Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Relativity (1999) User Reviews

Tempus Fugit

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 20 March 2010]

When this episode opens it looks like a flashback as we see Captain Janeway taking command of Voyager but then we see somebody who should not be there; Seven of Nine. It soon becomes clear that she has been sent back in time by the crew of the 29th century time-ship USS Relativity in order to find a device that will destroy Voyager. This device was installed by somebody from the future and will cause temporal anomalies to tear the ship apart. The problem is finding when the device will be installed. When Seven is detected she is beamed out but is killed in the process. With the benefit of time travel she is recruited again and sent to another likely time frame two years before she joined Voyager's crew. When she returns there is an unusual sensor reading which Janeway remembers has happened once before; when she first came aboard Voyager. Seven is captured but manages to persuade the captain that she isn't a threat and is trying to save the ship. Seven is shocked when she finds who is trying to plant the device, it is none other than Braxton, the captain of the Relativity. The only person more shocked is Captain Braxton who is promptly arrested for the actions of his future self. This doesn't stop future-Braxton though as he manages to escape, he is chased through time by Seven but the constant time jumps are starting to effect her.

This was a good episode and while it isn't too easy to explain the multi-time line plot it makes sense when one watches it. It was nice to see Seven in a standard Star Fleet uniform when she goes time travelling, it is a pity they didn't stick with this look rather than her usual excessively figure-hugging costume.

I usually don't like temporal episodes, but this one is kind of fun.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 28 February 2015]

I usually do not like Trek episodes about temporal distortions and the like. However, there have been a few exceptional ones--such as "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and their "Trouble and Tribble-ations" episode. While this one isn't nearly as good, it is a good episode involving time distortions and time travel.

The show consists of Seven of Nine being recruited by time cops of the 29th century. They know that SOMEONE is going to sabotage Voyager with a temporal device--meaning that someone is playing games with time and is traveling through time without permission.

The show is good but it's made a bit better because it has a nice sense of humor and never takes itself very seriously. Worth seeing.

Super fun time travel adventure

[thatLukeKneller · 10/10 · 28 March 2022]

Forget plot holes and this one is fun.

As Kate said "lets just get on with it before my headache gets any worse."

Likely one of Kate's best performances even though it is a Jeri episode.

Great time travel fun

[amesmonde · 15 August 2016]

Seven of Nine is taken from the year 2375 to the 29th century. On the time ship Relativity she is sent on a mission across 2375 and 2371, to save Voyager from destruction.

Directed by Allan Eastman in contrast to the episode Timeless with a story by Nick Sagan we are treated with a full on time travelling episode. Again we see Janeway and crew die, we see Voyager destroyed and later in 'dry doc' at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yard, prior to their Delta Quadrant escapade. This instalment offers Seven in a Starfleet uniform, some phaser shootouts and an overall interesting time travel yarn. Granted a reintegration McGuffin, the ability to merge characters at the end wraps it up too nicely, but the twist and turns are enough to peak interest. With time doubles of Janeway, Seven of Nine and more, Star Trek: First Contact being mentioned by Seven as an example to explain the Pogo paradox and localized time discrepancies there's plenty of fun to be had.

Seven of Nine actress Jeri Ryan shines here and is given plenty to do as the time travelling recruit, enlisted to stop a saboteur planting a device on Voyager. Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway offers subtly between her character in different time periods which helps sell the outlandish premise.

While fans may get a kick out of the multiple Sevens, its link with Timeless and Future's End episodes where Braxton is portrayed Allan G. Royal, here in Relativity he is played by acting veteran Bruce McGill. This episode debatably works better without seeing the episode Future's End, not only because it gives the twist more of an impact, it also avoids raising more plot questions than it cares to answer.

Relativity is a fast-paced, mind-bending, roller-coaster ride time travel story and stands out as one of the most intriguing, fun episodes.

Time travel gives me a headache.

[leetylr · 9/10 · 21 August 2020]

It is always best not to take these time travel episodes too seriously and just get swept along with the momentum of the story. I find the concept of time travel fascinating but like Captain Janeway it can be extremely confusing. This episode is one of the more interesting ones and is good viewing for any Star Trek Voyager fan.

One of my favourite scenes is near the end of the episode and is extremely subtle, As the present time Janeway is hiding from past self Janeway the camera shows a close up of her face, where she shakes her head in confusion at the paradox and If you blink you would miss it. I do not know if this was scripted or was an ad lib by Kate Mulgrew either way it made me smile.

All in all a interesting and exceptionally written episode all round.

Now that's what I call a time-bomb!

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 24 July 2022]

Our friend Captain Braxton from "futures end" visits Voyager again, actually visits Voyager for the first time. The last time we saw him he was a bag man at the Long Beach pier it looked like. Oh, it was the Santa Monica pier. Southern California is all one boardwalk when it comes to beaches.

Allan Royal played that first rendition of Braxton, this time it was MacGyver's constant pilot, Bruce McGill. Who, ironically, was also in the 1994 film "Timecop" with Jean-Luc Picard Van Damme. So although I hate that they have to change actors occasionally, they chose a good person to do it this time

But, there was no Sarah Silverman, no place to put her. I never knew that they had been considering her to join the cast of Voyager after futures end.

This is a pretty unusual time travel story, it's not just happening between two different times, it is occurring at several different times, at once.

