| "Future's End" | |
|---|---|
| Star Trek: Voyager episodes | |
| Episode nos. | Season 3 Episodes 8 & 9 |
| Directed by |
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| Written by | |
| Featured music | Jay Chattaway |
| Cinematography by | Marvin V. Rush |
| Production code | 150 & 151 |
| Original air dates |
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| Guest appearances | |
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"Future's End" is a two-part episode from the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager , the eighth and ninth of the season and the 50th and 51st overall. "Future's End" made its debut on American television in November 1996 on the UPN network in two separate broadcasts, on November 6 and 13, 1996.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Federation starship Voyager during its journey home to Earth, having been stranded tens of thousands of light-years away. In this episode, Voyager is thrown back to Earth in 1996 and must find a way back to the 24th century while making sure they do not cause a disaster in the 29th century in the process.
Part one was directed by David Livingston and part two by Cliff Bole, with a story by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky. Guest stars include Sarah Silverman and Ed Begley Jr. among others.
A small ship with a Federation signature emerges from a temporal rift in front of the starship Voyager . Its pilot identifies himself as Captain Braxton (Allan Royal) from the 29th century in the timeship Aeon. He has come to destroy Voyager, believing it to be the cause of a temporal explosion that will wipe out most of the Solar System in his time. Voyager fights off Braxton's attack, resulting in Braxton being sent back through the rift. Voyager and its crew are also pulled into the rift and find themselves on Earth in 1996.
Braxton crashes in 1967, where Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.) finds Aeon and copies its technology, allowing him to found a company, Chronowerx Industries, and start the micro-computer revolution. In 1996, a young astronomer named Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman) who works at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles detects Voyager in high orbit and assumes it to be extraterrestrial life. Her work is funded by Starling, but against his instructions, she attempts to contact Voyager by transmitting a greeting to it, alarming the crew. [1] The Voyager crew tracks her location to the Observatory and Captain Janeway, Commander Chakotay, Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ), and Lt. Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), decide to beam down to Los Angeles. Tuvok and Paris save Robinson from a hitman Starling dispatched to kill her.
Janeway and Chakotay investigate Starling and his business. They identify a homeless man as Captain Braxton, who explains the rise of Starling to them. [1] Ultimately, they learn that Starling's planned attempt to travel to the 29th century using Braxton's timeship will be the true cause for the temporal explosion, because Starling lacks the knowledge needed to properly calibrate the timeship.
Janeway and Chakotay secretly enter Starling's Chronowerx office where they find the Aeon, just as Starling walks in on them. Starling ignores Janeway's warning not to use the timeship and tries to kill them, but the officers are beamed aboard Voyager. [1] When Voyager tries to beam up the timeship, Starling uses his own transporter beam to access Voyager's computer and study its systems, including stealing the Doctor's program from Sickbay. [1] Worse still, Voyager has been sighted and filmed, since the ship had to descend low into Earth's atmosphere to beam Janeway and Chakotay aboard.
Following Starling's computer attack, Voyager is badly damaged, leaving Paris and Tuvok stranded on Earth with Robinson. Paris convinces her to help by claiming that he and Tuvok are government agents trying to recover highly advanced technology that was stolen by Starling. Robinson, prompted by Paris and Tuvok, arranges to meet Starling at a public park. To keep an eye on the Doctor, Starling equips the Doctor with a piece of 29th-century technology, a "Mobile Holo-Emitter", which allows him to move around without having to rely on fixed emitters.
During the meeting, Chakotay and Torres take a shuttle into Earth's lower atmosphere, planning to abduct Starling and beam him aboard Voyager. Unfortunately, damage taken during the transport forces Chakotay and Torres to crash in the Arizona desert, where they are captured by isolationists. Tuvok and the Doctor, splitting up from Paris and Robinson, are able to rescue them and begin repairs on the shuttle.
Held prisoner on Voyager, Starling admits to Janeway that he intends to travel into the future to steal more advanced technology because he has reached the limit of what he can create by studying the Aeon. [2] Janeway informs him of Captain Braxton's warning about the disaster he will cause, but Starling is too egotistical to believe he can fail. Just when Janeway believes that she has ended Starling's plans, one of his henchmen transports him back to his office. Paris and Robinson arrive there to discover a large truck, which they believe contains the timeship. They pursue the vehicle out of the city, aided by the arrival of the repaired shuttle. Too late, the truck is found to be a decoy, and Starling launches the Aeon, still at the Chronowerx building. [2]
After a last attempt to dissuade Starling, Janeway manually fires a photon torpedo into the Aeon, destroying it and saving the future. A few moments later, an alternative Captain Braxton arrives in another timeship Aeon, explaining that having detected the anomaly of their presence in the past, he has come to return them to their own time at the place they left it. Sadly, he is unwilling to bring them to their Earth, as that would violate the Temporal Prime Directive. Voyager returns to the exact moment they first encountered the Aeon. The Doctor gains more freedom as he keeps the Mobile Holo-Emitter.
