“Shattered”

I actually didn't mind this one. Sure, the temporal jigsaw premise stretched scientific credibility, but c'mon, little of what passes as Trek science makes that kind of sense when you come right down to it.

Accepting the premise, I found Shattered to be pretty entertaining. Perhaps not one of Voyager's best, but still above average.

My main issue was with the so called temporal prime directive. I don't see why Chakotay couldn't tell Janeway what happened after the timeline was restored. Surely he'd be telling her what happened in their past, so the future could not be altered in any way.

This was a really, REALLY grating episode. It's a victory lap after a resounding defeat. It counts on viewers to remember a bunch of random plots that mostly didn't matter in the end, some of which were boring while in progress. And, of course, since it exists in that weird time anomaly land where anything can happen and nothing matters, it carries no weight. So it's smug, confusing, and pointless. One-half star for me, Alex.

This episode played almost like a clip show.

"[C]hanging everyone's future frankly isn't Janeway's job." And the irony bell rings at a deafening level. Thanks, "Endgame."

Oh well, as a standalone (i.e. as your typical Voyager episode) this one wasn't half-bad, IMO. I'm a big sucker for "let's pretend it's the X season" plots though, Enterprise's TATV notwithstanding.

for me, this episode wa great. I cannot understand your ratings. It was much more interesting and entertaining than the last episode "Flesh and Blood".
I really like episodes about time-traveling, time-anomalis and timeline changing....and this one wasn't bad. I can call it a decent show and probably one of the best episodes of Voyager's seventh season.

So thats my opinion..signing out^^

I've also always like time travel episodes (and especially time fractured episodes such as "Cause & Effect", "Timescape", "Relativity"). But I wouldn't put them all in the same basket.

Sometimes they make sense (or rather, you think they make sense when you're watching them because they are well written). Examples of this genre are "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Future's End", "Children of Time".

There are others that don't really make sense, such as "Past Tense" (since Sisko 'restored' history without the help of Kira & O'Brien, they never should have noticed any changes in the timeline) or "Before & After", but you are able to look past the proposterousness of the plot because the story and characters are compelling.

Unfortunately this episode belongs to the third category, which is that the plot has ZERO credulity, but the story and characters are bland and pointless. Unfortunately "Shattered" falls into this third category.

I'd also like to know why people who don't move through the timelines disappear when they cross from one area of the ship to another. If they're not moving through time like Chakotay, then where are they going?

Aren't they on their ship in that time-frame? As far as they know everything is normal, it's just that Chakotay has turned up, which is weird... like when he goes on the bridge. Janeway immediately arrests him.

Regarding location....ha that is something that is glossed over by all Voyager plots. Unimatrix Zero had drones talking to each other from different sides of the galaxy in real time. This breaks numerous rules of physics...

Ok i've watched it again & I'm not 100% sure they are on their ship, but what must happen is that they are on it but are unable to return to that specific area as in theory 'it' has moved to the delta quadrant.

Another thing that bugs me. If Wildman & Icheb are in the future why are they wearing out of date uniforms? We already know their current ones are old style.

But from now on it's going to be tempting to keep secrets by stating 'Can't tell you. Temporal Prime Directive'.

I thought this episode was swell! The only thing that really bunched my shorts was that stupid Chaotica imbecility. They REALLY didn't need to revive THAT of all things!! Janeway "the queen of the spider people"!?! WTF?!?!?!

Sure, many things didn't make sense but the show was fast-paced, entertaining and quite exciting. I'd give it at least 3 stars, if not 3.5.

Does anyone remember "Shades of Grey," TNG's season 2 finale? That was a real clip show, designed to show everyone how "it's been a long road, getting from there to here..." This is Voyager's answer to that episode. There's an inherently awkward and plotless quality to any clip show, no getting around it. If one must do one, which one mustn't, this episode is not a bad take. What it offers that others of its type don't is precisely what Season 7's theme revolves around. Each of VOY's seasons has a theme, which I appreciate. Season 7, being the final one, demands of the characters and the plots that they answer for the choices they've made (note previous episode), culminating in the series finale answering the dilemma of the pilot (awesome). While on its own, this episode does not make for much, entertaining perhaps to those familiar with Voyager's past adventures; but, as a thematic corner stone to the season (inviting speculation about various running relationships in the series), it is a vital spawning pool of questions for the show.

Notes:
1) Chakotay: "You told me, about three years from now." This would seem to indicate a reference to the pre-finale from season 2, "Resolutions" wherein Janeway and Chakotay are stranded on a planet for a month alone.
2. Why would fluctuating environmental controls indicate a temporal anomaly?
3. This is the second time Seska's proven to be the arch-villan since she died :p

Best. Clip. Show. Ever.

Not atrociously bad, but still below average.

I thought it was fun - but only because I bought the essential Janeway-Chakotay interaction, and appreciated the teasing of J/C-shippers when Janeway asks exactly HOW well they get to know each other in the future.

Smarter than the average clip show - but I agree a plot that makes no sense - and I could have done without a revisit to "Macrocosm" - but I guess that was a case of "we've got this CGI model in our computers already and it won't cost us anything to use it"

Hahahaha who left Can't-get-a-lock in charge? Let's fly head-first into an "I don't know" - great work there, Harry :)

It looks like you either love this episode or hate it, pretty much. I loved it, for a few primary reasons:

* I'm a sucker for "wibbly wobbly timey wimey" episodes. Sometimes the time travel stuff can suck, but it's very rare - it's usually a hit with me and this is no exception.

* It made me smile very frequently. There were just a lot of parts, particularly exchanges between Chakotay and Season 0 Janeway, which did this for various reasons: whether simply pleasant, nostalgic, comical or just plain ironic (I love how she reacts to all the chaos to come. Aye! They're not a friendly lot in that Delta quadrant! *grin*)

* It served as a reminder, fitting for the 7th series, of all the fun we've been through. Some of it wasn't written brilliantly, but with the benefit of hindsight it's been a fun ride. I guess this was in part the writers' way of saying "look at what we've achieved over the years" and I'll forgive them that conceit. Given all the bad rap Voyager has had (to which I have contributed my share), it's a very fair point.
- sure, a cynical way of viewing it would be as PM says "a victory lap after a resounding defeat". :) Whatever. I'm in a good mood. I enjoyed the episode.

* There was a good dose of comedy thrown in - not so much as to undermine the show in any way, but enough to keep those smiles raised and enough to point out that it's an episode not to be taken DEADLY seriously. Hence I don't really give a stuff about what we perceive as unlikely scientifically or slight plot holes or whatever.

* Come on, admit it, it was nice seeing some of those old faces like Seska and the Kazon again. Just this once.

Just on a couple of random comments, interesting to see future Naomi (I'm sure that actress has played some ensign before, possibly in an early episode?), I remember reading earlier that an adult Naomi is featured in Season 7 and must have misunderstood. I still want to know how she went from baby to... oh, 7-9 years old? in 1 year. But whatever.

And Tuvok's Spock scene.. well it was a bit blatant, but it was worth the homage.

Sure it's no "All Good Things" but even still, I found it perfectly entertaining and loved every minute, so I can only really give it 4 stars - oh alright alright it has holes so make it 3.5.



Ah nuts, 4 - I'll have to say "poopy" to the cynics and nitpickers on this occasion. YMMV. :)

I liked this one too, it was fun seeing all the references to half-forgotten episodes (I never expected to see Chaotica again). Plus I generally find Chakotay an entertaining central character, he's convincing in action roles and Beltran has an easy-going charisma I like. Also adult Naomi Wildman was pretty easy on the eye.

One problem I had was Seven's depiction. She seemed far too helpful for the Seven of Scorpion Part II.

