Another Voyager 1st-time watch thread

[{ Emilia }]

What was scary about the Borg was the fact that there was no single villain character. They were so different from us, the creepy, impersonal, cold collective.

First Contact and Voyager completely destroyed that chill for me because it betrayed the original concept that was unique and awesome.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I was very chilled by how 7, liberated and an individual never completely gives the Borg up. They are like crack to her, she knows they are poison and yet she can't find that high anywhere else.

Chilled, chilled, chilled.

 

[exodus]

I thought that Janeway's scream in that trailer sounded more like a bark.

In the actual episode, her scream was pretty disturbing.

So is the Borg Queen something they assemble, or is it the Borg consciousness distilled into a single drone, or is it a single "special" drone who rises to the top? Is there one Queen for all of the Borg, or is it just something they throw together when things get serious, and there's more than one of them?

I still think it fits the "we are one" concept they started with, she is them and they are her. She can't exist without the hive and they can't function without her. She is as they said she was in "Dark Frontier", she organizes the hive.

What was scary about the Borg was the fact that there was no single villain character.

I agree partly.
It was good in theory but in execution it raises too many questions about how the Borg function that can't be explained without some processor like the Queen. If the Borg are of one mine when they command to assimilate, ALL of them EVERYWHERE would follow that command. What if a two Borg vessels in seperate and opposite parts of the galaxy are both are in battle. One is badly damaged and one is winning and not damaged. The damaged ship has to regenerate to repair but if they are one mind, that other ship winning the battle will stop, regenerate too and loose it's fight. The Queen is needed because she can connect to each ship and give overriding commands that allow one ship to regenerate while the other continues to fight.

If the Borg are like Dr. Crusher said in her metaphor of the Borg being like a body, then the Queen is the brain giving impulses to the "body" to function. This is also why you can walk onboard a Borg ship and not be harmed. Due to her conscience being divided, she doesn't know you're there until you do something to alert her to you. Then she connects to that ship and gives a command, otherwise the Borg run on auto-pilot. It's kinda like a spider-web lattuce. Disturb the web and you wake the spider.

 

[RAMA]

Outside of "The Thaw," I can't say I disagree with you. My personal VOY nemesis is "Nemesis."

How are things down at the shore these days?

Just coming out of the cloudy, rainy, cold period, had a few warm days.

I know some people like the "The Thaw" but it didn't work for me. On the other hand "Nemesis" is one of my top 30 fav epiosdes.

RAMA

 

[RAMA]

What was scary about the Borg was the fact that there was no single villain character. They were so different from us, the creepy, impersonal, cold collective.

First Contact and Voyager completely destroyed that chill for me because it betrayed the original concept that was unique and awesome.

I agree that is what caught everyone's attention, but after 5 episodes on STNG, it becomes really hard to make that sort of charater(s) work. They started by making a small sect that was emotional, then finally giving them a voice. The precedent was already set with Locutus. I think if we wanted the Borg to appear--and we all did--they had to change and become somewhat more personalized. In the end they can still assimilate and outgun us all.

RAMA

 

[exodus]

Outside of "The Thaw," I can't say I disagree with you. My personal VOY nemesis is "Nemesis."

How are things down at the shore these days?

Just coming out of the cloudy, rainy, cold period, had a few warm days.

I know some people like the "The Thaw" but it didn't work for me. On the other hand "Nemesis" is one of my top 30 fav epiosdes.

RAMA

Don't feel bed, I really like "Nemesis" too.

 

[Shatnertage]

I've watched two more episodes since I was on here last--yesterday was unbelievably busy, and I almost didn't get my lecture done in time for class, so no posting.

First, I'll share my thoughts on...

"Drive"

The worst thing I can say about the episode is that I knew exactly what was going to happen every step of the way. There was nothing original or thought-provoking about this episode. That's fine, because not every episode can be "Tuvix," but it just seemed...dumb. Though now that I think about it there was something surprising.

First, the Delta Flyer is back.

I'm going to say that I don't get the point of the Delta Flyer. I don't think that any of the storytelling was suffering because they didn't have a bigger shuttle; I don't see what it does, dramatically, for the show, except give them a big shuttle and give the lie to the idea that they're just scraping by.

The second I heard the female pilot checking out the Flyer's specs, I knew they were going to drag race. As soon as the Doctor started saying he was going to do something that many doctors do, I knew he was going to play golf I knew that Kim was going to replace the wounded co-pilot well before he announced it, and everyone knew that the pilot woman wasn't going to work out for him. So the episode was pretty tedious for me.

I actually almost fell asleep towards then end. I was so tired I couldn't log on here! Or do the work I wanted to.

So the big focus was the Paris/Torres relationship, and I still have no idea why she puts up with him. He's written to be a real jerk and completely self-involved. I'm sure she could do better.

