Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 50: Future's End Part I (1995)

Voyager's turn to do the time warp, circa 1996

"Star Trek: Voyager," Episode 50, "Future's End, Part I) (Written by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky, Aired November 6, 1996) is a two-part time travel episode in which "Voyager" appears to be the problem rather than the solution to this particular paradox. "Voyager" is attacked by the Federation Timeship "Aeon," commanded by Captain Braxton (Allan Royal), who announces that he is from the 29th-century. The "Aeon" has come through a spatial rift to destroy "Voyager" because, he claims, Captain Janeway's ship has (will) cause a temporal explosion that will destroy Earth's solar system. Despite the five centuries worth of technological advances of its opponent, "Voyager" is able to defends itself and inflict some damage on the "Aeon," only to have both vessels get caught in the rift. "Voyager" ends up orbiting Earth in 1996, which means Janeway and her crew are finally back in the Alpha Quadrant, only four centuries earlier than when they left.

The "Voyager" crew now has a series of problems. First, they have to find the "Aeon," which is the only way the ship and crew are going to get back to the correct century. Second, they are picking up some non-20th century subspace readings in Los Angeles, so an Away Team is sent to investigate. Finally, astronomer Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman) at Griffith Observatory is picking up the warp emissions from "Voyager," which she reports to her boss, computer guru Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr.), who is very interested in the report. No wonder this has to be a two-parter; there is no way to solve all these problems in this first episode, especially when Rain sends a greeting to "Voyager" and Paris and Tuvok come to visit, Captain Braxton is found as a homeless man who came through the rift in 1967 and crashed in the desert, and Starling ended up with the wrecked timeship. By the end of this episode he ends up with something else and there is an interesting story on the news about a spaceship over L.A.

I think the execution is a little bit short of the ambition with "Future's End, Part I," but I really admire the way they pour it on in this one. You will have to try and diagram the time travel problems in this one, because what you think you thought you heard at the start of the episode gets even more complicated by the ending. The question now is whether the payoff is going to be as good as the set up and whether or not they really can wrap this all up in Part II. September 26, 2003

Destruction of the Solar System, is imminent.

I have my own story about this, but it all happens to the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-F.

Synopsis:

The Voyager crew visits late 20th-century Los Angeles to prevent a timeship from destroying the Earth's solar system in the 29th century.

The U.S.S. Voyager is fired upon by a 29th-century Federation Timeship commanded by Captain Braxton, who has time-traveled through a spatial rift to destroy Janeway's ship. Braxton claims that Voyager is responsible for a temporal explosion that will obliterate Earth's solar system in his era. Although equipped with only 24th-century technology, the crew manages to deflect Braxton's blasts and damage his ship, but then both the timeship and Voyager get sucked through the rift. The starship winds up in orbit around Earth in 1996.

Knowing Braxton's ship holds the key to returning to their own era, the crew begins searching for it, and an Away Team beams down to Los Angeles to investigate subspace readings that seem out of place in the 20th century. Meanwhile, at Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood Hills, astronomer Rain Robinson picks up Voyager's warp emission on her instruments and reports the finding to computer mogul Henry Starling, who funds her lab. Against Starling's instructions, Rain transmits a greeting to Voyager, and the crew tracks her to the Observatory. While Paris and Tuvok head for the site, Chakotay and Janeway identify a homeless man as Captain Braxton. He explains that he emerged from the time rift in 1967 and crash-landed in the desert, where a young Henry Starling found the timeship and utilized its technology to start a high-tech empire. Starling is now planning to use Braxton's vessel to time travel, and, according to Braxton, that will cause the explosion in the future.

Fearing that Rain is a security risk, Starling sends a henchman to kill her. But Paris and Tuvok spirit her away before she can be harmed. When Rain questions what they're up to, Paris tells her that they're secret agents tracking a Soviet KGB spy operation. She sees through his story, though, because the Soviet Union and the KGB no longer exist.

Chakotay and Janeway sneak into Starling's office, where they discover Braxton's timeship just as Starling walks in and confronts them. Janeway warns Starling not to launch the ship, explaining it will unleash disaster. Undaunted, Starling tries to kill Chakotay and Janeway, but they're transported to Voyager in the nick of time. They try to beam up the timeship, but Starling uses their transporter beam to access Voyager's computer and study its systems. Minutes later, the wily Starling steals the Doctor's program from Sickbay. To complicate things even further, Voyager's presence is disclosed on the evening news! July 13, 2003

About As Good As VOYAGER Gets

Let's face it, Trek-enthusiasts: Star Trek VOYAGER didn't hit a lot of high notes, but, when it did, it was worth repeat viewing. FUTURE'S END, parts 1 and 2, are told briskly, with a bit of whimsy, and with passable special effects. Some of the dialogue turned a bit hokey, and the viewer REALLY had to suspend disbelief in order to accept that a 20th century Bill-Gates-wannabe could outsmart the Starfleet-savvy-Voyager crew, but FUTURE'S END delivered some admirable laughs and nice moments for each member of the crew. Predictably, the crew sets things right with the universe again. However, when the shuttlecraft crash lands in the middle of militia territory near the conclusion of this two-parter, just be sure to hit the fast forward button on your VCR and let bygones be bygones. January 20, 2002

Not the usual "Lameager" Lameness....

It was neat to see the ship (I always liked the ship design) flying high over LA at night. That was cool. The plot was even pretty decent, for a "Lameager" episode, but the often-hammy performances by Kate Mulgrew (my personal LAST choice for the captain's role) and her slap-happy bunch made my teeth hurt at times. January 18, 2001

SoCal's turn for a TREK adventure!

During STAR TREK's 35 year history, the city of San Francisco has been the scene of several time travel sagas for the officers of Starfleet: James T. Kirk and his crew (STAR TREK: THE VOYAGE HOME, where he asves the whales in the mid-1980's), Jean-Luc Picard and his officers (TNG: "Time's Arrow," 14 years before the 1906 quake), Benjiman Sisko and his gang (DS9: "Past Tense"---he and Bashair are trapped in a very classist mid-21st century where Sisko's forced to impersonate an African-American civil rights martyr). This time it's the turn of the Golden State's OTHER principal city to star in an ST blast from the past as Captain Kathryn Janeway and the crew of the good ship Voyager, after being attacked by a 29th century Federation ship, are flung back to the 20th century, as well as the hostile ship. Janeway traces the signal of that ship to 1997 Los Angeles and she, Chakotay, Paris and Tuvok beam down into the smoggy, sprawling City Of Angels. Trouble is, their attacking ship crashed in the Califorina desert 3 decades before, and some guy found the wreckage and used the Starfleet tech therein to become the TREK Universe's answer to Bill Gates. December 29, 2000

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