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- "Barge of the Dead" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is the third episode of the sixth season and was first broadcast by UPN on October 6, 1999. "Barge of the Dead" was developed from a story by Ronald D. Moore and Bryan Fuller, who wrote the teleplay, and was directed by Mike Vejar. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation. In this episode, the half-Klingon, half-human B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) has a near-death experience and appears to be sent to the Klingon version of Hell known as Gre'thor. There she encounters her Klingon mother Miral (Karen Austin), who is damned because of Torres' refusal to fully accept her own identity as a Klingon. After being resuscitated by the Voyager crew, Torres becomes intent on revisiting Gre'thor to save her mother. The episode also guest stars Eric Pierpoint as Kortar, who ferries the souls of the dishonored on the Barge of the Dead, and Sherman Augustus as the dead Klingon Hij'Qa. Moore originally developed the episode as part of a pitch for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Soldiers of the Empire". The idea was initially rejected, but was revisited for Star Trek: Voyager. Following the episode's completion, both Moore and Fuller left the series because of dissatisfaction with their lack of control over its direction, and the perceived absence of strong story arcs across multiple episodes. "Barge of the Dead" was one of several episodes that addressed Torres' strained relationship with her parents and her Klingon heritage. Scholars have offered a range of opinions on Gre'thor, with the setting and ideology compared to Norse mythology, Greek mythology, and Catholic theology. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.8/6 ratings share, meaning 3.8 percent of all households with a television viewed it and six percent of homes then viewing television were tuned to it. It was a drop from the episode broadcast the previous week. Critical response to the episode was mixed; some television critics commended the focus on Torres, and praised Dawson's performance, while others were critical of the representation of Klingon spirituality. (en)
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