6-02. Survival Instinct.

Seven of Nine investigates an incident from her past to
help other ex-Borg. The results aren't what she expected.

Original Air Date: Sept. 29, 1999. Written by: Ronald D. Moore. Directed by: Terry Windell.


THE PLOT:

Voyager has actually found a friendly port, an outpost teeming with aliens from different species. Janeway approves a cultural exchange, allowing large numbers of visitors onto the ship while her crew enjoys some much-needed shore leave. Though Tuvok is annoyed at the security headaches, the interactions are peaceful overall, with no sign of any sinister motivations.

Except for three of the aliens who visit Voyager. These three approach Seven with a specific artifact: synaptic relays, Borg technology from her old unimatrix. Seven agrees to take them, but she's clearly rattled at the reminder of the life she left behind.

That night, while Seven regenerates, the trio use the relays to interfere with the ship's security. They attempt to implant nanotechnology into Seven - but she awakens at the attempt even as Tuvok arrives to stop them.

Surprisingly, the attack was not an attempt to bring Seven back to the Borg. Quite the reverse. The trio are also ex-Borg, former members of Seven's unimatrix. They long to become individuals, as Seven has managed. But something in their implants has linked them together, sharing each other's thoughts and even dreams. The reason lies in the past, when they and Seven were the sole survivors of a Borg crash on a jungle planet...


CHARACTERS:

Capt. Janeway: She's happy at finding a friendly port, seeming more relaxed throughout the episode than we've seen in a while. When Tom and Harry get into a bar brawl, she disciplines them. Still, her manner is indulgent, even amused, with her pausing in her lecture to check that they at least won their fight. She stops by sick bay to check on the three intruders, and she's emotionally supportive of Seven. Outside of that, however, this is more or less Janeway on vacation.

Seven of Nine: Though she continues to use Borg designations herself, she chides Naomi Wildman for doing the same. She does not want the girl to emulate the Borg. The flashbacks emphasize that Seven was a child when she was assimilated. This is likely one reason why Seven has retained her Borg designation instead of reclaiming her human name, something the three ex-Borg wonder about. Seven tells Janeway that she actively wants to help them become individuals, as she has become - but of course, it doesn't end up being that simple.

The Doctor: Seven observes that he is the only other member of Voyager's crew who can fully appreciate the ex-Borgs' dilemma. Like them, he was once defined by his function: Emergency Medical Hologram. Like her, he gradually evolved into being an individual, with his own personality and experiences. This gives him insight that allows him to balance risks to his patients against their emotional needs. Even so, as a doctor, his first duty is to their physical well-being, as he reminds Seven.

Tuvok: An amusing early scene allows Tim Russ to display his comic timing, as Tuvok presents a report on all the crimes that have occurred since Janeway opened Voyager to the station. Janeway dismisses the incidents of disorderly conduct and petty theft as minor - whereupon Tuvok dryly informs her that there's a page 2... and a page 3. When she expresses her overall happiness with the friendly reception they've received, he becomes openly sarcastic in replying that he's happy that she is happy. In addition to this comedy moment, Tuvok also demonstrates his competence, overcoming the ex-Borg's interference with ship's security far faster than they had anticipated.


THOUGHTS:

Survival Instinct is one of only two Voyager episodes credited to writer Ronald D. Moore, and it's his only solo script for the series. This is a shame, as Moore's episodes frequently ranked among the best of TNG and DS9. His consistent strengths with continuity, themes, and characterization would have gone a long way toward offsetting some of Voyager's weaknesses.

Survival Instinct is a good episode, and Moore's strengths are in evidence. Characterization is spot-on, with good moments not only for Seven, but also for Janeway and Tuvok. Even the quickie "actor got paid this week" appearances by Tom, Harry, and B'Elanna see these characters actually well-written. The script moves effectively between Seven's present and her past, and it's well structured. The first Act introduces the mystery of the ex-drones and what they're up to. Those questions are answered by the 15-minute mark, with the answers leading smoothly into Seven's attempts to help them. That attempt, in its turn, leads to the final complication.

All of that said... It's in that final complication where I think the episode stumbles. It comes too late for the implications to be effectively explored. Avoiding spoilers, I'll just say that Seven is left with a choice to make, one of those cases where there's no really good option. But nuance is sanded away, with a decision that should be thorny and difficult reduced to the usual Voyager fault of being ultimately very simple. Maybe this should have been a two-parter, with the reveal coming at the cliffhanger and the second part revolving fully around that fateful decision?


OVERALL:

Even with a rushed and simplified final Act, Survival Instinct is still a good episode of Star Trek: Voyager. It's a particularly strong episode for Seven of Nine. The big reveal of the episode emerges naturally from who Seven was - Annika, the frightened child who was assimilated by the Borg; and Seven of Nine, who never properly knew any life outside of the Borg as a result of being taken at such a young age.

With such good character writing, I wish I could rate it even higher than I do - but that last Act just doesn't quite land for me. Even so, there's a lot of good writing here, more than enough to make me wish that the "It'll do" attitude in Voyager's writing room hadn't chased Ronald Moore away from the show.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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5-15 - 5-16. Dark Frontier.

Seven is tempted by the Borg Queen (Susannah Thompson).

THE PLOT

An encounter with a Borg probe leaves the Voyager crew with an opportunity, when they recover two data nodes from the probe's wreckage. The data leads the ship to a damaged Borg sphere, where Janeway hopes to recover a transwarp coil - a piece of technology that has the potential to get Voyager much closer to home.

The plan is to stage a heist of a coil from the sphere. They will disable the sensor grid, then during the two minute window that will ensue, beam in a small team to retrieve the coil and beam out again. The logs of Seven's parents, researchers who studied the Borg in the Delta Quadrant, allow her to create bio-dampeners to extend that window, enabling the Away Team to evade detection.

