Tattoo (Star Trek: Voyager)
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"Tattoo" is the 24th episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the eighth episode in the second season.
| Star Trek: Voyager episode | |
| "Tattoo" | |
 An alien who has the same tattoo as Chakotay. |
|
| Episode no. | 24 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 125 |
| Airdate | November 6, 1995 |
| Writer(s) | Larry Brody |
| Director | Alexander Singer |
| Guest star(s) | Henry Darrow as Kolopak Douglas Spain as Young Chakotay Nancy Hower as Ensign Wildman Richard Chaves as Chief Joseph Palmas as Antonio |
| Year | 2371 |
| Stardate | unknown |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Persistence of Vision" |
| Next | "Cold Fire" |
[edit] Plot
Upon discovering a cultural symbol drawn in the ground on a planet that was used by his ancestors to 'heal the land', Chakotay tries to contact the beings his tribe called the 'Sky Spirits.'
The crew of Voyager hopes to extract minerals from the planet, but efforts to reach the planet are inexplicably hindered. Storms form instantly whenever they try to achieve a lock to use the transporters to beam down, and when they take a shuttlecraft, storms develop again making the approach difficult. Meanwhile, Chakotay remembers a childhood experience of hiking through a rain forest on Earth with his father in attempts to find his tribe. However, he wasn't receptive to the experience, he doesn't yet embrace his heritage and is in constant discomfort because of the forest conditions. Meanwhile, the Doctor wants to prove to the crew that mild illnesses do not have to inhibit work. He programs a simulated flu for himself as to act as an example to the rest of the crew. On the surface of the planet, Chakotay continues to make parallels between this planet and his journey with his father. Attempts to contact the locals fail and a sudden storm forces them to retreat back to the shuttle. Chakotay is separated from the others during the storm and is left behind.
Separated from the crew and without his comm badge, Chakotay changes into clothes found at an abandoned camp and goes searching for the inhabitants of the planet. Meanwhile, Janeway decides to take Voyager down to land on the planet to search for their missing commander. As with the shuttlecraft, a storm forms as they begin their landing sequence. The storm quickly grows to strengths beyond the capabilities of the ship, rendering it uncontrollable and on a crash course.
Upon entering a cave, Chakotay is confronted by the local population. They have the same tattoo as Chakotay, and he explains he wears it in honor of his father as his father did before him. The locals describe how they gave a gift to Chakotay's ancestors to protect and care for the planet but believed them to have been eradicated by other humans. Thus, the 'sky spirits' believed Voyager's true intentions were to seek out and destroy them and had been responsible for the various storms encountered. Chakotay convinces them that humans have learned from their mistakes and truly came in peace. They dissipate the storm around Voyager mere seconds before the ship would have crashed onto the planet. For the first time in his life, Chakotay feels a connection to his people.
[edit] External links
- OVEG Tattoo at sfdebris.com
- Tattoo (episode) article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
