Voyager 7x25/7x26 "Endgame"

rating: ****

the story: The crew faces one last great shortcut home...but it goes through the Borg and...Admiral Janeway?

what it's all about: Like the rest of the series, Voyager's final episode proved controversial, difficult to like among fans.  Some of them merely singled out parallel elements from Next Generation's finale (a new relationship: Chakotay and Seven/Worf and Troi; a degenerative illness: Tuvok/Picard; a time travel element, different time periods), and thought it merely derivative.  Some were actually upset they didn't get to see just a little more, the crew reuniting with family.  Some were, as they'd been since the third season, upset that the series was still pretending it had something to say about the Borg.  And some still just didn't like Janeway, much less two of them.

To which I say: humbug.  It's surprising, really, how many of Star Trek fan complaints amount to so much humbug, a stubborn insistence to be grumpy, a trend that has grown more and more prevalent among fan cultures of any extraction in recent years, and so Voyager ought to celebrate being at the vanguard of such a movement, no matter how dubious the honor.

I say humbug, too, because this is a perfect ending to the series.  It is a parallel, to the first episode of Voyager.  Janeway has to make a difficult decision that will determine when they get home.  In "Caretaker," she makes a principled stand, a correctly Starfleet one, that strands her ship seventy thousand lightyears from home, so that if it took the full length of time none of the crew would be alive to actually reach it, that it would end up being a generational journey.  By the end of the series, two children had been born into the crew, Naomi Wildman and Miral Paris, whose birth actually occurs in "Endgame."  Throughout the series, Janeway had also struggled with that original decision, notably in "The 37s" and "Night." 

"Endgame" is a chance to revisit it, and once and for all determine whether she made the right call.  But she has help this time.  Namely, herself.  Future Janeway, or as she's known Admiral Janeway, has actually once and for decided she made the wrong one.  Ultimately, one of them has to pay the price.  It might seem cheap for it to be Admiral Janeway, since her timeline ends up being erased anyway, but this is a franchise that has long celebrated such sacrifices, most memorably in Deep Space Nine's "The Visitor," and even in Voyager's own "Timeless," which "Endgame" also parallels and serves as a spiritual sequel.  In that one, it's an older Harry Kim who goes back to fix things, and it's the best Harry appearance of the series.  While Janeway can't quite claim that honor with "Endgame," it's still among her strongest episodes, precisely because it does force her to decide, once and for all, if she was right in "Caretaker."  It's a bold call to say she thinks, at least, that she wasn't.  But she also has an opportunity she didn't then, the classic "have your cake and eat it, too," which results in a dramatically memorable trip home in a metaphorical belly of the whale, a Borg cube that the ship quickly emerges from...in home territory at last.

For a series that long chased truly cinematic moments, knowing like Deep Space Nine before it that there were likely no movies in its future, it's a truly achieved objective.  Getting Alice Krige to reprise the Borg Queen one last time, regardless of whether or not it's a final defeat of the Borg, at least gives the series another long-held objective of giving Janeway a defining win over the Collective, building on everything that had come before it. 

All that and more is why I love "Endgame," and the series around it.  It's a strong final episode, arguably the most appropriate one of the whole franchise, accomplishing in grand fashion what might have been inevitable, but never guaranteed to be so memorable. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A series finale that completes the story exactly as expected but still manages to surprise.  In that sense, totally unique in Star Trek lore.
• series - Parallels the very first episode in a deliberate fashion.
• character - Allows Janeway to finish an argument she's had with herself since the beginning.
• essential - To see how the crew gets home, especially that spectacular final sequence, really has to be seen to be believed.

notable guest-stars:
Kate Mulgrew (Admiral Janeway)
Ethan Phillips (Neelix)
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)
Richard Herd (Admiral Paris)
Dwight Schultz (Barclay)
Alice Krige (Borg Queen)
Vaughn Armstrong

Voyager 7x24 "Renaissance Man"

rating: *

the story: The Doctor is forced to work against the crew.

what it's all about: At its heart, "Renaissance Man" is a throwaway screwball adventure, playing fast and loose with Voyager conventions.  And it's not really meant to be anything else, just a fun way to experience the penultimate, final regular episode of the series.  Briefly, you get a sense that it's also intended to take the Doctor down a peg, in a lighthearted manner, one last chance to see him stick his foot in his mouth, as he does when he makes a grand confession in front of the crew when he thinks his program will be lost forever...

Of course that doesn't happen!  But it's also a kind of cheap way to say goodbye to arguably Voyager's best character, in total humiliation.  I realize the series gave him plenty of opportunities to grow, and they were among the best episodes the show ever produced, and you don't need to take this particular one seriously, that it's designed not to be, but...

