Pages of Note

Monday, 25 April 2022

Star Trek: Voyager - Season 5 (1998)

Costume Design by:

- Robert Blackman ( notable efforts: The Running Man (1987), Star Trek: The Next Generation (Seasons 3 to 7), Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999), Enterprise (2001 - 2005), Pushing Daisies (2007 - 2009), Mockingbird Lane (2012) )

Of course, always dressed to stand out is Neelix, whose sole new outfit in this season is this striped blue suit made of a padded material, again of an asymmetrical design and adorned with the piping usually adorning his suits.

'Night'

This is also a good time to finally mention Neelix's pajamas, which had appeared in earlier seasons but get a better appearance here - his pajamas are as garish as his daywear being made up of a brown fabric with what seems to be an alien idea of filigree all over, with a segment of blue panelling over the shoulders of the same sort of pattern too.
In this episode, the crew of the Voyager encounter the Malon, a species of intergalactic litterbugs basically, who dumped toxic byproducts into regions of space - perhaps explaining the grubby, bulky spacesuits they wear, that look almost like a cross between a diving suit and a bin bag. The Malon hazard suits come in a variety of metallic hues, with different coloured strips complementing the shiny material.

'Once Upon a Time'

This episode involved Neelix taking care of the young crewmember Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers), who would wear a variety of colourful little dresses in her recurring appearances in the series, which I will all list here rather than for each individual episode.

'Timeless'

In this episode, the crew come across Tessa (Christine Harnos), whose outfit is not properly seen thanks to the gloomy direction, but is a red jumpsuit with darker patches on the shoulders and elbows.

'Infinite Regress'

Another alien species in a very odd outfit, this unnamed species of alien are all wearing plastic jumpsuits that pipes of fluorescent lighting under the transparent material, as well as LED lights and bits of circuitry - this makes me kind of think of the cyberspace outfits from Tron, or the interface suits from The Lawnmower Man, and I wonder how the effect was achieved!

'Nothing Human'

In this episode, to help assist their own holographic doctor in removing an alien parasite from one of their crew, the Voyager crew enlist the (holographic) help of Crell Moset (David Clennon), a Cardassian scientist whose outfit fits in with the usual designs to be expected from the Cardassians - a stiff, angular tunic, of a muted brown material, and with a larger panel going over the chest and front as well.

'Thirty Days'

In this episode, the Voyager's crew interacts with the alien denizens of an aquatic planet, who are all clad in hooded bodysuits worn with asymmetrical grey and black jackets over them, as well as long grey gloves - also of note is how their leader wears a blue bodysuit, whilst his assistants wear red ones instead. It seems these came in a variety of other colours for the undergarments, including green and purple.

'Counterpoint'

This episode had the Voyager being inspected by the 'Devore' whose soldiers all wear grey speckled jackets coated in a mosaic-like material over the front, back and sleeves, very similar in design to some Kazon uniforms that had appeaed in the second season episode 'Alliances', only they are not split around the bottom middle.
One member of the Devore, Kashyk (Mark Harelik), briefly wears a civilian costume consisting of a brown speckled shirt with asymmetrical sloping collar, worn with an asymmetrically cut jacket that has only one lapel.

'Bride of Chaotica!'

