Dream Catcher (episode)

The crew has their first away mission on an undiscovered planet that manifests their deepest desires, only to realize the planet has desires of its own.
== Summary ==
=== Act I ===
Dal makes his first captain's log. has been teaching the kids some of the basics of spaceflight. They learned about autopilot and plotting courses, and Dal hopes that if they keep moving and avoid trouble, that trouble should avoid them (such as The Diviner). A proximity alert brings the crew to the bridge, where Janeway informs them of a discovery of a Class M planet in the Hirogen system with elevated thoron emissions and no sentient lifeforms on scanners. As it is protocol for Federation starships to explore uncharted planets they discover, Janeway suggests they investigate. Even though the rest of the crew is excited for their first away mission, Dal is reluctant for fear of giving The Diviner a chance to catch up. However, when Janeway threatens to report their conduct to Starfleet Command, he acquiesces.
As the lands on the unidentified planet, the crew marvel at how green and beautiful the landscape is. Zero sets the Protostar down somewhat crudely, which doesn't stop them from assessing their work as "perfect" as the ship crashes to a halt on the rocks. In the brig, Rok-Tahk places heavier restraints on Gwyn, who sardonically asks Dal whatever happened to them potentially being friends. Later, Janeway outfits the crew with phasers and tricorders and shows them the Runaway. Zero is happy that they are non-corporeal when their tricorder detects a nearby gas sample from Jankom Pog. As the crew leaves to collect samples, Janeway asks them to look out for each other, however she's already lost their attention to the beauty and their fascination of the planet.
Jankom doesn't trust Janeway's assessment that the air is safe to breathe, and dons a full EV suit. Zero immediately begins investigating the abundance of flora despite the lack of nutrients in the soil. They ask Dal how this could be, but instead their self-appointed captain is taking the Runaway for a joyride. Rok-Tahk thought they were going on an adventure together; however, she sees something pretty before dwelling on it for too long. As she trudges off into the sandy grasses, she fails to notice the slithering vines creeping from behind.
=== Act II ===
Back on the ship, Murf watches Gwyn in the brig. She remarks that he might (or might not) be smarter than he looks, before telepathically commandeering her heirloom out of its containment glass at least one deck above the brig. The unique metal turns to liquid, flowing out of its container and through the grates in the floor. Turning her heirloom back to a solid, she frees herself from the brig, then destroys one of the Protostars automated bots as Murf is chasing it. Gwyn then makes her way to the bridge, where Janeway is unable to prevent Gwyn from quickly gaining control of the ship's systems. Janeway attempts to contact Dal, but he is away from his combadge and mesmerized by the planet's beauty.
Before Janeway can assert Starfleet's ownership over the vessel, Gwyn also gains full command access, which forces Janeway to recognize her commands. Gwyn has Janeway make contact with , informing him that she has control of the Protostar. Meanwhile, Zero follows the readings on their tricorder to a curious hedge. They follow it and find an even more curious maze. Elsewhere, Jankom's gas issues have continued, and his nose, despite the EV suit, brings him to a mystery shack in the wilderness. He finds stew in the shack that reminds him of the "Tellar sleeper ship" he used to live on, believing that to be what he must have been smelling. He removes his EV suit helmet and uses it to scoop up the stew.
Rok-Tahk in her adventures has found a life form, a cute furry creature. Sensing it just wants to play, she snuggles up to it, when several more of its kind pop out of seemingly nowhere. As she begins to roll in the cuteness, vines similar to that of Zero's maze menacingly cover her from above. Back in the maze, Zero finds the engine of the Protostar in a large clearing in the hedges. As they wonder what it is doing there, the hedges close behind them.
Dal is taking the Runaway for more joy rides across the planet's surface when something catches his eye. In disbelief, he drives over to what he thinks he sees and cautiously approaches two figures with similar profiles to his own. A familiar voice, Janeway's, laments that Dal yearns to see his parents yet fails to remember their appearance. As a "representative", the creature - which Dal knows is not Janeway as she can't leave the ship - entices him and his friends to stay. She promises that The Diviner won't find them, and that they will be safe...as long as they stay.
The figures that Dal saw are revealed to be more of the vines that were seen slithering after Rok-tahk, connecting to the Janeway figure as well. Dal thanks her for the offer, and begins to leave, but as he does the lifeform charges. Luckily, he remembers his phaser, and disintegrates the mass into individual vines.
=== Act III ===
Dal rushes to collect the others. He tries contacting Janeway on the ship, who hears his pleas and reminds Gwyn that a Starfleet Officer doesn't leave her crew behind. Feeling no solidarity with them as a crew, Gwyn brushes the concern aside and orders liftoff, however the landing struts are obstructed.
