Chakotay, Tom and Seven conduct an away mission into a dangerous gravitational anomaly that swallowed a spacecraft centuries earlier.

(originally aired November 17, 1999)

Funeral Orations

Space. Literally it means nothing. A vacuum between stars and planets. But by the same token it means everything. It's what connects all our worlds: Vulcan, Chronos, Talax, Earth.

Centuries ago, mankind sent its first wave of explorers into that void. Astronauts like Mr. Kelly. They paved the way for the first colonies, the first starships. For those of us who've made space our home.    More Stories Star Trek: Voyager -- Seasons Six and Seven Star Trek: Voyager - 'One Small Step' (spoilers) Star Trek: Voyager - 'Dragons Teeth' (spoilers) Star Trek Voyager - 'Riddles'    Related Links Star Trek UPN We commend the spirit and the bravery of Lieutenant John Mark Kelly as we commit his body to space. He will not be forgotten.

Captain, I didnot know this individual.Had I encountered him while I was a Borg, I would have found his technology unworthy of assimilation. But we are more alike than one might think. In a sense, his desire to explore was not unlike a quest for perfection. His contribution helped secure humanity's future and in some ways my own. [breaks downinto inaudible sobs, then refers to the 2032 World Series] The Yankees, in six games.

Phil Morris - Lt. John Kelly

The year 2032. An astronaut pilots a spacecraft toward Mars while chatting amiably to compatriots. Suddenly, a huge orange object is detected, heading right towards him. Initial hopes that it might be a harmless "solar flare" are soon dispelled.

"It's no solar flare," he says glumly.

Centuries later, Chakotay discovers that his doorbell and other gadgets aboard Voyager are malfunctioning. He criticizes Seven for her latest unauthorized modifications to Voyager's systems, but a potentially more serious problem emerges as powerful gravitational distortions begin to emanate from subspace.

Voyager raises its shields and conducts evasive maneuvers, escaping damage. The crew realizes they are witnessing a "graviton ellipse," a rare and dangerous phenomenon frightening even to Borg.

"One Small Step" is a giant leap into the abyss of bad storytelling and synthetic emotion. A contrived plot, implausible character development, schmaltzy dialogue, and a preachy "inspirational" message combine to make this an almost insufferable episode. Only professional obligation kept this reviewer's TV set on for the duration.

Seven's behavior in this episode is incomprehensible except as a transparent plot device. The story unfolds as if much of the attractive ex-Borg's attitudinal shift over the past two seasons had not even happened.

Chakotay's obsessive love of history seems similarly artificial.

The episode's advocacy of early (present-day) space exploration degenerates into an empty propaganda exercise. Particularly heavy-handed (and anachronistic) is Janeway's statement that "If scientific knowledge were all we were after, then the Federation would have built a fleet of probes, not starships."

Present-day physicists engage in a broad range of speculation about "dark matter," but have little expectation that there exist "dark matter asteroids." The idea of a "graviton ellipse" is even more detached from current knowledge.

Will Chakotay's concussion have lasting effects?