Nothing Human Stardate not given: An alien organism rescued by Voyager attaches itself to B'Elanna, intertwining its tendrils around her vital organs. To assist in removing the creature, the Doctor and Kim construct a holographic assistant specialising in exo-biology; Cardassian scientist, Crell Moset who performed experiments on Bajorans during the occupation of Bajor. Despite the ethical issues at hand, Janeway greenlights the operation, which is a success. The Doctor decides that Moset's and his knowledge has no place in a medical database to later draw upon and deletes his program.

This is a frustrating episode that tried to shield itself behind the wall of human (or in this case, Bajoran) experimentation and the ramifications it has when it comes to using the gathered information on B'Elanna to remove the 'alien pest' of the week to cover up the blandness of the episode, but in the end makes the crew look really bad and I wanted to slap them all except Paris. The crew take the high road too in order to make themselves feel better by condemning the holographic Moset, perhaps I relate to Tom most of all in his frustrations over the senior staff busy having a debate over morals while B'Elanna's life was slipping away. They all seem to act as if THE Crell Moset on their ship was the real one and it were up to them to judge him. B'Elanna herself of course objecting to Moset operating on her, and all but forbids it happen.
The random Maquis officer we haven't seen before nor since (Tabor) is embarrassing in his 'attack' on the holographic representation of Moset, did he seriously think that the Cardassian scientist had 'Wizard of Oz-ed' his way onto Voyager from Cardassia Prime and that throwing a swing at him would achieve anything? Could this goldshirt not discern from a real person and an autonomous representation? And his threats to resign his commission are hollow, as we never knew of this character before and he only appears once more in the series in 'Repression'.
It's really pathetic to see the crew acting thick to treat a few beams of light and photons with a voice box dressed up like a Cardassian as a war criminal and the ending is unsatisfactory, with the Doctor conveniently washing his hands of the situation by deleting Moset's program. It doesn't help of course when yet another sentient hologram is brought into the series, of course, this was only done to try and make the viewer detest Moset even more, a more realistic hologram (compared to the ones in say, the Hawaiian resort program) wouldn't have made for an easier target for the crew's vitriol ;)
Anyway, the episode is nothing special, the commentary takes the spotlight and the B-Plot is largely routine, the Alien is removed, mainly due to the Doctor's compassionate tactics just to show up Crell's torturous methods, and is returned to its ship. Seven of Nine takes over engineering while B'Elanna's KO'd, not like it matters though. B'Elanna snaps at Janeway for allowing the surgery to go ahead, Janeway, in her hypocritical fashion brushes off Torres' protests and berates her for it with her usual 'I'm the Captain, therefore God' rationalisation, even if it's a true rationalisation.
Remarkable quote: "Fine. Let's just deactivate the evil hologram and let B'Elanna die. At least, we'd have our morals intact." -Tom Paris
Remarkable scene: Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris and the Doctor in the conference room debating over Torres' fate, it's a shame more scenes like this weren't in the series which showcased the abilities of all these actors, great scene in a dull episode.
Remarkable set: Crell Moset's laboratory, I'm guessing they had some leftover decor' from DS9 that needn't have gone to waste ;)
Remarkable fact: Roxann Dawson had claimed this was her least favorite episode to work on, due to the death of her dog during the episodes filming, and all her work on set was limited to lying on a biobed :(
Rating: 3 (Cameron)