When Janeway noted at the end that she knew where Chakotay hid the wine in the cargo bay, was she implying that her memories were intact?

If you recall it was something mentioned by future Icheb in the astrometrics lab...

After only the first five minutes of this ep I was already heaving a sigh of frustration. But I pressed pause, got a Diet Coke, and tried to watch without assumptions. Once I got the idea of what this episode was going to be-- a new take on a clip show-- I actually started to enjoy it.

It's certainly not great. But knowing that there are only so many episodes left, it was kind of sweet getting a mini-review of where we've been before. I think that aspect, though, was less the point than just a general reminder that Janeway makes tough decisions that always ultimately serve her ship and crew. Kind of like a Janeway apology story.

Interesting note there-- this apology was helpful for me because of late I've really been disliking Janeway. The first few seasons, I was almost always in her corner. Making the tough calls, shouldering the burden, sacrificing for the higher morality, etc. But in seasons 5 and 6 she seemed more bitter, less flexible, and like she lost a bit of her moral center. I'm hoping this episode signals a return to her earlier attitude/behavior.

(Also, incidentally, I might have actually liked more of a revisiting-the-past-type clip episode. Not just revisiting Janeway's awesomeness, but everyone's. They could have picked moments that really made our characters who they were. And reminded us of how the characters have changed over time. Maybe someone's got some good fan fic out there for that one.)

There were still, of course, a few annoying things that I couldn't overlook. For one, how come no one ran into themselves in any of the other time periods? That's usually one of the best aspects of time travel eps. Seeing the inherent awkwardness of having to deal with a former version of oneself is excruciatingly fun.

For another, as others have pointed out, the Temporal Prime Directive is applied in the most bass-ackward way possible here. Chakotay tells past folks all sorts of things about the future one second, then claims TPD the next second. But still clams up about things even when he's pretty sure his plan will work and none of this will have happened (ie, it won't matter what they know). And then finally he won't tell Janeway about how he traveled back in time to a shared past that she knows all about?! Has Chakotay not actually read the Temporal Prime Directive? Do we have a secret illiteracy episode coming up next?

Overall, though, I found myself sympathetic to what this episode was trying to achieve. I hope it continues through the end of the series. (I've actually already seen the next ep, and I really liked it when I first saw it, so I have hope!)

Oh-- how could I forget?!?! What's with the Captain and Chakotay having died 17 years ago, according to future Naomi and Icheb?!?!

Ok...so I concede that neither Naomi nor Icheb are going to age the same way "normal" human beings age. Naomi's got her weird growing-up-too-fast-cause-she's-half-Ktarian, and who knows what happens once she's grown up. And Icheb was grown in a Borg maturation cell, and released too early, so he'll all sorts of not-the-right-age-for-his-looks. So, I can't just go by how they look to decide how old they are.

But...it can't be that they're supposed to be more than, what, 35 or 40 years old. So if Icheb is around 16 in our present time, and 40 in the future scene, then 24 years have elapsed. And so the present day Captain and Chakotay die in 7 years?! WTF?! That seems too important to just toss out there like it's incidental! Why isn't Chakotay worried about THAT?!

No where near as bad as reviewed. It's a bit diversionary but is Trek (unlike some others I can think of), it's "timey wimey". It's a little nonsense, and a little fun. There are infinitely more dull and boring serious "proper" Trek episodes out there. This is not one of them.

Clip show. Not really. If it is to be defined as one, this is an enjoyable one. It doesn't feature actual clips of previous episodes in an attempt to make a filler episode on the cheap. That's what clip shows are, and they are a cop out. Referring to old episodes by staging similar events is fine. I like that kind of messing with time factor.

Nothing amazing but a good enjoyable romp. The previous two parter dragged on and wasn't a great deal of fun, not to mention highly derivative, yet you give it loads of stars vs two here!

This was lightweight and silly but rather fun.

Jammer doesn't really like 'Voyager,' hence his consistently low ratings. I'm with the majority on this one - very entertaining episode. 3-3.5 stars, easily, and a nice palate-cleanser after the heavier drama of the previous two-parter. It would have been fun to see Kes again, though, and hopefully give her a better send-off than her previous return.

Cloudane said, "It served as a reminder, fitting for the 7th series, of all the fun we've been through. Some of it wasn't written brilliantly, but with the benefit of hindsight it's been a fun ride."

Pretty much this.

I'm another one who likes time travel stories, and I liked this episode a lot. At least 3 stars.

@Elliott, you give the writers WAY too much credit for having seasonal "themes" as you put it. They didn't. They simply muddled along - quite badly at times.

I LOVED this one ! Finally an entertaining Chakotay show...maybe it was like a clip show but a really entertaining one. I would give this 3 stars easily. There seem to be so many reviewers here that dont like the show much...if so WHY WATCH IT ?

Thoroughly enjoyable episode - 4 stars! It was great to see snippets of Voyager's past (and a bit of the future). The interaction between "past" Janeway and "current" Chakotay was written, and acted, with just the right light touch.

And seeing Chaotica, again threatening to use his "Ming the Merciless" death ray, was a treat, with Janeway "adlibbing" her Queen Arachnia part as she went.

So is this like the third episode now with Chakotay and Janeway having dinner together, and the third episode in a row that tries to launch a Janeway gag by very wrongly (based on everything we've seen in every 24th century Trek show, including this one) treating a replicator like it's some kind of stove?

I really loved this one, actually- I think it should have been the series finale. I think it not only encapsulates the Voyager missions statement (that the voyage was more important than the destination) but also shows what a profound impact Voyager had on the Delta Quadrant and vice versa. I loved Chakotay's speech about the path less traveled, I loved his passion when he argued for the merit of their journey, I loved that he finally got a great episode, I loved that it was like a clips show looking back on some of their greatest moments, I loved the end, I LOVED the Janeway/Chakotay interactions- the only way I could have loved this ep more is if Janeway and Chakotay kissed at the end. 4 stars.

Chakotay's comwhen traveeling municator and rank insignia should have vanished between the disjoint parts of the ship as well as things he was carrying.

Technically, so should his clothes, but no one wants that...

I really liked this episode, with just one major complaint: Remember when Harry Kim went back in time to save Voyager from being destroyed? Geordi LeForge was a captain at that time and no one seemed to care about keeping his future intact. But I forgot... Voyager is the center of the universe. (minus all those poor red shirts)

Other than that, I agree the science was ridiculous and more like fantasy, but the episode kept me interested enough that I didn't care. Other ST series' have made excellent shows with similarly implausible "science," such as the transporter on TNG turning Picard and 3 others into children. When an episode is boring all I can think about are the plot holes, but this one was a lot of fun.

You forgot to mention the worst part - The End

At the end, Janeway somehow knows where Chakotay hid "that bottle of Ale" from Neelix...

That is the part that made the least sense.

So essentially they are saying that Janeway already knew Chakotay before he came aboard Voyager..

...That she already knew about events before they occured

Fail!

Shouldn't Tuvok have tried to transfer his katra to someone before he croaked?

I'm on the "really like it" boat. First, because it's a Chakotay episode and I really like him and felt he was horribly underused. Finally, he gets an entire episode as the main character. Someone else mentioned Beltran's easy-going charisma. I have to concur, he's a great actor and a charming guy and I would have loved to have seen more of him throughout the series than we ultimately got.

Second, because of the great interactions of Chakotay and past Janeway. Their lighter banter and heavier discussions were all great and well performed. They actually have a very good chemistry and I'm also one of those people who think a romantic relationship between them would have worked really well.

