"Dreadnought" is the 33rd episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 17th episode in the second season. A spaceship, the USS Voyager, lost on the other side of the Galaxy must contend with their situation and alien factions. This episode features Chief Engineer B'Elanna, in a plot involving an old Cardassian weapon that was taken to the Delta Quadrant, and encountered by the Voyager starship. The background for this episode was previously established in other shows involving Maquis, the Cardassians, and Starfleet.
"Dreadnought" | |
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Star Trek: Voyager episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 17 |
Directed by | LeVar Burton |
Written by | Gary Holland |
Featured music | Dennis McCarthy |
Production code | 134 |
Original air date | February 12, 1996[1] |
Guest appearances | |
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The episode was written by Garry Holland and directed by LeVar Burton.[2][3]
Overview
This episode is directed by Levar Burton and written by Garry Holland.[5] Guest stars include Raphael Sbarge, Nancy Hower, Michael Spound, and Dan Kern.[5] Actress Majel Barret is the voice of the computer, with a co-star credit.[5]
The plot the episode involves a Cardassian bomb-spacecraft and the Maquis, with a focus on B'Elanna, the Voyager spaceship's chief engineer.[5]
Burton directed several other episodes in this television series. He had also played Geordi La Forge in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation and reprising that role in the episode "Timeless" which he also directed.[6] Overall Burton would direct 8 episodes of this series.[7] Overall, Burton directed 28 episodes of Star Trek television in this period, including for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise.[3]
Plot
B'Elanna's past catches up to her when Voyager encounters a Cardassian missile speeding through space in the Delta Quadrant.
Years ago, when she and Chakotay were members of the Maquis fighting the Cardassians, the Maquis got hold of a Cardassian missile and on her own initiative she reprogrammed it to strike Cardassian territory. The weapon, Dreadnought, was launched and never heard from again; it was thought to be destroyed. Voyager chances upon it here on the other side of the galaxy, and it is headed directly for a populated planet called Rakosa V. It must be stopped; millions of lives are at stake.
B'Elanna is struck with horror at the thought of her deception wiping out a civilization and she vows to stop Dreadnought at any cost. Meanwhile, the disgruntled Maquis Michael Jonas betrays Voyager′s crew by informing the Kazon of the situation. B'Elanna beams onto Dreadnought′s control deck to try to shut it down. This is a tough task, since she had originally armed the missile with a sophisticated battery of countermeasures to make it invincible. The missile's AI accuses B'Elanna of tampering with Dreadnought and working for the Cardassians. Dreadnought then lies to B'Elanna and she returns to the ship. She realizes she must find a loophole in her own plans in order to persuade the missile that it should stand down from its plan of attack. She engages in a match of wits against herself (Dreadnought was reprogrammed to speak with B'Elanna's voice, reflecting just some of the alterations B'Elanna herself had made to its programming) to stop the threat before it is too late. Captain Janeway is willing to destroy Voyager to save the millions of people on the planet. At the last minute B'Elanna cuts through Dreadnought's power core with a phaser and Voyager beams her out, banking away from the planet as the missile explodes.
Reception
In 2020, SyFy Wire ranked this episode the 13th best episode of Star Trek: Voyager.[8] They commend the television episode as a "compelling and tense hour", remarking that it has "some of the most harrowing scenes in all of Trek history."[8]
In 2021, Tor.com gave in 9 out 10, remarking "Dawson’s dual performance as Torres and the Dreadnought computer is simply amazing".[2]
See also
References
- ^ TV.com. "Star Trek: Voyager: Dreadnought". TV.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
- ^ a b DeCandido, Keith R. A. (2020-05-14). "Star Trek: Voyager Rewatch: "Dreadnought"". Tor.com. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
- ^ a b "Star Trek: Every Actor Who Also Directed Episodes Or Movies". ScreenRant. 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
- ^ "Star Trek: Voyager". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
- ^ a b c d Ruditis, Paul (2003). Star Trek Voyager Companion. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-1751-8.
- ^ Ruditis, Paul (2003). Star Trek Voyager Companion. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743417518.
- ^ "Star Trek: Every Actor Who Also Directed Episodes Or Movies". ScreenRant. 2021-04-09. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ^ a b Pirrello, Phil (2020-01-16). "The 15 greatest Star Trek: Voyager episodes, ranked". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved 2020-01-19.