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The Primal Joy of Watching Captain Janeway Fight Giant Viruses

Friends, I wish I had something more profound to say. But I’ve been having a really good time rewatching Kathryn Janeway get her Ellen Ripley on in Star Trek: Voyager ’s season three episode “Macrocosm,” and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact Kate Mulgrew gets to phaser her way through a viral pandemic .

Star Trek Voyager: Macrocosm

When I participated in a world record try For the most comic book characters in one place, the entry check person had a tablet to look up each person if they didn't know the character right away. I'm surprised they didn't have a similar set up so they could be sure to get it right and to try to include all the people they could.

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Published Mar 18, 2020

Voyager’s Macrocosm is a Covid-19 Cautionary Tale

And right now, it's just what we need.

StarTrek.com

Science fiction is often a vehicle for what might be, and many shows play with the idea of an illness outbreak sometime during their run. Star Trek: Voyager is no exception. While they played with the idea of a virus and isolation in the season two episode “Resolutions,” their second foray into the genre is an entirely different animal.

Season three’s “Macrocosm,” is a cautionary tale that fits perfectly into COVID-19 and social distancing. Fans may remember it as the episode featuring giant viruses that had Janeway walking around in her tank top being a commando badass. Who could forget the knife vs. tentacle fight? However, peel back the layers, and the narrative behind those events has, regretfully, aged well in the time of coronavirus.

Let’s start by looking at the point of infection. The virus gets on board Voyager because the Doctor is eager to try out his new mobile emitter and wants to do what physicians do: help people who are sick. Janeway and Neelix are on an away mission with the Tak Tak, and that leaves Chakotay in charge of Voyager , who allows the Doctor to go down to the planet’s surface and aid a group of ill miners. The Doctor says that since he’s a hologram he won’t get sick and there is minimal risk to the crew.

A statement that proves to be very, very wrong.

When the Doctor is transported back up, the organisms are transported along with him. They move so quickly that it only takes a few seconds for the viruses to migrate to the transporter buffer. From there it infects the bio-neural gel-packs of the ship and eventually the crew. If we need to hold up an episode to make the case for social distancing this is the one. The crew’s directive to seek out new life and new civilizations (while also trying to get home) is all well and good, but had they not sent the Doctor the virus wouldn’t have gotten onto Voyager . It was the Doctor’s hubris in thinking he was immune that ultimately endangered the ship.

Fortunately, Voyager is a closed system, so as long as crewmembers didn’t leave the ship the virus couldn’t spread throughtout the galaxy. However, that doesn’t stop the virus from making its way amongst the crew. That’s when you remember the Tak Tak, who show up at the worst possible moment. Their answer to stopping the spread is, “Kill them all!” because there is no cure for the virus. Suddenly, the Tak Tak’s top of the episode send-off, “Good health, strong body, clear mind,” starts to make sense when you realize these guys probably knew this was going around the Delta Quadrant. How much did you want to bet that didn’t come up in the trade negotiations when they talked about the sector?

This episode is not saying, burn down your neighbor’s house if they’re infected with COVID-19. (Seriously, do not do that; that’s arson!) It’s also not asking that you distrust neighbors to the point of fisticuffs and toiletpaper heists! Rather, stay inside, limit your movement, and avoid getting infected so that professionals have the time to develop a treatment, while not overwhelming our already fragile healthcare system.. Think about what would have happened if the Tak Tak had continued their destruction. Not only would the cure not have been deployed to Voyager , but it also wouldn’t have been shared with the Tak Tak, and likely other worlds affected in that sector. When the Tak Tak stopped their attack, they let Voyager help them solve a problem. It’s an extreme and very compact example, but it still works; and given the difficulty we’re having getting some sectors of the public to take social distancing seriously, perhaps an extreme example is needed.

Of course, in the case of COVID-19, we need to work for more than the length of an hourlong episode in order to flatten the curve of spread. Many schools are closed down, and more people are self-isolating and working from home. We are all essentially waiting for something that cannot see to pass, and since the world is bigger than a starship, it’s going to take longer to run its course.

Like the disease of ‘Macrocosm,” part of what makes COVID-19 scary is that we can’t see it, we don’t know anything about it, and the only sign we really have that it’s near is when someone is symptomatic. Microscopic organisms don’t always lend themselves well to decisive action either, but moving this virus into the macroscopic world gives Janeway, and the crew, something physical to fight against.

It also makes detection more readily available. As “Macrocosm” progresses, both Janeway and Neelix are infected by the virus’s tentacles. When Janeway is attacked on the bridge there’s no question that she’s come in contact with something that could prove deadly, and she goes to sickbay. Knowing she’s infected gives Janeway an edge in seeking treatment; the doctor is able to test his antigen and together, they can save the entire crew. In the end, this is a fictional universe, and “Macrocosm” isn’t a perfect real-world example, but the story is a solid one when it comes to living in a global pandemic. Ultimately, the thing to take away from “Macrocosm” this week is that ultimately, Voyager went back to normal. They deployed the antigen, the crew recovered, and they continued on their way home in “good health.” So long as we all take meaningful, direct steps to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, our world can and will do the same.

Lauren Busser (she/her) is a writer living in Connecticut and the Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is fascinated by the way humans interact with technology. You can find her on Twitter @LaurenBusser

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Star Trek: Voyager – Macrocosm (Review)

If Star Trek: Voyager is going to commit itself to emulating Star Trek: The Next Generation , there are probably worse ways to do it.

Macrocosm is not a bad riff on Genesis , another sci-fi monster story from Brannon Braga. Braga has an interest in the overlap between horror and retro science-fiction, as demonstrated by scripts from Schisms to Sub Rosa to Threshold . While none of these episodes count among Braga’s best work, and many are considered among his worst, they very clearly represent a subject of interest to him. Given the third season misfires with Warlord and The Q and the Grey , a light run-around action story is not the worst episode that Voyager could produce at this point.

Going viral.

Macrocosm has more than its fair share of problems. It is structured oddly, it is laboured with exposition, it is not technically as tight as it needs to be. However, there is a lot to be said for an episode that casts Kathryn Janeway as John Rambo, stalking killer monsters through the dimly-lit corridors of her own starship. It is at the very least a refreshing change of pace. Besides, if Jean-Luc Picard gets to be an action hero in scripts like Starship Mine or Star Trek: First Contact , it seems only fair that Janeway should get her chance.

The biggest problem with Macrocosm is the episode that it might have been. The original pitch for the episode was much more ambitious than the version that made it to screen. Unfortunately, this is very much the narrative of the third season of Voyager , and perhaps the show as a whole. Macrocosm was a bold idea that was gradually watered down to form a passable imitation of The Next Generation .

“It’s going to get very First Contact in here, very quickly.”

When Brannon Braga first started writing for Star Trek , he was a breath of fresh air. Braga was a young writer with a lot of ambition and a willingness to push the franchise in directions that were new and exciting. Cause and Effect and Frame of Mind are some of the most breathtaking episodes of Star Trek ever produced, representing a clear departure from anything that the franchise had ever done before. Braga’s scripts were generally odd, but they were also relatively unique. Like Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga seemed to propose a new model of Star Trek .

After the end of The Next Generation , Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga went their separate ways. Moore ended up working on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine under the supervision of Ira Steven Behr, who was determined to push the franchise outside its comfort zone. Working on Deep Space Nine , Moore would develop the skills and mindset that he would later use to run Battlestar Galactica , which is generally regarded as one of the best television shows of the twenty-first century.

It’s not quite gelling.

In contrast, Brannon Braga found himself working on Voyager . The show was markedly less ambitious, with lots of tension in the writers’ room during the first two seasons about whether Voyager should aim to be innovative and experimental or familiar and safe. Ultimately, following some truly spectacular and embarrassing disasters with narrative experimentation, the show settled into a groove where it would be aim to be the most generic version of Star Trek imaginable.

As a writer, Braga largely embraced this approach. Future’s End, Part I and Future’s End, Part II effectively marked a new beginning for the show, one that abandoned a lot of the angst about the journey home in favour of more action-driven storytelling and more familiar Star Trek plotting. Braga would eventually rise through the ranks of the writing staff. He would end up acting as showrunner by the start of the fifth season, and would go on to develop Star Trek: Enterprise with Rick Berman.

Talk about generating buzz.

To be entirely fair to Braga, the writer was still interested in experimentation and innovation. However, for one reason or another, he rarely got the chance to try new things. Braga wanted to expand Future’s End, Part I and Future’s End, Part II into a larger four-episode story, which would have become the franchise’s longest narrative arc at that point. Braga also wanted to extend Year of Hell, Part I and Year of Hell, Part II into another four-episode story and have the ship remain damaged for the rest of the fourth season.

In both cases, Braga was vetoed by the network. UPN did not want a particularly experimental version of Star Trek . They did not want the creative team to take chances that would potentially alienate viewers who had developed expectations of the franchise. Similarly, Paramount was worried about the dangers such developments would pose to syndication. Similar concerns would come into play during the development of Enterprise , when Braga wanted to set an extended opening arc on Earth, but the network wanted something much more conventional.

Silent, but deadly.

Braga’s original pitch for Macrocosm was much more experimental and ambitious than the final episode. As Braga explained to Cinefantastique , he wanted to produce an episode that was largely silent:

The intention actually began, on my part, to do an episode with no dialogue. I wanted to just do a purely cinematic episode with Janeway and a bunch of weird creatures, these macroviruses, viruses as life-sized creatures. Unfortunately it was impossible to do, and I ended up having to put a couple of acts of dialogue in. I just wanted to do something that felt and looked and smelled differently than most shows.

This would have been a striking departure from the norm, something utterly unlike any other episode of Star Trek to date. As such, it is easy to understand the resistance to this idea.

Armed and dangerous.

After all, Star Trek was a surprisingly conservative franchise from a narrative perspective. Ronald D. Moore has talked at length about the difficulties that he had trying to get episodes like Sins of the Father or Family made, episodes that deviated from the narrative expectations of the franchise. Composers like Ron Jones and Dennis McCarthy have talked about being asked to tone down their music to make it “aural wallpaper.” Ira Steven Behr had to fight to introduce long-form storytelling on Deep Space Nine .

However, one of an extended twenty-odd episode season built around (mostly) self-contained narratives is that it affords the production team the freedom to play with bold concepts like that. Modern moves towards shorter seasons and serialised storytelling, both factors that discourage this sort of playful approach to self-contained narrative. Longer episodic seasons encourage playful experimentation and innovation, like the long takes of Triangle on The X-Files or the puppetry of Smile Time on Angel .

And yet, somehow the holodecks are STILL working.

With twenty-odd episodes a year, it is okay to be a little cheeky and to run the risk of being embarrassed. After all, things go back to business as usual the following week, so what is there to lose? In fact, several nineties television shows broadcast mostly silent episodes. Space: Above and Beyond had produced its own variation almost a year earlier with Who Monitors the Birds? Buffy: The Vampire Slayer would offer a much more high-profile example with Hush three years later.

The decision to shy away from doing a mostly silent episode of Voyager feels like an act of cowardice on the part of the production team. It is another example of the production team backing away from a genuinely provocative idea, much like they did with the tension between the Maquis and Starfleet in the early seasons or much like they did with the idea of a lone Federation ship stranded far from home without support. Macrocosm is a very generic hokey sci-fi episode, but to watch it is to know that it could have been so much more with just a little ambition.

Making light of the situation.