On the surface, Zero continues to be mesmerized by the reproduction of the ship's mysterious engine. Luckily, Dal bursts through the hedges with the Runaway and seats a startled and confused Zero beside him. Broken from their trance-like state, they quickly put together that the planet must act like one large superorganism, luring its prey by fabricating their deepest desires onto its cilium. Next, they retrieve Rok, whose fluffy friends have in reality been vines submerging her on the ground. They finally retrieve Jankom, who is none too pleased to have been rescued last.
Gwyn has finished cutting loose the vines with her heirloom and is about to go up the ramp to the Protostar when her "father" arrives, incredibly pleased to have found her safe and sound. However, she realizes the illusion when The Diviner shows more concern for her safety than the ship, and she knows her father would never want to stay on this planet while the others are still after the ship. She rejects the illusion, which charges her in response, once again urging "stay!", but she runs up the ramp and the Protostars bay door closes in time.
Driving the Runaway, Dal orders Janeway to prep the ship for takeoff, believing she is still in control. However, the Protostar lifts off from the surface, much to his dismay. On the bridge, Gwyn struggles to keep control of the ship with the superorganism's cilia having infiltrated the ventral superstructure and entangled the nacelles. Forced by Janeway to abandon ship for her own safety in the incomplete shuttle she fought Rok around, she rescues a terrified Murf, and the shuttle is flung from the Protostar only to spin out of control and crash.
Dal and the others catch up to the wreck of the shuttle, but all of them are now stranded...
== Log entries ==
* Captain's log, USS Protostar
== Memorable quotes ==
"Our sensors have detected this M class planet in the Hirogen System. We should check it out."
"M class? Ugh. Not for my crew. We all deserve A class planets."
:- Hologram Janeway and Dal R'El
"What is that?!"
"The Runaway. Accelerated ion propulsion, tritanium chassis, holo-steering, and my favorite, hold-onto-your-butts grab-handles."
:- Zero and Janeway
"If I had a breath, it would be taken away."
:- Zero
"The maze, it's sealing us in! This planet is remarkable! It acts as one superorganism luring and consuming its prey for nutrients!"
"You mean it wants to eat us!"
"Eat us? It shows us what we want by fabricating our desires onto its cilium. It's quite wondrous!"
"It's also trying to eat us!"
:- Zero and Dal
"All systems are critical. Prepare to abandon ship."
"I do not accept! My father needs this ship!"
"You can't break free. This ship is going down, and if you don't find a way off, you're going down with it. Get out of here!"
:- Protostar computer, Gwyn, and Janeway
== Background information ==
=== Title ===
* The title was officially announced by Paramount+ on . 
* In publicity and on the Paramount+ app, the title was written as "Dreamcatcher", but the title card in the episode itself reads "Dream Catcher".
=== Production ===
* Accompanying promotional material for the episode included Set a Course with Kate Mulgrew focused on the lesson of looking out for friends. 
=== Continuity ===
* No blue alert on when the ship is landing.
=== Production history ===
* : Premiere on Paramount+
* : Broadcast premiere on 
== Links and references ==
=== Cast ===
* Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk
* Dee Bradley Baker as Murf
* Brett Gray as Dal
* Angus Imrie as Zero
* Ella Purnell as Gwyn
* Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog
* John Noble as 
* Jimmi Simpson as 
;And
* Kate Mulgrew as
** Captain 
** 
* Bonnie Gordon as Ship Computer
=== Background characters ===
* Dal's parents 
* Furry alien creatures 
=== References ===
A class planet; abandon ship; adult; astrophysics; augment; autopilot; away mission; bridge; brig; Brikar; butt; cadet; captain's log (USS Protostar); chamber; chassis; cilium; cilium-like vegetation; combadge; command and control systems; "coochie-coo"; course; ; daughter; disruptor; ; Drednok; dum-dum; fear; Federation; flora; gas; glade; grab handle; green; hedge maze; Hirogen star system (aka Hirogen system); Hirogen system moons; holo-steering; hologram; hour; hungry; hybrid; impulse steering; information technology; ion propulsion; kiss; landing gear (aka landing strut); leather; life; liftoff; linguistics; log; M class; manacle; Medusan; Mellanoid slime worm; Murder Planet; nacelle; non-corporeal; nutrient; ; prey; progeny; pronto; ; protostar drive; ; Protostar-type shuttlecraft (Shuttle 06); proximity alert; Rev-12; ring system; Runaway (07); seat; sentient lifeform (aka intelligent life); soil; souvenir; space flu; space suit; spore; stardate; Starfleet; ; starship mechanics; stew; stun; superorganism; superstructure; Tars Lamora; Tellar sleeper ship; Tellarite; thoron emission; thrusters; training advisor; tricorder; tritanium; type 1 phaser; United Federation of Planets; ventral; Vau N'Akat
==== Console references ====
buckle up; field generator; intermix valve chamber; viewscreen
=== External links ===
* 
* 
de:Traumfänger
es:Dreamcatcher
fr:Dream Catcher (épisode)
pl:Dream Catcher