Voyager 7x23 "Homestead"

rating: ***

the story: Neelix finds a colony of Talaxians.

what it's all about: For a character few fans admitted to liking, Neelix was always one of the best parts of the series, and he deserved a happy ending, which exactly what he gets in "Homestead."  The Neelix we first meet seems almost insufferably cheerful, but then his story becomes darker when the series reveals that his people the Talaxians suffered a devastating war that sent many of them, including Neelix, into permanent exile.  In other words, he was a refugee when we meet him.  His whole backstory was part of the intricate explanation for why the Delta Quadrant didn't have an organization similar to the Federation (the Alpha and Beta Quadrants) or the Dominion (the Gamma Quadrant), unless you count the Borg; again and again there were encounters with worlds that had been devastated by regional conflicts, and the survivors just trying to get by (even the villainous Kazon were part of this trend).  As a result, the crew often encountered nomads, famously as late as the Hirogen in the fourth season.  So it wasn't surprising if some of these nomadic peoples ended up appearing again later, after the crew had theoretically left them behind on the journey homeward.

Such is the happy development of finding a group of Talaxians, and what that means for Neelix.  Volunteering to assist the crew gave it an enduring link to the Delta Quadrant itself, a native who for a time knew the area when that kind of thing was at a premium.  Even if that knowledge eventually dried up in the third season, by that time Neelix had so thoroughly integrated himself into the crew, he was truly a part of the family.  And yet...ultimately he was being asked to go somewhere he'd be the fish out of water.  Certainly, there were never going to be other Talaxians in Federation space.

The logic and payoff of "Homestead" is sound, and it even gives Neelix a chance to show some of the newfound inner strength he'd gained over the years, something he'd lacked despite appearances to the contrary. 

But best of all?  His goodbye to Tuvok.  Here was a relationship that harkened back to another Vulcan with an associate his temperamental opposite, and yet Neelix and Tuvok had always had a unique rivalry and even grudging friendship.  If Tuvok actually had a smaller role than Neelix during the course of the series, it can easily be argued that if their scenes together were Tuvok's lasting legacy, it would still be a strong one, especially as he at last admits his affection for Neelix with just a little shake of the leg, one of the most effective in-character expressions of the whole franchise.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - This is a purely Voyager moment.
• series - A character who helped define Voyager says goodbye.
• character - For Neelix, a truly fond farewell.
• essential - A remarkable chance to see Voyager celebrate one of its own.

notable guest-stars:
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)

Voyager 7x11 "Shattered"

rating: ****

the story: Chakotay finds the ship shattered into different time periods.

what it's all about: Sure, "Shattered" is a bit like Next Generation's final episode, "All Good Things...," where Q has Picard hopping between the past, present and future, but it stands uniquely on its own as a clever and fun episode, revisiting various signposts from throughout Voyager's seven seasons.  We do see a future, where Icheb and Naomi have grown up and have become the second generation to run the ship, and we see Seven when she was still a Borg drone, and we see Janeway from just before "Caretaker" (first episode, dude). 

But my favorite part?  One last reprise of Seska.  Seska was the signature arc of the first two seasons, the Cardassian who posed as a Bajoran in order to infiltrate the Maquis, and thus betraying in her defection to the Kazon not only the crew as a whole, but Chakotay, with whom she'd been close.  She technically met her end in the third season premiere, "Basics, Part 2," but returned via a holodeck program she'd booby-trapped in "Worst Case Scenario" at the end that season.

For a second time, she gets another chance to finish the job, and really, it's just confirmation that Seska remains a signature villain of the series, in case anyone had forgotten or simply roped her in with her Kazon allies, whom many fans didn't really care for.

