Star Trek: The Original Series is unquestionably an iconic and game-changing show within the sci-fi genre, but it’s so old that not all of its traits can still be described as objectively great. Despite its enduring popularity and undeniable legacy, huge parts of The Original Series have aged out of relevancy and, at times, seem laughable. That said, the franchise has been going for so long that The Original Series is no longer the franchise’s only project that has suffered due to the passage of time.
In fact, one specific episode of Star Trek: Voyager turns 30 years old today, and it’s a sign that the beloved ’90’s show will one day completely slide into the pit of full-on retro campiness. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is fascinating to watch this incredibly gradual transition. One of the most interesting quirks regarding this process is that the Voyager episode in question doesn’t just feel old-fashioned, it feels the same specific type of old-fashioned as all of The Original Series now does.
Why ‘Star Trek: Voyager’s “The Thaw” Now Feels Like an Episode of ‘The Original Series’
It goes without saying that all Star Trek shows feel, at least in some way, like the project that started it all back in 1996. So, there is an intentionality to successors and spin-offs like Voyager feeling like The Original Series. On the other hand, certain parallels only emerge once enough time has passed. When Star Trek: Voyager Season 2, Episode 23, “The Thaw,” aired on April 27, 1996, the installment belonged to and felt like a show at the forefront of trailblazing sci-fi entertainment. The Star Trek franchise was about to enter its third decade, and so Voyager was among those representing an then-ultra-modern version of what The Original Series had introduced in 1966.
In 2026, it’s tough to tell the two apart at times. Although not all of “The Thaw” has that same retro vibe as The Original Series, the scenes in the circus-like virtual reality just scream 1960s sci-fi, all the way from the 1990s. The sets look cheap and flimsy, and the overall script of a digital clown (played by none other than Michael McKean) turning fear into a lethal weapon feels very much like the kind of trippy storytelling The Original Series used to do so well. Plus, while “The Thaw” is trying (and largely succeeding) to essentially be a psychological Star Trek horror story, it’s so over-the-top with everything it does during those circus sequences that it’s impossible not to also find it a little funny in a cringey sort of way. This incidental phenomenon was not uncommon in The Original Series, and has actually become part of the show’s charm – just as it has for “The Thaw” in the 30 years since it premiered on UPN.
The Biggest Things That Separate “The Thaw” From the Cheesy Sci-Fi Vibe of ‘The Original Series’
Star Trek: Voyager, despite its age, actually still looks pretty great when the show takes place aboard its titular vessel. However, when the crew heads on its various away missions, unless they take place in one of the myriad of cave systems that permeate the franchise, the sets can look a little cheap and garish. For all the effort that went into the inside of the USS Voyager that allowed it to have a timelessly futuristic feel, it was pretty obvious at times that the remaining budget for locations away from the ship was far lower by comparison. Although they looked okay at the time, the decades haven’t been all that kind in some cases, and “The Thaw” is certainly one of those scenarios.
That said, the clown’s unnerving simulation was built intentionally to be so bright and unlike reality. It’s sort of a standout creative choice among the times when the set designers were forced to bring the script’s ambitious ideas to life with not quite enough money. Inversely, all of The Original Series had the same general aesthetic. Sure, Strange New Worlds might have a nice glossy version of the USS Enterprise, but the version that could be witnessed in The Original Series looks like it’s cardboard held together with duct tape by comparison. Of course, it didn’t come across that way in the 1960s, but with the speed at which sci-fi moves, The Original Series already looked outdated even a decade or so later.
“The Thaw” has a score of just 7.1/10 on IMDb, placing it at #109 on the site’s ranking of Voyager‘s 168 episodes.
Conversely, because The Original Series was so consistent with its overall look, regardless of whether the crew was aboard the ship or on an away mission, it wasn’t jarring when those two possibilities were explored within the same episode. Still, as a side effect of that consistency, it means that entire episodes have taken on a sort of comedic property that was never intended, although sometimes the retro vibe actually creates an unsettling atmosphere that’s become accidentally perfect for the story at hand.
“The Thaw,” on that note, clearly seems to have seen the merit in what The Original Series did to bring itself to life. Making the episode’s simulation sequences look and feel so much like an Original Series effort tapped into the unnerving nature that the ’60’s has come to have since. Furthermore, “The Thaw” focuses far more on theatrical performances than special-effects-heavy sequences, which McKean thrives at while playing the clown. Offset against the sleek, emotionally muted sequences aboard Voyager, then “The Thaw” actually works really well, despite still feeling a little grin-worth at times. Although some of these elements might have been an intentional Original Series tribute at the time, it’s actually the years since Star Trek: Voyager aired “The Thaw” that have allowed the illusion to complete itself.