And captain Braxton, from his perch on the starship, timeship, "relativity", can snap up any person from Voyager's crew and put them anywhere in the past.

He warns everybody that he chooses, to watch out for the "Janeway factor". Unfortunately that is not something that can be done...

By the time 3/4 of this episode has traversed, we have lost 3/4 of our hair trying to keep up with all of these different segments of the story.

I love it! You can't have Star Trek without some convoluted time travel story and this is probably one of the best ones, of course this show was produced by Brannon Braga, who is the king of the star trek time travel stories. He was very good with them.

This episode was also a very good excuse to exploit Jeri Ryan. Especially when she is playing against herself...

More temporal shenanigans

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 30 October 2023]

If you think too much about most time travel stories you can fly a galaxy class starship through the plot holes, and this one prompts many questions. However, if you suspend the disbelief and go with the flow, this one is pretty enjoyable. I like the pace of the story and how it builds to a good reveal.

Seven of Nine is the main focus and this works well. Jeri Ryan leads the relatively exciting sci-fi adventure charismatically and uses the no nonsense persona very well.

It is also a good Janeway episode and the numerous versions of the character contribute well in all scenes. Katie Mulgrew is great as always.

The guest character Braxon is written in a fairly silly way, but the performance by Bruce McGill lifts it significantly.

It is one of the stronger episodes for visual storytelling, with the cinematography and editing combining nicely.

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

May we meet again in the past

[tomsly-40015 · 8/10 · 12 January 2024]

Another episode about time travel and again with Captain Braxton of the Starfleet Temporal Integrity Commission. This time, however, he's played by a different actor, which is a bit confusing - not particularly helpful in an already confusing story about time travel and alternate timelines.

This time, Seven is recruited by the Commission to prevent an attack on Voyager, which will not only destroy the entire ship and crew, but also disrupt the space-time continuum. Seven discovers that the saboteur is actually the future self of Braxton, who suffered a temporal psychosis as a result of the events in the episode "Future's End" - he spent 30 years in the past after his ship crashed on Earth by the intervention of Janeway and Voyager. In the future, he will suffer further psychological breakdowns and ultimately will lose his rank and position. He sees the only way out of this misery as erasing Voyager from the timeline once and for all.

As with all episodes about time travel, it would have been better if these stories had been planned well in advance and integrated into the earlier episodes that are now referred to. For example, the future Janeway with a shorter haircut appears on Voyager just as it is being attacked by the Kazon and meets Torres there. But she doesn't seem to notice that her captain suddenly has a different hairstyle - because at that point in this episode Janeway still had her long hair pinned up. It would have been interesting to have seen this scene in the old episode.

Furthermore, time travel paradoxes not only give Janeway a headache but also give me a headache. Actually, the catastrophe that sent Braxton into the past was prevented in the episode "Future's End" (a causal paradox). A new timeline appears to have emerged. But since Voyager and Janeway moved in the timeline that was created when the catastrophe was prevented and were sent back into the future by a Braxton who didn't spend 30 years on Earth at the end of the 20th century, it's impossible for this version of Braxton to have suffered psychosis in this exact timeline. Otherwise, the psychotic Braxton would have jumped over to the other timeline. But as always with films and episodes about time travel: Don't think too much, as you will always discover plot holes that make no sense in the end.

Somewhat Mind Numbing

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 8 September 2018]

I don't know. It's time travel and when you throw this into the mix of a science fiction series, it's hard for me to accept it. Let's face it. If in the future, time travel into the past is a possibility, it throws everything out of wack. How can anything that happens have any sort of stability. I mean, what if the Borg have this capability? Couldn't they go back to the beginning of time and simply make the universe Borg? So, we as simple viewers, are willing to accept this possibility because the writers tell us it exists. While it is entertaining, it really doesn't pass the "think" test. That is, keeping us from thinking too much.

Back to the past.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 4 February 2023]

A solid ---- if eventful - time travel episode. When it comes to these type of episodes, I always feel it would be better to review the episode after the initial viewing ---- I already know the big reveal --- Captain Braxton is the saboteur.

I don't want to be 'that guy' but this episode needed to do that cause and effect opening ---- Voyager explodes and we cut to opening credits. Ahh, I guess that's a rehash, right? I was not feeling the urgency throughout the episode despite the knowledge that Voyager was in danger.

I liked the scene of SO9 convincing Janeway to let her finished her work. Somehow Janeway forgot to mention the mobile emitter ---- Janeway you rapscallion!

It's a fun ride with a good pace but nothing presented in this episode hits an emotional nerve for me.

Plot allow time guardians to allow future technology into past future

[wguru · 7/10 · 22 July 2007]

The Doctor's mobile emitter, a result of obtaining future technology, a crashed time ship is overlooked at episodes ending. Time guardian (Cptn Braxton) makes no effort to assure the time-line is cleaned up. In other words, his century's technology. The mobile holo-emitter is allowed to be kept by Voyager's crew. Thus the result of technology obtained from some 400 years ahead of Voyager's technology) would surely violate the time guardians prime directives. Gross script error. But did lend a key aspects to broadening the Doctor's character. Regardless that the screenplay was somewhat corny and futile attempts at writing in some of the character's humorous and/or witisome line's, time travel will always be an interesting theme.