Anyway, the episode also features the "Potatoheads," as some fans affectionately named them, aliens otherwise known as the Hierarchy, of all the memorable species to appear in Voyager perhaps the ones only the true fans are going to appreciate.  So it's also fitting that they enjoy a final spotlight here.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - This is the kind of episode that won't necessarily convert someone into a fan of Voyager.
• series - Although it might almost be considered a classic romp.  Or pure nonsense.
• character - The most definitive thing that can be said about it is that it's a Doctor spotlight, and it doesn't, like all his episodes, make light of the opportunity.
• essential - Although it doesn't necessarily take him seriously, either.  Which again, is something that's open to interpretation.

notable guest-stars:
Alexander Enberg (Vorik)

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 7x22 "Natural Law"

rating: **

the story: Chakotay and Seven end up marooned together.

what it's all about: The plot of "Natural Law" is itself interesting.  As with episodes from throughout the original series and Next Generation, there's an alien culture that has been protected by some ancient force from the outside world.  This is pertinent to Voyager, too, in a way that probably needs to be pointed out.  Of course, had Kes still been around, it wouldn't be necessary, but she isn't, so here it is: this is the exact setup of the Ocampa in the pilot, too.  I don't think this was coincidence.  In a way, it's a chance for the crew to atone for one of its original sins.

More significantly, it's the second of three times this season Chakotay and Seven are associated with each other.  In "Human Error," earlier, Seven considers Chakotay to be a potential romantic partner.  The final episode ("Endgame") reveals that this does in fact happen.  How?  Well, it's not hard to guess that "Natural Law" plays a big part.  Fans have been reluctant to acknowledge this because the episode itself doesn't admit any such connection, and so they consider it irrelevant and a missed opportunity.  But in a lot of ways, it's exactly as it should be.  For the series itself, it makes sense.  Voyager, after considerable serialization in the first two seasons, backed off the approach and became more episodic, although retaining the ability to build on developments from episode to episode, whether in Seven's overall arc or also beginning in the fourth season, contact with home, how it happened and eventually expanded.  This is really no different.  It fits for both characters, too.  Chakotay and Seven were atypically introverted for Star Trek characters.  Picard, and to a slightly lesser extent Worf, in Next Generation was, too, and yet as captain and a proudly intellectual individual it seemed easier to accept in him.  Odo in Deep Space Nine was as well, and yet he had a long association with Kira that allowed a constant window into his psyche.  Chakotay had had romantic tension with Janeway, and a tragic relationship with Seska, until he retreated almost completely inward.  Seven's journey was always a personal one, even if she had guidance along the way.  In the end there was no one she trusted more than herself.  It's not hard to see the attraction of someone as calm as Chakotay, especially once she spent time with him on a mission like this one.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Plot harkens back to storytelling from multiple series.
• series - Unless you see the Ocampa analogy, it's easy to miss.
• character - Chakotay and Seven have a chance to bond.
• essential - It weakens the episode not to overtly make connections, but it doesn't completely diminish it.

Voyager 7x21 "Friendship One"

rating: **

the story: The crew receives its first official mission in seven years.

what it's all about: What on the surface looks like a generic episode actually has a good amount going for it.  The first is right there in that brief summary above: the crew has a Starfleet mission!  This is a pretty big deal.  Context is everything.  These episodes, previously, were things the crew chose to do, or stumbled into.  Normal Starfleet operations are, of course, a matter of assignment, which this crew couldn't do, being cut off from Starfleet entirely and then Starfleet's ability to provide any useful intel.  The mission turns out to be fairly routine, until the crew discovers there are complications.  Enterprise, later, would have a similar episode, "Terra Nova," and this actually works in favor of both.  Both are series with crews in relative isolation, facing situations where they're following up on prior events with unexpected results.

Anyway, fans didn't much appreciate any of that, some quite obviously, as Enterprise didn't exist at the time.  They were pretty miffed that Lieutenant Carey, a somewhat defining supporting character of the early episodes, reappeared only to be unceremoniously killed off.  I never really got that.  That he appeared again at all was surely a nice little gift.  This wouldn't even have been the first time the series got rid of a supporting character like that, Hogan at the start of the third season.  Both of them fairly generic Starfleet officers who put in a few appearances but otherwise didn't hugely distinguish themselves except by circumstances.  It'd be like fans getting upset at a similar recurring character from Deep Space Nine's first season, a Starfleet officer who appeared a few times but unless you do the research you wouldn't be able to identity them, even though they were a recurring character in a series known for its recurring characters.  Carey's legacy, in about the same amount of episodes, was still familiar enough with fans for them to react this way.  Sometimes initial reactions ought to be reconsidered.  The facts will speak for themselves. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - An interesting way to recalibrate a typical episodic adventure.
• series - And an interesting way to recalibrate a typical Voyager episodic adventure.
• character - Not designed as a spotlight for any particular character.
• essential - To the fans' point, if someone had decided to shape the whole story around Carey, it would certainly have improved the episode.

notable guest-stars:
Josh Clark (Carey)

Voyager 7x20 "Author, Author"

rating: ****

the story: The Doctor writes a holonovel, but trying to get it published ends up putting his legal rights on trial.

what it's all about: For most fans, Next Generation's "The Measure of a Man" was the definitive look at the rights of artificial lifeforms.  It movingly explores Data's fight against a Starfleet engineer who wants to dismantle and study him, culminating in a trial in which Riker is forced to argue against and Picard has an unexpected uphill battle arguing for him.  A lot of its impact comes from the fact that it's perceived as an outlier of the show's first two seasons, the first time fans saw dramatic worth in the series.  Whatever else can be said about it, "Measure" cast a long shadow, and created an entirely different challenge for the third series of this era, Voyager, when it included in its cast an artificial lifeform, too, the holographic Doctor.

