Written By: David Zabel
Directed By: Mike Vejar
Rating: ***** (out of 5)
�Pathfinder� is different because it stars TNG�s Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi and only at the end features the crew of Voyager. The story of Barclay trying to get in contact with Voyager is believable and directed wonderfully by my all time favorite Trek director Mike Vejar and it�s always a pleasure to see Marina Sirtis!
Dwight Schultz plays Reg extremley well. He is just such a good actor. His bumbling during speech makes his character come alive, and the confidence he has in the holodeck shows such a dramatic change in his attitude. Reg is great, and even more three-dimensional than even Troi is. All we know about Troi is her love of chocolate and her Mum is a real pain!
But a major problem; the scientists on the Pathfinder Project say they have calculated Voyager�s position down to three sectors. How exactly did they do that? How can they know of the major jumps Voyager has made? There are five major jumps since �Message in a Bottle�: �Hope and Fear,� �Night,� �Timeless� (?) �Dark Frontier� and �The Voyager Conspiracy.� These jumps took years off their journey - Voyager hasn�t been held up that much have they?
I must say that it would�ve been nice for a mention on how Starfleet is recovering from the Dominion War, although a mention of Deep Space 9 was nice to hear.
I found Barclays obsession of Voyager to be obviously only for the plot, it never explains why exactly he is so intrigued by Voyager. If only he knew how well they are doing he wouldn�t be so concerned for their well being.
Admiral Paris isn�t as strict as I had imagined. He seemed very nice to me, maybe he�s mellowed in his old age. And his message to Tom was very sweet.
Apart from that any other minor flaw can be accounted for, except for these two minor discrepancies, Reg calls his cat Neelix. How does he know about Neelix? Probably from the info sent in �Message,� and he no doubt acquired his personnel file too. So why isn�t he, and Kes, (he wouldn�t know Seven) in the simulation. The only explanation - he doesn�t know much about their personalities to create holograms.
The other is that the Maquis crews are in Maquis clothing. Reg would know that the Maquis crew has been integrated with the Voyager crew. Good efforts in authenticity, but unfortunately this time it isn�t needed.
So, �Pathfinder� isn�t perfect, but it doesn�t matter because with a lot of troubles and arguments with his superiors, Reg manages to send a message to Voyager using an experimental array, MIDAS and talk to the crew. Definitely the highlight of �Pathfinder.� They exchange information and Reg becomes a hero on Voyager, as he is on the holographic Voyager on Earth.
The following aren�t complaints, but observations: If only Reg had waited another day, he wouldn�t have got in contact with Voyager at all. Lucky timing! And why is Voyager so important to get back? Is the Voyager Conspiracy real? If there is no conspiracy and the purpose to get them back is simply because they are stranded, than what about the Equinox? Well, now they won�t need to look for the Equinox because the data on that encounter is now in Starfleet�s hands.
I know I�ve done a lot of talking on the bad things, and I shouldn�t have done, but �Pathfinder� is definitely one of my favorites. There was no better way to do such a momentous occasion as communication with Starfleet. Everything here is done perfectly. Yes, it has flaws, but for such great payoff I�m willing to overlook these flaws and call it a classic.