Rewatching Voyager

[Ghislaine H. B. BRAEME]

I rewatched Endgame for the 2nd times with some friends and do you know what really bothered us (one shipped J/C, the other J/7 & me who shipped neither of them counted points while noting that something was wrong) in the 2 parts episode? It's the fact that Janeway seemed not to know what was going on behind her back, with reference to C/7, whereas Chakotay was her close friend/confidant (and we can suppose that Janeway is the same for him) and Seven, her “surrogate" daughter... I mean, look at how Janeway seemed to be flabbergasted when her older doppelhänger told her about them -> she was as much shocked by the news of them as a couple as the death of Seven! )

Seriously, couldn’t the writers of Endgame have foreseen a short sequence in the 2 parts episode to show us C or 7 informing Janeway of the romance (1), instead of all scenes where C/7 going sweet (2) or even 7/Neelix (don’t get me wrong, I was happy to see our Talaxian hybrid again but I thought that wasn't he closer to Janeway than Seven!)?! Unless the scene existed and the producers/director decided to delete it for saving time or because they judged it superfluous... . BUT meanwhile, this "missing scene" let us believe that our Romeo Juliet hid from Janeway. It wasn't accurate to what we know of Janeway and her relationships with Chakotay and Seven, if you want my opinion!

About Chakotay :
Let me be clear here. I don’t say that he was accountable to Janeway when it concerned his sentimental life - though I note that he has never been shy to ask questions about hers! – but well informed about the almost filial relation between J & 7 (I don’t doubt that the ex-Borg’s was often at the heart of conversations between the both leader officers as well in formal settings as in private, right?!), he would have informed his friend of the situation and asked her if she was OK with it, especially after to have declined her invitation to luncheon to join his date, while it was clear that Janeway had need for companionship! 2 possible result: At best, Janeway indicated to him that she already heard about him and 7 - and encouraged him (the fact that J has the most “knowledgeable” about Seven could even help him!). At worst, Janeway expressed her reserves, particularly with regard to Seven’s emotions and she adviced to wait.

About Seven:
Did Seven be afraid to hurt or betray Janeway (and we know how badly she react to betrayal, in particular when it comes from someone close to her -> cf to her speech to Tuvok in Prime Factors), she kept silent? I mean, Janeway is the one - with the Doctor -, who worked very hard to ensure that the ex-Borg reclaims her individuality and humanity, when Chakotay distrusted her most of the time, calling her Janeway's "personal project" or something like that (same for Tom Paris, besides). Even if Seven has gone visiting her mentor to say: "thank you for everything, Capitain, but from now, I shall need you no more. It's Chakotay, my newly boyfriend who will takes over you now", it would have been better than to let Janeway hear it by Tuvok (even Neelix knew & advised her or the Doctor had to guess who was her love interest) or worst, by others crew officers, right?!

We can think what we want of Janeway but the character deserved better, as someone whose loyalty to her friends and her crew was never lacking AND as Captain, who always guarded that order & discipline are present aboard but in the respect for each.
-> We learnt from Adm. Janeway that her younger self has accepted the relationship between Chakotay and Seven, going as far as marrying them and supporting Chakotay after the premature death of Seven, so ...

On the other hand, I adored the episodic confrontation between Admiral Janeway and Capitain Janeway... Even if at the end, they are only one Janeway, not leaving ! .
Mulgrew really made a great job there! I guess that the duel Janeway vs Janeway didn't leave place in the romance for heranymore, that she is young or hurdy-gurdy!

(1) By contrast, the authors of fan fictions, whatever is the shipping (J/C, J/7, C/7) weren't lacking this "missing scene". It wasn't a big deal but it was important and well, I'd have liked watching it.
(2) At the end, in spite of the insistence of writers to convince us that their romance was a serious affair, we (a great majority of fans/actors themselves, which is worst!) don’t believe in it more now than 15 years ago.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

Infinite Regress

Seven displays Multiple Personality Disorder and we get a really cool mindmeld scene. It's probably not as cool as the MM scene in Random Thoughts (Man that was dark), but I really liked how they filmed that sequence. I think Livingston talked about it on the DVD special features. It was eerie and showed the chaos to the Borg order of things. Jeri Ryan gave a good performance in split personalities. I could have done without another alien of the week trying to get their hands on something though. Other than that, relatively decent episode.

