Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Phage (1995) User Reviews

A bad day for Neelix!

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 10 June 2010]

When Voyager discovers an apparently large dilithium deposit on a planetoid an away team is dispatched but despite what their scanners say they find no deposits. Neelix calls in to say he has detected a life sign but before the rest of the away team can get to him he is attacked by an alien who shoots him with a strange weapon. When the others get to him he can't breathe; once back on Voyager the Doctor's scans reveal that the alien weapon had transported his lungs out of his body. The Doctor manages to give him a pair of holographic lungs but if he is to survive he will never be able to move again unless Voyager can find the people who stole his lungs. The trail leads them to a hollow asteroid but once inside they can't find the alien ship as the asteroid's inside is like a hall of mirrors. When they ultimately find the aliens they find they are the Vidiians, a race suffering from a terrible disease called the phage. It turns out it is too late for them to give Neelix his lungs back but their advanced medicine means they can save him by transplanting one of Kes's lungs.

This was a pretty good episode; the Vidiians are a especially frightening species as there is something particularly frightening about having ones organs stolen in such a way, more frightening than killing the victim first. As well as having a gripping story this episode provided some nice character development for Kes and the Doctor; Jennifer Lien and Robert Picardo did well in the roles.

Put your lung into it.

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 25 March 2020]

Neelix decides it's time to Cowboy Up and pleads with Janeway to go on an away mission to a planet with much needed resources. Bad news for Neelix as he becomes the living embodiment of what was once used as a scary story to tell people before visiting Las Vegas and he is now short a set of lungs.

This episode is primarily about developing the Doctor character as being a highly capable and knowledgeable physician. At first he quotes the grumpy space doctor, "I am an EMH not a miracle worker..." but some loving support by Kes appeals to his ability to think outside his holographic box. Through the forces of space magic his manages to save Neelix life with holographic lungs. The idea of sitting in a bed looking up at the ceiling for the rest of his life is not exactly appealing to Neelix and Janeway gets on top of finding these harvesters and getting back neelixs lungs.

We come to the part where I decided that this episode deserves an 8 instead of a 7. Instead of Janeway finding the bad guys and kicking some ass ---- She finds Vidiian and LISTENS to what they have to say and then she identifies and talks with sympathy are the horrendous living conditions they have to endure. What would human beings do if put in the same position? Lay down and die? This moment of compassion ends up paying off for Neelix --- The Vidiian want to help and they discover that all members are compatible and KES ultimately signs up for the job.

Right out of the gate Voyager starts strong. It's got heart and soul.

Strongest episode so far with good performances

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 3 May 2022]

Neelix's lungs are stolen.

This is a solid episode with a strong premise and good character development.

It sounds like a 'Spock's Brain' tribute, but it's light years away from the camp farce that was the original series' most infamous hour. The story is plausible and the antagonists have complexity, as well as good makeup and costuming.

The only hitch really is that we know Neelix, as a regular cast member, is going to be okay so there is no big drama associated with the medical problem. However, the dilemma is more about Janeway's handling of the incident which involves a quintessentially Star Trek resolution.

There are some very good character moments. Janeway shows both strength an compassion as the writers show the difficult position she and Voyager are in when interacting with life so far away from home. Katie Mulgrew gives, for me, her best performance so far.

Neelix, Kes, and the Doctor also have good scenes, with Kes in particular standing out as an admirable character. Ethan Phillips, Jennifer Lien, and Robert Picardo are some of the strongest cast members and it's good to see them sharing the screen so much.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

Star Trek: Voyager - Phage

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 8 January 2017]

