EPISODE #223
“BARGE OF THE DEAD”

B’Elanna struggles with questions of the afterlife and her Klingon heritage.

While on an away mission, B’Elanna chases a multi-spatial probe into an ion storm.  After safely landing back on Voyager, she is presented with a Klingon metal artifact Chakotay found lodged in her shuttle.  She witnesses the Klingon symbol begin to bleed and emit screams, but Tuvok interprets B’Elanna’s hallucination as a sub-conscious manifestation of her self-loathing of her heritage.  She brushes aside his theory, but later B’Elanna appears to have another hallucination.  This time, a Klingon warrior boards the ship and kills her and the other Voyager officers.   

Aboard the “Barge of the Dead,” B’Elanna is told she is one of the many dishonored souls being taken to Gre’thor—Klingon hell.  Her experiences on Voyager were just the illusion of life, created when one cannot accept death.  She meets Kortar, a mythological figure in Klingon lore.  Just as her mother becomes the next dishonored soul to arrive on the ship, B’Elanna wakes up in Voyager’s sickbay.

She was found comatose in her shuttle, drifting in the ion storm.  Although Chakotay assures her the barge and her mother are all symbols of her subconscious mind, B’Elanna believes her experience was real.  After reading the sacred Klingon scroll, she learns that parents are punished for the sins of their children.  Her mother is on her way to Gre’thor because of B’Elanna’s dishonor.  Determined to rescue her, she convinces Janeway to let the Doctor simulate her near-death experience in the ion storm so she can return to the “Barge of the Dead” and prevent her mother from entering the gates of hell.

B’Elanna confronts her mother, who is angry over her daughter’s rejection of her heritage.  The two are brought in front of Kortar, and B’Elanna convinces him she is willing to claim her dishonor and embrace her fate.  As her mother is set free, B’Elanna is forced to walk the plank to the gates of Gre’thor.  Back on Voyager, the Doctor and Tom work to revive her, but suddenly Tuvok appears in front of B’Elanna and pushes her towards her fiery end.  She wakes up in a Gre’thor version of sickbay.

As the Doctor works to bring her back to consciousness, B’Elanna continues her journey.  Taunted by her fellow crewmembers, B’Elanna realizes Voyager is her version of hell.  Her mother, who cannot be free until B’Elanna frees herself, then confronts her.  Confused by the symbolism, she cries out for help to her friends, who tell her that anger is consuming her.  B’Elanna finally throws away her defenses, symbolized by a Klingon weapon, and awakens in Voyager’s sickbay.

CAST

CAPTAIN KATHRYN JANEWAY
     KATE MULGREW
CHAKOTAY
     ROBERT BELTRAN
B'ELANNA TORRES
     ROXANN DAWSON
TOM PARIS
     ROBERT DUNCAN MCNEILL
NEELIX
     ETHAN PHILLIPS
THE DOCTOR
     ROBERT PICARDO
TUVOK
     TIM RUSS
SEVEN OF NINE
     JERI RYAN
HARRY KIM
     GARRETT WANG

GUEST STARRING

ERIC PIERPOINT
SHERMAN AUGUSTUS
KAREN AUSTIN

Teleplay by:     Bryan Fuller

Story by:     Ronald D. Moore & 
                    Bryan Fuller

Directed by:     Mike Vejar

HIGHLIGHT LISTING

STAR TREK: VOYAGER: “Barge of the Dead”—B’Elanna struggles with questions of the afterlife and her Klingon heritage.

ADVERTISING HEADLINE

DISHONOR THY MOTHER
The sins of the child
become the fate of the parent.