Harry Kim’s best Star Trek: Voyager episodes prove his value as a loyal friend and idealistic Starfleet Ensign who just wanted some recognition.
Summary Ensign Harry Kim’s best episodes showcase his ingenuity, honesty, and loyalty as he navigates his place on the USS Voyager. Despite his relative inexperience, Harry Kim’s integrity and problem-solving skills shine through, proving that he knows more than he gives himself credit for. Harry Kim’s quest for companionship and desire for connection lead him on intriguing adventures and contribute to his growth as a character throughout the series. SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Ensign Harry Kim’s (Garrett Wang) best episodes of Star Trek: Voyager feature his ingenuity, honesty, and loyalty the USS Voyager’s young Operations Officer figures out his place in the Delta Quadrant. Despite Harry’s genuine integrity and skill as a problem solver, Kim’s relative inexperience on his first assignment after graduating from Starfleet Academy makes him an uncertain officer. Harry falls into the trap of placing himself in the shadow of senior members of Voyager’s crew, and the role of eternal sidekick to his best friend, Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), and Chief Engineer Lt. B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson).
The truth is, Harry Kim deserves better than he gets on Star Trek: Voyager. Ensign Kim is eager to please and puts others’ needs before his own, but Harry has good ideas and knows more than he thinks. Kim’s quest for companionship becomes an ongoing theme, with a desire for connection that sometimes takes precedence over other priorities, and lessons learned in the wake of Harry Kim’s failed romances that lead to Harry’s character growth. Ultimately, Harry Kim truly believes others are as good as he is, so his trusting nature, curiosity, and heart worn blatantly on his sleeve guide Ensign Kim into some very interesting adventures in his 10 best Star Trek: Voyager episodes.
Related Star Trek: Voyager’s 20 Best Episodes Ranked Star Trek: Voyager’s 20 best episodes bring out the best in Captain Kathryn Janeway, Seven of Nine, and the USS Voyager in the far-off Delta Quadrant. 10 Voyager Season 2, Episode 23 “The Thaw”
“The Thaw” is a surreal episode of Star Trek: Voyager that’s also a great example of how Harry Kim performs under duress. Kim and half-Klingon Lt. B’Elanna Torres enter stasis pods connected to a Matrix-like simulation in hopes of reviving alien colonists also trapped there, but find the simulation is controlled by the manifestation of the colonists’ fear, the manipulative Clown (Michael McKean). Harry’s earnest attempt to reason with the Clown to save the others is noble but too trusting and makes Harry the Clown’s new favorite. Kim must try not to lose his head (literally) while the Clown holds Harry hostage and exposes his worst fears.
The Clown returned as one of three holographic Star Trek: Voyager villains in Star Trek: Lower Decks’ season 4 premiere, “Twovix.”
9 Voyager Season 5, Episode 17 “The Disease”
Harry Kim’s romantic pursuit of an alien woman, Derran Tal (Musetta Vander) has consequences for both Harry and Derran when Derran’s unique Varro physiology creates a biological connection linking them both. The Varro are xenophobic by nature, accepting Voyager’s help somewhat reluctantly, so Derran suffers social repercussions for the amorous encounter with Harry, while Harry must deal with the physical and psychological pain brought on by the love affair. Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) comes down hard in reprimanding Ensign Kim, prompting Harry to finally begin speaking up for himself, asserting his growth, and accepting responsibility after 5 years on Voyager.
8 Voyager Season 3, Episode 14 “Alter Ego” Close
Like many a Star Trek character before him, Harry Kim has fallen in love with a holodeck character. Kim goes to Lieutenant Tuvok (Tim Russ) for help in purging his unwanted emotions, knowing said character, Marayna (Sandra Nelson), could never really return them. The exercise in Vulcan philosophy hits a snag when Marayna turns out to be more interested in Tuvok, and much more than a simple hologram. The contrast between Tuvok’s disaffected denial and Harry’s very human jealousy creates some interesting comedic moments in an often-overlooked Voyager episode all about being desperate for connection.
7 Voyager Season 1, Episode 9 “Emanations” Close
The first real spotlight episode for Harry Kim, “Emanations” sees Harry trade places with a dead Vhnori woman, Ptera (Cecile Callan), after encountering a subspace vacuole on an asteroid that doubles as a Vhnori graveyard. While Ptera is transported to Voyager, Harry wakes up inside Ptera’s coffin, and his appearance rocks the foundation of the death-focused Vhnori belief system, with its elaborate rituals meant to send souls to “the next Emanation”. Kim is wholly unprepared for a First Contact situation where he accidentally breaks the Prime Directive, and Harry can’t shake the effect he’s had on the Vhnori, even after his return to Voyager.
Related 15 Star Trek Characters Promoted Faster Than Voyager’s Harry Kim Harry Kim was famously never promoted, but lots of other Star Trek characters have been promoted faster, making his Starfleet career look even worse. 6 Voyager Season 2, Episode 5 “Non Sequitur” Close
Ensign Kim wakes up to an idyllic life living on Earth with his girlfriend Libby (Jennifer Gatti) in a reality where Kim was never assigned to the USS Voyager. Harry must figure out how he got to this new reality, and decide whether he wants to keep living a perfect life or set the Star Trek timeline right. The format demands the latter, but Harry’s motivated to put things straight after discovering that Tom Paris is far worse off here than in the original timeline, defining Harry Kim as someone willing to put his own comfortable success on the line to ensure everyone gets a fair chance at life.
