Well, I've finally begun season 7 and I just watched Body & Soul yesterday, so it seemed like as good a time as any to start this thread.
I've enjoyed practically every minute of this series (save a small handful of eps that I could have done without, and possibly will do without on a future series rewatch), and I'm looking forward to seeing where this season takes our heroes and how the the episodes build for the finale. I know how the series ends, but only in a very general sense, without any of of the details, so I'm curious and a little excited to see where this goes.
Here is what I've seen so far,
Imperfection: drats! on Mezoti leaving since she was my favorite of the "Borg kids"... those kids didn't last too long on the show. This was a great Seven ep though. Even though the somewhat repetitive nature of putting Seven's vulnerability on display does serve to advance the human part of her character, I do wonder if there would be a more complex (or at least varying) manner in which this could be accomplished? Not that I'm complaining because I love the character and seeing her appear as vulnerable is very "human", so it serves its purpose. Those Borg nodes and conduits are a pan in the ass... they elevate Seven, but at the same time cause her to be restricted (not to mentioned harmed) in ways that humans don't normally have to deal with. This was also a good ep for Icheb and really my only gripe (my previous mild criticism aside) is the writers may have over-used the stubborn aspect of Seven's nature here...pushing her too far into that extreme, as everyone was trying to convince her to let them help.
Drive: Tom and B'Elanna rock as a couple imo, and I liked the exchange in this one between Seven and B'Elanna; it was almost as if Seven reciprocated from their scene together in Imperfection. And... poor Harry, again. This really was an ep for Tom and B'Elanna though... and it succeeded. The only thing I didn't like was the closing shot of the Delta Flyer cruising away with the just married trailing behind it. I thought that was cheesy as hell... but part of that was due to late-90s computer effects being... meh.
Repression: I liked this ep okay, but I think I would have appreciated it a lot more if it had occurred during season 1 or 2, rather than 7. The subject matter felt, to me, a little like water under the bridge, at least at this point in the series. Also, something about the manner in which Teero was presented, or his actions/interactions with the crew were presented, didn't work for me. I can't really figure another to to write out my thoughts on that since it's an abstract reaction I had, but Teero didn't seem integrated enough with the actions in the episode, somehow. So, this one was just okay, but not bad by any means...
Critical Care: this ep will forever stick in my brain as the ep where I truly began to appreciate the Doc a little more. I like the character, but there are some things about him that stick in my craw. This episode doesn't erase that feeling (since it's attached to a particular instance or another character, more or less),but the Doc's more ethical and caring human side was developed and put to good use here, more so than in the past imo.
Inside Man: this was an entertaining enough ep, but I'm not sure it will stick in my memory for any length of time. I'm kind of lukewarm on Barclay, but my engagement increased a little with the addition of the holo-version. And, is there an episode of ST where the Ferengi are presented as anything other than shallow, swindling, money-grubbers? Maybe I just haven't seen enough Star Trek yet... also, the ending to this one, in my humble opinion only, was not clear enough on initial view. Specifically, the piece when Chak asks Kim if he can get a transporter lock to beam 7 out of the pod... I don;t even think Kim verbally responds and, visually it wasn't clear to me that he actually beamed her out. I had rewind that twice to confirm what happened during that scene. It seemed to jump straight over to Harry in the mess hall prodding that green slime.
Body and Soul: now this episode was great, if only for light-hearted comic relief! Ryan did a fantastic job of impersonating Picardo imo and this is at least the second time she's gotten this type of material (Infinite regress was the other notable time), although it doesn't come around that often. The actress probably welcomed a chance to play outside of the "ice cold Borg" persona a bit. I laughed out loud several times though and, despite the "fluffy" nature of this one, it worked for me. It also further solidified my stance that, while the Doc and Seven do have chemistry together, it's more of a brother-sister or platonic chemistry than anything else. At least for me... I've seen a bunch of people say they thought Seven should have wound up with the Doc as a romantic interest, but I don't see it. Part of it is, despite their contrary (and sometimes complimentary) differences, they also share some of the same failings or weaknesses. Just my read on that... other than that I also like how the aliens in this one at least saw some of the error in their prejudices by the end of the ep.
