During a routine visit to a planet Kes and Neelix leave the main group and explore on their own; upon finding a shrine Kes walks towards it but is shocked by an energy field protecting it. She is beamed back to the ship but the Doctor has no idea how to bring her out of the coma. Captain Janeway demands information about the energy field but is told that only the monks may go near it and the secular government doesn't interfere with them. Researching the planets history a case is found of a king who when to the shrine to plead with the ancestral spirits to save his son who had been caught in the energy field. The captain argues successfully that she too should be allowed be plead her case; the monks agree. When she goes to the planet a woman who is to be her guide meets her. After going through a series of ordeals she believes she is ready to save Kes but she still won't come out of her coma; in the end she must make a leap of faith and do something that could kill both herself and Kes if she is wrong.
While not the most exciting episode it was nice to see the captain have to rely on something other than science or engineering to solve a problem, it also made a nice change to see Chakotay take a sceptical stance and side with science rather than the spiritual rather than the captain.
While not the most exciting episode it was nice to see the captain have to rely on something other than science or engineering to solve a problem, it also made a nice change to see Chakotay take a sceptical stance and side with science rather than the spiritual rather than the captain.