But on the eve of the mission, Seven receives a communication from the Borg Queen (Susannah Thompson). The Queen knows of Janeway's plans. If Seven does not turn herself over and rejoin the Collective, then the entire Voyager crew will be assimilated!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Her frustration at still being stranded, and likely her feelings of guilt, lead to a gamble that the Janeway of the first two seasons would never have considered. The infiltration of the Borg is risky and reckless, but the prize - shaving decades off the long trip home - is impossible for her to ignore. She refuses to give up on Seven, even when Seven appears to have returned to the Collective, and resists suggestions by Torres and Chakotay that such was always inevitable.

Seven of Nine: Hope and Fear established that she no longer wishes to return to her old life - But Dark Frontier tangibly presents that choice, making her rejection of the Collective something more than theoretical. Not that her choice is ever in doubt; Seven has become too integral to the series at this point for it to survive without her. But watching her struggle with the temptation, the familiarity of the Borg and the safety of the Collective, is effective, and Jeri Ryan's performance is excellent.

Torres: Her hostility toward Seven remains unchanged, and in her one scene of any note she insists to Janeway that the former drone was never really one of the crew. This antipathy supercedes any rationality by now - Particularly when you consider that Seven saved the entire ship from the digestive tract of a space monster exactly one episode ago! It's almost as if the fictional Torres realizes that the introduction of Seven made her redundant, turning her into little more than a better-acted Harry Kim.

Naomi Wildman: Shortly after Seven is taken by the Borg, Naomi visits Janeway to beg her not to give up on Seven. This scene should have been unbearable, with the Cute Moppet prodding the captain to decisive action. But once again, the writing staff shows a deftness in scripting Naomi that has eluded past Trek writers in making a child character likable and halfway believable. Kate Mulgrew is also at her most likable in this moment, showing the most appealing aspects of Janeway's character. The result is that a scene that should be awful is instead very human and rather charming.

The Borg: With Alice Krige unavailable (and probably not terribly interested in reprising the Borg Queen on the small screen), television veteran Susannah Thompson takes over - and that's a good thing. A different actress emphasizes that this is a different Queen without the script having to take time to explain that. Also, Thompson's performance hits different notes. Whereas Krige was a seductress, Thompson comes across as a dark maternal figure. This leaves Seven torn between two mother figures - Janeway guiding her toward individuality, the Queen trying to make her see how weak and flawed individuals are.


THOUGHTS

I've heard Dark Frontier described as the Star Trek: Voyager action movie. The description is not too far off. From the opening shots, it's clear that this episode was designed to look as close to a feature film as a television budget could manage - And to the producers' credit, it manages that very well. Cliff Bole, who directed the Borg's definiting two-parter, TNG's The Best of Both Worlds, does a particularly effective job with the first half, though director Terry Windell does a fine job maintaining the overall look, tone, and feel in Part Two.

In my review of First Contact, I noted my appreciation that while it was clearly a Star Trek action movie, it wasn't a dumb action movie. Dark Frontier isn't on the same level, and there are some lapses in logic - Notably, that Seven doesn't simply inform Janeway of the Queen's ultimatum as soon as it occurs, as there is clearly time to do so and head off the entire chain of events. And though the scenes of the Borg assimilating the people of a conquered planet are suitably creepy (though not a patch on a similar scene in Doctor Who's Rise of the Cybermen), the two-parter overall makes the Borg weaker than they have been, a little too easily outmaneuvered by the ragtag Voyager crew.

But I will say that it's never less than engaging. The main characters behave believably in context, with character work and Janeway and Seven particularly good. Janeway is pushing her luck in attacking the Borg, but we understand what motivates her - Her guilt at stranding her ship was established in this season's premiere, and her strong desire to return everyone home was a major factor in the last episode. And while I pokes some fun at Torres' scene with Janeway, the exchange is prompted by Torres going over Seven's logs - something which yields useful information. Meaning that even a scene of character conflict fuels the episode's plot at the same time.

Also well-used are the flashbacks to Seven's parents and their ill-fated expedition. The flashbacks enhance Seven's internal conflict, reminding us (and her) that she was a normal child before the Borg assimilated her. There's also an effectively nasty sting to the flashback strand, when the Borg Queen shows Seven that her father still serves the Collective and then produces him for her... the vital scientist of the flashbacks now reduced to an expressionless drone.

Overall, Dark Frontier is a well-paced, effective feature-length story, with production values clearly meant to evoke those of a feature film. It does reduce the threat of the Borg somewhat, something Scorpion very carefully avoided, and the whole thing is basically action fare... But it's pretty good action fare, and it never loses sight of the characters of Seven and Janeway.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Bliss
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5-7. Infinite Regress.

Seven of Nine develops multiple personalities...

THE PLOT

Voyager detects debris that Seven of Nine identifies as the remains of a Borg cube, emitting a neural interlink frequency. Seven begins experiencing memory lapses, which are revealed to be episodes in which the personalities of Borg-assimilated individuals emerge. The Borg signal has effectively given her Borg multiple personality disorder.

The Doctor is able to fit her with an inhibitor to temporarily keep the personalities at bay, but he warns that this is only a temporary solution. The only way to restore Seven permanently is to shut down the signal at its source: The vinculum, the central processor of the destroyed cube, still intact and floating in space.

But this vinculum isn't what it appears to be. Species 6339, a race hunted by the Borg, created a virus designed to bring chaos to the Collective, a plan that hinges on the Borg recovering the device. When Janeway insists that she will only relinquish it after Seven has been cured, the aliens open fire on Voyager!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Is entirely willing to give the vinculum back to the aliens to use against the Borg. She just asks that they wait until she can help Seven - Which makes the aliens unreasonable for insisting on attacking Voyager. Though she stands up for Seven, she privately admits that she fears Chakotay may have been right that the former Borg will never fully become part of the crew.

