VOY Season 3

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

This article is written
from the Real World
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1 Episodes
2 Summary
3 Background Information
4 See also

[edit] Episodes

Title	Episode	Prodno.	Stardate	Original Airdate
Basics, Part II	3x01	146	50032.7	1996-09-04
Flashback	3x02	145	50126.4	1996-09-11
The Chute	3x03	147	50156.2	1996-09-18
The Swarm	3x04	149	50252.3	1996-09-25
False Profits	3x05	144	50074.3	1996-10-02
Remember	3x06	148	50203.1	1996-10-09
Sacred Ground	3x07	143	50063.2	1996-10-30
Future's End	3x08	150	50132.5	1996-11-06
Future's End, Part II	3x09	151	50132.5	1996-11-13
Warlord	3x10	152	50348.1	1996-11-20
The Q and the Grey	3x11	153	50384.2	1996-11-27
Macrocosm	3x12	154	50425.1	1996-12-11
Fair Trade	3x13	156	Unknown	1997-01-08
Alter Ego	3x14	155	50460.3	1997-01-15
Coda	3x15	158	50518.6	1997-01-29
Blood Fever	3x16	157	50537.2	1997-02-05
Unity	3x17	159	50614.2	1997-02-12
Darkling	3x18	161	50693.2	1997-02-19
Rise	3x19	160	Unknown	1997-02-26
Favorite Son	3x20	162	50732.4	1997-03-19
Before and After	3x21	163	Unknown	1997-04-09
Real Life	3x22	164	50836.2	1997-04-23
Distant Origin	3x23	165	Unknown	1997-04-30
Displaced	3x24	166	50912.4	1997-05-07
Worst Case Scenario	3x25	167	50953.4	1997-05-14
Scorpion	3x26	168	50984.3	1997-05-21

[edit] Summary

Season three began with the departure of the Kazon, and with them went a story arc pivotal to the progression of the previous two seasons. The Doctor undergoes perhaps the largest change of any of the principal characters in season three, when he gains freedom from Sickbay in "Future's End", by way of an autonomous mobile emitter.

However, the most important moment of the season, and arguably of the entire series, takes place within the (at first glance) innocuous episode Fair Trade, when Voyager enters the Nekrit Expanse. Not only does this area of space mark the furthest extent of Neelix' knowledge, and the end of his usefulness as Voyager's guide to the Delta Quadrant, but the ship's entry into the expanse draws a line in the sand between what went before, and what was still to come.

Three episodes later, "Blood Fever" saw the introduction of the Borg to the series, the inclusion of which was to have serious and far-reaching ramifications for the franchise from this point onwards. "Blood Fever" also introduced the very real possibility of a romantic interest between Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, a relationship of singular importance not only to the development of the two characters involved, but also to the other crucial evolutionary step taken by the series in season three - the crew of Voyager as family. It is towards the end of "Fair Trade" that Janeway, while disciplining Neelix, first mentions this notion of familial allegiance.

"I'm prepared to leave the ship, captain."
"Oh no, it's not that easy. You can't just run away from your responsibilities because you made a mistake. You're part of a family now, and you have obligations".

- Neelix and Janeway

It is also around this mid-point in the season that other, more subtle changes were being made to the overall look and feel of the franchise. Stage lighting underwent significant changes, most notably in "Macrocosm" where for the first time, darkened or blacked out set pieces were used to add tension to scenes. Prior to this, Voyager's decks and corridors were always largely flood-lit except in times of emergency.

It would therefore appear that the writers and producers had begun to find a direction, and with it came a developing continuity. The Borg, introduced in "Blood Fever" popped up again in "Unity", and throughout the remainder of the series. John de Lancie returned as Q in "The Q and the Grey" to provide some continuity back to the suicide of Quinn in the second season episode, "Death Wish". Also, the events of "Distant Origin" linked not only "Fair Trade", but also the season two finale "Basics, Part I". Writers also used events to tease the audience with what was to come in season four, namely "Before and After" and the "Year of Hell".

It could be argued that all the positive changes initiated from mid-season onwards largely pale into insignificance however when compared with the season three finale, "Scorpion", which sees Voyager entering a war-torn Borg space. To many, it is the moment when Voyager came of age. Audience figures leaped through the roof, and within half a season the show would become virtually unrecognizable from its previous seasons. Certainly, once Voyager entered the Nekrit Expanse in "Fair Trade", and later traversed Borg space in "Scorpion", the franchise would never be the same again.