"Cathexis" | |
---|---|
Star Trek: Voyager episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 13 |
Directed by | Kim Friedman |
Story by |
Brannon Braga Joe Menosky |
Teleplay by | Brannon Braga |
Featured music | Jay Chattaway |
Production code | 113 |
Original air date | May 1, 1995 |
Guest appearance(s) | |
|
|
"Cathexis" is the 13th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, a science fiction television show that ran from 1995-2001. Part of the Star Trek franchise, in this case a starship from the United Federation of Planets (aka The Federation) is stranded on the other side of the Galaxy and must make its way home as it encounters aliens and various phenomenon. On board a mixture of Federation, Maquis, and alien crew members live and work aboard the vessel
This had a Nielsen rating of 6.4 when it was aired in 1995.
The Voyager crew recovers its shuttlecraft containing Commander Chakotay and Chief of Security Tuvok, who had been exploring a nearby dark matter nebula. Tuvok is unconscious, but Chakotay appears to be brain dead, lacking any neural activity. He is put on life support by the Doctor. The shuttlecraft shows evidence of energy weapon attacks. Captain Kathryn Janeway orders Voyager towards the nebula to investigate. B'Elanna Torres, a close friend of Chakotay, uses a Healing Wheel, one of Chakotay's spiritual talismans, hoping to guide Chakotay's spirit to his body.
En route to the nebula, the ship suddenly changes course away from it, though Lieutenant Tom Paris, at the helm, denies making the change. When it happens a second time, apparently at Paris's instigation, he is relieved of duty until the cause of the course changes can be determined. As the crew follows a complicated route through the nebula, the ship's engines are suddenly deactivated, apparently by Torres, who like Paris also has no recollection of doing so. The Doctor discovers a common memory pattern between Paris and Torres at the times they acted, indicating that they were possessed by another entity. Kes states that she has felt the presence of such an entity, and Tuvok offers to perform a mind meld to try to help her identify it. However, the two are soon found unconscious, with Kes in a coma. Unsure of the intentions of the entity, Janeway orders the command codes transferred to the Doctor, who cannot be possessed; however, shortly afterwards, they find the Doctor's program deactivated. At the suggestion of Tuvok, Janeway decides to divide all command codes between herself and him, believing the entity can only possess one of them at a time.