And third, I kinda liked seeing some old faces again. I actually don't think this can aptly be called a clip-show. That implies that it was a throw-together of existing material to save a buck and make a quick turn. All of these events revisited ideas but not a single clip from the corresponding episodes was used. They had to get back the actress to play Seska and the actors who portrayed Chaotica and Lonzak, do all that Borg get-up on Seven, and get a bunch of extras to fulfill the roles of past crew, random Maquis, and even an adult Naomi and Icheb (nice casting on him, btw, he really did look like a believable grown up version of Manu Intiraymi). I imagine this actually was quite the opposite of budget-saving or time-saving.

Overall, yes it made no sense but I still enjoyed it. And I'll admit it, even though the scene was sudden and a bit rushed, Tuvok's death still gave me sad-face.

@Destructor I agree! Love this episode so much!
But one thing... just one...
WHY THE FRAK DIDN'T CHAKOTAY KISS JANEWAY BY THE WARP CORE???????? PERFECT SET-UP FOR THE MOST ROMANTIC SCENE OF THE SHOW AND THE WRITERS BLOW IT??????

I'm with those who enjoyed this episode. Yes, there were plot holes right and left, as is always the case with time travel stories. However, I loved the way they incorporated so many past episodes in a fresh way.

Plus, Chakotay's speech to Janeway about the good they've done to counter the bad was terrific, and the chemistry between them was palpable. I don't blame Janeway for looking disappointed when Chakotay tells her "some barriers we didn't cross." Chakotay is quite tasty. Well, it's not too late, but from everyone's comments it appears they never went there. Too bad.

As for Janeway's cryptic last line, I just assumed she'd found out about it some other way. It's admittedly a weakness but overall the show was quite entertaining and so I'll give slips like that a pass.

1. janeway and the ale. um, she could ahve known about it before.
2. jammer hates time shows. and voyager. horrible review.
3. you can see most people liked this.
4. i am a sucker for time travel shows. it is why i like voyager and star trek!
5. i really like reviews from michael and destructor and David H.

i hit wrong button. i loved the show. i enjoyed all the timelines.i just saw TNGs timescape yesterday. man i love these type of shows.

maybe that is why i loved quantum leap.

4 stars!

No other episode made me want to cry this much. One of the best!

Another good episode, season 7 is turning out very nicely so far and it has rekindled some of the 'lost love' it suffered after one too many tiresome disappointments.

I found these very grin inducing fun. There is naturally little logic, but I think the writers primary concern was to give us a hugely enjoyable celebration of the show that's peppered with heartfelt moments and salted with misty eyed laughs; much like the last day of school or a well-loved colleges' leaving party.

It achieved quite a bit of that goal, it gives you hints of that comfortable warm feeling and a twinge of that sinking sadness that its all coming to an end.

I liked it a lot. While I wouldn't call it powerful, it did come with plenty of honest emotion and I believe grew from a genuine affection for Voyager which you're openly invited to join in with. I smiled a lot, through humor and through being reminded that deep down I really get a kick out of this show...much like how I felt about school on that last day!

Easily 3.5 stars.

I thought this was great fun. I am another one who really would have enjoyed a Chakotay/Janeway kiss at the end – it would've been so easy to write in! Just have Chakotay say "let's just say there are some barriers we never crossed…" And then he pauses, and adds, "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to..." and he kisses her! Easy!

Ah well. I thought it was funny that Icheb was wearing a red uniform and Naomi was wearing a yellow uniform – seems like it should've been the opposite, with Icheb so interested in engineering-type things and Naomi wanting to be the captain's assistant.

One thing that struck me as being so funny was at the very end was when Chakotay only had six seconds or whatever to fix everything, and he's very calmly talking to B'Elanna, like they has all the time in the world! I usually enjoy Chakotay's calm and gentle manner, but this moment really called for some urgency and action! Ha ha.

A chakotay episode that didn't put me to sleep. victory! It was fun. Not to be taken seriously kinda ep. I can deal with it this time. Maybe it was this campy time travel ep that explains why she collaborated so quickly from the beginning in Caretaker II. :-)

So many times in Trek there is a logical or scientific approach to (in this case) temporal mechanics that allow the viewer to follow along using their brain and it makes sense. Kirk faced The Guardian of Forever. Picard in Yesterday's Enterprise, you get the picture that good credible SF can exist in Trek, but when episodes like this one come about, the writers throw everything and anything into it, that it becomes more fantasy.
Doctor Who does this shattering effect better than any. Entertaining it may be, yet when a mashup of timelines exist that would confuse even Doc Brown from Back To The Future let alone the most avid of Trekkers it destroys the premise.The reasons for criticism from those of us who are Trekkers is because we enjoy Trek, and don't feel that we should have to turn off our brain on every episode.
Credible SF is what made shows like Stargate successful. Gateheads follow the science and mechanics of Stargate just like those in Star Wars and Doctor Who. Criticism of a show like Star Trek is no different. When writers abandon what has been established as canon, then the material becomes mashed up and becomes less SF and more fantasy.

Although this was "like" a clip show, it was way better than an actual clip show.

This review tells me that Jammer really did not like Voyager as a series and probably should have stopped watching it.

I would have chosen this quote instead:

"It sounds like it's going to be one disaster after another on this ship."
"You're going to have the opportunity to study things no human has ever seen before."
"Including some very large germs."

It's a comical exchange but Mulgrew's delivery nails it.

Another favorite was Doc: "Tell me more about this...mobile emitter" as the door slams shut on his face.

Overall I thought the episode was great--some very touching dramatic moments as well as many hilarious ones. It was cool to see some of the old characters, as well as the current characters in the past and future. (On that note, this episode did a much better job than Fury, in which a lot of the "characters in the past" didn't look quite right.)

I do appreciate the focus being on Chakotay for a change (normally he is a cardboard cutout, but he did pretty well here), and the fact that a number of characters were utilized. Put together with the previous episodes, "Flesh and Blood" parts 1 and 2, gives me hope that Voyager finally stopped being the "7 of 9 and the Borg" show and started being Voyager again.

Probably the only scene I didn't care for was the Chaotica one. It might have been okay if it was shorter. Also, although I like Seska coming back, she is portrayed by the writers as a little too cunning which gets on my nerves.

I do have one question though. How come whenever Janeway travels between time periods, nobody ever asks her why her hair suddenly changed?

BTW I assumed she knew about the cider some other way. Chakotay said he was hiding it from Neelix, not from everybody.

I actually quite liked this one. I don't like Voyager as a show, but I did enjoy this episode. It actually was a lot of fun and had some good dramatic moments. And the focus on Chakotay, while highly unusual, was greatly appreciated. The best part, of course, is the end with all the people from the different time periods working together against Seska. It was so ridiculous that it was so much fun, especially when Seven came in as a Borg and stopped Seska directly. I'm pretty sure I cheered at that point, against my better judgement. xD

This episode really was fun though, even if it didn't really happen. Janeway didn't seem to remember it (or did she...).

When Paris and Kim were on the second level of engineering, they were still in "their" timeframe, and only after they jumped did they enter Seska's. So how is it that they could observe Seska's timeframe in engineering before jumping into it? It seems that the people innoculated with the serum can still only observe the timeframe they are in at that moment. Alternately, if they can observe "every " timeframe when innoculated, then all of the corridors should have been busy, and there should have been lots of running their own selves.

What I like about these reviews is that they often offer a completely different point of view. I actually liked the episode, despite its inherent and unapologetic goofiness. However, now I can no longer deny that the science behind it makes no sense. If the ship is fractured into different timeperiods, shouldn't it also include the past well before Voyager was even built? You turn a corner, shift zones and find yourself floating in the vacuum of space because there wasn't a ship back then. But hey, at least they made it home.

@Norvo - Why? Kes was jumping backwards through her own life. Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap jumps around during his own. Time travel in Trek near Earth never accidentally beams the crew to before Earth existed. When Sisko was bouncing around in time he was tied to Jake. I'm not telling you the science makes perfect sense, but as far as time travel is established in Trek the idea that this thing could be tied to Voyager isn't that weird.