I've enjoyed practically every minute of this series (save a small handful of eps that I could have done without, and possibly will do without on a future series rewatch), and I'm looking forward to seeing where this season takes our heroes and how the the episodes build for the finale. I know how the series ends, but only in a very general sense, without any of of the details, so I'm curious and a little excited to see where this goes.
Here is what I've seen so far,
Imperfection: drats! on Mezoti leaving since she was my favorite of the "Borg kids"... those kids didn't last too long on the show. This was a great Seven ep though. Even though the somewhat repetitive nature of putting Seven's vulnerability on display does serve to advance the human part of her character, I do wonder if there would be a more complex (or at least varying) manner in which this could be accomplished? Not that I'm complaining because I love the character and seeing her appear as vulnerable is very "human", so it serves its purpose. Those Borg nodes and conduits are a pan in the ass... they elevate Seven, but at the same time cause her to be restricted (not to mentioned harmed) in ways that humans don't normally have to deal with. This was also a good ep for Icheb and really my only gripe (my previous mild criticism aside) is the writers may have over-used the stubborn aspect of Seven's nature here...pushing her too far into that extreme, as everyone was trying to convince her to let them help.
Drive: Tom and B'Elanna rock as a couple imo, and I liked the exchange in this one between Seven and B'Elanna; it was almost as if Seven reciprocated from their scene together in Imperfection. And... poor Harry, again. This really was an ep for Tom and B'Elanna though... and it succeeded. The only thing I didn't like was the closing shot of the Delta Flyer cruising away with the just married trailing behind it. I thought that was cheesy as hell... but part of that was due to late-90s computer effects being... meh.
Repression: I liked this ep okay, but I think I would have appreciated it a lot more if it had occurred during season 1 or 2, rather than 7. The subject matter felt, to me, a little like water under the bridge, at least at this point in the series. Also, something about the manner in which Teero was presented, or his actions/interactions with the crew were presented, didn't work for me. I can't really figure another to to write out my thoughts on that since it's an abstract reaction I had, but Teero didn't seem integrated enough with the actions in the episode, somehow. So, this one was just okay, but not bad by any means...
Critical Care: this ep will forever stick in my brain as the ep where I truly began to appreciate the Doc a little more. I like the character, but there are some things about him that stick in my craw. This episode doesn't erase that feeling (since it's attached to a particular instance or another character, more or less),but the Doc's more ethical and caring human side was developed and put to good use here, more so than in the past imo.
Inside Man: this was an entertaining enough ep, but I'm not sure it will stick in my memory for any length of time. I'm kind of lukewarm on Barclay, but my engagement increased a little with the addition of the holo-version. And, is there an episode of ST where the Ferengi are presented as anything other than shallow, swindling, money-grubbers? Maybe I just haven't seen enough Star Trek yet... also, the ending to this one, in my humble opinion only, was not clear enough on initial view. Specifically, the piece when Chak asks Kim if he can get a transporter lock to beam 7 out of the pod... I don;t even think Kim verbally responds and, visually it wasn't clear to me that he actually beamed her out. I had rewind that twice to confirm what happened during that scene. It seemed to jump straight over to Harry in the mess hall prodding that green slime.
Body and Soul: now this episode was great, if only for light-hearted comic relief! Ryan did a fantastic job of impersonating Picardo imo and this is at least the second time she's gotten this type of material (Infinite regress was the other notable time), although it doesn't come around that often. The actress probably welcomed a chance to play outside of the "ice cold Borg" persona a bit. I laughed out loud several times though and, despite the "fluffy" nature of this one, it worked for me. It also further solidified my stance that, while the Doc and Seven do have chemistry together, it's more of a brother-sister or platonic chemistry than anything else. At least for me... I've seen a bunch of people say they thought Seven should have wound up with the Doc as a romantic interest, but I don't see it. Part of it is, despite their contrary (and sometimes complimentary) differences, they also share some of the same failings or weaknesses. Just my read on that... other than that I also like how the aliens in this one at least saw some of the error in their prejudices by the end of the ep.