25 Essential episodes to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: Voyager
By Louis Skye
S7E5: Critical Care
Voyager is nothing if not painfully relevant to our current messy world. Case in point, “Critical Care”. The Doctor is abducted by a ship where he is put in charge of caring for patients.
The only problem? The amount of care patients receive depends on their status in society. If that isn’t a critique of the current healthcare system, I don’t know what is.
“Critical Care” is another episode that doesn’t show the best side of the Voyager crew—but again, they do terrible things for the best reasons, and they are chastened by their experience.
Every time I watch “Critical Care”, I wonder at the prescience of the Voyager writers.
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S7E8: Nightingale
I feel bad for not including more Harry Kim episodes on this list, but it’s so hard to choose just 25! However, “Nightingale” is a seminal Harry episode that sets up his future beyond Voyager.
An alien medical transport requires assistance returning home. But with their captain having been killed, Harry is volunteered to command their ship. Except, there’s something not quite right with this ship or the crew. Will Harry’s first command go well?
Had Voyager not been lost in the Delta Quadrant, Harry would have definitely risen up the ranks in a quick time. But Voyager has set roles and no room for promotion so Harry stays an Ensign way longer than he should have.
“Nightingale” shows us that despite his self-belief, Harry has some ways to go before being captain—however, the experience does him a world of good, and by the end of the episode, we all know that he is destined for great things once Voyager gets home.