Investigations (episode)

Neelix searches for a traitor aboard Voyager using his morning news program.

Summary
A Briefing with Neelix goes on the air for the first time, with the approval of Captain Kathryn Janeway but Ensign Harry Kim suggests that Neelix could also include more intriguing information, rather than just light-hearted matters. Neelix also attempts to get The Doctor involved in the show.

Later that day, Neelix receives a message from one of his old Talaxian friends, Laxeth, regarding the fact that one of Voyager's crew members is going to be leaving the ship and joining their cargo supply line. When Neelix goes straight to the captain with this information, Lieutenant Tuvok and Janeway reveal that they knew that Lieutenant Tom Paris was going to be leaving, since he'd asked to be put off the ship soon after he was taken off the bridge.

The next edition of Neelix's program is of a much more solemn nature, with Neelix giving a moving speech about Paris and how he'll be missed on the ship.

During a staff meeting, B'Elanna Torres is contacted by Michael Jonas in Engineering concerning a plasma overload in the warp core. Racing down to help, Torres works with Jonas to stop the overload. The only option is to vent the plasma through the nacelles. This results in severe damage to the warp coils. With the help of Neelix, they find a source of the needed materials on a nearby planet. They set a course, not suspecting that it is a trap set for them by Seska and the Kazon-Nistrim.

Voyager receives a distress signal from Laxeth who tells Janeway that the Kazon-Nistrim have attacked them and kidnapped Paris. This leads Neelix to suspect that there is a spy on board Voyager. In Main Engineering, Neelix accesses the communications logs and discovers gaps going back several months. Neelix reports this to Tuvok, who thanks Neelix for this information but requests that the matter be left to him. Disgruntled, Neelix agrees but secretly continues his investigation.


 * "Captain's log, Stardate 49485.2. In spite of the fact that Tom Paris has been abducted by the Kazon, we must continue on course for the Hemikek system."

On board the Kazon vessel, Paris is visited by Seska, who explains why she's kidnapped him. She lets him know that she has no intention of raising her child on a Kazon ship. She then leaves Paris alone in his room, this gives him the chance he'd been waiting for. Using a console he attempts to access the communications array. Using a device he had hidden under his sleeve, which he attaches to the console, he attempts to amplify the last communication received by the ship.

Back on Voyager, Neelix keeps digging in his investigation and, with help from Hogan, he tracks the source of the communications to Paris' quarters. Neelix goes there and uncovers evidence implicating Paris as the traitor. Without mentioning this to anyone, Neelix goes straight on the air with his conclusions.

Hearing this, Janeway and Tuvok have a meeting with Neelix and Commander Chakotay and it is revealed that Paris was actually part of their plan to try to find out who the spy was. All of his insubordination and rudeness for the past month had actually been a ruse to make it seem plausible that he would want to leave the ship. Chakotay, stunned and angry about being left out of the loop on this plan, demands to know why he'd not been included. Tuvok says that it was his idea, because he suspected that the traitor was a Maquis crewmember and that he didn't want to put Chakotay in an awkward position. Janeway suggests to Neelix that he should continue digging and that he should pretend that he doesn't think Paris was the traitor.

On the Kazon ship, Paris finally manages to clear up the communications log enough to recognize Michael Jonas communicating with Seska. Just as he does this, Seska and two Kazon guards arrive, giving Paris a second to activate a small bomb that forms a part of the amplification device. Just before he is taken away by the Kazon guards, the device detonates, knocking them all off their feet, allowing Paris the opportunity to grab a weapon and race out of the room with the guards following close behind.

On Voyager, Neelix is in engineering, trying to get to the bottom of the investigation. Jonas sends Hogan off with some PADDs for Torres. After Neelix and Jonas are alone, Jonas begins the second part of his plan. He activates a force field, blocking off the access to engineering and, much to Neelix's surprise, he begins deactivating the weapons systems one after the other. As this is happening, Paris escapes the Kazon ship in a shuttle and manages to tell everyone onboard Voyager that Jonas is the traitor. As he is beamed off the shuttle it explodes and the pursuing warship continues on, attacking Voyager.

In engineering, Neelix realizes that Jonas is the traitor but Jonas hits him on the head and then quickly works to disable Voyager's shields. Neelix recovers quickly and picks up an antimatter pod-holder and follows Jonas up a ladder to the upper level. Neelix manages to gain the upper hand and Jonas is knocked over the railing into the plasma-stream from a ruptured plasma conduit, incinerating him instantly. Quickly reactivating the weapons systems, Neelix then deactivates the force field.

On the bridge, the weapons come back online and Voyager quickly disables the Kazon vessel.

On the next edition of A Briefing with Neelix, Neelix interviews Paris about his heroics. Tom modestly claims it was nothing and apologizes to the crew members he offended when he was acting insubordinate, especially Chakotay, though he does admit it was a certain amount of fun.

