This is the kind of episode not seen in any other Trek series. You can really see Jeri Taylor's influence on the show in the much more mature way pregnancy is handled on this that it was on TNG. DS9 doesn't do much better with Dax carrying the O'Brien's baby which honestly felt like it was mostly being played for laughs. At the same time this is one where Neelix is mostly there to be annoying seemingly and I am never going to be in favor of that. The plot about the space organisms seeing Voyager as a member of their species to be courted did feel pretty TOS in a good way though which at least partially offsets the Neelix factor.
We open with the setup for the show, Chakotay catches two crew members kissing in a turbo lift and decides he needs to talk to Janeway about a fraternization policy. Next we see Paris helping Kes carry cabbage to the mess hall which of course sets Neelix into fits of jealousy. Kes notices a beetle on one of the plants and is fascinated by it. On the bridge Chakotay talks to the captain about what he saw but she is willing to accept such behavior from her crew. Kim points out that there is a strange anomaly ahead and when they investigate they find it is a cloud of organisisms which live in space. They go in for a closer look but the swarm creates a magnetic field which pulls the ship into it rather than letting them keep their distance as the captain would prefer.
In the hydroponics bay we see Kes taking care of the plants and then reaching over and grabbing a handful of beetles and cramming them into her mouth. She is horrified when she realizes what she has done and goes to her quarters where she starts stuffing food into her mouth as fast as she can. Neelix arrives and is horrified that she is eating food that she has added dirt to. He drags her to sickbay and proceeds to be so completely in the way that the doctor throws him out. He goes straight to Janeway to whine about it. But they are interrupted by the doctor who calls for the captain in sickbay. Kes has put herself behind a forcefield and won't let anyone in. Shockingly she doesn't listen to Neelix but Janeway gets her to lower the forcefield. Kes tells Janeway that she is entering sexual maturity early but that this is also the only time she will be capable of becoming pregnant.
The ship is having problems getting out of the swarm, the small creatures start turning blue and grabbing onto the nacelles when they try to leave. Then a large creature shows up and starts ramming the ship. Kes tells Neelix about her condition and he is at first terrified of having a child but is encouraged by Tuvok. He tells Kes he does want to have a child with her and she is excited. But she quickly has her doubts and decides not to have a child. Chakotay figures out that he large organism thinks the ship is a sexual rival and points out that they need to act submissive for it to leave them alone. They turn blue and flip over which works. Neelix is sad to not have a child, but pumped when Kes tells him the doctor things it was a false development caused by the energy field of the space organisms.
Review: Overall a pretty good episode, but not one of Treks best. It would probably be a point higher if Neelix weren't as annoying but that seems to be the norm these days.
6 out of 10
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