Seven of Nine: Infinite Regress is a terrific showcase for Jeri Ryan. She gets to alternate her usual, reserved Seven with a host of entirely different personalities: a small child, a grieving mother, a violent Klingon, and a greedy Ferengi merchant. Ryan throws herself into all of these roles, and her Ferengi is particularly funny. But her best performance is as Seven herself, Ryan's performance effectively showing her terror at the loss of control of her own mind.

Tuvok: Insists on using a mind-meld to stabilize Seven's core personality, something the Doctor objects is too dangerous. The climax intercuts Voyager in yet another (largely pointless) space battle against far more effective scenes of Tuvok, inside seven's mind. For all his preparations, Tuvok is overwhelmed, barely able to hang onto himself in the midst of the chaos of the multiple Borg-assimilated personalities.

Doctor: "With all of these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you." His jibe at Tuvok is more than a little mean (and would have been far truer of Season One Tuvok than the current version) - But it is funny, particularly with Robert Picardo injecting just the right amount of snideness. Picardo effectively alternates between combativeness when arguing with Tuvok and genuine concern when dealing with Seven, and it's clear that his worries over Seven's deteriorating condition are making him more short-tempered than usual with Tuvok and the rest of the crew.


THOUGHTS

Can Voyager ever have a strong, high-concept episode whose momentum isn't torpedoed by an artifically-imposed "external threat?" The season premiere set up a compelling psychological drama as the crew dealt with flying through an extended void of nothingness - only to then upend all that by introducing a generic alien baddie for the ship to shoot at. Now this episode does basically the same thing, bringing Species 6339 into an otherwise enjoyable piece simply so that someone can shoot at Voyager during the climax. Because we can't be trusted to care about the ending if the camera isn't being shaken while Harry and Tom shout Technobabble now, can we?

Sigh.

Making this worse is how forced the hostility of Species 6339 seems. They have no particular gripe with Voyager. They just want to return their vinculum to the Borg wreckage. The big battle happens only because the aliens cannot wait for Janeway's crew to save Seven first... So they are willing to risk the vinculum's destruction to save a very small amount of time. That does not sound like a particularly well-judged risk, and seems even sillier given that the Voyager crew manages to save Seven even with a battle going on, all before beaming the vinculum into space so that the aliens can recover it.

It amounts to artificial conflict that doesn't even make sense in context. It's not the first time Voyager has been guilty of this, and I'm sure it won't be the last... But it's blatant, and all the more annoying because the rest of the episode is actually pretty good. The episode is well-paced and benefits from the assured direction of David Livingston. While it's mostly content to keep us hooked by the high concept of "Borg multiple personality disorder," there are some effective dramatic moments. As Seven listens to the log entries left by personalities she helped assimilate, we sense that she is having to confront for the first time how many lives she participated in destroying.

More might have been made of that... But then we wouldn't have time for a dramatically unnecessary shootout with the Alien Race of the Week. Even with that unfortunate shift near the end, this is a fun episode to watch - It just ends up being less than it could have been and should have been.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Timeless
Next Episode: Nothing Human


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5-2. Drone.

Seven and B'Elanna observe as a Borg
drone matures on Voyager!

THE PLOT

B'Elanna, Tom, the Doctor, and Seven are in a shuttlecraft, investigating a proto-nebula, when their shuttle gets caught by a gravimetric surge. Voyager beams them back fast, but distortion from the nebula makes it a difficult transport. The team's patterns briefly merge - Not a lasting problem for the organic crew members, but a big issue for the Doctor's mobile emitter, which begins malfunctioning immediately.

The Doctor is beamed directly to sick bay before his program can fail, and B'Elanna promises to look at the mobile emitter. Before she gets the chance, it becomes clear that Seven's Borg technology has interacted with the device. Within a day, the Borg technology has created a maturation chamber in engineering - Giving birth to a new drone known as "One" (J. Paul Boehmer).

The mobile emitter has its origins in 29th century technology, resulting in "One" being a hyper-advanced Borg drone. Janeway puts Seven in charge of nurturing him, to make him an individual like Seven has herself become. But "One" begins asking questions about its origins and about the Borg Collective, causing Seven to worry about the Borg assimilating him and becoming even more of a threat than they are already!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Resists calls to kill the drone before it wakes. She doesn't want to kill unnecessarily, believing that if Seven could become an individual after a lifetime in the Collective, then this drone can surely be raised to be its own individual as well. When "One" begins asking questions about the Borg, Janeway suggests telling him - But she doesn't order Seven to do so, respecting Seven's choice to wait.

Seven of Nine: At Drone's center is a superb performance by Jeri Ryan. She has to walk a fine line in this episode, maintaining Seven's characteristic reserve while infusing an increasing amount of emotion into her scenes with "One." Ryan pulls this off splendidly, and the mother/son relationship that emerges between Seven and "One" convinces in large part because of her performance. It's worth observing that this episode is exactly one season after The Gift, in which Seven's fondest wish was to return to the Borg. Now she is the crew member most adamant about how dangerous the Borg is, and most in fear of the Collective - Having grown to treasure her individuality, she does not want to risk losing it again.

The Doctor: Is obsessively concerned about his mobile emitter when it stops functioning. This is played largely for laughs, with him badgering a sleepy Torres about the status of his emitter. But if you think about it at all, his anxiety is hardly unreasonable. Without that device, he's back to being a prisoner in sick bay and the holodeck - Effectively reduced from full crew member back to being just "the hologram." Even so, once "One" emerges, he ceases to even mention what he's lost. When the drone brings it up, asking if he's unwelcome, the Doctor insists that this is not the case:"Our primary mission is to explore new forms of life. You may have been unexpected but, given time, I am sure you'll make a fine addition to the crew."

Neelix: Though he has only a small role, his basic personality is used very well. Even as the rest of the crew responds warily to the drone's existence, Neelix is entirely open and friendly, completely welcoming. "One" responds to this openness, and when it begins researching data, Talaxian cooking is mixed in with the other, more technical material.

The Borg: It's confirmed that Borg reproduce through assimilation only, but the existence of the maturation chamber gives context to the infants the Enterprise crew found in Q Who? - As assimilated children, connected to a maturation chamber. Once matured, a drone's responses are fully automated - It must absorb data before it can interact in any way other than a pre-programmed scenario. By the episode's end, the Borg are aware of the existence of advanced future technology on Voyager - Something likely to pose a danger in coming episodes.


WOUND THE REDSHIRT!

Ensign Mulcahy (Todd E. Babcock) bears a mention for his stiff competition for a Darwin Award. On arriving at his work station and discovering it glowing green in a way that would be familiar to every Voyager crew member after Scorpion, does he run away while calling security? Or even keep a safe distance while calling security? Why, no! Ensign Imbecile walks merrily into the green glowing room. Fortunately for him, the script wants our sympathies to be with "One," so Mulcahy survives his Borg encounter with his humanity intact... But honestly, if he had died or been assimilated, it would have been his own stupid fault.

Idle question: If the Borg can become more dangerous by assimilating things more advanced, would feeding them a steady diet of idiots make them less dangerous?


THOUGHTS

If Scorpion was Voyager's The Best of Both Worlds, then this episode is its I Borg - a story focused on a single Borg drone, which emerges as a sympathetic individual over the course of the story. I Borg's complexity is replaced with more overt manipulation, and its difficult ending choice is replaced by an action set piece... But then, this is Voyager. And while Drone isn't anywhere near as strong an episode as its TNG counterpart was, it is still a highly effective installment.

The script is credited to Bryan Fuller, Brannon Braga, and Joe Menosky. The strengths of all three shine through, though. It has the fast pace of most of Fuller's scripts, with new elements and complications being built into the situation at every Act break. It also has the high concept of a Braga piece ("Borg baby") and the humanism of Menosky's best work. In short, the three styles mesh instead of clash.

Seven and the Doctor have emerged into a strong character pairing, with Seven disapproving of the Doctor's flippant attitude even as she privately takes on board his "lessons" in interacting with humans. With "One" talking to both of them about him being "born" by accident, the subtext becomes very much that of them being unexpected parents of this drone - Something that works even when the script hits it a bit too hard on the nose.

I do find myself wondering about the casual attitude toward the Doctor's mobile emitter. It's obvious by this point that B'Elanna can repair it when it breaks. Has she even tried to replicate some back-ups? Just a line of dialogue to the effect that the 29th century technology is beyond the ship's ability to reproduce would be enough - As it stands, it looks as if the crew thinks a single mobile emitter is all they need, and that they aren't even trying to provide redundancy for the only piece of technology that allows their only medical officer the ability to go down to planets or even to other parts of the ship!

Overall, and setting comparisons to I Borg to one side, this is a well-scripted, well-acted episode that does its job of creating some genuine emotional investment in a single-episode situation. It also ends with hints of things to come, leaving me actively anticipating the ship's next Borg encounter.

Definitely a good episode.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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Thoughts on Season Four.

In its fourth season, Star Trek: Voyager undergoes a major cast change, one that shifts the character dynamics considerably. But the show itself remains mostly the same beast as in its first three seasons: A series that exists mostly episode by episode, with few dramatic risks taken.

Still, for the first time in a long time, I come not to bury Voyager but to praise it. Season Four may suffer from all the same faults that have plagued the series from the beginning (a few of them actually worsen!), but the good episodes significantly outweigh the bad ones, the introduction of Seven of Nine works and works well, and the result is the most consistently enjoyable season of the show to date.


ARRIVALS: SEVEN OF NINE

This is the season that introduces Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), a Borg drone who unwillingly joins the Voyager crew and has to assimilate to their environment. There is a lot of potential in this concept, making it no surprise that most of the season's episodes feature a significant role for her. She brings in something that has been lacking: conflict with the crew.

Nothing was ever made of the Maquis background of half the crew, so we have spent three seasons with a group that all share the same core values and all basically get along. Seven comes from a very different background, has a very different set of values, and is not even particularly interested in getting along. Her very presence creates conflict. As a Borg, she was a threat to the ship, and the rest of the crew are wary of her. She brings in enormous scientific expertise, but expects her opinions to be accepted as a matter of course, which brings her into conflict with Torres, Janeway, and others.

Particularly interesting is the relationship that evolves between Seven and Janeway, who sometimes seems like a mentor to her, at other times an obstacle or even an adversary. When Seven denounces Janeway for trying to stifle her individuality, she sounds like a rebellious teen daughter - and the pain and disappointment on Janeway's face seems very much like that of a mother. The season finale reinforces that these two strong women have very different values, that Seven is never going to simply conform to Janeway's views. This is also good: They need to accept each other as they are, and find a working relationship despite their differences.


DEPARTURES AND LOITERERS: KES, HARRY KIM, AND THE REST

The other "big thing" that happens in Season Four is the departure of Kes... Something that really shouldn't have happened. Sure, it makes perfect sense that one of the supporting regulars would be let go to make room for Seven. But it makes no sense for it to have been Kes, a character whose role (as the Doctor's assistant and his humanizing influence) has not been replaced by Seven in any way, and a character whose final Season Three spotlight episode doubled as a statement of intent regarding future direction for her.

It's evident that the original plan was to let go of Harry Kim, a character so useless that writers have acknowledged deliberately avoiding giving him large roles in their scripts. Then actor Garrett Wang made a People Magazine list, which for whatever reason was seen as making him untouchable. I don't think it was a particularly good decision - Something made even more visible by how little Harry does over the course of Season Four, with a good showing in The Killing Game being the only time the entire year in which he doesn't seem like a spare part - one whose only real job (spouting Technobabble) has been made redundant by Seven.

