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Kathryn Janeway - Kate Mulgrew Chakotay - Robert Beltran Tom Paris - Robert Duncan McNiell Neelix - Ethan Phillips Seven Of Nine - Jeri Ryan Tuvok - Tim Russ B'Elanna Torres - Roxann Biggs Dawson Harry Kim - Garrett Wang The Doctor - Robert Picardo 
OTHER SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 OTHER STAR TREK SHOWS Star Trek The Next Generation Deep Space Nine Enterprise OTHER TREKS THROUGH SPACE Babylon 5 The new Battlestar Galactica 
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Unimatrix Zero - Part 2Janeway, Tuvok and B'Elanna are all Borg, but that's just part of the plan. The Borg Queen, however, proves to be even more formidable that Janeway suspected and battle royal is joined, with Tuvok as the lynchpin to success for either side. Season 6's cliffhanger left us with the Captain as a Borg, but already revealed that it was all part of a plan. How the Borg Queen (superbly played by Susanna Thompson) counters that plan and Janeway responds forms the heart of this second episode and it is their battle of wills rather than the action, special effects and (let's be honest) dull love story with Seven of Nine that makes this such a cracking start to the new season. Victory is by no means certain and by no means absolute. The tactics that the Borg Queen uses are original and fit the character beautifully. We can but hope to see her again. VOYAGER is back and more like this would be greatly appreciated. TopImperfectionSeven of Nine's cortical node starts to malfunction, leaving her with only a few days to live. Captain Janeway goes to extraordinary lengths to get a new one, but that is not enough alone. There is only one way that Seven can be saved, but she is unwilling to allow others to take the risks required. We will pretty much do anything for those that we love, but will we allow them to do pretty much anything for us? It's an insight into life that could have been displayed in a few minutes, but it is spun out to full episode length by a plot that is both episodic and unconvincing. Throw in predictable and what's left is a pretty unexceptional, bog standard episode. TopDriveThe Voyager enters a region of space that has until recently been a war zone. The fragile peace treaty is being celebrated by the running of a space race and Tom enters the Delta Flyer. As the race continues, it becomes clear that someone is out to sabotage the event, but not all of Tom's problems are so far away from home. A race through space and the excitement that could bring is such an obvious choice for a story that it's a surprise that it hasn't been done before. The sabotage is then an obvious expansion to the idea and everything goes along swimmingly. Right up until the point where it turns into a domestic argument that derails the whole thing in an astonishing turn of events. TopRepressionSeveral members of the crew who were from the Maquis complement of freedom fighters are attacked on board and all the sensors fail to catch the culprit. Tuvok's investigation reveals that he is the one responsible, but the reasons behind the attacks are even more surprising. Quite apart from seeing Janeway and Tuvok in 3D glasses (it's a holodeck thing) this is a solid STAR TREK episode that harks back to events right at the start of the first season and even before, thus making it a little more opaque to anyone who hasn't been following the story since the start. Tim Russ has more fun than usual with the loss of Tuvok's vulcan reserve and gives an intense performance that is the centrepiece. The only weak point is the abrupt resolution that suggests that there just wasn't time to fit it all into one single episode. TopCritical CareA thief and con artist steals the Doctor and sells him into work in a hospital that is run of purely practical grounds. This means that a computer reduces everyone's importance to society to a simple number and decides whether or not they should receive treatment. The Doctor rebels against the system, but find his actions causing more harm than good. In a society that runs a National Health Service that treats those that need it, this episode has less impact than others where treatment is based entirely on ability to pay. A criticism of America's healthcare system then? Yes and not a very subtle one at best. There is more fun to be had in the vignettes that make up the story of the Voyager's investigations into the Doctor's whereabouts, not least Janeway's declaration of attachment to Tuvok. Unfortunately, the pontificating floods over all that. TopInside ManA holographic replica of Reg Barclay appears on Voyager following the latest datastream, but is the news that he brings of a potential way home just a pipe dream and is he really on the side of the angels at all? Following Season 6’s Pathfinder and Life Line, the double act of Dwight Schultz and Marina Sirtis return to the VOYAGER story, but to little effect. A lot of the plot runs over old ground (albeit by a beach this time) and since it’s mostly happening on Earth you have to wonder if the writers have lost faith in their main characters and so are turning elsewhere. Top Body and SoulWhen the Delta Flyer is attacked by holograph hating aliens, Seven of Nine downloads the Doctor's programme into her Borg implants, allowing him to indulge all the sensory perceptions that have been unavailable. This is a simple bodyswap episode that gives Jeri Ryan the chance to step outside her normal emotionless character and play a parody of Robert Picardo's Doctor. Since he is a male in a female's body there is also the chance for the usual gender confusions. None of this is original, but it does have its funny moments and is rarely less than entertaining. TopNightingaleHarry Kim gets his first shot at command when he is allowed to captain a ship believed to be carrying humanitarian aid to an embattled species. He learns how hard it is to sit in the big chair, however, when the truth about his new friends slowly leaks out. Apparently the message of this story is that the mission must go on even when