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Caretaker (Voyager episode)
Encyclopedia
"Caretaker" is the first episode
of Star Trek: Voyager
. It was originally shown as one double-length episode, but has been split into two parts for repeats. The episode (and the series) features Kate Mulgrew
as Captain Kathryn Janeway
, but footage was shot with this role played by Geneviève Bujold
, who quit before completion.
and ordered to the Badlands to find a missing Maquis
ship. Upon entering the Badlands, Voyager is scanned by a "coherent tetryon beam" before being struck by a displacement wave of some type of "polarized magnetic variation", wreaking havoc on the ship. When the crew recovers they find themselves in the Delta Quadrant, over 70,000 light years from Federation
space. A number of the crew are dead, including the second-in-command, helm officer, and chief engineer; the medical staff are also dead, forcing the crew to rely on the Emergency Holographic Doctor
for aid. However, before they get their bearings, they are brought aboard a nearby array by the "Caretaker". Aboard the array, the crew see through a holographic simulation and discover the Maquis crew, unconscious and undergoing strange medical experiments. Before they can react, the Voyager crew are also subjected to the same experiments. Later, both crews recover consciousness and find they are each missing one crew member; Harry Kim
from Voyager, and the Maquis B'Elanna Torres
. Further attempts to negotiate with the Caretaker are fruitless as he insists there's no time for such talk. Captain Janeway
offers to work with the Maquis leader Chakotay
to unite their crews to find their missing persons and return to the Alpha Quadrant.
The two ships follow pulses of energy sent from the array to a nearby arid planet. En route, they encounter Neelix
, a space trader who is eager to help them out in exchange for helping to rescue his companion, the Ocampa
Kes
, from the violent Kazon
which inhabit the planet's surface. Kes explains that her people live in a subterrainian complex and are cared for by the Caretaker who supplies them with energy, with the only expectation in turn that they care for the beings that he sends to them, each one infected with a strange disease that appears incurable. As the crews determine how to rescue Kim and Torres, the Caretaker moves the array closer to the planet and begins firing more lethal bursts of energy. Tuvok
deduces that the Caretaker is dying, and is making sure the Ocampa are kept safe by destroying the only means of access into the underground complex. With time running short, a combined away-team is able to penetrate the shields protecting the complex and rescue Kim and Torres.
The crews again attempt to engage the Caretaker to help return them to the Alpha Quadrant. The Caretaker reveals that he was part of an alien race whose technology had long ago accidentally caused the rainfall cycle on the Ocampa planet to become disrupted and leaving it arid, due to the destruction of that particular M-class planet's atmospheric "nucleogenics". To make up for the error, he and another of his race stayed behind to care for the Ocampa. His companion having long moved on, the Caretaker has used the Array to seek species from distant galactic sectors with the potential to help him reproduce and maintain the array; the strange disease that Kim and Torres had was a result of that test. The Caretaker explains that with his impending death, he has started the self-destruct sequence on the array to prevent the technology from falling into the hands of the Kazon. As the Caretaker dies, the ships are attacked by a Kazon fleet. Janeway and Chakotay coordinate the counterattack with both Voyager and the Maquis ship to protect the array; Chakotay sacrifices his vessel to destroy one of the Kazon ships, but the remains strike the array and disable the self-destruct sequence. Janeway opts to respect the Caretaker's wishes and orders the destruction of the array despite it being their only chance at returning home. With the array destroyed, the Kazon fleet disengages from battle.
As Voyager starts on a 75-year journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, Janeway integrates the Maquis crew into the Starfleet crew, with Chakotay as her First Officer, and accepts Neelix and Kes' offer to remain on board as a guide to the local area of space.
was the first actress chosen to play Captain Nicole Janeway and several scenes were filmed with her. She was later replaced with Kate Mulgrew
as Captain Kathryn Janeway. Several pieces of Bujold’s filmed scenes can be found in the Season One DVD extras.
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
of Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
. It was originally shown as one double-length episode, but has been split into two parts for repeats. The episode (and the series) features Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew
Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
as Captain Kathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
, but footage was shot with this role played by Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
, who quit before completion.
Plot
The USS Voyager is launched from Deep Space NineDeep Space Nine (space station)
Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...
and ordered to the Badlands to find a missing Maquis
Maquis (Star Trek)
In the American Star Trek science-fiction franchise, the Maquis are a 24th Century paramilitary organization or terrorist group first introduced in the 1994 episode "The Maquis" of the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who subsequently also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and...
ship. Upon entering the Badlands, Voyager is scanned by a "coherent tetryon beam" before being struck by a displacement wave of some type of "polarized magnetic variation", wreaking havoc on the ship. When the crew recovers they find themselves in the Delta Quadrant, over 70,000 light years from Federation
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
space. A number of the crew are dead, including the second-in-command, helm officer, and chief engineer; the medical staff are also dead, forcing the crew to rely on the Emergency Holographic Doctor
Doctor (Star Trek)
The Doctor, an Emergency Medical Hologram Mark I , is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by actor Robert Picardo...
