Lineage (Star Trek: Voyager)

Last updated
"Lineage"
Star Trek: Voyager episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 12
Directed by Peter Lauritson
Written by James Kahn
Featured music Dennis McCarthy
Production code258
Original air dateJanuary 24, 2001 (2001-01-24)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Shattered"		Next →
"Repentance"
Star Trek: Voyager season 7
List of episodes

"Lineage" is the 158th episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager , the 12th episode of the seventh season. B'Elanna and Tom Paris struggle through the pregnancy of their child.

Contents

This episode aired on the United Paramount Network (UPN) on January 24, 2001. [1]

Plot

B'Elanna Torres is in a good mood, until she arrives at work in Engineering and almost faints. Icheb scans her and states that he is "detecting another life sign. … Inside Lt. Torres. It could be a parasite." Seven of Nine also scans Torres and comes up with a different diagnosis: B'Elanna is pregnant.

The Doctor confirms Seven's diagnosis. The fetus is seven weeks old, and perfectly healthy, except for a genetic defect that causes abnormal spine curvature in Klingon females. B'Elanna, who is half Klingon, had surgery as a baby to correct this defect. The Doctor says that nowadays genetic resequencing is the preferred treatment and that he can perform the procedure the following day. He also shows B'Elanna and her husband Tom Paris a holographic projection of what their daughter will look like. Tom thinks she is beautiful but B'Elanna is distressed to learn her daughter will have Klingon facial ridges.

During the procedure the next day, B'Elanna reminisces back to her childhood as a Klingon girl on the colony in which she grew up. She blames herself, especially her Klingon half, for her human father leaving her, and her teasing and harassment by other children for being half Klingon, and resolves to not let the same happen to her daughter. She proposes further genetic resequencing to delete various Klingon genes in order to make her daughter fully human, but the Doctor and Tom disagree.

During one of the couple's arguments, Torres mentions that Voyager's crew includes 140 humans. She claims that if her daughter is even one quarter Klingon, human society will treat her as a "monster". They cannot reach a consensus, so they speak to Captain Janeway, who tells them that their problem is not about ethics, it is about marital affairs. As a friend, she will offer them advice; but as the captain, she will not overrule the Doctor. They still cannot work it out, so Paris ends up staying the night in his friend Harry Kim's quarters. The next day, they seem to make up, but just then, the Doctor calls them.

In Sickbay, the Doctor reveals that he has changed his mind and believes that the procedure will be required. Tom is disturbed by this and seeks a second opinion from Icheb. Icheb discovers an error in the Doctor's new assessment and Seven discovers that the Doctor's program has been tampered with. Tom stops the procedure in the nick of time, and he and B'Elanna have an argument. She tearfully admits what she fears will happen to her daughter; that Paris will leave them like her father left her and her mother, and Tom reaffirms his commitment to his growing family. The Doctor's alterations are removed, and B'Elanna apologizes to the Doctor and asks him to be the godfather. The Doctor accepts, and B'Elanna feels the baby kick. She then sees the holographic projection one more time and admits that she is cute.

Reception

In a review of the series, Den of Geek ranked this the tenth best episode of Star Trek: Voyager. [2] They also ranked it the 10th best morality play of the Star Trek franchise. [3] Io9's top 100 list of Star Trek episodes placed "Lineage" as the 96th best episode of all series up to that time, out of over 700 episodes. [4]

The Digital Fix noted this as another episode that uses Torres' Klingon heritage as a plot element, but in this case also explores her relationship with her father using the flashbacks. [5] SyFy said this was a "gut wrenching" episode, as B'Elanna is challenged by pregnancy and family heritage. [6]

Home media releases

On December 21, 2003, this episode was released on DVD as part of a Season 7 boxset; Star Trek Voyager: Complete Seventh Season. [7]

See also

The "Torres Trilogy":

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B'Elanna Torres</span> Fictional character

B'Elanna Torres is a main character in Star Trek: Voyager played by Roxann Dawson. She is portrayed as a half-human half-Klingon born in 2346 on the Federation colony Kessik IV.

Star Trek: Voyager is an American science fiction series created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor. It aired from January 16, 1995, to May 23, 2001, on UPN, with 172 episodes over seven seasons. The fifth series in the Star Trek franchise, it served as the fourth after Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 24th century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager as it attempts to return home to the Alpha Quadrant after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant on the far side of the galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vidiians</span> Fictional alien race in the Star Trek franchise

The Vidiians are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek franchise. Developed by Star Trek: Voyager series' co-creators Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor, they serve as recurring antagonists during the show's first two seasons. They are represented as a nomadic species suffering from a pandemic known as the Phage, which destroys their tissue. A society with highly developed medical technology, the Vidiians harvest organs from corpses and living beings to stall the progression of the Phage, and experiment on other alien species in an attempt to develop a cure. Vidiian storylines frequently revolve around the aliens' attempts to take Voyager crew members' organs, though a Vidiian scientist named Danara Pel serves as a love interest for The Doctor. The alien species have made minor appearances in the show's subsequent seasons, and have been included in novels set in the Star Trek universe.

