The Gift

[Lucy of Nine]

I'm watching the series from the beginning and I'm up to The Gift (Season 4 Ep 2)...

I think this is one of my most favourite episodes, purely for sentimental reasons of course! There are a bunch of classic lines (see my other post in 'One Line, One Scene'), and of course we say a sad goodbye to Kes (I tear up when Kathryn hugs her and has tears in her eyes), and we see the first glimpse of humanity in Seven when she says her favourite colour was red. And of course, when they realise she's thrown them 10 years past Borg Space, thats a lovely moment.

I was never a massive fan of Kes, (dont get me wrong, I'm no kes hater, I just never clicked with her, or a few others either), but I really liked later Kes... kes with long hair rocked!

Its weird, but since watching the series from the beginning again (and its been years since I watched it!!! I was a kid!), I am tending to be a bit sentimental and I'm loving every character now... bizarre!

Anyway, just some thoughts!

 

[ian_tee]

I agree Lucy. Was never a big fan of Kes, but this episode definitely got a couple of tears going! Very manly of me. lol

 

[jgdst]

I thought it was quite a nice episode too. It's a shame that there wasn't a proper farewell scene between Kes and Neelix or the Doctor, but I imagine they were running low on time without Kes having to say goodbye to everyone. Still, a pretty enjoyable episode with just the right amount of time split between Seven and Kes.

 

[voyagerfan]

Yeah it was a good episode

 

[exodus]

I thought it was quite a nice episode too. It's a shame that there wasn't a proper farewell scene between Kes and Neelix or the Doctor, but I imagine they were running low on time without Kes having to say goodbye to everyone. Still, a pretty enjoyable episode with just the right amount of time split between Seven and Kes.

The farewell scene Kes & Neelix did have was more romantic and emotional than anything they did while they were a couple. It's unfortunate they waited until she was leaving to give Kes the best scenes she's had all series.

 

[cyph]

and of course we say a sad goodbye to Kes (I tear up when Kathryn hugs her and has tears in her eyes)

Really? I felt the immediacy of her leaving for the sake of Voyager's survival overcame any emotional sentiments of her leaving. She never clicked for me either, so I guess that's why I'm a bit apathetic towards her character leaving (or coming back).

Seven remembering her favorite color was cool, though she hardly ever wears red (except for that maroon-ish cat suit she rocks every now and then).

I think the coolest part of the episode for me was when Kes was meditating on Tuvok's fire lamp, and could see past atoms. It was like a head nod to string theory. :-D

 

[Lynx]

Sorry that I have to disagree with most of the posters here but I hate that episode.

When I watched it the first (and only) time, I was very close to throw out the TV out of the window. Only sheer greed (TV.s aren't cheap) and concern about the people on the street below stopped me from doing that.

As a fan of the character Kes, I simply hate that she was kicked out of the show.

As for the episode, I find it full of flaws with an unrealistic scenario, an episode obviously written very quickly with the one and only purpose to get rid of Kes as soon as possible.

I find "The Gift" a terrible episode.

Only "Fury" was worse.

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

I agree. This was a good sendoff for Kes. Too bad they ruined the character's sendoff when she returned all uber-pissed in "Fury." How exactly did she travel those 30,000 ly to catch up to Voyager?? And at the end of the episode, she is heading back to Ocampa... good luck, I doubt her 9-15 yr lifespan will allow her a 40 year trip back!

On a similar note, it seems that after this episode (except for "Fury"), Kes' character was completely forgotten by the rest of the crew. For instance:
(a) they consistently forgot to include the '10,000 ly gift' when mentioning how far away Earth was.
(b) Voyager continued to run into the Borg, despite being thrown "beyond Borg space."
(c) There was no mention of Kes' warning of the Krenim and their quantum flux torpedoes from "Before and After" when they actually ran into them in "Year of Hell."

But, continuity notwithstanding, this was a good episode in and of itself.