Indeed, the episode’s most effective sequences have nothing to do with dialogue. Alexander Singer’s direction is quite striking and visually distinct, layering a sense of dread and tension as Janeway tries to take back her ship from the weird entities that have laid claim to it. There is that effective and claustrophobic long pan around the turbolift; the sequence of Janeway climbing in the Jefferies Tube, red klaxon light on her face matching her uniform; the camera rushing down the tube towards Neelix from monster’s perspective.

Macrocosm is an episode that might play better with the volume turned down and the music turned up. Its more unsettling scenes have little to do with exposition and dialogue, such as Janeway discovering the slime trail after Neelix is abducted or the camera following Janeway as she moves through an empty Engineering that is still lit by the glowing warp core. Indeed, Janeway even gets a “Rambo suiting up” sequence that is at once absurd and awesome, a great example of how effectively ideas can be communicated through images rather than words.

Distress encode.

Indeed, several aspects of Macrocosm are designed emphasise these elements of the script. The floating organisms make a loud buzzing noise as they approach, a way of audibly building tension that does not rely on dialogue or clumsy exposition. Similarly, the closing scene features Janeway listening to some smooth improvisational jazz. In a very smart production choice, the episode closes on an external shot of Voyager set to that jazz music rather than an extradiegetic score.

Unfortunately, for all those different elements that work, there are other sequences that underscore how dialogue undercuts that atmosphere. At one point, Janeway and Neelix discover Ensign Wildman’s quarters. They are empty, only the drone of “A Briefing with Neelix” audible in the background. Food is still on the table. The baby’s toys are still out on the mat. It is a sequence that underscores the idea that something truly horrific has happened, and that it happened suddenly without any warning. However, Macrocosm is unwilling to let the visuals communicate this.

“Somebody watching ‘A Briefing with Neelix’ on loop? Now I know there’s something wrong.”

Instead, Macrocosm offers lots of boring and pointless exposition that serves to kill the mood and eat up the air time. It saps the tension out of the air. More than that, it over-explains everything. The fear of the unknown represents one of the most primal anxieties. Delivering mindless techno-jargon makes the unknown less scary, even if the dialogue doesn’t actually mean anything. After all, the fact that Janeway is delivering that dialogue suggests she understands it, making it less scary to her.

Look at the dialogue in this sequence. “I can’t tell if it’s humanoid, but it’s emanating a bioelectric field,” Janeway states. That is just empty technobabble. The half-glimpsed shadow communicates more. “The programme is set for automatic playback until it’s turned off,” Neelix explains of why “A Briefing with Neelix” is still playing. The show does not need that detail. Scanning the food, Janeway reports, “According to the protein decay, I’d say Ensign Wildman replicated this eleven hours go.” That’s not necessary for the audience to know. The image is enough.

“Oh, boy. Neelix is not going to be happy about this.”

There are other examples over the course of the hour, underscoring how clumsy Voyager is with dialogue in general. When Janeway discovers the crew in the messhall, she insists on repeating their names in a way that feels frankly unnecessary. ( “Harry… Chakotay…” ) When Janeway and the EMH make their desperate attempt to take back the ship, the EMH is forced to report, “The macroviruses overwhelmed me on deck ten and my portable emitter was nearly destroyed. I’ve taken refuge inside the shuttlebay, in a shuttlecraft.” Some of that dialogue feels redundant.

All of this ties back into the recurring problem that Voyager has with dialogue, a sense that the production team are careless in how they incorporate dialogue into a script and completely unwilling to trust the audience to trust what they are seeing. The truly horrific exposition in Warlord is a great example, but so is the technobabble that has become a fixture of Voyager . The production staff on Voyager repeatedly insist that having characters string together pseudo-scientific words can generate tensions. This is not the case at all. Macrocosm suffers from that.

Packing it in.

Perhaps the worst offence, in terms of plotting and pacing, is the extended flashback in the middle of the episode that explains how these dangerous viruses came to take over the ship. It is something that could be handled within a single piece of dialogue, a log recording that Janeway is listening to as she does something. After all, Star Trek is a franchise about “strange new worlds.” It is not a big leap that the ship might encounter something like this. However, Macrocosm insists upon spending an entire act explaining how these circumstances came about.

This saps the momentum of the narrative. It erodes any sense of tension. It takes the tight focus away from Janeway’s efforts to solve the problem, and instead devotes considerable time and energy to explaining how the problem came around in the first place. It is clumsy and embarrassing plotting, the type of awkward storytelling decision that demonstrates just little the writing staff on Voyager were willing to push themselves. Not only do they abandon the “silent episode” conceit, they abandon the “Janeway takes back her ship” conceit.

“Yeah, I thought we’d have the week off too.”

In some ways, it is almost more frustrating that Macrocosm retains references to that original pitch. The teaser very clearly sets up the theme of communication, introducing the Tak Tak as a species that communicate primarily through gestures. It is an interesting visual, even if the dialogue is still heavy-handed. Even when it comes to aliens who specialise in non-verbal communication, the script is still carefully to bluntly articulate absolutely everything for the audience at home.

The Tak Tak are surprisingly easy to understand for an alien species that are supposedly difficult to parse. “Please make her quiet,” the Tak Tak representative urges when Janeway interjects during the opening conversation. When the Tak Tak attack Voyager at the climax, they explain the situation in language that is very easy to follow. “The Garan Mining Colony infected,” the ambassador states. “We purified them. Your distress call received. Voyager infected. We are purifying you.” It is all very straightforward.

More like the Talk Talk. Amirite?

Still, the Tak Tak are intriguing, and they serve to set up the idea that words are not the only way in which we interact with one another. “I have studied chromolinguistics, American Sign Language, the gestural idioms of the Leyron, but I just couldn’t get the hang of the Tak Tak,” Janeway reflects. Neelix observes, “It seemed like more than just a language to me, Captain. A lot of their gestures, from what I could tell, were ritualistic. You might even say superstitious.” What we see on screen is fairly generic, but this discussion does recall the lingual barriers of Darmok .

Similarly, the EMH’s first away mission even seems to explicitly acknowledge that heavy-handed exposition is unnecessary and clunky. Keeping an open comm line, the EMH constantly reports to Chakotay. “I am scanning the mine shaft and proceeding on vector one four seven. Ambient temperature is sixteen degrees Celsius. Cavern illumination is minimal but doesn’t pose a problem for my optical sensors. The cave walls are comprised of granite with a mixture of pyroclastic infusions–“

“More like vir-me than virus, eh?”

Chakotay interjects, “Doctor, I appreciate your attention to detail but we don’t need that much information.” It is a nice joke, but one that underscores what would seem to have been the central theme of Brannon Braga’s original pitch for the episode; sometimes words are unnecessary. Unfortunately, the finished episode loses sight of that and the results are less than compelling. Ironically for an episode that was originally intended to minimise exposition, Macrocosm is ultimately overloaded by it.

The result is that Macrocosm feels less like its own thing and more like a recycled plot from the seventh season of The Next Generation . This does little to counter the sense that Voyager is pathologically afraid of its own identity and insists upon emulating its much more successful elder sibling. After all, The Q and the Grey was very much a riff on QPid , so it seems strange to follow that with an episode that so heavily emulates Genesis . It does not feel like the writers have a grip on what they expect the show to be, simply that they’ve given up on trying to find out.

“I forget why I don’t leave the ship more often… oh, wait…”

In A Vision of the Future , author Stephen Edward Poe quotes Brannon Braga’s approach to developing the characters on Voyager by looking at the physicality of their performances:

It is a synergistic process. The actors have a lot to do with it. Once we all started to watch these actors – Kate Mulgrew in particular – perform, you have a voice to put with the character. You have mannerisms, you have… even the way they walk across the room can help you add something in the scene or just have the idea of who the people are.

This is not a bad approach by any measure. After all, one of the advantages of a medium like television is in allowing actors to flesh out roles and to help the writers to find a unique voice.

Turbolifting her spirit.

There are plenty of examples from within the Star Trek franchise. On the original show, Leonard Nimoy took stewardship of Spock as a character, frequently writing memos on characterisation and objecting to scripts like Whom Gods Destroy . On The Next Generation , the writing staff initially ignored Worf as a supporting player until Michael Dorn’s performance helped to turn the Klingon into one of the series’ breakout characters. Over the course of the show, the writers tailored characters to the strength of actors like Jonathan Frakes or Marina Sirtis.

On Deep Space Nine , the writers frequently consulted with the actors to help expand and develop the characters in question. When Michael Dorn arrived on that spin-off, he had a number of big ideas about where he wanted the character to go. The decision to move Worf to the Defiant in Bar Association largely stemmed from these discussions. Similarly, the characterisation of Benjamin Sisko was largely shaped in consultation with lead performer Avery Brooks, particularly the emphasis on his relationship with Jake.

Sicking the virus on her.

As such, there is something disappointing in the way that the production team on Voyager never seemed to tailor their writing in the same way. It is telling that the writers’ observations about the performers served primarily as extended in-jokes. In A Vision of the Future , Stephen Edward Poe explains that Macrocosm is one such example:

Written, coincidentally, by Brannon Braga, the Tak Tak combined a unique form of body language and gestures with their speech patterns. The resulting conversations with Voyager’s crew were interesting to watch. The inspiration for this unusual cultural twist was the fact that Mulgrew has a habit of frequently placing her hands on her hips. In the Tak Tak culture, this gesture is an insult of the grossest kind.

It is disheartening that the most that the Voyager writing staff could do to play to Kate Mulgrew’s strengths as an actor was to create an entire alien culture offended by her habit of placing her hands on her hips. “I may never put my hands on my hips again,” she jokingly laments early in the episode.

It’s hip to be square.

Macrocosm is also notable for the central antagonists, a race of giant viral organisms that attack individuals in the same way that ordinary viruses attack cells. This is a rather goofy concept on a practical level, as audiences wonder how these things are able to fly. However, it quite an intriguing science-fiction high concept. More than that, it taps into a lot of nineties anxieties about viral contagion. As with the introduction of the Vidiians in Phage , it feels very much like an expression of the fear generated by the AIDs virus, right down to the creepy penetration imagery.

However, the aliens are also interesting from a technical perspective. They are created almost entirely through computer-generated imagery. In the mid-nineties, this was still a developing field. Mainstream blockbusters were still only flirting with the technology at this point, and had not embraced it completely. It was considered something that was very difficult to pull off on a television budget and schedule. As such, the appearance of computer-generated aliens in the third season of Voyager is remarkable.

A hole host of trouble.

In the documentary Red Alert! Amazing Visual Effects , Ronald B. Moore draws a clearly line between the use of computer-generated imagery in Macrocosm and the début of Species 8472 in Scorpion, Part I :

The important thing was, when the show was all done, we got it. It’s like anything else, you get down with it and you see all the things you coulda done better. But Jeri Taylor came up to me one day and said, “It worked. We’ve got it. This is a much better creature than the ones we’ve seen before.” Remember, she was referring back to things like the monster in the cave we were talking about in Basics, that were pretty simplistic, that didn’t have a lot of acting and stuff to do. Which is hard for us. We can make the creatures, but getting them to act… This one was a little easier for us, because they weren’t people; they weren’t talking and that kind of stuff. But they were floating around. And it gave her the confidence to write some scripts that I think… I think it was the basis of 8472, that she saw that we could do that and that maybe if we had something with a little more meat on it – literally! – that we could try to move forwards. I look back at Macrocosm as giving us the chance to do 8472.

