For its 100th episode,Star Trek: Voyagercopied one of the greatest episodes ofStar Trek: The Original Seriesin a unique way. “Timeless,” aired at the beginning of season 5 and is still seen as one ofVoyager’s best episodes.The plot featured a twist on the franchise’s usual time travel storyline, set mainly in an alternate future 15 years aheadwhere Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) were attempting to send a message back through time to stopVoyager’s cast of charactersfrom going through with a plan to get home that would end in disaster.
TheTOSepisode that “Timeless” attempted to copy was “The City on the Edge of Forever,” the penultimate episode of season 1 and one of thebestStar Trekepisodes in TV history. “The City on the Edge of Forever” featured Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) using the Guardian of Forever to go back in time to stop Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) from irrevocably damaging the timeline. All in all, “Timeless” and “The City on the Edge of Forever” are very different, butVoyagermirroredTOSwith one specific choice.
How Star Trek: Voyager’s 100th Episode Copied TOS’s “City On The Edge Of Forever”
“Timeless” copied “City On The Edge Of Forever” in a unique way
Both “Timeless” and “The City on the Edge of Forever” are single installments, a deliberate choice by the creative team. By the timeVoyageraired, theStar Trekfranchise was known for its ambitious two-part episodes, which were extremely popular.Voyagerhad more than a few two-partersand could have chosen to make “Timeless” one, but according to actor Garrett Wang,Voyagerproducer Brannon Braga kept “Timeless” a stand-alone episode because of “The City on the Edge of Forever.“Speaking toCinefantastiqueabout the episode in the 1990s, Wang clarified, “Brannon’s comment on that was that he wanted the episode to stand alone, as if it was a ‘City on the Edge of Forever’ episode.”
Why Star Trek’s “City On The Edge Of Forever” Is So Important
What makes “The City on the Edge of Forever” such an important episode of Star Trek: The Original Series?
Braga’s choice to make the episode a contained story could have had consequences for the storyline. There were aspects of “Timeless” that could have easily been fleshed out given the opportunity, namely the alternate future with Harry and Chakotay and more specifically their homecoming after the USS Voyager’s disastrous crash.However, keeping “Timeless” a single episode was the right choice, as it didn’t drag the story outand cemented the episode as a story that captured the best ofStar Trek: Voyagerin terms of storytelling and acting.
Does Star Trek: Voyager’s “Timeless” Measure Up To “City On The Edge Of Forever?”
The two episodes actually have some interesting things in common
In this way, “Timeless” was exactly like “The City on the Edge of Forever,” even if theVoyagerepisode never managed to reach the same widespread appeal. In terms of storyline, “Timeless” and “The City on the Edge of Forever” did have some similarities, with both plots focusing onStar Trek’s version of time traveland featuring an alternate future where a disaster needed to be averted to save the timeline. However,the plot similarities were not the most important way in which the two episodes compare.
Both episodes are perfectly self-contained storiesthat show off the talents ofVoyagerandTOS’s respective casts.
More than anything “Timeless” and “The City on the Edge of Forever” represent the best of their respective shows, accomplishing this with an ambitious storyline that didn’t get bogged down with a lot of extra detail. Both episodes are perfectly self-contained storiesthat show off the talents ofVoyagerandTOS’s respective casts. Additionally, although “Timeless” does need some context from previousStar Trek: Voyagerepisodes,it captures the spirit of the show in a way that would make it ideal viewing for someone less familiar with the series, similar to “The City on the Edge of Forever.”
