One I rather enjoyed this episode. I just like this kind of mental episodes. Seven as a character suffers from what I like to call B'Elanna syndrome. Like B'Elanna she's a likeable character who sometimes can grow annoying because of her attitude, but when a time comes for an episode that once again shows the fragility in the character – you'll be reminded what made you like the character in the first place. And this episode showed Seven's fears quite nicely. I especially liked the scene on the bridge with the imaginary mutilated crew discussing Seven's every move. And some of those empty ship scenes – Seven alone in the dining hall – were also quite wonderful. I also enjoyed the creepy alien. Wade Williams from Prison Break fame, I immediately recognized him. He pretty much played the same character but he looked far more cooler in his alien make-up. I don't know if the holodeck scenes were necessary – I would have preferred a different kind of banter for Doctor and Seven. What exactly? - I don't know. Just different – just two people being alone on the ship – talking, without the holoprogram problem. But like Kes once sacrificed her character for Doctor's humanity, so now the Doctor sacrifices his character for Seven's humanity. Overall I liked the mental scenes, but I would have liked for more lonely scenes and both Doctor and Seven in those lonely scenes without that holoschooling project.
Thanks P! Well, I haven't seen the episode myself, but what I can tell from the description on Memory Alpha, it seems to be very similar with One.
You're welcome, T. It really felt the same, to me. (For some reason, I always confuse "Doctor's Orders" with "A Night in Sickbay." I don't care for either. )
I'm very sorry that it took me 2 weeks for one episode. But my laptop was broken. It still is. But then I was out of town and depended on my laptop and local wi-fi post to reach the internetz. I was planning to do my impressions in that way. In fact I posted One that way, but then my laptop went bye-bye... Anyway. I'm really sorry. I’ll make it extra long this time. Hope and Fear Well. I found it to be lacking somewhat. But on the positive side, it is certainly an good episode when it comes to making season 4 feel like a very wholesome season - the starfleet message from mid-season, the borg vs species 8472 conflict making a tragic consequence, etc. It’s all tied up and that’s a good thing. It's just that the tragic consequence of Janeway's actions in the beginning of this season - Arturis (for most of the time I thought his name was Our Tourist) and his revenge - just lacked the necessary emotional punch. It felt just too safe and ho-hum after "One". Or perhaps it would have felt just too ho-hum and "here we go again" anyway. I just had to laugh a bit when escaping the brig just involved: "Would tweaking you with this special pin I have here in my shirt, work?" Fortunately, it was followed by a nice dialogue scene between Janeway and Seven. And there were other these kinds of too convenient things. It just was too conventional. I really liked the sporting catsuit. I hope to see it more often. The brown catsuit is pretty neutral and doesn't draw attention to it... so a bit of color now and then is nice. Seven: "You were a member of the Maquis. Starfleet Command will no doubt hold you responsible for a multitude of crimes. You will find nothing on Earth but adversity." B'Elanna: "Well, that's looking on the bright side. Let's put it this way: I'd rather face the music at home than spend the rest of my life in the Delta Quadrant." It’s interesting that the whole crew is somewhat outcasts-outsiders. Kim’s socially awkard, Neelix had no home before Voyager, Chakotay’s a rebel, Tuvok is the only logical person on board, Seven’s a borg, Tom’s a former prisoner, B’Elanna has daddy issues, Doctor is a non-corporal entity. They were all outcast-outsider-abandoned things before getting stranded in DQ. So these people were all alone in the world before, and thanks to getting lost in DQ they found a family they never had before. However, the show doesn’t really focus on this aspect – though all of the character’s have had at least one scene illuminating this fact over the course of four seasons – so this aspect of the show is not as powerful as it should be. Unfortunately. Which brings me to: Jimmy Bob's Season 4 Post-Impressions Season 4 is definitely the most consistent season so far in Voyager. Consistent in quality, themes, overall feel and so on. With other seasons I can't really say what really describes this season as they are much more discursive. I'll rephrase some of my thoughts from the first post. Season 1 ends too quickly to get any feel, and since season 2 mostly fits with what season 1 was doing, then in my head they belong together. However one can notice a change towards a different approach in season 2. So not all of season 2 fits with what season 1 did. But most of it does. Season 3 is the major contributor in what makes the first 3 seasons feel a bit discursive. Season 3 leads from season 1&2 to season 4, but my impression is still that season 3 had no idea what it was doing most of the time. And to me season 3 is the season of a lot of random happenings and tryings. But the foundation for season 4 was definitely laid in season 3. So what is season 4? This - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqekP27roak. And this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yYFFlWtDvU. Season 