Star Trek: Cathexis

Episode: "Cathexis"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 1, Episode 13

Original Air Date: May 1, 1995

via Memory Alpha

Chakotay and Tuvok's shuttle is attacked on their way back from a trade mission.  Tuvok escaped with a concussion but Chakotay is left brain dead.  Voyager tries to return to the point of attack but something keeps turning them back.  Meanwhile, a mysterious entity is taking over the minds of crew members one at a time.

It's not the greatest episode, aliens taking mental possession of crew members being well-tread territory for Star Trek.  The most obvious precedent is the notoriously terrible "Spock's Brain."  The plot twist at the end isn't bad, though.  The most important element long-term is the glimpse into Captain Janeway's fantasy world.  The episode opens in the holodeck with Janeway taking on the role of governess for the children of a widower in "ancient England."  The 19th century costume drama will resume in two future episodes.  I find the story an odd choice for a woman who has worked hard to attain a position of authority but the idea came from Jeri Taylor so what do I know.

The main story was inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.  The holonovel draws from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw.  

Acting Notes

via Arrowverse Wiki

Brian Markinson played the role of Lieutenant Pete Durst, a bridge officer.  Markinson was born in New York City.  He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  "Cathexis" marked his second of four Star Trek appearances.  He'll be back as Durst in the next episode.

Films include Shooter, Godzilla (2014) and three Woody Allen films: Sweet and Lowdown, Small Time Crooks and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.  His most prominent television work has been in Canada, playing Police Chief Bill Jacobs and Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall.  On stage, Markinson led Lost in Yonkers on Broadway and Angels in America at the Arts Club Theatre Company in Vancouver.