Voyager Twist Involving Harry Kim

In the “Star Trek: Voyager” episode “Favorite Son” (March 19, 1997), Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) begins experiencing strange bouts of déjà vu. A series of psychic premonitions lead him and the U.S.S. Voyager to a mysterious planet called Taresia, a matriarchal society that claims Harry, previously assumed to be human, was actually one of their own. The Taresian leader (Deborah May) explains that Harry was actually born on Taresia, but was launched to Earth as a fetus decades ago. He was implanted into a human woman, and born among humans. The Taresians also wrote certain psychic instincts into his brain, leading Harry to seek a career in space travel, ultimately so he would return home. 

Harry is offered a trio of comely wives, as he learns males are very rare on Taresia. He will essentially have to live out the rest of his life having sex with young Taresian woman. The notoriously horny Gene Roddenberry would have approved of this porn-ready premise. Harry only becomes suspicious when he learns that Taresian reproduction leaves the males drained of their DNA and left as empty, dead husks. Harry has to decide if he wants to flee or go back inside and face the peril. “Futurama” would have called this “Death by snu-snu.”

Of course, the Taresians will eventually prove to be lying about Harry. He was a human after all, and the Taresians somehow altered his DNA with a retrovirus. It seems the Taresians needed alien males to keep their population high. At the end of the episode, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) extracts the implanted Taresian DNA, and returns Harry to his original human state. 

In a 1997 issue of “Star Trek Monthly,” Lisa Klink, the writer of “Favorite Son” revealed that her episode was supposed to be permanent. That is: Harry Kim would be revealed to be a Taresian, and he was going to remain Taresian throughout the rest of the series. It was only after several studio-mandated rewrites that the Harry would be reverted to a human. 

The idea of Harry Kim — a straight-laced, capable, and well-behaved person – suddenly learning he was an alien would have added a great deal of depth to the character. Kim was usually depicted a naive nerd or a perky honor student; he was never given very complex or terribly interesting stories. “Favorite Son” would have opened the door for multiple stories of Kim wrestling with his identity, perhaps even growing into something new and unexpected. Little was known about the Taresians, so perhaps Kim would also have been granted some eerie alien powers never before seen on the Voyager. Sadly, it was not to be. 

Wang certainly felt that an opportunity was missed. In the issue of “The Official Star Trek: Voyager Magazine” from June 1998, Wang — in an interview — seemed disappointed at the writers’ lack of courage on the matter, as well as the studio’s demand that they sex up the premise of “Favorite Son.” Ultimately, the episode became a simple tale that paralleled Odysseus and the Sirens, and Wang didn’t like that. Wang also felt that the story took too long to get going. He said:

“They were going to keep it that way. They were talking about keeping me in alien spots for the rest of the series. Some big-wigs looked at it and said, ‘More sex, more action,’ and suddenly, it became convoluted. The arc wasn’t clear. They added in the vampire-like, blood-sucking women. But they didn’t go all the way with it.”

Ultimately, the episode’s director, Marvin V. Rush, made the final call, declaring Harry’s species change to be too wild. 

Wang also felt the plot was too busy. Not mentioned in the description above was an extended prologue where the U.S.S. Voyager is attacked by the Nasari, an enemy of the Taresians, and how Harry’s psychic premonitions allowed him to fight them off. This led to his being relieved of duty and an investigation into the matter wherein Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) learned that Harry’s premonitions were correct, etc. etc. It’s way too much story for an episode that should be focused on Harry’s emotional journey.

It should be noted that many Trekkies hate “Favorite Son,” largely for its busy plot, but mostly because of the embarrassingly porn-ready premise. The “you must impregnate a planet of hot alien women” conceit dates back to at least the 1950s, and was even spoofed in movies like “Amazon Women on the Moon,” and on the above-mentioned episode of “Futurama.” To play the premise earnestly in 1997 was gauche. It’s also worth noting that the Taresians aren’t depicted as an interesting culture of their own, like most species on “Star Trek,” but merely as hot-to-trot succubi. For a series that boasted a capable female captain and touted itself as a feminist admiration object, “Favorite Son” was shockingly regressive. 

Also, the Taresians’ plot doesn’t make any sense. They can genetically alter alien men to mate their own DNA, and then lure them with promises of sexual conquest, but then suck out their genetic material for mating purposes? Surely, armed with such advanced genetic engineering technology, they wouldn’t require such a ploy. The Taresians could have merely cloned themselves, or created male fetuses as they saw fit. 

It seems that “Favorite Son” was nothing but missed opportunities.