S5E17
The Disease
⚠ Spoiler alert This recap gives away what happens in this episode.
Episode Summary & Review
Summary
Ensign Kim breaks Starfleet medical rules involving contact with unknown alien species, putting Voyager in possible medical jeopardy. Without medical clearance, Kim involves himself in a love affair with an exotic member of the Varo species. Problems arise when they become biochemically interdependent after the incident.
Our Take
This one’s a middling romance episode that mostly works because Garrett Wang sells the lovesick ensign thing better than you’d expect. The biochemical bond stuff is decent sci-fi window dressing, but the Varo subplot feels tacked on and the pacing sags in the middle. Fine if you like character pieces, skippable if you don’t.