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Star Trek Voy - Season 1 - Episode 16

Star Trek Voy - 1x16 - Learning Curve

Originally Aired: 1995-5-22

Synopsis:
Tuvok is put in charge of "boot camp" for the Maquis. [DVD]

My Rating - 2

Fan Rating Average - 3.63

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 31 19 6 8 7 13 12 12 7 6 4

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Janeway interrupted again in the holodeck. Funny. ;)
- Another talkative Bolian. :)
- Chakotay confronting Tuvok's students. I love how Chakotay makes his point.
- The Maquis students' war game simulation.
- Tuvok: "You're saying that the Maquis crew is rigid and inflexible, that they will never adjust to Starfleet rules?" Neelix: "No, Mr. Vulcan. I'm saying that you are rigid and inflexible. But maybe if you'd learn to bend a little, you might have better luck with your class."
- Tuvok discovering the source of the gelpack infection.
- Dalby telling his story.
- Tuvok bending the rules.

My Review
The episode opens with more from Janeway's holo novel debuted to us in Voy: Cathexis. It is remarkable that every time Janeway tries to enjoy herself on the holodeck, she gets interrupted. ;) The story of the gelpacks getting infected is interesting, I was kind of waiting for a story that involved the gelpacks since we first heard about them in the first episode. Unfortunately, the episode is plagued by American stereotypes, namely, that boot camp solves all problems. Drill instructor Tuvok is remarkably out of character; I refuse to believe this is how he taught at Starfleet academy. Maybe boot camp can create a nicely obedient military, but Starfleet is not a military organization. Furthermore, even if it was a military organization, Tuvok's "time honored" teaching techniques just weren't appropriate for the students of this episode, which to me seemed obvious from the very beginning. It kind of annoys me that it takes a life threatening situation before Tuvok and the Maquis can find any common ground, but I suppose it's not unrealistic.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Frogshortening on 2006-08-25 at 11:11pm:
    2?? I fail to see how an episode featuring the line "Get the cheese to sick bay", could be so low rated! That is my personal motto!!!
  • From Mark McC on 2009-05-22 at 7:41pm:
    I've just started watching Voyager and was surprised when the short first season ended here. I was expecting a grand cliffhanger, possibly with the Vidiians or the Kazon. Instead, Voyager comes under attack from ... cheese!? That premise could have made for an excellent Tribble-style comedy episode season one of a new Star Trek deserves something better.

    I actually had to check the DVDs to make sure I'd watched them in the right order. With the disgruntled Maquis and lack of any real main plot this seems better suited as an early filler episode than a season finale.

    The episode featuring the tiny wormhole with the excellently-acted Romulan on the other side would have been a much better closer than this.
  • From spline on 2013-10-30 at 8:34am:
    Hehe... I remember at the time, even JMS (the creator of Babylon 5) complaining in frustration (was on usenet, rast.b5.moderated), while trying to get B5 renewed for another year and seeing this episode about an "alien cheese virus" somehow get made...

    Thankfully things get better... eventually.

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