The End of the Game: Celebrating 25 Years of Star Trek: Voyager's "Endgame"
There are not many a series that can walk away ending on a high note. Time and time again, a great series can be overrun with personal plots, shock drama deaths and unused plot tools which take away from the very aspect of what made a series iconic. To me, there is one singular series finale that sticks out for a "perfect" ending. That being Star Trek: Voyager's Endgame. Written by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Kennth Biller, Robert Doherty (and story editor Mike Sussman) and directed by Allan Kroeker, this episode aired on May 23, 2001. It would go down as a testament to ending a series on a positive, inspiring note fueled by the aspect of humanity and family. Now let us take a deeper look into what happened to make this finale so grand....25 Years later.
Various stills from "Endgame"
A full review:
"Maybe its not the destination that matters. Maybe its the journey..." This quote by Ensign Harry Kim encapsulates the Voyager crew and how they had grown together over the past seven years. When the episode begins we see a triumphant return of the USS Voyager over the Golden Gate Bridge indicating its return to Earth. A television monitor voices over that it is the tenth anniversary of Voyager's return to Earth while wee see a much aged Captain Janeway place down her battered coffee cup and look outside to the stars. After the final opening credits of the series, we see a joyful party at a modern apartment with some familiar yet aged faces. Janeway has become an Admiral. Harry Kim has become a Captain. Naomi Wildman had a daughter named Sabrina. B'elanna became the Federation liaison to the Klingon Empire. Tom Paris became a famous holo-novelist. And The Doctor a husband to Lana, a noted blonde. The three missing faces which stick out is the lack of Tuvok, Chakotay and our beloved Seven of Nine. Admiral Janeway speaks to Captain Kim who notes he was sorry he could not make it to a funeral....(I wonder who...). We then see Janeway make her way over to B'elanna who notes she would like to see her daughter who is on a mission for the admiral and that it is top secret. We hear a chime of a glass and it is a much aged Commander Reginald Barclay who toasts to our favorite crew and the harrowing journey home they made all those years ago.
"To the journey" -
"And to those who aren't here to celebrate with us"
We cut to Admiral Janeway teaching at Starfleet Academy where she is an instructor for Borg Technology. As Reginald Barclay states she is the woman "who wrote the book on the Borg". She is pulled away by a call from Miral Paris (Tom and B'elanna's fiery daughter) who speaks of a deflector. She receives a visit from The Doctor who provides her with a clean bill of health and she asks for 2,000 mg of chronexaline, an experimental Stafleet drug to prevent radiation poisoning. She explains she has plans to be gone for awhile. The Doctor pursues to know where she is going but the Admiral deflects and says it is classified. When watching the episode the mystery building is well done. Slowly but surely we are given tidbits and scenes which connect the puzzle pieces to the missing Chakotay and Seven.
Admiral Janeway bids an emotionally vulnerable Tuvok a saddened goodbye and leaves him a photo of the entire crew (a season 5 promotional picture to be exact) and we finally get the answer we have been longing for: Chakotay is dead. He died not long after Voyager returned to Earth...and as Admiral Janeway leans to his headstone and says "I know it wasn't easy living all these years without her..." we realize that Seven is long gone too. I really thought this entire scene was very well done and eloquently put the sad endings to these characters in a poetic light.
Admiral Janeway's emotional farewell with Tuvok
"I know it wasn't easy living all these years without her, Chakotay,
but when I'm through... things might be better for all of us. Trust me."
At long last we cut to the crew of Voyager after we had last seen them in "Rennaisance Man" (season 7, episode 23). B'elanna and Tom are anxiously prepping for the birth of their baby while Chakotay and Seven have an adorable *third* date in the Cargo Bay - complete with a red and white checkerboard picnic blanket and a baguette (yes, I do pay attention to detail). Tuvok is scene playing Kal-toh with Harry Kim and Icheb to where he loses which is unlike him. He speaks to The Doctor of a rare condition which links the present-day Tuvok's impaired mental condition. Seven and Neelix share a moment over the com (as he left the USS Voyager in season 7, episode 23 "Homestead"). It is revealed he gave Seven the idea for the picnic and by her mannerisms we can finally see Seven is very much content - a sight the audience has waited a long time to see. Not long after we see the crew together and there is an apparent patch of wormholes that could led Voyager home much sooner than previously thought.