it is shown to be an unjust or unethical one. Not too sure about the moral behind that one. When Harry learns that the ship he is helping is involved in a war and his mission will give succour and aid to one side over the other then he is not just breaking the Prime Directive but jumping up and down on the pieces as well. That this decision of 'honour' and 'integrity' is explained to him by the emotionless and practical Seven of Nine does nothing to convince us that there is anything to the argument. TopFlesh and Blood - Part 1The hunters of the Hirogen people come back, but this time as the hunted, hunted by their own creations. These creations are holograms formed from the Voyager's own technology and therefore Janeway feels responsible for the Hirogen plight, but the Doctor learns other secrets that turn his allegiances away from the 'organics'. This is a direct follow on from SEASON 4's The Killing Game double header story which ended with Janeway giving the Hirogen their own holodeck technology in order to save her crew. What seemed like a sensible solution then has come back to haunt her this time around, possibly explaining the odd choices that she makes in this episode. That the plot needs her to act out of character in order to force the Doctor into an act of betrayal is no excuse. It helps to have seen the previous episodes and to know the background to the Hirogen as merciless hunters who live only for the hunt, but the themes of oppression and slavery are obvious enough for anyone to follow. TopFlesh and Blood - Part 2After attacking Voyager thanks to the Doctor's betrayal, the holograms take B'Elanna and persuade her to work with their own engineer to create a homeland for them. The leader of the group, however, is developing ideas of godhood and Janeway determines to take on both the Hirogens and the holograms. The speed and abruptness of the hologram leader's descent into megalomania betrays some of the deeper intentions of this story. It's melodrama where melodrama is not needed and provides the Doctor with a way out of his own betrayal, by setting the leader up to be as bad as the Hirogen. How much more interesting would it have been to leave him facing the truth of his own betrayal with nobody else to hide behind. Janeway also gets to rue her actions and acts more like the captain we have come to know and appreciate, but this still can't wipe out the strangeness of her behaviour in Part 1 and the ease of the solution with the Hirogen at the end is far too unbelievable. TopShatteredA strange anomaly pops up out of nowhere and splits Voyager into a number of time zones co-existing in the same vessel. Only Chakotay is immune and free to move between the zones, but can he convince all the different factions that he is working for the benefit of all. It's another trip down memory lane for the Voyager crew, very strongly reminiscent of Before and After in Season 3. Still, it plays with a new to command Janeway struggling with the information of what is to come and it is nice to find another excuse to bring back the perfidious Seska. TopLineageTom and B'Elanna are stunned to learn that she is pregnant. The Doctor shows them a hologram of what she will eventually look like and when B'Elanna sees that she has the same klingon traits in appearance she comes up with a plan for altering the unborn child's genetics, a plan that Tom is adamantly opposed to. The inner life of characters is something that gives any show depth and quality, assuming that there is any inner life, depth or quality that is, but being transported across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant to spend an hour dealing with B'Elanna's daddy issues is pushing things a bit too far. Way too far, in fact. Watching a married couple bicker for an entire episode isn't great entertainment, especially not here. True, there is a buried subtext about designer babies and how far we can go before removing abnormalities becomes choosing our children's attributes. Unfortunately, when the episode isn't busy in wedded shouting match it's in full preaching mode, making this one of the most dull and uninteresting episodes in the show's run to date. TopRepentanceThe Voyager aids a stricken vessel only to find that it is a prison ship carrying aliens home for execution for their crimes. Both Seven of Nine and Neelix find prisoners they believe have been wronged and are innocent, but their stories play out in very different ways. Capital punishment is laid out in both for and against viewpoints in this thinly veiled debate on the issue. It's a subject that the STAR TREK has tackled before and will probably again, but hopefully without the preachy tone. The Neelix storyline is so painfully predictable that it undermines the argument being played out in the more significant Seven of Nine strand which has the better arguments, the better acting, the more depth and the poorer dialogue. It's more entertaining than picking up a law textbook and reading up on the subject, but not by much. TopProphecyThe Voyager encounters a ship full of Klingons who have been flying through the depths of space for generations in search of a mythical figure from some ancient scrolls. The scrolls would seem to indicate that B'Elanna and Tom's unborn child is the mythical figure, but that doesn't sit well with some of the Klingons who plan to take over the ship and continue their quest. Klingon mythology has proven to be a consistent feature of the STAR TREK franchises, but this doesn't really add much to the mix as it deals with a fringe cult and not with the main Klingon culture. That said, Tom gets caught up in a fight to the death and Neelix might only just escape from a romance with his life. It passes the time well enough, but is far from the best that the show has produced. TopThe VoidA spatial anomaly drags Voyager into a place where all natural resources are unavailable and the only way to survive is to prey on others that arrive. Janeway is unwilling to abandon her principles and attempts to form an alliance to share technology and find a way to escape.