Harry isn't the only character turned into a glorified extra by Seven's introduction. By mid-season, she has been set up in her own area of the ship - Astrometrics - and is now given the tasks that in previous seasons would have fallen under B'Elanna's purview. While Roxann Dawson's pregnancy certainly limited her participation in the mid-season, it does feel very much as if her previously prominent role has been pushed far to the back to make more room for Seven. What can be said of a season in which Neelix gets more memorable character material than B'Elanna Torres?


A CHANGE OF ALTITUDE: HINTS OF PROGRESS

But as I said at the top of this overview, I come largely to praise Season Four, which feels more alive and far less stagnant than Seasons Two and Three often did. Despite the overuse of Seven, a large part of the credit does belong to her, and to the way she shakes up the overly-comfortable cast dynamic. But there are other ways in which this season moves the series forward.

For the first three seasons, the relationship of Voyager to Starfleet is constant. Starfleet believes the ship is destroyed, and there is no way for our regulars to contact home and their families to let them know otherwise. Every so often, there would be a chance for the ship to possibly get home or possibly send a message... But this would always end in defeat so that the status-quo would be unchanged.

Message in a Bottle, right around the middle of this season, finally changes that. The discovery of the Hirogen communications relay allows the ship to contact home, and to receive messages. They now know about the Dominion War and the destruction of the Maquis, and their families now know they are alive. The problem is now being worked from two ends, with Starfleet certainly devoting at least some energy to shortening Voyager's journey.

That same episode kicks off an arc of episodes centering around the Hirogen, a predator species that at first seems a little too much like... well, Predator. Early episodes present the Hirogen as so one-dimensional, one could be forgiven for thinking the Kazon had been simply given a new design. Then Prey successfully makes them feel formidable, with Voyager clearly on the losing end of a confrontation with them. The Killing Game lends them even more dimension, as all the arguments viewers might have about how a species like this couldn't sustain itself are actually made part and parcel of the plot.

Though I suspect that two-parter will receive some follow up at some point, it does work as a resolution of the arc, which is an overall highly successful run of episodes. One hopes the series will continue to do occasional arcs of linked episodes in the future.


SEASON FIVE WISHLIST

The changes made to the status quo are a good thing - But instead of simply letting this sit as the "new normal," the show needs to build on these changes. I'd like to see occasional bursts of communication with Starfleet, perhaps seeking intelligence that might help with the Dominion War. Also, as the season finale reminds us, Janeway's actions in Scorpion have actually helped the Borg to expand and grow more powerful. It would be interested to see her forced to deal with the fallout of that - and I don't just mean in the form of some random alien out for revenge.

I also hope the hints at the end of Hope and Fear, of Janeway and Seven accepting that they have different values and working together despite that, are followed through. There's more dramatic potential in Seven working with the crew but holding a different value system than there is in simply transforming her into another Proper Starfleet Officer (ironic that the former member of the Collective has more individuality than most of the rest of the crew).

And while I do think the addition of Seven has been a benefit to the show, and I definitely would like her to remain prominent... It might be OK for there to be just a little less of her, so that she's not succeeding at the expense of the rest of the cast. For all of its problems, Voyager has a genuinely pretty strong ensemble. Pare back on "The Seven of Nine Show," please, and start remembering the rest of the cast for more than one or two episodes at a time.


IN SUMMATION

I have come to accept that Voyager will never be the show I wish it was - the show that can occasionally be glimpsed in jewels like The Thaw, Scorpion, and Living Witness. Save for the occasional story, the series is determined to play it safe inside its action/adventure bubble.

Season Four doesn't change this, but it does manage to push the edges of that bubble, making Voyager much better as the show that it is. I'm still not wildly enthusiastic about it as a series - But for the first time since Season One, I'm looking back on a year of Voyager with a lot more good feelings than bad.

Here's hoping it can further improve on that next season!


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4-25. One.

Seven of Nine, alone on Voyager...

THE PLOT

When Voyager enters an enormous nebula, radiation results in burns to the skin of every member of the crew. They reverse course and escape within a few minutes... But even that much exposure is enough to kill at least one person.

Only two members of the crew are unaffected: The Doctor, because he's a hologram; and Seven, who is protected by her Borg implants. The Doctor recommends putting the crew into stasis units, which will protect them as they cross the nebula, while he and Seven run the ship. With no viable options, Janeway agrees - but not before making it clear to Seven that the Doctor is in command.

It's a month-long trip, a long time for a former Borg drone to have no contact save with a hologram. After ten days, Seven becomes irritable. Then the nebula begins affecting ship's systems - Including the neural gel packs that power the ship's computer and, finally, the Doctor's mobile emitter. The Doctor has to confine himself to sick bay to protect his program, leaving Seven entirely alone.

As the ship's systems continue to deteriorate, Seven begins to find it harder and harder to function effectively. And that's when Trajis (Wade Williams), a predatory alien determined to be the first to cross the nebula, comes onto Voyager under the pretense of a friendly exchange of needed parts...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: When Chakotay expresses concerns about Seven being one of only two people in charge of the crew's welfare, Janeway insists that she trusts Seven. She acknowledges that the former Borg has displayed an "insolent attitude" and that she has disobeyed orders in the past, but says that she believes that Seven "wants to do right by us." She does make very clear to Seven that the Doctor is the one in command, however, on the basis of both his rank as Chief Medical Officer and his grounding in Starfleet protocols and procedures.

Seven of Nine: As a former member of a Collective, isolation is something Seven is simply not equipped to deal with. She reveals that when she was with the Borg, she was once cut off from contact and alone. Only for a short period, but it was enough for her to panic - and I suspect the fear of doing so again hangs over her as she comes ever closer to losing control. Jeri Ryan has been good all season, but this episode demands more of her than has been the case - And she delivers in a big way, anchoring the episode and making Seven fully sympathetic even when she's at her most irritable.