As much as Voyager might have been reluctant to push forward from a narrative point of view, it was still something of a technical trendsetter.

“Don’t worry, Harry. I’m sure our next encounter with a CGI alien will go much better for you.”

There is, to be fair, something quite frustrating about all this. Voyager was a very technically ambitious show, just like Star Trek was a very technically ambitious franchise. The production design on the television series was always absolutely top-of-the-line, and the production team were willing to trust their make-up designers and set-designers and special effects artists to push the limits of what could be done on a television budget and schedule. This makes the lack of ambition on the part of the writers all the more unforgivable.

The viral aliens in Macrocosm have not aged particularly well. Even at standard definition, they look heavily pixellated. These menaces looked like they escaped from a videogame at the turn of the millennium, as if Janeway has inadvertently wandered into Doom . In fact, it is easy to imagine that Macrocosm would look ridiculous if CBS ever gets around to digitally remastering Voyager for high definition like they did with The Next Generation . They scream “mid-nineties CGI!”

Strange is all too common in this neck of the woods.

In a way, this underscores some of the limitations of computer-generated special effects. More than any other technique, computer-generated imagery teases verisimilitude. Really good computer-generated imagery is indistinguishable from the real deal. However, this treats realism as the desired objective of any special effects, ignoring the fact that special effects can be appreciated on a simple aesthetic level that has little or nothing to do with how “real” they look.

So when computer-generated effects work well, they really work. However, when they do not work well, they are jarring and distracting. It is entirely possible to appreciate unconvincing animation or model work from an aesthetic perspective. After all very few of the practical effects on the original Star Trek are particularly convincing, but the very best ones are still beautiful to look at. Ray Harryhausen’s work was quite arresting, even if it never looked like anything resembling reality.

Tentacles of doom.

In contrast, unconvincing computer-generated special effects rarely have that impact. Because the primary appeal of computer-generated effects is verisimilitude, they are rarely stylised in the way that other special effects are. So when computer-generated special effects do not look convincing, they rarely look good. It is very hard to appreciated computer-generated imagery as a stylistic affection because it works so hard to present itself as something tangible and “real.”

(This is perhaps why Pixar have enjoyed such success with computer-generated animation. The company put an emphasis on the animation rather than the realism, adopting a more stylised approach to computer-generated narratives that never aimed for verisimilitude. Indeed, many Pixar characters are animated in styles that contrast, to the point that integrating characters from one film to the next would not be easy. However, because most computer-generated special effects are supposed to be convincing, they do not adopt that stylised approach.)

Doesn’t scan.

As a result, the computer-generated alien species in Voyager and Enterprise will simply never look as good as the aliens generated by practical effects on the original Star Trek . The Mugato in A Private Little War and the Melkons in Spectre of the Gun might never have looked “real” , but they were not meant to. They looked like really great designs. In contrast, the gigantic viral agents in Macrocosm or the insect! Xindi in The Xindi will never look that memorable or striking because they are not stylised in the same manner.

Macrocosm is a reasonably solid action episode. Its biggest failing is that it is not anything more ambitious.

You might be interested in our other reviews from the third season of Star Trek: Voyager :

Basics, Part II
False Profits
Sacred Ground
Future’s End, Part I
Future’s End, Part II
The Q and the Grey
Blood Fever
Favourite Son
Before and After
Distant Origin
Worst Case Scenario
Scorpion, Part I

12 Responses

Sadly I’m not sure ‘Voyager’ had the character depth to make a silent episode work. ‘Hush’ worked so well because we knew Buffy, Willow, Giles and Xander inside out – so much so that Whedon could give us big character moments in the episode (most importantly establishing for Willow.)

‘Voyager’ has a fine cast but the thought of spending a silent hour with Chakotay or Harry Kim has limited appeal.

To be fair, the structuring of Macrocosm suggests that the earlier version of the episode would have been built around the two strongest characters in the show, Kate Mulgrew as Janeway and Robert Picardo as the EMH. But yeah, an hour with Chakotay and Kim would have been insufferable.

“Macrocosm is a reasonably solid action episode.” I wish I could enjoy it on that level, but the awful CGI really detracts from even that side of it for me. Also, as you point out, all the momentum is stopped by the long flashback, which is why I prefer Genesis if I am to see this kind of episode. In that episode, we see things beginning to slowly fall apart without really knowing what is going on, which is more unnerving than anything in this episode. I can’t say I love Genesis, the second half is repetitive and the science is ludicrous, but it is much more chilling than this episode.

Also, I think there was a missed opportunity with Janeway having a scientist background, she should have felt some sort of strange sympathy or at least fascination for the creatures akin to Sisko’s sympathy for the growing galaxy in “Playing God” or Picard’s desire to communicate with the Crystaline Entity.

I am fonder of the CGI than most, I think. If only because it’s interesting to see it in the context of the time. We’re really not too far from Playstation graphics here, which is ambitious for the time.

I remember when I was a little kid, liking this episode. Will have to rewatch it. I like the concept.

Another of my unrelated questions, how do you feel on the Animated Series? Ive been watching it for the first time on Netflix, and I really like it, even though its a 70s kids cartoon, it very much feels like another season of TOS

@Cybersyn I’m watching it now! It’s airing on MeTV. Imagine my delight when my first episode involved a planet of women who enslave men. It’s like sitting in a well-worn recliner! 😛

Oh wasnt that the plot of a third season TOS episode?

I’ve said before that Brannon Braga is a highly erratic writer. When he gets it right he gets it very right but when he doesn’t… Macrocosm falls somewhere between the two. The idea of a literal airborne virus is something strikingly original and makes for a new kind of alien invader. The first half has lots of lovely touches that implies all sorts of horrible things have befallen the crew: the active equipment lying in the corridor; the sinister implication that Naomi Wildman has vanished along with the rest of the crew; the buzzing that can’t be pinned down; the POV shot of the macrovirus sneaking up on the unsuspecting Janeway on the Bridge, etc.

But it’s when we get to the midsection that Macrocosm slows right down with a whole act full of exposition about what happened on Voyager while Janeway and Neelix were away. Genesis, for all its flaws and silly science was more structurally sound and allowed us to experience the de-evolution of the Enterprise crew right along with Picard and Data. Macrocosm abandons that approach as soon as Janeway gets to Sickbay and the Doctor goes on at length about the macrovirus that grinds it to a halt.

But it does get itself together for a satisfying finale (even though bringing the Tak Tak back at a late stage is just to add some artificial suspense and make it not so easy to eradicate the macrovirus) and I did like Janeway’s final fight with the virus. Macrocosm is undeniably flawed but it does have moments of greatness and the macrovirus like the Vidiians (they’re a logical extension from them being a walking disease), the Botha and the Swarm are among Voyager’s most interesting alien races.

Yep, i think it was Braga who argued that the Delta Quadrant should be home to the weirdest most high-concept Star Trek aliens imaginable, and I think he has a fair point. And you can certainly see shades of it in the scripts that did make to screen, even if it often felt like the rough edges had been smoothed off, as they are here.

There’s a sense that Braga was in some ways curtailed by the show’s conservatism, that there were certain formal expectations when it came to Star Trek aliens and that Voyager had to adhere to those. I’d love to have seen what Braga might have done if he’d been granted the conceptual freedom that exists on shows like Doctor Who, where he might have had the freedom to do something as weird as the Weeping Angels or the Silence.

“Ensign Wildman’s quarters…are empty, only the drone of “A Briefing with Neelix” audible in the background. ][….] Neelix explains of why “A Briefing with Neelix” is still playing.”

The show I watched had the name of Neelix’s tv show as “Good Morning Voyager.”

It must be that you watched a non-US version of the show. Americans would readily recognize the parody of “Good Morning America,” a bland general-interest morning news and talk show (and on which Neelix would kind of fit in and few of the other characters would). The parody is also that the real US audience for this show would be similar to the demographic of the crewmember whose quarters they are investigating: a mother raising a baby at home, keeping the show on in the background.

I wanted to write in because I noticed this big naming difference. I wonder how many other little changes there are like that between the US and UK[?] versions? To say nothing of actual dubbing translation into other languages.

“A Briefing with Neelix” sounds very strange to me for the kind of program this was supposed to be, but maybe it references a UK morning news show.

It’s not a regional difference. Both names were used, just in different episodes.

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E11Macrocosm

Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 3 E 11 "Macrocosm"

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This episode has the following tropes:

Accidental Unfortunate Gesture : Janeway's habit of putting her hands on her hips causes a diplomatic incident, as it's one of the worst insults imaginable for the Tak Tak , a species that communicates through body language. This was actually an inside joke as Kate Mulgrew would often unconsciously do it during filming.
Action Girl : This episode appears to exist for the sole purpose of establishing Captain Janeway's right to follow in the footsteps of Sigourney Weaver . She succeeds admirably.
Air-Vent Passageway : Lots of crawling through Jeffries tubes. EMH: Who designed this ship anyway?
Artistic License – Biology : We have viruses(!) which can grow in size up to a meter in diameter, fly, hover in the air, and the larger ones are apparently strong enough to carry people. It turns out that they could do it by absorbing the infectee's growth hormones .
Artistic License – Space : When Voyager's environmentals go offline, the ship rapidly becomes extremely hot and they treat it like their air-conditioning is now essentially on the fritz. However because vacuum is a very poor conductor, spacecraft have to be engineered in such a way that they can expel and eliminate waste heat from their systems as rapidly and efficiently as possible to prevent them from overheating (this is best demonstrated in Apollo 13 where, as with the real Apollo 13 disaster, the crew were subject to brutally cold temperatures while using the unpowered LEM as a lifeboat). This means that even allowing for a lot of heat being put out by the warp core and other systems, the temperature aboard Voyager should begin dropping due to the ship's cooling systems (which would not be part of environmental, the same way that your car's AC isn't run by its radiator) eliminating all of the waste heat.
Attack Its Weak Point : Being a hologram, the Doctor is immune to the macrovirus, but the larger ones prevent him intervening by attacking his mobile emitter.
Batman Grabs a Gun : Janeway forces open the Sickbay doors only to find herself looking into a phaser brandished by the Doctor.
Be Careful What You Wish For : The Doctor expressed an interest in studying this bizarre life form. Well, you got it. However, it proved all right in the end because he cured what used to be a 100% fatal plague.
Big, Bulky Bomb : Janeway puts together an 'antigen bomb' with a conspicuous red digit timer . It gets knocked out of her hands and counts down while Janeway battles a macrovirus at knife-point. She kills the creature and tosses the bomb into the holodeck Just in Time .
Bizarre Alien Biology : The Tak Tak, who have a ridge running from the forehead, down their nose that then separated from their face over their mouth before reconnecting back to their chin; meaning that evolution gave them something that actually hinders the simple act of eating.
Body Horror : Elements of this in how the virus infects someone, then swarm out of a welt in their neck once they're too big for their host body.
Brick Joke : In her final conversation with the Tak Tak, Janeway puts her hands on her hips again. Fortunately the consul has already ended his transmission.
Neelix corrects Janeway's statement that he has fluid in his lungs to the singular, after his Organ Theft by the Vidiians.
The Doctor makes use of the autonomous emitter he got in "Future's End" for his first Away Mission.
Tom points out that B'Elanna shouldn't get sick as Klingons have a redundant stomach. The fact that Klingons have a duplicate set of organs is mentioned in the ST:TNG episode "Ethics".
Deadly Euphemism : Janeway is about to activate the environmental controls to spread the antigen when the Tak Tak attack . Consul [on monitor]: The Garan Mining Colony infected. We purified them. Your distress call received. Voyager infected. We are purifying you. Janeway: Purifying? You're trying to destroy us!
Die Hard on Voyager : Albeit without any villains to engage in Snark-to-Snark Combat with.
Elevator Action Sequence : Their first encounter with the macrovirus is when one smashes a hole in the turbolift and squirts mucus at Neelix. Janeway drives it off with a phaser blast.
Empathy Doll Shot : Neelix and Janeway look in Samantha Wildman's quarters and find the toys used by her child.
Fanservice : A gun-toting sweaty Kate Mulgrew in a tank top , belt clinched around her waist to better show off her great rack.
Final Girl : The Doctor is put out of action shortly after he's provided the requisite exposition , so it's all up to Captain Janeway to save the day!
First Contact Faux Pas : See Accidental Unfortunate Gesture .
Getting Hot in Here : Providing an excuse for hot and sweaty Janeway fanservice. Neelix: It's getting awfully hot in here. Janeway: When environmental controls fail, heat from the warp plasma conduits can't be vented. Expect a heat wave before long.
Ghost Ship : Janeway and Neelix find the corridors of Voyager deserted. It turns out the larger macroviruses have dragged the crew to the cargo bays and messhall for some unknown purpose; the EMH seems to imply it was so they would have the crew all in one place to keep infecting and reproducing from.
Hollywood Acid : A macrovirus eats a hole through the transporter pad with its mucus. Fortunately it doesn't have acid for blood, given that Janeway stabs one later on.
How We Got Here : The Doctor relates the events that led to Voyager becoming infested by the macrovirus.
Idiosyncratic Cultural Gesture : In "Macrocosm", Janeway manages to offend an entire alien culture by putting her hands on her hips during negotiations, which, unbeknownst to her, was the worst insult you could make on that world. Neelix was able to smooth things over, but the negotiator was still cold and dismissive of Janeway.
Impending Doom P.O.V. : As Janeway tries to access the bridge controls something stalks her from behind. Subverted as when it strikes it's not some huge slavering monster, but a macrovirus about the size of a housefly.
Inertial Dampening : It's just as well the shuttle has it, as Janeway puts her coffee mug on the console above the controls, just before engaging maximum warp.
It's the Only Way to Be Sure : After picking up Janeway's Distress Call , the Tak Tak 'purify' the mining colony and intend to destroy Voyager as well. Fortunately Janeway talks the consul into granting her one hour to save her ship and crew.
I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before : The correct response to a life form that simply should not exist.
Large Ham : The Tak Taks' manner of speaking requires many dramatic poses and gestures. The opening dialogue between Neelix and the consul could easily be mistaken for some strange Shakespearean performance.
Let's Split Up, Gang! : Justified at first when Neelix gets too ill to walk and tells Janeway to go on without him ; Janeway has to climb a vertical shaft to get an emergency medkit. A macrovirus attacks while she's away. Played straight when Janeway and the Doctor take alternate routes to the environmental controls, in case one of them is intercepted by the larger macroviruses. The Doctor is attacked and forced to take shelter inside a shuttlecraft.
Lock-and-Load Montage : After Neelix disappears , Janeway goes to a large crate in Engineering, taking from it a backpack of emergency supplies, a belt knife and a compression phaser rifle, all of which are strapped on with suitably dramatic movements .
Ludicrous Gibs : Whenever one of the larger macroviruses is phasered.
Male Gaze : There's a lot of tight shots on Janeway whenever she twists or stretches her upper body, pressing her breasts against that tank top.
Malevolent Architecture : After Janeway gives the Doctor a rather complex set of directions through the Jeffries tubes, the Doctor wants to know who designed the ship.
Match Cut : Played for Laughs when Neelix is communicating with the Tak Tak consul through posture, ending with him tilting his head and standing with his mouth open. Cut to Captain Janeway watching all this in amazement, mouth open and head tilted to the side .
Mega-Microbes are the Monster of the Week !
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero : The Doctor inadvertently infects the ship when he beams up from the infected mining colony. In the time it takes him to purge the biofilters, the virus escapes to the transporter buffer, and from there infects one of the computer's neurogel packs.
Nothing Is Scarier : We don't get a proper look at a macrovirus until 20 minutes into the episode.
The Plague : Especially nightmarish because of the monsters that exist solely as vectors, and are produced by the welts on its victims' skin .
Shoot the Shaggy Dog : The macrovirus plot started because Voyager went to help a Garan mining colony. The Doctor comes up with an antidote — then the Tak Tak destroy the colony before he can save them.
Slime, Snails, and Mutant Tails : The macrovirus leaves green slime all over Janeway's Shiny Looking Spaceship . She makes them pay for that!
Small Girl, Big Gun : Janeway breaks out her trusty compression phaser rifle .
Some Kind Of Forcefield : Kes looks at the virus sample on her slide and finds it has disappeared. The Doctor quickly activates a forcefield when he realises it's buzzing about Sickbay.
Starfish Aliens : EMH: Voyager has been infected by a macrovirus. Janeway: A macrovirus? EMH: A form of life I've never encountered, or even imagined.
Strange-Syntax Speaker : The Tak Tak consul, as his meaning is also delivered via the various postures he adopts while speaking. Janeway: I have studied chromolinguistics, American Sign Language, the gestural idioms of the Leyron , but I just couldn't get the hang of the Tak Tak. Neelix: It seemed like more than just a language to me, Captain. A lot of their gestures, from what I could tell, were ritualistic. You might even say superstitious.
Stopped Clock : Neelix finds a recording of his Good Morning Voyager program still running in Samantha Wildman's quarters, first activated eleven hours previously.
Super Spit : Neelix is infected when a macrovirus spits mucus at him. Janeway: Some sort of mucilaginous compound. High concentrations of amino acids and proteins, and fragments of non-humanoid DNA.
Tank-Top Tomboy : Action Kate strips down for her Lock-and-Load Montage .
Tomboy with a Girly Streak : After spending the entire episode proving she's the toughest woman in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway turns down an offer of skiing on the holodeck with Chakotay because she just wants to relax in her ready room, painting and listening to jazz.
What Measure Is a Non-Human? : The Paxau resort program is used as The Bait to draw the macroviruses into one area where Janeway can blow them up.
You Do NOT Want To Know : The Doctor's response to Tom Paris hearing the Bug Buzz , as several large macroviruses are hovering nearby.
Your Normal Is Our Taboo : Somehow the Dynamic Akimbo became one of the worst insults imaginable for the Tak Tak. Did they have a run-in with Superman ?
You Talk Too Much! : As it's his first Away Mission, the Doctor keeps an open comm channel with Voyager when beaming down to the mining colony. He dutifully narrates everything from the ambient temperature to the composition of the cave walls, until Chakotay tells him to just stick to the important stuff.
Star Trek: Voyager S3 E10: "The Q and the Grey"
Recap/Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek Voyager S 3 E 12 "Fair Trade"

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The macrovirus was a viral organism encountered by the crew of the Federation starship Voyager in the TV series Star Trek: Voyager . This organism was initially microscopic like any other virus, but at some point had evolved to adapt the growth hormones of the creatures it infected, allowing to grow to macroscopic size. The macrovirus appears in the Voyager episode "Macrocosm" .

History [ ]

The macrovirus was first encountered by the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant in 2373. The ship received a distress call from a Garan mining facility that was experiencing a viral outbreak. Voyager 's Emergency Medical Hologram, incapable of being infected, transported to the surface where he observed that the virus had entered a new phase in its evolution. The organism had adapted to incorporate the growth hormones of its host into its own amino acid structures. This allowed the virus to escape from the microscopic world and into the macroscopic world. The Doctor returned to Voyager to access his laboratory, but accidentally transported one of the organisms with him, thus leading to the crew becoming infected as well.

Upon infection, the host organism developed a fever and soon fell unconscious. As the virus progressed it concentrated in the victim's neck, where it "hatched" through the skin and became airborne. At this stage the virus was approximately .5 mm, but before long it reached nearly a third of a meter, and could eventually reach a meter if not destroyed.

The Doctor was able to develop an antigen for the virus, but was at first unable to distribute it by himself. Fortunately, Captain Janeway and Neelix had been away on a diplomatic mission when the virus originally attacked the ship; although Neelix was infected while he and Janeway were trying to determine what had happened, Janeway escaped infection long enough to make contact with The Doctor. Although their original plan was to release the antigen via the ship's environmental systems, when the Tak Tak attacked Voyager to prevent the spread of the virus, causing damage to the ship's power systems, Janeway had to improvise, creating a holodeck simulation to lure the virus into one place. With the virus contained in one area, Janeway threw an antigen bomb into the holodeck, destroying the virus.

Biology/Virology [ ]

Under a microscope, the macroviral cell appears circular with three tendrils outstretching from it. When it infects a host, it assimilates the host organism's growth hormones, allowing it to grow to a macroscopic size and interact with the world as humans and other such life forms can. The macroviral organisms reached roughly a meter in diameter with a mostly spherical shape, similar to a basketball in size. It could fly through the air and made a distinct buzzing sound as it flew despite its lack of wings. Its tentacles may somehow have allowed it to move through the air but this is unconfirmed.

Macrovirals would attack other organisms and attempt to infect them with a needle-shaped organ, possibly a proboscis. At such a size, it was possible for a macrovirus to kill a potential host with its proboscis by stabbing a victim.

As macrovirals were large enough to affect the world on a macroscopic scale, they were also vulnerable to macroscopic attacks. When the virus infested Voyager , Captain Janeway killed several macrovirals by shooting them with a phaser rifle and even stabbed one with a knife.

Cast & crew
User reviews

The Disease

Episode aired Feb 24, 1999

Garrett Wang in Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

Voyager encounters a group of xenophobic nomads, in space for 400 years, with serious ship-wide malfunctions. The offer to help leads to serious consequences. Voyager encounters a group of xenophobic nomads, in space for 400 years, with serious ship-wide malfunctions. The offer to help leads to serious consequences. Voyager encounters a group of xenophobic nomads, in space for 400 years, with serious ship-wide malfunctions. The offer to help leads to serious consequences.

David Livingston
Gene Roddenberry
Rick Berman
Michael Piller
Kate Mulgrew
Robert Beltran
Roxann Dawson
16 User reviews
7 Critic reviews

Kate Mulgrew, Charles Rocket, and Musetta Vander in Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

Capt. Kathryn Janeway

Cmdr. Chakotay

Lt. B'Elanna Torres

Ensign Tom Paris

Seven of Nine

Ensign Harry Kim

Unnamed Varro Alien

Voyager Computer

(uncredited)
Ensign Patrick Gibson
Voyager Command Officer
Operations Division Officer

Command Division Officer
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

Trivia The shape of the silicon-based ship-eating parasite is that of Lambda phage, a virus which infects E. coli bacteria.
Goofs When in the shuttle Tal tell Harry that she wants to see a nebula that with her own eyes and mentions that the nebula is 300,000 miles away. Even one of the the smallest nebulae is over 1 trillion miles across so at 300,000 miles away would be easily visible with the naked eye from any window facing it.

[Kim is having an unauthorized affair with Tal, an alien female]

Harry Kim : I'm violating about half a dozen regulations by just being in this room. And what we did earlier... I don't know if Starfleet even has a regulation for that.