The anxious parents to be: Tom and B'Elanna, featuring The Doctor
The last time we see Neelix...
Cut back to present-day Earth where Tuvok is having a mental breakdown. Reginald Barclay and The Doctor meet and a stuttering Barclay reveals Admiral Janeway's whereabouts. We see the Admiral meet with Miral Paris and Korath (played by Voyager guest veteran Vaughn Armstrong) who has invented a time travel device called the "krona-deflector". After helping karate gain a seat on the Klingon High Council, Admiral Janeway asks Korath to hold his end of the bargain which was the krono-deflector. After backing out of his agreement, Janeway steals the deflector and escapes under the attack of the Klingons. When Korath attempts to contact her, Janeway says one of my favorite lines "I'd love to stay and chat but I'm on a tight schedule." (classic Janeway)
The Admiral takes her chance
Meanwhile Voyager continues her course through space and it turns out the wormholes they discovered lead through Borg space. Unfortunately a Borg ship spoils those eager dreams of a swifter way home. When Ensign Kim says "we can't just give up on those wormholes!", Janeway quickly responds "You may be the Captain someday....but not today." Captain Janeway decides to press forward as the previously charted while Ensign Kim takes Lieutenant Tom Paris aside to try and figure out a way closer to home. Paris replies "I am home Harry" which shows the audience a true full-circle character development for the sauvé Lieutenant as he is now a husband and soon-to-be-father with his priorities straight. When Harry tries one last time saying "Captain Proton wouldn't walk away from a mission like this" Paris closes the conversation with "Captain Proton doesn't have a wife or a baby on the way." During this time, Seven of Nine tells The Doctor she would like to have the surgery which would prevent her cordial node from shutting down (as seen three months prior in season 7 episode 18 "Human Error"). The Doctor assumes she will be running more simulations with the Chakotay hologram but this time its actually the *real* deal.
As Admiral Janeway steals the krono-deflector, we see the sleek USS Rhode Island helmed by Captain Harry Kim threaten to take Janeway into custody. Janeway says he has no grounds to take her in and he replies The Doctor and Reginald Barclay told him she was planning something drastic. The next scene between the two is one of the most poignant. She discusses the ethics of going back in time and changing the timeline to prevent the mental break of Tuvok and prevent the saddening deaths of Chakotay. As she boldly states "I'm not talking about technology I'm talking about people" and how "the family isn't complete anymore...I'm asking you to trust my judgement Harry....one last time."
We then pan to one of my favorite scenes of the episode: the romantic first kiss of Chakotay and Seven!!!! (swoon) She arrives to his quarters with a bouquet of flowers and attempts to make small talk. After an awkward moment she kisses Chakotay which lingers a long while. Then he notes what about the second kiss and then the we hear "senior officers report to the bridge". A much disappointed Chakotay breaks his bond with Seven and relents "next time we deactivate the com system." The two lovebirds head to the bridge where Captain Janeway explains a temporal riff has opened...
"I've been told anticipation of the first kiss is often uncomfortable. I wanted to alleviate the tension"
Meanwhile Admiral Janeway prepares to leave Captain Kim's ship. He tells her the time-travel device will not hold enough power for her to return. A much solemn Admiral Janeway replies "I always assumed it was a one-way trip." Unfortunately by this time the audience can assume knew the end was near for our beloved Janeway. She cups her once-Ensign's face and bids him an emotional hug before he beams off. Not long after Janeway is under attack by the Klingons as she attempts to travel back in time. All crew members on Voyager watch as Admiral Janeway appears on the viewer. At the time time, the malevolent Borg Queen watches from afar and sees that time has changed....now it is time for Janeway to meet Janeway.