Thirty Days Stardate 52179.4: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Another near failure at character development on Voyager. For a while now one wonders what had happened to the supposed 'bad boy' Tom Paris' reputation labelled him as before joining the Voyager crew, he ran a betting ring for an episode? He made quips? "Thirty Days" just attempts to capitalise on that supposed reputation and for me, doesn't convince.
Telling the story in flashback for a start, yet another example of how any sense of continuity and ongoing arcs for characters was completely overlooked by the writers of the series, much the same as Chakotay's 'vision quests', B'Elanna's problems with her Klingon heritage, or the Doctors forays into non-medical areas were plot lines only very sporadically through out the journey. Never could the story be told over long periods to make us a little more interested in what was happening with these people's lives on the way home.
In the end though, Tom isn't any less off for it, he spends thirty days growing a 5-o'clock shadow and loses a pip off his collar, but why did he need one anyway for CONN? Wesley manned CONN and was an ACTING ENSIGN, Ro Laren was an ensign, Miles was Lt. Junior Grade if I recall. So the consequences of his demotion are little and of no major concern for the viewers.
His ongoing commentary in the letter to his father only loosely maintains the references towards the pair's differences, something other than a surreal dream experience would've better conveyed their problems though, say a flashback to Tom in his Cadet days on Earth being berated by his father for say, his penchant for not following the rules at the Academy. Dream sequences are just used far too often to try and carry a point across, probably to save money on new sets or location shooting, but I think in this instance a different approach would've only helped, something so simple as putting the two characters in the same frame together, communicating, really carries more weight than what was presented this episode, a child-Tom, playing with a sailboat, hearing the lecturing voices of his father and of Janeway.
Now onto homicidal maniac Janeway. Her efforts to uphold the Prime Directive again changes for a start, her stance on the Directive changes like usual, giving the Moneans schematics of the Delta Flyer and oxygen replication systems doesn't seem to be a problem. And she openly admits that she'd have had Tom killed just to stop him in his mission, I don't know about you, but I would be very, VERY nervous serving under this individual. Tom broke the rules, and in the Captain's shoes every step should've been taken to stop him from carrying out his objective, but I was disturbed by the climax of the episode in which Janeway talks about Tom losing protection as a member of the crew once he left the ship, and how his lack of regard for the rules was unbecoming. But we had seen Janeway do the same before in the show and will do again, all but patting herself on the back in the process. Simply, I was troubled by Janeway's lack of reluctance in not wanting to kill a member of her crew, attempts should've been made by Voyager to have stopped Tom, but not to a point where those attempts would lead to his death. Her position on how strictly members of her crew follow the Prime Directive seems to change whether their rank is either 'Captain' or 'not-Captain' ;)
So as I said, try as this show might at getting us interested in the characters, there's little success. We already knew Tom's father had little understanding of his son, the actions in "Thirty Days" don't help to convince he was some sort of criminal either, he admits it was a cause he believed in, and a cause the audience CAN sympathise with because as we follow his story we also understand the Monean bureaucrats were unlikely to act on the problem. So as far as the viewer is concerned, Tom is still not a bad guy, he's not someone whose actions we can thoroughly question because his heart was in the right place and his intent, however radical, was for the greater good.
If there's any positives out of this episode, it's just the concept behind the ocean planet, but that's the extent of it, maybe they had not explored this idea before in more recent Star Trek due to the show 'SeaQuest DSV' screening in the mid-90's. I am not in a merciful mood right now, so this gets a lowly three.
Remarkable appearance: The gorgeous Delany sisters finally appear on screen.
Rating: 3 (Cameron)

