Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 16: Learning Curve [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

After the explosiveness and power of Star Trek: Voyager's debut, I thought following episodes would build on what "Caretaker" (the first episode) promised. But season one was rocky. Sure, it was a bit more solid than the first season of The Next Generation or season one of Deep Space Nine, but it was still tough to watch sometimes. This changed a bit toward the end of the first season with "Learning Curve".

I've always been fascinated by Voyager's premise of a lost starship which truly expounded on Star Trek's premise of "boldy going where no one has gone before". The Original Series never fulfilled that promise and neither did The Next Generation. While both seriess showed plenty of soldiering and diplomatic missions, their was relatively little REAL space exploration. In fact (I've actually checked the numbers on this), Deep Space Nine did more real space exploration than either of it's two predecessors. Voyager comes along and we get space exploration every episode. It's about time. But I digress.

The other fascinating part of Voyager is that this lost starship has a mixed crew of Starfleet and Maquis (outlaws). But up until "Learning Curve" we never are shown the difficulties the Maquis may encounter while serving on a Starflet vessel. Sure, we've seen Commander Chakotay and Lt. Torres in their struggles but both characters were in Starfleet at one time. The adjustment was easier for them than it was for their Maquis allies that never had served in Starfleet. And in this episode, we meet four Maquis that are having tremendous difficulty fitting in. Voyager's chief security/tactical officer, the Vulcan Tuvok, is assigned to train and help these former outlaws adapt to Starfleet life. It's difficult for him to understand their attitude and anger toward Starfleet and the Federation just as it is difficult for the Maquis to understand that order and discipline MUST be maintained in order for the ship to function effectively. In the end, after a few mistakes and mishaps, the Maquis learn and grow as they become better able to adapt to the new status quo and Tuvok learns and grows as a character. He realizes that there are more ways than one way to deal with any given situation.

"Learning Curve" is good and I enjoy viewing this episode time and time again.

I enjoyed this episode for several reasons. First, because it really explored the difficulties experienced by the Maquis crew during their assimilation into the Voyager Starfleet crew. In this way, I felt that the whole premise of the show was made more realistic.

Next, I was happy to see some character development with regard to Tuvok. We had to wait until the last episode of season one to get it, but when we got it, it was some excellent work.

Finally, I felt that this episode settled once and for all the issue of Chakotay's allegiance to Captain Janeway and Starfleet. Indeed, one 3 minute segment of this episode served to speak volumes about Chakotay's commitment to the combined crew under the Starfleet emblem.

In short, I feel that this is "highly recommended" viewing for Voyager season one.

I am a Star Trek Trekkie. I have every video that was made for Star Trek. Needless to say I rate every one 4.5 / 5 , and have every one on DVD and VHS!! They take up the whole wall in my dining room. The DVD's are backup for all the videotapes, and now I have the last ones I didn't have on VHS.

I wish I could get the "Star Trek New Voyages (2004)" videos, and the "Star Trek New Voyages Phase II (2004)" videos.

Dave

I love Star Trek very much.Especially The Voyger series