Star Trek Voyager: 3 great Tim Russ episodes to watch on his Birthday

Star Trek: Voyager had many great episodes featuring Tim Russ as Tuvok.

Star Trek: Voyager star Tim Russ is now a year older! Russ was born on June 22, 1956, and the now 65-year-old actor is one of the more iconic Trek actors in franchise history. Russ played Tuvok on Voyager, a Vulcan who was often seen as one of Captain Kathryn Janeway’s most officers throughout the series run.

Russ may have been limited in what he could do as a Vulcan acting-wise but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t get the chance to show off his acting chops when given the opportunity. Russ made the most of what was given to him, and fans appreciated that.

So today we’re celebrating his birthday by giving you three Russ-centric episodes from his time on Voyager to watch.

These are three Tuvok-centric episodes to watch from Voyager to celebrate Tim Russ.

Season 2, Ep 16 – “Meld”

“Meld” was an episode that saw Tuvok attempt to help the murderous urges of Lon Suder, a former Maquis soldier turned Voyager crew member. Suder is an out-and-out psychopath that Tuvok attempts to help with a Vulcan mind-meld. It goes as badly as expected, with Suder’s impulses being transferred to Tuvok. Eventually, things get worked out, but Tim Russ did an amazing job of playing a conflicted Tuvok.

Season 2, Ep 22 – “Innocence”

The next episode, “Innocence” isn’t as beloved as it should be. Featuring a young Tahj Mowry (Full House/Smart Guy), it centers on Tuvok crashing on a forested moon, only to find three young children there. Throughout the episode, Tuvok does everything he can to aid these kids, until he finds out they aren’t children, but in fact very old. The children belong to a species that effectively ages backward, and are nearing the end of their life. It’s very silly but the way Russ plays the final 10 minutes of the episode always gets me choked up.

Season 3, Ep 25 – “Worst Case Scenario”

Tuvok goes all Batman in “Worst Case Scenario”, creating a holodeck program that sees the former Maquis crew mount a mutiny. When the ship finds out about it, everyone wonders why Tuvok created it and more importantly, why it doesn’t have an ending. It’s a wonderful episode that effectively ended the “Federation vs. Maquis” ship dispute angle that was largely abandoned after the first season.