Latent Image Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Yet another hamfisted attempt at mistimed character development. I'm getting quite tired of Voyager beating me over the head with these episodes about characters so late in the series trying to give us excuses to care about these people when it's too late. They're nearly nothing more than caricatures at this stage, but this isn't quite the case yet for the Doc, he's not quite the charlatan he'll become, and his role hear is fairly sombre, but the situation isn't convincing.
With all the times that the Doc was treating patients, and the rare occasions they had been lost, I doubt he faced this situation before. Certainly "The Killing Game" may have had a similar scenario, with Hirogen asking him to operate not on injured Starfleet personnel, but on the Hirogen themselves. Not seen on screen of course, but I can't dismiss the possibility of it happening.
And his handling of the situation leads this episode to go into the territory of "The Measure of a Man", where Data's rights as an individual were questioned, and he was touted as being property. Janeway essentially does the exact same thing here, equating the Doctor to nothing more than a replicator. My goodness, what an amazingly bizarre view considering the Doctor had done nearly anything and everything that any sentient being was capable of. Relationships, friendships, intuition, a desire to grow beyond his programming, sound familiar? Of course, a parallel to Data, but while it was only the second season where Data's rights were questioned, the fact that 5 years after Voyager's journey begun, and all the experiences the Doctor had, was he suddenly again treated like a piece of property to be tampered with just because he was causing a perceived inconvenience to the crew. His outburst in the Mess Hall wasn't acceptable, but as Janeway later muses, perhaps it wasn't the right decision to just try and delete their way out of the problem.
But for me, the fact that they saw a deletion to parts of his program as some sort of "solution" was the worst part of it all.
And what a surprise, once more they dig out some random gold-shirt we never knew before to play the part of the patient the Doctor had to let die. And of course, this episode once more tries to turn the focus back to Seven of Nine at every opportunity, with Seven visiting Janeway to express her disagreement at the treatment of the Doctor, only to whine that Janeway may treat her the same way some how in the future.
'I guess I should be grateful they're trying this sort of story telling' you may ask, well I'm not, it's all too little too late. They could've tried NOT doing another story about the Doctor which doesn't make much sense, they could've done a boring character story on Harry, or Chakotay, or Tuvok. The story could've been about Voyager's technical troubles and an effort to try and start the ship by getting some supplies, anything but trying to tell a miscued story about an overworked character, making the Captain nearly looking like a villain in the end.
Yet another unsatisfying episode.
Rating: 4 (Cameron)

Bride of Chaotica! Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

This is a highly enjoyable episode which if handled incorrectly could've ended up really bad, but this just hits all the right notes in the most appropriate fashion and is such a success as a result. The old-timey music, scripting, the famous 'wipes' to transition between scenes, the nostalgia of the Captain Proton program brought even further to life thanks to a memorable performance by Martin Rayner as Chaotica.
And the cast ham it up well too, Robert Duncan McNeill revels in the role of Paris as Proton, and Kate Mulgrew is absolutely beautiful and delightful as Arachnia. The Doctor also has a few well delivered lines while masquerading as the 'President of Earth'
Just an immensely fun episode full of laughs, a welcome change for the so-far disappointing Season 5.
Remarkable quote: "The Destructor beam on my rocket ship can disable the death ray, but only if someone gets inside the Fortress of Doom and can shut down the lightning shield." -Paris
Remarkable quote #2: "I'll see you at the Fortress of Doom. And remember, you're the Queen!" -Paris to Janeway
Remarkable dialogue: "Let me get this straight: trans-dimensional aliens have mistaken your Captain Proton simulation for reality." - "Yes ma'am." - "And now an armed conflict has broken out between these aliens, and Chaotica's holographic army." - "Yes ma'am... His army of evil." -Janeway and Paris
Remarkable PUN: "Ah, I see you've kept my pheromones. I didn't realize you were the scent-imental type." -Janeway as Queen Arachnia
Rating: 8 (Cameron)

Gravity Stardate 52438.9: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Tuvok in love again, sorta. Some appropriate flashbacks to his youth when he was wrestling with his emotions compliments his story on the alien planet, dealing with a woman, stranded for many 'seasons', who falls in love with him. Of course, Tuvok can't reciprocate his feelings, and once more he seems slightly worse off for it, though he would never admit that of course.
The B-plot, Voyager trapped on the other side of the anomaly that the shuttle Tuvok, Paris and the Doctor was on fell into, races against time to rescue the away team, however due to the anomaly, time accelerates faster on the planet, which adds a neat little twist which is well played out over the course of the episode, much more so than 'One', where a great deal of time passed but it wasn't conveyed so well.
So a pretty well conceived, well acted episode, nothing special though.
Rating: 5 (Cameron)