The phenomenon happened to Voyager, why couldn't it have been tied to Voyager's existence? Sure you might have been able to walk into the cargo bay and find a bunch of Utopia Planetia technicians building the thing (and that might have been pretty funny) but the idea isn't that out there. I like this episode, Beltran looked like he was having a lot of fun (nice to see for a change in the later seasons) and I loved all the little continuity tie ins from past episodes. This was a Voyager episode for Voyager fans. Not a classic 4 star, but I'll give it 3.5. It was fun.

This is another episode where the writers had an entertaining idea, but let their lack of common sense allow it to happen. Sometimes ideas don't work in a science fiction because they are just too preposterous and unscientific. This whole episode is literally scientifically impossible, and because it's so blatantly bad science and illogical, suspension of disbelief is also impossible.

Great episode, nice upbeat atmosphere and Trek spirit. Just what to expect from Star Trek with regards to ideals and optimism despite human flaw. 3 stars.

Terrible episode. 2 stars was way too generous - I'd give this a 1 at most. It made no sense whatsoever. The only highlight for me was seeing what future Naomi Wildman and Icheb look like.

I kinda liked it, to be honest. I thought it was a very unique way to put together a clip show from previous episodes. Sure, the premise of it didn't make sense, but they at least tried a fresh idea and I gotta give em credit for that.
It's better then bunching the main characters together and have them reminisce about the times that were, as most clip shows do.
My favorite scene was the one where Seven barges in through her temporal anomaly, casually shoves a Kazon aside while taking a phaserblast without flinching and manhandling Seska like a ragdoll.

It was a good ride. Not a very sensible one, but fun. I enjoyed it, at least.

I liked this episode, and Jammer, you are being a bit too harsh. Stop trying to make scientific sense out of Star Trek technology. Warp Drive may be a reality some day, but probably 1,000 years from now, not in the year 2063. And what about the transporters? That is a virtual impossibility, and if it ever comes true we're talking 10,000 years down the road... I thought this episode was a very unique way to do a time shattering story, and the whole point was the conversation in the turbo lift towards the end, which you at least acknowledged. It's a reminder to us that despite Janeway's guilt over stranding everyone in the Delta quandrant, there have been far more postives than negatives, as Chakotay reminded all of us. 3 stars for me!

I join the team of those who love this one. I understand it is less sci-fi and more fantasy, but that's okay by me, because I am fascinated by the concept of time travel.

I always like to imagine what it would be really like to meet someone from the future or past, or to meet yourself at a different age. I imagine giving Thomas Jefferson a tour around Wal Mart and explaining why it is all his fault for not fighting to include certain things the Constitution.

If I met my younger self, I imagine that arrogant little twit would think she knew everything and I'd probably get nowhere with her.

But what would you do right now if your worst enemy suddenly showed up and tried to convince you he was your best friend from the future?

Fun!

And I love the way Janeway plays along in the Captain proton world. She's a trooper.

I'm in the camp that likes this episode as well. Just a fun, entertaining way to use time travel and anomalies to contrast the early seasons with the later ones. I mean that's part of the reason TNG's All Good Things was such a strong episode as well.

grumpy_otter,

That's a good question! The line about your worst enemy (already thinking of a few and it doesn't feel warm and fuzzy) coming from the future where (s)he may be much older. I try to imagine them telling you that you're not only the closest of friends but the two of you managed to find an instant cure for every type of cancer which led to a treaty of sorts for all the world superpowers! I suppose if my future self were there to corroborate the story...well...I'd probably still be skeptical, but that would be better than my outright reaction which would be something do with they can do with themselves, their maternal ancestor and a jar of peanut butter.

Anyways, this was something different. Fractured times intermingled throughout the ship. If this concept was used in this way before I can't think of any other show it's been done in. If anyone else can pinpoint this by all means share with your trek brethren!

Personally I am glad this didn't become a Janeway-Chakotay character thing. By the 7th season there wasn't much left to be said.

Glad Martha Hackett came back! Seska is manipulative and seductive evil...a sneaky one. And like a moth to a flame I'dve followed her. I feel no shame :)

I found that particular timeline to be quite awesome. This was when the writers were attempting some kind of continuity in a storyline. The Ka-zon weren't exactly the most interesting species they came across but I love the fact the writers' thinking caps were on and they were attempting something different.

And as always the doctor was entertaining. "Where's your mobile emitter?" "My What?" Had to smile on that one, couldn't help myself.

A throwaway ep? Well..maybe a bit more than that. Good clean harmless fun with timelines in the vein of S5's Relativity. I give it 2.5 stars.

Average (2.5). The Chaotica and Borg Seven scenes were pretty boring (and unbelievable that Seven would cooperate and Seska would even be expected to cooperate) but the Janeway/Chakotay interaction was pretty good.

Time travel may make no sense here, but space-time travel does. If I were to travel JUST back in time by 6 months, I would be floating in space where the Earth was 6 months ago. Earth is now on the other side of the sun. Any real time travel has to go through space as well. In this case, the anomaly fractured space-time, bringing many Voyager points of time through space to this location. Therefore, it wouldn't matter how many light years apart each time frame is located.

I wanted to see Q in one of the fractured time-periods, and have him say "How did you manage this?. Humans are not supposed to be able to do this to their ships for another 500 years."

You can't burn a roast in the replicator. I think this is the work of Paris and Kim, and Janeway is too stupid to catch on.

Chakotay to Janeway: "Harry's going to be one of our best people." (We just won't promote him - LOL) And that's why you keeping replicating a burnt roast.

I thought this was less a clip show than a series of greatest hits vignettes - some worked better than others but there were so many grin-inducing moments (Borg Seven/adult Naomi and Icheb/Seska/Chaotica/the macrovirus!) that it's difficult not to get swept along in the sheer exuberance of it all.

Yes, it doesn't make too much sense if you nitpick it. But willingly suspend your disbelief and this is a riot. 3 stars.

An episode worthy of as many groans as Janeway rolls her eyes in the Chaotica scene. With season 7 striking out every other episode it's a sign that Voyager is running on fumes and the approaching finish line isn't an unwelcome sight. It's hard to imagine suffering through yet another season of rehashes, cutesy ideas that don't go anywhere, and the writers' attempts to revive dead-and-buried concepts that they'd given up on long ago when they might've at least held some relevance.

I can't say I agree with comments pointing out the oddity of Seven being helpful in the episode. She and the other Borg may not be true allies with them, but there's no argument that there is an extremely dangerous thing happening around them. Don't forget that at that timeframe, Voyager was the Borg's only hope against 8472, and should any threat, especially something natural like a temporal anomaly potentially disturb or destroy the ship, it could have meant the end of the Borg. In the end it was in their best interest to assist the best they could.

The Borg generally strike me as the types to not mess with that stuff, anyway, considering how paradoxical temporal mechanics can be, and that the Borg over anyone else most likely do not enjoy the uncertainty of what would happen if they interfered with events. Even in First Contact their own interference didn't end up working out. Maintaining the status quo is what the Borg are all about, after all.

"Doesn't sound like Mr. Paris' tastes are very sophisticated." That's got to be either the most or the least self-aware line in all of Trek. I know you're new to the show, Captain, but your adventures aren't exactly going to be remembered for their sophistication either. And this particular episode is about as shallow as fluff can be. And there's plenty of other shallow episodes as well, like Macrocosm, Bliss, Bride of Chaotica... hey wait, these are all the episodes they referenced! Is that, like, shallow squared?

