Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Fair Haven (2000) User Reviews

As an Irishman I found this hilarious

[beanslegit · 6/10 · 18 February 2021]

And touching at times.

Holodeck episode. Irish village "Fair Haven" (least Irish town name ever) circa 1900AD. Ridiculous American stereotypical Irish banter that only Americans think Irish people sound like: "Top o the mornin to ye, ara jaysus sure tis awful sunny in Ireland all of a sudden wheres the wind and rain so I can complain and me britches are itchin somethin fierce me fine beour".

Yeah I was laughing my ass off as I usually do at the depiction of Ireland here. The most glaring issue aside from the dodgy accents is the weather. It looks suspiciously like california sunshine for some reason lol.

I chuckled past the Ireland part, and found that this episode does convey Janeways loneliness in being a captain quite well. You can't bang your crew right? Sometimes I think our good captain is bout to jump her first officers bones xD

I enjoyed it personally, but as usual the writing just ain't really there in the B plot which is: YOU GUESSED IT another random space anomaly that is threatening them in as vague a way as possible.

United Ireland here we come

Weaker episode

[Tweekums · 5/10 · 8 April 2010]

I'm a fan of Voyager but this episode didn't do much for me; Tom has designed a new holodeck program for the the crew to relax in. This program takes the form of the 19th century Oirish village of Fair Haven. I can't imagine any village like it ever existed; while I didn't expect the story to go into the Irish politics of the time this place was so idyllic that if life in the real Ireland was half as good there would have been no troubles. Even accepting this as a deliberate error in 24th century history the story was fairly weak; after a visit to the local pub Captain Janeway falls in love with the holographic barman. As he isn't quite perfect she edits his program to make him more to her liking and to delete his wife. After three days she realises that she is behaving in a way that isn't exactly healthy, after all she couldn't change a real man so easily. When she stops going to the holodeck her barman becomes moody and takes to drink. Outside the holodeck Voyager is caught a storm which eventually threatens to destroy the ship, this means shutting off all unnecessary systems including the holodeck which leads to he program being damaged.

I think this is a prime example of holodeck episodes being substandard, I never really cared about any of the holographic characters as none of them seemed real in the way the Doctor does. There were one or two nice touches, I liked the crews lack of sympathy when Tuvok felt space sick and the captain's "delete the wife" order.

Delete wife.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 11 February 2023]

Well, it's come this folks ---- after 6 years of dogged resolve to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, Captain Janeway needs a man.

I think it's about time. Hey, we have the biological imperative and that's not going away in the 24th century and it was an interesting ride watching the proper Janeway experiment with fantasy for a while. If I could make a holographic girlfriend/wife I would do it in a heartbeat, so no judgements from me on this one.

My friend had this theory that Captain Janeway gets a bit crazier every season of Voyager ---- kind of a slippery slope of insanity due to the pressures of getting the crew back home and a guilt complex over stranding them in the first place. This is the pressure relief valve in my head canon for her.

It's a tricky spot for Voyager here ---- you have the first female captain who is going to be (or is) a role model for many women and how do you handle sexuality in a tasteful modern way? Well, make it complexed --- complexed like women are.

The idea of Janeway altering the Holodeck character to her specifications are totally in line with the control issues a captain would certainly have. Classic Janeway.

Abysmal

[vsbond · 19 April 2010]

By far the worst episode of Voyager.

Hopelessly saccharine.

This kind of fantasy about Ireland (the characters' and the writers') is incomprehensible to anyone not from the United States of America and particularly indigestible to those of us who actually know Ireland.

The stereotyping is incredibly ignorant and the clichés come thick and fast.

Diverse characters inexplicably find fascination in the society of a rather dim collection of locals. Why should Captain Janeway - supposedly an intelligent woman - suddenly find the most inane of utterances so amusing?

Good concept but does not quite work

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 18 July 2020]

Captain Janeway and a character from a holographic program fall in love.

Exploring loneliness and the need for intimacy and stimulation from the perspective of the Voyager crew was an excellent idea. Viewing it twenty years later you see parallels with today's virtual world where people are connected more through technology than human contact. In many cases there is no contact with other human beings at all, just with various forms of digital information (Gaming/pornography etc). With the above in mind you could say this was a pretty accurate prediction.

The difficulty with an episode lasting 40-45 minuets is how to convince me that the characters have fallen in love in a short space of time. What makes this one particularly hard to swallow is the limited amount of time the two characters are on screen together due to everything else that's going on.

