User Reviews

As this episode opens the crew of Voyager make a strange discovery; floating deep in space in the distant Delta Quadrant they find a 1936 pick-up truck. Even more surprisingly it starts on the first turn of the key and a fiddle with the radio finds an SOS signal which Voyager had not discovered as they don't monitor radio waves. The signal leads them to a nearby planet where atmospheric conditions mean that they can't beam down or use a shuttle so, for the first time in any episode of Star Trek we get to see a star ship land on a planet. Here they discover several humans who were abducted from Earth in 1937 and held in stasis. When they are revived they are understandably suspicious of Capt. Janeway's claim that they were thousands of light years from earth four centuries in the future. One of them pulls a gun on her and the other Star Fleet officers are disarmed surprisingly swiftly. In order to prove she is telling the truth Janeway leads them back to Voyager but on the way they are ambushed by people who turn out to be the descendants of other abductees. They explain that they have developed an advanced civilisation and invite Voyager's crew to join then, this leaves Janeway worried that so many people will opt to stay that she won't have a sufficient crew to operate the ship.

This was a fairly light story for the opening episode of the series although I must admit it was impressive to see Voyager landing for the first time. With the exception of Amelia Earhart and her navigator none of the '37s contributed much to the story. It was a nice surprise when it emerged that the 'dangerous aliens' were in fact human. This wasn't a bad episode but I feel it would have been better suited to the middle of the season, season openers should be a bit more exciting.

That some of the Star Trek universe shows contain implausible or shaky science doesn't bother me. Hey, it's all probably implausible. I liked the basic premise here - people are snatched by aliens in 1937 and eight are placed in a state of cryo-stasis on a planet far, far away - like in the Delta Quadrant. And way cool - one of those snatched is Amelia Earhart. I love it that over 70 years after her death (I'm assuming here she wasn't really snatched by aliens), she not only is remembered but featured in a popular television series. But in this story she was snatched, and Janeway tells her that the main theory on earth regarding her disappearance was that she was working for the U.S. government and was spying on the Japanese to which Earhart replies: "no one was suppose to know that." Hmmm. This is the stuff of myths. By great good luck those brought out of stasis are found on a planet inhabited by humans (descendants of those snatched in 1937) who founded a flourishing civilization after destroying the original alien body snatchers. All the crew who visit the great cities of this civilization agree that it is wonderful. The Voyager crew are told that they are welcome to leave Voyager and settle in the new land but none do nor do any of the 37s choose to go with Voyager. I have a hard time believing that virtually none of the crew wished to stay but that none of the 37s wished to leave made sense - their "home" of 400 years ago was long gone. While this was a good and especially interesting episode, it was too short to tidy up various strands in a logical way. For one thing, other than Earhart and her navigator, the other 37s are pretty much ignored. It would have been better as a two-parter.

Okay, this is not an episode that you really want to think too much about.

However, I was genuinely moved at the moment Janeway opened the cargo bay door and found no one was leaving Voyager and you could see a wave of emotion coming over her. I know, I know --- I am a big softy. Some may say this is a bit of a stretch but I think it is plausible. Voyager is now a functioning crew with a history and a personal sense of ownership of the mission to get home and voyager ship itself. A loyal Starfleet officer is not going to abandon their duty and crewmates and a member of the maquis is not going to abandon other maquis members.

I generally enjoy when trek brings in historical figures. We've had Lincoln, Twain, Einstein X2, and a whole fistful of others. Amelie Earhart would not be my first choice for a fascinating character but it does fit when you take into account that Janeway is the captain of Voyager and is piloting a 'lost' ship.

The question of why these aliens needed to kidnap a bunch of people from 1937 in the alpha quadrant and then fly them over to this planet thousands of light years away as slave labor remains a puzzling question to ponder. I know the WW2 generation is considered the greatest generation but this is a bit ridiculous.

Anyhow. Love ya Janeway --- let's hug that emotion out of you.