This is one of the more dramatic episodes of Voyager - Jeri Ryan shines. I think this is a good one because our borg lady is confronted with the consequences of her actions as a borg drone. I also like the fact that the different personality types are not all scary; some of them are actually quite humourous.
But really, this should be natural since Voyager simply couldn't exist without humour and I love how humour forms an integral part of even the darkest episodes. Here, apart from the Ferengi scene, my two favourite moments are when B'Elana says "Does this qualify as our second date?" and more importantly the Doctor's line to Tuvok when he says "With all of these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you."
BTW, although technically speaking this is not my favourite VOY episode, it is very similar to my favourite SG-1 episode LIFEBOAT. Whenever I watch StarGate, I always think that perhaps this episode prompted LIFEBOAT? In any case, although VOY is my fav show, I prefer LIFEBOAT in this case.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

I rewatched Endgame for the 2nd times with some friends and do you know what really bothered us (one shipped J/C, the other J/7 & me who shipped neither of them counted points while noting that something was wrong) in the 2 parts episode? It's the fact that Janeway seemed not to know what was going on behind her back, with reference to C/7, whereas Chakotay was her close friend/confidant (and we can suppose that Janeway is the same for him) and Seven, her “surrogate" daughter... I mean, look at how Janeway seemed to be flabbergasted when her older doppelhänger told her about them -> she was as much shocked by the news of them as a couple as the death of Seven! )

Technically speaking their relationship was only beginning - they were on their third date or so, weren't they? - and it was already showing signs of small complications like you needed access to a database before kissing your partner, which is pretty unusual in a relationship so Chakotay might have been waiting to see how the whole thing would play out before informing Janeway of recent developments. I think Chakotay is usually the careful type of person - in this sense the complete opposite of Janeway - and he must have wanted to make sure that there was something to report to Janeway. He must have known that a relationship with an ex-borg drone would be even more difficult than with a regular human being (and those are complicated relationships in themselves) so he probably wanted to give their relationship some time to make sure it didn't turn into something completely different from "normal" relationships. After all, who knows what thoughts might have been going on in Seven's mind about love, sex, marriage and children.

 

[tomalak301]

Hey all,

First of all, I am going on another trip this week for Star Trek Las Vegas. I'm thinking about bringing Season 5 with me, but I haven't decided yet. I do know this thread will not get that much activity this week.

Second, I watched 3 more episodes tonight

Nothing Human

This episode was ok, and I get what they were going for, but I do question the ethical debate that was being formed. The basis of this episode was using the research of a person who did experiments on other people. Yes, I get that is wrong, but I agree with Krell in this episode, why is it ok to do unethical treatment of animals but not ok when a person is involved. The Doctor's program is even based on medical history going back centuries. I'm not naive to think that some of that history was arrived via unethical means, yet this episode went out of it's way to say because of Krell's unethical research, we shouldn't use it to save lives. Honestly, I think the cardassian had a point here. Also, what if this hologram was not a Cardassian, but a human. Would anyone have an issue with where the Data came from. Also convienent that we had a Maquis Bajoran who we might have seen once set the ball in motion to even question Krell's past. I like the arguments, but honestly, this episode could have gone deeper with it.

Thirty Days

I love this episode, and I think @Thomas Eugene might too. This is the Tom Paris reflective episode and it was really fun to watch how he got thirty days in jail. However, there is a few things that don't make this episode great. The biggest one is the harshness of the punishment and Toms treatment. Tom took a stand for what he believed in, yet he gets thirty days in jail because of it? Other members of the crew disobayed orders too (Like Tuvok in Prime Factors) and got a slap on the wrist. Also, Tom wasn't treated very well was he? I mean that was almost solitary confinement for 30 days, and the crews reactions to him seemed mean spirited. Still, overall, this was a very solid episode and the CGI of the ocean was really cool.

Counterpoint

The episode where Janeway is a little hypocritical. She punishes Tom for violating the prime directive, and then she goes and does that same thing and calls it for the greater good here helping the telepaths.

Other than that, this episode is awesome. Love the interplay between Kashyk and Janeway and the musical choices were great. That end scene was one of the best scenes of the series to this point and both reactions of Kashyk and Janeway were spot on. Also, this episode featured "PRAAAAXXXX", and that's always fun.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

It's either this site ... or Windows 10 that's disappointing ...