That it's a Chakotay episode is awesome, since he had nothing much to do with "Worst Case," nor "Basics, Part 2," despite being so important to the arc and character previously.  This was a point when he'd receded far into the background, and hadn't been particularly relevant except in his spotlight episodes since...basically the second season.  But Chakotay was king of spotlight episodes.  He could sell any concept, and seemed to get a good share of the truly interesting ones, like this one.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Shades of a classic final episode here.
• series - Reflects back on the journey without being a clip show, which is itself clever.
• character - Chakotay, and Seska, are well-served.
• essential - Seeing Seska again is a great reminder of how important she was to the show.

notable guest-stars:
Martha Hackett (Seska)
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)
Martin Rayner (Chaotica)

Voyager 5x26 "Equinox, Part 1"

rating: ****

the story: The crew come across another displaced Starfleet ship, which has made far different ethical decisions along the way...

what it's all about: "Equinox" is basically Voyager's last word on its critics who argue that the series was too soft in its premise.  Far more than "Year of Hell," which predicted the look of the BattleStar Galactica reboot, "Equinox" predicted its spirit.  Moral compromise is no stranger to this franchise (watch Deep Space Nine's "In the Pale Moonlight"), but it's the idealism Gene Roddenberry first envisioned that should always be at its heart. That's what Voyager was about from the very beginning, a series about a crew that might've compromised its idealism but chose at every opportunity not to.  Well, there apparently was another ship that went the other way.

The true impact of "Equinox" became crystalized in the second part, the sixth season premiere that launched a whole new volley of criticism against the series that endured the whole season, once Janeway chose a response to her counterpart, Captain Ransom.  That's another episode, though. 

This one is merely the setup, in which the crew once again makes an unlikely season-ending discovery (in the spirit of "Hope and Fear" a season earlier, with that fake Starfleet supership that was going to get them home near-instantly), not just awareness of another crew but the crew itself.  That crew has a lot of famous faces in it (yet another cause for complaints, because we never do see any of them again past the second part), as you'll see in the guest-star listing.  Titus Welliver, in particular, would go on to greater exposure after appearing here, including Lost, a series that endlessly reinvented itself with basically the same premise as Voyager: being stranded in the middle of nowhere.  Just imagine if Star Trek had totally broken its model to follow a formula like that!  And ironically, Lost co-creator JJ Abrams would later initiate the big screen revamp...

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Challenges fans to consider what Star Trek is really all about.
• series - Gives the crew a stark look in the mirror.
• character - Janeway's biggest challenge, and most personal.
• essential - Simply put, required viewing.

notable guest-stars:
John Savage (Ransom)
Titus Welliver
Rick Worthy
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)

Voyager 5x16 "Dark Frontier, Part 2"

rating: ****

the story: Seven struggles to free herself from the Borg Queen's clutches.

what it's all about: The conclusion to the audacious story that seeks to expand the significance of Voyager's Borg stories, this half is all about the Borg Queen having Seven question why she gained back her individuality, and whether or not she can become the new human collaborator the Collective needs to contend with pesky humanity.

Having Seven and the Borg Queen interact so closely is a little like what First Contact teased about what we didn't see in Next Generation's "Best of Both Worlds," Picard's original experiences with the Borg Queen.  What sets "Dark Frontier" apart is, of course, that Seven spent years assimilated as an ordinary drone rather than how Picard spent a limited time as a special kind of Borg mouthpiece.  The whole thing is almost Voyager's second attempt at a major continuing arc, transforming "Scorpion" into an opening act that eventually ends with the last episode of the series, "Endgame," in which there's a final reckoning between the ship and the Borg Queen, who seems as much interested in assimilation as she is playing chess.  Like the Kazon arc of the first two seasons, it's all about mental maneuvering.  The Borg arc will continue at the end of the next season and beginning of the seventh, "Unimatrix Zero," which borrows the idea of Seven secretly working against the Borg from within, as she does here.

"Dark Frontier" is the only "event" midseason two-parter of the fifth season, but it certainly makes the most of it by tackling arguably the most ambitious story Voyager attempted with the concept.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A big Borg story.
• series - Redefines the Borg in Voyager as a major new arc, plus gives the crew another boost homeward.
• character - Seven steps into Picard's role and offers new insights into his experiences.
• essential - One of the most ambitious stories of the series and, arguably, franchise.

notable guest-stars:
Susanna Thompson (Borg Queen)
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)

Voyager 5x15 "Dark Frontier, Part 1"

rating: ****

the story: The Borg Queen comes calling for Seven.

what it's all about: "Dark Frontier" is likely responsible for much of fan angst over Voyager's use of the Borg. It not only brings back First Contact's Borg Queen (portrayed by a different actress), but it seems to retcon early human contact with the Collective.

Let's get the second point out of the way first.  Next Generation clearly featured a couple of traumatic early encounters with the Borg.  It's worth remembering, however, that as early as the first season, the presence of the Borg was being teased well before they made their actual first appearance.  The backstory of Seven's parents investigating the Borg, then, doesn't seem so outlandish.  Clearly their efforts ended in disaster, assimilation, and so their activities have no tangible effect on Picard's experiences with the Borg. 

The appearance of the Borg Queen seems to be more problematic, but in First Contact she makes numerous vague comments about her existence that she claims simply isn't as easy to comprehend as might be assumed.  While seeing her again might seem to cheapen Picard's victory over her (and a rather grisly death scene), it's not necessary to view it that way.  Like most fan opinions about the greater franchise, you're absolutely free to think what you like.  It's just as likely that there's a kind of DNA template the Borg Queen uses to modify new hosts; being the central figure in the Collective she's certainly entitled to such perks.  It's no stretch to assume her memory can be easily downloaded from body to body.

Anyway, "Dark Frontier" also has Janeway plan another audacious plan against the Borg, and that in itself would be problematic for some fans, even though Next Generation did that, too, which is how Picard stopped being Locutus, after all.

I choose to interpret all this, as I do all of Voyager's Borg episodes, as a wonderful continuation of a rich ongoing story about one of the franchise's most distinct elements. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The Borg are back!
• series - Back in the franchise, back in this show!
• character - Seven explores her backstory as she actively dreads returning to the Collective.
• essential - Viewed by its own merits, this is rich material.

notable guest-stars:
Susanna Thompson (Borg Queen)
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)

Voyager 5x14 "Bliss"

rating: **

the story: The ship falls victim to an anomaly that feeds on the crew's fondest desires.

what it's all about: Fun fact!  This episode was written by Bill Prady, who later co-created The Big Bang Theory, a sitcom filled with characters who love stuff like Star Trek (including one episode where a classic Spock action figure allows Leonard Nimoy to make one of the most unique guest appearances ever).

Beyond that, "Bliss" is a lot like the earlier "Persistence of Vision," but even more than that, it almost seems like an ode to the classic original series episodes "The Cage" and "The Doomsday Machine," with perennial guest star W. Morgan Sheppard putting one of his best appearances as the alien who helps the crew understand what's going on as he continues battling the phenomenon himself...and deciding he'd rather continue with the experience than break free like he helps the crew.  More than the main characters, including Seven and Naomi Wildman, who technically are the featured stars of the episode, "Bliss" is in fact best viewed as a Sheppard spotlight.  The man always had one of the most unique voices ever heard in the franchise, but here he seems to have finally found the role that does it justice.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - "Bliss" is like an ode to "The Doomsday Machine" mixed with "The Cage."
• series - It also duplicates the earlier "Persistence of Vision."
• character - You don't really need to care that it stars Seven.
• essential - Because it's the best franchise appearance of W. Morgan Sheppard.

notable guest-stars:
W. Morgan Sheppard
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)

Voyager 5x11 "Latent Image"

rating: ****

the story: The Doctor realizes his memories have been tampered with.

what it's all about: "Latent Image" is the "Measure of a Man" of Voyager.  "Measure" was the breakthrough Next Generation episode in which Data's rights as an individual were put on trial, a second season story that was among the first moments that series proved its dramatic potential by exploring original new depths.  It came to symbolize Star Trek's concept of artificial life, and became the measuring stick by which all other such explorations were compared, and basically, fans have decided that it remains the measuring stick. 

And yet..."Latent Image" surpasses it.  In hindsight, "Measure" takes a lot of things for granted.  Data is assumed to have won his place among the hearts of his crew from the very first time we see him.  While Riker stands as opposing council in the trial, he is portrayed as distraught over the role, because he doesn't believe what he's arguing, even after he discovers what he believes is a convincing final statement.  It may or may not be worth noting that it's Riker who first encounters Data in Next Generation's pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint," and helps establish Data's Pinocchio complex for the audience. 