Where Data's primary motivation throughout Next Generation was to better evoke the trappings of humanity, throughout Voyager the Doctor had to struggle for basic recognition and freedom, things Data in his series had always taken for granted, outside of experiences like "Measure" and "The Offspring."  Data's challenges always came from outside the crew around him, whereas the Doctor, whose crew was necessarily cut off from the rest of Starfleet for the majority of the series, most frequently struggled against his own crew.  "Author, Author" is actually an exception, the first and only time he experienced something directly comparable to Data's struggles, which is why "Measure of a Man" is so relevant to it.  If "Measure" had already scored a landmark victory for artificial lifeforms...what was the point of another such story?

Well, aside from the matter of self-determination, which was at the heart of "Measure," the nature of Data's victory and how it contrasts with the Doctor's trial are worth examining.  Data was for all intents and purposes the only one of his kind.  His trial was exclusively about him, and what it created for other artificial lifeforms was a precedent.  By the time we meet the Doctor in Voyager, we already know there are other medical holograms serving in Starfleet, all of them subjected to direct activation upon request, which the Doctor uniquely circumvents due to circumstances.  As the series progresses, and even as we see in Deep Space Nine, Starfleet continues advancing the medical hologram initiative with new models.  Apparently models from the Doctor's initial generation of medical holograms aren't merely deleted and replaced, but repurposed.  That they aren't outright deleted is a small victory.  They're still considered, as a class, completely subservient, as Picard feared in "Measure" in effect slaves within the system.  They have not been granted self-determination. 

And why?  Well, that's what the episode is all about.  It's also about the Doctor's rights aboard the ship, too, his ability to voice himself creatively, and what that means to the rest of the crew, and how he's capable of acknowledging that.  These are all considerable developments for him, too.  After "Latent Image," "Author" is the most significant episode to feature his progress as a member of the crew and an individual.

It's also an episode that fans ought to keep in mind in relation to the final episode.  Like "Human Error" before it, "Author" is classic Voyager in that it's episodic and serialized storytelling at the same time, meaning you can watch it and see a complete story, but it also works within the greater framework of the series, so that it builds and comments on developments from other episodes.  The crew had gained the ability to have limited interaction with home all the way back in the fourth season, but "Author" lets us see them enjoy actual conversations with family.  Fans critical of the final episode, where the crew reaches home but fans don't get to see home, should appreciate what "Author" does, letting us overhear some of the very conversations the full reunions later would entail.

It's a landmark episode all around, the last great episode of the series before the finale.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Starfleet's view on artificial lifeforms as it exists after "The Measure of a Man."
• series - The crew enjoys conversations with family back home.
• character - This is exactly where the Doctor stands both with the crew and Starfleet.
• essential - It's highly enlightening.

notable guest-stars:
Richard Herd (Admiral Paris)
Dwight Schultz (Barclay)

Voyager 7x19 "Q2"

rating: ***

the story: Q's son proves every bit as out-of-control as his old man.

what it's all about: "Death Wish" was a Q episode every fan seemed to agree on as worthy of continuing the legacy.  "The Q and the Grey" less so.  "Q2" ended up being known, if at all, as yet another example of Voyager being somewhat pointless to the overall franchise legacy.  And yet, popular opinion isn't always right.  "Q and the Grey" was an episode that Next Generation never quite got around to, despite ample evidence that Q had represented the Continuum as less than a well-functioning machine, many times over.  It presented these being as collectively identifiable, continuing the work of "Death Wish" in more ways than one.  A lot of fans were just angry that Q cared at all about Janeway and her crew, that if he had anything to resolve, it really ought to have been done with Picard, his most famous rival.  And yet, any cursory examination of Q and Picard's encounters will admit their intellectual nature, whereas Janeway, as she had with her crew as a whole, presented a familial quality.  Long story short: Janeway stuck her neck out for Seven, the most obvious single example.  Q figured, he could trust his problems with someone like that.  And yeah, it made for a totally different storytelling dynamic, if he could have sexual tension with his sparring partner.  (Sisko took sparring quite literally, you'll recall.)

Anyway, "Q2" is a revisit of the basic Q template, removing all the heavy implications of the two previous Voyager episodes and seeing what it looked like...from his son's point of view.  This son was conceived in "Q and the Grey," remember, four seasons earlier.  In typically sped-up Star Trek childhood fashion (and also, because he's a Q), he's a teenager now.  So this is actually an Icheb episode, the last real opportunity, and really, the first time Icheb just gets to be a teenager, as Q's son bonds with him (odd couple syndrome), and they become entangled in Q's efforts to get his kid to...be less like him. 

