Season Seven Episode Reviews

7X25/6    Endgame (part 1 and 2) 
7X24    Renaissance Man 

7X23    Homestead 
Plot: Neelix helps a wayward Talaxian colony under threat from miners.

Neelix's departure elevates what would have otherwise been an average episode.  The First Contact party was cute (as nice continuity nod of course!).  Encountering a Talaxian colony was neat, but it's a joke it's all the way out on the AlphaQ border and most especially since nobody ever questions this.  The basic situation of protecting the colony from miners is vaguely interesting, the characters are vaguely interesting, and the space sequences as they create the shield looked great.  Great and ironic continuity nod to "Tuvix" (given "Author Author").  The best bits were Neelix realizing that Naomi was grown beyond needing him and Neelix departing the crew.  It's surprisingly well done, maybe even a  little touching.  I like the idea of Neelix as a permanent Starfleet ambassador to the DeltaQ... but it's a joke position since he'll be sitting in this little asteroid colony in the middle of nowhere all the time.

7X22    Natural Law 
Plot: Seven and Chakotay are stranded in an alien primitive habitat; Tom gets flying lessons.

Pretty forgettable, hopefully the last loser of the show.  Getting stuck with some primitives was extremely uninteresting, and the Paris subplot was completely forgettable but mildly entertaining.  Chakotay and Seven were a rarely seen pairing.  There's just nothing interesting anywhere, and nothing original is done with the natives like in "Void".  It's all just by the numbers, even down to the adversarial aliens.

7X21    Friendship One 
Plot: Starfleet sends Voyager to retrieve a century old probe that created a nuclear winter on an alien world.

Another great episode dealing with home.  Wonderful to see a glimpse of Earth's past right after "First Contact", and a well intentioned probe leading to nuclear winter on a world.  For a hostage crisis episode it was very good.  It's great to see Voyager being sent on a mission by Starfleet like this, and there were some great continuity nods most especially to "Distant Origin" and "Jetrel".  It was great to finally see Lt. Carey on the show again, it's a real shame he hasn't been appearing all this time, and his death was shocking and tragic (of course off set by his absence).  The nuclear winter set-pieces with the space suits looked absolutely fabulous.

7X20    Author, Author 
Plot: Doc creates a holo novel based on the crew and sells it to the Alpha Quadrant.

An excellent episode that actually (finally) deals with Earth issues.  I was delighted to see some major events happen; real-time chats with the Alpha Quadrant.  Barclay and Paris appearing.  Kim's doting and annoying parents.  Torres' father reconciling with her.  Seven meeting her closest relative, her aunt, and learning about herself as a child.  It's all spectacular stuff.  And the main plot about Doc's holo-novel is very good as well, though it suffers from a *great deal* of repetition.  Doc's version of Voyager was very funny (though it's a pretty tired concept at this point).  Great to see Torres out of makeup again.  Paris' version of Doc's holo-novel was also quite funny.  I love that Doc is fighting for the emancipation of his fellow EMH-1s (and that last scene of like fifty of them working in a mine was *great*!).  The holographic-rights trial was another very reused concept, but it was fortunately done in montage with tons of relevant and great episode mentions.  Too bad everybody forgot about Janeway executing Tuvix...  If the final episode is just going to be an action outing, at least they're doing the important stuff now!

7X19    Q2 
Plot: Q returns to make Janeway teach his son Q2 a lesson in humility.

Pretty weak for a Q episode, but a good first half.  Not much of anything original here either, it's all a total rehash of previous TNG Q episodes.  I really would have liked to have seen more Q rather than Q2, though Q2 was a surprisingly decent and funny character.  The first half had some great bits of comedy between Q, Q2, and Janeway, and the brief Borg attack was cool.  I especially like Q's admonition to stop bothering the Borg and talking about having a certain "Q-ness".  Unfortunately the second half is very dull, with a powerless Q2 learning lessons in humanity, and the shuttle theft and alien attack was very lame as well.  While I like the implication that Q and Q2 are the only things keeping a Q peace, having such petty squabbles among them really robs them of the power and mystique they had in the TNG days.  There were tons of great little continuity mentions.

7X18    Human Error 
Plot: Seven experiments with humanity on the holodeck; Voyager stumbles into a warhead testing field.

