Barge of the Dead
- Episode aired Oct 6, 1999
- TV-PG
- 44m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
A brutal experience aboard a shuttle puts B'Elanna in touch with the Klingon afterlife, where the Barge of the Dead steers her towards Klingon hell along with her mother.A brutal experience aboard a shuttle puts B'Elanna in touch with the Klingon afterlife, where the Barge of the Dead steers her towards Klingon hell along with her mother.A brutal experience aboard a shuttle puts B'Elanna in touch with the Klingon afterlife, where the Barge of the Dead steers her towards Klingon hell along with her mother.
Photos
David Lewman
- Klingon guard
- (uncredited)
Nichole McAuley
- Starfleet Scientist
- (uncredited)
Mark Tobin
- Klingon
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe song that the Doctor and Seven sing in the mess hall is the same song that Worf sang in The Way of the Warrior (1995).
- GoofsWhen the Barge of the Dead reached Gre'Thor, only B'Elanna is seen getting out of the boat. There should be many other Klingons getting off the boat as well because there were no less than 10 other Klingon souls on the Barge.
- Quotes
B'Elanna Torres: Do you believe in an afterlife?
Chakotay: I accept there are things in the universe that can't be scanned with a tricorder.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Star Trek Online (2010)
Featured review
Klingon Hell, Human Bafflement
I do so love a well-done surreal episode of Star Trek. Or of most tv shows, for that matter. But sometimes I wonder whether they're worth it, seeing as a sizeable portion of the viewers apparently start writing angry, scathing reviews without giving a moment's thought to what actually happened. People acting out-of-character during a surreal vision/dream? Not a goof. If everything went normally and characters behaved exactly how you'd expect a character to behave, there would be no point to the sequence being a dream or vision. A dream or vision that is indistinguishable for what passes for reality on a show...*that* would be baffling and odd. If Chakotay acts different from normal, or if the Doc can be harmed by physical weapons, it's actually consistent with the very premise.
As for the episode itself, I enjoyed the themes it tried to explore, and, for the most part, did so successfully. The main flaw in this episode is built into the format -- there wasn't enough time to give said themes full shrift, so we ultimately ended up with a conclusion that's less open to interpretation as somewhat incomplete. We can interpret what the episode is trying to drive at, but there simply wasn't enough connection between the behavior/dialogue and the resultant actions to have any particularly solid reason for our interpretations. Which is a pity, because it was a fascinating episode that developed a solid foundation for a character study, not only of B'Ellana but of the general Klingon psyche of the entire race, and the religious beliefs therefrom. I still rate it a solid 7 because it was worth watching; it just never quite closed the deal before the 40-some odd minutes ran out. It would have made a great 2-parter, but the topic itself, being so focused on one character in the ensemble, probably wasn't epic enough for the writers to sell it to the show-runners as worthy of having 2 episodes dedicated to it. Pity, because I can think of several episodes we could have done without if it meant this one got a continuation into the following week.
As for the episode itself, I enjoyed the themes it tried to explore, and, for the most part, did so successfully. The main flaw in this episode is built into the format -- there wasn't enough time to give said themes full shrift, so we ultimately ended up with a conclusion that's less open to interpretation as somewhat incomplete. We can interpret what the episode is trying to drive at, but there simply wasn't enough connection between the behavior/dialogue and the resultant actions to have any particularly solid reason for our interpretations. Which is a pity, because it was a fascinating episode that developed a solid foundation for a character study, not only of B'Ellana but of the general Klingon psyche of the entire race, and the religious beliefs therefrom. I still rate it a solid 7 because it was worth watching; it just never quite closed the deal before the 40-some odd minutes ran out. It would have made a great 2-parter, but the topic itself, being so focused on one character in the ensemble, probably wasn't epic enough for the writers to sell it to the show-runners as worthy of having 2 episodes dedicated to it. Pity, because I can think of several episodes we could have done without if it meant this one got a continuation into the following week.
helpful•93
- GreyHunter
- Jan 7, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
- 4:3
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content