Ah, but what the heck, it was kind of fun anyway, even if it was stupid. Honestly, though, the worst part is probably that it's a Chakotay episode. Sure, on the one hand this is a safe episode for him, since it is just shallow and doesn't require you to use the character in any meaningful way (and Chakotay hasn't been used in any meaningful way since Scorpion or so...). But the problem is Beltran is just so wooden and uncaring in his role. If this is going to be a lighthearted episode, I'd prefer if the actors had some fun with it. And Mulgrew clearly was hamming it up a bit, just enough to show the creators recognized the silliness involved. But Commander Robot? Couldn't show a wry smile from all the weirdness going on around him? I know you hate the job, but still try to enjoy it somewhat, right?

Also, kind of convenient that there was one main castmember in every place and every time period they visited. Didn't have two Janeway's running around or anything. Not to mention both Seven and Seska appearing, quite a coincidence!

I also question whether Borg Seven would really join in with the giant raid on Seska at the end. Wouldn't she deem such concerns to be irrelevant? And why did Chakotay and Janeway only grab the main characters to join their raid?

Oh seriously, what am I doing questioning the logic of this episode? Like I said, it was an enjoyable little clip show, and at least the theme (the journey was worth the troubles) had at least a little bit of resonance, not to mention reinforcing Chakotay's loyalty to Janeway. A nice breather episode after Flesh and Blood and before Lineage; I won't complain.

Obviously time - travel is fantasy and not science fiction, so this show worked for me.

The theory that time is a dimension (ie. Einstien's GR) is obviously mentally retarded - just like the guy who thought it up. Space-Time is a concept - it is not a substance, as such it does not physically exist - its an idea (and a stupid one). Therefore it cannot bend light around the Sun, cannot effect the perihelion of Mercury etc etc ..

The vacuum is a substance, it is the spacial extension of the isotropic vector matrix - it is a fluid under tension, and is in a state of hyper-flux .. it cannot achieve static equilibrium, it is therefore in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The vacuum is not just an idea .. its a substance that has variable apparent density - depending on apparent flow of high complexity polyhedra, which is why 'gravitational' fields bend light, and .. ah bah humbug ..

.. may as well go talk to some rocks ..

Nothing earth"shattering"... chuckle....

A-hem...

I didn't mind this one. It kept my interest... kind of a Voyager homage or a trip down memory lane type episode.

I'll go 2.5 stars.

A lot of people seem to miss the point of this episode.

It was clearly a chance to revisit elements and characters from Voyager's past as a kind of final hurrah. This was near the end of Voyager's journey and the ship would be coming home soon, leaving the Delta Quadrant and its inhabitants behind forever. This was Voyager's farewell.

While a lot of the character interactions was bland (it would be nice to see Chakotay shaken by seeing Seska again for example), Chakotay constantly preaches about and then breaks the temporal prime directive and Seven had pre-adapted to the Kazon weapon, I don't place the blame on the actors. I place it on Rick Berman, who ruthlessly engineered emotion out of his characters (leading to bland acting), and Brannon Braga, a one trick pony who could never actually get his trick (time travel) right, no matter how many times he tried it.

This pair are simply talentless and their efforts harmed the show. Note that DS9 is the fan-favourite Trek and this was the only modern Trek where these two hacks didn't have a free hand.

Stop blaming Voyager for being a "bad" Trek. Blame Bermaga for making sure Voyager wasn't able to create vibrant, well developed characters and consistently used plots that were either repetitive, shallow or badly thought out.

Great episode (****)

Harry is one of our best people.. .but WE WILL NEVER PROMOTE HIM.. HAHAHA

This was simply an above average clip show. I usually hate those things. This one however, didn't actually show any clips. Instead it showed brand new material shot in past story-lines. It wasn't meant to be a serious episode, as the Captain Proton section and the Janeway/Chakotay casually strolling section to section during an emergency indicate, and so didn't have to make sense.

My only gripe is Chakotay didn't kiss Janeway, since he knew she wouldn't remember it anyway. I wasn't a fan of the Chakotay x Janeway during the first airing. I never could understand how people could ship them. I thought who the hell would choose Janeway over 7? But now after watching every episode, including all the ones I missed the first time around, it's really growing on me.

This isn't a great episode, or even a particularly good one, but it IS one where the actors seem to be having fun with an absurd premise. So there's that.

@Paul
"I'd also like to know why people who don't move through the timelines disappear when they cross from one area of the ship to another. If they're not moving through time like Chakotay, then where are they going?

Aren't they on their ship in that time-frame? As far as they know everything is normal, it's just that Chakotay has turned up, which is weird... like when he goes on the bridge. Janeway immediately arrests him."

Doubtful, as Janeway mentioned that Stadi disappeared when she walked down the corridor. I think it's more like normal people passing through one of the barriers is moved into another timeframe. In Stadi's case, with everywhere else on the ship being the future from her perspective, she died as that's what she was in those times.

"Another thing that bugs me. If Wildman & Icheb are in the future why are they wearing out of date uniforms? We already know their current ones are old style."

Voyager never updates their uniforms (the only Trek series not to actually), not even after Contact was made with Starfleet and they saw the new uniforms. Real world it kept Voyager and DS9 visually different because the producers think we're all stupid. In universe, it would probably be hand waved with a "we can't afford the power for 150 new uniforms" line (Not that the replicators wouldn't then recycle the old uniforms) not that power/resources were ever a problem when they were building new shuttles and rebuilding the whole ship. I guess it's a captain's discretion thing too, and we don't really want a repeat of the uniform mess we had in "Generations". But yeh, Naomi and Icheb had the right uniforms for the ship, regardless of what starfleet was actually using.

Speaking of uniforms, did the Doctor give Chakotay's uniform, commbadge and rank insignia a Timey-Wimy injection too as they had no problem going with him through the rifts when the medkit didn't in the turbo lift. How did Chakotay do that to Janeway's uniform, commbadge and rank pips to get her through? Especially when he was holding her hostage at the time?

I agree that there are so MANY MANY holes in this episode that, if you think about it logically, your head could explode with outrage. Despite that, I was able to put all that aside and loved this episode. Three and a half stars.

Flawed, plot holes, ludicrous science, and yet enjoyable fun. Solid 3 stars. Star Trek isn't just about realism and believability, it's an entertainment show and it delivers on that here.

Considering how bad most of the series is, this is a great episode. It's a 'screw it let's just have fun and don't really think about the premise' episode, and it works VERY well on that score.

Pretty ridiculous premise but something that is fairly typical for VOY -- this time some type of anomaly splitting the ship into multiple time zones. There's enough technobabble with temporal themes that doesn't make the least bit of sense.

The idea of Janeway (being from the earliest time frame) seeing all these [bad] things for the future but then being told by Chakotay that a whole lot of good will come from their trip to the Delta Quadrant was perhaps the one redeeming quality of this episode. Otherwise, there's just too much suspension of disbelief required for what is happening and how to fix it.

I didn't see anything clever or creative here -- it is just some excuse to do a montage of past episodes. It's not as bad as TNG's "Shades of Grey" which were strictly montages -- at least here the characters from different episodes show up and do new stuff. We get a nice, convenient reset at the end (other than a deflector dish that is unexplainably broken - according to Janeway).

Not quite good enough to get to 2 stars for me so "Shattered" would be a strong 1.5 stars (there's an oxymoron - probably like a 4/10 instead of 3/10). Weak sci-fi here to get some kicks about seeing things in the past, and Janeway wondering about the future. I don't get kicks from or find these kinds of episodes fun when there are too many plot holes, highly improbable happenings and there is nothing noteworthy as far as acting/writing etc.