I expected crap like "Imperfection" but it actually managed to be a little poignant.  Of course having the whole thing on the holodeck is pretty ridiculous, it's the last year for gawds sakes take some risks!  Nice to see Seven in a Starfleet uniform without implants again ("Relativity"), I liked seeing things like her getting empty quarters and cooking, though the date with Chakotay was way over the top.  However the episode manages to create real drama occasionally when holo-Chakotay and Doc are trying to convince Seven not to give this up.  I especially liked holo-Chakotay trying to teach her to play the piano without order.  And it was delightful continuity to have this change coming out of Unimatrix Zero!  It even manages a slightly tragic ending when Seven leads her nodes will prevent any deep emotion and then refuses to have them taken out.  But again, set it in real life and it would work so much better.  The subplot with the subspace warhead testing field was pedestrian but interesting; I really liked the shot where the chasing warhead shot down the proton torpedoes.

7X17    Worforce II (part 2 of 2) 
Plot: Voyager's crew must rescue itself from their false memories.

A bit by the numbers but still entertaining.  I particularly liked Chakotay fleeing authorities and hiding with Janeway, convincing her the truth of what was going on, good stuff.  It was also pretty tragic for Janeway to have to give up her fiancee.  Aside from that, nothing particularly stood out.  The whole story seemed resolved way too easily, especially in how quickly their old lives returned to them.  In the end the whole resolution seemed a bit undeveloped (never really got much of a look at WHY they needed to do this).

7X16    Workforce (part 1 of 2) 
Plot: Voyager's crew is abducted, given false memories, and put to work in an alien city.

Better than I expected, and it doesn't feel as padded as I thought either.  The crew under alien personas thing turned out surprisingly well, most especially for Janeway.  The whole concept of aliens desperate for a labor force is interesting, though this entire plot is a literal rip-off of SG1's "Beneath the Surface", even down to Tuvok/Teal'c being the one to discover the truth, it's pretty funny.  I'm really glad they took the time to show the takeover in flashback, and my favorite part was seeing a competent Doc as ECH kicking ass in a space battle.  Doc's subsequent ego contest for control was good too.  The alien city FX was spectacular!

7X15    The Void 
Plot: Voyager is trapped in a void of space and must fight other aliens to survive.

Great episode! This to me is a perfect example of what Voyager is supposed to be.  Furthermore this is Janeway's best showing as a Captain since "Counterpoint"; while her actions maybe inconsistent with earlier episodes ("Equinox 2"), it was a great and logical reasoning that she SHOULD have, and reflects the ideals of the Federation brilliantly.  I love the way she built a community out of the warring aliens in order to escape, and it was great to see Voyager crowded with aliens working together.  Even Neelix got great use as a diplomat.  And I really enjoyed the subplot of Doc teaching the mute aliens language, it was very original.  Lots of great CGI too, and I love the star-less void concept first seen in "Night".  Nice to see the "Doctor Spy" aliens again using surveillance technology even.

7X14    Prophecy 
Plot: Voyager encounters a Klingon generational ship whose crew think that Torres' baby is their savoir.

Good episode!  Love seeing a Klingon crew, Voyager dealing with so many hostile passengers, Torres and Paris dealing with Klingon stuff.  I liked the Klingon leader a lot, he was a realistic thoughtful character.  The virus thing really threw me but it works great, and the solution that the baby's hybrid cells cures it was pretty clever.  The only bad thing is Voyager's once again laughable security when the Klingons decide to take over.  I can't believe Neelix screwed a Klingon!  Nice to see them dealing with being closer to home too of course.

7X13    Repetance 
Plot: Voyager takes a group death row prisoners and their guards on board.

Credit them for trying again to deal with a complicated social issue, but it once again falls flat and stilted.  It's a mixed bag of presenting a good moral dilemma and hitting us over the head with metaphors (specifically about this minority race being responsible for most of the crimes because they're blamed for it, and money decided sentence).  Seven's nanos 'fixing' this guy is another mixed bag between stupid and interesting.  I might feel slightly positive about the episode inspite of its faults, until that horrible ending that is.  This has got to be the most ridiculous security screwup in Voyager history!  It's an absolute joke.  About the only thing I liked was the minority kid turning out to be bad after all.  Relating Seven as a mass-murderer is also an interesting idea.