I wrote a long reply and it's gone ...

I'll try to write a shorter one later on ... Frustrating.

 

[stardream]

I enjoy Thirty Days. The guy on Sci Fi debris pointed out in this day and time solitary confinement for a long period of time is considered inhumane in this day and age and he could NOT believe that it was part of Federation policy.

Was Janeway really going to 'shoot Tom down'? I wondered how she would have explained that to Admiral Paris when they made contact? Oh yeah...these other people also disobeyed orders and I had a serial killer confined to quarters but your son...had to shoot him down.

This makes me think of the Janeway 'character arc' that Mulgrew choose for the character. Someone who was slowly breaking under the pressure.

Nothing Human. This is one of those issues that aren't black and white. This is also Dawson's least favorite episode and I think I understand why.

Have fun in Las Vegas!

 

[Ghislaine H. B. BRAEME]

Technically speaking their relationship was only beginning - they were on their third date or so, weren't they? - and it was already showing signs of small complications like you needed access to a database before kissing your partner, which is pretty unusual in a relationship so Chakotay might have been waiting to see how the whole thing would play out before informing Janeway of recent developments. I think Chakotay is usually the careful type of person - in this sense the complete opposite of Janeway - and he must have wanted to make sure that there was something to report to Janeway. He must have known that a relationship with an ex-borg drone would be even more difficult than with a regular human being (and those are complicated relationships in themselves) so he probably wanted to give their relationship some time to make sure it didn't turn into something completely different from "normal" relationships. After all, who knows what thoughts might have been going on in Seven's mind about love, sex, marriage and children.

I agree with you, @ThomasEugene, Chakotay is the carful type of person, one of his great quality besides, but 1) as you wrote, we don't speak of whoever here but Seven, someone who is everything but normal. Besides being very close to Janeway like a daughter would be, Seven became an important element and even a main part of the crew because of her various knowledge & expertise. It would be unfortunate to see her losing her mind again (because she couldn't control her emotions) and being unable to complete her tasks anymore like in Human Error (while she was dealing with a simple hologram of Chakotay), in quiet period as in turbulent time.
In the 1st part of Endgame, 1) the man who she was dated was the real Chakotay, a being made in flesh and blood, who wouldn't accept to be erased in a snap of a finger at the slightest difficulty, like the last time. 2) Voyager was still lost in Deta Quadrant - even if the contact with Starfleet is permanent and the crew/HQ work hard to find a way to bring them home as fast as possible - the threat is still very present.

What I want to say is that, repeatedly, Chakotay knew how to remind to Janeway, her responsibilities as capitain, to the crew (ex Sacred Ground, Deadlock, Scorpion, Workforce...), this is also true for him, as 1st Officer, as Janeway's friend and as a potential boyfriend for Seven.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

First of all, I am going on another trip this week for Star Trek Las Vegas. I'm thinking about bringing Season 5 with me, but I haven't decided yet. I do know this thread will not get that much activity this week.

When will you be back? I'm going to take a summer break on Sunday and I'm afraid I won't be able to come here for about two weeks. I just hope you won't have got to the end of the show before the 21st!

Nothing Human

This episode was ok, and I get what they were going for, but I do question the ethical debate that was being formed. The basis of this episode was using the research of a person who did experiments on other people. Yes, I get that is wrong, but I agree with Krell in this episode, why is it ok to do unethical treatment of animals but not ok when a person is involved. The Doctor's program is even based on medical history going back centuries. I'm not naive to think that some of that history was arrived via unethical means, yet this episode went out of it's way to say because of Krell's unethical research, we shouldn't use it to save lives. Honestly, I think the cardassian had a point here. Also, what if this hologram was not a Cardassian, but a human. Would anyone have an issue with where the Data came from. Also convienent that we had a Maquis Bajoran who we might have seen once set the ball in motion to even question Krell's past. I like the arguments, but honestly, this episode could have gone deeper with it.