The premise was impossible to take seriously in a way that I could give it any level of suspension of disbelief (your ship is in different time periods in different locations?), but that's not to say I didn't like it. As a premise, it's fun and creative enough to let me give it an episode's viewing, but if there was any kind of continuation into the actual series, I would have been disappointed. As for the execution of the premise, I'm mixed. I really liked the flashback and flash forward nature of the show. If only Kes had appeared - and maybe some of the crew who died in the first episode. That said, Chipotle was never my favorite character. I don't despise him, but with his lack of emotional range, he's practically a Vulcan. The dearth of energy was definitely noticed here, and it infected the entire episode. I also got tired of all of the talk of the temporal prime directive, because I knew it was a show in isolation. They could have cut out much of that and put in more references to other episodes. Overall, I always enjoy revisiting this episode, but I don't love it the way some people do.

I was quite entertained by this one, but the premise makes absolutely zero sense for the reasons states (leaping to the Alpha Quandrant etc).

Interestingly, all they had to do to justify this, instead of coming up with some anomaly, is make it a 'Q' test for Chakotay and Janeway. Maybe he and Janeway have a serious disagreement and Q shows up to referee and splits the timelines.
Or, you could have a holodeck malfunction, where the holodeck is replaying Voyager's logs and something happens... anyway...

It was still a fun episode. It would have been nice if they threw in one "episode" we never saw in here - just to tease fans.

I probably would have been annoyed if Janeway and Chakotay kissed at the end, but I’ll admit I’m really disappointed that they didn’t. They’ve really sold me on their bond and friendship. While I understand and agree why the first female captain (that helmed her own trek series) wasn’t sleeping with her first officer, their dinners together and little moments really make me sad we never got to see a Romantic relationship.

This was a good episode for me. I never liked Seska so didn’t care to see her again, the chaotica bit went on for too long but I liked the commentary on Tom, and I missed Why 7 who was still Borg at the time decided to help... but the chance to see Janeway and Chakotay being awesome together even in different timelines was all worth it

As with Human Error, I waited until after watching Endgame to comment on this one, and, you know, SPOILERS for Endgame (i.e. for the whole series): so as Elliott says above, this episode seems to mostly "be about" Chakotay convincing Caretaker-era Janeway of the validity of her decision to strand them in the DQ, using different snapshots of time. As an entertainment I find this episode pretty limp, partly because I really don't think Beltran's bothering much at this point, partly because I don't think that most of the time eras tell us much. An opportunity for a "real" wrap-up between Chakotay and Seska after their complicated history was maybe afforded but discarded for weird and dumb action heroics, even if there is something a little stirring about the crew from different eras of the ship coming together. But anyway, basically we have this brief exchange which seems to be the heart of the story:

CHAKOTAY: With all due respect, it's a little presumptuous to think you have the right to change everyone's future.
JANEWAY: From what I've seen, they'll thank me.
CHAKOTAY: All you've seen are bits and pieces. You're not getting the whole picture.
JANEWAY: Really? Just what am I missing?
CHAKOTAY: It's not what, it's who. People like Seven of Nine, a Borg Drone who'll become a member of this crew after you help her recover her humanity. Or Tom Paris, a former convict, who'll be our pilot, chief medic, and husband to B'Elanna Torres.
JANEWAY: That angry woman I just met?
CHAKOTAY: She's going to be your Chief Engineer. Two crews, Maquis and Starfleet, are going to become one. And they'll make as big a mark on the Delta Quadrant as it'll make on them by protecting people like the Ocampans, curing diseases, encouraging peace. Children like Naomi and Icheb are going to grow up on this ship and call it home. And we'll all be following a Captain who sets a course for Earth, and never stops believing that we'll get there.
JANEWAY: Are you going to be lecturing me like this for the next seven years?
CHAKOTAY: Don't worry, you'll always get the last word.
JANEWAY: In that case, let's get back to work.

So that convinces her. So Chakotay's argument boils down to: yes, there are people who are going to die. But Voyager does good in the DQ, and some people benefit tremendously from being on Voyager. Janeway is convinced by it, and that's that. What he's really convincing her of is the validity of her initial choice in Caretaker, which, in one of the series' dozen or so revisits of the series' opening (figuratively in episodes like Scorpion or Night, literally through time travel/flashback/holodeck/etc. in Projections, Before and After, Relativity, ...), and of Voyager's mission. Chakotay has no doubts, basically, even if Janeway does, and in a way this has been consistent. The splitting of the timeline into shards reflects the impossibility of summing up a grand, huge decision Janeway made in Caretaker and its huge ramifications in a single moment; there are thousands of major consequences that spring from that initial decision, and it's really beyond human understanding to evaluate them all at once, except (possibly) through metaphor or sci-fi shenanigans.

Given that this is the core of the episode, it's not really even a Chakotay show -- his role is just to bolster early-Janeway. And it maybe suggests that despite the promises of conflict or whatever, Janeway does basically need Chakotay in order to believe in her initial decision, and maybe even needs him to stop from going mad. His faith in her is what keeps her going, more so than anyone else's. That there's a suppressed romantic component to that faith is also referenced in the episode:

JANEWAY: Maybe, just a little. For two people who started off as enemies, it seems we get to know each other pretty well. So I've been wondering. Just how close do we get?
CHAKOTAY: Let's just say there are some barriers we never cross.

I guess my problems with this are that 1) it flattens Chakotay's character to be an uncomplicated cheerleader for Janeway, though maybe after about Equinox that's really all that could be done with him to give him an important role in the show and 2) Janeway is convinced a little too easily within this episode, which leaves the rest of it dramatically inert. However, these elements maybe do actually make sense coming up to Endgame, and so the episode's purpose seems a little clearer -- even if there are contradictions. So, hold that thought.

A high 2 stars -- too thin, really, but probably worthwhile.

So much potential. Could have been a 4-star episode if they had come upon a some salamanders in sick bay.

Janeway: What's with the salamanders?
Chakotay: Uh, that's you and Tom Paris. You turn into salamanders when you exceed the warp factor limit.
Janeway: The hell you say. What about those baby salamanders?
Chakotay: Well ... that's ... your children. I mean yours and Tom's.
Janeway: WTF? This future ends NOW!

Then we could have had a great scene when the salamanders attack Seska, winning the day.

But no, they didn't go that route. So with a wistful look at what-might-have-been, gotta give this one 2-stars.

Another missed opportunity: When Janeway first encounters Chakotay on the bridge, she could have ordered Kim to transport him immediately to the brig:

Kim: Uh ... sorry Captain, I can't get a transporter lock ...
Janeway: Ensign, that's the last time I expect to hear that.

This episode made me realize how much annoying Beltran's voice is..

@Jammer

"I'd also like to know why people who don't move through the timelines disappear when they cross from one area of the ship to another. If they're not moving through time like Chakotay, then where are they going?"

They're not going anywhere. The time transition is being depicted from Chakotay's point of view, so when the two security guards "disappeared" in the turbolift, Chakotay moved into a new time fragment and the security guards remained behind in the time fragment they were already in.

@Loren

"Even in First Contact [the Borg's] own interference didn't end up working out."

Yes, it did. When the Enterprise is in the temporal wake, we see Earth's familiar land masses Borgified, and Data says the lifesigns on the planet are "9 billion -- all Borg." The Enterprise then emerged from the temporal wake at a point *before* the Borg succeeded in their plan, and this timeline "overwrote" the one in which the Borg had succeeded.

I found this a fun episode and a great way to spend an hour without too much to think about. As a few have said it is a bit silly where I'm sure it's not meant to be, however we have many silly episodes over all the Star Trek series so let's not take stars off for that. I'd give 3 stars easily just for the mindless enjoyment and fun.

I liked it.I liked seeing more of Chakotay, and it was fun to see and hear mention of all the things that have happened on Voyager over the years. I suppose it was a bit of a deliberate nod to the past as they prepare to wrap up the series.

