It was so good! Watched Inside Man I like Hologram Barcaly was so confident and personable. And nice to see a concept from TNG (that of Ferengi coming up with a ridiculous scheme for some profit) rear it's head. I know one of the derogatory terms this show gets thrown at it is TNG-lite, but other than it's a Star Trek show on another ship I don't really see it. The very idea of the franchise means it's going to have certain qualities. Maybe it was because it was so close on the heels. Anyway, fun episode that called back to the previous series, even if it was the third, I like that Barclay got his own little arc.
I got Season 7 in May or June, and it's the only season of Voyager I have. I've got a few on Fan Collectives too. "Body and Soul" must be my favorite of the season, as I liked it when I saw it on airdate, and it's the one I watch the most now. Jeri is so funny in it. I give a lot of credit to director Robert Duncan McNeill for his work with the actors in it, though he was probably concentrating more on the technical stuff. Ryan, Picardo, Wang, and the guest cast give him some great performances. It's pure farce and must have been a lot of fun.
Man, why did I do that big speech about maybe using the odd bit of TNG continuity was a good thing, then immediately get it followed up by this. I realise that I watched Inside Man out of place, which makes Prophecy stand out more for bringing in the Klingons in. Not an entirely bad way, but it was a bit odd that they were all acting like they'd been out there for centuries, but it was just hundred years, they're third generation tops. Overall, the use of Tom and B'elanna made this episode better than it had any real right being. I'm really enjoying their baby storyline. The Void I loved this one, mostly for the Alliance that Janeway puts togehter. Voyager forming an alliance with disparate groups was a really good angle, and it's something I really wish we'd seen more of over the seven seasons. Also Voyager looked way cooler in the dark than it did during the last time we were stuck in the middle of blank space.
"The only Klingon I'm afraid of is my wife after she's worked a double shift!" Loved that ep. "The Void" is Janeway's answer to Max & Ransom's charge that she only held onto her Starfleet ideals because her ship was never tested like the Equinox had been.
The Void is one of my favorite Voyager episodes by far. Inside Man I hated. There are some TNG traditions worth preserving, and 'Ferengi as cartoon villains' isn't one of them. Prophecy has one of Neelix's best moments.
Tom and B'elanna have been awesome this season, and that's probably one of Tom's best moments. If anything I've felt that this season has drifted back towards the rest of the crew after the Janeway, Seven and Doctor show everyone moans about.
Workforce Nothing big to really state about this. Not sure why Janeway couldn't have invited her fella aboard as a civilian though. I mean the real world aspect of new actor I totally get, but in-universe it could have been "You can come onboard, but you wouldn't be able to work because I'm the captain, but I realise that's not fair" "I got offered a promotion too" "oh in that case I totally understand, but hey, goodbye sex?" Human Error Chakotay/7 was one of those things I heard about that had always put me off watching on all of Voyager for a few years. Yet the introduction of it here is actually done half decently. Seven, finally has hit a point in her development where she actually wants to do more human things, but doesn't want to appear weak so does it in secret. Clever idea, and does fit the character quite well. I'm sorta surprised the Doctor didn't mention that using the crew (or at the least Chakotay) in that way wasn't looked down well on, then again that she's actually exploring that side of her is a huge step forward, so he decides turn a blind eye. I'm not sold on the relationship becoming a thing, but Seven side makes sense, from an almost teenage discovering her sexuality stand point anyway.
Seven using a Chakotay blow-up doll is one thing. But Chakotay finding out Seven is using a blow-up doll of himself and then making the moves to take its place seems rather ewww-ish of him.
Especially in that red dress. I kinda zoned out when she put that on. Q2 Erm... See I can tell what the writers were going for, but they really don't pull it off. The lessons learnt by Q2 just don't seem to sit. Sure he calms down a little bit but the episode just never sells it that well.
But... but... but! It has THIS wonderful exchange. Q2: Aunt Kathy... JANEWAY: DON'T you 'Aunt Kathy' me!!!!!!
