Tattoo 

Finding a familiar cultural symbol on an away mission, Chakotay connects with an experience he had as a child and tries to contact his spirit people.

Director:

Alexander Singer

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (based upon "Star Trek" created by), Rick Berman (created by)

Stars:

Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Mulgrew	...	Captain Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran	...	Commander Chakotay
Roxann Dawson	...	Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres (as Roxann Biggs-Dawson)
Jennifer Lien	...	Kes
Robert Duncan McNeill	...	Lieutenant Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips	...	Neelix
Robert Picardo	...	The Doctor
Tim Russ	...	Lieutenant Tuvok
Garrett Wang	...	Ensign Harry Kim
Henry Darrow	...	Kolopak
Richard Fancy	...	Alien
Douglas Spain	...	Young Chakotay
Nancy Hower	...	Ensign Samantha Wildman
Richard Chaves	...	Chief
Joseph Palmas	...	Antonio

Storyline

While on an away mission, Chakotay finds symbols and structures similar to ones he saw when he was 15 on an expedition with his father on Earth, 70,000 light-years away. When the weather, plants and animals of the planet seem to be opposed to the presence of Voyager and its crew, Chakotay seeks a way to gain the trust of the inhabitants by embracing the teaching of his father and his tribe. Meanwhile, The Doctor programs himself with flu symptoms in order to empathize with his patients.

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Plot Keywords:

24th century | ancient astronaut | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 November 1995 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

46 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alan Sims was responsible for hiring the trained hawk that swooped down and attacked Neelix. The fact that the bird was filmed on location became problematic during production, however, as the hawk did not do what was required of it. "Instead," recalled Alan Sims, "the hawk spotted a crow and went off after it in the opposite direction. It took hours to find him. The delay was a nightmare."

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Goofs

After Ensign Wildman leaves Sickbay, Kes chides the Doctor for his lack of showing compassion and tells him that he doesn't know what it's like to "feel pain" or to "be hurt", but in Star Trek: Voyager: Projections he clearly felt physical pain on several occasions, and even suffered injuries.

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Quotes

Young Chakotay: I will never make friends with bugs.
Kolopak: Maybe that's why they keep biting you.

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Soundtracks

Star Trek: Voyager - Main Title
(uncredited)
Written by Jerry Goldsmith
Performed by Jay Chattaway

User Reviews

Isn't the character Chakotay evidence that Star Trek had jumped the shark?!

Perhaps I am a mean old cuss, but I always thought that the character Chakotay was a bit silly. After all, all of his pseudo-American Indian talk of spirit guides and the like sounded to me more like some white person's idea of what a native sounded like than anything else. Here, the away team lands on a planet and Chakotay recognizes symbols from a spirit journey. Does this REALLY sound like good sci-fi or just evidence that the show really had trouble coming up with good plots? I would say the latter.

What follows are a bunch of flashbacks where Chakotay remembers his childhood and his father. All of it seems to have nothing to do with sci-fi and comes off as silly filler. Overall, a rather terrible episode and one I don't ever want to see again.