Memorable Quotes
"''Good morning, Voyager. I want to tell you about a friend of mine. I first met this man almost a year ago. And to tell you the truth, I didn't like him much. He seemed a little too cocky. A little too sure of himself. A lot of people had questions about him. He proved that he would sell himself off to the highest bidder go wherever the wind blew him. So people wondered, can you trust this person when times got tough? Would he stand side-by-side with you, or would he let you down when you needed him most? But the fact of the matter is, he proved himself right from the beginning. I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for him, and the same goes for many of you. It took me a while to realize it. Like a lot of people I was too caught up in first impressions to see the truth that was right in front of me. I overlooked his bravery, because I was focusing on his brashness. I ignored his courage because I saw it as arrogance. And I resented his friendliness because I took it for licentiousness. So while this man was giving us his best every minute of every day I was busy judging him. I'm proud to say that despite my narrowmindedness, Thomas Eugene Paris became my friend. I'm going to miss him. No more laughs over a game of pool. No more sitting up to the wee hours swapping stories. No more complaints about my cooking. Good bye, Tom. I think I speak for more of us than you might imagine when I say you're going to leave an empty space when you go. I hope you find what you're looking for.''"


 * - Neelix talking about Tom Paris

"Well? What did you think?"

"I'm a doctor, not a performer."
 * - Neelix and The Doctor

"Hello, Seska. You're looking radiantly maternal."
 * - Tom Paris

"I hear you're leaving the ship."

"Good news travels fast, I guess."
 * - Neelix and Tom Paris

"Are you saying Paris' insulting behavior, the gambling, being late for duty, mouthing off at me... was all a ruse?"

"That is correct. It was important that his decision to leave the ship appear plausible, so he began behaving like a malcontent."
 * - Chakotay and Tuvok

"I know that I've been acting like a jerk for the last couple of months. Unfortunately, I had to behave that way if the spy was going to believe that I really wanted to leave the ship. So, I'd like to apologize to anyone that I might have offended... especially Commander Chakotay, I gave him a pretty hard time. Not that it wasn't a certain amount of fun, mind you."
 * - Tom Paris

"Are you injured?"

"Don't worry about me, Mr. Vulcan. I'm perfectly all right."
 * - Neelix and Tuvok