I think this problem was handled a lot better on SCIENTIFIC METHOD. However, I was able to relate to the Doctor's decision when he deleted Moset's programme. There was something cruel about this guy - remember how he didn't care that that creature was suffering while being operated on? So in the end I understood his decision - even if I might just have kept his knowledge. Perhaps his medical knowledge could have been transferred into another hologram who could have been given a different personality.
In any case, this episode is great (surprise, surprise). That heated debate in the briefing room was spot-on and demonstrated Tom's (irresistible ) personality perfectly. I mean it. He was so passionate about B'Elanna, he didn't shy away from making arguments, even from sensitive ones like bringing up the Maquis. And Robert Duncan McNeill's always gentle performance in the Sickbay with his sweetheart was excellent, too.

Thirty Days

I love this episode, and I think @Thomas Eugene might too.

tomalak, you know me too well. Just how on earth did you figure that out, I wonder ... I have no idea ...

However, there is a few things that don't make this episode great. The biggest one is the harshness of the punishment and Toms treatment. Tom took a stand for what he believed in, yet he gets thirty days in jail because of it? Other members of the crew disobayed orders too (Like Tuvok in Prime Factors) and got a slap on the wrist.

In PRIME FACTORS, Tuvok gave a logical explanation for his actions - logical, that is, for a Vulcan. But Janeway was well aware that her best friend was a Vulcan and she decided to give him a second chance. After all, she never explicitly told him "Tuvok, you mustn't trade the Federation library for the trajectory technology". Here it was different. She first told Tom to stop, then she gave her a second chance while he was in the water to stop doing what he was doing and Tom never obeyed her. In this sense he acted against her in a much more direct way and it was understandable to me that the punishment would also be more severe.
Also, Tom himself never seemed to have a problem with that. You never saw him after this incident rebel against Janeway or think that the punishment had been too harsh. He seemed to be happy to follow her orders so perhaps he himselft thought it natural that he had to be punished for his disobedience. In time, Janeway noticed this and reciprocated it by reinstating Tom as a lieutenant in his former position - a fantastic scene in UNIMATRIX ZERO (with Harry's spot-on remark about his lack of promotion).

To me, THIRTY DAYS is an absolutely brilliant episode because just like before, Thomas Eugene Paris is true to himself. This guy never lies. He once did it before CARETAKER, faced the consequences and learnt a lesson from it, as he later explained it to Neelix in FAIR TRADE. In NOTHING HUMAN, nothing human or non-human could stop him from speaking out how he was feeling about B'Elanna's situation, no matter what the consequences. This was something he shared with Janeway - not for the first time, may I add - and Janeway, as usual, did the right thing: let's save B'Elanna first, then we can discuss whatever needs to be discussed. For me there's always been a lot of similarities between my two favourite characters, sincerity being perhaps the most important of them.
In THIRTY DAYS, Tom is given a chance, again, to lie to his father about what had happened - or at least to tell him the truth with a twist if he wishes to. However, he again goes for the truth. Remember how he starts the whole message by bluntly stating that he is in prison again? He is very well aware that it's something his father in all probability doesn't want to hear - still he doesn't deny the truth. He doesn't even approach it from a different angle. He could have started telling his father the story from the beginning and slowly buliding it up to how he ended up in prison but he chooses not to; he just bluntly states the facts. What's this if not a combination of sincerity and courage? I'm telling you this guy is simply great - but I've been gushing again ...

Was Janeway really going to 'shoot Tom down'? I wondered how she would have explained that to Admiral Paris when they made contact? Oh yeah...these other people also disobeyed orders and I had a serial killer confined to quarters but your son...had to shoot him down.

Knowing Janeway, if this had happened, she would have acted in a similar manner to Tom: she would have stated the facts without beating about the bush. However, I believe that deep in her heart she always loved Tom a lot so if she'd resorted to shooting him down, that would surely have broken her, perhaps to the extent where Chakotay had to take over the leadership.

Counterpoint

The episode where Janeway is a little hypocritical. She punishes Tom for violating the prime directive, and then she goes and does that same thing and calls it for the greater good here helping the telepaths.

Many people accuse this episode of the same thing but as far as I understand it, it's simply incorrect. The PM forbids you unrequested interference - but if someone specifically asks you for help, it is not forbidden at all.
I.e. the last time I checked. Is anyone aware of a change in the PM?
Did you know that Kate Mulgrew fancied that guy, Kashyk (isn't that what Chewbacca's planet is called in Star Wars? ). She once said she'd told the producers to make COUNTERPOINT 2, COUNTERPOINT 3, COUNTERPOINT 4 and when they said that she had just been betrayed by Kashyk she said she didn't care, she just wanted him back ... And who can blame her?
Hey Americans ... is that guy who played Kashyk someone famous over there?

