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"Death Wish" - The omnipotent Q makes his triumphant return to a Starfleet vessel in a riveting episode of "Star Trek: Voyager" airing MONDAY, FEB. 19 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on UPN. The hugely popular character, portrayed by actor John de Lancie, is an entity with near godlike powers, child-like petulance and a sense of playfulness. Jonathan Frakes, as Commander William T. Riker, also makes a special guest appearance in the episode.
A rebel Q (Gerrit Graham) escapes imprisonment from inside a comet and demands asylum aboard the U.S.S. Voyager. Just as quickly, the well-known Q arrives to force the escaped Q back to the Continuum, the extradimensional domain in which their immortal kind exist. Meanwhile, the escaped Q proclaims that if Captain Janeway grants him sanctuary, he intends to commit suicide to end the tedium he has endured as an immortal being.
Noting the dictates of Starfleet protocol, Janeway holds a hearing to consider the request for asylum. The tables are turned on Q as Federation personal preside over a trial in which he must defend the Q Continuum and the ever-logical Tuvok acts as counsel for the escaped Q. A courtroom drama ensues when Q calls himself to the witness stand along with a varied group of other people including Commander Riker, whose lives were profoundly changed by Q's influence.
Starring Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway, Robert Beltran as Chakotay, Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres, Jennifer Lien as Kes, Robert Duncan McNeill as Lt. Tom Paris, Ethan Phillips as Neelix, Robert Picardo as The Doctor, Tim Russ as Tuvok, Garrett Wang as Harry Kim.
In a collaboration between father and son, the story is written by Shawn Piller and the teleplay is written by Michael Piller. The episode is directed by James L. Conway.