Boxing Day because they didn't like The Gift?

[Qonundrum]

My next rewatch had me sitting through "The Gift".

A first time watch is bound to be better than a rewatch as I found some of the magical stuff a bit much, but ultimately accept it as what also doubles for the real name of this episode, "Transfigurations II - Steroid Gumdrops".

Seriously. The Kes subplot, which is seemingly out of nowhere and Kes was never really given much to do in VOY, is a lot like TNG's "Transfigurations" only a bit more bittersweet and heartwrenching. Something that's best in small doses and not done every episode. But here it actually works, especially with that ending and the gift she bestows after an episode of molecular destabilization that was rather intriguing and compellingly done. (She pushes the ship 10 years' closer to home within a span of a few minutes and almost ripping it apart and killing the crew in the process but that's not important right now.) Her facial expression as she bestows it was simply perfect.

"Talaxian Champagne" has that usual 90s thing going on of how a planet's name doubles as a society's, though in most sci-fi they keep one species to one planet with one society for simplicity's sake. This, along with Kes' shiny new powers that only make me remember how underused she was in this show, do more to knock down points than anything.

I appreciated how Kes and 7 have inversions of the same underlying issue - that of what their societal family was:

* 7's collective has been taken from her, even though this situation is doubled in that she was taken from her original collective as a young child.

* Kes's collective, Voyager, is one she's forced to leave or else her transformations would kill the crew.

Yeah, it's high time I get to 7's subplot:

While she's seemingly quick to adjust at the end, we know there will be problems later on. 7 has a constant struggle going on in her mind.

Ryan continually knocks it out of the park as a drone been disconnected and technological parts removed. Her performance is riveting from start to finish. And unlike other characters in 90s Trek, she's given a proper reason for being in a skin tight outfit. But after 4 years and her body was still unable to repair her skin to the point she no longer needed the bandaging?

Going to bring in one tiny little scene:

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Powerful scene. So good that you might even not notice Janeway walking between Seven and the incredibly good looking security dude pointing a phaser at her. (He'd fire it quick enough if he had to anyway.)

But the denied existence, the lost childhood. I still ask to this day how one can reclaim that because a lot of people as adults would want to know. I wish the show gave an answer because of a lot of us are still lost...

Okay. Mulgrew and Ryan, whatever animosity they had in real life, doesn't show up on screen at all, though perhaps it's early on in the show and their vitriol hadn't developed yet. Indeed, I'd have sworn they had gotten on well in the casting process because there's a natural chemistry between these two that is phenomenal. The double act developing here is already stronger than Data/Picard, Spock/Kirk, Garak/Bashir, et al. And the season has just begun. If it's true they had no idea how to make use of and develop Kes for three years, whatever transpired to give them the idea to bring on the Borg was clearly first rate because this shift in the show certainly has a flair of newfound and strong confidence.

Annika's favorite color is red. Bet she's lying cuz she wants to be a command uniform and turn the ship back to Borg space. Actually, it's a nice little moment at the tail end of the episode, making us wonder what else will transpire as 7 adjusts... though why, despite Janeway's protestations that she's human Annika and all, she lets her continue using the Borg name "7" is a bit disheartening. But that could be a compromise as well as giving her a little freedom at the start of a very long new personal journey from someone who was violated as a young kid and had no identity and abused.

The EMH has a few fun quips at Tuvok's expense. Something no other Trek doctor would say, which is refreshing.

All in all, season 4 continues a highly qualitative trend. But while Kes's swansong has some great moments, it largely reminds of how they didn't really know how to use her character over the years.

Rating: B+

 

[Discofan]

I don't know. It seems to me that they used Kes about as much as they used Kim. They each had the same number of dedicated episodes, give or take two episodes, maybe.

 

[Tosk]

I don't know. It seems to me that they used Kes about as much as they used Kim.

A damning defense if ever I've heard one.

 

[Lynx]

One of the worst Star Trek episodes ever.