Soundtracks Star Trek: Voyager - Main Title Written by Jerry Goldsmith Performed by Jay Chattaway

User reviews 16

tomsly-40015
Jan 7, 2024
February 24, 1999 (United States)
United States
Official site
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
Paramount Television
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 46 minutes
Dolby Digital

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The Worst Diseases In The Star Trek Universe

" Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. "

At first, these words — uttered by Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban) in the 2009 "Star Trek" movie reboot — sound a tad pessimistic. By the 24th century, the common cold has been eradicated and hypo sprays deliver instant cures. McCoy himself (as played by original actor Deforest Kelley) once helped a 20th century kidney dialysis patient grow a brand-new fully functioning kidney with a 23rd century miracle pill in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) and scoffed that dialysis was something out of "the Dark Ages."

Sure, not all starships have great medical systems (just look at the hospital ship on the "Star Trek: Voyager" Season 7 episode "Critical Care" where people are treated based on social status instead of need, like some galactic HMO), but as far as the Federation is concerned, health care is free and literally universal.

Unfortunately, after taking a closer look at the future depicted in "Star Trek" movies, television shows, and books, it seems McCoy was actually right. 21st century illnesses may have largely been wiped out — but they've been replaced by some nasty new future diseases that can mutate you into a giant spider or force you to fight a giant virus hand-to-hand. For those of you with the stomach for it, steel yourselves: We're about to perform an in-depth examination of the worst diseases you can catch in the "Star Trek" universe.

Breaking the warp barrier turns you into a giant salamander

"Star Trek" offers a glimpse of a utopian future where humanity is constantly seeking to improve itself. Starfleet's mission is to go "where no one has gone before," after all, so it's only natural that people will want to keep pushing the limits of medical science, engineering, and warp propulsion technology.

Unfortunately, as the infamous "Star Trek: Voyager" Season 2 episode "Threshold" revealed, there are some areas even the bold should avoid at all costs. Just ask Lieutenant Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) who successfully broke the Warp 10 barrier — only to start suffering some very strange symptoms as a result of his history-making flight.

As it turned out, Tom contracted a rare medical condition that causes its unlucky recipients to become allergic to water and unable to breathe oxygen. Hair falls out, skin becomes scaly, and eventually the patient mutates/evolves into a large salamander-like amphibian. In the case of Lt. Paris, this drove him to kidnap Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), take her on a Warp 10 joyride and then mate with her on an alien planet after she transformed into a salamander, causing her to have three salamander kids before Voyager rescued them and reversed the process.

Considered one of the worst Star Trek episodes by both the creators and the fans, "Threshold" actually inspired some toymakers to create a mutated Tom Paris action figure, complete with three salamander kids . Suffice it to say, it won't be appearing on shelves in your local Target toy department anytime soon.

Public drunkenness is contagious

Despite being highly-disciplined officers, the crew of the Enterprise do enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage , and have been known to consume some very intoxicating liquors. However, one disease made it a bit too easy to get drunk.

In the Season 1 episode "The Naked Time" from the original "Star Trek" series and the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 1 episode "The Naked Now," the crews of both the original Enterprise and the Enterprise-D fall victim to variations of "polywater intoxication" (aka the Tsiolkovsky infection or Psi 2000 virus). Those who succumbed experienced a huge suppression of inhibitions, making them act drunk. Perhaps worse, the condition could be spread by touch, making it very easy to intoxicate an entire crew.

During Kirk's time, the virus caused Mr. Sulu (George Takei) to run around the Enterprise half-naked and brandishing a sword, while Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was reduced to a blubbering mess. By the 24th century, the virus has apparently grown so powerful that the android Lieutenant Commander Data (Brent Spiner) passes out after he has drunken sex with Security Chief Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby).

It isn't all pratfalls and gags, however — in both episodes, drunken engineers sabotage the Enterprise and nearly kill everyone before Doctor McCoy and Doctor Crusher (Gates McFadden) devise antidotes to restore everyone's sobriety. That next day must have been one heckuva hangover.

Time travel can drive you mad

In addition to traveling to other planets, Starfleet starships are capable of traveling through time — and by the 29th century, fleets of "timeships" are designed to patrol the time stream and prevent unauthorized tampering with historical events. While the temporal displacement drives can place a person at any moment in history, time travel comes with substantial health risks.

In the "Star Trek: Voyager" Season 5 episode "Relativity," a timeship recruits former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), beaming her into the past to prevent a saboteur from destroying the U.S.S. Voyager. Ironically, the saboteur turns out to be an older version of the captain who recruited her after he came down with a case of "temporal psychosis" from using the temporal transporter too many times while dealing with Voyager. Driven mad, he decided to destroy Voyager in an act of revenge.

According to the short story "The Name of the Cat," Doctor McCoy once saved some people by traveling back in time thanks to an alien named Irum. However, the experience affected the entire human genome, including the genes of Yvette Picard, the mother of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). This left Picard in danger of developing Irumodic Syndrome, a disease that makes people behave erratically, slowly lose their minds, and eventually die. So, basically McCoy screwed the entire human species — but to his credit, he did later find a cure.

Gene therapy devolves you into a cave man

Starfleet medicine can cure many diseases, but sometimes those cures end up creating even weirder illnesses. Take Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome, a brand-new disease that can devolve you into an ape, a fish, or even a spider. In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 7 episode "Genesis," hypochondriac Lieutenant Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) gets injected with a synthetic T-cell to activate some genes, giving him an immunity to Urodelan flu.

Instead, the T-cell activates all of his ancient genes and merges with the flu virus, becoming an airborne illness that devolves everyone into an earlier form of life.

So, Barclay mutated into a spider, Worf (Michael Dorn) became a venom-spitting savage, Riker (Jonathan Frakes) regressed into a Neanderthal, Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) splashed around in her bathtub as a fish-woman, and Data's cat Spot became an iguana. Fortunately, the android Data was immune to the disease, managing to create a retrovirus that restored everyone to normal.

Behind the scenes, "Genesis" is the only "TNG" episode directed by Gates McFadden , who played Doctor Crusher. To give her more time in the director's chair, the script had Worf spit venom in Crusher's face early in the story, forcing her to have reconstructive surgery and stay off-screen. Uh, thanks Worf.

Parasites mutate you into a glow-in-the-dark alien

Starfleet directs its crews to "seek out new life," but one virus can actually turn you into that new life — and the results aren't pretty. In "Identity Crisis," from Season 4 of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," several random crewmembers fell victim to a virus that rewrites DNA and turns the victim into primitive alien creatures that can turn invisible or glow in the dark.

The virus infected Lieutenant Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), but because he's a main character — er, recently infected — the Enterprise was able to save him and reverse the process. Sadly, the transformation was permanent for the more anonymous Starfleet officers, who basically had to live out the rest of their lives as glow-in-the-dark blue monkeys on a jungle planet.

Behind the scenes, the mutated versions of the unfortunate crewmembers were played by Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, hosts of the nationally syndicated KLOS radio talk show "Mark & Brian" and the TV show " The Adventures of Mark & Brian ." Running around in a glowing blue body stocking probably isn't how most people think they'll end up on "Star Trek" — but it's one heck of a thing to cross off of your bucket list.

Catching the flu accelerates your aging

Most Earth-based versions of the flu have been eradicated by the 24th century, but one new alien variation can really screw up your life — by turning you into a senior citizen within a day.

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 2 episode "Unnatural Selection," the Enterprise encountered a group of genetically-engineered "super children" with perfect immune systems. Unfortunately, one of the antibodies from these immune systems mutates a harmless virus into a rapid-aging disease — and in the episode, it caused the crew of an entire supply ship to grow old and die within hours.

One of the Enterprise's own crewmembers, Doctor Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) also caught the disease and began deteriorating physically. Since they couldn't afford to lose another medical officer from the main cast (Pulaski replaced Doctor Beverly Crusher in Season 2 after Gates McFadden was temporarily fired ) the Enterprise's crew came up with a way to use the transporters to rewrite Pulaski's DNA — effectively discovering the secret of eternal life — and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing with this ground-breaking discovery.

In truth, accelerated aging is a surprisingly common trope/disease in the "Star Trek" franchise. In the Season 2 episode "The Deadly Years," radiation from a comet caused the crew to suffer from accelerated aging. Fortunately, Doctor McCoy managed to reverse the aging effect by injecting the crew with an adrenaline-based compound. Who knew aging could be conquered so easily?

Viruses can get big. Very big.

Starfleet medical doctors battle nasty new viruses all the time — but one virus from the Delta Quadrant learned how to fight back using very dirty tactics.

In the Season 3 episode "Macrocosm" from "Star Trek: Voyager," a virus incorporated the growth hormones of its host, allowing it to infect the bio-neural gel packs on the ship as well as multiple crewmembers. It then multiplied and "hatched' through their skin, growing into giant "macroviruses" with nasty retractable stingers capable of impaling its victims (and you thought the Xenomorphs from "Aliens" were bad...)

Enter Captain Kathryn Janeway, doing her best Ellen Ripley -impersonation. Wearing a sweaty tank top and carrying a really big space-rifle, Janeway blasted one virus with a laser, engaged another in a knife fight, and finally lured them all into the holodeck using the bio-electric signatures of holographic beach party goers as bait. Tossing an "antigen bomb" into the holodeck, Janeway killed the ship-wide infection with a massive burst of antiviral gas. Clearly, this was one captain you did not want to mess with.

Biological warfare is still practiced by the Federation

During the Dominion War depicted in " Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ," the shapeshifting Founders created the Teplan blight, an engineered virus designed to eradicate the Teplan people of the Gamma Quadrant when they resisted the Founders attempts to dominate them. The Blight decimated their population and many infected people found euthanasia preferable to living with the pain of the disease. While Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) developed a vaccine that prevented transmission of the disease to future generations, the Founders had set the Teplan people's culture back hundreds of years.

It sounds horrible, but some of the "enlightened" people of the Federation aren't much better. In another storyline, Bashir discovered that Section 31, a rogue agency within Federation Starfleet, created a "morphogenic virus" and infected Bashir's friend Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois). Odo went on to infect multiple Founders who found it left their morphogenic matrix unstable and kept them from using their shapeshifting abilities. Essentially, Section 31 caused the virus to commit mass genocide — and nearly succeeded.

Odo was eventually able to rejoin with his shapeshifting brethren and cure them, but the fact that members of the Federation were willing to look the other way as Section 31 betrayed all of Starfleet's ideals is disturbing. Humanity may have evolved in the Star Trek universe, but if we're not careful, we can still slip right back into some very bad habits.

Vulcan neurological conditions make everything ... illogical

Vulcans prize logic and emotional control over everything else — so it stands to reason that the worst affliction for their race would take away all of that. Bendii Syndrome is a mental condition that affects a minority of Vulcans over the age of 200. Those who suffer from this disease not only lose their emotional control, they also begin telepathically projecting their rampant emotions onto those around them, infecting others with the emotional turbulence normally held in check by Vulcan logic.

One Vulcan who suffered the effects of Bendii Syndrome was none other than Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), the father of Mr. Spock , in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 3 episode "Sarek." Unable to control himself long enough to mediate a final treaty, Sarek gained a moment of reprieve through an unconventional treatment — mind-melding with Captain Jean-Luc Picard and gaining the captain's self-control while Picard suffered in Sarek's stead. The experience nearly broke Picard, but left him with an understanding of Sarek to the point where Spock admitted Picard may know his father better than he did.