And that's really the strength of the episode.  Q certainly could never admit that kind of vulnerability to Picard.  Yet, all three Voyager appearances have him on the defensive, which arguably was Q at his best (see Next Generation's "Deja Q," the template for this one).  But getting him to admit vulnerability?  That was kind of the whole point of his Voyager arc, and why this culmination was actually necessary, as it gives him that chance, and being able to save face, too.  Because it's, y'know, his son who has to admit it.  Technically.

It can seem a little disappointing, that the last Q episode actually features someone other than John de Lancie as the featured Q.  At least it's de Lancie's son, too.  That counts for something!

criteria analysis:

• franchise - It's the last Q episode!
• series - The final of three Voyager Q episodes completes the arc nicely.
• character - It's actually an Icheb spotlight, and a welcome one at that.
• essential - Of course, it's hard not to admit that in the best of all possible worlds, John de Lancie's final appearance in the role might have been a spotlight for, y'know, John de Lancie.

notable guest-stars:
John de Lancie (Q)
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)
Keegan de Lancie (Q2)

Voyager 7x18 "Human Error"

rating: ****

the story: Seven simulates a romance with Chakotay.

what it's all about: The idea of the holodeck was a staple throughout Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.  It was such a staple of this era that fans actually grew to hate it.  If "Ferengi episodes" was a distinctly Deep Space Nine epitaph, then "holograph episode" surely was one across all three series.  But I think most of them justify their existence thematically, even when concepts overlap.  One of the early distinctive holodeck adventures was Reg Barclay's introduction in Next Generation's "Hollow Pursuits," in which he tries to compensate poor social skills with a lively holodeck life.  Voyager later saw The Doctor create a whole holodeck family in "Real Life."  Both were about creating a fake existence outside of the real world that only damaged ability to judge experiences with objective clarity.  "Human Error" is that same kind of experience.

However, it's not particularly an episode that has stood out for fans.  One of the reasons is that the idea of Seven and Chakotay in a relationship seems to be dropped at the end of the episode, only to be picked up again, randomly, in "Endgame," the series finale.  This was likely viewed as one of Voyager's many creative sins.  Fans thought the series did this all the time.  Very few of them seemed willing to give Voyager the benefit of the doubt in how it reached decisions like this.  It looked like Worf and Troi, finally, in a romantic relationship in Next Generation's series finale, "All Good Things...," and because there had been an episode where Seven considered the possibility but rejected it, this one, it just felt all the more random, barely justified.

And, no doubt, fans still clung to "Someone to Watch Over Me."  This is a fifth season episode that's been routinely cited as one of Voyager's best.  On the surface it's a similar story to "Human Error."  Seven experiments with social interaction and romance with The Doctor.  It's actually more of a Doctor episode than a Seven episode, as it ends with him realizing that he's probably not winning her heart despite all his efforts to be there for her.  She remains completely oblivious to his feelings.  The effect is heartbreaking.  For me, it's not even one of my favorite Doctor episodes, although it's certainly a worthy character study and a notable bonding experience for someone who often yearned for such things. 

"Human Error" is different, as it is Seven actively exploring social life and romance.  She's reached a point in the series where her personal growth is an inward journey rather than something she's struggling against, which is where it began in the fourth season.  Where The Doctor from the day he was first activated was complaining about his limitations, Seven complained about her newfound possibilities, so that where The Doctor always found room for growth and welcomed it, sometimes with too much enthusiasm, Seven always struggled.  Hers was an internal experience.  Seven was always an introvert, The Doctor an extrovert.  Perception of Seven usually begins and ends with her physical attributes, and yet she was never treated as a mere object of sexual desire.  She was the perfect embodiment of Gene Roddenberry's two greatest interests, humanity and sexuality.  Fans might have soured on sexuality as a defining feature in Star Trek, but humanity remained, and remains, its truest, deepest focus, and Seven was an ideal instrument to explore it.

Putting all that together, Seven's experiments in the holodeck are more akin to Data yearning to be more human, and yet his mechanics constantly getting in the way.  Often when he'd attempt a breakthrough it'd backfire with unexpected consequences.  While Seven's daydreaming in "Human Error" isn't nearly as literal as Data's in "Phantasms," it also feels more organic, and all the more troubling that a creature of habit has allowed her usual extreme professionalism to be compromised.

