Star Trek: Voyager is one of the greatest shows the sci-fi franchise has to offer, and still has many fans proclaiming its greatness to anyone who will listen (I think Voyager even deserves a movie). For all the things Voyager did right though, it has its oversights and imperfections. One of the series' major failings was how it treated Garrett Wang's Harry Kim, seemingly doing the character dirty every time it could.
Fire up your Paramount+ subscription, and you’ll find plenty Star Trek: Voyager episodes where Harry Kim is shafted. For those looking to just get a rundown, though, here are some of the biggest examples of some of the wildest humiliations and moments he endured.
Harry Actually Died Once And Was Replaced By An Alternate Version And No One Cared
I feel like it’s only right to kick things off with the greatest example of when Star Trek: Voyager did Harry Kim dirty: the episode “Deadlock.” The episode itself is a mind trip, as Voyager is split between two different versions of itself with a shared power source. The major details of the episode aren’t too important for what we’re talking about. What is important here is that the original Harry Kim died in the episode, and by the end, he's replaced with an alternate version of himself.
What’s extra wild about this reveal is that it’s in no way integral to the story, nor is it ever addressed again. Star Trek: Voyager feels so down on Harry Kim that everyone, including alternate Harry, pretend like nothing ever changed. In other words, the original Harry's death is never acknowledged for the rest of the series. It’s straight up bonkers, and I can’t for the life of me understand why, even in the episodic era of Star Trek, why it was green-lit as a creative decision. All I can say is thank goodness modern shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New Worlds moved away from that!
He Was Made Fun Of For Falling In Love With A Hologram
The Holodeck can provide realistic experiences we can only dream of, but at the end of the day, most Starfleet officers know it’s only a fantasy. Harry Kim had trouble distinguishing fiction and reality in “Alter Ego” though after he fell in love with a hologram in the beach simulation. At the start, Harry at least understood this wasn’t something he should have happening. It wasn’t until he went to Tuvok for help that Star Trek: Voyager really did Harry dirty.
Tuvok attempted to understand Harry’s interest in the hologram by communicating with her, which made Harry jealous. Harry then began to try and start some stuff with Tuvok, which we all know is a terrible idea because Tuvok would annihilate him in a fight. In the end, it turned out the hologram was actually being controlled by an outside visitor who was scanning the Voyager and became obsessed with Tuvok, but that did little to quell the embarrassment of Harry trying to battle a superior officer for the affections of what he thought was a hologram.
He Was Held Hostage By The Holodeck
“Heroes And Demons” is one of the first of many Star Trek: Voyager episodes for The Doctor, and an early example of how he can provide more than medical assistance to the ship’s crew. Doctor was sent on a rescue mission when it’s discovered that Harry Kim is trapped within his Holodeck simulation of the epic tale Beowulf. Other members who attempt to enter are also trapped, so by sending in The Doctor, it’s assumed he won’t be impacted by the phenomena as a non-organic being.
I’ll admit that there’s a little bit of shame to go around for everyone who was captured. At the same time, this all happened because Harry was off trying to live out his fantasy of being a 6th-century Scandinavian hero. I’m not even sure what’s so enticing about that when you’re having to fight for your life each and every day in the Delta Quadrant, and I really question Harry’s ability to have fun as a result.
Harry Also Was Held Hostage By A Clown
Harry had a knack for picking away missions, and this one had to rank among his most dangerous and humiliating of all time. The Voyager crew stumbled upon a ship full of people stuck in hibernation chambers and unable to wake up. Harry and B’Elanna entered the chambers and quickly found it’s because everyone is being held captive by an evil computer program masquerading as a clown in a circus.
Harry did his best to avoid falling for the clown’s attempts at fear in “The Thaw,” but in the end he and the other survivors are ultimately pulled out thanks to Janeway. Harry does get some bravery points for opting to be the one who stayed behind when B’Elanna left to alert the Voyager crew about what was going on, but ultimately he was unable to make any meaningful progress against the clown on his own. Once again, Star Trek: Voyager set him up to be useless and incapable in the clutch, which seems to be a trend throughout the series.
He Was Propositioned And Later Rejected By Seven Of Nine
Star Trek: Voyager fans know that once Seven Of Nine arrived on the ship, a good chunk of the series from that point forward revolved around her. This meant every so often, there'd be an episode that had to touch on how officers wanted to date her, though Harry Kim was one of the first to openly express an interest. Unfortunately for Harry, he was somehow embarrassed by the Borg on two different occasions for radically different reasons.
In “Revulsion,” Seven approached Harry with an offer to be intimate so that she may better understand it in terms of research. She ordered Harry to remove his clothes, and while Harry admitted he was interested, he ultimately was too embarrassed and scared by how forward Seven of Nine is. Harry felt a bit braver in “Someone To Watch Over Me,” but Seven flat out embarrassed him by telling him she didn’t consider him a suitable mate. The series found a way to dunk on Harry both times, and it was equally brutal in both instances. The only thing worse than that could be if Garrett Wang reprises his role as Harry in Picard Season 3 and tries to make a move, only to be stopped by Raffi (please don’t let this actually happen).
Harry Was Never Promoted Above The Rank Of Ensign For The Entirety Of Voyager
When any Star Trek fan talks about Harry Kim getting the short end of the stick in Star Trek: Voyager, his rank is almost always the main thing cited. Harry began the seven-year journey home as an ensign, and by the end of it all, he’s exactly the same rank.
By comparison, Tom Paris started out Star Trek: Voyager completely out of Starfleet, was promoted to lieutenant, demoted to ensign and reinstated back to lieutenant in that same amount of time. That had to sting for Harry considering Tom was a rule-breaker by nature, and Harry rarely stepped out of line. To his credit, Harry never griped much about his standing, though many fans agree that Harry deserved something better.
Star Trek: Voyager is among the many shows available to watch on Paramount+. Now is a great time to start re-watching or watching for the first time, especially with the new series Star Trek: Prodigy referencing it a lot. Speaking of which, Prodigy returns with new episodes in October, and there are other upcoming Star Trek shows to be excited about.
