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[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: The Omega Directive 4x21)

Summary: Janeway disobeys protocol, shares highly classified information, steals a dying civilization’s last remaining hope of salvation, and then ignores the Prime Directive.

That’s not me re-framing events for a cheap joke, those events actually occur in this episode. There’s a jail cell waiting for Janeway when she gets back to Earth, right?

Comments: Okay, lemme just get this off my chest first:

What da fuq?

Heh. So Tumblr has a new, beta-version of their post editor. They've added fonts, but just one. No other fonts. I guess it was popular?

Wait, hang on:

Share highly classified information Steal a dying civilization's last remaining hope of salvation Ignore the Prime Directive — Janeway, Just girly things!

Okay, right, that's an old meme.

So the plot here is that Janeway has secret orders to destroy "omega particles" if she ever comes across them. She does, she destroys them, and the episode ends.

I don’t understand how the omega particle works. It’s explained that one is sufficient to cause massive damage. And if you have a few, they can set off a chain reaction that destroys subspace in one fourth of the galaxy, effectively preventing warp travel forever-ever.

But the method to destroy these super-powerful particles is with like, a slightly modified photon torpedo? And these aliens made 200 million of them? But there was some sort of accident at their production facility and their building was destroyed in an explosion. But their 200 million omega particles were just fine? They remained “stable” in the confinement tank?

Then Voyager transports them onboard (for some reason). Seven still wants to stabilize them for religious reasons (<< this is not a joke). She strongly believes she will be able to (she can do anything she wants). But, if she wants to attempt stabilizing them, this implies they are currently not stable, but they’re not actively destroying anything at that moment, so...? Do they have an in-between, “kinda stable but not so unstable they’ll destroy the quadrant” state? Did Janeway leave that part out of her briefing with the senior staff (plus Harry)?

Then they magically go stable on their own at the last second so that Seven can have a religious experience?

What da fuq~?

More importantly, Janeway is all serious about following the Omega Directive (this super-secret highly classified protocol that only starship captains are privy to), but then decides to call a staff meeting of the senior officers (plus Harry) to tell them all about it?

Also, how can something like the Omega Directive even exist within Starfleet? It’s a directive that orders the subversion of everything Starfleet holds dear in order to unquestionably destroy something they do not (yet) understand.

Oh, and Janeway orders the away team to ignore the Prime Directive. LOL, okay then.

In conclusion, this was a really clumsy episode that touches on several main themes. Or: this was a wasted opportunity to tell either a covert "black ops" type of story where Janeway defies norms for a good reason, or a "Borg spirituality" type of story... but ends up doing neither of those particularly well. Are you noticing a trend?!

My enjoyment: 2/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

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Star Trek Voyager: The Haunting of Deck Twelve (6x25)

Comments: So the plot here is that Neelix tells a story to the Borg children about a time when Janeway destroyed a nebula by collecting all its gas. This nebula was the home of an alien lifeform that came aboard and slowly took over the ship. Janeway insightfully deduces that it’s not trying to kill them, but rather just wants to return home so she learns to communicate with it through the ship’s computer.

She convinces it to allow them to regain control of Voyager and return it to its nebula, but since the nebula is now gone, the alien gets pissed and starts to suffocate Janeway. So she lies to it and convinces it to hang out in a special confinement field aboard Voyager until next time they find a suitable nebula.

This episode was enjoyable because it’s just a character telling a story. If that story is good then the episode is good. But you expect me to believe that the alien has been aboard the ship since before the Borg children came aboard? Just hanging out, trusting that Janeway is gonna drop it off at the next hospitable nebula they find?

My enjoyment: 3/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

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Star Trek Voyager: Collective (6x16)

Comments: Oh, snap! It’s Icheb!

I know who that is from Star Trek: Picard! He’s the guy that had his Borg components forcibly harvested as he writhed about in horrendous pain, screaming. old!Seven attempted to rescue him, but arrived only in time for Icheb to plead with her to end his life. Since STP is dark, violent schlock written by amateurs and created by one-hundred-and-thirty-seven thousand producers, Seven used a phaser on Icheb to end his life. So inspirational! So thought-provoking! Much Star Trek, wow.

Anyways, Icheb makes his first appearance here. He’s introduced alongside two mutes and a little girl and their shithole leader who’s conveniently killed by the end of the episode so that the show doesn’t have to write drama moving forward.