5 Voyager Season 6, Episode 18 “Ashes to Ashes” Close
Unlike Harry Kim’s less-successful romantic escapades, “Ashes to Ashes” shows Harry making a genuine connection with Ensign Lyndsay Ballard (Kim Rhodes), a former Voyager crew member seemingly returned from the dead, now transformed into a Kobali named Jhet’leya. Star Trek: Voyager’s episodic format means Ballard hadn’t appeared before this episode, but it’s easy to believe that Harry and Lyndsay had actual history before Lyndsay became Jhet’leya. Harry’s need to be loved is an important aspect of his character, and here Kim is finally able to transmute that into accepting change and letting go.
Kim Rhodes reprises her role as Jhet’leya in Star Trek: Online, and reunites with the version of Harry Kim who died in Voyager season 2, episode 21 “Deadlock”, also revived as a Kobali.
4 Voyager Season 3, Episode 3 “The Chute”
“The Chute” puts Tom Paris and Harry Kim through a rigorous ordeal characterized by desperate violence, in an important chapter that strengthens Harry and Tom’s friendship. After being falsely accused of terrorism, Kim and Paris are sentenced to a completely sealed alien prison, where inmates’ neural implants strengthen their violent instincts. Paris’ prior prison experience makes Tom a jaded guide for the naturally optimistic Kim, who believes they can change the system through cooperation. The awful conditions, aggressive inmates, and implant’s push toward delirium leave Kim’s values hanging on by a thread, but that thread remains a testament to the strength of Harry Kim’s character.
Related 10 Best Tom Paris Star Trek: Voyager Episodes Tom Paris’ 10 best Star Trek: Voyager episodes prove this tenacious, witty helmsman is a great friend worthy of redemption for past Starfleet crimes. 3 Voyager Season 5, Episode 25 “Warhead”
In “Warhead”, Ensign Harry Kim discovers a dormant alien warhead while in command of the USS Voyager’s night shift. Harry’s decisions guide the story from there, as Kim and Torres encounter the artificial intelligence that powers the warhead, and Harry lays the emotional and technical groundwork for understanding the AI running it through the Doctor’s program. Harry takes it upon himself to convince the AI that its directive is obsolete, since its war ended 3 years earlier. It’s a solid story that plays up both Kim’s technical expertise and genial nature, and reveals Harry Kim’s strength as someone who truly believes in inherent goodness.
2 Voyager Season 7, Episode 8 “Nightingale”
Ensign Kim finally gets his chance to take command when the crew of an alien medical vessel, the Nightingale, finds itself in need of a leader. Kim’s excitement at the prospect of command shutters out the reality of the situation, which is that the call for aid is a trap that places Harry and Voyager on opposing sides of a war that isn’t theirs. “Nightingale” runs Harry Kim through a gamut of emotions, from eager hope to prove himself, questioning his worthiness, and finally accepting true responsibility. It’s a command origin story that should have earned Kim at least another half pip, especially this late in the game.
1 Voyager Season 5, Episode 6 “Timeless”
Harry Kim’s guilt has caught up to him in “Timeless”, with Kim and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) 15 years in the future, investigating a fatal quantum slipstream drive accident. Harry was responsible for designing the drive and calculating the phase variance needed to guide the USS Voyager through the stream, so Kim bears the weight of the crew’s deaths as a changed man. Older Harry Kim is bitter and obsessed with reversing the accident to save Voyager, and lets hidden perfectionism be the enemy of good too easily, until reactivating the Doctor leads to a new solution that lets Harry reclaim his forgotten optimism.
Ensign Harry Kim’s best Star Trek: Voyager episodes prove that there’s simply no good reason why Harry Kim didn’t get promoted throughout Voyager’s 7-year run. Ensign Kim saved the USS Voyager on more than one occasion, with the engineering know-how, loyalty, and determination befitting exemplary Starfleet officers, and furthermore exhibited an aptitude for leadership once Kim learned to get out of his own way and assert himself with authority. Harry Kim deserves recognition as an earnest idealist who learned from his missteps and grew significantly, and not just the “forever ensign” of Star Trek: Voyager.
Star Trek: Voyager is streaming on Paramount+.
Star Trek: Voyager Action Sci-Fi
Release Date May 23, 1995 Cast Kate Mulgrew , Robert Beltran , Roxann Dawson , Jennifer Lien , Robert Duncan McNeill , Ethan Phillips , Robert Picardo , Tim Russ , Garrett Wang , Jeri Ryan Seasons 7 Story By Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor Writers Rick Berman , Michael Piller , Jeri Taylor Network UPN Streaming Service(s) Paramount+ Franchise(s) Star Trek Directors David Livingston , Winrich Kolbe , Allan Kroeker , Michael Vejar Showrunner Michael Piller , Jeri Taylor , Brannon Braga , Kenneth Biller