Bliss Stardate 52542.3: Synopsis in main VOY listing

I actually didn't mind this episode much, yes it's a bit contrived that once again the crew be rendered unconscious and it's up to Seven and the Doc to almost single handedly save the day again much like "One". But the addition of the very cool Qatai and the 'beast' manipulating the thoughts, making the crew believe they've reached home make it a little more interesting. Seven and Naomi also share a nice couple of moments, once again showing how her (Seven's) humanity is still growing.
So even though it's been done before it's a slightly exciting episode with a cool premise and some great visual effects to go with it. Not great, but enjoyable.
Remarkable dialogue: "My mom says two heads are better than one. Isn't that the Borg philosophy, too?" - "Simplistic, but accurate." -Naomi Wildman and Seven of Nine
Rating: 6 (Cameron)

Bliss Stardate 52542.3: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Although the basic idea of alien influence has been overdone in Trek, this one adds several new aspects of it and overall I believe is one of the better written stories of Season 5. For starters, the apparent wormhole and seeing the crew's reaction to it, combined with the actions "Starfleet" had Voyager do (shut the EMH off, put Seven into stasis, etc.) leave for an extremely entertaining piece of television. I actually found this part of the episode better than the escape part, or the second half. Add onto all of that, Seven of Nine's obvious error at the end seemed like a perfect character building moment, without being too obvious.
Remarkable scene: Voyager in the "pitcher plant." Wow, the detail given to the ship is astounding.
Remarkable error: How could the crew go from being a few hundred kilometers to 3.4 light years away? Must be that pesky pitcher plant giving them false readings ;)
Remarkable scene: The brief conversation between the Doctor and Seven showed the viewers that even she has desires and she isn't immune to everything. Perfect character building moment.
Rating: 7 (Norm)

Dark Frontier, Part I Stardate 52619.2: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Yep, Captain crazy strikes again, openly pursuing hostilities with the Borg for a start. Just such a convenience a Borg probe was the ship they encountered. And she's again willing to brush off Chakotay's point that 'sending a message' as she put it could only invite more Borg to come after them. And she's back to her usual self from the earlier seasons where she wants to invite danger upon the crew just for a shortcut. She complains about 2 years added to their journey avoiding the Borg, but they had already cut off at least 15 years from the events of "The Gift" and "Hope and Fear" already. So her reasons weren't justified I thought.
Then there's Seven's story, learning more about her past through her father's logs, of course there's nitpicks about the rumours of the Borg (probably passed on from the El-Aurians from 'Generations', and in hindsight, the events of Enterprise episode "Regeneration"), and the time frame and whatever. My only complaint though is the utter disregard for the original look of the Borg that we first saw in "Q Who". It would've been nice to see that, somewhat scary, white, sterilised environment again, instead of seeing the 'new' look of the Borg in 2353, 12 years before the events of the 'Next Generation' episode cited.
Through this knowledge though we see Seven's human side continue to emerge, as she blames her parents curiosity for letting her become assimilated.
But that's really as far as I can elaborate without seeing the second part. Good build up, but I can never quite agree with Janeway on these issues, constantly putting her crew at risk to keep finding shortcuts when they've covered so much ground. It may have been fine for her to have targeted say, the Hirogen or the Malon if they had something like a transwarp coil, but the Borg are unilateral in their thinking, attack one and you attack them all, and they ALL know the second it happened. Just crazy tactics if you ask me.
So, a 'good' episode, a worthy build up and I like the character development of Seven, the flashbacks coinciding with the events in the 'present' time.
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