The episode used Santa Monica Pier as a shooting location for the boardwalk scene. [3] Other production locations in the region include the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, and Palisades Cliffside Park. [4]
Guest stars include Sarah Silverman as Rain Robinson, Allan G. Royal as Braxton, and Ed Begley Jr. as Starling. [5]
A 1996 newspaper article, The Dispatch, noted "Future's End" as the best episode yet, noting that it had "much excitement and crackling dialogue." [6]
In 2011, Tor.com included this as one of six episodes of Star Trek: Voyager that are worth re-watching. [7] The Comic Book Resources site listed the futuristic but tiny Aeon, as one of the most powerful ships in the entire Star Trek franchise. [8]
In 2014, io9 ranked "Future's End" as the 93rd best episode of the Star Trek franchise in their list of the top 100 Star Trek episodes. [9]
In 2015, a Star Trek: Voyager binge-watching guide by WIRED magazine suggested this episode could not be skipped. [10]
In 2015, SyFy ranked the "Future's End" pair as one of the top ten episodes of Star Trek: Voyager. [11] Star Trek writer Bryan Fuller later said Sarah Silverman was considered as a cast regular starting with Season 3 of Star Trek: Voyager. [12] The filming locations in southern California have also been noted, including Santa Monica Pier, Griffith Observatory, downtown Los Angeles, and Palisades Cliffside Park, etc. [4]
In 2016, "Future's End, Part I" & "Future's End, Part II" were ranked as the 60th greatest Star Trek overall franchise episodes by The Hollywood Reporter . [13] They noted the episode(s) had "plenty of charm" and praised the comedy by the Paris and Tuvok characters. [13] In 2017, ScreenRant ranked "Future's End" as the 7th best time-travel themed episode of the overall Star Trek franchise, and praised the storyline and its consequences. [14]
In 2016, Variety magazine noted this for guest starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman. [15]
In 2017, Fatherly ranked this episode as one of the top 10 episodes of the overall Star Trek franchise for kids to watch. [16]
In 2017, Den of Geek said that actress-comedian Sarah Silverman was the tenth best guest star on Star Trek: Voyager, for her role of Rain Robinson, 20th century astronomer who encounters the crew of Voyager. [17]
In 2020, Tor.com said this was a fun time travel romp with brilliant guest casting. [5]
In 2021, The Digital Fix said this was "loving homage" to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, found Silverman was a "great guest star" and overall felt it was fun romp in the 1990s. [18]
"Flashback" was released on LaserDisc in Japan on June 25, 1999, as part of the 3rd season vol.1 set. [19]
"Future's End" was released on DVD on July 6, 2004, as part of Star Trek Voyager: Complete Third Season, with Dolby 5.1 surround audio. [20] [21] The season 3 DVD was released in the UK on September 6, 2004. [22]
In 2017, the complete Star Trek: Voyager television series was released in a DVD box set, which included "Future's End" as part of the season 3 discs. [23]
Chakotay is a fictional character who appears in each of the seven seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. Portrayed by Robert Beltran, he was First Officer aboard the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, and later promoted to Captain in command of the USS Protostar in Star Trek: Prodigy. The character was suggested at an early stage of the development of the series. He is the first Native American main character in the Star Trek franchise. This was a deliberate move by the producers of the series, who sought to provide an inspiration as with Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series for African Americans. To develop the character, the producers sought the assistance of Jamake Highwater who falsely claimed to be Native American. Despite first being named as a Sioux, and later a Hopi, Chakotay was given no tribal affiliation at the start of the series, something that was later resolved in the episode "Tattoo".
Kes is a fictional character on the American science fiction television show Star Trek: Voyager. She is portrayed by actress Jennifer Lien. Set in the 24th century of the Star Trek universe, the series follows the crew of the starship USS Voyager, stranded far from home and struggling to get back to Earth. Kes is a member of the Ocampa who joins the crew in the series' premiere episode along with her Talaxian boyfriend, Neelix. She subsequently works as the Doctor's medical assistant and develops her mental abilities with Tuvok's assistance.
Lieutenant Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager and is portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill. Paris is the chief helmsman, as well as a temporary auxiliary medic, of the USS Voyager, a Starfleet ship that was stranded in the Delta Quadrant by an alien entity known as the Caretaker.
Star Trek: Voyager is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor. It originally aired from January 16, 1995, to May 23, 2001, on UPN, with 172 episodes over seven seasons. It is the fifth series in the Star Trek franchise. 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 Milky Way galaxy.
Tuvok is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise and a main character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's second officer, Chief of Security, and Chief Tactical Officer. He was portrayed by Tim Russ throughout the show's run from 1995 to 2001, as well as in subsequent portrayals.
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"Caretaker" is the series premiere of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It was first broadcast as a double-length episode on January 16, 1995, as the first telecast of the fledgling UPN network. It was later split into two parts for syndication, but released in its original one-episode format on DVD and streaming services. 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.
"State of Flux" is the eleventh episode of Star Trek: Voyager, which was a science fiction television show that ran from 1995-2001. Recurring Voyager characters Seska and Lt. Carey star, along with the show's main cast, in an episode that sees the return of the Kazon aliens previously introduced in "Caretaker".
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"Year of Hell" is a two-part episode from the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager which aired on UPN in November 1997. It aired in two parts, on November 5 and November 11, 1997. Part I was directed by Allan Kroeker and Part II by Mike Vejar; it was written by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky. This includes a number of guest stars, including Kurtwood Smith.
"Displaced" is the 66th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 24th episode of the third season. In this episode an alien, a Nyrian who goes by Dammar appears on the USS Voyager. In this episode, the crew of the USS Voyager contend with crew members disappearing as Nyrian aliens appear to replace them.
"Resolutions" is the 41st episode of the science fiction television program Star Trek: Voyager. The episode originally aired on May 13, 1996. The series follows the adventures of the Federation starship Voyager during its journey home to Earth, having been stranded tens of thousands of light-years away. This episode focuses on the relationship between Captain Janeway and First Officer Chakotay, who have been left on a planet after contracting a virus, and the rest of the crew search for a cure under Tuvok's command.
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