Watching this episode, I have developed a theory that nothing we see in Voyager really happened--it's all just a really bad dream Harry Kim is having. Everyone seems to hate him, and things never go his way.

1. The episode before, the entire senior crew no-sold his, "Hey, when do I get a pip" plea for promotion

2. His "best friend" spends his time cock-blocking Harry--on the holodeck, with a hologram.

3. He consistently chooses the wrong women. The one time he meets a really cool chick who's totally into him, the captain yells at him for it.

4. While he's not getting promoted and not getting any action, his "best friend" gets de-demoted and married.

So this all could very well be Harry's masochistic fantasy. No one else would be that pathetic.

Do Tom and B'Elana always have to be in danger of imminent death before they can talk about their feelings? Doesn't sound healthy to me.

And they really brushed over that wedding, didn't they? Considering we got an episode out of the Miles/Keiko wedding (and it was a good one, though I'll never scrub my brain of image of Data smiling soullessly while he danced with that hologram who was struggling not to laugh), I don't know why they couldn't have made it a longer engagement.

The "Just Married" sign and the cans on the Delta Flyer at the end? Pure cheese, and totally apropos for our beloved Turkey Platter.

 

[exodus]

I'm going to say that I don't get the point of the Delta Flyer. I don't think that any of the storytelling was suffering because they didn't have a bigger shuttle; I don't see what it does, dramatically, for the show, except give them a big shuttle and give the lie to the idea that they're just scraping by.

I don't think it had to do with making a "bigger" shuttle so much but rather a stronger, sturdier one. How many times has it crashed and been salvaged?
Most times in Trek, if the shuttle crashes it as good a scrap. Plus, I think as this ep. shows, the Flyer is faster that any shuttle before it. So it can be a hit & run vessel too.

 

[T.D. Possum]

Aeroshuttle.

There. I said it. Y'all carry on now.

 

[exodus]

Aeroshuttle.

There. I said it. Y'all carry on now.

*Golf Clap*
Indeed.

 

[lurok]

What aeroshuttle? Doesn't exist. And wasn't Drive where they changed the interior paint job on Flyer? I know Paris says it's a hot rod, but it's an offence to colour harmony...

 

[froot]

What aeroshuttle? Doesn't exist. And wasn't Drive where they changed the interior paint job on Flyer? I know Paris says it's a hot rod, but it's an offence to colour harmony...

They changed the control panels, too. DFII doesn't have the Captain Proton-inspired controls.

 

[T.D. Possum]

^ Yeah, Joe and Samantha did a great job on that.

 

[Shatnertage]

I thought it did have retro controls. Oh well.

I can now discuss the good points and flaws of...

"Imperfection"

This wasn't a bad episode. It had the potential to be really dull since not much happened, but thanks to really good acting, it was pretty good.

Seven's cortical node is malfunctioning, and they need to get a new one. Too bad there's not a Borg Amazon.com or something that they could order from. To get the order big enough to qualify for Free Super Saver Shipping, Tom would get himself a "Best of 1950s Rock and Roll" CD.

Instead they go to a Borg debris field and, somehow Janeway knows exactly how to get the cortical node out of a Borg drone. Why wouldn't they just take the whole body with them, or just cut off the head? But it looked cool.

I kind of cracked up when they had Icheb and Seven on the tables and were swapping their nodes, since it looked like the Doctor was plugging something into a car charger.

In no particular order, these characters were very strongly acted:

The Doctor
Seven
Icheb
Janeway
Neelix

Everyone was really on their game here. I'm starting to like Icheb, too.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

I think this is the one episode, way back when, that I actually liked Seven in.

I cried like a baby.

I'm starting to cry just thinking about it, stupid hormones.

But you're beginning to see the light with Icheb

 

[lurok]

I'd like to be 'excused boots' for rest of season 7 until an episode I like comes up

 

[T.D. Possum]

"Imperfection" is one of my favorites. Well acted all around. It also makes me want to ship J/7, which I don't normally have the urge to do.

 

[Shatnertage]

This one was a hard sell for me, since I've come to really dislike the Borg. I think they really over-powered them. They can't have super regeneration, super technology, and superfast ships--it should be just one. Like just keep them with the original idea, that they assimilate technology but not people, and leave it at that. Or have them assimilate people but be technologically behind the Feds. They can accomplish big things because they have sheer numbers--kind of like the pharaohs building pyramids with massive amount of slave labor instead of cranes.

But I still liked the episode, because the actors seemed to put effort into it.

 

[T.D. Possum]

You might still change your mind about the Borg being overpowered. We'll talk more about that later.

One thing that I do wonder about with this episode is - When the hand me down cortical node wears out after twenty five years or so, what's poor Seven gonna do then?

 

[HoneyBLilly]

^^^ Shhh

Possum such thoughts are evil.

Braga didn't leave a large plot hole. It's all an illusion