"Caretaker"
Production no. 801

Director: Rick Kolbe
Story by: Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri TaylorTeleplay by: Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor

"Who is she to be making decisions for all of us?"
"She's the captain."
(B'Elanna Torres and Chakotay)

Plot: Whilst on a mission to track down a Maquis ship, the crew of the USS Voyager are catapulted 70,000 light years into the distant Delta Quadrant. Taken against their will by an entity known as the "Caretaker", the Starfleet and Maquis crews, under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway, must work together to find their way back home.

Guest cast:

Armin Shimmerman ("Quark")
Alicia Coppola ("Lt. Stadi")
Josh Clark ("Lt. Carey")
Richard Poe ("Gul Evek")
Stan Ivar ("Mark")
Bruce French ("Ocampa Doctor")
Scott Jaeck ("Cavit")
Eric David Johnson ("Daggin")
Basil Langton ("Banjo Man")
Scott MacDonald ("Rollins")
Jeff McCarthy ("Human Doctor")
Gavan O'Herlihy ("Jabin")
Jennifer Parsons ("Ocampan Nurse")
Angela Paton ("Aunt Adah")
Keely Sims ("Farmer's Daughter")
David Selberg ("Toscat")

Some trivia:

* Genevive Bujold was the original Captain Elizabeth Janeway but decided to quit as she did not feel comfortable with the idea of aliens and costumes. Kate Mulgrew was then selected and the captain's name was changed to Kathryn Janeway.
* DS9 and Voyager tie in nicely as two characters seen on DS9, Quark and Gul Evek (who has appeared in both TNG and DS9), appear in this episode. The Maquis were introduced in TNG episode "Preemptive Strike".

Memorable scenes:

* The scene with Tom and Harry in Quark's bar was a nice tie-in.
* The scene at the end where Janeway gives her speech to the bridge crew on getting back home. What a great way to start a series!

Some quotes:

"Do you always fly at women at warp speed, Mr Paris?"
"Only when they're in visual range."
(Lt. Stadi and Tom Paris)

"Mr Kim, at ease before you sprain something."
(Janeway to Harry Kim)

My comments:  This episode has to be one of the best pilot episodes ever! It has a simple plot compared to the other Trek series' pilots but simplicity pays off in this case. The characters are interesting and the premise is great. It was rather good to see a captain make such a difficult decision: to strand her crew in a distant part of the galaxy rather than see an innocent alien race be destroyed. I suppose the only disappointment was that Torres' and Kim's mystery disease was not dealt with very well. Apart from this, it is still one of the best Voyager episodes, even after 6 years!