All of which is to say, "Human Error" is about as important a Seven episode as there ever was, and it speaks to a lot of franchise lore and experience.  It's a classic.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A deceptively key holodeck experience.
• series - The episodic/serialized nature of Voyager can be unlocked by an experience like this.
• character - Seven's journey of discovery reaches a climax.
• essential - It's the point where she finally rediscovers her humanity.

notable guest-stars:
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)

Voyager 7x17 "Workforce, Part 2"

rating: ***

the story: The crew struggles to free itself from an alien world that has attempted to draft everyone into its, well, workforce.

what it's all about: The first half of "Workforce" evoked Next Generation's "Conundrum," the classic where Picard's crew's memory is wiped by an alien attempting to draft it into a war.  The second half is reminiscent of another, "Frame of Mind," where Riker's mental state is questioned so that his mission is derailed.  It's all about how exactly the crew breaks free from various efforts to keep them part of the workforce.  Mostly, it's would-be hero Chakotay being sidelined by the aliens' efforts to thwart him.

The funny thing that happens along the way is that the aliens actually take over much of the narrative in this second half, between the ones helping the crew, the ones investigating things, and the ones trying to keep things running as they have been.  Since these are aliens we'll never see again, it dampens some of the impact of the story, as does the possibility of one last great Janeway/Chakotay story, which seemed to have been set up but never happens, much like their relationship in the rest of the series.  Well, maybe the producers were worried about confusing Chakotay's future prospects with Seven.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Reminiscent of "Frame of Mind."
• series - Draws on the possibilities of Voyager's premise.
• character - Seven ends up the one driving the conclusion.
• essential - Despite a solid conclusion, it also makes clear what might have been done differently.

notable guest-stars:
James Read
Jay Harrington

Voyager 7x16 "Workforce, Part 1"

rating: ***

the story: The crew has been pressed into service on an alien world, with their memories wiped.

what it's all about: I actually just realized that "Workforce" is kind of like Next Generation's "Conundrum," a classic where an alien wipes the memories of Picard's crew in order to engineer a diabolical plot against his enemies.  "Workhorse" has a far less negative plot, but the mechanics are similar.  Most of the characters are given a chance to exist free of their usual duties, so that the viewer is able to discover them anew.  Unlike "Conundrum," there isn't a radical departure in relationships or behaviors, which is another way to distinguish them.

As a Voyager-specific story, it works really well.  In Federation space this would be fair less likely to happen to a Starfleet crew, certainly in this era, which is the whole point of setting a series far away from familiar territory.  In some ways, this is similar to when the Kazon abandoned the crew on an alien world between the second and third seasons (or even when Ferengi board Archer's ship in Enterprise's "Acquisition"), but clearly the story is, again, different.  It's also another excellent sign that even in its seventh season Voyager can still exploit its premise creatively.

Tuvok, Chakotay, and The Doctor all get a chance to shine.  Being a Vulcan, Tuvok has the ability to pierce the fog they've been placed in.  It's an opportunity to see him function in much the way Spock used to, in a way he rarely got to, having to wait for his chances far more often.  Chakotay, meanwhile, who often ends up on more or less solo missions, for a change (like in "Shattered") be in one where he's working to save the crew.  It suits his cool temperament.  The Doctor gets a chance to employ his Emergency Command Hologram mode, something previously teased in "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy" the previous season.

All of this adds up to the first half of a two-part episode that may lead to an inevitable conclusion, but it's a nice change of pace from the Voyager tradition of coming up with apocalyptic scenarios for these things.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Nicely evokes Next Generation's classic "Conundrum."
• series - Exploits Voyager's premise nicely.
• character - It's a nice chance to see the crew in a fresh light.
• essential - Fairly low-key stakes.

notable guest-stars:
James Read

Voyager 7x15 "The Void"

rating: **

the story: The ship ends up trapped in a region of space, and the only way out is to forge alliances with other stranded crews.

 what it's all about: "The Void," despite a painfully straightforward title (of the wrong concept, as you'll see), is actually pretty interesting.  You can see the third and fourth seasons of Enterprise sort of germinate in it, and it also reflects the idealism Janeway always sought to embody, which was always at the core of the series premise.

Now, just to get the metaphor out of the way, in Enterprise's third season, Archer's crew is stranded in a region of space where they're often forced to confront desperate measures in order to survive, having to decide how to handle other ships that have resources they need.  And of course, in the fourth, Archer lays the most deliberate foundations of the Federation as he helps Andorians and Tellarites overcome their differences, paving the way for them to join humans and Vulcans at the core of a powerful alliance.

There's no Federation being formed in "The Void," but the idea is much the same, mutual cooperation to mutual benefit.  And like Archer, Janeway encounters plenty of complications in her efforts to forge alliances.  The whole thing is an exercise in exploring just how Janeway was able to maintain a Starfleet outlook despite difficult circumstances.  Where fans saw only hardship (and that's much how it played out in Ron Moore's sort of response to Voyager, Battlestar Galactica), and that kind of pessimism was in fact indulged in "Year of Hell," "The Void" embodies the kind of resourcefulness and optimism that's at the heart of Star Trek.

