few things to love about it:

Torres in a Klingon robe.
A Klingon cult with a glorious, fulfilled prophecy.
Paris agreeing to a death match by sticking a knife on a table.
Neelix as a Klingon culinary master.
Neelix as a Klingon erotic master.
Tuvok insisting they keep women and children locked up.
Torres finally getting that Bat'leth decor (and what a Bat'leth it was!).
Janeway agreeing to a blunted Bat'leth battle on her ship.

Maybe it isn't full four stars quality, but not too far away from it.
3,5 of 4 Stars!

Can we talk about Neelix getting some? For me it's the best thing about the episode and probably my favorite Neelix episode.

Dunno if someone mentioned it... but what about casulaties? 2 ep after each other with phaser fire aboard Voyager... Are all weapons reduced to stun magically here?