Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 51: Future's End Part II (1995)

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

There is a recap of Part I of "Future's End" at the start of "Star Trek: Voyager," Episode 51, "Future's End Part II" (Written by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky, Aired: November 13, 1996), but it is really hard to try and summarize everything that happened. Fortunately there is no reason for anybody to watch Part II without watching Part I. Suffice it to say that the "Voyager" crew is back in the 20th-century where computer mogul Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr.) has come into possession of a timeship from the future future (in other words from the 29th century, which is the future for the "Voyager" crew as well). This will make billions for Starling and, incidentally, destroy the time line and life as we know it in the Star Trek universe.

Starling has also downloaded the EMH into his computer and has provided the Doctor (Robert Picardo) with a 29th-century portable holo-emitter that allows him to appear in places not equipped with holographic emitters. Starling wants to travel to the future to steal more advanced technology. Of course, Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew are trying to get both the Doctor and the timeship back, at which point returning to their own time would be a really good idea. The convoluted set up for this episode was pretty good, but I think it is pretty much impossible to come up with a payoff that is equal to the task. However, I do find the idea of a Temporal Prime Directive to be a nice ironic touch and the episode will have some long term significant consequences for one of the "Voyager" crew. September 30, 2003

Not bad for a Voyager episode...

This show was in trouble from the very first episode and it never quite got over its slump. Hammy or bad acting and goofy plots often make the show a painful viewing experience. Here is one example of a fairly good Voyager episode.

Time travel stories seem to be one of the standard plot lines in Voyager (along with those abysmal holodeck-themed stories) but this is one of the better ones, if not the best one. The big negative is that "Future's End" has a Gilligan's Island style ending; where they wind up stuck back in the Delta quandrant for no GOOD reason.

I should have expected that ending, it is "Lameager" after all. January 18, 2001

Voyager returns to Earth!

Janeway and crew start where they left off in episode one, desperately trying to find a 29th Century timeship that has forced Voyager to be transported to Earth in the late 20th Century. It's great to see the Voyager crew running around on Earth, reminding me a lot of the Star Trek IV movie. The plot has plenty of twists in it and runs a lot faster then the first episode.

There are some great scenes with Tuvok trying to pretend to be human and a good solid ending where everything turns out fine but Voyager is STILL in the Delta Quadrant after all is said and done. August 22, 2000

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