4 is very very comic book like. And it kept me reminding of those two shows. The approach to characters in this season, Year of Hell and Hirogen are some of the things that share a spirit with some of the things from those shows. The characters. Janeway – I really liked how my impressions of Janeway really became true in this season. I feel she really became THE Janeway in this season. Because I remember how I really had to search for those impressions in the previous seasons. But now, we have Year of Hell – and that’s to me the episode that shows what Janeway is all about. I wasn’t impressed by Janeway&Seven relationship all the time – but Prey was definitely the episode that did it right. Chakotay – hmm... Scorpion shows that he has his own moral code, different from Janeway’s. Janeway works more in the „what is best for everyone“ realm, when Chakotay works more in „what is right and what is wrong“ realm. Kinda. Well, if given the chance for leadership, Chakotay definitely leads the ship in a different way. And in Year of Hell we see Chakotay under a different captain. And this is interesting – when Chakotay likes the leader, he will follow orders. At least I found the Annorax and Chakotay relationship to be revealing about why Chakotay can be such a „yes man“ sometimes. It’s not that he lacks his own mind, but it’s because he likes the leader, and he will follow the leader to certain point. I’d say it was a pretty good season for Chakotay. The first half of it really – Scorpion, Nemesis, Year of Hell, Mortal Coil, Waking Moments. In the latter half there was a scene in an episode where Beltran sleepwalked, so the latter half wasn’t as good. But that’s okay, because the latter half of season 3 and the first half of season 4 were the best to Chakotay so far. Neelix – after a while you grow so used to Neelix that you don’t really notice him anymore. However, Mortal Coil was definitely the episode that Neelix needed to remind us that there is a character with real feelings and ideas and beliefes somewhere beneath the Neelix exterior. And Neelix’s suicide scene was one of the best moments of this season. Unfortunately, the focus on the interior Neelix has been so sparse, that it’s the exterior Neelix that has become the character, and the interior is somewhat of an anomaly. I realize now that Neelix is kinda like the Guinan of the Voyager - an annoying somewhat silly Guinan without the edge. So there are actually two character’s – the semi-Guinan parody and the real Neelix. Or perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into this. I did notice that there was no Tuvok&Neelix banter, aside from the letter scene in Hunters, this season. At least I don’t remember any, like I do from season 3 and 2. I remember instead Neelix&Chakotay pairing. That amusing scene in sickbay and of course Mortal Coil. I don’t think there ever has been any Chakotay&Neelix pairing before. Harry Kim – I can’t actually really recall Harry. Oh yes: „Do you wish to copulate?“ And: „Potent stuff!“ Yeah, he has been the comic relief most of the time. And why not? At least I remember his scenes. And he said he was going to more confident from now on in Demon. We’ll see. Tom Paris – well, Tom is Tom. There was a bit of father issue in Message in a Bottle. And... oh yes, the romance. Tom’s not going to give any surprises, because he has always been likeable and he always likes 20th century stuff and he always makes jokes. B’Elanna – „Day of Honor“ was a really good episode for both B’Elanna and Tom. And the few romance episodes following that. But after that – she is probably the most unnoticable character in this season. And she even disappeared for a few episodes and I didn’t notice or even care. B’Elanna just has lacked episodes where she is in the frontlines of the action in this season. There was one with the Doctor – Revulsion. She’s very enjoyable to watch in these kinds of episodes. Revulsion, Faces, Prototype, Dreadnought – I love it when she’s in the frontlines. But when she’s in the background – the compulsory scene of the warp drive problems, or sort of random B’Elanna dialogue scene – I don’t know why, but then she annoys the hell out of me. Which makes me think that perhaps it would have been better for the characters if they did miss some episodes. The romance stuff was fun – there’s a certain level of playfulness that makes it bearable. Sort of like Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood. But after they got together.... hopefully they don’t become one of those boring embarrassing to watch couples... right now, one can’t say anything because the romance stuff was mostly absent from the second half of the season. Vis-a-Vis was just horrible, because there it was like a boring married couple moral lesson type of show... but in Hunters, where B’Elanna gets to know Tom more, now that was good. Also another thing I’ve noticed. Seven bears too much resemblance to what B’Elanna is (or has been) so far. They both act in an aggressive/cold manner, and they both have heavy emotional baggage that makes them act that way. They are both little frightened girls inside. Tuvok – well, mostly a comic relief. However he had an excellent pairing with Seven, which also worked on a deeper level. And we saw his psychotic rage again. It was also nice to see his and Kim’s kal-toh relationship referenced. Doctor – I was going to say that Doctor is the second most unnoticeable