Voyager always presented its holographic Doctor in an uphill battle.  Unlike Data, the Doctor was originally created for a specific purpose, and there were already others of his exact model (as we have confirmed in First Contact) in service, and the only reason why he gains a measure of independence from that purpose is because there's no choice in the matter; the ship has no other medical officers once it becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant and loses much of its original crew complement.  The more time he spends in operation, the more he's able to cultivate himself, and the more real he becomes, since he retains all his experiences.  He becomes an individual by default.

But the crew doesn't always see him that way.  "Latent Image" presents a clear dilemma.  The Doctor becomes inoperable when he agonizes over an impossible decision and can't recover from still having to make it.  The crew needs a medical officer, and can't really afford to lose the only one it has left, so a decision is made to erase his memories of the incident.  But then he's reminded of what happened, and the whole things starts over again, only this time...he knows what the crew did to him the last time.

It's the act of betrayal that deepens "Latent Image."  How far is the crew willing to go?  Janeway makes the choice to let the Doctor complete his struggle, to help give him context, to let him know that struggle is part of the experience he's gotten himself into since first going into long-term service, since becoming an individual.  The episode makes no more concrete case for whether or not all artificial lifeforms deserve the same rights the Doctor is slowly winning or that Data won, in "Measure."  In the final season, he has another massive battle on his hands in "Author, Author," not only from Alpha Quadrant denizens who have no personal familiarity with him, but once again the crew itself.  But in terms of the crew, it's something he brings on himself, while with the outsiders, it's something that touches on the greater picture at last (the suffrage movement, in essence), and their ability to know they're not alone, will be able to fight for themselves, in unison.

Anyway, the ending of "Latent Image" is the most haunting.  Janeway leaves the Doctor alone in the holodeck, reading a book about identity by Dante, and he begins to quote from it.  The image is inconclusive, but Janeway's willingness to cooperate with his struggle mirrors her efforts with Seven to break away from the Borg hive mentality, to assert her individuality.  These are deep matters, and Voyager is not typically associated with deep matters.  Episodes like "Latent Image" suggest maybe this is wrong.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The familiar struggle of Data is revisited.
• series - Demonstrates the true depth of Voyager's storytelling.
• character - The Doctor's finest hour.
• essential - Where you normally expect a classic to be bold in its conclusions, this is one of them that goes in the other direction.

notable guest-stars:
Scarlett Pomers (Naomi)

Voyager 5x7 "Infinite Regress"

rating: ***

the story: Seven embodies the lives of multiple drones before they were assimilated.

what it's all about: The plot itself can be found in the bones of other episodes, and might come off as too gimmicky to take seriously, but there's a lot of significance below the surface, which I will attempt to unpack.

The first is that "Infinite Regress" actually serves as a kind of prequel to next season's "Child's Play," in which Icheb, another former Borg drone to end up with the crew, is revealed to have an origin much like the one used to justify the gimmick here.  The gimmick, then, is another terrific expression of the ways Delta Quadrant natives react to the existence of the Borg.  Previously, and no doubt stubborn fans will cling to the idea, it might have seemed natural there was no adapting to life among the Borg, since assimilation was surely inevitable.  But dating back to the fourth season finale, "Hope and Fear," Voyager had already mined some ripe storytelling ground from the subject.  "Child's Play" doesn't seem to have been linked to "Regress," but clearly the ideas are similar, and they have considerable merit regardless, demonstrating an exceedingly clever way to turn "I, Borg" from Next Generation on its head.  In that episode, Picard inadvertently "poisons" a Borg cube's Collective (as suggested in the later "Descent," it was across the entire Collective, but the idea was later rescinded, starting with First Contact).  But if you can't damage the whole thing, surely it's worth striking out at the cubes knocking at your door.

