I am particularly fond of this episode, as well. Unfortunately, it was not going to be Chakotay who guided Kathryn to a spiritual enlightenment, but rather another funny-nosed species that seemed to permeate and dominate every corner of the Galaxy in the 24th Century. It was also very interesting how it demonstrated that, despite her own belief in being open-minded, she was extremely stubborn about not picking up on what the Celestial Spirits were trying to explain to her. She just wouldn't let herself get it and then, when she'd worn herself out with her insistence on handling things as she was, finally, she gets the message. It was smartly written, but Robert Duncan McNeill's direction paces things a little too slowly, at times.
I love that it's Kes' life who Kathryn's trying to save, here, because Kes always followed Janeway around like a puppy, and was almost a surrogate daughter to the good captain, in some ways. It was almost like a mother's love is what it took to open Kathryn's mind. In a way, it was like she became Born Again, learning to see with new eyes, as it were. And these aliens were painted fairly thin, in this script, there's not much there to go on. Just a sort of Zen atmosphere and 3 old people on a bench who are just there to egg Janeway on, basically. But it's still a very effective episode. I just wish Chakotay could've been a part of it.