Also, this episode featured "PRAAAAXXXX", and that's always fun.

Can you explain what you mean by that?
tomalak, I guess I can say on everyone's behalf that we are looking forward to your account of the events on LA. You are going to a con, aren't you?

 

[Jedman67]

I think this problem was handled a lot better on SCIENTIFIC METHOD. However, I was able to relate to the Doctor's decision when he deleted Moset's programme. There was something cruel about this guy - remember how he didn't care that that creature was suffering while being operated on? So in the end I understood his decision - even if I might just have kept his knowledge. Perhaps his medical knowledge could have been transferred into another hologram who could have been given a different personality.
In any case, this episode is great (surprise, surprise). That heated debate in the briefing room was spot-on and demonstrated Tom's (irresistible ) personality perfectly. I mean it. He was so passionate about B'Elanna, he didn't shy away from making arguments, even from sensitive ones like bringing up the Maquis. And Robert Duncan McNeill's always gentle performance in the Sickbay with his sweetheart was excellent, too.

I had issues with the episode; great the computer decided to use a cardassian doctor as the template for the knowledge necessary to save B'elanna - it could just as easily used a template of Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking. Yes, the cardassian was a space nazi, so he was bad, but the greater good of saving torres made it ok. But all the knowledge they had was already stored in the ships computer.
Overall it was a strong episode

 

[tomalak301]

When will you be back? I'm going to take a summer break on Sunday and I'm afraid I won't be able to come here for about two weeks. I just hope you won't have got to the end of the show before the 21st!

I'm going to be back on the 9th of August.

 

[Archimago]

Hey all,

First of all, I am going on another trip this week for Star Trek Las Vegas. I'm thinking about bringing Season 5 with me, but I haven't decided yet. I do know this thread will not get that much activity this week.

Second, I watched 3 more episodes tonight

Nothing Human

This episode was ok, and I get what they were going for, but I do question the ethical debate that was being formed. The basis of this episode was using the research of a person who did experiments on other people. Yes, I get that is wrong, but I agree with Krell in this episode, why is it ok to do unethical treatment of animals but not ok when a person is involved. The Doctor's program is even based on medical history going back centuries. I'm not naive to think that some of that history was arrived via unethical means, yet this episode went out of it's way to say because of Krell's unethical research, we shouldn't use it to save lives. Honestly, I think the cardassian had a point here. Also, what if this hologram was not a Cardassian, but a human. Would anyone have an issue with where the Data came from. Also convienent that we had a Maquis Bajoran who we might have seen once set the ball in motion to even question Krell's past. I like the arguments, but honestly, this episode could have gone deeper with it.

Thirty Days

I love this episode, and I think @Thomas Eugene might too. This is the Tom Paris reflective episode and it was really fun to watch how he got thirty days in jail. However, there is a few things that don't make this episode great. The biggest one is the harshness of the punishment and Toms treatment. Tom took a stand for what he believed in, yet he gets thirty days in jail because of it? Other members of the crew disobayed orders too (Like Tuvok in Prime Factors) and got a slap on the wrist. Also, Tom wasn't treated very well was he? I mean that was almost solitary confinement for 30 days, and the crews reactions to him seemed mean spirited. Still, overall, this was a very solid episode and the CGI of the ocean was really cool.

Counterpoint

The episode where Janeway is a little hypocritical. She punishes Tom for violating the prime directive, and then she goes and does that same thing and calls it for the greater good here helping the telepaths.

Other than that, this episode is awesome. Love the interplay between Kashyk and Janeway and the musical choices were great. That end scene was one of the best scenes of the series to this point and both reactions of Kashyk and Janeway were spot on. Also, this episode featured "PRAAAAXXXX", and that's always fun.