Okay, so the plot here is that Janeway allows four of her top-billed cast members to go... somewhere... on the Delta Flyer, but it’s captured by a Borg cube. Except, the Borg cube only has the aforementioned children piloting it (see screenshot). Turns out there was a virus aboard that killed all the adult Borg, but the maturation chambers were active and kept the children alive. They are now attempting to barter with Janeway: her crewmembers for her deflector dish.

It’s an interesting episode (in premise), but shatters the teeth of the Borg as a serious threat by portraying them as incompetent children. Now Seven has four Borg children to look after. My notes at this point read, “Harry walks around a Borg vessel,” but I don’t know what that's referring to. I guess Harry walked around a Borg vessel? Nice to know the plot's giving him something to do.

You know, what did Janeway do with the Borg cube after rescuing the children from it? Did she push it into a star?

LOL, no, what am I saying. Leaving the derelict Borg cube just floating there will:

Delay Voyager's return to Earth by abandoning an entire cube's worth of transwarp coils, and

Allow local thugs to use the cube to terrorize nearby planets

Janeway!

But seriously, it would have been fun (and practical) if she would have driven the cube for a bit. We could have an episode or two where Voyager’s crew gets it running again and transwarps a bit closer to home.

Speaking of which, remember that episode where Janeway risked literally everything to sneak aboard a tiny, disable Borg ship and steal just a single transwarp coil? Here she has an entire Borg curb's worth and... nope, let's just leave it there.

My enjoyment: 2/5

Janeway!

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Tsunkatse (6x15)

Comments: Before you ask, no, つんかつえ, does not mean anything in Japanese (as far as I can tell).

Okay, so the plot here is that Seven fights a Hirogen in a fight ring after having made friends. Ah, lemme back up.

So Voyager is on shore leave on a planet where fight rings are a source of entertainment. Meanwhile, Tuvok and Seven—being total nerds—go off to explore a nearby nebula, get captured, and Seven is blackmailed into fighting in the rings in order to save a horribly injured Tuvok. So that brings us back to Seven fighting the Hirogen in the fight ring.

The Hirogen spends time/effort training Seven to fight better so that he can “die a warrior’s death” in the ring against a superior opponent, but Seven learns to like the guy (I mean, he’s played by J.G. Hertzler so I can’t blame her), so the climax of the episode involves a cliché “pause before making the killing blow” scene where Seven contemplates ending this dude’s life, only to be rescued at the last second by Janeway transporting them both out of there.

Since we already did variations on this plot (TNG: The Most Toys) as well as DS9 (By Inferno's Light), it’s too predictable and doesn’t have any moral that we didn’t already work through before on Star Trek.

But, uh, Chakotay mentions to the Hirogen at the episode’s conclusion that they’re going to return him to his people since there’s a hunting party nearby. Aren’t they hundreds of thousands of lightyears from Hirogen space? I feel like I need a map of the Delta Quadrant.

Also, seeing Jeffrey Combs in yet another Star Trek role was great. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was also in this and posed with his signature eye brow for the camera at some point, so there's also that I guess.

I think part of the reason the Hirogen work so well on Voyager is because they seem to only cast A-level talent into the roles.

My enjoyment: 2/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Riddles (6x06)

Summary: Tuvix, take two.

Comments: Okay, so Tuvok and Neelix are on a shuttle when they’re attacked by cloaked aliens who “neurologically disable” Tuvok. He spends the next week brain damaged, slowly recovering his senses (with Neelix’s help) and turns into a completely different character. Tuvok v2 is affected by emotions, BFF with Neelix, and enjoys having "fun."

Meanwhile, Janeway hunts down the aliens that did this to him in order to find the weapon so the Doctor can reverse its effects. Janeway succeeds at her task by threatening genocide, procures the weapon, and Tuvok recovers.

This was, in general, a better take on the travesty of television that was Tuvix. Whereas in Tuvix it was unquestionably Janeway's decision to end the life of an innocent person, here it's portrayed as Neelix convincing Tuvok v2 to end his own life in order to recover original!Tuvok.

But, what, did we run out of Seven-centric plot ideas?

My enjoyment: 3/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

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Star Trek Voyager: Imperfection (7x02)

Comments: Wow, another good episode? What’s happening?

So Seven’s cortical implant malfunctions and she’s dying. Janeway leads an away mission to a destroyed Borg cube in order to loot a corpse. She manages to salvage a cortical implant from a dead drone before she and Tuvok escape from the local thugs who have claimed this graveyard as their property.

Looting a corpse ✓ —Just Janeway Things~!