Dark Frontier, Part II Stardate 52619.2: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Here we go again, another decent build-up ruined by stupid screenplay and character motivations, plot holes and plausibility (or lack of in this case). After 'rejoining' the Collective we find out Seven was planted on Voyager to begin with, crap. You're telling me the Borg Queen, with all the distraction of the war with Species 8472, found the time or inclination to put Seven on Voyager, let alone manipulating events or 'allowing' the cube to be destroyed by the bio-ship in "Scorpion Part II" and beaming Seven aboard, placing faith in the humanity in the Voyager crew not to kill her or toss her off board at the first opportunity (such a humanity still yet to be understood by the Borg at that stage, hence the reason for the ruse? Chicken or the egg?)? Ridiculous.
Janeway, again putting her ship on the line to rescue a single member of the crew, who at first glance left voluntarily, and some resistance put up by Chakotay, simply pointing out that the technology devised by the Hansens would only serve Voyager for so long, never mind the entire plan to get Seven back only puts the ship at further risk of a Borg attack and is risking the lives of the crew and so on and so on. The scenario's happened so many times before now I should be used to it, but I will never find her tactics sound or convincing.
And then there's the Borg Queen, Susana Thompson though is very credible with the role and a worthy successor to Alice Krige's original depiction. In all that though, the depiction is so 'human'. The charm of the Borg, from when we first saw them, was the artificiality. The lack of humanity, the lack of ANYTHING resembling any other species seen on Star Trek till then. They weren't a society driven by any emotions at all. Unlike the devious Romulans, the bloodthirsty Klingons, the treacherous Cardassians, each species with their own citizens who were unique, had their own leaders, the individuals we saw in their society, the Borg were nothing like that at all.
But that all changed. In "First Contact" we were given the Borg Queen, and saw a hierarchy. In "The Omega Directive" they were suddenly religious (as Seven would have put it), and now, again, we see the Queen acting with such personal interest to extract Seven. The Queen is sometimes emotional, not the face most appropriate for what the Borg used to be, because it took away the most compelling part of their identity in the first place: the lack of identity.
And in the end, everyone's home safe and sound, there was little gained from the events of this 2-parter, and everything to lose. The Borg lost more credibility as an interesting villain, the crew of Voyager again lost to the personal interests of their insane captain, who luckily has always got the most impervious of ships and technology at her disposal (explaining how the Flyer could survive the battle, how she and Tuvok could sneak into the Queens doorstep with no drones batting an eye (or ocular implant in their case surely;-D).
To be frank, that sort of stuff ruins an episode for me, there's just way too much suspension of disbelief needed to take this episode seriously. Yes, of course you need suspension of disbelief for Star Trek of all things, but come on, there are still in-universe rules and things that have been established, things that work, but this episode did its best to discredit what worked best for the Borg, especially in relation to Star Trek: Voyager. So for me, if there's any time the Borg became weak, it was here, and it gets worse from here. Gets a generous 5 because of the effects and Susana Thompson's performance. It just wasn't satisfactory, an excuse to blow a big budget on big effects, a silly script which threw common sense out the window to justify Janeway's mad quest to get Seven back from the toothless Borg, with all the big speeches that went along with it.
Rating: 5 (Cameron)

