“Phage” 30th-anniversary reflections

Chakotay, Kim, and Neelix beam into caves on a rogue planetoid to search for dilithium; but they come back empty-handed. Not only do they have no dilithium, Neelix left something even more important behind: his lungs. With these vital organs now in the possession of mysterious aliens, the ship’s new self-proclaimed chef will have to postpone the opening of his kitchen and stay in sickbay, where the Doctor has fitted him with holographic lungs. As the crew search for the aliens and try to retrieve Neelix’s organs, Janeway is confronted with an unexpected moral dilemma. After being stalked by Vidiians, you may never listen to that famous song by The Police the same way again.

In this episode of To The Journey, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing continue our 30th-anniversary retrospective that will take you through all of Star Trek: Voyager, one episode at a time. In this installment, we discuss “Phage” and the introduction of a fascinating alien race in a story that hits right at the heart of Star Trek.

Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
A Species with Depth (00:02:52)
A Neelix Problem? (00:08:34)
Cooking Up Storytelling (00:17:01)
Ripe for Serialization? (00:21:07)
Real-Life Science (00:25:30)
Wrath and Compassion (00:28:05)
The Doctor and AI Evolution (00:36:02)
Kes Finds Purpose (00:42:44)
Final Thoughts and Ratings (00:44:26)
Closing (00:48:22)

Hosts
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)