I've made it to episode 10 of season 3, and I wanted to share a few thoughts so far. I liked "Flashback," but only for the coolness of seeing Captain Sulu and the Excelsior, and specifically seeing a new perspective from the events of TUC. But the story itself for this episode was kind of dumb IMO. And the little girl that was used to represent Janeway in the little memory sequence was awful! I'm sure Janeway was a much cuter little girl than that! "The Chute" was okay. But the moment when we discover the chute leads to a window into space was pretty good. Too bad they couldn't have a couple of other big parts of the story involving these aliens which would have allowed this to be a 2-parter. The window of the chute scene would have been an awesome cliffhanger. The more Voyager I watch, the more I like Tom Paris. The more interaction he has with Kim, the more I like him too. Actually, I could care less about Kim, but he does help make Paris look like a really decent guy and a great friend. "The Swarm" really bothered me. Janeway & others in the crew seemed almost giddy about plowing through space that belonged to a species which was by all accounts advanced and aggressive, and mostly unknown. Why are they so excited about busting through their space? Why not just try to go around for a bit and perhaps find another friendly species who could at least help them communicate with the mystery swarm? I just couldn't understand why they decided so quickly to fly through their space...and why they were so doggon excited about it! Maybe they were trying to add some danger to the personalities of the crew or something. But it just seemed out of character to me. The doctor's B-story was okay though. "False Profits" was fun to me, being a fan of the Ferengi. I just think at they end they could have stuck around and studied the wormhole area and put their heads together to figure out a way to trigger the wormhole again prematurely if possible. To me, they gave up too quickly. "Future's End" was pretty good to me. I really enjoyed it a lot. Plus, I had a crush on Sarah Silverman back in the day. And that's where I've stopped.
The precipice stuff was confusing and in the end meaningless, so the whole episode fell flat. The Excelsior battle was cool I guess. To me, NEELIX gave up too quickly in this episode. The Ferengi lift one finger and the idiot reveals the entire plan.
They made a big fuss about leaving Kazon space at the start of Season 3 that the main problem for me is that they didn't move into another area of space which presented a threat for more than one episode. Season 2 worked for me in that there was a threat that built up nicely throughout the year to culminate in The Basics, well in Season 3 there was no narrative thread at all that I can recall. It was a real step back in terms of storytelling.
Eh, if they're moving through an area of space that's not claimed by any race that has a dominance in the area, so be it. After two years of Kazon I was happy to have them shake things up a bit.
Looking back, the 3-episode mini-arcs (Enterprise 4th season) would have been perfect for Voyager. They almost did it with the Hirogen (no spoilers I promise), but that was an exception.
From Season 3, my fave is "Future's End". I don't tend to rewatch episodes from Season 1~3 as much as I rewatch 4~7. But yeah I love Sarah Silverman too. I thought her character and Tom were adorable in that episode and had good chemistry.
Season 3 is probably my third least favorite season of the show (Behind Season 6 and 7) but it has probably 3 of my favorite episodes of the series: Before and After, Scorpion I, and Blood Fever.
Future's End is my most watched VOY ep(s) even though it's not in my favorites. It just makes a particularly fab movie night double ep and I've watched it in that spirit many times.
I'm really torn about Future's End. There's so much to like/admire...and yet, it just doesn't do if for me. Not quite sure why. As time travel/old Earth episodes go, it's better than Time's Arrow, but not as much stupid fun as Assignment:Earth, Little Green Men or Carbon Creek (I know that's technically not time-travel, but I don't even want to mention Stormfront). The best thing about S3 was ditching the Kazon. And it gave us Season 4.
I'm curious, what is the opinion around here on Sacred Ground? It always bothers me to see Janeway get all mystical in her final line: "very... scientific". She is a scientist dammit! I know that's the point of the story, but I don't like it. There. The first half of Season 3 is incredibly weak. The only episodes I really liked: - Remember - Alter Ego - Fair Trade The second half is very strong. Although there are still awful episodes (Darkling, Rise, Favorite Son), I liked every single episode starting with Before and After.
I like to think that Janeway allows herself to choose to be an explorer at the expense of past dearly held precepts in Sacred Ground. Because.. why not? Ultimately she is a woman driven by curiosity.
"Deadlock" may be my most rewatched episode. It has the advantage of being earlier in the series though, which meant I was able to rewatch it before other episodes even existed.
Season 3 is pretty mediocre in general. It has a few good eps like Future's End and The Chute, but in general it was the season where they couldn't figure out what to do with the series so they just wrote a series of mostly mediocre standalones.
I particularly like how.. Spoiler: EVENTS TAKING PLACE AFTER SEASON 3 Future's End is used in future episodes!
Yes, Voyager just made me laugh out loud... "Is it the tattoo? Because mine's bigger!" "Not big enough."
Yeah that is a good episode. Another one that breeds some continuity...the situation is mentioned again in Season 7.