To The Journey: A Star Trek Voyager Podcast

Episodes that Exceeded Their Potential.

Have you ever cringed at those one-sentence episode summaries on Memory Alpha or Netflix? You are not alone. Sometimes they break down the plot so simplistically that the summary makes the episode sound boring, cliche, or downright bad. Sometimes they barely describe the plot at all. The lesson to be learned here is that one should not judge an episode based on these descriptions.

In this episode of To The Journey, Char and Tristan take that lesson to heart and list their top five episodes that exceed their potential. On paper, the plots of these episodes might not sound enticing, but they shined on screen. Some that made the list are fan favorites. Others are highly overlooked. All of them excelled as episodes of Voyager.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Bruce Lish, Dante Hopkins, and Brian Beliso

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

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Voyager Mirror Universe Story.

Gather around everyone, it is time for another round of Voyager story time. In this episode of To the Journey, Char and Tristan return to the Voyager Mirror Universe they created. It is a crazy world where Ensign Kim feels entitled to power as a descendant of Empress Sato, and Captain Janeway shamelessly plays with the emotions of her first officer in the name of reaching the Alpha Quadrant just a second sooner. In this chapter things get a little bit bloody. Members of the engineering team are being killed off and all signs point to Chief Engineer Torres as the culprit. Is she innocent or is she being framed? Tune in and find out what Tuvok uncovers in his investigation.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

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Interview with Garrett Wang.

When Voyager first began, Ensign Harry Kim was a fresh Starfleet Academy graduate with a promising future. Young and gullible, he was often labeled the "green ensign" by fans. The actor behind the character, Garrett Wang, was also young when he landed the role in his mid-twenties. Beyond that similarity, however, Harry Kim is a far cry from the man who played him.

Wang's seemingly endless supply of enthusiasm is something fans often note when they meet him at conventions. He speaks honestly about his experience working on Voyager, giving equal footing to positive and negative aspects of it during panels. He does the same in this episode of To The Journey, where for the first time in TTJ history Char and Tristan talk with a main Voyager cast member. They discuss the untapped comedic talent Voyager had among its cast, Wang's Voyager movie pitch, reprising the role of Harry Kim for Star Trek Online, and much more.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Guests Garrett Wang

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

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Episode Comparison.

It has been awhile since Char and Tristan have compared an episode of Voyager to another episode of a Trek series. In this episode of To The Journey, they are doing it in full force. Not only do they compare plot points of Voyager's "Coda" to The Next Generation's "Cause and Effect," but they throw TNG's "The Next Phase" into the mix as well. It is a three-for-two bargain that examines the intricacies of recurring time loops and discusses what officers should do if others mistake them for dead. We hope this will prevent listeners from entering distortions in the space-time continuum, blowing up their ships every day for 80 years and being none the wiser.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Voyager's Impact and Legacy.

As The Next Generation ended its TV run and set sail for the silver screen in 1994, The Powers That Be™ Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor announced that a new incarnation of the Star Trek franchise would debut early in the following year. The show would take place in uncharted space and feature a starship NOT named Enterprise. And, most notably, the ship would be captained by a woman.

Now, more than 20 years after the show's debut, opinions about Voyager's place in the Star Trek legacy remain mixed, just as they were when the show aired. In this episode of To The Journey, Char and Tristan examine aspects of where Voyager thrived and failed as a Star Trek series, why these things happened the way they did, and how these examples might serve as lessons for the team developing the next series set to debut in 2017.

How has Voyager influenced you? How do you feel about Voyager's legacy in the Star Trek universe? Please share your thoughts at trek.fm/contact, The Babel Conference on Facebook, or on Twitter (@ohtheprofanity and @TheInsaneRobin). We may read and discuss your thoughts on an upcoming show.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Season Seven Essential Voyager.

It's been a long road getting from there to-

Wait, wrong show.

These *were* the-

No.

Let's skip the frills and just say it: This is the last edition of Essential Voyager. Sob!

Char and Tristan have had a blast evaluating Voyager episode by episode, season by season. Now it all comes full circle in this last installment, where they slash Voyager's final season down to the essentials in this episode of To The Journey. With this multi-part series now concluded, Char and Tristan will need a new angle for reviewing each season. You know they'll find a way just as Voyager found her way home, but will they break the Temporal Prime Directive to do it?

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Top five Janeway/Seven Moments.

One of the most complicated relationships on Voyager was the constant struggle between Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine. Janeway, always in need of a reform project, almost bit off more than she could chew with the former Borg drone who struggled with her separation from the collective and forming an individual identity. The process put the two constantly at odds and was a heavy point of focus in the last half of Voyager's run. In this episode of To The Journey, Char and Tristan list their five favorite moments between the two characters, ranging from tough times to simple moments of friendship.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Rewriting DS9's "Fascination" into Voyager.

Tristan and Char have been on a creative streak lately. Two episodes ago, they conducted a session in the writer's room and improvised an episode live during the recording. Then, they explored what Voyager might look like in the JJ-verse. For this episode, they are still feeling the creative vibes, so Char and Tristan are back in the writer's room for a rewrite of Deep Space Nine's "Fascination." In this Season Three episode, a Bajoran holiday ritual mixes with telepathy and the crew starts forming unlikely infatuations with one another. Since Voyager never got its version of this "Naked Now"/"Naked Time"-esque storytelling, Char and Tristan take the premise from "Fascination" and rework it into Voyager. Who pursues whom and do they make out? You will have to listen to the episode and find out.

Vote for Trek.fm Art Director Aaron Harvey's design in the WeLoveFine t-shirt design contest: http://community.welovefine.com/m/contests/designs/Star-Trek-50-Contest/list/id-43843

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Voyager in the JJ-Verse.

Star Trek loves playing with timelines. We have seen every incarnation of the franchise play with possibilities outside of what we consider "our" timeline, from Edith Keeler in the 1930s to Captain Janeway on in the 29th century. Aside from the "prime" universe and the Mirror Universe, we now have the Abramsverse. In this episode of To The Journey, Char and Tristan envision what Voyager and her crew would be like in the timeline created in the JJ Abrams-produced films. They discuss the likelihood of a Vulcan on the ship, a CGI alien as a regular cast member, the aesthetics of key areas of the ship, and much more. And yes, lens flares are still a thing in the 24th century.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Episode On the Fly.

Char and Tristan have been recording To The Journey every week for the last 3+ years. One of the things they have learned in that time is that they make a crackerjack writing team. They have also learned that they have fun thinking on their feet. In this episode of To The Journey, they do both and write an episode of Voyager on the fly. That's right — with no preparation beforehand, they hit record and develop a full-length episode live on the podcast! This go round, the story centers around Tuvok, where he puts his undercover investigative talents — and his principles as a Vulcan Starfleet officer — to the test.

Hosts Tristan Riddell and Charlynn Schmiedt

Editor Tristan Riddell

Producer Charlynn Schmiedt

Executive Producers Charlynn Schmiedt, Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing, and C. Bryan Jones

Associate Producers Kenneth Trip, Jamie Duce, Aaron Harvey, Bruce Lish, and Dante Hopkins

Production Manager Richard Marquez

Content Manager Will Nguyen

Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network! Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm