What's the last VOY episode you'd watched, with mini-review?

[Oddish]

Good Shepherd. My first time watching this one, actually. And it touched nicely on a very serious subject: in a situation like Voyager's, what DO you do with crew who don't quite fit the Starfleet ideal?

And I really think we needed a VOY episode like this one much earlier, one where we meet some crew on the ship who aren't doing so well. And where we could see them grow over multiple episodes... Harren's like Barclay, but with more of an edge to him. Celes is a person who struggles, and Billy's hypochondria was good for some laughs. On a show like DS9, they could have been breakout characters, like Nog and Weyoun.

But of course, this was Voyager, where not even the people in the credits showed proper character growth.

 

[1001001]

Having finished our Enterprise rewatch, my wife and I have decided to rewatch Voyager.

Caretaker I and II

I haven't seen this in a long time. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some cool space weirdness on the array/farm. That corn lady was not fucking around.

 

[Oddish]

That corn lady was not ing around.

Well, she did go to all the trouble of throwing them a nice party, with lemonade, sugar cookies, corn on the cob, and even deviled eggs... and all those spoilsports wanted to do was nose around with their tricorders. I think we've all had difficult guests who we just wanted gone... though admittedly, most of us haven't responded by doing science experiments on them.

Collective: I'll give this one credit for adding new crew to Voyager and NOT having them promptly vanish. It gave us a perspective on how Borg deal with the children they've assimilated. And they actually had Harry Kim doing something other than being a piece of scenery. And, it was kind of sad, the head Borgling's fierce devotion to a collective that had discarded him.

On the other hand, would it have been so hard to have Janeway mention in her final captain's log that the Borg infant's people were located, and she had been returned to them?

 

[1001001]

Parallax

Here you've got your Starfleet/Maquis tension and conflict, but I'm glad they didn't extend that too far into the series.

I think this episode is an example of what I love best about Voyager: stand-alone science fiction. A mystery to solve with the scientific method and some bravery. And the shrinking doctor for comic relief.

 

[at Quark's]

The Thaw.

Good episode.

(Well, it said mini review. Didn't want to push my luck.)

 

[Oddish]

Unimatrix Zero, both parts.

I've heard differing opinions on this one, but it has its moments. Yes, some easily corrected deficiencies... for instance a tactical cube should have eaten Voyager for lunch. It made assimilation by the Borg seem like no big deal. I would think that they'd have had a little more pause before sacrificing the Delta Flyer, and they should have been without it far longer than they were. That intriguing "see you soon Harry" should have been developed later on. And YES, he should have found a box on his chair soon after. BUT, it was an exciting story, Unimatrix Zero was an intriguing concept, and watching Janeway go full Klingon on that Borg was fun. And so, warts and all, it's on my "rewatch periodically" list.

 

[Oddish]

The Thaw.

Good episode.

Good episode. AWESOME ending.

My review was twice as long as yours, so

 

[1001001]

Time and Again

Another solid stand-alone sci-fi episode. The Kes part was just "meh".

 

[Oddish]

Fair Trade...

There's kind of a poignant aspect to the opening of this one... Neelix is so desperate to find a way he can serve the ship, but no one realizes his situation (or what he thinks it is) so no one has time for him. As an aside, I would think that a person who operated and maintained his own ship would be pretty capable, and a worthy addition to either Harry or B'Elanna's team.

Nice to see some really freaky-looking aliens, as opposed to humans with head bumps.

It's interesting to see Neelix at the end of his rope in this one... he genuinely believes he's got nothing to lose, and so he's perfectly ready to set off an explosion that will splatter him all over the cargo bay. It shows Neelix's potential as a character. Sadly, he was misused early on and underused afterward. A bit like Chakotay, really (Harry just wasn't used at all).

Watching him at the end, you kind of see it like a newly adopted child getting grounded for the first time. The punishment may be unpleasant, but it's overwhelmed by the overall implication of being part of a family. Kind of reminded me of Kirk's demotion in Star Trek IV, really.

 

[Oddish]

Two more...

ALTER EGO.
The Good:
- As someone who knows what it's like to want to connect and be unable to, I feel for Marayna. That makes this show compelling, if a little hard to watch at times.
- I enjoyed the verbal sparring between Marayna and Tuvok, during the luau. The luau brawl was fun too.
- We have to take character growth where we can find it, and Tuvok taking Marayna's advice to heart and reaching out to Harry was a nice bit of it.
- I liked the aloha shirts. And it was nice to see Vorik again. He was a good contrast to Tuvok, dressing the part and mingling. Proving that no, Vulcans don't have to be a stick in the mud. VOY needed more recurring characters.

The Bad:
- "Look at poor Harry Kim... he fell in love with a hologram and she dumped him for Tuvok". Maybe they could have skipped that. We never saw Marayna's interactions with Harry, after all.

TIME AND AGAIN
The Good:
- This was my first VOY episode, and it's actually kind of indicative of what the rest of the show would bring... Trek comfort food. Enjoy it, but don't expect too much.
- I enjoyed the groundwork being laid with the characters... the Doctor's snark, Tom and Harry's double act, etc. Janeway's voice and initial hard-a** attitude took some getting used to, though.
- Given that the EMH couldn't even turn himself off in this episode, he really came a long way.
- I call this the Autumnal Planet, given the colors of most of the characters' clothes.
- I guess New Detonics and Calico Arms had a thriving export market, given that a planet 70,000 light years away is buying their guns.

The Bad:
- You don't want to think too hard about the science... I mean, the elephant in the turbolift is that if they showed up at the planet to investigate the explosion, how could they cause... never mind. In light of that, the fact that a blast powerful enough to create a shockwave dozens of AU's in diameter would have disintegrated the planet, or that red dwarf stars aren't good for life anyway because their small habitable zone tends to tidally lock planets, or that... right.

 

[at Quark's]

Two more...

The Bad:
- You don't want to think too hard about the science... I mean, the elephant in the turbolift is that if they showed up at the planet to investigate the explosion, how could they cause... never mind.

I'm not sure you could call that point 'the elephant in the turbolift'. After all, the causality loop paradox is not something they ignore for story telling convenience, they fling it in our faces explicitly as the point of the episode (it's supposed to not make sense). The other things you mention, however, might qualify as such in my view.

In fact, I remember when seeing it the first time I thought it to be quite repetitious, because we already also got that to some extent in the episode just before this one too, Parallax, where they received their own emergency message before they sent it.

 

[BillJ]

“Alliances” - Star Trek: Voyager

Janeway throws shade at Chuckles and the Maquis about Starfleet values after getting used by a white guy with a sob story.

 

[BillJ]

“Meld”

Probably one of Voyager’s best. Tim Russ really gets to stretch his acting legs here.

 

[aquova]

Before and After

I really like the premise of the episode, that old Kes is traveling backwards in time. We get to see how the ship and crew have changed. Kes does a good job, and they take the opportunity to introduce some foreshadowing to Year of Hell (although from what I understand it's less deliberate foreshadowing and more "hey that's not a bad idea, we should reuse that"). The problem here is the execution, in particular with Kes's future family. I know her and Tom was a pairing they tried out for a while, and while I don't think anyone is crazy about it, it didn't hurt to try I suppose. What's really weird is the pairing between Harry and Tom/Kes's child. He married someone he knew as an infant only a few years prior. Kes's age never really bothered me as much as some other people, since they knew her since she was an adult, but I might rethink that position because this dynamic gave me the ick. It didn't help that Harry and the kid were really hamming it up. I do however like how while that timeline was erased, it wasn't a trick or illusion or anything, it did actually happen, which I think is a better resolution than some episodes.

All in all, interesting idea, perhaps the only time they really explored the repercussions of Kes's short lifespan, but a bit of a miss in the end.

 

[at Quark's]

Kes's age never really bothered me as much as some other people, since they knew her since she was an adult, but I might rethink that position because this dynamic gave me the ick.

While I share the feeling, it makes me wonder how some really long-lived species (such as El-Aurians - Guinan didn't even age noticeably during those 500 years between the 19th and 24th century) would view pairing up with a human. For all we know those of their own species below 200 years of age aren't even considered mature yet.

 

[Oddish]

The episode certainly explores the nature of human/Ocampa relationships. And by making the Ocampa lifespan genetically dominant, they are able to make it a multigenerational affair.

BASICS - Both Parts.

The Good:
- The Kazon plot, for those watching for the first time, is actually diabolically clever, and shows an understanding of Janeway (that she'll nuke the whole ship before giving it up). Typical of Seska.
- The dynamic between Cullah and Seska is interesting... she's smarter than he is, and he knows it. But, the male-dominated Kazon society requires that he at least appear to be running things.
- Suder is a surprisingly sympathetic character, considering his actions. I confess that I have yet to get through Tuvok's goodbye to him without crying.
- The "survival on the planet" sequence was an interesting change of pace. Poor Hogan, though... what a way to go.
- Some good lines. Including "I feel like we're being pecked to death by ducks!" and "I told you I don't have time for this!"

The Bad:
- A villain of Seska's caliber deserved a better end.
- I find it a little farfetched that Tom, in a shuttlecraft, was able to damage Voyager.
- The Kazon abandoned Voyager way too easily, too. Even though Suder killed about 10 of them, there were still about 80 more onboard. If one of them was willing to blow himself into oblivion to get the ship, surely a few more would fight to keep it.

 

[BillJ]

“Innocence”

Nice Tuvok episode.

 

[Oddish]

Riddles:
The Good:
- Tim Russ. He gets to play a very different Tuvok this episode, and he nails it. And while the opening scene is cringe inducing, it helps illustrate the difference between normal Tuvok and hurt Tuvok.
- Ethan Phillips. It's often been said that Neelix's being used only for comic relief did the character a disservice. And btw, Robert Picardo is fun as always.
- Those desserts. If I was going to be mysteriously transported to Voyager for one episode, I think it just might be this one, just for the food.
- The message. Seven had it right: sometimes, life throws you a curveball, and you have to find new strengths to play to.
- The final conundrum... Tuvok likes the person he's become. If he doesn't want to go back, does Janeway have the right to make him? Of course, she probably would have regardless...

The Bad:
- The Reset Button. In this episode, there's the potential for Tuvok to show some character growth, and his character to really evolve a bit. As opposed to just adding onto Neelix's riddle.
- The bad guy aliens... given that they had killed multiple people (possibly crews) in the past, they got off a bit too easy.

 

[Tosk]

Spirit Folk. I guess they went all-in on Fair Haven so quickly that they didn't realize yet that it was not a good idea. Nothing about the premise really works for me, when all they have to do is say, "Computer, make all the characters oblivious to anything not of their fictional world." You know, like the default setting the holodeck has been on for most of the times we've seen it. The show continues to pretend that these nothing characters are somehow worth preserving in their current state. If the idea was to present them as, "Look how far the Doctor has come, how can we deny them the same?" then in my opinion they failed miserably.

Collective. I'm not enamored of Borg eps, but I appreciate them trying different things. This one is just okay.

Memorial. This is one of those times where I think they really should have called it something else. The title plus a little context gives away the game too early. Otherwise it's pretty good. Some of the performances aren't quite there, but Mulgrew really sells her 'memory' of the event well.

Ashes to Ashes. Lost two years ago? How did she catch up when Voyager has jumped 10 years closer to home since then? Also later they say three years? Eh, whatever. I love the irony that Ensign Ballard is completely new, and we're supposed to pretend she always existed...but she's also more lively and interesting than a bunch of the regular cast. We lost Kes for Seven, I'd gladly give up a character to keep Lindsay.

Child's Play. I personally find many "proper" Borg episodes to be progressively more boring, but I do like stuff like this. The story is mainly a simple character drama based in the ripples of Borg activity. I especially like that this makes for a great "unofficial" two-parter with Collective. We get payoff here for that ep that we weren't necessarily expecting. Oddly enough, I associated the title with being a sub-par episode, quite happy to find that's not the case.

 

[Oddish]

SPIRIT FOLK:
- YES, I did watch it at 11:49 on New Year's Eve, and yes, Harry did smooch the cow right around midnight.

The Good:
- It really does have some funny moments. And I do enjoy a happy ending.

The Bad:
- One Fair Haven episode was probably enough. Indeed, some say one was one too many.
- B'Elanna actually had it right: Michael Sullivan could be reprogrammed. Tom and Harry couldn't.
- Uhhh... if the holodeck safeties were on, how could a holographic bullet destroy the holodeck controls?