The Doctor: After his mobile emitter becomes unreliable, he continues to make himself useful. While isolated in sick bay, he makes repairs so that he can aid Seven when he's needed. He also studies the degradation of the ship's neural gel packs, which gives him insight into why Seven experiences increasing difficulty with her own duties. He continues to try to instruct her on effective interaction with the human crew, and is irritated by her lack of cooperation with that.


THOUGHTS

There have been more than a couple of occasions in which Season Four has felt like "The Seven of Nine Show." One actually is that, an episode centered entirely around Seven. Once the situation has been set up, virtually every moment is seen from her viewpoint. If Seven didn't work as a character, this episode wouldn't work at all.

Fortunately, Seven has been one of the show's consistently strongest elements since her introduction, something that continues to be the case here. Jeri Taylor's script (from a story idea by James Swallow) is tightly-paced, with new complications revealed at just the right pace to raise tension throughout. Kenneth Biller puts down his writer's pen and steps into the director's chair - and does a wonderful job behind the camera.

The episode is all about Seven's increasing feelings of isolation, and the visual element reinforces that constantly. We see Seven drinking a nutrient mix in the Mess Hall. Then the camera cuts to a wide shot of the large room, with Seven far back in frame - emphasizing how small and alone she is in this big, empty space. There are multiple shots like this, starting close on Seven and pulling back to show how alone she is in the ship's rooms, halls, and corridors. By the time she begins to break down, the sense of just how alone she is has become oppressive for us, as well.

I can't come up with any negatives here. The performances of Jeri Ryan and Robert Picardo are superb, the technical elements are brought off wonderfully in service of an extremely well-structured and well-paced script, and the tension increases steadily throughout. I'd rank this among the best episodes of the season.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

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4-6. The Raven.

Seven of Nine's human side wars with her Borg side...

THE PLOT

Seven of Nine is having issues: Waking nightmares of the Borg Collective trying to re-assimilate her. She cannot understand why she feels fear of the Borg; to her, the Collective is still "home." She also cannot understand why each of her visions includes a raven. She does her duty and reports the issue, but the Doctor can find nothing wrong with her and, with Voyager negotiating with the xenophobic B'omar for rights to travel directly through their territory rather than around it, Janeway's attention is focused there.

And it is during a negotiation with B'omar officials that Seven's Borg nature suddenly reasserts itself. She assaults Neelix in the mess hall, then moves like an automaton through the corridors, brushing past every attempt to stop her on her way to the shuttle bay. She takes a shuttle, then heads directly into B'omar space.

The outraged B'omar insist that they will deal with Seven, flatly stating that she will be "found and destroyed," and that any attempt by Voyager to go after her will be considered an act of aggression. Tom and Tuvok find a way to slip a shuttle into their space to go after Seven independently. But with the Doctor reporting that her last scan shows her Borg nanoprobes regenerating, the question becomes: Are they recovering a shipmate, or preparing for a confrontation with a Borg drone?


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Shows a nurturing, almost maternal attitude toward Seven. She pushes the former Borg to develop her creative side. She spends time talking to her and listens to her perspective without showing judgment. When Seven reverts and escapes with a shuttle, Janeway refuses to believe she is lost to them. "She was responding to us," Janeway insists. "She was adapting to this environment and to this crew." This drives her to approve a risky mission for Tom and Tuvok, though she does tell them that if Seven responds violently to use whatever force may be necessary.

Seven of Nine: Has by this point accepted the idea of her humanity reasserting itself, though she still finds much of the Voyager crew's activities to be inefficient and pointless. Despite her efforts, she still inadvertently creates awkwardness when interacting with Neelix, mentioning the assimilation of various Talaxians. She does acknowledge genuine appreciation of Janeway's kindness toward her, though she still considers the Collective more as "home" than the ship.

Tuvok: After previous episodes have shown him considering Seven as a security risk, this episode... Well, basically proves him right. Yet instead of giving him an adversarial role, when he finally catches up with Seven he is patient and almost compassionate. He observes the inconsistencies in her behavior versus that of a full Borg - such as her voicing appreciation for Janeway's kindness, or her offering to let him go rather than assimilate him. The last part of the episode makes them a genuine team, and perhaps establishes a sort of working friendship that I would love to see developed in future episodes.

4-2. The Gift.

Kes' psychic powers become too strong to control.

THE PLOT

With her link to the Borg Collective severed, Seven of Nine's humanity is beginning to reassert itself. Her long-suppressed immune system is finally reacting to the Borg implants, leaving Janeway and the Doctor little choice but to remove as much of the Borg technology from her as possible. But Seven is determined to remain who and what she is, and when she sees a chance to contact the Borg using Voyager's technology, she seizes it - with violent results.

Meanwhile, in the wake of her contact with Species 8472, Kes' telepathic abilities are growing exponentially. At first, Kes is delighted at the level of control she has over her new powers. As they grow greater and greater, however, it becomes apparent that Kes may be a greater threat to Voyager than Seven is!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: When she prepares to wake Seven in the teaser, she asks, "How's the newest addition to our family?" She does seem to regard her crew as a kind of extended family, and she deals compassionately with both Seven and Kes. She announces early on that she does not believe Seven is truly competent to make decisions about her life yet, and that she will make them for her. She tells the same to Seven, stating that since she was taken by the Borg at a very young age she doesn't truly have the capacity to choose as an individual. Seven accuses Janeway of hypocrisy for denying the free will she touts as such a virtue - but Janeway actually does behave consistently (in this case, at least), granting Kes a shuttle to leave the ship even though she disagrees with the decision.