The end is drawing close. I had't realised how close till I watched two episodes last night. Author, Author I'm not sure how I feel about the Doctor not realising that his work came across as a representation of Voyager. It felt like something he might do in season 2 or 3, but s7 EMH seems a lot more switched on than that. Then we just get a retelling of Measure of a Man but with a hologram instead of an android. The only thing that really stood out about this episode was the massive argument than Paris and the EMH had in the corridor. Friendship One An alright episode, but Carey's death was spoilt by two factors. One, he hasn't been seen in ages, except for a flashback to the season where he was common place, and unfortunately I've seen mentions here of him reappearing just to die. Janeway comes across as a little odd here too. Goes from wanting to help, to getting her men back and not giving a shit, to being fully dedicated again. Some weird writing.
Friendship One was a mess. They could have possible done something interesting with the concept "Earth gave this other planet technology before the prime directive was in place and they destroyed themselves with it". But writing it as a simple hostage situation with their usual "There is one guy who is unwilling to listen no matter what and one other more sympathetic guy open to reason" pattern made it bland and dull. I don't know what they were thinking bringing back a long-unused character just to redshirt him. For the 7/Chakotay thing to work they would have had to spend the first half of the season establishing a rapport between the characters.
Damn, somehow my last post got lost. To sum up: Neelix has a good send off, but Renaissance Man is misplaced. Might have been okay earlier, but after Homestead it felt wrong. Homestead was starting to dim the lights, all set for the big finale, then Renaissance Man turned those lights back up to full and tried to pretend the end wasn't nigh. ANYWAY Endgame I liked it. Okay, it needed a lot more about coming home. Where was Tom talking to his father? How the Marquis were dealt with now that they're back taking into account their exemplary performance? It didn't really offer any of the things you really wanted the Voyager finale to deal with, but it was a decent episode over all. Which I guess is the major problem, it's a good two parter, but not a good series end. I liked Barclay's part in the whole thing though. How he really became an extra member of the crew being the man who got them talking etc, and by the time they make it back (the long way) he is one of them. I'm writing this seconds after finishing it, so my thoughts are a little splurgy. And I'm buying Homecoming to read as well, because I really want to experience their actual homecoming.
I liked Homecoming and The Farthest Shore a lot, and I think they did satisfy in some areas as far as "actual homecoming" goes, though obviously they immediately launch themselves into relaunch mode as well. However all the Christie Golden that followed those two were drek, which seems to be the pattern in her series.
Well according to my Kindle I made it through a quarter of the book last night and it is satisfying the homecoming stuff I needed. On further reflection, the Tuvok Vulcan alzhiemer's needed more build up. Something we'd seen in passing a couple of times during the season to have any real impact, instead it's an obvious plot device to help make Janeway's decision easier. Oh, and they did do Chakotay/7, and even with an episode build up (I assume Natural Law was meant to be another but didn't really do much) it just flopped really.
1. They did better with T'Pols drug addiction spread out over several episodes in Enterprise before the final crunch. 2. Seska was retroactively included into several episodes before it was revealed that she was a spy after they were written and locked... Everything that Seska the Bajoran did was previously the responsibility of nameless no ones or Carey, possibly Durst because they were written and finished well before the Seska Unmasked/Seska Exists script was handed in... They caught the ball and ran with it in both directions into the past and the future. This "level" of commitment to continuity on a producer level was later heretofore unseen again.
Just posted a version of this in Trek Lit forum, but since I literally finished Endgame and started Homecoming. Finished Homecoming and The Farther Shore. The writing style wasn't the best, but overall this felt like a proper finale to the series. I almost wish it was the real finale, except Data probably plays too big a role for the TV (and we wouldn't want a TNG star stealing a finale now, would we......) Half of the first book does spend a little too much time on “hey we're back and everything's awesome” but at the same time Golden is setting up a lot of dominos that all come to a perfect finish