There's a subplot involving a "vermin" species the crew discovers among the alien ships, which is eventually used to disable uncooperative (and treacherous) crews, which I'm not sure was given enough time to properly consider.  It's like an entirely separate story that was mashed into the main plot, and sits uncomfortably beside it.  And for its focus on Janeway's significance, Janeway herself doesn't really seem essential to how everything play out.  There's no specific focus on her.  It's more like business as usual.  Seems like a missed opportunity.  Plotwise, "Void" is almost a response to "Night," the fifth season premiere where the crew was similarly stranded in a desolate region.  "Night" was a terrific Janeway spotlight. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - These echoes of Enterprise are all in hindsight. 
• series - Demonstrates the viewpoint of the crew exceptionally well.
• character - It's the Janeway ethos minus any real spotlight on Janeway.
• essential - And yet, I use the word "exceptionally."  Even if the center is missing, the puzzle is complete in that regard.

notable guest-stars:
Jonathan del Arco

Voyager 7x14 "Prophecy"

rating: ***

the story: The crew encounters a generational Klingon ship.

what it's all about: Now, technically, the story is about, well, a prophecy (there would be little reason to call the episode that otherwise), and while that's certainly central to the story, seemingly the whole point...there's a layer of cleverness to it that speaks to the plight of the crew, the premise of the series, too.

And that's why I consider it first and foremost an encounter with a generational ship.

Because isn't that the theoretical fate of the crew?  If they don't find a shortcut?  In the final episode ("Endgame"), we in fact encounter an alternate future where Miral (more on her later) and Sabrina (the daughter of Naomi Wildman, who herself has already long represented the possibility) represent another generation of the crew.  And so to encounter a ship with a generational crew must be considered a fairly deliberate plot device on the part of the producers, something that harkens back to the wide range of stories in previous seasons about the nature of the series, previously featured most heavily in all the potential shortcuts, as well as potential new homes, should the crew ever decide to abandon its journey.  Neelix, in "Homestead," ends up taking that option, and "Prophecy" predicts that, too.

So that's whole level on which the episode works exceptionally.  There's also Miral.  Miral is the future daughter of Torres and Paris.  Previously, in "Lineage," we saw Torres tormented by the idea of her, but in "Prophecy" she has a chance to welcome the possibilities.  And ironically, it has everything to do with Klingons.  Now, you can actually enjoy "Prophecy" purely as a Klingon episode, and unlike most Torres episodes, you don't have to be filled with angst about it (such as "Barge of the Dead," "Day of Honor").  That in itself is a remarkable accomplishment, just another of the many things Voyager did that few fans would ever have imagined possible, a true testament to the approach the series stuck to despite massive backlash among the more intransigent. 

And as a final spotlight for Torres, it's wonderfully understated in its poetic impact.  It might seem strange, to give such a famously conflicted character such a personal story that really belongs to someone else, and yet...that's what makes it work so well.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Fans of Klingons will enjoy this unexpected new cultural meditation.
• series - Wonderfully evocative of the premise.
• character - A fitting final spotlight for B'Elanna Torres.
• essential - Sometimes perfection seems incomplete.  You just really kind of wish it had been one final existential crisis for her.

notable guest-stars:
Sherman Howard

Voyager 7x13 "Repentance"

rating: ***

the story: The ship temporarily houses alien convicts.

what it's all about: "Repentance" is basically the Dead Man Walking of Star Trek episodes.  It's not really about a member of the crew at all, but the guest character played by Jeff Kober, a convict who undergoes an operation that cure him of the impulses that led him to murder, but leaves him with unbearable remorse.  The family of his victim has a chance to grant him an appeal, based on this development, but ultimately chooses against it.  It works as a tragedy, whether or not the viewer carries the idea into the real world, and that's all due to Kober's sympathetic performance.

There's other shenanigans going on around this plot, including a formulaic fellow convict played by F.J. Rio (playing a far less sympathetic character, certainly compared to the last time we saw him, in Deep Space Nine), basically padding.  Seven is loosely tied into the plot, a Borg parallel concerning her lingering guilt over her actions while a drone, but it's not terribly memorable.

What "Repentance" does is affirm the strength of Star Trek's original episodic mandate, in a way Voyager had in particular come to master, so that guest characters were capable of carrying whole hours, as in the masterful "Distant Origin."  This one's comparatively minor, but as a late addition in the final season, it's a great reminder of what Voyager was capable of, regardless of persistent fan criticism to the contrary.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A testament to Star Trek's original episodic format.
• series - And how Voyager could so masterfully employ it.
• character - A weak effort to tie Seven into the plot.
• essential - A compelling guest character effortlessly sells his own case.

notable guest-stars:
Jeff Kober
F.J. Rio

Voyager 7x12 "Lineage"

rating: ****

the story: When B'Elanna learns she's pregnant, it causes her to once again anguish over her mixed heritage.

what it's all about: "Lineage" is among the most harrowing character studies in franchise history.  Of course it's a classic.  It's the culmination of B'Elanna Torres's whole arc in the series, beginning with "Faces" in the first season, in which we literally see her Klingon and human sides struggle with each other.  Here, she replays the struggle on behalf of her unborn daughter. 