Sadly, Bendii Syndrome would eventually claim Sarek's life and he died unable to focus long enough to complete the traditional Vulcan salute, "live long and prosper." His end in the TNG Season 5 storyline "Unification" is tragic and his symptoms are very similar to those suffering Alzheimer's disease. "Star Trek" diseases may seem exotic, but they still have roots in very real conditions.

Space leprosy is terrifying

Weird illnesses and even entire plagues can be cured within the span of a single episode in "Star Trek" television series — but what if you're an alien race who doesn't have a Doctor McCoy or Julian Bashir running your hospitals? Then your entire planet might end up like the Vidiians' homeworld, which became the equivalent of a world-wide leper colony.

When the U.S.S. Voyager first encountered the Vidiians in the Season 1 episode "Phage," they had been suffering from the "Phage," a disease that gradually devoured the tissues of their body, for 2000 years.

To survive, the Vidiians became masters of transplantation and organ removal — often extracting organs from healthy beings while the "donor" was still alive. This turned them into a race of kidnappers and organ thieves who didn't even bother with sticking you in a bathtub full of ice to cut out your liver — they just teleport any parts they need straight out of your body.

At one point, Voyager's holographic EMH Doctor (Robert Picardo) managed to "cure" a Vidiian scientist temporarily by transferring her consciousness into a holographic body . Surprisingly, the woman who emerged was a kind-hearted, empathetic person who hated the idea of returning to her diseased organic form. However, she later decided she had a duty to help find a cure and restore her people to the artists and explorers they once were.

You can literally get "love sick"

Some diseases are really just a matter of your point of view. Take love sickness, for example.

In the aptly-named Season 5 episode "The Disease" of " Star Trek: Voyager ," Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) got into a relationship with a female Varro engineer named Derran Tal (Musetta Vander), only to discover that sex with the Varro created an "olan'vora" or "shared heart," resulting in a lasting biochemical connection between two partners.

Although the bond is typical in Varro mating rituals, it caused Harry's skin to glow as he became psychologically linked with Tal to the point where he began neglecting his duties to be with her. At one point, the former Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) compared love to a disease, saying it is "a series of biochemical responses that trigger an emotional cascade," although she later reconsidered her opinion after seeing how Harry was willing to suffer through the "symptoms."

Even so, when Tal left the ship at the end, both she and Harry went through an uncomfortable period of withdrawal, giving new meaning to the term "love sick." A word to the wise: Be careful of who you sleep with when seeking out brave new worlds.

Levodian flu clears up retcons

One of the great mysteries surrounding Star Trek's Klingons is why they look so different depending on what television show or movie they appear in. In the original series, the Klingons looked essentially human, but with smooth foreheads and bronze skin. However, by the time the Klingons appeared in the movies and "The Next Generation," they had some distinctive forehead ridges and sharp teeth, unlike their earlier counterparts.

Behind-the-scenes, the answer is simple — makeup artists on the original "Trek" television shows didn't have the time or budget to create an elaborate makeup job, while modern-day FX artists have access to better prosthetics that give the Klingon their distinctive alien look. Within the Star Trek universe, however, the mystery has been attributed to a disease — the Levodian flu.

In the "Star Trek: Enterprise" Season 4 episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence," we learned that 23rd century Klingon scientists genetically augmented certain Klingons to produce superior warriors. However, the process erased the Klingons' forehead ridges and merged with the Levodian flu virus, creating an epidemic that physically altered many Klingons. Enterprise's Doctor Phlox (John Billingsley) helped develop a cure, but it would be some time before Klingons regained their forehead ridges.

The incident proved so embarrassing that Lieutenant Commander Worf claimed Klingons don't discuss it with "outsiders." Given how much trouble a flu virus caused the Empire, it's probably a good idea to refrain from sneezing around these guys. You might just be put to death.

Some cures are worse than the disease

In the "Star Trek: Enterprise" Season 2 episode "Canamar," one alien spoke about how he liked eating "Melvaran mud fleas" that jump up and down in your mouth as you crunch on them. That sounds pretty disgusting — which is probably why Starfleet doctors of the Kelvin timeline created the "mud flea vaccine" that Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy gave to Cadet James Kirk (Chris Pine) in "Star Trek" (2009).

Bones gave the vaccine to Kirk so his friend would show the symptoms of the mud flea disease (which includes losing vision in your left eye, a really bad headache, and "flop sweat" ), that way he had an excuse to sneak him onto the Enterprise. However, Kirk ended up having a much more serious reaction to the vaccine, waking up in sick bay and discovering his hands had swollen to three times their normal size. He then tried to speak with Lietenant Uhura (Zoë Saldana), only to learn the hard way that the "numb tongue" Bones' miracle cure gave him made speaking practically impossible.

Ultimately, McCoy had to inject his friend with multiple other vaccines, just to restore Kirk's hands and tongue to normal, showing that while he may be one of the best doctors in Starfleet, he can also cause as many issues as he solves.

Given this, maybe Bones wasn't talking about different planets when he grumbled about the disease and danger Starfleet cadets faced — but the "space" inside his own medical bay.

View history

A trio of Founders

The Founders were a group of Changelings from the Gamma Quadrant , who mainly existed in the form of the Great Link . They were responsible for both the creation of the Dominion and all strategic decisions undertaken throughout its history . Though generally considered mythical by some Gamma Quadrant races , they remained, as of the late 24th century , the embodiment of the Dominion itself, and the ultimate reason for its existence. ( DS9 : " The Jem'Hadar ", " The Search, Part I ", " The Search, Part II ")

1.1 From Changelings to Founders
1.2 Contact and war with the Alpha Quadrant
1.3 Post War
1.4 32nd century
2.1.1 Conceptual origins
2.1.2 Episodic introductions
2.1.3 Further developments
2.2 Appearances
2.3 Additional references
2.4 External link

History [ ]

From changelings to founders [ ].

Eons ago , Changelings evolved from non- metamorphic lifeforms , who were limited to one form like other humanoids . ( DS9 : " Behind the Lines ")

Later, the Changelings roamed space , possibly including the planet L-S VI , searching out other races so they could add to their knowledge of the galaxy . The Changelings came in peace, though " solids " feared their metamorphic abilities, met them with suspicion, and even "beat, hunted, and killed" them. Deeming "Changelings" to be nothing but make-believe by the 24th century , the Rakhari as well as the Yaderans told mythical tales of them, with the latter speaking of " evil shapeshifters ." According to Dominion legend , on one planet, a group of Vorta – a species of small, timid, ape -like forest dwellers living in hollowed-out trees – hid a Changeling from an angry mob, and in return the Changeling promised that one day they would be transformed into powerful beings and placed at the head of a vast interstellar empire. ( DS9 : " Vortex ", " The Alternate ", " Shadowplay ", " The Search, Part II ", " Treachery, Faith and the Great River ")

The Great Link

As an adverse reaction to being hunted and rejected by the solids, the Founders accepted the pejorative "Changeling" as their own out of defiance and retreated to a rogue planet in the Omarion Nebula , where they existed as the Great Link . Adopting a philosophy of "what you control can't hurt you," the Changelings realized they had to "guide" the solids, who, in turn, had to "be broken of their love for freedom." They determined that, in order to be safe, they had to set themselves the task of creating order from the chaos they saw around them, and as a result, they became the "Founders" of the Dominion circa 2,000 years ago . The Founders genetically-engineered the Jem'Hadar as their front line soldiers and also kept their promise to the Vorta by empowering them to become the Dominion's civil servants and commanders . Amongst other methods, both species' loyalty was ensured by implanting into them a reverence of any Changeling as a living god . ( DS9 : " The Search, Part II ", " To the Death ", " Favor the Bold ")

Contact and war with the Alpha Quadrant [ ]

Despite their self-protectionism, the Founders still wished to explore the galaxy and sent out one hundred infant Changelings , including Odo and Laas , in order to gather information and explore before bringing the information back into the Great Link. They were genetically programmed to return to the Great Link, to share what they had learned. Laas, who initially attempted to mimic a humanoid life on Varala around the 22nd century , ultimately got disillusioned and frustrated by solids. Odo, on the other hand, was found beyond the Bajoran wormhole in the Alpha Quadrant during the first half of the 24th century and was subsequently studied by Dr. Mora Pol at the Bajoran Institute of Science . In early 2371 , roughly two years after the Bajoran wormhole was discovered by the Federation and henceforth frequented as a gateway between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants, Odo, who was still following his instinctive longing for the Omarion Nebula, returned to the Great Link, where he was not expected until around the late- 27th century . However, having spent all his conscious life amongst solids, he decided he was not yet ready to rejoin his fellow Changelings. They communicated with him by forming a female humanoid . ( DS9 : " The Search, Part I ", " The Search, Part II ", " Chimera ")

Founders' homeworld under orbital bombardment

The original homeworld of the Founders is bombarded during the Battle of the Omarion Nebula

Later in 2371, the Founders were the target of a preemptive strike by the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order , which intended to completely eradicate the Founders, thereby removing the Dominion as a threat to the Alpha Quadrant. However, a Changeling had infiltrated the Tal Shiar and, based on evidence gathered by that Changeling, the Founders relocated to a new homeworld in advance of the Battle of the Omarion Nebula , in which all Romulan / Cardassian forces were annihilated. ( DS9 : " Improbable Cause ", " The Die is Cast ")

The Founders proceeded with infiltrating the powers beyond the wormhole in order to prepare for their eventual invasion , while Odo continued his life among the solids of the Federation, separate from the Great Link. In late 2371, he became the first Changeling to ever harm another, when he killed one of the infiltrators in order to save his crewmates aboard the USS Defiant . Odo's slaying of the Changeling provoked much debate and disagreement in the Great Link, also because the Founders felt a sense of responsibility for having sent him away as an infant in the first place. In late 2372 , they had Weyoun , one of their most trusted Vorta servants , infect him with a disease to force him to return home and be judged – Odo's punishment was to be made into a solid. Although he regained his shapeshifting abilities a few months later in early 2373 by linking with a terminally ill infant Changeling , he was henceforth considered a traitor by the Jem'Hadar, as he had killed one of their gods. ( DS9 : " The Adversary ", " To the Death ", " Broken Link ", " Paradise Lost ", " Apocalypse Rising ", " The Begotten ")

Female Changling suffering from morphogenic virus

The Female Changeling suffers from the morphogenic virus

In 2373, the Founders began their invasion of the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion started a war against the Federation and the Klingon Empire . A few months after the war started, the Female Changeling came to the Alpha Quadrant to oversee the war effort and also to coerce Odo to return to the Great Link. Although they both linked, Odo was not able to understand the Founders' arrogance and ruthlessness, and eventually decided to side against his own people. In 2375 , Odo encountered Laas, who had also been one of the 100 infants sent out by the Founders. Although they linked, Odo soon realized he did not share Laas' disregard for the solids and decided not to join him as he continued on a journey to find others who had also been amongst the 100 infants. ( DS9 : " Behind the Lines ", " Favor the Bold ", " Sacrifice of Angels ", " Chimera ")

Unbeknownst to the Founders, the war with the Dominion was anticipated by Section 31 , a rogue Federation organization, which had secretly used Odo to infect the Great Link with a morphogenic virus back in 2372, during his trial for murdering another Changeling. Some Starfleet officers who didn't accept the Federation committing genocide managed, in an effort to save Odo's life, to obtain a cure against the virus . After Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant surrendered in late 2375, Odo cured the Female Changeling, who was subsequently taken into custody in the Alpha Quadrant. Odo then returned to the Gamma Quadrant and rejoined the Great Link, which was thus cured as well. ( DS9 : " Extreme Measures ", " What You Leave Behind ")

Post War [ ]

Following the war, Odo set about trying to reform the Dominion into a more benevolent society and work to make Changelings understand they could trust other species. However, a portion of the Great Link rejected the Treaty of Bajor and Odo's attempts at reforms. These Changelings - which included Titus Rikka , a Changeling who killed and assumed Eli Foster 's form, and Vadic - left the Great Link and made their way back to the Alpha Quadrant where they planned to launch an attack against Starfleet for defeating them in the Dominion War.