Also problematic was their lack of chemistry. Being told that characters are in love is not enough for it to translate on screen. Writers need to place the protagonists into interesting situations from which love will naturally develop. You need to care about them or at the very least have some interest in what they are going through.

That being said, it does have its moments. Janeway adjusting Sullivan's character traits was good, along with her conversation with The Doctor. I particularly enjoyed the crew attempting to make Tuvok throw up during a bout of space-sickness.

The Irish stereotyping might annoy some, but it didn't bother me as I am Welsh and wasn't offended by 'How Green Was My Valley' or all the other Welsh stereotypes seen in popular culture. This is supposed to be a program created by someone centuries into the future and I don't think it's meant to be taken that seriously.

It could have been great but didn't make me care enough.

It's a 5.5/10 for me but I round upwards.

A hollowdeck adventure....blah!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 2 March 2015]

One of the most annoying types of episodes on many of the Trek shows were the holodeck episodes. They often had NOTHING to do with the series and often went in crazy directions which seem to have nothing to do with sci-fi. Well, this is EXACTLY what you have in "Fair Haven". The show does zero to further the overall plot of the series and it just seems like filler.

The show begins with the opening up of a new holo program by Mr. Paris. It's Fairhaven--an incredibly idealized Irish village circa 1900. Everyone is nice, the weather is always lovely and everyone acts like extras from the movie "The Quiet Man"! Eventually the Captain enters this program and soon is intrigued by a studly holo- man. She isn't 100% impressed and alters his program a bit. Later, however, she has second thoughts. After all, it's rather yicky to imagine a woman getting it on with a pretend man.

The show has very, very in the way of danger or excitement. There's a dull space storm and a bunch of Irish folk and that's all. Dull.

A brave episode for the times.

[nadanandv · 10/10 · 5 April 2020]

Ignore the Irish inaccuracies. This explores loneliness, sexuality and desire in a woman, a change from looking at it from the viewpoint of Kirk and Riker. Watched this for the first time 20 years after it was made, in the times of me too. The fact that Hollywood and the producers allowed this in interesting, especially listening to the female actors talking about how they were treated on the series. We also know one of the biggest use of internet is for social purposes from the most innocent to the less socially accepted. Why would holo-technology be any different. The previous episode and TNG also explored holo-addiction. Loved it. A refreshing and brave episode.

Different Doesn't Make It Good

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 11 September 2018]

What we have here is a romantic comedy in the style of some 1940's Maureen O'Hara movie. Paris and Kim create a holodeck program which takes place in an Irish village. It has all the stereotypical citizenry, including a barkeeper who looks like a fashion model. The Captain, lonely most of the time, takes a tumble for him, forgetting he is a hologram for a time. Perhaps we should have a comedy show where they occasionally dip into science fiction, like "Mork and Mindy" or "Happy Days." I normally don't have strong opinions. The story is sloppy and sentimental, but does nothing to carry on the journey home.

Ah, the Futility of Trying to Change Others!

[spasek · 8/10 · 18 June 2021]

This episode is fantastic character study that pretty much everyone in the world can relate to on some level.

Captain Janeway finds herself attracted to a hologram character in Tom Paris's newest holodeck creation. Unwittingly, after her first introduction with Michael Sullivan, she gets into the program parameters and makes a number of changes to character to make him more appealing to her. Oh, if it were so easy to change others!

The irony with Janeway, is that even after she's made the character to her liking, he is still "flawed" to the point where she abandons the character entirely.

What is intriguing about this episode is the fact that most people enter into relationships with the hopes of changing their partner. If it doesn't start out that way, then as the relationship progresses, one/both partners begin to wish the other person was different. Of course, this is an impossible undertaking, for the only person you can change is yourself.

Relationships are sacred because of what is brought to the table. Partners represent mirrors, shining back to us all those things we love about ourselves, AND all of those things that we don't.

It is just as wrong to try and change someone as it is to change ourselves in order to please someone else. Both endeavors miss the point.

99.9% of human relationships are conditional ones. They are always based upon "if you do this, I'll do such and such." As soon as the "contract" is broken, so goes the love. Unconditional love is accepting a person for who they are. It is not based upon "if" clauses and conditions, for true love has none. As soon as anyone tries to make conditions of love, it ceases to be love. And love cannot be shared with anyone else if you don't first have it for yourself, because you cannot give what you do not have.