Unfortunately, the cortical implant doesn’t work (in simulation) and Seven is still gonna die. Icheb—who by this time has come to respect/like Seven as a mother/mentor figure—does some research and convinces himself that he doesn’t need his cortical implant and can just give it to Seven. That comes with a catch: there’s a ~10% chance the process would kill him.

Seven is unwilling to take that risk for her own benefit so Icheb forces her hand by intentionally disconnecting his implant. In the end, they’re both just fine and Seven learns to cry from happiness.

Wish the whole show was this quality.

My enjoyment: 4/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Note: I’m combining these two because it was a two-parter.

Star Trek Voyager: Unimatrix Zero (6x26)

Comments: Seven enters the dream world of the Borg, where the Borg can be individuals. This dream world, Unimatrix Zero, is a collective sanctuary where these aberrant Borg are targeted by the Borg Queen who doesn’t like them escaping reality into their dream-world fantasies.

The Queen/Janeway dynamic was fun but could have been better appreciated if I wasn’t still seeing them in TNG terms. Interesting premise, okay execution, yadda yadda...

The “dramatic” ending has Janeway, Torres, and Tuvok intentionally being assimilated and it’s made clear that was their goal all along. Voyager does not write cliffhangers very well. No, not very well at all...

My enjoyment: 3/5

Star Trek Voyager: Unimatrix Zero, Part II (7x01)

Comments: Well, this was a strong start for the final season, with some pretty badass Janeway sequences. Her line during the big twist (“I do not compromise... with Borg”) was amazing and great and I love this version of Janeway. The way she spits out the word “Borg” was just fantastic line delivery.

Along the same lines, the Klingon Borg that hijacks a Borg sphere, drops out of transwarp beside Voyager, and hails them to announce their desire to “join Voyager in battle” was pretty BA as well.

But, well, this is Voyager so... Seven’s B-plot about being “in love” (or whatever) was distracting and unearned since it was never established why (or to what degree) she was “in love” (or whatever) with... some guy. We’re just sorta told she is and then some cliché romance stuff happens to distract us from the great story happening in the A-plot.

I wanna say something about the Borg Queen’s attempt at blackmailing Janeway though. Okay, so the plot is that Janeway has made an alliance with the thousands of Borg drones who are able to escape to this dream world. The Borg Queen sees their existence as a threat to her Borg collective (of billions of drones) and wants them eliminated. The Queen is willing to make serious sacrifices to remove this perceived threat.

So the Queen holographically abducts Janeway and gives her an ultimatum: tell me how to find these rebels, or I’ll destroy the ships they’re on one by one. Janeway refuses so the Borg Queen orders the destruction of a Borg cube saying, “On this cube there’s 46,000 drones. Two have been infected” and then orders the vessel to self destruct (which it does), conveniently displayed on a nearby monitor for Janeway to witness.

But... uh... Holy shit Janeway those are really good odds. After this the Borg Queen is like, “ready to give me the location of these traitors now, or shall I order another Borg vessel to self destruct?” And Janeway just stares at her, so the Queen orders the self-destruction of another vessel, with equally favorable allies-to-Borg ratio.

Like, Janeway... you might be on to something here...

Anyways, in the end it’s heavily implied the Borg have a civil war on their hands. If it wasn’t the Borg on Voyager, I’d expect this to never come up again, but knowing this show it’ll be the topic of the very next episode.

My enjoyment: 4/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Waking Moments (4x13)

Summary: Uhh... *checks notes*... Uhh...

*checking notes intensifies*

Uhh... What the hell was this episode even about??

Comments: Apparently this was a forgettable episode. Let’s see... 

This episode was written by André Bormanis, who is one of the scientists on the show’s payroll that provides verification that they’re not writing things that are outside of the realm of scientific possibility. His background is obvious from the juvenile-level character work here. 

Okay, so the crew is having nightmares and the same alien keeps appearing across all their dreams. When they finally put it together, it’s too late and they’re all trapped in the dream world, except for Chakotay, who—by virtue of his Native American magic (or something)—can recognize that he’s in a dream.

A-koo-chee-moya, bitches!

—Chakotay, probably

So everyone’s having nightmares. I’m not a writer (clearly), but if I were to write a nightmare for Paris, it would involve, say, having Janeway lose confidence in Paris or learning that—after years aboard a Starfleet vessel—he’s losing his edge and becoming stale. You know, deeply personal stuff. 

Okay, so what’ve you got for us Bormanis? What’s Tom’s nightmare about?

