Customer Reviews

Star Trek - Voyager, Episode 41: Resolutions [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this episode of Voyager and felt that it was a nice change of pace at the end of Season Two of the series.

Throughout the first two seasons of the show we have witnessed the growing affection between Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay, and in this episode, the cards finally get laid on the table! Yeah! I enjoyed that aspect...especially since romance has never been one of Star Trek's strong suits!

I also liked the way this episode leaves the viewer begging for more...for after all, we don't really know what ultimately happens between Janeway and her "Number One"! However, because of the remaining mystery, I must point out that the episode is inappropriately named - for in fact, it didn't *resolve* anything for the viewer - it only made us more interested in seeing this storyline...er...."develop".

Unfortunatly, in future seasons of Voyager, the writers saw fit to bag off on much of what "could have been" with this storyline. Too bad....especially since there was alot of screen chemistry between Robert Beltran and Kate Mulgrew! But future seasons aside, standing alone, I give this episode 5 stars and extra cudos to Beltran and Mulgrew for some great acting! This is as steamy as Start Trek gets, folks!

All you J/C fans, buy this video! It's argueably the best display of affection between the Captain and Commander you will ever find. (except maybe for CODA) In it he admits his feelings for her and she reciprocates....now if only Jeri taylor would come back on the show.

Besides being stuck in the Delta Quadrant and trying to find their way back home, one of the biggest differences between the crew of "Voyager" and the various versions of the "Enterprise" on "Star Trek" was that Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) was female. Add to that how Janeway merged her crew with the Maquis led by Chakotay (Robert Beltran), whom she made her second in command, and you have a rather unique dyanmic at work between the captain and the first officer. On a symbolic level Janeway function as the father figure while Chakotay gets the mother's role, but the key thing is that they are the parental figures on "Voyager" and you know what parents do when all the kids are asleep and they have some time together. So there has always some sexual tension between the two characters, but there duties have always stopped them from pursuing any fleeting thoughts they may have had. All that changes with this episode.

"Star Trek: Voyager," Episode 41, "Resolutions" (Written by Michelle Piller, Aired May 13, 1996) simply comes up with a situation that forces Janeway and Chakotay to rethink their relationship. The pair contract an incurable virus during an away mission that it going to kill them. However, while on the planet they are shielded from its effects. Janeway gives command of "Voyager" over to Tuvok (Tim Russ) and orders him to continue towards home, leaving her and Chakotay behind. As the days pass, Janeway and Chakotay come to terms with facing the future together, no longer Starfleet officers, but a pair of human beings who are attracted to one another.

Meanwhile, back on "Voyager," Tuvok is following Janeway's orders to avoid contact with the Vidiians. However, the rest of the ship's officers want to pursue that option as a way of finding a cure for the captain and the commander. Of course Tuvok wants to be logical about the situation, but he is clearly facing a mutiny from the crew.

"Resolutions" is a first rate episode, creating a situation in which two characters have the freedom to strip away all barriers and deal with each other honestly. It has been clear from the star that Janeway and Chakotay respect each other, and it is fascinating to watch two adults deal with the realities of a future together. The obvious analogue is to Adam and Eve, which raises a whole bunch of interesting questions: do you have children when you are the only humans on a planet? But the chief attraction here is that these are a pair of adults, whose hormones are actually a smaller part of the equation than we normally see in a "Star Trek" love story.

The only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that "Resolutions" did not have as significant an impact on the series as it might have had. This was the second to last episode in Season 2, so it was not like there was time to build on what was established here, but you certainly did not the ramifications of this episode serving as a sub-text for the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay in the future the same way you did between Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" after their mind-sharing experience. That aside, "Resolutions" is a classic "Voyager" episode.

Ok..so this was an ok episode. I really liked the story line except Kathryn Janeway has always been this tough, gung-ho captain and now, she and Chakotay are stuck on "new earth" and she compleatly changes. For example, she can't run and carry a case at the same time. Janeway's character is totally different in this episode. Plus, I don't really think someone conducting scientific expirements and gardening would be marching around in an old dress, especially if you watched The Next Generation and saw what they wore off duty. It just isn't a "logical" choice. In Resolutions, Kathryn starts talking to a monkey...not that talking to animals is a bad thing, but when she does it, it's like she's talking to a small child. Wierd. As a die-hard J/Cer, this episode didn't go the way I wanted it to, but I enjoyed it anyway since we know Star Trek writers will never go for this Captain/Commander relationship.

Janeway and Chakotay have contracted a virus and are planetbound in order to find a cure. They set up housekeeping. Janeway is primarily interested in her job and research. Chakotay is more interested in homesteading. Kim is frustrated because acting captain Tuvok isn't interested in rescuing Janeway and Chakotay. This is one of my favorite episodes. The interplay between the captain and Chakotay is very good. It gives us a chance to know these characters better "away from the office".

POSSIBLE SPOILERS: First off, Kate Mulgrew is not my favorite actress; she has some affected acting habits and gestures that I find annoying. Neither was she my favorite captain on Star Trek (all hail Patrick Stewart). That said, this was one of my favorite and most frustrating episodes. I like the way the story got right into the main theme...the relationship of Chakotay and Capt. Janeway, but I think the writers took the easy way out on this one. Yes it was frustrating to get to the brink of a romantic relationship and then have reality crash down on them. But you knew that was going to happen. I wished they had surprised us by consummating the relationship, gotten really comfortable and THEN have reality crash in on them. The sexual tension that had always been between them on board and that had blossomed on the planet would now have to be suppressed again. Talk about story lines (although I often wonder, in retrospect, whether they DID consummate the relationship on the planet. They got awful cozy awfully fast after that 'table discussion', which was very touching). Oh well...still one of my favorite episodes on Voyager.

Resolutions is one of my favorite Voyager episodes. It may not be action packed, but it helps build the foundation of the friendship between Janeway and Chakotay. This is one of the few chances viewers get to see Janeway and Chakotay outside of a starship and the command structure. The episode also gives an opportunity to learn more about what makes Janeway and Chakotay tick. Although this episode is essentially Janeway/Chakotay interaction, there is also a side plot that gives Kim, Torres, Tuvok, and Kes some more screen time. Good acting on Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran's part kept the episode interesting for me.

Okay, first off, there's not a whole lot of plot here. Janeway and Chakotay are sick (we don't even get to see how they were infected), they have to be left behind, Janeway bids her crew an emotional farewell (oddly, Chakotay doesn't get the chance)--but through the whole episode, we all *know* that the writers aren't going to cut them both from the show, so there's no real suspense. Tuvok's resistance to contacting the Vidiians is an interesting twist, although his change of heart is a little abrupt, but even when the Vidiians attack we get just another "shields down to [fill in the blank] percent" scene which ends as typically as it began. So . . . why three stars? It's nice to see Janeway let her hair down (both literally and figuratively : ), to see the captain and commander get to know each other somewhere other than the bridge, even if it did seem for naught judging by the closing scene. And Robert Beltran is at his best here. I love when he tells Janeway the ancient story--he is a great Trek actor when they give him half a script, and it frustrates me to no end that he's basically been forgotten lately. "J/C" fans will love this episode, and overall, it's worth watching, but not worth analyzing too much.

The Angry Warrior scene is timeless... if you're a J/Cer, you need this.