I am on holiday and having to reply to a few slightly longer things elsewhere so I'm not going to say much but all three of them were strong episodes. My particular favorite was counterpoint. Kashyk and Janeway are fantastic (He is once again readdressed in the relaunch books) their relationship is second to none the deceit is constant and from both party's trust is seemed to have been given and then taken! The title is also extremely clever, it is firstly linked to the music that is played in the background of a lot of the scenes but also relates to the characters themselves. Counterpoint is the relationship between two melodic lines that depend on each other but are rhythmically independent and contour and shape in different ways. I'll let you guys see how this could apply to the episode but I can think of a variety of ways. I'm a bit of a music buff when it comes to thoery

And Tomi he means when Kashyk calls for PRAAAAAX his like second in command I think it's a rather memorable line and happens a few times :P

30 days was great the punishment was well not too bad I understand why Janeway did what she did and it was actually a really interesting way to see into Tom's mind. The plant was also beautiful

And yes Tomalak tell us all about Con!!!! (Obviously, only if you have time first and foremost enjoy your holiday!!)

 

[drew]

have you come to the inescapable conclusion that it's easily the best trek by far yet?
___________________________________
#DS9onBLUpls!

 

[tomalak301]

have you come to the inescapable conclusion that it's easily the best trek by far yet?
___________________________________
#DS9onBLUpls!

No. TNG and DS9 will always be my trek. There is still a lot to like about Voyager.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

While not my favourite Trek series, I am currently rewatching and reviewing VOY (on another board) and it just happens that I've arrived at almost the same episodes that @tomalak301 has. For what it's worth, here are my latest ones:

5-06 Timeless

The crew has fallen for the temptation and dug out the quantum slipstream technology from Hope and Fear and tries to make it back home in one fell swoop. Alas, they fail (naturally) when it collapses prematurely, but they still have shaved off ten years. That's about it. Nothing much else really happens in this episode.
Well, there are depictions of an alternate future where Chakotay and Harry Kim are the only survivors and try to change the timeline. They succeed and thus that never really happened, even if Alternate Future Kim did influence the events. I'll just quote Janeway here: "My advice in making sense of temporal paradoxes is simple: don't even try."
I have on numerous occasions spoken about how weary I am with temporal shenanigans and alternate realities that in the end will become null and void. It's just a variant of the tired reset button™. And Timeless is just that, no matter the nifty visuals. And I must admit that it was cool to see Voyager buried under ice, and the ship crash-landing on the frozen planet. That's not enough however.
Neither is the more assertive and weathered Harry Kim from 15 years in the future. Yes, I think that character is much more interesting than our normal Kim, and Garrett Wang does a good job here, but it only reminds us that the regular Harry Kim still is such an undeveloped character. After four years stranded in the Delta quadrant you'd have thought that Kim wouldn't be such a green Ensign anymore. This is a development that they should have shown in the real timeline.
The episode does get points for not teasing us with the possibility of them getting home (since the first scene shows that they'd already failed). I still think it's unwise to do so many stories with this theme since it's obvious that they won't, considering the show's basic premise.
Also, given how volatile this slipstream technology is, I'm flabbergasted that Janeway would even want to try it out so soon, especially since Paris's holosimualations showed a major flaw. She decides to go ahead with it anyway, hedging all bets on the reassurances of Ensign Kim that he can correct it as they go.
But this was the 100th episode of Voyager and the writers clearly wanted something familiar for the fans, and used the old overused alternate timeline trick, which we have seen so many examples of (it was even used in two series finales). At least this fan is tired of that concept. Seeing Geordi La Forge in a cameo role was nice though, but of course he was there since LeVar Burton directed the episode.
But I'm feeling generous and give Timeless a grade of 4 out of 10.


5-07 Infinite Regress

In Infinite Regress Seven of Nine encounters the Borg equivalent of multiple personality disorder. Suddenly she exhibits traits from numerous persons that previously have been assimilated by the Borg. That's an interesting idea in itself and Jeri Ryan plays most of those roles to perfection. My personal favourite is probably when she becomes a greedy Ferengi. Here Ryan demonstrates that she's so much more than mere eye candy, but a very talented actress as well.
However, the episode tends to drag on a bit when they seem to have too much fun with all those personalities. Then we have the technobabble surrounding the device responsible for her condition, something of a Borg CPU infected with a virus by an alien species bent on destroying the Borg, which Voyager has salvaged. Naturally they don't want to help getting a cure, and we have a shooting match.
But then you could have knocked me out with a feather because I found myself actually kind of not minding the story about Seven and Naomi Wildman striking up a friendship. Maybe it was the absence of Flotter and that Seven is a much better babysitter than Neelix. Or that Scarlett Pomers is one of they few kid actors that knows what she's doing.
While I thought it was clever to have Tuvok mind meld with Seven to sort out her own personality, the execution felt, for me at least, confusing and much too noisy. But I did chuckle at the Doctor's line to Tuvok: "With all these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you." I couldn't agree more.
I'll give a grade of 6 to Infinite Regress.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