character in this season after B’Elanna, but then I remembered Living Witness, Revulsion, Message in a Bottle One, etc. So, why I was going to say that? I feel as if Doctor lost the most with the dissapearance of Kes. There hasn’t been anything new done with the character. He doesn’t have his catalyst anymore. So yeah, while Living Witness is wonderful and Message in a Bottle hilarious... there just seems to be something missing. He stopped growing as a character in this season. He has taken up the role to become a catalyst for Seven, but so far this relationship hasn’t really hitted off. Seven - I was really impressed by Seven in the beginning. Let me quote a dialogue scene with Neelix. "You are... Talaxian." "Guilty as charged." "Species Two One Eight." "I suppose so." "Your biological and technological distinctiveness was added to our own." "I hadn't realized that." "A small freighter... containing a crew of thirty-nine. Taken in the Dalmine Sector. They were easily assimilated. Their dense musculature made them excellent Drones." "Lucky for you, I guess. Your nutrients." That’s why I was impressed. Her presence managed to create these good scenes with so many characters. Even good scenes with Neelix. However in the end, Seven started to annoy me. She has that B’Elanna effect on me. When the episode is not focusing on her inner world, but she’s just there doing stuff and being all borg-like, she gets on my nerves. There was not actually that much focus on her character. After her introduction and Raven, she was mostly being just a „basic trait with a line“, and I’d say it’s in Prey where they started to focus on her character again and created this Janeway&Seven relationship. If one would only remember post-Prey season, then yeah one could consider it a Janeway&Seven show. There was some excellent pairings like Seven&Tuvok that really worked, and there were some meh pairings like Seven&Doctor. Her relationship with the Doctor just doesn’t work for me yet. Perhaps it’s because Seven is so uninterested in Doctor and it’s only the Doctor pursuing it. This season wasn’t as good in the end as it was in the beginning. To me the middle part is the strongest and most defining part of the season – Hunters is an episode where everyone gets their character attention and, to me, this is the season that has been the most generous to characters. They were all much more present than ever before. It’s probably because of this family theme that they have going on, but it definitely works. In Star Trek shows I’ve seen so far – let’s take TNG for example – it often takes some 3-5 seasons for the character to really become a character. So it takes a long time to actually get a really good idea and impression about the character and his/her nature. And once that border has been reached, the character stays the same way – we the viewer know what to expect and occasionaly they get cool moments. That’s how characters have been done in Star Trek. They don’t really change, but actually are created over the seasons. At first they really are just actors. Well Kim has not yet reached that level to become a character, but Tom and Tuvok have definitely reached that level where Star Trek usually won’t take characters any further – but Tom and Tuvok are pretty perfect anyway. True that some characters have definitely more potential or their „in creation process“ is not finished, or they’re something else than what their more awesome episodes show that they should be. But even so, I’d say many have passed beyond Riker level. Erm... what did I want to say? That this season is the most generous to characters, because they’re involved in more fun than technobabble. They interact with each other more. So it might not save a character, but when a character interacts with others... well that makes the character be more present somehow and the whole crew feel more closer, and it creates this sort of fuzzy warm feel when you watch the show. Okay, enough about characters. I think I started with something else there. Oh yes. I said this: „This season wasn’t as good in the end as it was in the beginning,“ before I last track there. For me, starting with the Killing Game the season took a dive. There was Living Witness, and One was pretty good too, but all those other episodes were pretty meh. I didn’t even remember Omega Directive no more. And Hope and Fear does wisely that it dabbles in continuity a bit, but when it comes to drama the season finale just lacked everything. The goodness in this season culminates somewhere in Prey-Retrospect and after that it just floats – mostly beneath the water. And Hunters is the episode that defines this sort of family feel of this season. So Killing Game and after just wasn’t that amazing (with two exceptions), but as a whole – season 4 was pretty damn good. Post-Killing Game wasn’t that bad to ruin everything that went on until Prey-Retrospect. It just lacked the oomph. I hope the next season brings back the oomph and edge from the pre-Killing Game period. There is one thing that I’m a bit sad about. There were moments in the first three seasons that gave Delta Quadrant a „living universe“ feel to it. But in season 4 – everything that is outside the ship is irrelevant. This season was more involved with the Alpha Quadrant. Delta Quadrant was pretty boring in this season. That’s a bit sad. Okay, once again, I’m really sorry to have kept you waiting for this long to be done with season 4.