Tuvok: Tries to get Kes to control her new powers with more of the meditative exercises he's attempted with her before. His face doesn't get melted this time, so I suppose that's an improvement. His bond with Kes is a major part of the episode, and it's clear that he's disturbed at having to report his student as a potential threat to the ship. One of the strongest images of the episode is the wordless final scene, in which Tuvok places the lit meditation lamp on a ledge at a window, in honor of his friend - as much emotional acknowledgement as the very reserved Vulcan ever shows at anything.

Kes: Though her departure does feel slightly rushed, with events that would have been better spread over multiple episodes compressed into one, writer Joe Menosky does allow her some good scenes with all of the characters she's had major interactions with. She gets multiple scenes with Tuvok, who gets his own silent farewell at the end. As the Doctor researches her condition, she pushes him to let him stay to help. He smiles and, with clear fondness, agrees she can stay "just for a while." She gets a nice scene opposite Neelix, telling him that she loves him even as she makes clear that she now loves him in a non-romantic way. Finally, she articulates her choice to Janeway in a scene that plays almost like a grown daughter talking to her mother about leaving home. These moments grant a sense of closure to a character who deserved far better use than she received.

Seven of Nine: Her second episode is tasked with taking her from being Borg to being somewhat human. It is not a transition she wants to make. The Borg Collective is all she has ever known, and being out of contact with them leaves her feeling diminished. "This drone is small now, alone. One voice, one mind. The silence is unacceptable. We need the others!" A nice touch is the slow transition of her pronouns. Early in the episode, she refers to herself in the plural, as "we" and "us." By the end, even as she still rails against Janeway taking her away from the Collective, she refers to herself in the singular: "Me" and "I." She begins the process of becoming an individual even as she fights against that happening. Jeri Ryan is excellent, and the scenes between her and Kate Mulgrew have an energy that's been lacking in too much of this series, giving me hope that she will be as strong an addition as she promises to be.


THOUGHTS

For a change, no miracle reset has occurred between episodes: The Gift opens with Voyager still laden with Borg technology and still in Borg space, and at least one plot strand (arguably both) deals with consequences from Scorpion. This type of continuity is most welcome, and something the show really should do more often.

The Gift is an important episode, marking a major transition. Voyager's most visible division is between the first three seasons, with Kes, and the last four seasons, with Seven. Scorpion may have created a bridge between the two phases, but it remained firmly in the first phase: Seven was decidedly an enemy, while Kes was a full member of the crew. The Gift crosses that bridge. By the end, we have begun (but thankfully not completed) the process of integrating Seven into the crew, while at the same time we have left Kes behind.

The Seven of Nine thread is the stronger of the two. Menosky's script makes sure that she is able to state her case for wanting to return to the Borg just as well as Janeway is able to state hers for denying that. This is two episodes in a row in which a character disagrees with Janeway without coming across as imbecilic or evil - A trend the show should definitely continue. The "half-Borg" look is very effective and disturbing, incidentally - much moreso than the "full Borg" look of Scorpion.


KES' DEPARTURE

Per Memory Alpha, Kes' departure was originally planned to occur in the fifth episode of the season. It was moved due to departing actress Jennifer Lien's schedule. A pity - I think having her powers build up slowly over multiple episodes would have felt a lot less rushed, and would have not required her farewell story to share equal time with Seven's integration story. Still, the script does a good job of making these basically unrelated plots work together, and while Kes' departure happens a bit too quickly, it does manage to work dramatically.

One reason for that is that Kes' change, while abrupt, doesn't come out of nowhere. The strength of her latent psychic abilities was a major plot point in both Cold Fire and Warlord. It was an aspect never seriously developed, unfortunately, but at least it existed. With Scorpion's story having relied heavily on Kes' psychic link to Species 8472, it does feel like a natural development for the character - if one that needed more time to breathe than is allowed here.

I still regret the decision to write out Kes. While someone had to go to make room for Seven of Nine, Kes is a character who, despite being underused, has worked well from the series' beginning. She has unique and enjoyable relationships with multiple other characters, notably the Doctor and Tuvok, but also Neelix and Janeway. Before and After even showed possibilities for her character's future, with indications that an expanded role was at least a possibility. Simply put, it's difficult to see how this character could be viewed as the best choice to remove. Not in a show whose character roster includes: Harry Kim, whose absence would barely be noticed; Neelix, whose absence would often be a relief; and Chakotay, who is usually dull and wooden, and who has two ready-made replacements as First Officer in Tuvok and Tom. Any of those would have been better choices for removal than Kes, with Chakotay's removal in particular creating potential for other regulars as well.


OVERALL

Despite feeling vaguely rushed in the Kes plot, The Gift works overall. Kes gets some good scenes opposite all of the characters who have been her main points of interactions. Seven of Nine becomes more a part of the Voyager crew, with it left clear that this process is far from complete. Given that it has two important plots to juggle in one 45-minute piece, I think it's no small praise to say that it does its job, and does it probably about as well as scheduling factors would allow.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Scorpion
Next Episode: Day of Honor

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3-26, 4-1. Scorpion.

Introducing Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).

THE PLOT

One of Voyager's long-range probes has stopped transmitting. Torres is able to retrieve the last few seconds of the probe's transmission, showing a sight Janeway has been dreading: the Borg!

The ship is nearing Borg space, and the recovery of their probe means the enemy knows they are coming. Fortunately, the probe detected a narrow corridor of space the Borg avoid - a passage filled with distortion caused by quantum singularities. It will be a bumpy ride, but there is a decent chance of avoiding the Borg if they can stay within what Chakotay dubs "The Northwest Passage."

There's another threat, however: An alien race the Borg term "Species 8472." These aliens are engaging the Borg and destroying them, seemingly without effort. Harry hopes for allies, but when Kes makes telepathic contact, she realizes they are anything but. Species 8472 is completely malevolent, and bent on destroying all inferior life, which to them means all life.