First of all, there is a 1937 Ford pickup floating around in space. Then an SOS is received. The folks go to a planet where several people are being kept in cryonic chambers. One is Amelia Earhart. Then we have the usual banter about how ridiculous it is that there are vehicles that can travel through space. This is a bit like an episode from the original "Twilight Zone." The crew does get tested, but the results are just a bit too pat for a very sophisticated crew.

How the 1936 Ford pickup happens to be in space, is never explained, but that is not what this story is about anyway.

To respond to other reviews, rust would not form in space. That bacteria needs oxygen and water to proliferate; two molecules that would not remain in the necessary quantities in a vacuum to form rust. Never mind the air in tires, a charged battery, along with oil and gasoline in viable states. So, clearly, the pickup truck was "placed" where it was found shortly before "Voyager" discovers it.

"Why" is never explained.

So what?

The episode is more about the people (and personalities) discovered on the planet nearest where the pickup is found. It also gives the writers an excuse to explain what happened to missing Earthlings from history's past, as well as to "test" crew loyalty to both The Federation and to Janeway.

Good Science Fiction, not only does not explain everything, it allows the reader/viewer to 'fill in the blanks' with their own imaginations.

Not a bad episode overall.

The fact is that the idea for this episode was severely under served. Had this happened in the 7th season (or better yet, in Deep Space Nine) you could have had a great two parter where the first part is mostly the same, but the second part would be a great examination of who would stay on the planet and who would leave. Could be a finale of the penultimate season where you could actually think there would be people who would stay behind after a deep look into the new civilization (the focus on the second part).

The problems are that 1) Voyager was never even close enough to bold enough to pull this off to its full extent. 2) Especially early Voyager, and being at the beginning of the season almost clinches it.

As it is, its a decent early Voyager episode (which is to say its extraordinarily shallow and not a thinking man's sci-fi. Certainly better than TNG's "Neutral Zone"; but requires the same sort of suspension of disbelief that any story dealing with the current time period or close past has to deal with.

STAR TREK : TOS episode SPACE SEED set the standard

STAR TREK : TNG episode NEUTRAL ZONE visited the concept

THE 37's was originally a STAR TREK : TNG episode concept was proposed 3 different times but was dropped for the GOD AWFUL episodes DEJA Q & TRUE Q & DARK PAGE

STAR TREK : DS9 started to visit the concept of CRYOGENICALLY FROZEN humans from the past was proposed but abandoned in favor of BAJORAN PROPHETS episodes to push BENJAMIN SISKO into his role of EMISSARY

STAR TREK : ENTERPRISE episode NORTH STAR used a similar concept idea and did it with the subtlety of a NUCLEAR EXPLOSION that included RACISM & XENOPHOBIA of course that was filmed after 9/11 which was how AMERICANS saw FOREIGNERS at the time

STAR TREK : VOYAGER THE 37's gets a 7 STARS out of 10 STARS.

Hello fellow humans,

This episode has the crew come acrossed a bunch of humans that were abducted in the 1930s. Then sent to the Delta Quadrant to be slaves apparently. Now this planet has over 100,000+ humans and 3 cities. Now if I was the Captain since they were all humans and taken against their will. I would give them all they technology knowledge that I had. So they can setup a human world that can prosper. I would give them replicators and medical technology. So the people can get food and longer life. Allowing the humans to leap forward. She also worries about losing crew. I bet she would have hundreds ask to join if they announced on the planet that they could go to earth on a space ship. I know I would leap at the chance to go into space and explore the galaxy.