7X12    Lineage 
Plot:  Torres learns she's pregnant and wants to remove the Klingon genetics from the baby.

For a slow meaningless 'character drama' where nothing happens like "Imperfection", it manages to do well.  I did like the whole self loathing thing Torres had going on, though showing the flashbacks makes it apparent that she was manufacturing all this stuff, which doesn't say much for the character and even less for the Torres-Paris relationship.  At least they made some reference to genetically altering fetuses to make them better.  This episode is inexplicably slow and padded, it REALLY needed a subplot.

7X11    Shattered 
Plot: A time anomaly teams up Chakotay and a "Caretaker" era Janeway against past times and foes.

Probably the best episode yet this season, this is exactly the kind of episode I expect in the final season.  Chakotay gets something to do, time travel, visiting old foes and eras, loads of continuity, it's all great.  It's particularly cool to see Seska and Chaotica again!  This is just fun, particularly partnering Chakotay with a "Caretaker" era Janeway.  Okay the episode itself is basically a technobabble solution type, and for the life of me I can't figure out why a still-Borgified Seven would help Chakotay!  Chakotay gets to display his oft ignored personality too!

7X10    Flesh and Blood II (part 2 of 2) 
Plot: Doc and Torres are prisoners of the holograms now hunted by the Hirogen and Voyager.

Total ruins everything good about part one but still entertaining in a mindless action sense.  Out of the blue Idan turns out to be a cardboard megalomaniac planning to start a religion around himself and kill all organics.  This is so laughably ridiculous, and it's a real shame how much it ruins the episode, especially since it robs away any shades of gray to the plot.  The Hirogen hunting the holograms was interesting as was Voyager's sneak attack on them, but the holograms hunting the Hirogen on the demon planet was just laughable.  Of course the real screamer was Doc going after Idan with a massive Hirogen rifle!  It's a shame this two parter had to be ruined so horribly in the second half.

7X9    Flesh and Blood (part 1 of 2) 
Plot:  Voyager is caught in a battle between the Hirogen and their now-sentient holographic prey.

Excellent set-up with some good action and great moral conflicts.  Great to see the Hirogen again (even though it's laughable they're still in range of Voyager), great to see the ethical question of sentient holograms and the legacy of Janeway giving them holographic technology.  There's some beautiful location shooting in the forest.  Doc makes a very legitimate argument for holographic rights, though I think him betraying Voyager for them was a tad much (makes for a shocking plot twist though!).  The holograms are kinda interesting particularly their religious 'Bajoran' leader Idan.  The cliffhanger was okay, with Voyager disabled and Torres kidnapped.  I'm delighted at the "Body and Soul" reference serving as an inspiration for the hologram rebellion!

7X8    Nightingale 
Plot: Kim takes command of an alien ship fleeing pursuers; Icheb mistakenly thinks Torres is attracted to him.

Slightly above average.  The whole newbie takes command and learns his lessons was pretty cliched but I did like the whole plotline about sneaking a cloaked ship past an enemy blockade.  It was nice for some mindless action.  More should've been made about Kim never being promoted- and the early press said he was gonna consider leaving Voyager too!  I was delighted to see Voyager stuck on a planet for repairs and it was a great visual too.  The subplot with Icheb thinking Torres had a crush on him was silly but I found it pretty enjoyable (more so than the main plot!), first time I've really liked Icheb as a character.  This kind of DS9 type thing should be done more on the show.

7X7    Body and Soul 
Plot: Doc must possess Seven's body to fool anti-photonic aliens; Tuvok undergoes Pon Farr.

A mixed comedy; about half the jokes fall on their face and the other half got a chuckle out of me.  The whole premise was a little silly and cliched, and I don't think that Ryan managed to impersonate Picardo very well, but it was funny at times.  The sexual confusion stuff was funny at times... and the homosexual subtext to the whole thing was interesting.  I especially loved the look on Doc's face when Seven accused him of being aroused in his body.  The photonic rebellion was vaguely interesting.  Oh and hey we FINALLY get the Tuvok Pon Farr episode, but it's a friggin' cop out!!!  In "Blood Fever" holograms wouldn't do it damnit!  Ah well, at least they brought it up...