An emotion goodbye between Admiral Janeway and Captain Kim
In the Captain's quarters, the two Janeway's discuss how Voyager became a museum on the grounds of San Francisco's presidio and how there are going to be casualties along the way of their voyage home. Admiral Janeway no longer drinks coffee and Captain Janeway has her suspicions.
Janeway meet Janeway
Admiral Janeway convinces Captain Janeway to turn Voyager back to the wormholes near Borg Space, stating that there is a shortcut home. She also insists on Voyager integrating technology she brought back from the future (see what I did there?) to prevent Voyager from being decimated from the army of Borg cubes which await them. Receiving a check up by The Doctor to confirm her identity, Admiral Janeway sees a memory from the past, the long gone Seven of Nine. It's been over 20 years since she had seen her beloved pupil and the flood of emotions we see on her face give a glimpse into Seven's fate which has yet to be revealed. When The Doctor scans the Admiral, an implant inside her reveals an invention he will soon make which allows Admiral Janeway to pilot a vessel with a neutral interface. When she begins to relay such info, Captain Janeway cuts them off and timidly allows the Admiral to begin implementing futuristic technology aboard the USS Voyager. With Admiral Janeway's futuristic technology she brought back from the future, Voyager is modified and and upscaled with new improvements to withstand Borg attacks.
That evening as Seven retires to her Cargo Bay she is visited by an illusion of the Borg Queen. She threatens Seven not to cross the Queen's nebula. Seven relays the information in Sickbay and Captain Janeway continues to set a course for the Borg invested nebula. Later that day, Chakotay checks in on Seven and they have a few cordial flirtatious moments before getting into the crux of the scene. I really liked this scene as well because we finally get to see Seven act and truly feel comfortable smiling and....being human. Its a beautiful side to her character that has made her come so full-circle from when she arrived four years prior. The conversation takes a serious turn when they begin to discuss their future. Where will they go if they get to Earth? What will become of their relationship? In Chakotay's words "wherever I end up I'm going to make sure it's in transporter range of you." (be still my heart). Likewise, Tom and B'Elanna have a similar moment where they discuss what life would be like for them on Earth, and like C7, all that matters is that they stay together. You see modern writers....relationships can have positive and loving endings!
When Voyager finally reaches the Borg invested nebula, we see a bright ball of Borg unicomplexes and wormholes. A shocked Captain Janeway turns to her older self and says "what the hell is it?" and the Admiral responds "the road home." Seven of Nine recognizes the bright unicomplex and tells her captain its a Borg Transwarp hub and aperture, of which there are not many in the entire galaxy. Captain Janeway starts to question the Admiral why she didn't inform her on the aperture. The Captain's tone reaches a level you do not want to cross and she orders Paris to move out while the Admiral overrides her. Captain Janeway threatens to remove the Admiral from the bridge and yells "TAKE US OUT!" - and Paris complies with a dramatic piano in the backdrop *dun dun*.
In Astrometrics, Admiral Janeway chides her younger self for being afraid of the Borg transwarp. The two take a walk and the camera direction is just sublime. For a 20 year old episode the angling and directing truly make you feel you are watching two Janeway's walking side by side. The Captain tells her older self she refuses to become so cynical and that there must be a better way home. Admiral Janeway tired of her younger self, finally tells the truth of why she wants to change history and says the words which she knows would be the dealbreaker. During this heartening moment, a look of profound sadness and heartbreak is shone upon Captain Janeway's face. The perfect, indestructible Seven will die. But not just her. In three years, Seven will be injured on an away mission and make it make to Voyager only to die in the arms of her newlywed husband. Husband? Chakotay. Like many people who are bonded with their spouse, he will not make it long either. As soon as Voyager returned home he died, of a broken heart never recovering from the trauma of her death (Heathcliff is that you???) I found this to be one of the most profound moments in the episode and most convincingly would be the reason why Captain Janeway would have a change of heart and get her crew home earlier no matter the cost. She would lose her loyal first officer and the closest thing she ever had to a daughter of her own. In addition to these devastating losses, Admiral Janeway tells her about 22 crew members who will perish and Tuvok's neurological condition. The two devise a plan that Admiral Janeway once found impossible, however with her younger self they decide to make it work.
