Voyager 2x12 "Resistance"

***

"Resistance" was a treasure that even those who were already turning against the series when it aired had to admit was a treasure.  It could easily have been an episode of the original series, if Kirk could ever give anyone but himself, much less a pathetic local with gigantic delusions about reality, any credit.

Substituting for Kirk is Janeway, who finds herself stuck on a planet after an away mission gone awry, and to survive she must trust said local, who mistakes her for his long-lost daughter, and recruits her in the mission to retrieve his wife from the town strongman.  Of course, we learn by the end of the episode that there are any number of flaws in this plan, but the guy is so ridiculously sympathetic, not just Janeway but anyone watching the episode will want to hug him.

It's a must-see episode, another one from the season, and a fairly random one at that, and anyone who ever said that Voyager shouldn't have been doing episodes like this would thus have lost one of the best episodes of the series, and arguably of the franchise.  And because so many fans said stuff like that throughout the run of the series, "Resistance" has all but been forgotten.  Well, let's let go of that particular delusion, shall we?

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
Joel Grey

Memory Alpha summary.