In the “Star Trek: Voyager” episode “Cold Fire” (November 13, 1995), Captain Janeway locates a second Caretaker, a powerful alien that could return the stranded U.S.S. Voyager to Earth. The Caretaker is surrounded by a society of Ocampa, the same species as the Voyager’s guest Kes (Jennifer Lien). The leader of the Ocampa is Tanis, played by Gary Graham. Tanis explains to Kes that Ocampans all have powerful psychic powers that they merely need to hone and strengthen. Kes tries out a few of her psychic powers, but doesn’t quite have a handle on them: she accidentally sets fire to the Voyager’s hydroponics bay and boils the blood of security chief Tuvok (Tim Russ).
Eventually, the Caretaker alien (represented by Lindsay Ridgeway) reveals that she is distrustful of the Voyager crew due to incorrect rumors in this part of the galaxy. Kes will have to use her newfound psychic powers to attack Tanis, allowing the Voyager to escape.
Graham played a somewhat archetypal character for “Star Trek,” in that he played a seemingly benevolent alien who had a secret, insidious agenda. Because “Star Trek” tends to remember its guest stars and offer them additional jobs in the future, Graham was called six years later when “Enterprise” debuted.
The actor said at conventions that he was considered for the role of Benjamin Sisko (before the showrunners of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” decided that the character should be Black) and for the role of Captain Janeway (before the showrunners of “Star Trek: Voyager” decided the character should be a woman). Given Graham’s history of sci-fi, these are easy claims to believe.