Perhaps one of the most fondly remembered aspects of Voyager was its loving send-up of the old adventure serials of the 1930s to 1950s, 'The Adventures of Captain Proton', obviously inspired by the likes of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Commando Cody (whose own outfit is directly copied in the serial segments!). Being a loving pastiche of these serials with a higher budget, naturally the outfits worn are much more elaborate, with the villainous Dr. Chaotica (Martin Rayner) wearing an outfit that is an obvious spoof on Ming the Merciless and other such old-fashioned space opera villains.
Assisting Chaotica is his lieutenant Lonzak (Nicholas Worth), who sports a delightful uniform sending up the rather 'historical' look of a lot of the costumes in the original serials - Lonzak sports a chainmal tunic worn under a silver and gold streaked black cloak fitted with large pointed shoulders, and worn with silver boots. Finishing the look is a large conical helmet that he sports in certain scenes.
Chaotica's goons lean even more heavily into the pastiche, wearing purple spandex bodysuits with stripled purple pants worn over them, very much an accurate but still colourful pastiche!
Also of note is Queen Arachnia (Kate Mulgrew), who is really Captain Janeway, the ship's commander, assuming the character's role. Arachnia's dress is a delight, as not just a loving parody of the large collared dresses so present in the old-fashioned space operas, but even fitting in with the spider theme of the character, as her collar is designed to resemble a spider's web. Also of note are the feathers adorning the shoulders, and the floral pieces on the front and back of the dress.
Also, whilst it is perhaps incorrect to put them here as they had actually appeared in the earlier episode 'Thirty Days', I think it would be a more fitting place here to bring up the 'Twin Mistresses of Evil' who both wear black leotards made of crushed velvet covered in silver detail, with a large silvery collar and cuffs, and of course the headdress and cape!
A regular damsel in distress in the Captain Proton program is Constance Goodheart (Kirsten Turner) who wears an orange midriff-baring dress with golden lining around the collar and waist.

'Gravity'

In this episode, two members of Voyager's crew end up stranded on a mysterious planet, whose only other friendly resident is Noss (Lori Petty), who wears a shiny vinyl jumpsuit with ridged lining across the sides in a similar manner to an older pilot jumpsuit.

'Dark Frontier'

This episode involves the Voyager's crew running into the Borg once again, with Seven of Nine suffering flashbacks where she remembers her father, who sports a brown jumpsuit with ridged material over the shoulders and sleeves.

'The Disease'

In this episode, Harry Kim ends up falling in love with Tal (Musetta Vander), a member of the Varro species who all live inside a massive 'generational ship' - Tal in particular wears a green top and brown pants, the top having angular lining over the chest, as well as a brown strip on the sides. Noticeably, the brown pants have a strip of green on their sides in the same shade as the top.
It seems all of the Varro dress like this, with the exception of their security guards pinkish-red and brown tops, with the brown being a large strip in the side, worn with brown pants.

'Think Tank'

In this episode, the Voyager crew come across a group of higly intelligent aliens of various species, though the most striking outfit among their number (that isn't in an outfit reused from Deep Space Nine) is worn by Saowin (Christopher Shea), who wears a brown jumpsuit adorned with waved patterns separated from the darker fabric by brass studs.

'Someone To Watch Over Me'

In this episode, Seven of Nine attempts to learn more about the human concept of romance - and as such, is 'taught' this in the ships holodeck, where she wears a futuristic riff on a classic 1930s dress - the short cut and colour scheme (as well as the bar setting) give away the influence, but it still has enough futuristic flourishes to count here, such as of course the panels of ruffled fabric.
One of the holographic characters she attempts to dance with sports a patterned shirt and buttonless jacket, with its angular cut fitting with costume designer Bob Blackman's regular usage of such design elements in his 'future' suit designs.
Much more eye-catching (and sadly, only briefly seen) is this silvery sparkly jumpsuit worn by another holographic character - this jumpsuit is cut at the chest to expose it, being another one of the various risque costumes worn by such female extras in the series!
The other holographic lady meanwhile is wearing this copper colored iridescent dress with a vinyl bust and sleeves, with trousers of the same copper material - this dress appeared again in the Enterprise episode 'Two Days and Two Nights', where it is seen more clearly.

'Relativity'

In this episode, we get a glimpse of the future, where Starfleet is still present and now has the ability to send ships capable of time trave - the crew of the future Starfleet are all in sleek black jumpsuits, with only one sleeve being coloured in a fashion to show their designation, as well as the coloured sleeve being made of a padded material. Noticeably, there is a line of piping going around the chest - the same sort that was seen on Blackman's designs for the future Starfleet uniforms in 'All Good Things', the finale of The Next Generation.

'Warhead'

This episode had the Voyager being held hostage by a sentient weapon of mass destruction, which the alien arms trader Onquanii (Steve Dennis) attempted to take off the ship for his own ends. Onquanii sports a blue coat with patterned material around the shoulders and back, worn over a blue jumpsuit with straps that go over the shoulders in a way that makes me think of dungarees.

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