7X6    Inside Man 
Plot: A holographic Barclay is sent from Starfleet with a secret purpose unbeknownst to the real Barclay.

Good episode, though I really wish it wasn't the Ferengi that were the bad guys, Section 31 would have been perfect.  I really like that this episode essentially starred Barclay and Troi and the Pathfinder team, that they discovered and solved the Ferengi problem.  These characters are much more interesting than the regulars!  Holo-Barclay was a hoot especially in his voice impersonations.  I hope this geodesic fold will now be used by Starfleet to send supplies to Voyager.  Some beautiful location filming on a beach.  Several great continuity nods.

7X5     Critical Care 
Plot:  Doc is abducted and forced to work in an alien hospital where status determines help.

While the whole medicare concept was a vaguely interesting idea the episode itself has little to raise it above mediocrity.  It's absolutely ridiculous how easily Doc was stolen of course, the plot there after was strictly by the numbers.  The subplot about Voyager hunting for Doc was even worse, except for one lively montage sequence of interviewing people that actually worked pretty well as a parody.  I suppose it's a vaguely interesting plot twist to have Doc poison the director and then have him question his ability to do that afterwards.

7X4    Repression 
Plot:  Tuvok is mysteriously attacking Maquis crew members.

A very strange mix of good and bad.  The opening murder mystery stuff was great, though it was soon obvious that Tuvok was responsible.  I was really hoping this would be his Pon Farr episode, but no.  I'm delighted to see them remember the Maquis division, particularly Chakotay briefing his fellow Maquis.  But then half way through the episode completely changes and it's about a Maquis takeover.  Now, that's a really cool what-if plot and I really appreciated it, but it was just too glossed over.  We don't see them taking the ship properly, and worst of all we don't get an ending.  We see Tuvok cure Chakotay and free the bridge- but what about the rest of the damn ship!  It's just inexcusable.  Also, the motivations of this Bajoran vedek are pretty inexplicable, why would he send the signal now when they're in the DeltaQ?  With a little more logic and relevant action about the takeovers this could have been a great episode.

7X3    Drive 
Plot: Paris and Torres join an interstellar space race while debating their relationship.

Pretty good, though I was really hoping for more action from the space race.  I like this just as a high-concept action premise, also like how the race is celebrating a peace treaty.  The terrorist attempt was interesting but I really wish they spent more time on it.  I thought Kim made a very competent showing when he disarmed the girl and held the gun on her.  The Paris-Torres stuff was surprisingly competent and thought out, I'm still not sure if they really go together, but it's interesting they got married, especially without any ceremony.  I really wish they spent more time on the race, we just got a tiny peak of it really.

7X2    Imperfection 
Plot: Seven's implants begin to fail threatening her death.

An episode with almost no redeeming features.  The Seven dying stuff was pretty trite especially since we all knew she wasn't going to die.  Her facing her mortality isn't even portrayed with any real poignancy unfortunately.  This episode just moved a snail's pace with nothing happening, it bored me to tears.  Could have really used a subplot.  Icheb should have died, but at least the rest of the Borgies were written off.  About the only worthwhile scene was the dogfight in the Borg debris field, some excellent FX there.  Hopefully this will be the last clunker.

7X1    Unimatrix Zero II (part 2 of 2) 
Plot: Janeway Tuvok and Torres are assimilated to free UM0 while the Queen retaliates.

A decent action filled season opener though still a major disappointment.  In addition to the normal technobabble crap we also have the three characters getting assimilated but not having any long-term problems with it- they show a plug being DRILLED into Janeway's brain for god's sake!  The Unimatrix Zero stuff is again silly and uninteresting, as was the Seven romance until the last scene where they suddenly have to say good bye.  The best bits were with the Borg Queen, who was very cool and intimidating this time around, particularly when she's calmly ordering Cubes to detonate and when she's telling the UM0 kid about how its neat to be assimilated.  There were some great space battles between Voyager and the Cube at the end, pretty exciting.  I was surprised that UM0 got destroyed, but knew the Resistance would continue.  The Queen's curious threat to Kim goes nowhere of course.  Nice to get 8472 mentioned as potentially joining this war.  This could have been a massive epic outing, but instead it's just decent and mildly exciting for the action alone.  It was better than Part One at least!