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Star Trek Voy - Season 1 - Episode 05

Star Trek Voy - 1x05 - Phage

Originally Aired: 1995-2-6

Synopsis:
An alien race harvests Neelix's lungs. [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 5.04

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 27 4 5 4 7 12 17 24 21 7 6

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode is the first to feature the Vidiians.

Remarkable Scenes
- Neelix having taken over Janeway's private dining room and turning it into a galley.
- Neelix attacked by the Vidiian.
- The Doctor coming up with the idea of holographic lungs for Neelix.
- The Doctor demonstrating how real holograms can be by slapping Paris. :)
- The Doctor: "I'm a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator." Count 10 for "I'm a doctor, not a (blah)" style lines, which McCoy was famous for.
- Tuvok: "Captain, may I suggest you consider carefully what you are about to do?" Janeway: "How do you know what I'm about to do?" Tuvok: "I could describe to you in detail the psychological observations I've made about you over the past four years which lead me to conclude you're about to take this ship inside the asteroid. But suffice it to say, I know you quite well." Janeway: "One of these days I'm gonna surprise you Tuvok. But not today."
- Tuvok's phaser locator beam trick.
- The Vidiians insulting the Doctor's "primitive" medical knowledge.

My Review
The first Vidiian episode is certainly interesting. It's easy to develop a certain sympathy for them; it's not their fault what's happening to them, and what else are they supposed to do to survive? This makes the episode far more serious than the similar one TOS: Spock's Brain, and much more enjoyable. Janeway's evaluation of her moral options regarding the Vidiians was quite correct and very well executed. And I like how the Vidiians were willing to help, to try and demonstrate in some small way their good faith. A pleasing episode.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Fenix on 2011-03-25 at 11:00am:
    I'm a bit confused as to why an external donation was needed. Why didn't the Vidiian simply give Neelix one of his own lungs back?
  • From Rick on 2013-03-18 at 10:32pm:
    I think the ethics of this episode are completely wrong. If it was Kirk, it wouldve been off with his head immediately, as it shouldve been.
  • From Inga on 2013-07-14 at 4:02pm:
    Kirk wouldn't murder anyone. He valued life just like any other Star trek captain and it's one of the things I like the most about the franchise.
  • From Rick on 2013-10-09 at 4:12pm:
    Not murder. Punishment for attempted murder. And if not that, then stick them on an abandoned planet like Kahn. Point is, no way Kirk would let a murderer go.

    What if they let them go and just before they leave they grab a phaser and kill a crewman. What them, still send them on their merry way? How many times to they have to try to commit murder before you stop letting them go? For me, 1.

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