By the end of the episode, Janeway understands what she's done and why it didn't work. She knows that she has to be accepting of people, "flaws," "warts," idiosyncrasies, and all! She even smiles when she asks the computer to not allow her to make any changes in the future.

This episode should almost be required viewing for anyone who enters into relationships looking to get something out of it, rather than putting something into it.

Voyager hits a new low

[Jack Doyle · 1/10 · 15 August 2009]

A lot of voyager episodes were pretty bad, it had the weakest cast of any of the the 5 series, But this episode is so bad i think it gave me cancer. First you have some of the worst Irish accents ever, this from a franchise that stopped Colm Meaney using his real accent. What makes it worse is the constant references the characters make to the authenticity yet this is entirely an American fantasy of Ireland that bears no semblance to any reality. The plot is generally substandard, but even this is too much for Kate Mulgrew to carry. Its an awful episode, rather than watch go watch the wind that shakes the barley or an episode of TNG or DS9.

The FUN of the Irish

[tomsly-40015 · 4/10 · 20 January 2024]

After Janeway meets a handsome man who looks exactly like her type in one of Tom's boring holo-simulations, she quickly realizes that he is too ordinary and apparently too stupid and unread for her. So she quickly reprograms this character to not only put him intellectually on her own level, but also to create him visually more to her own liking (Janeway's Pygmalion moment). She even deletes his wife, who Tom programmed for him. And at the next interlude, this now educated man sits on a bench on the train platform and is lost in reading poetry. After just a minute, both of them are completely in love with each other and would like to spend the rest of their lives together - but I didn't notice any real chemistry between them. Especially since Janeway created her dream man herself, so to speak, and as a result he has no will of his own.

Anyway, I'm surprised that Star Trek always shows the holodeck as a happy place to pass the time. If you're honest, most people would take advantage of such an opportunity to live out their physical needs and indulge in the wildest orgies. Essentially, for many people, the holodeck would be more like a large virtual house of pleasure. This was brought to the point in the episode "Primal Urges" of the series "The Orville" when Bortus does exactly that. But Star Trek only ever shows us these intellectually and morally highly developed people who have left such desires behind. Even though it's not shown in this episode, it's still clear that Janeway didn't just listen to poems by the lake with her new dream man...

However, I doubt that people would fall in love with holograms all the time. In the end it's like a computer game that you play with cheat codes. It's fun at first, but then it becomes boring because it's no longer a challenge. If you know that this holographic person is not real and that they are what you want them to be, then the magic is gone, the mystery is gone. Later, Janeway herself struggles with exactly this fact. Even the smallest disturbing feature that would destroy her perfect illusion of a partner could be eliminated in no time with a computer command.

And why is it that everyone is always interested in such absolutely boring holoworlds like Ireland in a 19th century setting? People would rather throw themselves into exciting party nights in a glittering futuristic metropolis with bars, gambling, bombastic music shows and lots of distraction and variety. Instead, they bore themselves to death with ring tossing and church sermons in a sleepy Irish town full of hillbillies. And why are the streets of this small town so clean if the only means of transportation there is horses? The streets must be full of horse manure!

Something Different

[Zoraski · 10/10 · 22 October 2012]

What a great episode. I know, some of the other reviews are upset about the stereotyping of Ireland, but they have completely missed the point! This is about the Captain and her solitude. It is also in the future and a made up holoprogram. The Doctor says, she can't have a relationship with anyone so it may as well been a hologram. Plus, it hints that the crew, and the Captain use the holodeck for "special" needs. It is nice to see that they centered the episode around a woman and her needs. According to Voyager, they have been in space, what? 5 years. 5 years!? That is a long time. I thought it was a sweet episode and something different. I love space and sci-fi, but it is nice to see an episode about the characters. Especially such an intimate look at Captain Janeway.