In or before 2401 , Odo warned Starfleet Intelligence operative Worf about this group of renegades and their plans to attack the Federation. Starfleet opted to keep the news quiet as to not provoke another armed conflict with the Dominion. It would later be revealed that this rogue faction of Changelings had allied themselves with the remnants of the primary Borg Collective to exact revenge for their respective defeats by the Federation. ( PIC : " Seventeen Seconds ", " No Win Scenario ", " Surrender ", " Võx ", " The Last Generation ")

Following Vadic's death and the destruction of the Shrike , most of this faction of Changelings were wiped out. The subsequent defeat of the Borg by the USS Enterprise -D brought a complete end to the Changeling conspiracy . Admiral Beverly Crusher as the new head of Starfleet Medical was able to devise a way to detect the evolved Changelings and the remaining infiltrators were exposed and arrested and the Starfleet officers who they had kidnapped and replaced, including Captain Tuvok , were rescued. ( PIC : " Surrender ", " The Last Generation ")

32nd century [ ]

As of 3189 , the Federation had knowledge of a fourth Founders' homeworld , whose location was noted on a holographic star chart of the galaxy at Federation Headquarters . ( DIS : " Die Trying ")

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ], conceptual origins [ ].

Not long after the three-pronged concept of the Dominion was invented, Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe started theorizing about the nature of the trinity's masterminds, the Founders. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 158)) Wolfe recollected, " We talked about having a race called the Founders; we wouldn't know who they were, or what kind of creatures they were, for a long time. That would be a big mystery. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13 , pp. 56-57; Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection , issue 13, p. 12) Behr concurred that the writing staff of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine wanted the Founders to be somewhat "mysterious and aloof." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 168)) Not much information about the Founders was included in a memo Wolfe wrote about the Dominion; as he later remembered, it clearly said of the Founders, " We don't know who they are. We'll never see them. " ( Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 13 , pp. 56 & 57)

For a long time, Odo actor Rene Auberjonois had suspected that the civilization Odo belonged to would remain a mystery. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 30, No. 9/10, p. 54) However, one initial thought the DS9 writing staff had about the Founders was that they were actually a group of shapeshifters, of whom Odo was the once and future king. ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 79) This notion was a private theory between Wolfe and Behr, which they conceived as a joke at about the start of DS9's second season . Noted Wolfe, " We figured we'd never see [the Founders] over the course of five years or whatever. " Throughout the second season, the pair of writers joked about the idea of the Founders being revealed as shapeshifters. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 158)) " We always said that with a laugh, " Behr reminisced, " because we figured it would be too big a character thing to spring on both the audience and Rick [Berman] and Mike [Piller] . " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 79) Behr clarified, " We never thought they'd go for it in a million years. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 158))

While being ridiculed and considered too radical by the DS9 staff writers, the twist of revealing the Founders as the same species as Odo was originally thought of as a revelation to be made at the end of DS9's series run, or at least as a season climax. " At the end of season seven we find the Founders [....] That's gonna be the end of the series, " Ira Behr remembered thinking. The writers also imagined the group, at about the same point in the series, as being reunited with Odo and coming under his rulership, Odo serving as their rightful king. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 102) In fact, the writers even felt certain, from early in the series, that they wanted the Founders to be reunited with Odo at the end of the show. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 32, Nos. 4/5, p. 89)

Although the concept of the Founders was established in the second season finale " The Jem'Hadar ", the writers hadn't yet made any firm decisions about precisely who the Founders were. During the hiatus between seasons two and three of DS9, Michael Piller called a production meeting and, thinking the writers would reject the idea straight away, he suggested that perhaps the Founders could indeed be Odo's people. ( The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond , DS9 Season 3 DVD , Special Features) Recalled Behr, " Michael said, 'I've got a crazy idea. You're all going to think I'm nuts; what if the Founders turn out to be shape-shifters?' " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 79) At the same time that day, Piller additionally proposed that the Founders were Odo's people, another idea he thought was "nuts." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 159)) When Piller suggested these notions, Behr burst out laughing, he and the other staff writers having come up with exactly the same ideas but having expected them to be dismissed. ( The Birth of the Dominion and Beyond , DS9 Season 3 DVD , Special Features) Behr continued, " We just cracked up, and Michael said, 'What's so funny?' " After Piller learned the other writers had been thinking along the same lines as him over the past several months, he and Behr took the idea of the Founders being Odo's people to Rick Berman, who agreed the concept was a good one. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 159))

Subsequently, Rene Auberjonois was immediately informed about the idea of making the Founders actually Odo's race. " We had lunch with Rene Auberjonois to clue him in, " stated Ira Behr, " and that's how it came down. " Although the actor had originally become interested in playing Odo due to having been fascinated by the character's uncertainty about his origins, Auberjonois happily supported the plan of establishing who Odo's people were. " I must say, " the actor admitted, " that I was and have been very satisfied with the solution they've come up with, which is something equally complex. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 79)

Robert Hewitt Wolfe observed a likeness between the Founders and the Roman Empire . " They would rather take over someplace without firing a shot, but they're going to take over, " he said, pointing out the degree of similarity between the two powers. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 167)) On the other hand, Ronald D. Moore stated that the Founders "are, in a metaphorical sense, Nazis ." Ira Behr likewise posited that the Founders had "fascist [...] tendencies." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (pp. 234 & 354))

Episodic introductions [ ]

In the script for DS9 : " The Jem'Hadar ", the Founders were implied as being the breeders of the Tosks , genetically engineering them to be gifts for the Hunters . [1]

There was a little uncertainty about precisely when to reveal the Founders as Odo's people. " [That] was actually something they were planning for a third season cliffhanger, " recollected Ron Moore, who joined the series at the start of that season, " but Michael [Piller] said, 'Let's do this at the beginning [of Season 3].' " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 90) Moore thought the revelation, ultimately exposed in third season opener " The Search, Part I ", was "a risk." He commented, " I think it was ultimately a good decision to just go for it, because now we can play all the [complex emotions and] things with Odo and his people out there who want him back. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 82)

The script for "The Search, Part I" described the Founders thus; " Their faces have the same 'unfinished' look that Odo's does and they appear to wear simple tunics. " [2] Ron Moore explained, " The Founders [...] modeled their look after Odo. They did this initially as a compliment and way of reaching out to their long-lost Changeling, and later they kept doing it as a dig and reminder to him of his own limitations. " ( AOL chat , 1997 )

An illusory scenario created by the Founders in " The Search, Part II " indicated how powerful they could be. " If the Founders are capable of playing with us like that, " reasoned Ira Behr, " how much worse could they be in reality? That was our intent, to show that these guys were so ahead of us that they were literally playing with us. " Regarding the "The Search" two-parter, Robert Hewitt Wolfe remarked, " Taken as a whole, the episodes showed both sides of who the Founders are. " Their interactions with Odo demonstrated the public face of the Founders, whereas their duping of crew members from the USS Defiant "showed their secret face, the dark truth," added Wolfe. He believed the implanted illusion was characteristic of how the Founders tended, like the Roman Empire, to prefer conquering other races without resorting to combat. " So the whole thing was a test for them, " he stated. " 'Can we take over by diplomacy ? Can we offer a treaty, get our foot into the Alpha Quadrant and slowly absorb them through cultural imperialism?' " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 167))

During development of Star Trek: Voyager , a Founder (referred to, in a summary of discussions that initiated the series, as "Soup Guy") was briefly considered as a main character of that series. ( A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager , p. 177)

Establishing the Founders as capable of assuming a convincing humanoid form (first established in third season installment " Heart of Stone ") facilitated later developments for the group. Explained René Echevarria , " It allowed us to set up the element of paranoia that would come into play later on [....] What's really interesting to me about the Founders is thinking that it's us, that it's you, it's Sisko , and containing the story. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , pp. 91 & 99)

Further developments [ ]

Originally, the Founders were to have featured in a two-parter that would have ended DS9 Season 3 before concluding at the beginning of the series' fourth season . The plot would have involved " learning that shape-shifters were on Earth and had infiltrated the very heart of... " René Echevarria paused. " That was the cliff-hanger ending. " When Paramount announced they didn't want a cliff-hanger to end the third season, the notion of nevertheless using the Founders remained. However, choosing what to do with them was an issue for the DS9 producers. They decided to keep the Founders-on-Earth storyline for the next season. They also chose to make the third season finale, ultimately entitled " The Adversary ", about "shape-shifters running amok," in the words of Robert Wolfe, and structure it around the statement, " No Changeling has ever harmed another, " which the writers had first established in "The Search, Part II". ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (pp. 250-251))

Some production staffers approved of the Founders being established as omnipresent in "The Adversary". " It [...] represented an interesting way to use the changelings, making them more of a threat, " Ira Behr remarked. ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , pp. 80 & 99) Commented René Echevarria, " It also provides another opportunity for [...] setting up in the minds of our fans that this – the changelings – is an ongoing, very dangerous problem. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 99)

Ira Behr held the opinion that "deepening" the Founders and their relationship with Odo was an important aim for the writers to bear in mind for DS9 Season 4. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 27, No. 4/5, p. 115) During the show's third season, Behr and Ronald D. Moore had a discussion which determined how the Founders went on to be developed in the fourth season. This period in the evolution of the group was inspired by a statement in " The Die is Cast ", when a Founder posing as a Romulan named Lovok comments, " After today, the only real threat to us from the Alpha Quadrant are the Klingons and the Federation. And I doubt that either of them will be a threat for much longer. " Remembering the conversation, Behr related, " I said, 'You know, Ron, a really interesting way to continue the Founders threat is by causing a war between the Klingons and the Federation. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 28) Once season four of DS9 began, René Echevarria reported about the threat imposed by the Founders, " To a certain extent, it's felt in the fourth season. We've had a lot of internal debates about what this would mean [....] So it's something we'll keep alive but will be careful not to overdo. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 99)

In an early version of the two-parter "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost", the Founders played an important role. " The changelings come to Earth, infiltrate the populace, and cause near civil war within the Federation, " reported Ronald D. Moore, recalling the story. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 298)) As the narrative evolved from then on, though, the repercussions of the Founders' presence in the Alpha Quadrant were toned down, focusing on Earth in particular. " In the most basic sense, Founders on planet Earth was what we wanted to do, " remembered Robert Hewitt Wolfe. The much-feared aliens could still be viewed as a metaphor for other groups in Human history, with Wolfe likening them to "the Communists" or the targets of "any number of other witch hunts in history." ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 28, No. 4/5, pp. 43 & 45)

Ira Behr could foresee, at this relatively early stage, the doom of the Founders, deciding to make it come about via their "rigidity." He elaborated, " They are so anal retentive, so paranoid, so set in their ways. Ultimately, that will be their downfall. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 300))

