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| - Season two of Star Trek: Voyager embraces a slightly darker and more serialized tone than that of season one. Recurrent themes of tension and mistrust between the Starfleet and Maquis crews, although largely resolved in the season one episode "Learning Curve" , once again resurface in "Maneuvers" and "Meld" . Inter-crew relations are brought to a head while under intense, continuous attack by the Kazon in "Alliances" , and when Janeway is cajoled into initiating a Maquis-led idea of a deal between the USS Voyager and the warring Kazon factions, narrowly averted disaster is enough to quell the two crews into a marriage of Starfleet ideals and ethics. Indeed, increased, and more dramatic conflict between Voyager and the Kazon is the main feature of the second season, aided and abetted as the
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| abstract
| - Season two of Star Trek: Voyager embraces a slightly darker and more serialized tone than that of season one. Recurrent themes of tension and mistrust between the Starfleet and Maquis crews, although largely resolved in the season one episode "Learning Curve" , once again resurface in "Maneuvers" and "Meld" . Inter-crew relations are brought to a head while under intense, continuous attack by the Kazon in "Alliances" , and when Janeway is cajoled into initiating a Maquis-led idea of a deal between the USS Voyager and the warring Kazon factions, narrowly averted disaster is enough to quell the two crews into a marriage of Starfleet ideals and ethics. Indeed, increased, and more dramatic conflict between Voyager and the Kazon is the main feature of the second season, aided and abetted as the Kazon are by the vengefully villainous and by now, more Cardassian looking Seska. Her vendetta against Janeway brings Voyager to the brink of destruction more than once during the season in "Maneuvers" , "Alliances" , and "Investigations" , and culminates in the season finale "Basics, Part I" when Voyager's crew is marooned by Seska and Culluh of the Kazon-Nistrim on a world inhabited by creatures and prehistoric humanoids. Alongside the Seska/Kazon story arc of the second season sits another spy in Voyager's ranks. Michael Jonas, a disillusioned former Maquis crewmember assigned to engineering is revealed to have been secretly communicating with Seska as she attempts to seize control of Voyager. Events leading up to the exposure of Jonas traverse the entire middle of the season, as does Tom Paris' apparent malcontent and ultimate decision to leave Voyager (revealed in "Investigations" as an attempt by Tuvok and Janeway to ascertain who the spy is). With Seska and the conflict with the Kazon as central themes, the rest of the season continues to develop the main characters, and more particularly their relationship to each other. Of singular note is the birth (in "Deadlock" ) of Ensign Samantha Wildman's baby, Naomi, but firm bonds and friendships develop between individual crew members as the series continues to evolve and find its feet. A connection between Paris and B'Elanna Torres is hinted at as she confides past mistakes to him and communicates concern at his increasingly errant behavior in "Dreadnought" . Paris also finally makes peace with Neelix when forced to work together to ensure their survival in "Parturition" . Kes and The Doctor's relationship solidifies in "Elogium" and "Lifesigns" , and Kes's trust in Tuvok is pivotal when dealing with her burgeoning and uncontrollable mental abilities in "Cold Fire" . Tuvok and Neelix continue to make the perfect "odd couple" but their pairing takes on special significance when a transporter accident fuses them into a single being in "Tuvix" . Finally and conclusively, Janeway and Chakotay find a common understanding, and any allusions to a romantic interest between the two is finally laid to rest in "Resolutions" . "I didn't feel as if I could have a love-affair with the second-in-command because, I had to get these people home.. I got them lost, and I really couldn't be doing things in the Ready Room" : – Kate Mulgrew (speaking at Sacramento, USA Convention 2003 (uploaded on YouTube)) A few of these relationships, though in their infancy in season two would go on to become increasingly important as the series moved on. Season two encompassed a dark time for the franchise, with dwindling audience numbers, and still no obvious signs of a singular direction producers wished the series to go in. Problems of direction can be seen with the one and only appearance of the female Caretaker, Suspiria, which was included as a possible "get-out" clause should the series ultimately fail. Appearances by John de Lancie as Q and Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker in "Death Wish" were obvious attempts to re-invigorate the series, but episodes such as "Threshold" where Paris breaks the warp 10 barrier and evolves into a "salamander" did little to silence Voyager's critics. It is perhaps indicative of the conundrum facing producers at the time, that the heavy reliance during the second season on stories involving the Kazon (never a popular species with fans) was quietly relinquished as Voyager moved beyond Kazon territory at the start of season three. The species would be revisited retrospectively in season seven's "Shattered" , but apart from brief appearances in season four's "Living Witness" , season five's "Relativity" and a couple of conversational "nods" in season four's "The Raven" and season five's "Counterpoint" , the Kazon were not heard of again.
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