While not my favourite Trek series, I am currently rewatching and reviewing VOY (on another board) and it just happens that I've arrived at almost the same episodes that @tomalak301 has. For what it's worth, here are my latest ones:

5-06 Timeless

The crew has fallen for the temptation and dug out the quantum slipstream technology from Hope and Fear and tries to make it back home in one fell swoop. Alas, they fail (naturally) when it collapses prematurely, but they still have shaved off ten years. That's about it. Nothing much else really happens in this episode.
Well, there are depictions of an alternate future where Chakotay and Harry Kim are the only survivors and try to change the timeline. They succeed and thus that never really happened, even if Alternate Future Kim did influence the events. I'll just quote Janeway here: "My advice in making sense of temporal paradoxes is simple: don't even try."
I have on numerous occasions spoken about how weary I am with temporal shenanigans and alternate realities that in the end will become null and void. It's just a variant of the tired reset button™. And Timeless is just that, no matter the nifty visuals. And I must admit that it was cool to see Voyager buried under ice, and the ship crash-landing on the frozen planet. That's not enough however.
Neither is the more assertive and weathered Harry Kim from 15 years in the future. Yes, I think that character is much more interesting than our normal Kim, and Garrett Wang does a good job here, but it only reminds us that the regular Harry Kim still is such an undeveloped character. After four years stranded in the Delta quadrant you'd have thought that Kim wouldn't be such a green Ensign anymore. This is a development that they should have shown in the real timeline.
The episode does get points for not teasing us with the possibility of them getting home (since the first scene shows that they'd already failed). I still think it's unwise to do so many stories with this theme since it's obvious that they won't, considering the show's basic premise.
Also, given how volatile this slipstream technology is, I'm flabbergasted that Janeway would even want to try it out so soon, especially since Paris's holosimualations showed a major flaw. She decides to go ahead with it anyway, hedging all bets on the reassurances of Ensign Kim that he can correct it as they go.
But this was the 100th episode of Voyager and the writers clearly wanted something familiar for the fans, and used the old overused alternate timeline trick, which we have seen so many examples of (it was even used in two series finales). At least this fan is tired of that concept. Seeing Geordi La Forge in a cameo role was nice though, but of course he was there since LeVar Burton directed the episode.
But I'm feeling generous and give Timeless a grade of 4 out of 10.


5-07 Infinite Regress

In Infinite Regress Seven of Nine encounters the Borg equivalent of multiple personality disorder. Suddenly she exhibits traits from numerous persons that previously have been assimilated by the Borg. That's an interesting idea in itself and Jeri Ryan plays most of those roles to perfection. My personal favourite is probably when she becomes a greedy Ferengi. Here Ryan demonstrates that she's so much more than mere eye candy, but a very talented actress as well.
However, the episode tends to drag on a bit when they seem to have too much fun with all those personalities. Then we have the technobabble surrounding the device responsible for her condition, something of a Borg CPU infected with a virus by an alien species bent on destroying the Borg, which Voyager has salvaged. Naturally they don't want to help getting a cure, and we have a shooting match.
But then you could have knocked me out with a feather because I found myself actually kind of not minding the story about Seven and Naomi Wildman striking up a friendship. Maybe it was the absence of Flotter and that Seven is a much better babysitter than Neelix. Or that Scarlett Pomers is one of they few kid actors that knows what she's doing.
While I thought it was clever to have Tuvok mind meld with Seven to sort out her own personality, the execution felt, for me at least, confusing and much too noisy. But I did chuckle at the Doctor's line to Tuvok: "With all these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you." I couldn't agree more.
I'll give a grade of 6 to Infinite Regress.

