being married is like being an anthropologist of one person in particular, and the field work only ends when one of you dies

Initiations is a story about Kazon coming of age rites. I get the feeling that the Kazon were supposed to be a major recurring force in the show, like Romulans or Klingons but in the Delta Quadrant. Instead, they're appearing rarely enough that I need to remind myself who they are. Chakotay has to…

…died and everyone assumes that they're both Marquis? These are some lingering sloppy threads in an otherwise clean if low stakes story.

…that Kim might be an imposter, implying that maybe even in this timeline the Dominion has made its way into the Federation. It's unclear what happens to this alternate timeline when Kim and Paris are able to correct things. Is it overwritten? Is there an alternate universe out there that Paris…

…Cosimo, tells him that everything is safe if he doesn't nothing and tells him that he cannot guarantee success if Kim wants to try to return to his original timeline. What is fun is how Kim's attempt to find an ally casts him as a potential Marquis agent. It's also indicated that Starfleet thinks…

…his correct timeline, but it's entirely because he thinks that he should. His crossover apparently didn't do anything to disturb the time continuum; if anything, if seems like his crossover was a way to fix some damage that happened. One of the aliens that moved him around, Kim's barista…

…blip in an otherwise dull and problematic story.
 
Non Sequitur is a story with a very intriguing premise that is broadly well executed, but lacks a lot of stakes. Kim somehow jumps timeline and wakes up in a San Fransico where he never got the Voyager assignment. Kim is determined to get back to…

…side of the galaxy, that's odd. The ending was again predictable, as this isn't the kind of show to just give a main character a kid, even if the kid will apparently be a full adult within two seasons. The best part of the story was Tuvok talking with Neelix about his family, but that's just a…

…story, but it's not that much better. There are some uncomfortable unasked and unanswered questions about the was that Ocampa maturity works and Neelix's relationship with Kes. She's like two-ish years old at this point and ready for mating, and that's odd. Even if she's an alien from the other…

…his guest appearance even more wasted. This was a shame.
 
Elogium is yet another story about Voyager seeing something that they should not get too close to, and then they get too close to it. The swarm plot was so by the numbers that it was easy to ignore. Kes technically has the more interesting…

…almost always disappoints and is very difficult to pull off. This episode did not pull it off. The return of Barclay is clever, but he lacked his trademark anxiety, which made him feel a little too different from his TNG appearances. The fact that he was one of the imagined parts of the story made…

…holographic nature. This premise gets mixed up when Torres reveals that they have been installing holographic projectors throughout the ship to allow the Doctor more movement. And then this premise gets tanked by suddenly turning the story into a "is it a dream?" plot. This is a narrative that…

…revive him. The most disappointing thing that happens is when Kar doesn't do that at all. This is a pretty bland story.
 
Projections has one of the most promising premises yet in this series: the Doctor apparently being the only crewmember left on the ship, but unable to leave sickbay due to his…

…playing a softer mentoring role than he usually does as first officer, but I don't know if he can pull it off. Instead, he has a pretty formulaic relationship with not-Nog. The most interesting thing that happens is Chakotay telling Kar to kill him, since he knows that the Doctor will be able to…

Initiations is a story about Kazon coming of age rites. I get the feeling that the Kazon were supposed to be a major recurring force in the show, like Romulans or Klingons but in the Delta Quadrant. Instead, they're appearing rarely enough that I need to remind myself who they are. Chakotay has to…

I get the impression that this was almost like an RPG more than a trick-taker. Not a swords-and-sorcery sort, but the kind that you learn in school for social work or history, something to teach someone else to process things beyond experience. It’s value doesn’t seem to be entertainment. That’s ok.

I guess it technically more accurately represents the content of the story than the title of the story does.