Retro Review: Star Trek: Voyager’s Lineage

In the eleventh episode of the seventh season of Star Trek: Voyager, Lineage, B’Elanna Torres learns she is pregnant, and while she is excited about the baby, seeing a holographic image of what her child will look like triggers some unwelcome memories. As a child herself, B’Elanna felt like an outcast because she was part-Klingon. Her father’s leaving didn’t help matters, and she blamed herself for telling him to go if he didn’t want to be a part of her and her mother’s lives. So, in order to protect her baby, B’Elanna wants the doctor to perform genetic resequencing to remove the child’s facial ridges.

B’Elanna’s husband, Tom Paris, is vehemently opposed to the resequencing, which causes marital issues. B’Elanna is so sure removing her daughter’s facial ridges will help her in life that she reprograms the doctor to insist that the resequencing is now a matter of urgency as it will save the child’s life. Tom is skeptical and has Icheb review the data presented by the doctor. Icheb and Seven of Nine confirm his fears when they discover the doctor’s program has been changed.

Tom is able to stop the doctor before he can complete the procedure, and he and B’Elanna have an emotionally draining conversation where he finally realizes that she is afraid he is going to leave her and their daughter just like her father did. Tom assures her that will never happen, and B’Elanna’s relief is almost tangible.

There is a reason why Den of Geek ranked this as one of the top ten Voyager episodes.  Lineage is an emotional tour through B’Elanna’s painful past as she tries to come to terms with who she is and what her daughter will be. The episode is light on other characters to allow Tom and B’Elanna to shine, and shine they do. Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris) portrays the perfect confused and angry husband who’s trying to understand while Roxann Dawson (B’Elanna Torres) gives a heartbreaking performance as a woman torn between her heritage and future she wants for her daughter.

Overall, this episode rates a 10 for me and is definitely one worth more than one viewing.