 

[exodus]

I agree. This was a good sendoff for Kes. Too bad they ruined the character's sendoff when she returned all uber-pissed in "Fury." How exactly did she travel those 30,000 ly to catch up to Voyager?? And at the end of the episode, she is heading back to Ocampa... good luck, I doubt her 9-15 yr lifespan will allow her a 40 year trip back!

On a similar note, it seems that after this episode (except for "Fury"), Kes' character was completely forgotten by the rest of the crew. For instance:
(a) they consistently forgot to include the '10,000 ly gift' when mentioning how far away Earth was.
(b) Voyager continued to run into the Borg, despite being thrown "beyond Borg space."
(c) There was no mention of Kes' warning of the Krenim and their quantum flux torpedoes from "Before and After" when they actually ran into them in "Year of Hell."

But, continuity notwithstanding, this was a good episode in and of itself.

You can still find a Klingon in the Alpha Quad. even though they're from Beta, so why shouldn't you find Borg all over their native quaderant? Why be conqueres, if you are looking for new places to conquer?

"Before & After" and the events there in are erased from time when Kes encounters Species 8472. She only time jumped because of the exposure to the Krenium radition. Due to correcting the timeline, Kes never time jumps and never told anybody anything dispite what we saw. It's a temperal convergence that has to be played out the same way going forward as she saw it going backwards. Any changes to that and nothing she saw happens. Kes didn't encounter the Borg or 8472 in "B&A", that small change erases her future.

 

[Jeri]

^ ^ aw, that gives me a headache

 

[voyagerfan]

Time sorts itself when the Dr treated her

 

[Lucy of Nine]

It was sad though that she never got to say bye to the Dr.... that could have been put in easily...

 

[ian_tee]

^Yeah a goodbye between the two would have be touching

 

[2 of 10]

I have to cast my vote into the yea catagory, I did like the episode. We never knew just how much physic power the Ocampa had until Kes really let loose in this episode. I would have liked her to stay on board Voyager it would have been fun to see the interplay between Kes and Seven. And I also have to agree that in the third season Kes with her long hair (looked great) and getting to really know her way around Sick Bay, making Tom very expendable, freeing up his time, so he could spend more time in the holodeck either at Sandrines or playing Capt Proton...

Resistance is Futile

 

[exodus]

^ ^ aw, that gives me a headache

 

[Jeri]

^ ^ at least it's only Janeway's headache and not Braxton's neurosis, eh? he he. I actually love time-travel episodes, no matter what series. I used to daydream when I was a kid about bringing historical figures into the present, like Abraham Lincoln, etc. When that episode showed up in TOS, I already had it down, LOL.

 

[exodus]

^ ^ at least it's only Janeway's headache and not Braxton's neurosis, eh? he he. I actually love time-travel episodes, no matter what series. I used to daydream when I was a kid about bringing historical figures into the present, like Abraham Lincoln, etc. When that episode showed up in TOS, I already had it down, LOL.

I agree.

It's why I also liked parts of "Endgame".

Come on Starfleet or not, who wouldn't go back in time and fix things about themselves in the past to create a better future if they had the means? Hell, some would go back in time just to win the lottery.

 

[tomalak301]

I liked this episode, but the only problem I really had with it was there was no Kes/Neelix bye scene. I guess it stems from my complaint that after Warlord, Kes evidently really broke off the relationship but it would have been really nice to see those two have a scene together. However, as much as I didn't like the departure of Lien, I must say the stuff with 7 of 9 was really good and the high point of the episode. I suppose that's a bit unfortunate but they were passing the torch.

 

[Spock-2012]

Yes. I missed Kes. I didn't LOVE her or anything, but she was an okay character. I liked scenes with her and Tuvok together, or her and the Doctor. They were very nice scenes. It was sad to see her leave.

...Of course, later on she nearly explodes the whole ship.

 

[B_L_T]

I no huge fan of Kes myself but she not so bad. This good episode, sad to see her go but done in a very nice way. She not dead so chance to come back is there.