The second is that while it may not be much of a Seven spotlight, given that nothing here really has anything to do with her so much of something she experiences (giving Jeri Ryan something interesting to do, at any rate), it's instead a wonderful follow-up for Naomi Wildman, who a few episodes earlier ("Once Upon a Time") had taken on new significance with the permanent casting of Scarlet Pomers in the role.  Naomi was part of a tradition of youthful characters in the franchise, characters with a mixed bag of results.  Age-wise she was similar to Next Generation's Alexander, but as of "Regress," she demonstrates the ambition of that series' Wesley Crusher.  Only, she's not as cloying as either of them.  Rather, Naomi manages to humanize the concept, and is the rare character who doesn't let Seven's Borg connection dominate her image.  The two end the episode bonding.  This was always the Voyager method.  If it was mostly an episodic series, where stories began and ended more or less in a single episode (aside from the first two seasons), Voyager took the original series approach of making sure the main characters always reflected in some way on how the events affected them.  If Kirk and his pals would end an episode with a quip, Voyager did it with scenes like this.  This was a crew that knew it only had each other, so there was rarely a moment lost to show it.  It gave the series a truly unheralded depth.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Interesting take on living near Borg.
• series - Anticipates a later episode.
• character - Advances Naomi Wildman's character.
• essential - At its heart still pretty formulaic.

notable guest-stars:
Scarlet Powers (Naomi)

Voyager 5x5 "Once Upon a Time"

rating: ***

the story: Neelix keeps Naomi company while the crew awaits word on the fate of her mother.

what it's all about: Like Next Generation's Alexander before her, Naomi Wildman made a few appearances before her most recognizable and longest-running portrayer, Scarlet Pomers, debuted in the role.  This, then, is sort of the unofficial official debut of the character. 

After a series of heavy episodes that kicked off the season, "Once Upon a Time" is lightweight material, and it knows it, and doesn't try to be anything more than lightweight material, sort of like how Deep Space Nine followed its initial round of Dominion War episodes with a definite change of pace.  Where this might have been the slot for an episode that slipped through the cracks, merely undeveloped in comparison to its predecessors, "Once" was deliberately crafted for its role in the early season.

Young actors, and in conjunction young characters, in the franchise have a spotty record.  Next Generation found its Wesley Crusher experiment to be one of the defining elements of its uneven early seasons.  Later, Alexander was purposefully downplayed, appearing sporadically even after he'd come to live with his father, Worf.  In Deep Space Nine, Jake and Nog spent their early appearances depicted as pranksters until they'd reached maturity, at which point they moved on to mature material.  Age-wise Naomi was most similar to Alexander, and yet she was approached differently, not as a source of conflict but as the embodiment of what the crew around her might have to accept as its future: children who would be raised to replace them.  In a lot of ways, it's an idea that finally made sense of Next Generation's ship that inexplicably allowed family aboard despite the possible dangers its crew faced on a routine basis.

And you can see that play out in "Once," as it's literally about Naomi handling her mother's possible death.  It's also an episode that allows Neelix to spend time with someone who doesn't think he's as annoying as, well, the audience, who accepts him for who and what he is, including a guy who brings a lot of baggage with him.  At one point, he talks about the loss of his own family, an element of the character that seems rudely overlooked by fans. 

And yeah, it's kind of a holodeck episode, too, but the entire premise is explained well enough that this isn't really the point of the episode, for a change.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A holodeck episode that's not really about the holodeck, but about the cost of having family in the crew, a resonant topic in Star Trek.
• series - It may not impact the course of Voyager's future, but it still has plenty going for it.
• character - It's a Neelix spotlight, but it also explains the character of Naomi Wildman nicely.
• essential - It's a nice reminder that this really is a series that cares about its characters.

notable guest-stars:
Scarlet Pomers (Naomi Wildman)
Nancy Hower (Samantha Wildman)
Wallace Langham

Voyager 6x25 "The Haunting of Deck Twelve"

*

Neelix got very little to do during the sixth season, and the closest he got to his own episode (besides "Riddles," which he shares with Tuvok) was this entry, which is him telling a story to the young passengers (which at this point was certainly swelling), and the story turns out to be a fairly generic Star Trek tale.  Worth watching but not remembering, really.

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
Zoe McLellan
Scarlet Pomers

Memory Alpha summary.