This is a story that harks right back to the very basis of Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future, a place where everyone pulls together for the greater good. Fortunately, it's not as preachy as that sounds and manages to be interesting, if rarely exciting. The story doesn't quite fill up the entire running time, leaving a couple of montages (yes, montages) to fill up the space. Also, does anyone ever finish a meal on this ship? Not on this evidence. Janeway starts her first day of a new job at the central city's power plant hoping to do well. She meets a new man and also a stranger who insists that he knew her before. Tom Paris lands a job as a barkeep and befriends an unmarried, pregnant engineer. On board a drifting Voyager, the Doctor is relieved when Chakotay, Neelix and Kim return from their away mission. This is an intriguing set up to a two part story. Starting from a point where Janeway, Tuvok, Tom, Seven and B'Elanna all believe themselves to be someone else, it keeps the explanations for later and just goes with the new situation, keeping the mystery going for a bit, but also having fun by putting familiar people in unfamiliar situations and reacting in unfamiliar ways. Whilst most of the cast get to play the same part in a new job, Tim Russ gets to be emotional as Tuvok without his vulcan sensibilities and Kate Mulgrew gets to play an intelligent and passionate woman unfettered by the need to play the starship captain at all times. It's a chance to see her doing something different and it works. With Tuvok regaining some of his memory, Seven of Nine investigating his claims with her usual efficiency and Chakotay trying to get through to Janeway, the battle is on to bring the kidnapped crew back to their old lives, but how do you save someone who doesn't even know they need saving? The second episode brings a fairly standard ending to the interesting set up, but it's much more watchable than some of the other episodes have been this season. Seven of Nine creates herself a holodeck simulation of the ship in order to help with her social interactions with the rest of the crew. As the ship wanders into an alien weapons testing range and needs her help to escape, she finds herself caught up in a romance with the simulation of Commander Chakotay and negelecting her duties. People falling in love with holograms is an old subject that even this show has done before and there really isn't anything new to add here. That it is Seven of Nine gives the storyline a purpose in exploring her more human side, and allows Jeri Ryan to slip out of the Borg makeup and into a more comfortable hairstyle, but the sense of deja vu with similar experiments carried out by Data in THE NEXT GENERATION is inescapable. Q arrives on Voyager with his son, Q in tow. The younger Q has been threatened with being thrown out of the Q continuum for being too wild and the older Q wants Janeway to knock some some discipline into the lad, but how do you discipline an omnipotent being? The return of John de Lancie as Q usually presages some fun puncturing the pomposity that any STAR TREK franchise show can display from time to time, but this is a tired old story that just treads the ground that has been trodden many times, only this time it's with Q's son rather than Q himself. Even the pranks that the lad plays before his powers are removed prove to be uninvolving. Direct communication with Earth is established and the Doctor uses the opportunity to have his holonovel transmitted to a publisher who wants to sell it right away. The rest of the crew are dismayed when they see that it portrays them in a very poor light and when the Doctor tries to have the programme recalled, his rights as a sentient being are called into question. This is an episode of two halves with the first half being the more fun as the crew get to see their likenesses and personalities twisted just enough by the holonovel to be really offensive. Then, the whole tone of the show changes and it becomes a poor rerun of THE NEXT GENERATION episode The Measure of A Man. Considering the precedent set by Data in that episode it's hard to see the logic behind the lawyer's judgement here and, quite frankly, it really doesn't matter that much. Now that limited communications with Starfleet has been achieved, the Voyager crew receive an actual mission from home. The deep space probe Friendship 1 was lost somewhere near to Voyager's position hundreds of years before and they are asked to locate it, if possible. Find it they do, but they also find a planet devastated by the knowledge that it contained, destroyed by a race not yet prepared for it. Another examination of the Prime Directive and why it should be, but there is little here that we haven't seen before beyond the impressive recreation of a world locked in a nuclear winter. It's a story cobbled together from old ideas and feels just tired, as have so many of the episodes in this season. Whilst staying over at a friendly planet, Seven and Chakotay crash a shuttle through an energy barrier created by aliens hundreds of years earlier. There, they