The Disease Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Ah, forbidden love, tragedy, revolutionary types in the face of another oppressive alien society, it's an ok plot which ties together nicely, and gives Harry another chance to play the lovesick fool, better than nothing I guess. So far he's been the foil for Tom and his pranks, played the lovesick fool so many times (as Tom points out in this episode, keeping with continuity, though I wonder what made 'that' Delany sister the wrong twin...), and got a one off role playing his future self, who ended up a changed man from the one we know.
The only difference here though from his other 'puppy love' roles is his romantic entanglement is supposed to be such a direct violation of protocol that he's made to look so bad for his actions, I'm sure Kirk never had this problem, I doubt Riker had this problem either. There's the ambiguous situation between Chakotay and Kellin in "Unforgettable" which could very well have led to romanticism. Who knows? Maybe even Janeway herself got 'involved' with Kashyk at some stage during "Counterpoint".
But no eyelids were batted to such a degree that it required reprimands, making Chakotay's point about the harshness of Janeway putting one on Kim's record as valid. He had served within the limited capacity of his character as a perennial button pusher/do-gooder. He hadn't set a foot wrong till this stage, so only when he does something admittedly ethically dubious by Starfleet standards, does Janeway find cause to tarnish his record.
What little good that would do one wonders, here she is asking Kim if he wants to put his reputation and career on the line for his feelings, um, had Janeway been in astrometrics lately? Voyager made great progress getting home as it was, but she admits to the Varro leader Jippeq that their ships share common traits and that even Voyager may become a 'generational' ship one day. I don't buy that for a second though, as I've said, Voyager made great progress to get home, and even when they started the trip would've been around 70 years, sounds like 2 generations to me, not like Kim would be too worried about his record when he's either dead or a grandfather...
In spite of that, I don't think it's an awful episode, but Janeway continues to punish those who break the rules: selectively. When the journey started she talked about being the leader of a community, the matriarch of a family, but I fear with her actions of lately, she's just abusing the little power she flaunts aboard her tiny ship, just to try and remind people about Starfleet's regulations, some of which mean little considering Voyager's situation.
The B-plot really wasn't well explored though, it's understandable the situation the 'dissidents' position was, but something more than Tal and the Varro stowaway's stating the obvious, and rhetoric might have worked in the plots favour a little more.
So it comes to rating, I didn't mind it actually, I was thinking a 6, but to be honest though, at least as another character study of Harry it works, but considering the circumstances about alien relationships seen before now, it just doesn't convince. So it gets a 5. Don't be fooled, it's not a terrible episode (at least I don't think so), but some consistency regarding the most pivotal issue behind Harry's behaviour would've helped, but it was disregarded just to make Harry look like a 'bad boy'.
Remarkable VFX/ship/sequences: All involve the Varro generational ship, the opening shot of the fly in from bow of the ship into Tal's quarters to the foot of her door. The ship itself, a mammoth structure easily dwarfing Voyager, to its breaking apart in the climax.
Remarkable quote: "I have served on this ship for five years and said, 'yes, ma'am' to every one of your orders. But not this time." -Harry Kim to Captain Janeway
Remarkable dialogue: "I give up." - "After only two minutes? Tuvok, how do you do it?" - "I wait until his own illogic overwhelms him." -Tom Paris, Chakotay, and Tuvok, after Paris loses an argument
Rating: 5 (Cameron)

Course: Oblivion Stardate 52586.3: Synopsis in main VOY listing

A tragic and unique episode, cleverly involving the events of "Demon" to bring us the crew of Voyager 'copies' and their last mission. It's a nice setup with Tom and B'Elanna's marriage to start with, and continues with the crew getting ill. I like how Tuvok and Chakotay go over recent events involving the ship, and recount encounters with other races we hadn't seen, hinting that this wasn't the same crew otherwise surely we would've witnessed those events too. And everything's made clear when we discover their true origins.
But once again Janeway wants to make a scene and try to continue to live a life that isn't hers. Ordering that Earth be Voyager's ultimate destination was stupid and the argument brought forward in her quarters and later her ready room by Chakotay was correct, 'this' crew of Voyager's home, was never Earth. It is only by some strange development that they forgot who they were, and Janeway clings to that, and only after more deaths due to the ships condition does she accept their fate. A harsh lesson for her to learn.
And the ending, yes, heartbreaking. Great episode all the same. I certainly wouldn't have expected the 'Silver blood' crew to reappear, but this episode handled it really well. The drama and the human cost is perfectly illustrated, and the depiction of the ship coming apart too. Great effects, great acting.
Remarkable scenes: Tom and B'Elanna's wedding (Seven catching the bouquet), the climax of the episode with the copy Voyager falling short of contacting the real version.
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

The Fight Stardate not given: Voyager is trapped in "Chaotic Space" and the way to getting out is with Chakotay.