"He'll (Chakotay) never recover from Seven's death and neither will you."
Captain Janeway speaks to Tuvok and he reveals his condition which he has kept secret from her. When pressed on why he kept it from her, he quotes Ambassador Spock "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." There is a cure in the Alpha Quadrant which will require a mind meld with another Vulcan. If Voyager gets home now it can be prevented, if not he will succumb to the mind crippling disease. Likewise, Admiral Janeway speaks to Seven of Nine of the latter's future. Seven believes the Borg trans warp network should be destroyed, whereas the Admiral wants her to go to the Captain and tell her destroying the network is too risky. In an emotional breakthrough the Admiral tells her "I've know you a long time Seven...longer than you've known yourself. It's time to let go of the past and start thinking about your future." When Seven refers to her future as insignificant, the Admiral rebukes her and an emotional Seven claps back and says "I'm talking about saving others." The Admiral calls them strangers and tells Seven to think of her colleagues and the people who love her (*hint hint Chakotay*). An emotional and overwhelmed Seven walks away - understandably.
That evening, the Voyager crew stand in the briefing room discussing the plans of destroying the Borg network and going through the aperture. Captain Janeway tells them that she will not attempt to make such an attempt unless all her officers and the crewmen who work under them agree. In a stand-out moment, the forever Ensign Kim gives a speech to uplift his fellow crewmates. "I think it's safe to say that... no one on this crew has been more... obsessed with getting home than I have, but... when I think about... everything we've been through together - maybe it's not the destination that matters. Maybe it's the journey. If that journey takes a little longer, so we can do something we all believe in, I can't think of any place I'd rather be, or any people I'd rather be with."
"To the Journey"
That night, Captain Janeway and Admiral Janeway share a cup of coffee and contemplate the future that awaits them. The Admiral speaks of something she once referred to as too risky but upon being reunited with her younger self wants to go through with it. We can't destroy the network and get Voyager home. This leads us into the final scene between the two Janeway's (just brilliantly played by Kate Mulgrew) where Captain Janeway helps Admiral Janeway board a shuttle and injects a pathogen inside her older self. She says "are you sure you want to do this?" and the Admiral solemnly replies "no...but Voyager isn't big enough for both of us..." They bid eachother good luck and the Admiral leaves and goes into the transwarp hub, the heart of Borg space.
The weary Admiral bids farewell to her younger self
"I'm glad I got to know you again..."
Meanwhile in Astrometrics, Chakotay comes to visit a very stoic Seven of Nine who has been upset since Admiral Janeway told her of the ill-fate ahead of her three years from the present. Chakotay tries to get her to talk, but she pushes him away out of fear. Eventually his persistence wins over her tender heart and she tells him that "the Admiral suggested your feelings for me will cause you pain in the future...I can't allow that to happen." Chakotay tenderly grabs her and gives a ever-so poetic declaration of love and the two share their most infamous and shall I say beautiful pose, their foreheads touched and their sole focus on eachother (be still my heart).
"Any relationship involves risk. And nobody can guarantee what's going to happen tomorrow,
not even an admiral from the future. The only certainty is how we feel about each other here and now.
If you think I'm going to let you end this because of what might happen, then you need to get to know me a little better."