I'd rather watch wet paint dry than watch this badly written and badly produced episode again. The whole story is thin and unconvincing with that ridiculous energy being mumbo-jumbo. Obviously made only to kick out Kes as soon as possible. I wonder if the "writer" wrote it while sitting on the toilet or having a coffeee break.

 

[Discofan]

One of the worst Star Trek episodes ever.

I'd rather watch wet paint dry than watch this badly written and badly produced episode again. The whole story is thin and unconvincing with that ridiculous energy being mumbo-jumbo. Obviously made only to kick out Kes as soon as possible. I wonder if the "writer" wrote it while sitting on the toilet or having a coffeee break.

Yes, I can see that.

"We need to kick Jennifer Lien out of the show... what to do? What to do?"

"How about she turns into an energy being?"

"Hey, that's brilliant!!, and she has to leave because her presence destroys the ship!!"

"Wow!! You guys are such geniuses, it's a pleasure working with you guys!"

"Yeah whatever, go get us more coffee, suck-up!"

 

[Qonundrum]

Small addendum: I forgot about how conveniently Janeway had downloaded Annika's file from Starfleet - which, given that their Federation mainframe is only 60,000 light years away give or take 19 trillion miles... a smaller ship is not going to have a local copy of the entire database on board. A flagship, maybe, but not for one of VOY's construction and intended purpose.

One of the worst Star Trek episodes ever.

I'd rather watch wet paint dry than watch this badly written and badly produced episode again. The whole story is thin and unconvincing with that ridiculous energy being mumbo-jumbo. Obviously made only to kick out Kes as soon as possible. I wonder if the "writer" wrote it while sitting on the toilet or having a coffeee break.

The Kes subplot is pretty awful, I definitely agree; Seven's is far more compelling than the rushed nature of Kes' plot points. Even having her new ability build up over the course of a season would have helped... Trek, right down to TOS, does use what amounts to magic and if nothing else, the subatomic gobbeldygook rumbledeehump was a new way of presenting that?

I don't know. It seems to me that they used Kes about as much as they used Kim. They each had the same number of dedicated episodes, give or take two episodes, maybe.

Makes sense. But she still didn't get as much plot meat, such as Kim getting duplicated - with the real one dying and the duplicate taking over and nobody bats an eye. Which is an interesting idea, done too quickly... Both got something of a raw deal but Kes still had it worse. I think I'll rewatch a few earlier episodes after "Day of Honor", but I don't recall her getting anything really standout good. Until this finale, where it all feels forced with a steamroller.

I still think some of her newfound abilities are just crude plot expediency devices, which just feels cheap... I wanted to appreciate the emotion of the moment but it didn't always work.

 

[Discofan]

....
Makes sense. But she still didn't get as much plot meat, such as Kim getting duplicated - with the real one dying and the duplicate taking over and nobody bats an eye. Which is an interesting idea, done too quickly... Both got something of a raw deal but Kes still had it worse. I think I'll rewatch a few earlier episodes after "Day of Honor", but I don't recall her getting anything really standout good. Until this finale, where it all feels forced with a steamroller.

I still think some of her newfound abilities are just crude plot expediency devices, which just feels cheap... I wanted to appreciate the emotion of the moment but it didn't always work.

Well, there's that episode where her mind is taken over by a dictator, one of her longest scripts, if not the longest.

 

[Drone]

Well, there's that episode where her mind is taken over by a dictator, one of her longest scripts, if not the longest.

You're quite right about "Warlord", though, not surprisingly, her line count in "Before and After" was considerably higher.

As to the rushed, expedient, or just poorly thought out execution of Kes' swansong in "The Gift", it isn't as necessarily clear as it should be now, what Jennifer Lien's status was on the show, at the time the episode was produced. While it's been stated that she was fired during the fourth season, and in fact, could possibly have continued on for some more episodes, that her name no longer appeared with the cast's (which had also been the case for the season opener, "Scorpion Part II"), would seem to substantiate, the long held belief, that her contract had simply not been renewed after the third season. That, and a few other matters still seem somewhat odd or oblique, but going into those, is an issue for another thread.