“Bliss”
Written by Bill Prady and Robert J. Doherty
Directed by Cliff Bole
Season 5, Episode 14
Production episode 209
Original air date: February 10, 1999
Stardate: 52542.3
Captain’s log. A small one-person ship, commanded by an alien named Qatai, flies straight into a maelstrom, with Qatai taunting the maelstrom.
Tuvok and Kim report that sensors have picked up a wormhole, one that leads directly to Sector 001. Janeway is skeptical to say the least, but she orders a probe sent in.
“Gravity”
Written by Jimmy Diggs and Nick Sagan & Bryan Fuller
Directed by Terry Windell
Season 5, Episode 13
Production episode 205
Original air date: February 3, 1999
Stardate: 52438.9
Captain’s log. We flash back to Tuvok’s adolescence on Vulcan, where we find out that he developed a crush on an alien woman at his school, and was therefore kicked out of school and sent by his parents to see a Vulcan Master to train him in how to master his emotions.
“Bride of Chaotica!”
Written by Bryan Fuller & Michael Taylor
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Season 5, Episode 12
Production episode 207
Original air date: January 27, 1999
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Paris and Kim are playing Captain Proton on the holodeck, starting up a new chapter called “Bride of Chaotica!” They have to rescue Constance Goodheart from Doctor Chaotica’s clutches. However, there’s a subspace distortion in the program.
[My defeat is but a temporary setback! I shall return to seek my revenge!]
“Latent Image”
Written by Eileen Connors and Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
Directed by Mike Vejar
Season 5, Episode 11
Production episode 206
Original air date: January 20, 1999
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. It’s time for the EMH to perform his annual physicals on the crew. This time around, he’s using his portable holoimager to take full visual images of the crew for diagnostic purposes.
Kim wants to see his holoimage, which is generated from the inside out, starting with organs, then skeleton, then skin and clothes. The EMH is stunned to see evidence of a surgical procedure on Kim—a procedure that the EMH himself developed, but which there’s no record of, which the EMH has no memory of performing, and which Kim says he has no recollection of, either.
“Counterpoint”
Written by Michael Taylor
Directed by Les Landau
Season 5, Episode 10
Production episode 204
Original air date: December 16, 1998
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Voyager is flying through a large region of space controlled by the Devore. Their space is too massive to fly around in order to get home, so Janeway is going through, which means being subject to regular inspections. Telepathy is outlawed by the Devore, so they are searching for rogue telepaths.
[Tchaikovsky—of all the selections in your database, this remains my favorite.]
“Thirty Days”
Written by Scott Miller and Kenneth Biller
Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Season 5, Episode 9
Production episode 202
Original air date: December 9, 1998
Stardate: 52179.4
Captain’s log. We open with Janeway demoting Paris to ensign and consigning him to the brig for thirty days. Security escorts him there. When they enter the turbolift, it’s Paris who says “Brig,” because the security guards are played by extras and giving them dialogue means having to pay them more.
“Nothing Human”
Written by Jeri Taylor
Directed by David Livingston
Season 5, Episode 8
Production episode 200
Original air date: December 2, 1998
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Following a seemingly endless slideshow presentation by the EMH, Voyager is buffeted by an energy wave that does no damage to the ship, but has an audio component. They can’t translate it, but think it might be a distress call.
“Infinite Regress”
Written by Robert J. Doherty and Jimmy Diggs
Directed by David Livingston
Season 5, Episode 7
Production episode 203
Original air date: November 25, 1998
Stardate: 52356.2
Captain’s log. Seven is in the midst of her regeneration cycle when she starts to hear tons of voices. She leaves her alcove, and stalks through the corridors, finally arriving in the mess hall, where she starts ravenously and sloppily eating some meat. Her reflection shows a Klingon male.
[Naomi Wildman, subunit of Samantha Wildman—state your intentions!]
“Timeless”
Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
Directed by LeVar Burton
Season 5, Episode 6
Production episode 200
Original air date: November 18, 1998
Stardate: 52143.6
Captain’s log. It’s 2390, and two people beam down to an ice-covered planet, covered in protective gear. They find Voyager buried under a sheet of ice. We soon learn that the two people are Chakotay and Kim, both fifteen years older.
[My advice in making sense of temporal paradoxes is simple: don’t even try.]
The first (of many) Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings on Disney+, WandaVision has, over the course of its first four episodes, mined several different histories: the history of sitcoms in America, the comics histories of its various characters, and the history of the MCU. Let’s dig into those histories, and how the show’s writers are using them to build their own distinct versions of the characters…
“Once Upon a Time”
Written by Michael Taylor
Directed by John Kretchmer
Season 5, Episode 5
Production episode 199
Original air date: November 11, 1998
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Naomi Wildman is on the holodeck, doing a Flotter and Trevis program, specifically the one where Flotter and Trevis first meet and Flotter (a creature of water) realizes that Trevis (a tree creature) isn’t a monster.
“In the Flesh”
Written by Nick Sagan
Directed by David Livingston
Season 5, Episode 4
Production episode 198
Original air date: November 4, 1998
Stardate: 52136.4
Captain’s log. We open at what appears to be Starfleet Headquarters, though everyone is back in the old uniforms. Admiral Bullock is giving out assignments, and Chakotay is taking holographic images.
“Extreme Risk”
Written by Kenneth Biller
Directed by Cliff Bole
Season 5, Episode 3
Production episode 197
Original air date: October 28, 1998
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Torres is doing orbital skydiving on the holodeck, albeit with the safeties disengaged. In mid-free-fall, she’s summoned to engineering, but she fobs off her duties onto Seven, to the latter’s surprise.
Voyager is launching their fancy-shmancy new multispatial probe, incorporating Borg design elements Seven has provided. However, while it’s gathering data, a Malon freighter snags it in a tractor beam. Tuvok is able to command the probe to send a polaron burst to shake off the tractor beam, at least, but the Malon refuse to respond to hails, and Voyager is two hours away. Kim is able to direct the probe into a gas giant; the Malon follow and are destroyed—the Borg shielding keeps the probe safe.
“Drone”
Written by Bryan Fuller and Harry Doc Kloor and Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
Directed by Les Landau
Season 5, Episode 2
Production episode 196
Original air date: October 21, 1998
Stardate: unknown
Captain’s log. Seven, the EMH, Torres, and Paris are taking a type-2 shuttle to watch a proto-nebula form. It’s a rare opportunity for study of a nifty natural phenomenon. However, the nebula damages the shuttlecraft, and the team is beamed back.
[How many Borg hitchhikers are we gonna pick up on this ship?]
“Night”
Written by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
Directed by David Livingston
Season 5, Episode 1
Production episode 195
Original air date: October 14, 1998
Stardate: 52081.2
Captain’s log. Paris and Kim are acting out a Captain Proton adventure on the holodeck, which is interrupted by the EMH, who declares that they’ve gone over their allotted time, which leads to a fight between Paris and the doctor for time, and then a power surge on the holodeck.
[“What if I told you I’m not leaving until you join me?” “I’d say have a seat—it’ll be a while.”]
