Parturition
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 9 October 1995
- ON
- UPN
- STARDATE
- None given
- DIRECTED BY
- Jonathan Frakes
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 123
WRITTEN BYWritten by Tom Szollosi
Rivals for Kes's affection, Neelix and Paris are sent together on a mission to a hostile planet, where they find something neither expected to have to look after.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Tension between Neelix and Tom Paris over Kes finally boils over in an argument in the mess hall. Janeway sends the two of them together to search a nearby planet for food, and their shuttle crashes on a world shrouded in poisonous trigemic vapour. Sheltering in a cave, they find a nest of eggs, and one of them hatches into a reptilian infant. While Voyager tries to reach the planet past an alien ship that is blocking its way, the two rivals have to cooperate to keep the newborn alive. They realise it needs the toxic vapour outside to feed, and nurse it back to health with a medical dropper, while suffering the effects of the gas themselves. They refuse to be rescued until an adult of the species arrives to collect its young. Back aboard Voyager, Kes notices that the two men have found a new respect for each other, and the beginnings of a friendship.
- 01Tom Szollosi has the sole writing credit, but Memory Alpha notes that Michael Piller carried out an uncredited rewrite.
- 02The hatchling was a cable-operated puppet that needed an eight-person team to work it.
- 03Features the first on-screen use of “Planet Hell”, the production crew's long-standing nickname for Star Trek's standard rocky planet set.