Star Trek has often tackled big moral problems, and slightly less often put a main character in the position of being wrong.  Clearly B'Elanna is wrong in her desperate attempts to modify her child's DNA, to wipe out the Klingon side entirely.  And she goes to extraordinary measures to try and achieve it, even messing with the Doctor's programming...

We also get rare flashback material in a Star Trek episode, in which the young B'Elanna goes on a camping trip with her human father, and we see firsthand her early struggles.  We'd seen Chakotay's flashback childhood troubles in "Tattoo," so it's a nice callback, too, and even Tuvok's ("Gravity").  Seems if you're Maquis (Tuvok pretended to be, anyway), that's what you get. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - A gripping example of Star Trek's moral compass.
• series - Concludes a main character's arc.
• character - B'Elanna's.
• essential - Said character is arguably the true MVP of the series.  So, pretty important.

notable guest-stars:
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)

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 7x10 "Flesh and Blood, Part 2"

rating: ****

the story: Holograms fight for the right to exist on their own terms.

what it's all about: In the highly charged atmosphere of 2017, it's difficult to find anything that attempts to unite disparate perspectives, and yet that's Star Trek at its most ideal.  In the original series, Kirk routinely broke the rules to give alien societies a fighting chance against oppression.  Somewhere along the way, that instinct was muted, but Next Generation's "The Measure of a Man" introduced an intriguing new way to express it: via the individual, the android Data.  Voyager's holographic Doctor was a chance to broaden that expression, and "Flesh and Blood" is one of its finest attempts to explore it.

The short-hand of using holograms who look like familiar aliens, notably Bajorans and Cardassians, prominent in Deep Space Nine, calls to mind how in that series the Founders, a race of changelings, eventually created the Dominion as a means of protecting itself from a galaxy that didn't seem to understand them.  The holograms in "Flesh and Blood" are well on their way to such a destiny, but fate intervenes.  The crew of Voyager was inadvertently responsible for this situation when it gave the Hirogen these holograms to hunt.  The Hirogen greatly enhanced these holograms, to the point where things got out of hand, and suddenly these holograms were considering themselves individuals.

With a lot of additional dilemmas on their hands.  Next Generation had, in some ways, used the Borg to further explore its concept of artificial life ("Descent" helped make that clear), which Voyager itself certainly continued.  The idea of individuality proved to be a concept far more difficult to comprehend for the likes of Seven and the Doctor than anyone could have anticipated.  Seven's journey is clear enough, but the Doctor's is complicated by the fact that it was always too easy to remember that in some respects he was made up of subroutines and programming, and that if he had become something other than all that, it was something he'd earned rather than been given.  Or so it was sometimes concluded.  But what if it's a right of all life, biological or artificial?  Other holograms find it very much worth fighting for.

In the end, it's not really about who's right or who's wrong, which is a sign of the maturity of the franchise at this point, and that's as much as any other reason why "Flesh and Blood" is a pivotal moment in Voyager and Star Trek as a whole.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Grapples some big ideas, in fine tradition.
• series - The final stop before the Doctor reaches his final catharsis in "Author, Author."
• character - Well, so it's significant for the Doctor.
• essential - Seems like it's not that important.  But it kind of is.

notable guest-stars:
Vaughn Armstrong

Voyager 7x9 "Flesh and Blood, Part 1"

rating: ****

the story: The crew discover that the Hirogens have underestimated the holographic prey they have them in "The Killing Game."

what it's all about: An unlikely sequel leads to the epic hologram war the series finally gets around to after spending so much of its run exploring the varying ways holograms can exist and whether or not it affects the Doctor's status.

"The Killing Game" was a two-part episode in the fourth season where the Hirogen were ultimately pacified by being given seemingly the perfect solution to a species just looking for a good hunt.  "Flesh and Blood" exposes that to have been wishful thinking at best.  It's like "Space Seed" succeeded by Wrath of Khan, where Kirk learns disposing of the genetic superman on his own planet didn't somehow solve everything.  The next time the franchise attempted such a solution, Next Generation's "Ship in a Bottle," in which the brilliant Moriarty (who is a hologram, by the way) is pacified by a false solution to his yearning for freedom.  Ironically, "Ship" itself was a continuation of a similar conclusion to his first appearance, "Elementary, Dear Data."  So clearly some problems will always have complicated results.

The Doctor is once again confronted by a dilemma that forces him to argue for the rights of his people, regardless of whether or not they're behaving themselves (which itself is a freedom of speech analogy relevant to 2017) as he finds himself caught in the middle of the crew trying to help the Hirogen and the holograms striving for their own freedom.

Since this is a two-part episode, I'll refrain from drawing conclusions as to who's right in all this.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Shares in the tradition of surprising follow-ups to previous solutions.
• series - A sequel to "The Killing Game."
• character - The Doctor reaches an epic turning point in the fight for the rights of holograms.
• essential - If Data and Lore had "Descent," then it's fair to say this is the Doctor's version, and it's got more on its mind.

notable guest-stars:
Vaughn Armstrong

Voyager 7x8 "Nightingale"

rating: **

the story: Harry is given command of an alien ship.

what it's all about: This is the definitive character study of Harry Kim.  Of all the characters in the series,  he was difficult to comprehend by incredulous fans who never understood why a perfectly dependable officer never got promoted during the course of seven seasons.  Here's why.