I hate this episode.
Okay, that's a bit strong, but I hate this episode. It's 45 minutes of nothing. When it first aired I fell asleep. I figured it was because I had gotten up early that morning. When I talked about it to a friend of mine, he told me that he also fell asleep.
When it was shown during the rerun, I again, fell asleep. I don't know why. When it went to weeknight rerun syndication I caught this episode and with enough coffee and Mountain Dew I managed not to fall asleep. I regret that.
This is the only Star Trek episode every to put me to sleep. I was awake through "11:59", I was awake during "Threshold", "Carpenter Street" and that episode of DS9 with the cross dressing Quark.
This episode goes nowhere. This episode does nothing. If it wasn't because it kept putting me and my friends to sleep, it would be an episode that I would have forgotten. If 'Voyager' was still being shown in reruns this would be one of those episodes that I would go out of my way not to watch.
Rating: 0 (Jason Feagans)

The Fight Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

What an awful Christmas present! I didn't get to see this episode at the time, but it did screen Christmas '08. Not that I was missing much, I've never actually managed to sit down and watch this episode, I'm content to let it run in the background while I do other things. Every time I've done so I did turn around every now and then to catch snippets of nothing interesting, just Chuckles running round the ship in boxing gear talking about... something being egged on by an image of Boothby, while having visions of aliens possessing the bodies of the crew.
Glad I didn't watch, maybe I'll come back and give a more thorough review, but considering the other two reviews on this site don't speak too highly of this episode, I don't think I'll bother.
Rating: 0 (Cameron)

Juggernaut Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

I'm on the fence here, it's an impressive looking episode with tense moments and action and great effects, but some parts of it were slightly boring and there's problems with the setup. Voyager's losing warp drive and it can't escape the blast radius of the Malon freighter at impulse, seems pretty convenient but oh well. And the mutated Malon crew member is hardly a sympathetic character. B'Elanna did the right thing trying to reason with him, but he was so made so bitter due to his condition it turned him into a remorseless killer. At least it looks like B'Elanna's message gets through to Fesek in the end to tell people about these forgotten core workers. I dunno, it's an average episode that looks to have drawn a lot from the atmosphere of the film 'Aliens', from the dark steamy alien environment, to B'Elanna getting hot and sweaty and sexy and dangerous in the end, and also the use of Astrometrics monitoring the away team and the creature approaching it in the command centre maybe another homage. It's enjoyable, but it seems pretty shallow and simple.
Remarkable fact: This episode marks the final appearance of the Malon.
Rating: 5 (Cameron)

Someone To Watch Over Me Stardate 52648.0: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Amazingly it seems that with this episode Seven of Nine and the Doctor, a hologram, are the most real members of the crew. This is a touching episode which goes to great lengths to draw a couple of marvelous performances out of Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan (and my god doesn't she look AMAZING in this episode?), where the Doctor, after instructing Seven on the techniques of dating and romance, discovers his own feeling's have grown for her as well. Of course, Seven is oblivious and makes it clear that friendship with the Doctor is the limit to their relationship.
It's not all so sad though, there's some wonderful moments in it, Seven and the Doctor singing a duet of 'You Are My Sunshine', the Doctor using a slideshow to demonstrate romantic proceedings leading to to procreation (featuring a giant image of an ovum, the hilarious quote accompanying is featured below). There's also the B-Plot, similar to TNG episode "Liasons" featuring an alien ambassador sampling human cuisines (and prostitutes of course), hilarity ensues after he gets drunk and tries to sweet talk Seven.
But yes, it is quite sad in the end that the Doctor is left with his feelings a secret, but despite Paris' claims to the contrary, I doubt it would've worked between the pair. Their relationship thus far had been similar to the one Kes had with the Doctor and Tuvok, that they had a mutual respect and friendship for each other, but it needn't have gone so far as a romance.
A very well written, well staged episode. An episode with heart, which I find welcome after the recent string of bland or depressing or unoriginal stories which have saturated Season 5 thus far.
Remarkable scenes: Seven's first date (complete with torn ligaments!), Seven and the Doctor dancing, the Doctor playing the piano in heartbroken solitude at the end.
Remarkable quote #1: "Species 8472 appears to have as many as five sexes. Bystanders better keep their distance." -The Doctor, to Seven of Nine
Remarkable quote #2: "Here we see Fortress Ovum, besieged by countless little warriors." -The Doctor, explaining conception to Seven of Nine (his flailing arms dramatising the process making it even more hilarious)
Remarkable quotes #3 and #4: "Seven of Mine!" and "Assimilate me! Please!" -Tomin, heavily intoxicated, to Seven of Nine.
Remarkable PUN: "You know I don't drink. I don't have the stomach for it." -The Doctor, to Seven of Nine and Tom Paris
Remarkable fact: This episode marks the final appearance of Chez Sandrine's.
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

11:59 Stardate not given: Captain Janeway is inspired to tell the story of Shannon O'Donnell and the Millennium Gate to her senior officers.

