Death Wish
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 19 February 1996
- ON
- UPN
- STARDATE
- 49301.2
- DIRECTED BY
- James L. Conway
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 130
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Michael Piller; story by Shawn Piller
Voyager accidentally frees a member of the Q Continuum imprisoned inside a comet, and his first wish is to die, which brings Q to stop him.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Voyager accidentally releases a being imprisoned inside a comet, who turns out to be a member of the Q Continuum. His first act is to try to end his life, and when he is stopped he inadvertently makes every man on the ship vanish. Q soon arrives to return him to his prison, but the prisoner asks Janeway for asylum. Q offers to send Voyager home if she will refuse, but Janeway insists on a formal hearing. The prisoner, who takes the name Quinn, argues that for the immortal Q, endless existence has become unbearable, and that being forced to live diminishes the value of all life. Witnesses summoned to the hearing include Sir Isaac Newton, a hippie named Maury Ginsberg and Commander William Riker. Persuaded by Quinn's case, Janeway grants him asylum, and Q reluctantly makes him mortal. Quinn then takes poison and dies, and Q admits that he provided it, moved by the courage Quinn has shown.
- 01Michael Piller's son Shawn, then 23, pitched the story at the dinner table. It was the first of their many collaborations.
- 02UPN held the episode back for the February sweeps to make the most of John de Lancie and Jonathan Frakes returning to Star Trek.
- 03With this episode, de Lancie and Frakes joined Armin Shimerman and Richard Poe as the only actors to have played the same character in three Star Trek series.