for aid. However, before they get their bearings, they are brought aboard a nearby array by the "Caretaker". Aboard the array, the crew see through a holographic simulation and discover the Maquis crew, unconscious and undergoing strange medical experiments. Before they can react, the Voyager crew are also subjected to the same experiments. Later, both crews recover consciousness and find they are each missing one crew member; Harry Kim
Harry Kim (Star Trek)
Ensign Harry S. L. Kim, played by Garrett Wang, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He serves as the USS Voyagers operations officer.-Depiction:...
from Voyager, and the Maquis B'Elanna Torres
B'Elanna Torres
B'Elanna Torres is a main character in Star Trek: Voyager played by Roxann Dawson. She is portrayed as a half-human half-Klingon born in 2349 on the Federation colony Kessik IV. Torres joined the Maquis in 2370 and was serving on the Val Jean when brought to the Delta Quadrant...
. Further attempts to negotiate with the Caretaker are fruitless as he insists there's no time for such talk. Captain Janeway
Kathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
offers to work with the Maquis leader Chakotay
Chakotay
Chakotay , played by Robert Beltran, is a character in Star Trek: Voyager. He is the First Officer of the USS Voyager.-Character biography:...
to unite their crews to find their missing persons and return to the Alpha Quadrant.
The two ships follow pulses of energy sent from the array to a nearby arid planet. En route, they encounter Neelix
Neelix
Mr. Neelix is a fictional character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He is played by actor Ethan Phillips.-Fictional Biography:Mr. Neelix is a Talaxian originally from Rinax, a moon of the planet Talax, in the Delta quadrant, although his great-grandfather was Mylean. His entire family...
, a space trader who is eager to help them out in exchange for helping to rescue his companion, the Ocampa
Ocampa
Ocampa is the fictional home planet of the Ocampa, a fictional race of elf-like humanoids in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager....
Kes
Kes (Star Trek)
Kes is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager, played by Jennifer Lien.She was a regular for the first three seasons, leaving the show in the season four episode "The Gift". She made one guest appearance two seasons later....
, from the violent Kazon
Kazon
In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Kazon are a Delta Quadrant race. The Kazon are technologically inferior to the United Federation of Planets as it exists in the twenty-fourth century...
which inhabit the planet's surface. Kes explains that her people live in a subterrainian complex and are cared for by the Caretaker who supplies them with energy, with the only expectation in turn that they care for the beings that he sends to them, each one infected with a strange disease that appears incurable. As the crews determine how to rescue Kim and Torres, the Caretaker moves the array closer to the planet and begins firing more lethal bursts of energy. Tuvok
Tuvok
Tuvok is one of the main characters on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's chief of security and its chief tactical officer. Tim Russ portrayed Tuvok throughout the show's run, from 1995 to 2001....
deduces that the Caretaker is dying, and is making sure the Ocampa are kept safe by destroying the only means of access into the underground complex. With time running short, a combined away-team is able to penetrate the shields protecting the complex and rescue Kim and Torres.
The crews again attempt to engage the Caretaker to help return them to the Alpha Quadrant. The Caretaker reveals that he was part of an alien race whose technology had long ago accidentally caused the rainfall cycle on the Ocampa planet to become disrupted and leaving it arid, due to the destruction of that particular M-class planet's atmospheric "nucleogenics". To make up for the error, he and another of his race stayed behind to care for the Ocampa. His companion having long moved on, the Caretaker has used the Array to seek species from distant galactic sectors with the potential to help him reproduce and maintain the array; the strange disease that Kim and Torres had was a result of that test. The Caretaker explains that with his impending death, he has started the self-destruct sequence on the array to prevent the technology from falling into the hands of the Kazon. As the Caretaker dies, the ships are attacked by a Kazon fleet. Janeway and Chakotay coordinate the counterattack with both Voyager and the Maquis ship to protect the array; Chakotay sacrifices his vessel to destroy one of the Kazon ships, but the remains strike the array and disable the self-destruct sequence. Janeway opts to respect the Caretaker's wishes and orders the destruction of the array despite it being their only chance at returning home. With the array destroyed, the Kazon fleet disengages from battle.
As Voyager starts on a 75-year journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, Janeway integrates the Maquis crew into the Starfleet crew, with Chakotay as her First Officer, and accepts Neelix and Kes' offer to remain on board as a guide to the local area of space.
Production
Geneviève BujoldGeneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
was the first actress chosen to play Captain Nicole Janeway and several scenes were filmed with her. She was later replaced with Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew
Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
as Captain Kathryn Janeway. Several pieces of Bujold’s filmed scenes can be found in the Season One DVD extras.