Simply put, it's because he never understood the human element, and had never been in a position where this was exposed.  Janeway's crew functioned perfectly for having been cobbled together, but there was a reason why personnel settled where they did, and worked together as they did.  Just as Chakotay's role as first officer became redundant in a crew accustomed to sharing the burden of command under a visionary captain, everyone tended to slide into the roles that were needed.  If someone like Neelix proved ambitious, they were granted additional responsibilities.  You'll see that Harry never left his post as operations officer.  Tom Paris and Tuvok, meanwhile, did handle multiple responsibilities, and were promoted accordingly.

But more than that, it's really about Harry's self-confidence, which is exposed as being disproportionate in some areas, so that it becomes overconfidence.  That's why he's an ensign, because he's still got a lot to learn.  In a way, he really was the crew member who lost the most being lost in space.  He gained plenty of experience, but never realized what he lost in the bargain.

So that's what "Nightingale" is about, helping him realize that.  Interestingly, there's a subplot about Icheb naively believing B'Elanna has a crush on him.  Again, it's innocent inexperience that's the problem, and a rare instance in which the main and subplots of a Voyager episode reflect each other.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Won't particularly appeal to casual fans.
• series - Apparently there was a plan to keep Harry on that alien ship, much as Neelix later split off from the crew before the end.  But obviously that didn't happen.
• character - Harry explained.
• essential - A darn clever way to do it, too.

notable guest-stars:
Ron Glass
Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)

Voyager 7x7 "Body and Soul"

rating: **

the story: The Doctor seeks temporary refuge within Seven's circuits, taking over in the process.

what it's all about: "Body and Soul" is the kind of episode that can easily be dismissed as gimmicky, where Jeri Ryan (Seven) is basically being asked to impersonate Robert Picardo (the Doctor), and that's really the whole point.  There's of course a reason why it's happening, and it's relevant to the recurring subplot in the series about how holograms are interpreted by various cultures, but the way it's used this time is hugely reminiscent of the far superior "Counterpoint," and so I wouldn't go out of my way to sell in on those merits.

Instead, what's most noteworthy about the episode is how Tuvok's pon farr is the subplot.  Obviously it would've been difficult to make the main story center around it ("Amok Time" is difficult to contend with, and Voyager already had a Vulcan have a crisis over it in "Blood Fever"), but the fact that the series deals with it at all is a nice touch.  Like Kes's short lifespan stood over the early seasons as a ticking time bomb, seemingly designed to become relevant at some point (eventually in "Before and After"), Tuvok being stranded so far from home, and his wife, meant it was bound to happen eventually.  I'm glad it did.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The classic pon farr matter is once again addressed.
• series - Seems like an episode that was done on a lark.
• character - The Doctor and Seven are always fun to watch together.
• essential - Not especially.

notable guest-stars:
Megan Gallagher

Voyager 7x6 "Inside Man"

rating: ****

the story: Ferengi intercept a holographic Barclay.

what it's all about: Reg Barclay in Voyager is one of the most remarkable developments of the whole franchise.  In Next Generation, Barclay was the poster boy of neurotic behavior, whose skills as an engineer always took a backseat to his latest psychological problem.  Then he starts making appearances in Voyager, and then in "Pathfinder" becomes an official member of the family as he spearheads regular communication between Voyager and Starfleet, itself a milestone development in the series. 

Ironically, as a counterpoint to his first appearance ("Hollow Pursuits"), Barclay here gains a holographic version of himself! 

"Inside Man" continues that arc while also bringing back the idea of the Ferengi as antagonists.  The Ferengi were Next Generation's first attempt at new villainous aliens.  They were quickly exposed as difficult to take seriously, and so they became progressively comedic, until in Deep Space Nine virtually every spotlight episode for Quark was played for laughs, regardless of how nuanced Ferengi society was depicted in that series. 

They'd appeared in Voyager previously ("False Profits"), but "Inside" makes a more concerted effort to return the Ferengi to their roots, when DaiMon Bok was envisioned as Picard's mortal enemy.  Here they're refashioned as essentially faceless, which is perhaps key to making the idea work.  Devious but incapable of following up on their schemes, the Ferengi in the episode are exactly what they always were, but in a situation that at last sells the concept on every level it always needed to work.  They're revealed as cowards, which is why their best bet is gambling against each other, where the façade can truly function.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - An honest-to-god attempt to redeem the original vision of the Ferengi.
• series - Progress in communications with Starfleet!
• character - Barclay once again proves he belongs in this family.
• essential - For those who claim the episodic format can't handle serialized material, this is yet another example to the contrary.

notable guest-stars:
Dwight Schultz (Barclay)
Marina Sirtis (Troi)
Richard Herd (Admiral Paris)