Timeless (Star Trek: Voyager)
"Timeless" | |
---|---|
Star Trek: Voyager episode | |
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 6 |
Directed by | LeVar Burton |
Story by | Rick Berman Brannon Braga Joe Menosky |
Teleplay by | Brannon Braga Joe Menosky |
Featured music | Dennis McCarthy |
Production code | 201 |
Original air date | November 18, 1998 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Timeless" is the sixth episode of the
The episode was directed by LeVar Burton, who was also featured in a cameo appearance as his Star Trek: The Next Generation character Geordi La Forge.
The episode also marks an important turning point among the series when Janeway notes in her personal log the changing perspective of their journey home: it's no longer "if" the crew will ever return to Earth, but "when." The episode begins with a "
"Timeless" was the 100th episode of Star Trek: Voyager to be broadcast, which is a number noteworthy in television as it is the threshold for syndication viability.[1]
Plot
Fifteen years in the future,
As the Doctor and Kim work, they are pursued by USS Challenger, commanded by Captain
The Doctor successfully discovers the correct Borg time index, and Kim sends the information, but this ultimately has no effect on the slipstream, and Voyager is still lost. Kim realizes the changes have not worked and blames himself for destroying Voyager twice. The Doctor convinces him to try again, but with a less optimal solution: to have the changes collapse the slipstream, keeping Voyager stranded in the Delta Quadrant but with all hands alive. As the Challenger opens fire on the Delta Flyer, an overload starts to build in the warp matrix. Kim successfully sends out the signal before the Delta Flyer's warp core breaches.
In the present, Voyager once again enters the slipstream, losing communications with the Delta Flyer. Seven receives the new calculations, and Janeway orders her to implement them. As planned, this causes the slipstream to fail, leaving Voyager and its crew safely in normal space, unharmed, and nearly ten years closer to home. Janeway orders the crew to dismantle the slipstream technology, believing it not yet ready for safe usage. She later provides Kim with an encoded message found in the signal telemetry: a recording that the future Kim had sent to his past self, giving him much-needed confidence in his abilities.
Notes
In a future episode, "
Garrett Wang said: "Brannon Braga told me that 'Timeless' was to serve as Voyager's 'City on the Edge of Forever'."[2]
Captain LaForge is wearing the same movie grey-shoulder uniform from the last three TNG movies and the later seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but with the future combadge from "All Good Things" and "The Visitor" in place of the 2370s combadge.
Reception
In 2013, IGN ranked "Timeless" the 25th best episode of all Star Trek television, calling it a "compelling struggle" centered on Harry Kim and with a cameo by Geordi La Forge.[3]
In 2014, Charlie Jane Anders at io9 ranked "Timeless" as the 93rd best episode of Star Trek in their list of the top 100 Star Trek episodes.[4]
In 2016,
The appearance of a Galaxy-class (e.g. like the
Den of Geek rated "Timeless" the third best episode of Star Trek: Voyager in 2012,[7] and in 2015, suggested "Timeless" for a binge-watching guide that focused on Star Trek: Voyager episodes featuring time travel.[9]
One
In 2017,
In 2018, CBR ranked this one of the top twenty time travel themed episodes of all Star Trek series.[13]
In July 2019, a reviewer for Screen Rant ranked "Timeless" as one of the top five episodes of the series, describing Burton's cameo as "heartbreaking and uplifting" and adding that it explored Harry Kim's survivor guilt.[14] They also praised the episode's special effects and overall story.[14]
In 2020, Screen Rant said this was the sixth best episode of Star Trek: Voyager, based on an IMDb rating of 8.8 out of ten.[15] In 2021, they also said this is one of the best episodes for Harry Kim.[16]
Releases
On November 9, 2004, this episode was released as part of the season 5 DVD box set of Star Trek: Voyager.[17] The box set includes 7 DVD optical discs with all the episodes in season 5 with some extra features, and episodes have a Dolby 5.1 Digital Audio track.[17]
On April 25, 2001, this episode was released on LaserDisc in Japan, as part of the half-season collection, 5th Season vol.1 .[18] This included episodes from "Night" to "Bliss" on seven double sided 12 inch optical discs, with English and Japanese audio tracks for the episodes.[18]
See also
- Non Sequitur (Star Trek: Voyager) (Harry experiences an alternate reality in this episode)
References
- ^ a b "Star Trek: Voyager – Timeless (Review)". 7 July 2017.
- ^ @GarrettRWang (May 31, 2013). "'Timeless' was to serve as Voyager's 'City on the Edge of Forever'" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Star Trek: The Top 25 Episodes - IGN, 20 May 2013, retrieved 2021-04-08
- ^ Anders, Charlie Jane (2014-10-02). "The Top 100 Star Trek Episodes Of All Time!". io9. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- ^ ""Timeless" - 'Star Trek: Voyager' — The 15 Greatest Episodes". The Hollywood Reporter. 23 September 2016.
- ^ Mitchell, Nigel. "Must-Watch Episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager"". LiveAbout.
- ^ a b "Top 10 Star Trek: Voyager episodes". Den of Geek. 3 October 2012.
- ^ McMillan, Graeme (27 May 2015). "WIRED Binge-Watching Guide: Star Trek: Voyager". Wired.
- ^ "Star Trek Voyager: an episode roadmap". Den of Geek.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Granshaw, Lisa (2016-11-15). "Ranking the 15 best Star Trek time travel episodes". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
- ^ Pirello, Phil (2020-01-16). "The 15 greatest Star Trek: Voyager episodes, ranked". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
- ^ "A Beginner's Guide to the Star Trek Universe". Vulture. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ "Star Trek: Ranking the 20 Best Time-Travel Episodes". CBR. 2018-11-30. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
- ^ a b Ambrose, Kristy (2019-07-11). "Star Trek: The 5 Best Episodes Of Voyager (& The 5 Worst)". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "Star Trek: Voyager: Top Rated Episodes, According To IMDb". ScreenRant. 2020-04-19. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
- ^ "Star Trek: All 4 Times Harry Kim Died (& How)". ScreenRant. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
- ^ a b "DVD Talk". www.dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
- ^ a b "LaserDisc Database - Star Trek Voyager: 5th Season vol.1 [PILF-2458]". www.lddb.com. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
External links
- "Timeless" at IMDb
- "Timeless" at Memory Alpha
- "Timeless" at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)