Janeway sees only one way forward: A deal with the devil. An alliance with the Borg!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Janeway: Understands that the day may come when the danger in front of Voyager is too great to responsibly continue. When she realizes the ship is approaching Borg space, she fears that day may have come, and she admits to Chakotay that she dreads facing the crew with that decision. That, as much of any of her justifications, prompts her alliance with the Borg. Still, her arguments to Chakotay are sound. Species 8472 is an even bigger threat than the Borg, and if they aren't stopped at an early stage, they may become genuinely unstoppable. Kate Mulgrew is in superb form throughout both parts, her performance clearly rising to the quality of the material. 

Chakotay: Strongly disagrees with Janeway's decision to make an alliance. He invokes the title by reciting the parable of the scorpion who, upon making an agreement with a fox to take it across a river, stings it because its malevolent nature is too strong to resist. When Janeway is temporarily out of action in Part Two, he goes with his own instincts over hers, leading to another argument between them. The best part? Both Chakotay and Janeway have genuinely good reasons for their decisions, and neither's argument is presented as a "straw man" to make the other look good. I'd love to see this Chakotay/Janeway relationship carried forward... though I suspect his characterization will return to "bland Tattoo Face" within one to two episodes.

Kes: Species 8472 is telepathic, which allows Kes a solid supporting role. Before they even know there is such a species, she has premonitions: Visions of dead Borg, including a horror movie tableaux of Borg bodies stacked one on another. She sees the attack on Harry minutes before it actually happens, but her warning is not enough to prevent it. At the climax, she acts as a conduit between Janeway and Species 8472, allowing direct communication during the confrontation. Considered alongside Before and After, this script seems to hint at the potential for a larger role for Kes in the future - if not for a certain People magazine article, at least...

Harry Kim: Before that article named Garrett Wang one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World," Scorpion was envisioned as Harry's swansong. He's Part One's sacrificial lamb, suffering the devastating alien infection that shows just how terrifying a threat Species 8472 really is. This obviously wasn't set in stone, given that Harry is still alive at the end of Part One with the Doctor clearly hoping to be able to cure him... but Part One very deliberately leaves Harry in a state that would have easily allowed him to be written out between episodes. Instead, the Doctor is able to miraculously cure him so completely that he returns to the bridge with no recovery time needed. From this point on, he's just Harry: a glorified extra who occasionally spouts some Technobabble.

Seven of Nine: Part Two introduces Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, the "Borg Babe" (in Brannon Braga's words). One of many smart touches in this script is that, while Seven received plenty of screen time and gets substantial interactions with Janeway and chakotay, she isn't presented as a new crew member. She is the voice of the Borg in this episode, speaking for the Collective during Janeway's alliance. She is a potential threat to our characters from her first appearance, and is very much an adversary when the alliance starts to fray. This allows her a strong introduction while avoiding the pitfalls of ramming a new character down the viewers' throat. It helps that Jeri Ryan is actually a good television actress, who easily holds her own opposite the established regulars.

The Borg: Scorpion almost acts as a mirror image to TNG's The Best of Both Worlds. That episode showed the Borg at their strongest, a single cube being unstoppable by all of Starfleet. This one shows the Borg at their most vulnerable, as devastated by Species 8472 as Starfleet was by the Borg. There's even a bit with Voyager flying through the wreckage of several Borg ships destroyed by the enemy - paralleling the devastation the Enterprise encountered when flying through the wreckage at Wolf 359. Writers Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky take care not to allow this to make the Borg less dangerous. They are unreliable allies, attempting to assimilate Janeway and Tuvok almost as soon as the agreement is reached and repeatedly trying to alter the terms of the agreement. As much of Part Two centers around attempts by the Voyager crew to contain the Borg as it does around defeating Species 8472. We are never allowed to forget the threat they pose, a threat that is increased by the alliance rather than decreased. 


THOUGHTS

Scorpion is almost certainly the best installment of Star Trek: Voyager I've reviewed to date. It is tightly paced, with no sense that either part of it has been padded out to fill air time. Its treatment of the Borg is just about perfect, with the Voyager/Borg alliance creating new tension rather than dissipating it. Species 8472 is presented as formidable, and in their brief snatches of screentime they live up to the demands the story places upon them. 

There's no sense of separation between the two episodes, which flow together beautifully. Part One establishes the situation and builds the atmosphere, with director David Livingston using the dim light and shadows of the Borg cube almost like a painter using colors in creating a portrait. Many of the effects shots are of feature film quality, including the Wolf 359 parallel of the graveyard of destroyed Borg cubes or the shots in which the bio-ships of Species 8472 descend, locust-like, on a Borg-controlled planet. The makeup job on Harry, as he is ravaged by the alien infection, is genuinely unsettling. 

Winrich Kolbe takes over the directorial reigns for Part Two. Kolbe has a long Trek track record, and his confidence with action scenes makes him a good match for the action-heavy second part. There are two attacks by Species 8472, along with a clash with the Borg, and Kolbe keeps all of this both coherent and exciting, making this a rare two-parter in which Part Two is every bit as good as Part One. 

Writers Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky make sure that in addition to providing an exciting climax, Part Two also pays off everything set up by Part One. In Part One, Chakotay compares the Borg to the scorpion of the fable. In Part Two, he's proved right when the Borg attempt to alter the agreement almost as soon as it's struck, and ultimately do attempt to betray Voyager. Janeway even uses the word, "Scorpion," to good effect in her counter-plan. Even the holodeck subplot involving Leonardo da Vinci (a thoroughly engaging John Rhys-Davies) is tied into the resolution, with Janeway and Chakotay sharing their final scene inside that simulation.

At the end of a season of Voyager that could only very politely be dubbed "uneven," this two-parter is a reminder of how good this series can be when the writers and producers are willing to push the characters outside their safe zones and take chances. Never mind its greatness as a Voyager episode: I'd rank this right alongside The Best of Both Worlds as among the best Borg episodes of the entire franchise.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: Worst Case Scenario
Next Episode: The Gift


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