Resolutions

A disease ridden Janeway and Chakotay are left on a planet where they suffer no affects.

This is a good character episode.

The sci-fi premise is a stretch and needs a very willing suspension of disbelief to get beyond the contrived plot details that lead to the two characters being in this situation. Furthermore, you know everything will be back to normal by the end of the episode, so there is no question of where the plot is headed.

If you can accept the above, I think it is enjoyable for fans of certain characters. The marooned Captain and First Officer go through a nice arc together that has some well crafted sexual tension and memorable bonding moments. Katie Mulgrew and Robert Beltran are on great form.

Tuvok has an eventful episode that shows a variety of character strengths. Harry Kim is given the short end of the stick from the writers as the designated whiner, before Kez gets to make an important contribution.

There are some decent visual sequences both on New Earth and Voyager. The encounter with the Vidiians has a good sense of urgency.

It feels like they had a nice setup and I like how it atypically for the show throws you right into events.

However that's about it. Nothing happens in this episode. It feels like Chakotay and Janeway are having "summer vacation", the crew is upset evidently, and nobody is having a good day. Maybe they need a summer vacation as well?

Then some non-dramatic drama is added. A previous character is sprinkled in on the screen for continuity.

And that's it. Chakotay and Janeway come back from their vacation, sit down and they go on, warp speed of course and the credits roll in.

No story, no character development, no nothing.

I've been wondering if there is anything that that could be a setup, or some form of character development. I don't know, maybe Chakotay and Janeway get together or something? In any case, I don't feel like it was a worthwhile watch.

Well this episode is a mixed bag. When Janeway and Chakotay are marooned on a lonely planet like lepers because they have been infected by an alien virus and the doctor couldn't find a cure, Chakotay acts somehow creepy. While Janeway still has hope and tries to scientifically analyze the insects on the planet to find a vaccine, Chakotay is full on Gilligan's Island mode and not only builds a shelter but also tries to make it look nice and cozy. He gives in to this new situation way too quickly and also seems to like the situation with him and Janeway alone, maybe forever. He even builds her a bathtub! Instead of playing the caring husband directly, he could have tried to help Janeway finding a cure. If they would have been stranded for a lifetime on this planet, there would have been plenty of time to make the house look pretty, build bathtubs, boats and whatever. It is way to uncomfortable to seem him flirt with Janeway.

On the other side, the crew is not far from mutiny when Tuvok is now acting captain and follows Janeway's orders to keep flying back to the alpha quadrant and leave them behind. There is a slight chance that the Vidiians might have a medicine for this disease, but Janeway ordered Tuvok to avoid them. There is a danger that contacting them might result in an attack on the Voyager. In the end though, the crew can convince Tuvok to take this chance and although the Vidiians set up a trap, the doctor's love Danara manages to send them a cure. Good ol' Shmullus' love affair in the end paid off!

It's enjoyable and passes the time but is possibly a bit inconsequential on final analysis. Voyager isn't quite as bad as TNG when it comes to anchoring its ships, as the Paris/Torres romance will prove, but this one was never going to happen and the overall feeling is that Jeri Taylor wanted to write a canon Janeway/Chakotay shipper fic, as we see them removed from their normal environment and facing the prospect of building a life alone together. The result is a bittersweet end as they return to the formal world of Voyager with mixed feelings. Janeway seems to have raided Scarlett O'Hara's wardrobe for most of her sojourn on the planet, although she at least finds a more practical outfit for humping logs.

Kim being a jerk on the bridge while Paris tries to stop him crossing too many lines is an interesting role reversal. (In fact, after his snarking in the staff meeting, Paris is surprisingly muted in this episode.) Interesting that Tuvok listens to Kes but not Kim. And good to see Voyager use some decent tactics in battle rather than just saying "Fire" a lot.

I'm slightly confused by the sequence of events at the end: Janeway and Chakotay get the hail saying Voyager's on its way back, then we cut to them back in uniform preparing to beam up, then we cut to them being welcomed back to the bridge and warping out of orbit. Did someone beam down with the cure and then leave them alone to pack, or did they pop into sickbay seemingly without seeing any of the senior staff? (What's more, despite packing everything away, they promptly beam up without it! I hope someone thought to retrieve that shuttle somewhere along the way...)

Last proper appearance of the Vidiians: After this, they'll only be seen as hallucinations or via time travel. Somewhat surprisingly given he's third-in-command and more junior officers have done it, I believe this is the first time we see Tuvok in command of the ship. There's an extra manning tactical so Paris calls out shield status and Kim fires torpedoes.