Thoughts on Season 5

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Voyager' started by dub, Oct 15, 2013.

  1. MakeshiftPython

    MakeshiftPython Commodore Commodore

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    Joe Dante always gives Picardo a role, whether it's big or small. My favorites are The Cowboy from INNERSPACE and that asshole manager from GREMLINS 2.


    The Doctor, in one of his more private holoprograms.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    ^hahahaha

    And.

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eThoFZKfnY[/yt]
     
  3. dub

    dub Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    LOL! I found this gem in related videos:

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kgHeF8bPbo[/yt]

    "I love you. Oh, it's gone." :lol:

    By the way, I've reached Equinox! I didn't realize it was a 2-parter until the end, and I'm on the edge of my seat! Too bad I didn't have time to watch part 2 right away...

    [EDIT]...And speaking of Picardo, the scene in Equinox with 2 holographic doctors...I just now realized, I never once thought about the fact that it was the same actor on the screen twice. That's one of the few times that's ever happened for me. Usually, I'm looking for technical errors in scenes like that, or bad acting, but it didn't occur to me here. That just goes to show you how a great script, direction, shooting, editing, and especially ACTING can bring you into the scene so much that you lose yourself in the story instead of looking for technical flaws.
     
  4. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Say whatever else you want to about Equinox, but twice as much Robert Picardo is never a bad thing.
     
  5. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    He's just so perfect for the EMH role.. I'm sure if he had been cast as Neelix the character would be completely beloved :lol:

    I enjoyed him on SG:A too, but they didn't let him have many quirks. On Voyager he's kind of in freeplay the whole time.
     
  6. dub

    dub Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Hey, I loved the episode! That's more like it, I say. Except for the end when Chakotay made up with Janeway right away. I swear, he must have permanently damaged his balls when the caretaker flung them to the DQ.

    It would have been neat if Seven came on board unconscious and they didn't discover the doctor's deleted subroutine at the end, and kept that as a continuing thread to the next episode. But I guess that sort of thing doesn't happen in a "serialized procedural?"

    All joking aside, I really did enjoy that 2-parter! Bravo!
     
  7. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    My theory is Janeway castrated Chakotay aftere Caretaker. He seemed to have a working pair of testicles in that episode. Heck, I thought he was going to be my favorite character the first time I watched that one... ;)

    Equinox though... the funny thing about that episode is... flash back to Year of Hell when Janeway has the busted up ship. She's making irrational decisions, often immoral ones, and acting generally crazy. More so than Ransom in this episode.

    Yet in this one she's all holier than thou, I must hunt you down and kill you... torture your crew to find you... because you betrayed humanity's values. It's absurd.

    If Janeway had happened across those combustible space slugs while the Krenim were systematically killing her crew, I think she would've used them to get away and save the lives of her crew. I'm sure Ransom was in a similar situation when he used it("immanent destruction") And once you're on that slippery slope, it's easy to fall down.

    I'm not saying Ransom did the right thing, but neither did Janeway, and I can't say she's so much better when she was willing to kill Tuvix to save the lives of two of her own crew members she happened to like more. Oh and was willing to kill Mr blueshirt if he didn't betray his captain.
     
  8. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Equinox is a ripper of an ep. Ransome's ending with the beach..
     
  9. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I don't think I've ever seen a bad performance from Robert Picardo in anything. I'd seen his name in work since The Howling, but didn't really become a fan until his Coach Cutlip in The Wonder Years. Or perhaps even earlier, when I saw Explorers and Legend, and began wondering what he actually looked like. Even his voice as JohnnyCab in Total Recall is recognizable, along with the puppet as a caricature of him.
     
  10. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I'm in the middle of Dark Frontier now. Actually 33:58, about when Seven is begging to go on the mission. I spent about 20 minutes replaying the 4-minute tactical exercise in the holodecks. I've probably watched the episode at least 15 times already since getting it perhaps in early summer, and each time it's like finding something new. It's a bit different than when I usually discover things, as I tend to focus on technical stuff. But this time it was something I realized while listening to the dialogue.

    It's a scene with the Doctor in sickbay. At one point Seven angrily refers to her parents as misguided people who endangered their child's life, and she storms out of the room. It's as if she's actually walking out on them. This seems to add a dimension to the often recognized element of Janeway and the Queen battling to be foster mother. With the 5th Act cliffhanger where Seven has to decide whether to go or stay, another element comes into play-- if she goes with Janeway, she might have a chance of forgiving her parents. With the Queen, she has no chance, because she will again lose whatever humanity she'd regained.

    Is that making sense, or am I reading too deeply into it?
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2013
  11. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's a wonderful analysis Melakon!
     
  12. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I always thought that both Janeway and the Borg Queen were trying to mold Seven into their own image. Their approaches were even similar. Janeway says the Borg took her humanity away and she can give it back. The Queen says they took what made her unique away, broke her, and she can be safe again if she comes with them.

    I always thought that both were seeing in Seven what they wanted to see, and not what was really there. Seven was literally trapped between two worlds. Half-human and Half-Borg. She had been linked to the hive mind too long for it to be any other way. Even once she regains her humanity she's concerned about efficiency, perfection and so forth. She even has a "spiritual" experience over Omega Particle 010. That Chakotay understood that, is the closest thing I can get to justifying them being together.
     
  13. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I don't believe any of the Queen's overtures, thinking she would have said anything to convince Seven to voluntarily return to the fold. All the business about Seven being special, unique, etc., were false promises. It does however, open the question of why Seven wasn't re-assimilated by force.

    As for the quest for perfection, a later episode (after letters from Earth are received from one of Seven's Hansen relatives) suggests she was a perfectionist even as a child. She always used to pick out the best strawberries or something, whereas Seven had assumed that quest for perfection was due to her Borg indoctrination.

    Still watching Dark Frontier, went to sleep after the post, and just restarted Part 1 again.
     
  14. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I never read that far into Aunt Irene's strawberry story. I just heard a story about a little girl pointing out she doesn't like unripened strawberries.
     
  15. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    One of my favorite Trek scenes ever. How Aunt Irene must have thought on her lovely little niece and her happiness over strawberries, now lost far out in the depths of space.
     
  16. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I always figured Aunt Irene was just what Seven needed. The kind old lady he isn't flustered by anything, and has plenty to tell about those questions Seven probably had concerning her parents, herself, what everyone was like and what not. Some people say the scene's out of place in that episode, but I liked it.
     
  17. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Why would it be out of place? It's a wonderful moment when 7 sees her own humanity in the face of a real relative on her real home planet.
     
  18. teya

    teya Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Totally agree. I'd also toss the Doctor in there. Everyone is trying to make Seven the person they think she should be, rather than helping her become the person she is.

    That's why the scene in Survival Instinct with Chakotay stuck out for me. He doesn't tell her what to think, he talks her through the problem, till she comes to her own conclusion that "survival is insufficient."
     
  19. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Season 5 continued the quality of Season 4. There were many great episodes this year, but there were also some bad episodes like The Disease.

    There was talk about disliking Timeless because Garrett Wang can't carry an episode, and I loved Timeless because I loved Wang's performance. We finally found an emotional Harry Kim, and I wish we had kept some of that in the real Harry Kim.
     
  20. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They should have paradoxically changed places and the old Harry replaced the young Harry.