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| - Season three begins with the departure of the Kazon, and with them a story arc pivotal to the progression of the previous two seasons. The Doctor undergoes perhaps the largest change of any of the principal characters in season three, when he gains freedom from Sickbay in "Future's End" , by way of an autonomous mobile emitter. The same episode also has Harry Kim taking command of Voyager for the first time when the four ranking bridge officers beam to 1996 Earth, an important development for the character as an Ensign who cannot be promoted. However, the most important moment of the season, and possibly the entire series up to that point, takes place within the seemingly innocuous episode "Fair Trade" , when Voyager enters the Nekrit Expanse. Not only does this area of space mark the farthest extent of Neelix' knowledge, and the end of his usefulness as Voyager's guide to the Delta Quadrant, but the ship's entry into the expanse draws a line in the sand between what went before, and what was still to come. Three episodes later, "Blood Fever" features a brief introduction of the Borg to the series, the inclusion of which was to have serious and far-reaching ramifications for the franchise from this point onwards. "Blood Fever" also introduced the very real possibility of a romantic interest between Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, a relationship of singular importance not only to the development of the two characters involved, but also to the other crucial evolutionary step taken by the series in season three – the crew of Voyager as family. It is towards the end of "Fair Trade" that Janeway, while disciplining Neelix, first mentions this notion of familial allegiance. "I'm prepared to leave the ship, captain." "Oh no, it's not that easy. You can't just run away from your responsibilities because you made a mistake. You're part of a family now, and you have obligations." - Neelix and Janeway It is also around this midpoint in the season that other, more subtle changes were being made to the overall look and feel of the franchise. Stage lighting underwent significant changes, most notably in "Macrocosm" where for the first time, darkened or blacked out set pieces were used to add tension to scenes. Prior to this, Voyager's decks and corridors were always largely flood-lit except in times of emergency. While attending a Sacramento, USA Convention in 2003 (uploaded onto YouTube), Kate Mulgrew commented that by early Season three, she felt as if she had successfully married the actress to the character, to the extent that the writers were able to "back-off." "And when they finally allowed Mulgrew to inhabit Janeway, she took off. I'd say that was about the end of the second/beginning of the third season.. Every nuance that I could give to her, all those subtle endowments that were mine, that Mulgrew brought to Janeway. That's when you fall in love. I couldn't do it without her, and she couldn't do it without me". : – Kate Mulgrew It would therefore appear that the writers, producers, and performers had begun to find a direction and with it came a developing continuity. The Borg, introduced in "Blood Fever" , popped up again in "Unity" , and throughout the remainder of the series. John de Lancie returned as Q in "The Q and the Grey" providing continuity back to the suicide of Quinn in the second season episode, "Death Wish" . Also, the events of "Distant Origin" linked not only "Fair Trade" , but also the season two finale "Basics, Part I" . Writers also used events to tease the audience with what was to come in season four, namely "Before and After" and the "Year of Hell" . Possibly most significant is the season three finale "Scorpion" , which sees Voyager entering a war-torn Borg space. As Voyager came of age, audience figures leaped through the roof, and within half a season the show's writing and cinematography was largely unrecognizable from its previous seasons. Certainly, once Voyager entered the Nekrit Expanse in "Fair Trade", and later traversed Borg space in "Scorpion", the franchise was never the same.
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