I like time travel episodes - for me, it is one of the fascinating concepts of sci-fi, even if they don't make much sense in real life. Voyager, I guess, is the "big time travel Trek", so to speak.
In TIMELESS I found the idea of Chakotay and Harry surviving a good one since these two characters often get blamed for being useless. And surprise, surprise, there are episodes to contradict this allegation.
As usual, I think Janeway hits the nail on the head with that remark concerning time travel - quoted by you above -, which to me further highlights the human side of our Captain here. Time travel does give one a headache, I find. I mean I've never done any, of course but even trying to understand its theory is more than I can cope with.
Also, like practically always, this one is supposed to be a "serious" episode and it is full of humour - something that most other Trek series are unfortunately almost devoid of. Remember the scene when Seven gets tipsy? That was hilarious. But to me, the best one liner, again comes from Janeway when she says to Chakotay in her quarters: "Speaking of risks, are you ready to try some home cooking?"
Having said that, of the two above-mentioned episodes I prefer INFINITE REGRESS. And yes, the Ferengi scene was hilarious! In contrast to you, however, I didn't think they had too much fun with those personalities, since I thought this was what the episode was mainly about. Jeri Ryan shines on this one! And everyone else, too. And yes, the Doc was the King of Humour on this one with that one-liner. Spot-on! Again, the strength of Voyager is displayed here with perfection: a serious episode with a lot of humour. Excellent in my book!
The only thing I didn't really like about it were the aliens. I mean the way they looked ... and especially those things they wore reminded me of some kind of raincoats that completely flopped ...

Can I ask you why you're not publishing on this board if you're writing about Voyager?

 

[tomalak301]

I got to say hi to Garrett Wang and Robert Picardo at this convention. Considering I'm rewatching Voyager that was cool. I'm also going to see Kate Mulgrew tomorrow. Can't wait.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

I got to say hi to Garrett Wang and Robert Picardo at this convention. Considering I'm rewatching Voyager that was cool. I'm also going to see Kate Mulgrew tomorrow. Can't wait.

Details, please. I guess you didn't just walk up to them, said hi and moved on ... Did you buy an autographed picture or did you ask them a question? Or ...? Tell us what happened.
Also, what other actors did you meet? Is our borg queen there (either of them)? Seska or Barclay? And what about Benjamin Sisko? Is he there, too? Gul Dukat perhaps?
If you see Robbie McNeill, give him a kiss from me,
It sounds like you're obviously having fun, so make the most of it! And please keep us apprised, Admiral Tomalak! (Unfortunately, tomorrow is the last day I can come here before my holiday, but perhaps you'll provide us with more news until then ...)

 

[tomalak301]

Details, please. I guess you didn't just walk up to them, said hi and moved on ... Did you buy an autographed picture or did you ask them a question? Or ...? Tell us what happened.
Also, what other actors did you meet? Is our borg queen there (either of them)? Seska or Barclay? And what about Benjamin Sisko? Is he there, too? Gul Dukat perhaps?
If you see Robbie McNeill, give him a kiss from me,
It sounds like you're obviously having fun, so make the most of it! And please keep us apprised, Admiral Tomalak! (Unfortunately, tomorrow is the last day I can come here before my holiday, but perhaps you'll provide us with more news until then ...)

Actually with Picardo I did just say hi and shake his hand. With Wang I thanked him for an interview he did on a show that I listen to. Wang is such a cool guy.

 

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I like time travel episodes - for me, it is one of the fascinating concepts of sci-fi, even if they don't make much sense in real life. Voyager, I guess, is the "big time travel Trek", so to speak.

Well, I've grown tired of the concept over the years. I think the proverbial straw for me was when they introduced the Temporal Cold War on ENT. If I had any say, I wouldn't have any time travel in the new show Discovery.

In TIMELESS I found the idea of Chakotay and Harry surviving a good one since these two characters often get blamed for being useless. And surprise, surprise, there are episodes to contradict this allegation.

That's what so frustrating for me. Why not let them be not-useless on the regular episodes, instead of in alternate versions in alternate timelines.

Remember the scene when Seven gets tipsy? That was hilarious.

Yeah, that was a riot. Forgot to mention that.

Can I ask you why you're not publishing on this board if you're writing about Voyager?

Because I just came back to this board the other day after a 10 year absence.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

Because I just came back to this board the other day after a 10 year absence.

Then welcome back. Although I won't be able to come here for two weeks now, I hope you'll have been fully assimilated by this group when I return ...

Actually with Picardo I did just say hi and shake his hand. With Wang I thanked him for an interview he did on a show that I listen to. Wang is such a cool guy.

See you in two weeks' time, tomalak. I wonder how far you'll have got with your reviews ...