Discover the Unexpected: Star Trek's New Voyager Episode Takes a Hilarious Swipe at Harry Kim!

Summary

Ensign Harry Kim's lack of promotion on the USS Voyager is humorously highlighted in "Twovix," the latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Boimler and Mariner swiftly achieve promotions that Harry Kim struggled to attain during his seven-year service aboard Voyager. The episode highlights the irony that despite his accomplishments, Harry Kim never progressed in rank, whereas Boimler and Mariner rapidly climb the ranks.

The latest episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, titled "Twovix," takes a humorous jab at Harry Kim, the Eternal Ensign. Ensign Bradward Boimler is in line for a promotion, but his assignment to the USS Voyager, currently undergoing preservation, leads to chaos when he fails to capture one of Voyager's sentient macro viruses. It's ironic that Boimler's promotion hinges on Voyager's return, considering the starship's history of not promoting its crew members. Harry Kim, who served as an Ensign on Voyager for seven years, was never promoted, even when his colleague Tom Paris was demoted. Despite his frustration, Garrett Wang, the actor who played Harry Kim, now embraces the Eternal Ensign nickname and finds humor in the promotion episode's joke at Kim's expense.

Star Trek's New Voyager Episode Adds Insult To Injury For Ensign Harry Kim

Ensigns Boimler and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) managed to earn themselves a promotion to Lt. Junior Grade on the USS Voyager in just 17 minutes, which is quite hilarious. In contrast, poor Harry never achieved the rank of Lieutenant JG during his entire seven-year service on Voyager. Boimler and Mariner had to face numerous Star Trek: Voyager-themed threats in that short span of time, from macro viruses to Borg nanoprobes to robotic replicas of Janeway and Paris' salamander children, yet they emerged unharmed.

However, Harry Kim of Star Trek: Voyager achieved and experienced much more during his seven years in the Delta Quadrant. He played a vital role in constructing the innovative Delta Flyer and contributed to experiments in quantum slipstream technology. Despite these accomplishments, he remained an Ensign, which greatly disappointed his parents when he was finally able to reconnect with them through Pathfinder. When he discovers that mishaps related to Voyager led to the promotions of four members of the USS Cerritos crew, he will undoubtedly be infuriated.

How Boimler And Mariner's Voyager Mission Got Them Promoted

Promotions were imminent from the very beginning of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 1, so Boimler and Mariner were destined to become Lieutenant Junior Grades. Their hard work in previous seasons, as well as their regular duty of cleaning the holodeck filters, earned them their second pip. Ransom's confidence in both Boimler and Mariner grew stronger as they collaborated to return Voyager to the hands of Starfleet and the Curator.

Due to being stranded in the Delta Quadrant with no available ships to transfer to, Harry Kim became the Eternal Ensign because the crew structure became highly rigid. As Garrett Wang was repeatedly reminded, "someone has to be the Ensign". The promotions in the season 4 premiere of Star Trek: Lower Decks prove that, in modern Star Trek at least, this is no longer the case. Although Harry Kim only makes a brief appearance in "Twovix" in the form of a mannequin, there is hope that he will soon return to Star Trek with one or two extra pips on his collar.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams Thursdays on Paramount+.