"One" is the 93rd episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 25th and penultimate episode of the fourth season. It originally aired on May 13, 1998.

"Revulsion" is the 73rd episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the fifth episode of the fourth season. This is focused on an EMH -like hologram on another ship, which is dealt with mostly by the Doctor and B'Elanna. In addition, sub-plots run their course on Voyager with other characters. Guest star Leland Orser plays the hologram, Dejaren on a spaceship that is encountered by Voyager. Leland Orser had also played a character on Deep Space Nine.

"Faces" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation. The fourteenth episode of the first season, first broadcast by UPN on May 8, 1995. "Faces", was developed from a story by Jonathan Glassner and Kenneth Biller, Biller also wrote the teleplay, which was directed by Winrich Kolbe.

Klingon culture is a set of customs and practices of Klingons depicted in the fictional Star Trek universe. The fictional Klingon society is based on Klingon traditions and conventions, as well as a constructed language named Klingon. Klingons were created by Gene L. Coon.

"Barge of the Dead" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is the third episode of the sixth season and was first broadcast by UPN on October 6, 1999. "Barge of the Dead" was developed from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Bryan Fuller, who wrote the teleplay, and was directed by Mike Vejar. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation.

"Prophecy" is the 160th episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, the 14th episode of the seventh season. It deals with Klingon religious beliefs and stem cells. Starship Voyager, making its way home after being flung to the other side of the Galaxy, encounters an old Klingon starship.

"Bride of Chaotica!" is the 106th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager airing on the UPN network, the 12th episode of the fifth season. The episode originally aired on January 27, 1999. The episode largely takes place on the holodeck, which is running a holo-program in black and white instead of the usual color. This was because of a small fire to the Bridge set that had occurred while the episode was in production; as a result the Bridge scenes were shot weeks later after the set was repaired and scenes that were originally set for the Bridge were either entirely rewritten or set on a different part of the ship. The episode satirizes numerous elements of the classic 1936 film serial Flash Gordon and classic 1939 film serial Buck Rogers.

"Real Life" is the 64th episode of Star Trek: Voyager and the 22nd episode of the third season. This episode revolves around the Doctor dealing with his holographic family program. Robert Picardo plays a holographic AI aboard the starship USS Voyager in the 24th century.

"Workforce" is a two-part episode from the seventh and final season of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager. Part one was directed by Allan Kroeker, and part two by Roxann Dawson. The crew of the USS Voyager finds themselves working on a planet, but troubling memories are resurfacing.

"Author, Author" is the 166th episode of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, the 20th episode of the seventh season. This episode focuses on the character "The Doctor" (EMH) and on impact of a novel and explores the meaning of AI.

"The Killing Game" is a two-part episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, the 18th and 19th episodes of the fourth season. It is set in the 24th century aboard a starship returning to Earth after having been stranded on the other side of the Galaxy.

"Lifesigns" is the 35th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 19th episode of the second season. It has an average fan rating of 4.2/5 on the official Star Trek website as of September, 2009.

"Day of Honor" is the 71st episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the third episode of the fourth season. Roxann Dawson stars as B'Elanna Torres, chief engineer of the Starfleet spaceship USS Voyager. On a spaceship stranded on the other side of the galaxy, trying to make its way back to Earth the crew tries to make sense of their professional and personal lives.

"Scientific Method" is the 75th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the seventh episode of the fourth season.

"Extreme Risk" is the 97th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, the third episode of the fifth season. It is set on the starship U.S.S. Voyager traveling back to Earth from the other side of the Galaxy.

References

  1. ↑ "Star Trek: Voyager - TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  2. ↑ "Top 10 Star Trek: Voyager episodes". Den of Geek. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  3. ↑ "Star Trek's 12 Best Morality Plays". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2019-06-12.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Anders, Charlie Jane (October 2, 2014). "The Top 100 Star Trek Episodes Of All Time!". io9 . Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Star Trek: Voyager Revisited - Season Seven". Television @ The Digital Fix. 2020-09-02. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  6. ↑ Krishna, Swapna (2017-11-10). "A Star Trek: Voyager episode guide for B'Elanna Torres". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  7. ↑ "DVD Talk // Star Trek Voyager: Complete Seventh Season // Paramount // Unrated // December 21, 2004". www.dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.