Very interesting I certainly agree now I think about it that the DQ didn't really have much going on the fourth season. There weren't any interesting races of note (the Hirogien really are just shallow, comic book villains) for one thing. I also feel that season 4 has somewhat of a cold feeling about it especially compared to season 3 which I felt was very cosy and familial...its likely the loss of Kes and perhaps even the loss of Paxau. Season 4 lacked any good holodeck simulations for the crew to all meet up and have fun which was a pity (if the creators insist on using the holodeck like they aren't actually stranded of course). It was a good season though in my opinon and I did love Seven all the way thru.
You have nothing to apologize for since after all you're the one with the broken laptop. That's a really interesting observation that I recall anyone making here before. Folks complain about Chakotay being "Janeway's lapdog" but given his behavior with Annorax (which I always had a hard time understanding btw) if he likes the captain he will follow him/her. Is that his Starfleet training or just part of his personality. I'm not sure...
I never thought of it like that either. It seems to fit the pattern with Janeway and Annorax. However... I do get the feeling he does like being in charge, and can be a pretty good leader when he is. Examples are in Fury during the battle with the Vidians (and "tearing the hull apart" to get the Vidian's grapple out of the ship), and his brief stint during Scorpion with kicking the Borg out of the cargo bay. I quite like it when he's in charge, he seems a bit more ruthless and forceful in protecting the ship and crew, compared to Janeway who seems to like hailing and trying to talk peace with their enemies. She always seems hesitant to yell "fire!" when Chakotay uses it as his first order. Don't know if that's necessarily a good thing, but I like it - and might be more appropriate in the Delta Quadrant than in the Alpha Quadrant.
No need to apologize... I'm just glad you're alright. You make some very good points, particularly in assessment of the characters. Specifically: Some very good insights there that I tend to agree with.
It seems to be a bit more than just liking. He really develops a fascination in the person itself. He'll do his own stuff immediately when the leader is either in a coma or gone too far, but it's like he doesn't want to hurt the captain's feelings or something.... I think it's because authority comes very naturally and quickly to Chakotay and so he willingly humbles his natural authority to a very lowly existence, so it wouldn't accidentaly break the current order, especially when he deeply respects-cares about the current order's creator. I could have said in more easier words, I just didn't know how. But when the captain is sleeping, Chakotay ejects borg into outer space. I too like it when Chakotay is in charge. And I agree that he is definitely a more forceful and ruthless. In tense situations. I think he would allow more laidback approach when it comes to all those tiny insignificant regulations and rules. And he is very caring actually. He is no Riker. Example: Neelix suicide scene. Riker's response would have been something like: "What the hell is going on? Security to the transport!" Riker does like people, but... he is kinda selective when it comes to understanding other people and why they might act in an unnormal way. Chakotay on the other hand has a disposition to try to understand people and their nature. He is the least likely to write someone off just because that person might act strangely. And that disposition allows him to really understand his crew and so... I don't really know. He would be a very personal leader to the crew I'd guess. "compared to Janeway who seems to like hailing and trying to talk peace with their enemies. She always seems hesitant to yell "fire!" Janeway was really bad in the first season - oh look it there, let's investigate it and die a most gruesome death known to man - but she lately has stopped doing that. She is a bit of a true believer into Starfleet ideals... to a certain point of course. Chakotay and Janeway both have strong personal moral codes by which they measure "right and wrong". It's obvious their "right and wrong" are a bit different, and I would like to see their values clash with each other more. "Janeway was really bad in the first season - oh look it there, let's investigate it and die a most gruesome death known to man." I never actually realized before that in the beginning they were more giddy and excited to explore, while lately they've been in more of a hurry. Probably didn't fully comprehend their situation yet.