This episode introduced us to the organ-stealing Vidiians, with one of them firing on Neelix, taking his lungs while part of an away team transported to a planetoid in the hopes they might produce an energy source. Doctor develops a breakthrough procedure, inventing a machine that produces "holo-lungs" for Neelix so he will survive, stemming from holograph technology. While Neelix feels imprisoned and depressed while harnessed in the holo-lung machine, Janeway has the Voyager follow after the Vidiian vessel in the hopes of securing Neelix's stolen organs so that he will be restored to normal. The Vidiian ship retreats inside an asteroid as these mirrors mask its location, with the Voyager cautiously following them, eventually using minimum phaser fire to produce a ricochet effect which will reveal where they're hiding. One of my favorite character relationship developments on the show is Doctor and Kes; at first, Kes staying at Neelix's side while he's in the holo-lung machine, and serving also as a support system for the Doctor as he adapts to the lifeforms on board the Voyager, she a source of encouragement for him as he evolves with all the new experiences that arrive in his Sickbay. Here in this episode, the groundwork for their ongoing friendship is laid…she agrees happily to become his medical assistant and learn from him (so much medical knowledge is incorporated into his programming, and his creator developed him to adopt experiences to further evolve him) because Tom Paris is just not cut out for the Sickbay. The Vidiian couple, ravaged by the Phage (a flesh/organ/cell eating disease that deteriorates the body of their species), are eventually transported to the Voyager…Kate Mulgrew once again just kills it with her reactions to their horrible situation, feeling pity and remorse for their condition but rage at how Neelix was attacked and raped of his lungs. How the Vidiian couple lament of their disease, how they were an artistic and scientific species reduced to organ stealing because their bodies deteriorate due to the Phage is just heart-wrenching; Janeway can barely look at them without wanting to break down into tears because of the agony and empathy she feels for them. Their genius, especially in regards to their medical knowledge, can be of use to Neelix, resulting in a pat, happy ending because of a diagnosis that doesn't correspond with Doctor's…that a lung from Kes could be transplanted to Neelix and made compatible. The annoyance of Neelix's stay in Sickbay for Doctor is quite amusing, and the way the direction conveys the entrapment within the confines of the holo-lung machine is superbly claustrophobic…the whole ordeal certainly builds sympathy for Neelix's plight. The makeup effects for the Phage victims is gruesome...the makeup department did a good job of provoking a response concerning their flesh/body debilitating and ravaging Phage.

While They Were There, They Should Have Looked for Spock's Brain

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 10 August 2018]

This is a much more sophisticated episode than anything in the original series, but the ability to steal a guy's lungs seemed a bit much (just as Spock's brain was removed). What makes this work is that Neelix acts the way anyone would under his circumstances. The villains (if we can call them that) have ridiculous powers that are so beyond the pale that I never accepted it. The positive is that given this lunatic plot, it is still quite well done.

An intriguing episode

[Paularoc · 6/10 · 12 July 2012]

As a member of an away team in search of a large dilithium deposit, an alien attacks Neelix. Upon Neelix's transport to the ship's medical center, the Doctor discovers that Neelix's lungs have been removed. The Voyager, in the hope of finding and re-taking Neelix's lungs, tracks down the aliens and find that they are a race being destroyed by a disease called "the phage." Neelix's lungs have already been allocated to one of the aliens but this race is so medically skilled they are able to transplant one of Kes' lungs to Neelix. So, the aliens weren't evil, just desperate to save their own people. An interesting philosophic conundrum. I never particularly liked this episode except for its depiction of the growing friendship between the Doctor and Kes. Perhaps the makeup people did too good a job – the aliens were really ghastly looking. Also I perhaps didn't like it because its storyline of a disease ravaging a people is not that far-fetched. This is quite an intriguing episode.

Neelix and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 3 February 2015]

The newest (and most talkative) member of the Voyager crew, Mr. Neelix, is trying to be helpful. So he informs Captain Janeway that there is a planet nearby rich in dilithium. Not surprisingly, they stop to mine the rare mineral. But what IS a surprise is that this is actually a trap--and a weird alien pops out of a wall and steals Neelix's lungs! Stealing the body part isn't the only weird thing-- but how quickly end efficiently. As for Neelix, the holo-doctor is able to temporarily keep him alive--but it's only temporary and they need to find his missing lungs. The trail leads to some freaky folks who steal body parts-- and you'll see more of these folks in future shows.

Although the show does have a plot hole, the idea of intergalactic body part thieves is pretty cool. These morally questionable beings and their plight are very interesting and I enjoyed the episode completely. As for the plot hole, you sure would think that by the 24th century that they'd be able to synthesize organs. After all, scientists today have already had some success in experiments in this area and talk is that the production of replacement organs could occur in the next decade or two. So, you'd THINK that the Voyager folks could have quickly replaced Neelix's lungs AND helped the freaky aliens with their viral plight.