I've just now started through this series again, having only previously watched it when it originally aired. Yes, we know this is science fiction (OK, barely), but I have to say at this point, it is the only episode so far that had me groaning OUT LOUD over and over AND OVER. I was glad when I could get to the next episode. Yes, every episode has a little bit of the suspension of belief, but I can only assume the writers checked their brains at the door when they came to work the morning this script was written. Let me go through the mind-bending list of complete bunk we are forced to swallow:

First, the crew follows a trail of rust (in the vastness of space, no less!) to a 400 year-old Ford truck which they bring on board and manage to start on the FIRST TRY. 400 YEARS OLD!!!!! OK, I have truck from the 80's that doesn't even start that well. But that is nothing compared to the fact that they followed a TRAIL of rust and yet the truck has not a spot of rust on it! (But it DOES HAVE a huge layer of dust that must be magical pixie dust because it stuck to the paint for 400 years defying any urges to float away.) Then Janeway SMELLS the substance in the back of the truck and announces manure! As if any gaseous odor would survive that long in space, let alone the entire truck! It even has gas, oil, coolant and a charged battery!! On top of that, they tune the radio in the truck and discover an SOS signal coming through loud and clear. Turns out this signal is from a far away PLANET. Wow, the reception range on those old radios must have been INSANE!! GROAN!! I am shocked this ridiculousness made it on the air.

There's more. From the start, it would make sense that the reason the truck and plane are still be in good shape would be due to some time-based plot line. But no, that never even comes up, they stick to the idea that the objects are actually 400 years old. (But it's as if the writers changed their mind while they were still shooting, so couldn't go back to change anything.) We find out that aliens brought people over in 1937 to this planet. Still no explanation of how the truck ended up in space but the plane was on the ground. Especially since the farmer and the pilot basically had the exact same story of how they were abducted. How stupid can you be?? You start the show ON A FREAKING STARSHIP and within minutes have an old Ford truck in your cargo bay and then don't explain it properly???? Wow, way to go! GROAN!

Now we get to the part where suddenly the ship has to land on the planet. GROAN AGAIN! I've watched enough Star Trek to know that landing the Enterprise is hardly ever done. When it is, it's for some really cool purpose. Yet for some reason that doesn't actually exist, THIS episode is special and we HAVE TO LAND THE SHIP!! Can't take a shuttle, can't beam down. Some blah, blah interference/science mumbo jumbo. So, there must be something AMAZING to come if they go through that much trouble. Well..uh...actually...NOPE. NO reason, they must have just thought it would be cool to land the ship!! What a complete waste! GROAN!

Once on the planet, we get to spend lots of screen time with a gun-waving navigator who wants to stuff Janeway and friends back into the cryo-chambers DESPITE the fact that he insists what she's saying isn't true. HELLO??? You're still not believing anything, while you're FREAKING STARING at glowing high-tech wizardry and that is your first instinct?? Not even walk around the corner to see what is around the bend? Aren't you a NAVIGATOR?? And a human, for that matter, because we know that humans are naturally curious, hence the PURPOSE OF STAR TREK EVEN GOING ON THE AIR!!!! GROAN!

And now we are literally WAY PAST THE MIDDLE OF THE EPISODE before we even get to meet the 500,000 people on the planet, or actually just three, well, just two take off their masks, well, OK, just one actually talks, and it's the UGLY ONE. GROAN! Everyone RAVES how the cities are marvelous, how they remind them of home, etc. But do we get to GO SEE?? NOPE!! Just endless lines about how awesome it is and Janeway staring out the window of the ship wishing she could stay. Oh, well, I guess we just have to take the writers word on how awesome it is, because that is all we get. No CGI shots of some blinking lights off in the distance, no quick shot of a crew person in the streets of this city, NOTHING. I MEAN NOTHING AT ALL!!! But we still are supposed to believe it is AWESOME!! OK, writers, WHATEVER. GROAN!!

Now the crew get to decide if they want to stay, and the 8 cryo-sleep-no-mores get to decide if they want to go. WELL, I guess the cities ACTUALLY ARE NOT THAT AWESOME because nobody on the crew wants to stick around. And the 8 SIMPLY DEFY ALL HUMAN LOGIC and decide to not jump onto one of most awesome star ships in the entire universe for the trip home, even after the pilot swoons over the possibility of flying Voyager. I can see the guy reading the captain's log when they get home: "They met WHO? And they left her behind?????!!!!!" LOTS MORE GROANING!!!!!!