Completely agree with you there. I was more talking strategy before. Hmm... I wonder if Chakotay would have "ignored" the crew as Janeway did in Night? (The first episode of season 5).
First-timer's impressions of season 5 Night I like the first half. I really do. It was so wonderfully chaotic and sort of "day in the life." In fact I imagine this is how life on the Voyager would be most of the time. Janeway should leave her jacket unbuttoned more often. The look suits her. This episode would have definitely gained from having the second part just like the first part. Unfortunately, the episode decided to give us a second half which was almost exactly like what we've always seen so far in Voyager. There was nothing new about. The subject wasn't a bad one - people killing other people with their garbage and "will Janeway repeat her choice from Caretaker"- but it was so similar to any other Voyager episode. I would rather have had the first half - the crew just living, doing stuff, fighting over holodeck, Captain Proton and Satan's Robots, insulting each other, captain emoing in her quarters - and then the end, they passed the void. It would have been perfect. We really didn't need the second half. Also, those void aliens looked so similar to lot of people who's dna malfunctioned in most of Braga's episodes. There's only so much dna that a man can take, so even a reminder of those... I was scared for a sec there.
^ I like how Chakotay looks majorly annoyed at Janeway in that picture, follows nicely from our discussion about their command tactics
First-timer's impressions of season 5 Drone Finally that edge and oomph is back. "You are hurting me." "You will adapt." Such a beautiful episode. Best Seven episode so far. It would have been interesting if One would have lived and done his own collective - quirky borgs. I say this because I just wanted to say "quirky borgs". Try to say it really fast. Anyway, One was such a wonderfully quirky borg. This was just good. At first the episode really fooled me - oh noses, a transporter malfunction, here we go again. Those low-rank crew members definitely need to overview their copy of "survival guide for red-shirts". Yeah, go ahead and touch the shiny green-glow emitting strange technology. I liked how the episode started with staring in the mirror and ended with staring in the mirror. Quite poetic. I also loved the Doctor&B'Elanna scenes. "I'm a doctor, not a peeping Tom." Silly line, but very funny. I had a lump in my throat in the end. Brilliant episode.
Re: First-timer's impressions of season 5 Extreme Risk I've really liked B'Elanna in this season so far. And I liked this episode. It seems my annoyed-love relationship with B'Elanna is in loving section right now. However, I felt that B'Elanna's problem was just too noticeable too sudden. I feel it would have been better if B'Elanna's depression in social scenes would have been downplayed to an extent that in social scenes she would have been like the B'Elanna of past 10 - "I don't how many episodes it has been from Hunters" episodes. The ending part however was a failure. It reminded me too much of those old children football movies. You know, where the star kid acts all strange suddenly, and everyone is worried, and then coach says: "pull yourself together, star kid", and then star kid is like: "I hate you all", and they have this important game coming up and the coach is sad that he can't rely on his star kid, but then the star kid changes her mind and like says: "coach, send me on the field" and coach says: "how can I trust you" and is all like resentful a bit,, but then changes his mind, and then star kid shines and rescuses her team from catastrophic losing situation and then everyone is happy and hooray and star kid has problems no more. But up to that point to that scene on the Delta Flyer, with B'Elanna heroically saving the day while everyone else sit and root silently - this episode had some really good character moments. I especially enjoyed the pancake scene between Neelix and B'Elanna. That was really good.... I really like Neelix in this season so far. So far season 5 has continued on using season's 4 "balancing it's cast quite effectively in scenes" approach (that season just ended on a Seven-centric note, which could color one's impressions). There was Tom, Tuvok & Kim amusing working relationships on Delta Flyer. There was yet another good Neelix dialogue scene (and these kinds of charactery interactions work both ways). And there was of course Chakotay too, since he shares that loss with B'Elanna. And for like 36 minutes I was in pure heaven. And then that "inspirational tale about a kid and her horse who will race just once more and be so glorious and thus save her father from whatever things fathers need to be saved from" ending sequence happened. Ruined the episode, but those 36 minutes were still good despite it. Delta Flyer looks really cool. Poor Vorik. Edit: I really picked the most stupid title for my thread. Why couldn't I write just "First-timer's impressions". But no, I just had to write "... of seasons 1-3".