Stereotyped and pathetic

[derekcharles · 1/10 · 18 May 2024]

The Voyager crew invent an "Irish" holodeck town replete with every stereotype Hollywood has ever invented about us. As an Irishman, I've always felt that these kind of tropes show up the people who buy into them more than they do the Irish they're insulting but there's something about this episode that rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps, it's that Star Trek was always supposed to be forward looking. Their characters were supposed to be immune to the types of stereotypical thinking that morphs too easily from patronising to outright racism. That a bunch of 24th century Federation citizens could be so clueless and pathetically limited in their own understanding of an entire nation of people just feels wrong. Of course, it was written by 20th century Americans and so one could assume its showing nothing more than what we already knew-that US writers of the 1990's were as clueless about real Irish culture as they were in the 30's and 40's. However, there are enough glowing reviews of this episode by Americans writing in the 2020's to conclude that too many of them still revel in such patronising reductions of whole nationalities. "Make him more curious about the world around him..." Janeway commands when changing the Michael Sullivan character because well...all Irish people must be parochial-and even with all her sophistication upgrades, he's still not averse to the odd bar brawl. The irony is-and I say this as an Irishman who has been to the US dozens of times-that by and large, Americans tend to be more parochial than Irish people. As a small country, looking outside is almost our default position. It's not for nothing we punch above our weight in producing writers, singers, and other artists. But alas, some people are never happier than when their ignorant stereotypes are being indulged an erroneously confirmed.

I absolutely love this episode!

[tom992 · 10/10 · 30 January 2022]

I love fair haven, it's a great episode. I love seeing the crew enjoying themself in this open holodeck program, also the atmosphere of the Irish scenery and also many laughs in this episode. We're also seeing a more vulnerable Janeway, seeking some love and companionship. It doesn't always have to be space battles and medical emergencies. Sit back and relax, Very enjoyable episode!

Sigh...

[feestjeuuu · 4/10 · 5 August 2017]

An interesting episode that showcases Janeway's humanity through her natural desires, but yet again there's more of her arrogance that everyone seems to just ignore.

Like many episodes of Voyager: a truly great concept, but a disappointing execution.

An inherent problem

[slackersmom · 5/10 · 7 August 2017]

Fair Haven is another example (one of many) of Voyager episodes which mirror episodes of TNG. In this case I'm speaking of the TNG episode which deals with the Professor Moriarty character on the holodeck.

These two episodes (and others like them) suffer, in my opinion, from a fatal and really stupid flaw: holodeck characters should NOT be able to reason and react the same way as living, breathing beings do. Sentience, self-awareness, reaction to crew behavior-- none of it should be possible--under any circumstances. Imagine playing World of Warcraft or some other online game, and your character turns to look directly at the screen--at YOU--and addresses you directly, knowing that you're not really a level-six mage or whatever. It can't happen in real life, and I have a hard time believing that the advanced engineers of the 24th century allow such bad programming to let it happen on Federation ship holodecks.

For this reason, the fact that the entire premise on which the episode is based is faulty, I honestly can't 'buy' the action in this episode, and can't watch it.

Top of The Nebula To You !

[raydvd451 · 9/10 · 11 August 2009]

Watched this episode last night and really enjoyed it.

The majority of the episode is based in the virtual town of 'Fair Haven ' where we see the loneliness of Captain Jaynewaye finding solace in a holographic bartender.

All the actors look to be really enjoying there ' r + r ' from space and the stand out scenes are Tom and Harry envisioning there perfect coastal scene and a somewhat seasick Tuvok struggling to keep his lunch intact.

Although my fav is a small scene stealing clip of Seven frequenting the local alehouse.

Oh God.....

[matthewlysaght · 1/10 · 10 June 2022]

I'm currently rewatching Voyager and have arrived at this disaster of an episode.

What is it with the Trek production team that they consistently depict Ireland as a place of Whimsy, mysticism and Diddly-aye music?

Within 2 minutes we're introduced to a local who goes off on some Oirish tale complete with winks and begorrahs about being in trouble with the wife.

Later, Harry Kim is warned to "stay away from Maggie O'Halloran" as they head to the pub at 9am.

Turns out Janeway has needs, and a nebula or something is threatening the ship.

Please. Stop.

I mean, Voyager isn't great - probably the weakest of the 3 late 90s series - but this isn't just scraping the barrell, more punching a hole in the bottom and digging deeper.

Loved It

[hnwaller · 10/10 · 5 December 2019]

This is one of my favorite Voyager episodes. No, it's not the kind of plot one would expect in a Star Trek series. But that is one of the reasons I like it. What a refreshing change and what an interesting insight into Captain Janeway! The Irish setting surely helps as I've always loved Ireland. I spent a glorious week there several years ago. And, if you think about it, nothing could be more quintessentially sci-fi than an episode set on the holodeck!

What if Captain Picard did this?