The time paradoxes and confusion and inconsistencies . . . like Janeway, I prefer not to give myself a headache and just go with the flow.

Fun to see Naomi and Icheb, though their reactions to seeing the long dead seemed a bit more subdued than one might expect . . .

Comments on the commentary:

--I contend that this ep plainly is NOT a clip show. I submit as evidence: There are no clips.

--The new uniforms: Why would they bother replicating new uniforms? They're in the freakin' Delta Quadrant, still many years from home. This just doesn't need an explanation.

--Loved the Tuvok death scene and homage to Spock.

--Ah, Janeway and Chakotay! That's always been a little somethin'-sometin' there, and sometimes I think their behavior suggests they did "cross that barrier" when they lived on that planet together. Chakotay says "no we didn't" here, but with all his emphasis on the "temporal prime directive," and just the awkwardness of the situation, he can be reasonably seen as deliberately obscuring the truth. So who knows. There's definitely some chemistry there, but no way Janeway can allow a sexual relationship, and I believe Chakotay is in full agreement with that.

--Definitely, I think there was deliberate foreshadowing of Endgame going on here.

--Voyager can be very fun, and its characters are its strength.

A really enjoyable episode! Of course, the probability of all the timelines being points of traumatic moments instead of routine ones is a bit low, but the story would be boring otherwise

O'Neill kissed Carter (Stargate) when he knew she wouldn't remember it. Should've done that here. Otherwise very enjoyable ep.

For some reason, I like this episode, but can't help but think this was a writer making fun of all the idiotic plots of Voyager past.

This is the time that stupid thing happened to us; oh, this is the time that idiotic thing happened to us; this is the time that A TELEPATHIC PLANT attacked us.
What a wacky set of adventures we've been on these past few years.

Time travel conceits are inane from git to go: between the unavoidable grandfather and origination paradoxes and the attempts to do away with them with infinitely branching timelines in an endless cosmic sea of frothing bubble universes, I don’t know how it’s possible to sagaciously judge one as more “scientifically plausible” than another. They’re all pure fantasy, so blithely slipping the moorings of even the most counterintuitive things we think we know about the actual universe that it makes no sense to critique them in scientific - or even logical - terms.

But they’re an unfortunate staple of all sci-fi, a venerable Trek tradition, so here we are again. And since I don’t watch Trek for its science (which is generally ridiculous anyway), I don’t skip them.

And since I know there’s no point in criticizing the unresisiting imbecility of the science, I let that go in favor of seeing what other merits the episode may have. Sometimes I can enjoy the speculative what-ifs of a future possibly awaiting Our Heroes, seeing how the history we’ve seen might work itself out; sometimes I enjoy seeing possible pasts. Always I can pick up clues cues and insights about the characters (or not), and the time puzzle itself can be inherently interesting purely as a mind exercise.

But over all else, I can be entertained - or not.

This one entertained me. I found a lot to like. I always like Chakotay, and he has the perfect dogged unflappable temperament to mediate these time fragments and give them the emotional and historical logic the shattered-time pretense lacks. A nice outing for him.

I enjoyed the time puzzle, neither too precious nor too tedious. I liked the choices of past events. All the characters were shown being their characteristic selves, with a few additional insights from the juxtaposition of eras, and nothing to violate Voyager canon or continuity. And goofy as time travel is, the notion of members of the crew from various points across decades of time corroborating to resolve a single problem serves to emphasize the collegial trust and goodwill the crew developed over the voyage. (Other than Seska, yuck ptui, a character for whom I’ve never been able to scare up a scrap of regard.)

And while it wasn’t a clip show, it was a retrospective survey which gathered highlights (and absurdities) from Voyager’s long strange trip and created an overall arc for us, a review. Seeing what was to be the unimaginable future from a pre-Delta Janeway’s perspective emphasizes just how much Voyager the ship/crew have been through - and how much Voyager the show actually HAS done with its original brief (in the face of the interminable “fan” whining and bitching in these reviews and comments).

That it visited both some of Janeway’s biggest hits and a few of the decisions she’s been most critized for (and has been shown to second-guess herself for) is another nice touch. It’s a nod and a wink from the writers that they’ve heard the jeers from the cheap seats.

Which also adds a meta layer, making the episode as much about Voyager the show as Voyager the fictional ship. It’s a scrapbook shared by the writers with faithful viewers - “The Way We Were” with a slightly wry twist, but in the end an earnest and warm benediction.

Also, as typified by “Slaughterhouse Five”, the fragmented time device is a pretty good metaphor for the way human memory works, how we are all constantly engaged in integrating our memories and our intuition about the future into a coherent story about who we are in the present.

So...a pleasant enough installment for me, helping shape an overall understanding of Voyager’s narrative shape - even if that shape comprises a willful selection of random incidents arbitrarily arranged to make meaning where they may originally have been none.

But that’s ALso what we do with the stuff of our own lives - so OK.

Overlooked in the review and comments:

If people disappear when crossing timezones on the ship, what does that mean for Naomi and Itcheb - that they stayed in their time/ship zone for 17-25 years and are where by now?
Not a single question from Chakotay to the future crew who says they are analysing the still persistent time shift phenomenon (presumably for several years) nor enlisting their help. No care in the world for them as people (hi and bye). No care from Itcheb and Naomi that Janeway and Chakotay are alive again, no cate what they do next, what might happen to any of them.

Minor ridiculous scene: Don't get in my way or I will poison Janeway with the injection you just saw me already administering to her. And now, only seconds after administering it, I take her through the time barrier trusting the stuff has made the changes in her already so she will not vanish into nothing.
Then, having just crossed, Chakotay and Janeway can now conveniently see what happens in timeline they just left when before that was not the case nor will it be again while they move through the ship.

I am sorry but always when the people who write a script and all people involved in filming it don't take care of the flaws and moon-sized plot holes that are apparent to watchers the moment they see it, that is just very sloppy work. A script can be good or bad and a matter of opinion. But not being able to or not caring to make the inner workings of your own story and character choices the least bit plausible makes for the worst kind of professional story tellers in my opinion - possibly only exceeded by those not able to tell any story at all.

You can entertain with less but you don't need to be a professional writer to do it.

Totally disagree.

While not without its flaws, this could have made for a decent series finale (except it wouldn't have gotten the crew home and TNG already did this concept to perfection for IT'S series finale)

3.5/4

Well I will give this credit for not being as bad as it appears it will be during the first ten minutes. Seems like we’ve seen this “temporal displacement time is askew” type stuff many times before. And we have. But the episode manages to throw in enough of the new and unexpected that it’s fresher than what you’d think. However the Arnold Schwarzenegger bullet belts across the chest things look completely ridiculous and should never have made it all the way to air. Laughably bad. All in all the episode isn’t too bad though. Not near as boring as it sounds like it would be

As 2-star episodes go this one is pretty entertaining. Ludicrous thought it is.

Borrows a fair bit from 'All Good Things...' but hey, you might as well steal from the best! Found this one to be fun and quite heartwarming, especially since I'm guessing this will be the last significant Chakotay/Janeway episode.

I liked it for the most part, and the Chuckles/Janeway dynamic in particular. Janeway has a believable Janeway arc here, going from BS! to accepting the situation, then realizing she will do whatever she can to prevent this future.

While I never liked the bonkers direction they took Seska back in the day, at least she is consistent with her conniving self from back then.

The Seven stuff was a lot less believable because it just seemed so unlikely they could convince her to help them. She’s not the Seven they have known, she’s full on original Borg.