Phage

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 14 March 2023]

Mr Neelix thinks there is a planet nearby that is a rich source of dilithium. Just the supplies that Voyager needs if it is ever going to reach the Alpha quadrant.

However this is a complex trap and Neelix ends up having his lungs stolen. It is up to the Emergency Medical Hologram to keep Neelix alive but the doctor really needs a nurse. Neelix gets overanxious.

Captain Janeway leads a crew to find out just who is stealing body parts and can they get the lungs back.

The story introduces the Viidans. A race ravaged by disease. Janeway discovers that it is too late to get Neelix's lungs back However the Viidans have advanced medical technology to transplant one of Kes's lung to Neelix.

It does raise the question as to why both the Federation and the Vidaans did not have advanced medicine to replicate or replace the organs. Star Trek: TNG had advanced robotics in Data.

There are moral issues here which is very much original Star Trek. It was odd that Janeway tells the Viidans not to take the organs from another member of the Voyager crew. That implies it is ok to do it tom others. It means the moral issues raised were skin deep.

Great macabre episode

[leersaunders · 8/10 · 10 March 2021]

I really liked this episode, in fact I'm watching the whole series from the beginning for the first time and enjoying it more than I thought I would. The only thing I don't understand is why the alien that stole neelix's lungs didn't offer to give him one back and instead took kes's instead!

Organ trade. Ok.

[makiefer-87128 · 7/10 · 18 March 2024]

Alien organ traders. Admittedly, 'Vidians' need those organs because their own organs give up. In a universe, where you can beam things out of their place. Such as organs. Why don't that race target the nicest guy of Voyager's crew. It turns out they do. Everything about this idea is just brutal. But the episode is in fact watchable. And believe it or not, the organ traders end on a romantic note in a later episode. There is this one thing ST Voyager as a show never did: Have, or even meet "Crusaders." Crusaders were everywhere in the 1990s. Not just in Europe. Competitor show Babylon 5, that aired the same years, was packed with Crusader: By Crusaders, I mean people who seem to know exactly what they are doing. They claimed they assembled your computers, built whole famous websites, and were even good at sports. They were born in the late 70s, grew up in the yuppie 80s, and thought they had it all figured out by the 90s. Yup, as teenagers. They don't exist anymore, but were everywhere in the 90s. Watch Babylon 5 to see some real Crusaders, and learn to appreciate this beautiful show Star Trek: Voyager. Which couldn't spare us organ trade, but did avoid the brutal 90s Crusaders.

A riveting episode.

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 25 September 2023]

While I can understand some folks' concerns that the character of Neelix is overly annoying (after all, as 'Phage' opens, he's turned Janeways' private dining room into a galley), it would be VERY hard not to sympathize with him here. He tries his best to be useful, as here he's informed the Voyager crew of a rogue planetoid that is supposedly rich in dilithium. However, while exploring this planetoid, Neelix himself is victimized by creatures who remove his lungs. It's up to the Voyager crew to track down these creatures and return Neelix's lungs to him *quickly*.

Here, Ethan Phillips is particularly effective, especially since The Doctors' efforts to help him have forced him into an almost completely immobile position. Phillips has to act basically with his eyes, and he does a great job. Robert Picardo is terrific as The Doctor is feeling overwhelmed, having to tend to so many medical needs without so much as a single nurse or assistant. Jennifer Lien is wonderful as we get to see how powerful and touching a friendship Kes has with Neelix. Thanks to some sharp (but not exactly unpredictable) writing, we can even feel sorry for the antagonists (Cully Fredricksen and Stephen Rappaport, buried under some impressive makeup), who are able to redeem themselves due to superior medical technology.

While there is time for some good humor (The Doctor pulls a "Doctor McCoy" by quipping, "I'm a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator."), this is a poignant episode that is sure to touch some viewers. We can certainly see how willing Janeway is to take risks, especially if it means saving the life of one of her crewmen.

Eight out of 10.