[robertjbailey-02302 · 2/10 · 21 May 2024]

Fair Haven is an episode about Janeway and her frustrated romantic nature. I won't bother commenting in detail about the not atypical crass sterotyping of Irish folk often seen in Star Trek. Others have covered this in detail. My issue is with the way Janeway behaves. Look, in reality the holodecks would be used as an outlet for, let's say, the crews' more base instincts. In fact we often see characters in this and the other series creating holodeck fantasy programs for e.g. Indulging their need for fighting either as training or just for the fun of it. The more erotic types of fantasy are hinted at in Deep Space 9, where Quark runs the holo suites and this is what I mean - a crew lost in space would use the holodeck for sexual encounters as Janeway does here. My point though is that had Picard been portrayed creating a sex toy in the shape of a female character as Janeway does when altering the barman's character and attributes, I suspect there would have been a greater moral outcry.

Damn good episode!

[mullins-brandon · 10/10 · 22 June 2010]

What a blast! The writers of the Voyager series consistently outdo themselves but this episode is above and beyond even for them. Tom Paris constructs a wonderful holo deck simulation reminiscent of 19th century southern Ireland, and it catches on with the entire crew, even Janeway falls for it's allure. The accents are a bit off in the simulation, but there are several wonderful performances by the ship's crew in the program. One particularly entertaining scene involves Seven getting hit on in an Irish pub after beating one of the locals at "rings". I don't wish to spoil too much of the show, but give it a watch!

Best episode I have seen so far with the exception of Pathfinder.

And did Those Feet in Ancient times...

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 24 August 2013]

Walk upon england's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God, On England's pleasant pastures seen?

...NOPE!

The number one rule of Hollywood is, they NEVER get details right, especially in TV shows. Also, Southern California Ain't Ireland or England. It wasn't in National Velvet and it wasn't in this Episode.

The problem with certain people groups is that they want depictions of their fine green and pleasant land to be exactly realistic. Sorry, nope: It ain't all about YOU. Besides, it's a Holo-Novel. And it ain't gonna be realistic even if filmed IN that locale. I thought this show was about Voyager and her crew and how they cope with Borg on one side and unknown aliens on the other. So, every single negative review of this episode is invalid. What is this, Lassie come Home?

I loved these Fairhaven Episodes, obviously they can't catch the exact look of the area, besides, it was an area that never existed even in the real Ireland. And Paris made it up, and he's as American as Apple Pie so if ya wanna blame someone, blame Tom Paris, it's always his fault anyway.

This episode and it's sequel "Spirit Folk" are nice diversions from the grim storyline being told on either side of it. And it shows that Janeway is human after all.

When I was watching the series while it was being broadcast I was hoping for more of these little escapades in Fairhaven. They collected quite a good array of character actors for the town people to populate the place, and they used them in 2 episodes. That was a feat. You see what makes these two Eps great are these town people. Who cares if their dialect is not right?

Dialects and accents in UK change from one town to the other, so no TV show has never gotten that right, ever. Movies? Sometimes they got it right. It's just the basic idea. You see, I don't care how they depict the USA in UK media, they always get US wrong too. The funniest thing to watch are the War-Movies of the 1940's made in UK, when they show 'American" characters, they flub it up beautifully. And it seems that the negative reviews all share that same tired complaint, "It ain't like Ireland" - So what and Who Cares.

It was this idea, that they were to run the town 24/7 so it was there all the time. When ya do that in any Holo Novel, of course the people will start developing into something other than Holodeck Characters. And Janeway had been Celibate for 6 years, so it was about time.

A fun episode

[oddonethree · 10/10 · 28 August 2018]

I had trouble watching the series. It just didn't hold me like past series. I recently caught this episode on BBC. It was fun. I liked the small Irish town of Fair Haven. I'd want to visit there. The episode was well cast. I personally like the holodeck episodes, on any of the series.

One of the best episodes

[robin-t-booth-842-715532 · 10/10 · 11 November 2013]

The Fair Haven holodeck program is just what a holodeck should be - wish fulfilment. Stuck in the Delta Quadrant with access to holodeck technology it's a wonder the crew don't spend even more time exploring Earth, their much longed for destination.

Janeway is excellent in this episode and there is also fun from the Doctor, Chakotay and Seven. It is not an episode of high peril, but one that explores Janeway in a very satisfying way, presenting both the joy and disillusionment that comes from playing God with another personality. Janeway's choices throughout the episode struck me as entirely natural and reinforced her strong personality, without leaving her inhumanly untouched or uninvolved with the crew's only escape into fantasy.