Well... Paris is a pilot right? So... his nightmare is about flying poorly! He’s a bad pilot! 

Ahh~ *waves hands around dramatically*

Er, okay, let’s give that another try. How about... Janeway? What would Janeway have a nightmare about?

Well... Janeway is obsessed with getting her crew home, right? Remember how that was a big deal in that alternate timeline that never happened? So... let’s make her find her crew frozen (?) to death in the mess hall! 

Uh oh! She didn’t get them in home in time! *waves hands around dramatically*

Er... okay, one more try. How about... Tuvok? This one should be easy.

Well... Tuvok is a Vulcan, right? So let’s make him have a human dream about showing up to work naked! That also has the benefit of being super cliche! 

Ahh~ *waves hands*

I mean, seriously. Not a good script, buddy. 

My enjoyment: 2/5

By the way, the screenshot shows the bridge crew’s reaction to Tuvok appearing on the bridge naked. The director probably just told them to act however they wanted, because they’re all different. 

In more detail, the reactions are:

“I don’t remember seeing that on your physical exam!”

Super jelly. 

This is the face of a man who’s just realized he might be into other dudes.

Again, Tuvok? Seriously? We talked about this.

Torres has realized dating Paris was a mistake.

“Damn, bro.” *fist bump*

LOL... 

No, but seriously, what kinda of reaction is Janeway having there?

#pie211-voy #star trek #star trek voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy (6x04)

Comments: Okay, what.

On one hand, this was an example of an unpolished script that would have noticeably benefited from some rewrites and editing.

On the other hand, you have different fingers, and the episode was so strange it was sorta enjoyable?

Right, I think this was the plot: The Doctor rewrites some of his programming to allow him to daydream. A nearby hostile alien force is able to spy on Voyager and its crew through The Doctor, but only through his interpretation of reality and not reality itself—in other words, they believe The Doctor’s daydreams are real.

The alien’s connection messes with his programming and he’s soon daydreaming all the time. The Doctor’s daydreams come in three flavors:

Women fawn over him

He commands the bridge during a crisis

Women fawn over him while he commands the bridge during a crisis

And so the alien’s interpretation of what’s happening aboard Voyager is obviously distorted...

Right, so the alien underling that originally discovered this connection soon realizes he’s been watching daydreams (and not reality) this whole time. Not wanting to lose his job, he connects to the Doctor one final time to try to both guarantee future paychecks and to save Voyager (because the script asked him). In the climax, The Doctor re-enacts his daydreams to convince the aliens not to attack Voyager.

That... is a super messy plot and I’m still unsure if I understand it all.

My enjoyment: 2/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Note: I’m combining these two because... Because, well, I didn't take very good notes on them and they weren't particularly memorable.

Star Trek Voyager: Muse (6x22)

Comments: Torres crash lands the Delta Flyer onto a planet and becomes the muse for a playwright who must put on a second play for his patron (or be murdered).

This was a “story about stories” that gives an amusing perspective on Voyager and its crew and their relationships, but at no point does Torres beat anyone to death with a pipe.

And, oh my, we’re almost done with this season!

My enjoyment: 3/5

---

Star Trek Voyager: Fury (6x23)

Comments: My notes for this one read “Kes time travel loop,” which pretty accurately sums it up (from what I remember).

Kes returns to Voyager—looking a distractingly thirty pounds heavier—where she murders Torres and uses Voyager’s warp core to jump back in time. Once there, she captures her former self and lures Voyager into an ambush against the Viidians who attempt to harvest the crew for their organs (like they do). To save the day, Janeway kills future!Kes—in the past—but shares the story with past!Kes and past!Tuvok so that—in the future—future!Janeway and future!Tuvok are able to prevent the episode’s events—in the future—from happening. GET IT?

This was a more satisfying conclusion to Kes’ character beyond “get out of the way Kes, Seven is here.”

Time travel is so messy and doesn’t make any sense.

Also, it's interesting (?) how the later episodes of Voyager (which are generally more competent) re-explore some of the characters and aliens from earlier episodes. It's like the writers realized (after the fact) that, hey, the Viidians were actually a really interesting species and Voyager dropped the ball on their portrayal—let's do a do-over!

My enjoyment: 3/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

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Star Trek Voyager: Spirit Folk (6x17)

Comments: Ugghhh... I'd rather watch Star Trek: Picard than this shit...

