11:59
- Episode aired May 5, 1999
- TV-PG
- 46m
Capt. Janeway recalls her ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell, with great reverence, but historical records don't back up the family story.Capt. Janeway recalls her ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell, with great reverence, but historical records don't back up the family story.Capt. Janeway recalls her ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell, with great reverence, but historical records don't back up the family story.
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Lt. Ayala
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode was inspired by an undeveloped Q episode for Star Trek: Voyager, thought up by John de Lancie who played Q, and was originally to have included a recurring character from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Guinan.
- GoofsNeelix erroneously states at the beginning of the episode that the Great Wall of China is visible from space. This mistaken belief dates to well before satellites were even invented.
- Quotes
[Janeway has learned that important facts about one of her ancestors are incorrect]
Chakotay: [handing Janeway a data PADD] Ship's status report.
Captain Kathryn Janeway: Let me guess: the holographic engineer is having problems with her program, Neelix the Cardassian cook is low on supplies, Seven of Twelve is regenerating, and Captain Chakotay is doing just fine. Just wondering how they'll piece together OUR lives a few hundred years from now.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Star Trek: Enterprise: Carbon Creek (2002)
Janeway always believed that this ancestor took part in missions to Mars and was also involved in the construction of the Millennium Gate. However, as the story progresses, it turns out that this was not the case. Janeway then feels annoyed and in a way betrayed - by an ancestor who lived over 400 years ago!
Her mood only brightens when her crew points out to her that her ancestor helped spark Janeway's interest in science and space travel in one way or another and that it doesn't matter whether she went to Mars herself - she was and is the role model that ultimately motivated Janeway to embark to the stars herself.
However, it's kind of amazing how well Janeway and the other crew members know about ancestors who lived several hundred years ago. I don't know what my ancestors did in the 1600s. I don't even know what my great-grandfathers and -mothers did! And as Seven aptly says: This great-great-great...grandmother lived so many generations before Janeway that there is virtually no genetic information about her left in Janeway. Nevertheless, this ancestor of Janeway looks exactly like her (they could have at least changed the hair color and hairstyle!), as she is of course also played by Kate Mulgrew.
Also pretty ridiculous: When Seven uses the computer to look for clues about Janeway's ancestor, she finds only very little information. Neelix then shows off all his computer know-how by instructing the computer to search not only Starfleet databases, but also others - public, private, etc. Lo and behold: the computer finds an old family photo! And Janeway is completely surprised at how Neelix managed to do it! By the way: Why are 400-year-old documents such as birth certificates, electoral rolls, etc. Included in the Voyager database?
All in all, half entertaining. Voyager definitely had worse episodes than this but also far better ones.
- tomsly-40015
- Jan 11, 2024
Details
- Runtime46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3