Ever since fourth season finale " Broken Link " was in its earliest form as a story pitch by freelance writer George Brozak , the Founders took Odo to be judged for committing what was, to them, an inconceivable criminal atrocity, Odo having killed another Changeling exactly a year beforehand, in "The Adversary". Ira Behr believed that the Founders' punishment of leaving Odo's face as it was, despite changing the rest of his body to become Human, was one of the writers' "many ways, both macro and micro, of making the Founders deliciously evil and calculatingly clever." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (pp. 353-354))

As was noted by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a big revelation involving the Founders provided a cliffhanger ending to both the third and fourth seasons. " The third season was 'Oh, shit, they're everywhere,' and the fourth season is 'Oh shit, they're running the Klingon Empire and are going to start a war,' " Wolfe pointed out. ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 121) For a long time, the writers planned to establish the Founders in such a way as they are depicted in the latter conclusion. " We felt it was an unfolding complication. We always felt the Founders were behind what was going on with the Klingons if nothing else than just because they were making the Klingons paranoid, " Wolfe explained, " but we always wanted to show it may be more overt than that. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 70) After the Klingons having been reintroduced as antagonists in DS9 Season 4, resuming the focus on depicting the Founders as the show's main villains was important to DS9's writing staff. Ira Behr recalled, " We were moving back toward making the shape-shifters [...] our enemies. " Hence, once a Founder was identified as misleading the Klingon Empire in fifth season 's " Apocalypse Rising ", the Founders were deliberately further concentrated on. " After doing 'Apocalypse Rising' to open the season, we knew we had to get the changelings back into the show, " Behr emphasized. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (pp. 359 & 422))

Although the concept of Founders infiltrating Earth had been popular, the nature of the threat posed by the Founders was thereafter changed, because Earth wasn't seen as an appropriate setting for Deep Space Nine . As a result, their menace evolved to become, for instance, a Founder who had secretly replaced Dr. Bashir , as established in fifth season episode " In Purgatory's Shadow ". ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 422))

When DS9 Season 6 installment " His Way " was written, Ira Behr already knew that the series would end with the Founders being reunited with Odo. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 560)) This influenced the writers to make the Founders unwell, firstly in DS9 Season 7 entry " Treachery, Faith and the Great River ". Behr remembered that "giving the Founders an illness seemed to give" Odo a motive for returning to them and trying to save them. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 619)) Meanwhile, Rene Auberjonois felt it was "inevitable" that the Founders would end up reunited with Odo and that "the Founders' paranoia, and their feeling that they need to destroy the Federation" would peacefully be put to an end by him. The actor also believed this was "the right thing." ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 32, Nos. 4/5, p. 40)

Ira Behr believed that, by callously disregarding and underestimating the Cardassians during the Dominion War , the Founders were akin to those who underestimated the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War and George Armstrong Custer when he underestimated tribes of Native Americans at the Battle of the Little Bighorn . Behr concluded about the Founders, " They're still not nice people. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 709))

Appearances [ ]

" The Search, Part I " (Season 3)
" The Search, Part II "
" Heart of Stone "
" Improbable Cause "
" The Die is Cast "
" The Adversary "
" Homefront " (Season 4)
" Paradise Lost "
" Broken Link "
" Apocalypse Rising " (Season 5)
" The Ship "
" Things Past "
" In Purgatory's Shadow "
" By Inferno's Light "
" Behind the Lines " (Season 6)
" Favor the Bold "
" Sacrifice of Angels "
" Treachery, Faith and the Great River " (Season 7)
" Penumbra "
" 'Til Death Do Us Part "
" Strange Bedfellows "
" The Changing Face of Evil "
" Tacking Into the Wind "
" The Dogs of War "
" What You Leave Behind "

Additional references [ ]

" The Abandoned " (Season 3)
" For the Cause " (Season 4)
" The Ascent " (Season 5)
" The Begotten "
" For the Uniform "
" Change of Heart " (Season 6)
" Inquisition "
" In the Pale Moonlight "
" Chimera " (Season 7)
" When It Rains... "
" Extreme Measures "

External link [ ]

Founder at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

COMMENTS

Macrovirus
The macrovirus, also called the Tak Takian macrovirus, was a viral lifeform native to the Delta Quadrant. In 2373, the USS Voyager received a distress call from a Garan mining facility that was experiencing a viral outbreak. The Doctor, incapable of being infected, beamed to the surface where he observed that the virus had entered a new phase in its evolution. The organism had adapted to ...
Macrocosm (Star Trek: Voyager)
"Macrocosm" is the 54th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the 12th episode of the third season. The title borrows the philosophical term macrocosm, definable as a larger world that mirrors what exists in a miniature world, or microcosm.. This episode focuses on an alien infection spreading aboard the USS Voyager, and on the efforts of Janeway and the Doctor to combat it.
"Star Trek: Voyager" Macrocosm (TV Episode 1996)
Macrocosm: Directed by Alexander Singer. With Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Lien. After returning from a first contact mission, Janeway, Neelix and the Doctor must retake Voyager from an infestation of microorganisms that grow to an alarming size.
"Star Trek: Voyager" Macrocosm (TV Episode 1996)
A "gel pack" in the mess hall infects Torres investigating the food replicator and so spreads the virus, with giant macro-organisms soon buzzing out, ready to bite and spread. Janeway and Neelix return in a shuttlecraft from an "introduction" to the Tak Tak race, very sensitive with body language communication, offended by the Captain's "hands ...
Macrovirus: Star Trek Bestiary
The "Macrocosm" episode of Star Trek Voyager was a cool and eerie adventure, but upon making this video, I found it makes no sense. Still, it's another monst...
"Macrocosm"
The Tak Tak (or whatever) were a change from the standard humanoid of the week aliens. The macro viruses were truly originally and weird without being so implausible as to be laughable. The scenes were appropriately suspenseful for me. One faulty criticism of Voyager is that we know the ship won't get home/be destroyed/whatever during each episode.
Star Trek: Voyager's Macrocosm in the Age of Coronavirus
One rapidly accelerated growth and spread of the virus later—traveling along Voyager 's top-of-the-line bio-neural gel packs that power the ship's technology—and the crew finds itself ...
Macrovirus from Macrocosm
When the virus is gigantic! Not microscopic!!!-Clips from:Star Trek: Voyager: Season 3, Episode 12"Macrocosm"1996
The Voyager Transcripts
The virus absorbed the miner's growth hormones into it's protein structure, and used them to increase it's own mass and dimensions. In essence, the virus has found a way to leave the microscopic world and enter the macroscopic world. Our world. It's a remarkable evolutionary development. The virus appears to be attracted to infra-red radiation.
Star Trek Voyager: Macrocosm
Juliette Harrisson reviews "Macrocosm," an episode of "Star Trek Voyager" about an alien virus. Star Trek Voyager: Macrocosm. by Juliette "Good health." This episode is about an attack from a dangerous unknown virus that causes high fever and fluid in the lungs. ... It's a shame the nature of Voyager's set-up means we can't revisit alien ...
Voyager's Macrocosm is a Covid-19 Cautionary Tale
Star Trek: Voyager is no exception. While they played with the idea of a virus and isolation in the season two episode "Resolutions," their second foray into the genre is an entirely different animal. Season three's "Macrocosm," is a cautionary tale that fits perfectly into COVID-19 and social distancing. Fans may remember it as the ...
Star Trek: Voyager
Voyager was a very technically ambitious show, ... and I did like Janeway's final fight with the virus. Macrocosm is undeniably flawed but it does have moments of greatness and the macrovirus like the Vidiians (they're a logical extension from them being a walking disease), the Botha and the Swarm are among Voyager's most interesting ...
"Star Trek: Voyager" Macrocosm (TV Episode 1996)
"Star Trek: Voyager" Macrocosm (TV Episode 1996) - * The Doctor: [after injecting a macro-virus with an antigen] One down, ten billion to go. Menu. Movies. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight.
Star Trek Voyager S 3 E 11 "Macrocosm" / Recap
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The macrovirus plot started because Voyager went to help a Garan mining colony. The Doctor comes up with an antidote — then the Tak Tak destroy the colony before he can save them. Slime, Snails, and Mutant Tails: The macrovirus leaves green slime all over Janeway's Shiny Looking Spaceship.
Macrovirus
The macrovirus was a viral organism encountered by the crew of the Federation starship Voyager in the TV series Star Trek: Voyager. This organism was initially microscopic like any other virus, but at some point had evolved to adapt the growth hormones of the creatures it infected, allowing to grow to macroscopic size. The macrovirus appears in the Voyager episode "Macrocosm". The macrovirus ...
Resolutions (Star Trek: Voyager)
List of episodes. " Resolutions " is the 41st episode (25th of the second season) of the science fiction television program Star Trek: Voyager. The episode originally aired on May 13, 1996. The series follows the adventures of the Federation starship Voyager during its journey home to Earth, having been stranded tens of thousands of light-years ...
Macrovirus Voyager Episode
Macrovirus Voyager Episode - Seems familiar somehow... 18K subscribers in the voyager community. Welcome to the subreddit all about Star Trek: Voyager! The aim of this subreddit is to provide a friendly….
"Star Trek: Voyager" The Disease (TV Episode 1999)
The Disease: Directed by David Livingston. With Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill. Voyager encounters a group of xenophobic nomads, in space for 400 years, with serious ship-wide malfunctions. The offer to help leads to serious consequences.
The Worst Diseases In The Star Trek Universe
In the Season 3 episode "Macrocosm" from "Star Trek: Voyager," a virus incorporated the growth hormones of its host, allowing it to infect the bio-neural gel packs on the ship as well as multiple ...
"Star Trek" Episodes About Viruses, Epidemics, and Pandemics
Mar 30, 2023 8:39 PM EDT. Several "Star Trek" episodes deal with events surrounding a virus. Star Trek Virus Episodes. Viruses, epidemics, and pandemics lhave been the inspiration for several episodes of the Star Trek sci-fi television series that will be reviewed here. Only episodes from The Original Series (TOS) and The Next Generation (TNG ...
Macro virus
In computing terminology, a macro virus is a virus that is written in a macro language: a programming language which is embedded inside a software application (e.g., word processors and spreadsheet applications).Some applications, such as Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint allow macro programs to be embedded in documents such that the macros are run automatically when the document is opened ...
Founder
The Female Changeling suffers from the morphogenic virus. In 2373, the Founders began their invasion of the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion started a war against the Federation and the Klingon Empire.A few months after the war started, the Female Changeling came to the Alpha Quadrant to oversee the war effort and also to coerce Odo to return to the Great Link.

The Primal Joy of Watching Captain Janeway Fight Giant Viruses

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Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 3 E 11 "Macrocosm"

This episode has the following tropes:

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Biology/Virology [ ]

The Disease

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The Worst Diseases In The Star Trek Universe

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Gene therapy devolves you into a cave man

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Catching the flu accelerates your aging

Viruses can get big. Very big.

Biological warfare is still practiced by the Federation

Vulcan neurological conditions make everything ... illogical

Space leprosy is terrifying

You can literally get "love sick"

Levodian flu clears up retcons

Some cures are worse than the disease

History [ ]

Contact and war with the Alpha Quadrant [ ]

Post War [ ]

32nd century [ ]

Appendices [ ]

Episodic introductions [ ]

Further developments [ ]

Appearances [ ]

Additional references [ ]

External link [ ]

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