The holodeck program of Fair Haven (from like, five episodes ago) starts to malfunction (always a sign it's gonna be a crappy episode) and the characters become self aware... just like Moriarty in TNG: Elementary, Dear Data! They believe the Voyager crew are faeries (or demons or something) so Janeway talks to her holographic lover and gives him a tour of Voyager to reveal the truth to him and convince him she doesn’t mean any harm... just like Picard and Lily in Star Trek: First Contact (1996)! They (Janeway and her lover boy) return to the holodeck to rescue Tom/Harry from being burned to death by holographic heathens in the town square... just like the Ferengi in Voyager: False Profits!

Okay, so I thought we were done with this holodeck program. I certainly didn’t expect another whole episode about these unimportant, literally fake characters. There’s definitely more relevant things happening in the real world (aboard Voyager), right? I mean, Seven just adopted four fresh Borg children...

Anyways, when it became clear that Tom/Harry’s lives were in danger, Torres (the engineer) was just like, “Why don’t we pull the plug?” Ignoring the fact there wouldn’t be power cords (or plugs) in the future, she’s right: Just end the holodeck program. Actual lives are in danger by this nonsense.

But, oh ho, you must not have been paying attention, because Captain Kathryn Janeway is the captain of this vessel, spells her name with a “K”, and has the final say on all decisions, especially those involving the option of immorality. In this case, she places quantitative value on the lives of Harry and Tom: they’re important to her, but worth less than a computer algorithm she's in love with.

You know, Voyager (as a show) mostly just looks inwards and does small, petty shit like this... I guess it's still better than dark, depressing, violent shit like Star Trek Picard, but it's still just small and petty. No wonder Star Trek died.

My enjoyment: 0/5

Blah.

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Year of Hell, Part I (4x08)

Summary: Janeway trespasses (again) on someone else’s property but this time she pays a price for it. 

Comments: What is Janeway’s PROBLEM? 

Is there a word for someone who chronically trespasses on other people’s property? She’s got absolutely no issue with bullying weaker aliens and cutting through their backyards but all of a sudden when the landowner emerges from their house wielding a shotgun and a pack of very-angry dogs she’s all like, “Red alert, load photon torpedoes. We’re gonna fight our way into their living room!” 

Da fuq girl? Just go around. What is your PROBLEM? 

Also, didn’t Kes warn them explicitly about this? She literally told them (1) the name of the aliens, (2) all about their chronotron torpedoes, and (3) what they would call this period: The Year of Hell. So when those aliens Kes told them about show up and launch chronotron torpedoes at Voyager, they just... keep trying to push through their space? Did I miss something here? 

Anyways, it’s hard to care about any of this because the only obvious resolution in a story about time travel is time travel. None of this matters. Yes, Voyager gets all messed up, Tuvok goes blind, lots of bad things happen, but they actually don’t happen. The story “resolution” is already known before the opening credits roll: the two-parter will end with exactly the same scene that it began. 

The dramatic conclusion of this first part is Janeway asking her crew to take the escape pods and try to get to the Alpha Quadrant. Do those things have warp? Wouldn’t her crew just float around until they all ran out of food and/or oxygen and died? She’s like, the worst captain, right?

Also, can’t you find a nice nebula to hide in for a few weeks to repair the damage, get Voyager operating as new, and figure out how to defend against those chronotron torpedoes? Or just park Voyager down on a nice M-class planet for a month? I dunno, just literally anything other than driving straight through hostile territory as every ship you encounter fires torpedoes at you? 

In conclusion, no seriously, what is Janeway’s PROBLEM? 

My enjoyment: 2/5 

#pie211-voy #star trek #star trek voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Virtuoso (6x13)

Comments: Voyager goes to a planet where the inhabitants have never heard music and they all fall in love with The Doctor’s singing. He becomes a popular virtuoso on their world and decides to leave Voyager because (1) he’s obsessed with his own fame and (2) he believes one of the forehead-aliens is in love with him. Turns out #2 is incorrect and the forehead-alien woman replaces The Doctor with an improved version of his holographic program which supersedes his singing abilities. The Doctor returns to Voyager with his tail between his legs after he had offended all of his friends by his willingness to abandon them all.

The ending scene with Seven was emotional but otherwise this was an episode that seemed pointless and probably will never have any repercussions.

My enjoyment: 2/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Blink of an Eye (6x12)

Comments: Janeway drinks coffee as two aliens die on the floor.

Also, Voyager gets stuck in the atmosphere of a planet where there’s a time differential between Voyager and the surface. For every second that passes on Voyager, several minutes pass on the planet’s surface.