The premise to "The 37s" is completely stupid. So, unless you are able to just watch it and turn off your brain, you'll struggle to enjoy this one.

The show begins with a 1930s pickup truck floating in space. Given this start, you KNOW you're going to be in for a bumpy ride. Soon Voyager lands on a nearby planet only to find a chamber filled with about a half dozen cryogenic tubes. There are humans inside and they're easily revived. Soon it becomes apparent that these folks were all kidnapped from Earth back in 1937. Huh?! To make matters more ridiculous, one of the revived ones is Amelia Earhart! Huh?!?! Soon the Voyager away team learns that there is a thriving civilization on the planet--one that welcomes them to come live there on their planet*. The Captain worries because perhaps most of the crew will make this choice and making taking the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant impossible.

Okay. So, to save money the crew isn't even shown visiting these wonderful cities! And, there's the whole Amelia Earhart angle. Dumb...but oddly entertaining. Goofy and contrived.

This episode like the episode: Distant Origin from the 3rd season is ridiculous in its study premise. But unlike Distant Origin, which is good in spite of the story being crazy, the story for the 37s isn't fun to watch because it's difficult not just to accept the crazy story idea, but the decision-making of the established characters. I don't buy this idea that no one (especially the Maquis) would leave the ship, and I don't accept the idea that no one on the planet would want to join the crew on their journey home. I know they didn't want to change the show too much on a whim, but it could have been interesting to exchange some crew members. I think that could have given them more story options without taking much away if they left a few nameless crewmen on the planet and added some new crewmen/women who had no previous knowledge of Starfleet.

They didn't even write a scene where Amelia Earhart went on a quick excursion on voyager to see what the ship could do. The idea of Amelia Earhart not wanting to at least travel for a moment on a futuristic space ship is annoying to me. Or the idea of no one offering to show her what the ship could do for a moment, even if she wasn't going to agree to leave the planet.

Sadly after the 37s get to the surface of the planet and decide that the Voyager crew can be trusted, the story becomes both predictable and nonsensical at the same time. The character decisions make no sense, and from a writing standpoint, the decisions allow for original tv viewers to follow the Voyager storyline overall even if they miss this specific episode.

It's a let-down to add stuff that could/should be significant to the main characters and then have those characters treat those experiences as a bunch of irrelevances to them for the sake of story being consistency for the T. V. viewers who might miss this episode or not want to be reminded of this episode down the line.

From the moment this episode starts, the plausibility of it is so stretched it nearly insults a Star Trek fan's intelligence, or anyone else for that matter. This episode was a season opener, designed to welcome back the Trek faithful, and to possibly integrate new viewers who might be curious. I'm surprised both didn't run as far away from this show as possible after viewing this monstrosity. And, for those that are ardent Trek fans dating back to The Original Series, it illustrates in someways how the later franchises drifted from what made TOS special, and the later attempts struggle with. They didn't understand the essence of TOS, as Shatner once said Roddenberry admitted "I'm writing Greek morality plays"; these later franchises focused on bells and whistles, techno-babble, and convenient resolutions in the final moments that stretch credulity. TOS focused on soul, humanity, and character development. At least in it's best episodes. In it's worst ones, well, they were more like this one.

Continuing their return voyage that hopefully one day lead them home, Voyager encounters unusual compounds detected within the spacial expanse of the Delta Quadrant, ferric oxide: rust. That's peculiar! And an examination of this anomaly leads to... A '36 Ford pickup! In space! In the Delta Quadrant! I was expecting ZZ Top to appear! Well, OK, now the viewer's interest is piqued. How can this be? Let's find out. It's brought aboard ship, and the crew examines, looking for clues. Conveniently, Tom Paris is an expert in such ancient vehicles, explaining to the crew (in great detail) what year, make, and model the vehicle is, and how everything about it works. Not only how it works, but THAT it works! That's right, a 400 year old Ford pickup floating 70,000 light years from it's origin in temperatures not all that warmer than 0º Kelvin miraculously fires up it's engines once Mr. Paris locates the keys! I guess they really didn't make them like they used to! Lt. Torres even notes some strange biomass in the bed of the vehicle, which Janeway surmises even without the use of a tricorder that it's manure. Yeah, well Capt., you certainly can smell that emanating from this episode.

