And lo, in the year 1966 the Great Bird of the Galaxy begat STAR TREK. And when STAR TREK left the National Broadcasting Network it sought out new followers, converting them from the inhospitable netheregions known as late night reruns. And in this barren wasteland the show flourished and kept STAR TREK alive until The Flanneled One begat STAR WARS. The STAR WARS phenomenon then begat STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, which later begat STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and later still begat STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE. And so it was in the year 1995 that the inheritor of The Great Bird of the Galaxys legacy, the Ber-Man, begat STAR TREK: VOYAGER. And the galaxy rested until the revelation that was ENTERPRISE.

Much has been written about where STAR TREK: VOYAGER may fall in the TREK pantheon of entertainment. After watching the series from its launch on the newly born UPN network to the final episode in 2001, its become easy for TREK fans (myself included) to point out VOYAGERs weaknesses (and yes there are many.) But back in the winter of 1995 when we were first discovering the VOYAGER characters and being introduced to their predicament the shows possibilities were limitless. A Federation starship lost in the other side of the galaxy, 70 years at top warp speed away from home? Sign me up, Im there!

The first season of VOYAGER is now on DVD and contains the shows first 15 episodes. With the latter years of the show more fresh in my mind (lets call them the Seven of Nine years), it was an opportunity to review the pilot and these early adventures and compare them to the latter VOYAGER shows. Interestingly, this first season laid the groundwork for future plotlines and character growth that, sadly, didnt seem to bear fruit. The initial concept of the show, to trap a starship thousands of light years away from Federation space and force two very different crews to co-exist, seems to have been dropped after this season. Its a pity because it made for some of the best television moments of the shows year. But if there is one chief criticism of VOYAGER from TREK fans it seems to be just that: the show never truly lived up to its unique premise. Still, thats not to say that the time spent watching VOYAGER was a write-off.

Captained by Kathryn Janeway (the first ongoing TREK female starship captain) and populated with a mixture of interesting characters (among them a half-Klingon engineer, an experienced Vulcan as security chief, a rookie ensign and a former criminal flying the ship), VOYAGER explored the mysterious Delta Quadrant while heading for the nearest route back home. Stranded in this region of space by an alien known as the Caretaker, Janeway sought out wormholes, alien technology and allies to try and shorten her trek and return back to Federation space. A good portion of the first season episodes used interesting science as a launching point for their stories, often with a plot twist revealed near the end ("Eye of the Needle", "The Cloud", "Time and Again") while some built on the tension between Starfleet and Maquis crewmembers ("Parallax", "Ex Post Facto"). These stories made the best use of VOYAGERs characters and remain the most enjoyable of the set while, unfortunately, its the alien races that come across as the shows weakest link especially the Kazon, the hard-haired aliens that were supposed to be Janeways arch rivals in the Delta Quadrant. Aside from the story holes (how are we supposed to believe aliens that have warp technology and starships need water desperately?) the Kazon were never that interesting in the first place. It would have been better to use the Vidiians, the aliens that are constantly in need of replacement organs and parts to survive their phage infection, as the primary villains until the Borg showed up on the scene around season four.

While the show has its flaws, Paramount again delivers superior video and audio presentation for its TV DVDs. Since VOYAGER came about seven years after THE NEXT GENERATION, the video quality benefits from the upgrades in technology. The colors are reproduced in above-average quality and theres no signs of poor contrast or black/white hues. As with the earlier TREK shows on DVD, VOYAGER is presented in full-screen ratio. Again, the sound quality is excellent and clear, with the shows soundtracks have been done in Dolby Digital 5.1 format.

A lot has already been said about the new style of clear plastic packaging that the VOYAGER sets ship in. Im going to go right on the record and say that, as strange as it soundsI like it. For starters its easier to get at your discs. The plastic slipcase is easy to get on and off, and the stark color of it actually grew on me the more I reached for it. And best of all, its resistant to wear and tear; you can flop it down on a hard surface and open it wide and itll still look brand new. The only item I wished for was more art on the individual discs themselves, but when the VOYAGER art designer went for that minimalist style they certainly went all-out. Still, I dig the orange packaging and its efficiency and I thought for sure that I wouldnt. Lets see if I still feel the same when season five in all of its pink hued plastic glory arrives

The VOYAGER menu design is also more attractive than the DEEP SPACE NINE menus. Look for the easter eggs hidden in the hull of the ship here.

By far the most noteworthy of the bonus material is the inclusion of footage showing the first actress hired to play Captain Janeway, French Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold. The interview material with producer Rick Berman doesnt dive into specifics as to why Bujold was replaced, but when you watch the material from the pilot and compare it to Kate Mulgrews interpretation of Janeway, the better performance is quite evident. God knows where Bujolds mind was at when delivering her idea of Janeway but after seeing her scenes on here, I couldnt imagine how the actress wouldve lasted all seven years on the series. Its fascinating stuff for TREK fans, kind of like watching those bootleg STAR WARS audition tapes with Nick Nolte playing Han Solo. Brrr

The remaining bonus material on Season One of VOYAGER looks at the creation of the show ("Braving the Unknown"); cast reflections; "On Location With the Kazons" looks at the filming of a desert scene from the pilot; "Launching Voyager on the Web" examines the presence of the show online during the early days of the Internet; and "Real Science with Andre Boramis" lets the VOYAGER science advisor talk about how scientific terminology like wormholes and gravitational lensing finds a place in the dialogue. The longest featurette is the VOYAGER time capsule focusing on Mulgrews Janeway character in which she remembers how she came to be cast and what she wanted to bring to her portrayal of the franchises first leading female captain. Theyre all worthwhile to watch except for the Kazon one; the less Kazon, the better I figure. A photo gallery and a couple of hidden files are also on there.

Maybe its true that absence makes the heart grow fonder because I liked more of the first batch of episodes from STAR TREK: VOYAGER than I thought I would. If the clunkers that Im thinking of come in the later seasons I may have to tone down my criticism if Paramount adds the same kind of bonus material in those future releases just not the ones with those annoying Kazons.