I don’t feel like writing a review for All Good Things, but that had a very similar and more extreme version of this. In the Yar era, Picard, who has just taken command, orders the ship into what sure looks like suicide. Picard speeches can be quite effective, but what he’s saying there is just nuts. Especially considering his behavior prior to that. His behavior there is worse than in Lonely Among Us. Really, the ONLY reason I believe he got away with it was he hadn’t yet picked up the first officer.

@Silly

His behavior there is worse than in Lonely Among Us. Really, the ONLY reason I believe he got away with it was he hadn’t yet picked up the first offic

Ha. that's true. Yeah, it was ridiculous that they didn't all relieve him of command. Picard is standing on the bridge yelling at something called "Q" and then takes them right into that anomaly. I would like to think that the TNG characters I watched for 7 seasons wouldnt blindly go to their deaths just because picard gave a 20 second speech.


I actually enjoyed this voyager episode. I seem to be one of the few people who likes Chakotay episodes. They definitely could have developed him more but I like when he gets a lot of dialogue and screen time. I liked the episode Nemesis a lot too for what its worth.

I don't believe Icheb and Naomi would go along with Chakotays plan either. He points out that Janeway is pretty presumptuous to believe she can change the future of the crew after 7 years. Icheb and Naomi have 17 more years of history. They haven't been just waiting for Chakotay ftoro come back. They wouldn't just give up their entire lives without even questioning it because Chakotay says so. The writers never thought about stuff like that.

Also, when Chakotay asks if anyone had encountered one of the temporal barriers, Janeway says "My helmsman disappeared when she tried to walk down that corridor, but that doesn't prove she passed through a temporal barrier."

Where does she think the crew member disappeared to? she acts like she doesn't care the helmsman is gone. Nor does she put 2 and 2 together and think maybe Chacotay is telling the truth. I don't know why they want to portray Janeway as that dumb.

At the end Chakotay won't tell the present Janeway what happened because of the temporal prime directive. How exactly would her knowing change anything now? The previous comment by Silly mentions All Good Things. At the end of All Good Things Data points out Picard told them what had happened because they are back to point where the future hadn't been written yet. Maybe I'm missing something but again, why would the writers throw that in?

Turns out Icheb would've been better off stuck in the Delta quadrant...

I have to knock off 1 star for some absurdities including the basic premise. But after that, I thought this was a solid 3-star romp with just the right amount of nostalgia. I love the random points of time they encountered. And any reason to bring Seska back is a good one.

I was expecting something not good at all based on sneak-peak comments and was quite pleased with the episode. I'd definitely watch it again in the future. Or in the past!

I loved this episode (for reasons many above have already stated).

One thing still confuses me. Why did Janeway and Chakotay not die years later while Naomi and Icheb grew up on Voyager? They didn't really do anything to change the future, so what changed?

One of my favorites to rewatch. It's just delightful and anything that makes me smile these days is welcome: 3.5 stars.

As with Bride of Chaotica, Janeway (and Mulgrew) relishes her Queen Arachnia role. I'm sure as an admiral, she's a lot like that.

I liked this one. It was fun to bring back past characters and have the cast revert back to their former selves. Glad too see Chakotay get some screen time and spend some time with Janeway.

A huge missed opportunity would be to run into 15 years-into-the-future Harry Kim, who is still an ensign.

This episode seems to be very polarizing...

I quite enjoyed it tho. On my first viewing, it was just okay, but when I rewatched it I found it to be more enjoyable for some reason. I think if you take it as just a fun episode, it's fine. The Chakotay and Janeway interections were the main appeal.

Also, someone asked why Naomi and Icheb are wearing outdated Starfleet uniforms... but I think that's because they're still in the Delta quadrant. Remember, it was originally gonna take them 70 years to get back home. And the Voyager crew didn't update their uniforms even after they could see that Starfleet updated them already.

My only question is how Naomi and Icheb or the rest of the crew were able to proceed for 17 years with the ship stuck in temporal flux the entire time...

Anyway, I would give this a solid 3.5. Not amazing, but I don't think it's as terrible as others think. It's a very rewatch-able episode, imo.

@NoPoet

"Stop blaming Voyager for being a 'bad' Trek. Blame Bermaga for making sure Voyager wasn't able to create vibrant, well developed characters and consistently used plots that were either repetitive, shallow or badly thought out."

If this site allowed upvoting, I would upvote your post for "Bermaga."

Continuity error (in Voyager? Imagine that): When Janeway and Chakotay enter the transporter room in the 2371 fragment, they find Torres, in her Maquis duds, who immediately starts ranting about how Janeway stranded them in the Delta Quadrant. But in "Caretaker," Torres is on the bridge in a Starfleet uniform at a later point in time when Janeway actually orders the destruction of the array (and she bitches about it then, too).

I'm really surprised people didn't realize that this episode played out like a "greatest hits" version of Voyager bringing up old storylines. Since this was Season 7 and Voyager was ending, this was a nice stroll down memory lane.

Absolutely strange some people would rather complain about time travel not making sense instead of enjoying a fun romp showing the different timeframes. Seeing Naomi as an adult or Seska again was great, seeing the different random virus/bugs/whatever that infected the crew through the years, the old B'elanna, etc.

Blows my mind people find more time picking apart episodes than enjoying them for what they are.

How did they pitch this one? "Picture this, All Good Things meets Shades of Grey."

One last chance to pull out the old Maquis uniforms. Waste not, want not.

This episode made no sense. I agree with Jammers review.

1st of all, "chroniton infused serum"? So now we can shield ourselves from different time frames with a hypospray? Absurdly laughable.

2nd, why would Janeway appear so shocked whenvChakotay appeared on the bridge? If the ship was time-fractured like that than why wouldn't the Bridge crew in THAT time period also know something weird was going on? People must have been appearing and disappearing from their respective time frames left and right, in all time frames the ship was in.

3rd, contradictions that aren't nit picky but destroy the whole premise of the episode. In some scenes they can see between the time frames but can't pass through them. In other scenes they can pass through them but can't see them beforehand. Other times they can do both and other times they can do either. Makes no sense at all.

4th, how the hell could the ship even function, if say, half the warp core was in another time frame? What if the ship was slightly altered between time frames, like the anti-matter injectors were open in one but not the other, shouldn't that be causing massive glitches, malfunctions, and destruction in random parts of the ship? How could the ship even be whole? And like others have pointed out the ship was in different locations so how could it be whole? Not nitpicking. Contradictions and plot holes that make the episode total lunacy from start to finish do make it alot less enjoyable or followable.

This episode would have worked much better if they brought Kes back for this instead of "Fury." She comes back to finally get Voyager all the way home, but because she arrives in the middle of one of Seven's experiments, she inadvertently fractures time throughout the ship. She and Seven then come up with a way to fix it that requires them to jump through time. Kes gives pre S4 context to Seven, and Seven does the same for post S3 stuff. At the end, she gets them another 10 years closer or whatever. I dunno. Sounds better than this episode.

I REALLY enjoyed this one! I also like how in the end Janeway and Chakotay got all of the crew's to team up against Seska. I think the whole episode was handled well, and it is a great season 7 send off to show the "best of" of the series. If I have one quibble, it is that every shattered timeline was of a crisis-it makes it seem like every moment on Voyager is fraught with danger. But on the other hand, different timelines of the crew relaxing or in routine wouldn't make dynamic television. Actually, it was neat seeing the serial sendup on the holodeck again (although that too was fraught with peril since the holodeck was malfunctioning (Chakotay couldn't just turn it off), I have to assume that the safeties are off)

@Scott I completely agree with you (as my previous comment shows)

@Sean Hagins
"Of course, the probability of all the timelines being points of traumatic moments instead of routine ones is a bit low, but the story would be boring otherwise."

JANEWAY: "What’s this?"
CHAKOTAY: "I think Miral Paris is being conceived. . . . I think it’s time we made a discreet exit."