In the midst of this epic love affair, B'Elanna is seen in sickbay finally delivering her much anticipated daughter. Tom bids her a protective kiss as he is asked by Captain Janeway to head to the bridge. As the drama escalates, Admiral Janeway boards the Borg vessel, but apparently using the neutral interface. The two discuss Voyager getting home safe and sound with the Borg Queen wanting the Admiral to compromise. The Queen wants the technology from the future and the Admiral refuses. Unfortunately the Borg Queen unearths the deception and Janeway is beamed aboard the Borg vessel. Her shuttlecraft is destroyed and the Queen and Janeway share an epic exchange. Admiral Janeway bids her with "I don't know how you do it...all those voices talking at once - you must get terrible headaches." Knowing the Admiral's true motives, it is revealed that it was a projection of the admiral from her neural interface.
The Borg Queen transports Admiral Janeway on her vessel and assimilates her. Our beloved Admiral falls to the ground. Just as the Borg Queen thinks she has the upper hand, she collapses in terror as the virus Janeway carried within her spreads to the entire collective, dismantling and weakening the core of the Hive Mind. A suffering Admiral Janeway says "must be something you assimilated" (hence the pathogen Captain Janeway had injected her with earlier). As the entire collective collapses into flames, Voyager enters the Borg aperture and speeds through space, narrowly missing destruction from a Borg Sphere. In a most blazing moment, Starfleet's Admiral Paris and Reginald Barclay send an armada of ships fearing a Borg invasion, but in fact, Voyager triumphantly exists the aperture within the Borg Sphere and returns to Earth.
Admiral takes Queen
The Queen's final gambit
After a tender exchange with Starfleet Command, Captain Janeway bows her head and notes "thanks for your help Admiral Janeway". Then a soft coo of a baby is heard over the com and Janeway tells Paris "you better get down there Tom" with a warm motherly smile.
"Doctor to Lieutenant Paris, there's someone down here who would like to say hello"
"Sorry to surprise you. Next time we'll call ahead."
The intrepid Captain then turns to Chakotay who is standing beside a subtly happy Seven and says "Mr. Chakotay...the helm." As the episode draws to an epic conclusion, Captain Janeway sits her in her chair and says for the very last time...just as she did in "Caretaker"...."set a course, for home".
There are several more things I could say about this incredible finale but the greatest takeaway for me was the finalization of every single character. Each one received a happy ending and a positive conclusion. Captain Janeway got the crew home, Chakotay and Seven stayed together (and alive), Tom and B'Elanna welcomed their first child, Harry remained the steadfast Ensign, Tuvok came home in time to cure his health, The Doctor well...stayed The Doctor and Neelix received a proper goodbye despite not going to Earth with the crew.
"We did it." Yes, Captain, you did.
My final take:
So many series fall victim to killing off beloved characters and ending a series on a somber, and often depressing note, whereas Voyager went for an ending that you could watch again and again. The first time I watched it, I ended up rewatching it two nights in a row as it was so good. Every time it replays on Pluto, I find myself having it on because it feels like home. Ironic as it is the last episode in which the crew returns home.
The performance by Kate Mulgrew as young Captain Janeway and older Admiral Janeway is exemplary. How she was not nominated for an Emmy is beyond me. She completely captured the emotional weight both Janeway's carried and the Janeway/Janeway interactions were so believable and surpass most acting performances in today's television. The use of time-travel and the splicing between the past, present and future is just phenomenal. Despite being a science fiction series finale, "Endgame" resonates as a human story and a family story. You are taken right into the USS Voyager and like a crewman you feel yourself working alongside the crew - rooting for them to return home. Whether you are watching Voyager fly through the triumphant firework show, or find yourself seeing the fledgling (yet passionate) romance between Chakotay and Seven of Nine, or witnessing the epic battle between the Borg Queen and Admiral Janeway...this episode touches on the heartstrings. You feel as if you are apart of the Voyager family and from start to finish - you embark on their final journey.
In closing I truly believe this ending set the standard of series finales to follow and has yet to be undone. Every moment is seamless and leaves you with no questions at the end. For being twenty-five years old, this episode feels like it could be made today, but in truth it could not be. This series finale is exactly what Gene Roddenberry had in mind when creating Star Trek. It ends on a positive note with hopeful sentiment for tomorrow and a united family forever.
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