find a race of people with no techonology at all, living a peaceful life. They are protected by the barrier, but in order to get back to Voyager, Seven will have to destroy that barrier and risk the destruction of their way of life. The second prime directive episode in a row and it's not a whole lot better than the last. A parable for the tribes of the Amazon and other places that lost their ways of life to the onslaught of progress and technology. It's not very subtle, but there are some incidental pleasures such as Tom Paris being put through flight training again and Seven of Nine learning a little something about her own obssession with technology and her sense of superiority. The Voyager discovers the hiding place of 500 of Neelix's kind in an asteroid that is about to be destroyed by miners. He determines to help them fight back for their homes, but that means making some momentous decisions. Neelix has never been one of the most popular STAR TREK characters and that's the fault of the character, not Ethan Phillips' acting skills. The fact that he has lasted as long as he has is probably a credit to the actor and not the character. When it becomes plain, about halfway through this episode, that he is going to leave it becomes equally plain that VOYAGER is coming to the end of the mission. He is the only crewmember of standing (other than Kes) ever to leave the ship. Fittingly, he is given a send off that is more than worthy of him. Not the episode. This is thin stuff at best, old ideas and rushed through because it's really all just a set up for the final farewell scene. No speeches, no tears, just a vulcan dance step and a dignified departure. If there's an itching in your eye, don't worry - you won't be the only one. With Captain Janeway being held hostage, the Doctor is forced to impersonate her in order to bring her captors Voyager's warp core. When others in the crew prove suspicious, he is then forced to impersonate them. This is a fun, if ultimately disposable, episode that gives several members of the cast a chance to play a character impersonating their character. It plays out in fairly straightforward fashion and gives no clue that the show is coming to an end. There's nothing actually new or overly interesting here, but it is an entertaining way to pass the time. It’s ten years since the Voyager returned home after a journey from the Delta Quadrant that lasted over twenty years. Admiral Janeway, however, has plans that will change all of that and is about to put those plans in action, though others of her crew might not approve. The ending of STAR TREK franchises have usually come up with something special to see them off and it looks like VOYAGER is going to be no different if this first part is anything to go by. It starts with a view of the future in which Janeway has grey hair, but is otherwise unchanged, Tom and B’Elanna have a daughter now working for Janeway, Kim is a starship captain and the Doctor has just gotten married. All is not well for everyone, however. Tuvok is suffering from a degenerative disease, Chakotay is dead and Seven of Nine is missing presumed dead. This is the greater, and more interesting, part of the plot as it merely sets up a quick string of events aimed at getting Admiral Janeway to the location of the Voyager commanded by Captain Janeway. Yes, it’s a time travel story and that means that there’s a big reset button to be pressed in the final episode, but that’s not so much of a problem as it involves the Borg and brings back Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. Why this should be so when last we saw she was being played pretty well by Susanna Thompson is not clear. It’s a set up episode and so it doesn’t stand by itself, but it certainly seems to be setting up something exciting to finish off the show’s final season. Admiral Janeway explains to her younger self the plan that she has concocted to take the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant. Since it means taking on the Borg, the Captain is reluctant, but then a chance presents itself to deliver a crippling blow to the Borg along the way. It will not, however, be easy. Having set things up the meeting of the Janeways with the last episode, this one creates a rift between them and sets them up to come into conflict over the differences between the younger idealist and the older pragmatist. It is only when it is revealed that Seven dies, Chakotay is heartbroken and Tuvok's mental breakdown could have been averted that the stakes become fully clear. Unfortunately, the plan never becomes absolutely clear. An attack on the Borg and a sneaky ruse, leading to sacrifice is all very well and good, but how can introducing a pathogen into the Borg make one of the ships under the command of the Borg Queen suddenly become remote controlled from the Voyager. It's a small point, perhaps, in an otherwise impressive ending to the show, but one that undermines it unnecessarily. The ship's journey is over and, though it's been a bumpy ride, on the whole it was worth the trip. |
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