Tom also plays around with the vehicles archaic "AM Radio", and manages to pick up a heretofore undiscovered frequency modulation emanating from a nearby planet! Yeah! Wow! Whodathunkit?? 24th Century state-of-the-art scanning equipment that can detect trace amounts of ferric oxide at Warp Speeds seems to have missed a AM band distress call emanating from a nearby planet, but the radio on a '36 Ford floating in space for 400 years, THAT will detect it! Has your head exploded yet??

Inconveniently, the planet, upon inspection, will not allow for the usual Away Team beam down, in fact atmospheric conditions won't even allow a shuttlecraft to land. Nope. For this, we're going to have to break out the big guns and land Voyager! Yay! You know they must be hiding a complete lack of script development when they need to distract the viewer with some razzle-dazzle like this, seeing as no Federation starship has ever been shown to land on a planet before. And, as we discover later, for no real particular reason to the plot device other than "gee, we just can't do it any other way. Enjoy!" BTW, not to be too nitpicking, but when it does land, and our brave away team exits the craft with our faithful Voyager resting in the background, the perspective is off so much that it appears that they would be lucky to fix the entire number of the Away Team within it's structure, let alone the dozens and dozens of crew Voyager holds. Must be a little cramped in there. They could have made that a little more believable, but seeing as that doesn't seem to be the case from the outset of this episode, I guess I should understand.

More anachronistic Earth vehicles are discovered, along with integrated alien technology. Instead of Janeway surmising this could be some kind of trap to lure the crew (I mean, after all, HOW THE HELL DOES A WORKING '36 FORD END UP IN THE DELTA QUADRANT!!) the investigation blithely continues until they discover a number of humans cryogenically frozen including Amelia Earhart!! What? No Bruce Lee? No Woody Allen (see Sleeper)? And, although Capt. Janeway apparently had no idea what a '36 Ford was, or what an SOS distress beacon is, she DOES, in fact, know virtually everything there is to know about Amelia Earhart. Well, that's probably why she's in command.

Janeway's primary mission since the first episode of this series is to find a way home in less than 75 years. She seems more interested in solving what happened to Earhart than fulfilling her primary mission.

I personally couldn't continue with this farce any longer. Not only am I not interested in how these anachronistic elements of Earth history ended up out here, I also don't see how this is going to further any character development, add to the story arc, or posit some poignant question about The Human Condition that will make one think "hmmm" It's just a childish exercise of playtime; "oh, what's that? Let's land here! Amelia Earhart! Run diagnostic scans! Reroute power couplings! Maybe with a tri-phasic inversion to the deflector array! Torres is on it!" Blah, blah, blah. The lines are stiff and forced, plot devices unbelievable and unoriginal,and I'm not really sure any of the actors are buying this premise of an episode either. They're mailing this one in; it's filler. And this is the Season Opener!

If you care to subject yourself to any more of this vapid and confusing plot, enjoy the rest of the show. Perhaps you can have enjoyment laughing at it's ridiculousness? Otherwise, skip ahead and find something a little less insulting to the intelligence.

Like most reviewers, I was unable to suspend disbelief and enjoy this episode.

1. How does a car floating in space retain charge in the battery sufficient to start it?

2. Why is a society that acquired advanced technology transmitting on an AM band?

3. You gain consciousness and are surrounded by inexplicable technology. Why wasn't the demonstration of technology sufficient to convince someone smart enough to be Amelia Earnhardt's navigator that something inexplicable was going on?

4. Why are beamed weapons so inaccurate?

5. Why would Amelia Earnhardt choose the sedentary life over the life of exploration?

Plot holes abound, dialogue is unmemorable and the characters have no depth.

Arggghhh.