So Janeway absolutely trashes the Prime Directive to an egregious degree, by entering the mythology of this planet’s inhabitants during their primitive history, and alternating the entire course of their history, politics, religion, and technological development, being the sole motivating factor in this planet’s cultures and societies over the course of a few thousand years of their timeline.

Eventually, the inhabitants develop a ship that brings people aboard Voyager, the pilot makes friends with Janeway, and then returns to the surface (now half a century later) to convince the inhabitants to stop firing tri-cobalt devices at Voyager.

Aside from the messy-as-hell science here, this was appealing for the same reason, say, Interstellar was appealing. You know the scene when he returns to the command module after being on the surface and sees a recording from his daughter now like a decade older? Yah, that type of feeling.

Bruh, time differentials gonna suck for our descendants.

My enjoyment: 4/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: The Gift (04x02)

Summary: Kes leaves and Seven becomes a member of the crew. 

Comments: So there’s two stories here: an afterthought story about pushing Kes off the ship and a more interesting story that focuses on Seven of Nine. 

This all comes down to Kes’ character being hurriedly swapped with Seven’s. Kes leaves the ship aboard one of Voyager’s unlimited shuttles (no seriously, how many shuttles does Voyager have?). As a parting gift, she offers her family of the past three years a final goodbye by throwing them beyond Borg space, ten years closer to home. I’m mostly happy that Kes is now off the ship, since her character never really worked in any role, the actress couldn’t carry scenes, and her character’s presence brought out the worst impulses of her male shipmates. 

The second story—about Seven—hinges on continuity from Scorpion, which was soooo refreshing to see. It opens with a shot of Voyager’s Borg modifications and some camera work that really puts the leftover sets from First Contact to use. In short, the arrival of Seven of Nine is much more intriguing than Kes’ hurried departure, mostly due to the acting abilities of Jeri Ryan, who is great. 

That said, there’s actually a few clever ideas in The Gift, especially regarding consent and moral authority. Right, so the plot here is that Janeway forcefully separates Seven from the Borg Collective and imposes her will upon her. Janeway effectively decides that a stranger must recover her original human identity. Janeway tries to say that Seven has a choice, but she doesn’t: the Borg implants are forcefully removed from Seven who awakes in Sick Bay after this physical violation, disgusted by her altered, unrecognizable body. So Seven is allowed to “choose” between returning to the Collective or regaining her humanity (as long as she makes the choice that Captain Kathryn Janeway wants). This is all helped considerably by Jeri Ryan’s acting talent, who so far seems like a great actress and has been given one of the more compelling performances on the show.

...and so it’s unfortunate that she’s clothed in that ridiculous catsuit. 

There’s something disconcerting about how quickly the show got Jeri Ryan into that thing. The Borg make-up was impressive and unsettling. The catsuit is an overly transparent sexed-up, skin-tight latex outfit. Okay, true, TNG made Troi wear a skin-tight outfit with a giant “V” pointing directly at her cleavage (or crotch, I can’t remember, but it doesn’t matter). 

But I’d argue it’s entirely possible for female characters (on Star Trek) to be “sexy” without putting them into a catsuit. Jadzia Dax was one of the more overtly sexual characters in Star Trek and that was with wearing the same uniform as, uh, Miles O’Brien. In contrast, Seven’s catsuit is the twelve-year-old boy’s idea of what “sexy” looks like. Boobs! Latex! *giggles*

In conclusion, Seven is now a member of the crew and Kes is no more! 

My enjoyment: 4/5

#pie211-voy #star trek #voyager #st voyager

[doopcafe]

Star Trek Voyager: Alice (6x05)

Comments: Wow. Y'all, I found the perfect screencap to represent this episode.

Okay, so the plot here is that Tom Paris buys an old shuttlecraft with a “neurogenic interface” that directly connects to his mind. So without testing it on, like, Neelix or someone first, he spends his time fixing it up and of course unlocks the ship’s manipulative, up-to-no-good personality named "Alice" (pictured above).

She’s spewing—just an unmitigated deluge—of "crazy girlfriend" vibes. Her influence results in Tom:

Physically assaulting his actual girlfriend

Stealing critical components from Voyager, compromising its safety

Flying the ship (and himself) into an energy fountain

Wait, hang on:

There we go. That’s the feeling.

My enjoyment: 3/5

#pie211-voy #star trek voyager #star trek #voyager