Thirty years ago today , Star Trek : Voyagerbegan its trip-up to the Delta Quadrant with thedebut of its pilot , “ Caretaker . ” Famously , Voyager‘s production get off to a rocky start : it lost its already innovational distaff lead , Geneviève Bujold , just days into filming . But Bujold ’s loss wasStar Trek‘s gain with thearrival of Kate Mulgrewto slide intoVoyager‘s captain chair , coffee mug in hand – and what made her perfect forStar Trekwas clear from the get - go .
There are band of weird and wonderful things in “ Caretaker . ” There are the big , bold thought , like stranding the ship tens of G of lightyears from Federation blank , or how the devastation of its crowd during the initial accident ask Janeway ’s Starfleet officers brush shoulders with new insurgent allies from the Maquis they were trailing . There ’s small unity , like how utterly fabulous Roxann Dawson ’s B’Ellana Torres hair is before it ’s sadly straightened out the second she becomes part of Starfleet again ( a offence ! ) , or the feeling on Kate Mulgrew ’s fount when she has to oppose to the line “ You have n’t be until you ’ve try a man ’s angla’bosque ” ( 30 years on and we ’ve never learned what angla’bosque was , so we must clearly be living empty animation ) .
Much of the delight in what progress to “ Caretaker ” work as a pilot light iscentered around Mulgrew . Her contiguous grasp of who Janeway is — and how the episode itself never lowers itself to make do over the idea of having a distaff captain result the show — givesVoyagera impulse and energy that arguably the show itself did n’t always manage to capitalize on over the next seven seasons . She is in some second a complete hard - ass , in others a caring leader ; we see her pushed and pulled through this bizarro scenario she ’s been reach in a workaday mission turning into a fight for her and her bunch ’s very biography in the face of unknowable king , and facing it with this perpetually simmering sense of justice and compassion . It ’s almost absurd to reckon that that Mulgrew was not there from the start : it feels like Janeway was made for her . And yet in spite of all this , one line read of hers in “ Caretaker ” has been burned into my mind ever since I first saw it .
© Paramount
It ’s a all preposterous one , one of many amongVoyager‘s notable quotables . The scene : Voyagerhas just play the Talaxian trader Neelix , who offers to aid act as guidebook to the unknown newfangled region they find themselves in rally for supplies of water . But first , he lead them to a earthly concern where the crew think several abducted Maquis and Starfleet officers have been taken to , only for Neelix to chop-chop admit that he ’s lead them astray : they ’re serve him make a deal with a local specie , the Kazon . Or more specifically , one of their subsects , the Kazon - Ogla .
“ The Kazon - Ogla , ” Janeway demand , scrunching her nerve against the undimmed light of the desert world they ’ve beamed down to . “ Who are the Kazon - Ogla ! ? ”
It ’s not a funny line . It ’s a totally normal line . It ’s a completely normal chemical reaction to Janeway agnise Neelix has gamed them . But Mulgrew sell this nonsensical incredulity in the moment in such a way that I can not help but express joy every time I ’ve watched “ Caretaker ” over my lifespan as aTrekfan . The exasperation , the confusion , the upgrade and fall in her voice as she accentuates “ Kazon - Ogla . ” She ’s not making a mockery of the line or at having to spout exotic names and technobabble , though ; what nails it is the complete and utter earnestness behind it all , drip from every syllable of the sentence . The Kazon - Ogla ? Whoare the Kazon - Ogla!I ca n’t excuse why it talk to me in such a particular way , beyond Mulgrew ’s strong belief as she says it . In that moment , the Kazon - Ogla , whoever they are , are the realest thing in the public to her , and she makes you believe it , no matter how peculiar it seems to be .
Janeway and the rest period of the crew would go on to havemany iconic minute , and many sweeping , devout , comic , braw , inspired speeches and exchanges acrossVoyager‘s seven season . But of all the moments inVoyagerbeyond it , of all the moments I ’ve learn now having watchedStar Trekfor the best part of my life , it ’s this one that just cringe into my head word at random like a mental tic — one that I ’m still thinking , and laughing about , 30 year after .
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Kate MulgrewStar TrekStar Trek : Voyager
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