Episode no. Season 5
Episode 12 Story by Bryan Fuller Cinematography by Marvin V. Rush | Directed by Allan Kroeker Featured music David Bell | |
Teleplay by Bryan Fuller
Michael Taylor | ||
"Bride of Chaotica!" is the 106th episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager airing on the UPN network, the 12th episode of the fifth season. The episode largely takes place on the holodeck, which is running a holo-program in black and white instead of the usual color. The episode contains many elements of the classic 1936 film serial Flash Gordon.
In this episode, Voyager becomes stuck on an interdimensional rift as photonic beings from the other dimension attempt contact in the holodeck, meeting the photonic villains of Lt. Paris' "Captain Proton" program who promptly attack them.
Plot
During an episode of The Adventures of Captain Proton on the holodeck (a recurring Voyager hologram program homage to Flash Gordon), Ensigns Tom Paris and Harry Kim are forced to leave the program running when spatial distortions trap the ship and disrupt their control over the computer. While the command staff of Voyager seek to discover a way to free the ship from the spatial distortions, extra-dimensional aliens who exist in a photonic state cross over from their own dimension through a distortion located in the holodeck. There, they are detected and attacked by Chaotica, (who bears a striking resemblance to Flash Gordon's primary villain Ming the Merciless), and believes them to be from the fifth dimension, and whose holographic (photonic) weaponry — though harmless to humans — is deadly to the aliens.
Eventually, the crew discover the war being waged between Chaotica and the fifth dimension and must defeat him by playing out their roles as the fictional Captain Proton (played by Tom Paris), his sidekick Buster Kincaid (Harry Kim) the President of Earth (the ship's holographic Doctor, who is himself a photonic being), and Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People. Captain Janeway allows Paris to convince her to take on the latter role.
Queen Arachnia, posing as Chaotica's bride, eventually convinces him to lower his shields so her friends could attend their wedding. Though initially suspicious, Chaotica does as requested, and Captain Proton is able to fire his "death ray" at Chaotica and defeat him, thereby freeing Voyager and allowing ship and crew to continue on their journey home.