Written By: Brannon Braga and Joe Menonsky
Directed By: David Livingston
Rating: **** (out of 5)
The story goes that Professor Gegan is on a quest to find out the true origin of his people and when he finally finds a big link proving his theories right he�s criticized and tried by his elders for going against Voth beliefs. Even when presenting proof of his theory, a human from the planet Earth named Chakotay, the higher-ups refuse to believe Gegan�s theories and decide to ruin him. However standing by his beliefs would mean that the human crew of Voyager would all be destroyed. Gegan�s humanity (it�s a Terran thing) kicks in and he decides to take back his theories and start a new career to save an innocent group of people.
�Distant Origin� is a very original episode that has a great deal of great drama and conflict. It does have it�s downsides, but we�ll get to that later. I really liked the character of Gegan. He has such a scientific humanity that plays so well into the drama that unfolds around him. He�s played well Henry Woronicz under all that prosthetic makeup too. And he�s the star of the story. Gegan�s principles, his life work, are all under jeopardy simply because his elders are so narrow-minded. It�s an interesting contrast that such an advanced civilization could also be so uninterested in the truth.
Voth society is very interesting also. A society from Earth that at the time of the destruction of the Dinosaurs by a meteor decided to build a space-faring ship and eventually reached the Delta Quadrant to build their empire, all evidence to this being lost over the eons. It sounds a little like the story line to the �Homeworld� game, a brilliant game by the way. It also sounds a bit silly and unrealistic, but then again who�s to say it didn�t happen? Who�s to say that it couldn�t happen? From my untrained scientific viewpoint it seems quite possible that something like that could happen. Far fetched, yes, but it would be narrow-minded to say that it�s impossible.
I really enjoyed the way �Distant Origin� unfolds to the audience by seeing everything from Gegan�s perspective. I particularly liked the continuity by showing that Nekrit Expanse outpost from �Fair Trade� and some other previous encounters we�ve seen as Gegan tries to find more clues.
Almost everything come together nicely in �Distant Origin� however I did find it a little boring to be honest. I think it�s almost two acts of the episode take place in Gegan�s trial and despite the interesting premise they are all debating about I just didn�t feel the tension. Things only became really interesting and tense when Gegan decides to take a new scientific path. I also enjoyed Gegan�s colleague Vir who ends up going against Gegan to protect himself. They had a nice and believable relationship. I really enjoyed how the Voth regard mammals as a lower lifeform, but it would�ve been good to see some more evidence to that because Gegan accepts Chakotay as an equal from the beginning. I guess it shows just how different Gegan is from the other Voth.
�Distant Origin� gives us a good look at how scientific principles can effect one person and a civilization and gives us good moral dilemma too. It would be good to see a return to Voth society one day to see if they�ve accepted the truth about their ancestors. It would make an interesting story to see even more how this kind of change can effect people.
I found �Distant Origin� to be a very good Voyager episode that brings a great deal of weight to an issue that we have seen quite often on Earth. It�s episodes like these that we should show people who aren�t interested in the truth to show them how silly they are being. That�s what Star Trek and television is all about.