Background Information

 * Working titles for this episode were "Untitled Neelix Newspaper" and "The Right to Know".
 * Executive producer Michael Piller originally intended for this story to be exclusively shown from the perspective of Neelix's news show. "Michael wanted to use the electronic newspaper as a stylistic device in order to tell the story in a different way," fellow executive producer Jeri Taylor recalled. "That meant that we would only experience the story from Neelix's point of view. It meant we would not see Tom Paris on the Kazon ship and we would not be redeeming him by showing him as a hero." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
 * Jeri Taylor was pleased to bring the recurring story arc involving Paris' disobedience to an end. "By this time," she said, "I was just frankly turned off to the whole idea of the Paris arc. I really thought that it wasn't working, and so bringing it to a conclusion felt obligatory rather than challenging. I was much more interested in Neelix's newspaper, which I thought was fun." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
 * It was not until after production began on the episode that the decision to show the story entirely from the point-of-view of Neelix's show was reversed, albeit by Paramount studio executives rather than either of the producers. "We were actually into the shooting of that episode when the studio read it and quite rightly – I was happy for their intercession at this point – said, 'You can't do this. We've got to have the action. We've got to see Tom be a hero,'" remembered Jeri Taylor. "So we went back and shot the scenes of Tom on the Kazon ship and his escape and all that derring-do, and I think it was an absolutely essential component of the show." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages)
 * The episode's final script draft was submitted on.
 * Although less of Neelix's news program was ultimately shown than had originally been intended, Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill once referred to this episode as, "Our 'Neelix as a journalist' episode." McNeill continued, "In the original draft, I only had one or two scenes and they wrapped up the story. So, it was a last-minute save on that show. There still could have been more explanation of what I had been going through." (The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine, issue #11)
 * King Abdullah bin al-Hussein (then Crown Prince) of Jordan appears as an extra in the teaser of this episode. The cameo was arranged as a surprise for the thirty-four-year-old member of royalty by his US advisor, as Abdullah was a noted Star Trek fan. After being put into makeup, given pointed sideburns and then fitted for his uniform (a lieutenant of the medical division), Abdullah rehearsed and shot his scene. (TV Guide, 17-23 Feb., p. 26) He was not permitted to speak, on-screen, as he was not a member of the . Abdullah later reflected, "It was just an opportunity to see how things work in Hollywood, and I've got to hand it to the people of Voyager. I found it very tough, and I was glad that I was a soldier and not an actor, definitely." (Star Trek Magazine issue 115, p. 9) Abdullah's interactions with Voyager's cast and crew included a party that he subsequently gave for the cast. (Star Trek Monthly issue 20)
 * At the end of Star Trek: Voyager's third season, actor Ethan Phillips cited this episode as one of several whose scripts excited him because, by reading each one, he discovered something new about his regular character of Neelix (other such episodes being, and ). (Star Trek Monthly issue 28, p. 62) Phillips also liked how this episode provided him with a range of activities and emotions to portray. He observed of the installment, "It had a lot of funny, comedy stuff in it, and a lot of action. I got to have an intimate scene, in the sense of showing that side to Neelix with Tom Paris, bidding him farewell. There was a lot of different colors in that show, and so I had real fun doing it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 106) In particular, Phillips enjoyed how, in this episode, his character is portrayed as exhibiting heroism. "I liked 'Investigations' a lot," he noted. "I felt in that show I got to be the hero." (Star Trek Monthly issue 21) The actor elaborated, "I really like it when the audience gets to see Neelix's heroic qualities. That's why I loved the episode 'Investigations'; I not only got to show a lot of Neelix's jocularity, but I also got to play the hero!" (Star Trek Monthly issue 20) In fact, Phillips cited Neelix's heroism in this episode as a reason why he had enjoyed the second season, remarking, "I got to save the ship, and that was pretty heroic. It's always a wonderful feeling to know that you've done something that terrific." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 106)
 * Ethan Phillips felt challenged, however, by the lengthy first shot of this episode's teaser. "In 'Investigations', I had a two-page monologue which they could not cut away from because it was just me [talking] to the camera," Phillips recollected. "I got the scene like the day before. That was hard. You would get a week to rehearse that in the theater. I had to sit in bed the night before and study it. I'm used to doing one sentence, three sentences at a time, but this was pages and it was tough." (Starlog, issue #231, p. 51)
 * Chakotay actor Robert Beltran disliked the particular way in which the long-running story-arc is brought to a conclusion in this episode. "I just didn't like the way they resolved it," Beltran recalled. "One of the more stupid lines that I remember, when they do reveal what really happened with that plot, Janeway says to me, 'We couldn't tell you, because we needed you to be ignorant of this. You did your part very well,' as if he had any choice in the matter." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 100)
 * During this episode's production period, Ethan Phillips slept in his trailer on the Paramount lot, one night. He explained, "They're long [days] because of the makeup, so it was the first show I ended up sleeping overnight at Paramount, so that I could gain a couple of hours, rather than go home that night. You get tired. You can't sleep in the makeup." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 106)
 * This episode was produced before and has a Stardate that is numerically before Stardates in that episode. However, this episode is otherwise clearly set after "Lifesigns" and was duly aired after it.
 * This episode marks the final appearance of Michael Jonas, and the first mention of Neelix's daily broadcast program, A Briefing with Neelix.
 * Reference to 47: When Ensign Hogan assists Neelix in Engineering, he responds to the computer "Engineering authorization Omega-4-7" which is later repeated by Neelix.
 * In this episode, the fisticuffs in Engineering is reminiscent of a fight scene between Khan Noonien Singh and Captain Kirk in . (Star Trek Monthly issue 15)
 * This was the only episode of Star Trek: Voyager's second season to first air on a Wednesday, rather than a Monday.
 * This episode achieved a Nielsen rating of 4.9 million homes, and an 8% share. It was the joint third least watched episode of Voyager's second season (on first airing), along with the season finale  (which had the exact same viewing figures as this installment).
 * Cinefantastique rated this episode 2 out of 4 stars. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 92)
 * Star Trek Monthly scored this episode 2 out of 5 stars, defined as "Impulse Power only". (Star Trek Monthly issue 17, p. 61)
 * The unauthorized reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 110) gives this installment a rating of 7 out of 10.

Video and DVD releases

 * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2.8,.
 * As part of the VOY Season 2 DVD collection.

Main Cast

 * Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway
 * Robert Beltran as Commander Chakotay
 * Roxann Biggs-Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres
 * Jennifer Lien as Kes
 * Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris
 * Ethan Phillips as Neelix
 * Robert Picardo as The Doctor
 * Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok
 * Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim

Guest Stars

 * Raphael Sbarge as Michael Jonas
 * Martha Hackett as Seska
 * Jerry Sroka as Laxeth
 * Simon Billig as Hogan

Co-Star

 * Majel Barrett as the USS Voyager computer voice

Uncredited Co-Stars

 * Abdullah bin al-Hussein as a science division ensign
 * Jeff Cadiente as a Kazon-Nistrim guard
 * Steve Carnahan as an operations division officer
 * Tarik Ergin as Ayala
 * Holiday Freeman as an operations division officer
 * Kerry Hoyt as Fitzpatrick
 * Julie Jiang as an operations division lieutenant j.g.
 * Ken Lesco as a Kazon-Nistrim guard
 * Dennis Madalone as a Kazon-Nistrim guard
 * Tom Morga as a Kazon-Nistrim guard
 * Louis Ortiz as Culhane
 * Shepard Ross as Murphy (security)
 * Richard Sarstedt as William McKenzie
 * Unknown performers as
 * Pablo Baytart (voice only)
 * Murphy (science)

Stunt doubles

 * George Colucci as stunt double for Ethan Phillips
 * Christopher Doyle as stunt double for Raphael Sbarge