This episode has received extremely harsh and undeserved criticism from fans. I will admit it isn't the highlight of the season, but it does have a good plot, strong characters and above all it is light hearted. The episode is surrounded by others such as "Juggernaut", "Warhead" and "Equinox" which are much much darker. This is the only Star Trek episode of this nature and I believe it to be a suitable tribute to the dawn of the millennium, let's face it, Star Trek had to do something. It really annoys me when fans dismiss episodes just because they are different. What is important is that you have a good time watching them, and I did with "11:59". I know a lot of you will disagree with me, but I thought that this episode was better then most of season four of Enterprise, after "Storm Front". Granted, many of the other cast were not in the episode very much, but it isn't exactly a first for Star Trek episodes. (I am a massive Enterprise fan by the way just if you were wondering by my comment.)
Remarkable fact: The Millennium Gate
Rating: 6 (Craig Flint)

Relativity Stardate 52861.274: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Time travel, always seems conducive to an enjoyable episode and this is no exception. A clever plot interwoven perfectly with scenes in the past, present and future, bringing back the Kazon and Joe Carey in the past, and showing the impressive ship 'Relativity' in the future.
Some problems though, Ducane arresting the 'present' Braxton for crimes he 'will' commit, sounds rather harsh don't you think? From the 'present' Braxton's point of view it certainly is, however considering it was certain he'd plant the explosive on Voyager as revenge for Janeway's meddling in "Future's End", Braxton's fate may have been sealed. He would've had his rank and ship taken off him anyway as a precaution. This does really though open a can of worms in terms of how future events can be depicted, this is an example of an unchanged future, as if 'temporal psycho' Braxton's arrest wasn't going to change 'present Braxton' from committing the crime's at all. Not to mention Braxton claiming to have experienced being stranded on Earth when he either was stranded there definitely at the conclusion of "Future's End", or was somehow retrieved.
Ugh, no wonder Janeway had a headache. Bringing me to my second problem of bringing Janeway into the mix to capture Braxton in the final act, I thought things were going fine till they decided to give Janeway a hero moment of her own in order to capture Braxton in the act of sabotage. A certain risk of a paradox for Janeway to be roaming Voyager with her past self on the bridge, getting some no-name Redshirts from the 29th century could've worked just as well with less risk of a paradox. Dumb, illogical move just to give Janeway some phaser time. And there's also the question of how Seven knew about the events of "First Contact". The Collective may have shared the plan to travel back in time, but there's no way she nor the Collective could've been privy to the events aboard the Enterprise, considering the Borg in 2063 were not in contact with the Borg of that period. A stupid scripting error shoved in just to justify the mention of the word 'Enterprise'. Oh, and 'past' Janeway's insistence on knowing Seven's mission despite the latter stating how it would be a violation of the Temporal Prime Directive, at least Janeway remains consistent in her contempt for the STARFLEET policy, as the final episode of the series will demonstrate. Another annoying character trait of hers.
Apart from that, an enjoyable episode, well put together.
Remarkable facts: In the 29th century, at least 1 Federation ship will not be sporting the familiar 'saucers and 2 nacelles' design. Which may be plausible if the Defiant-class ship continues to be in use and is redesigned over that period of time. Blue becomes the department for Command and CONN, Red is Engineering and Tactical, and Green is Science and Medical for Starfleet uniforms.
Remarkable continuity: The phasers used by the 29th century Starfleet personnel are the same kind of 29th century phaser used by Starling's henchman in "Future's End".
Remarkable appearance: This is the first time since the first season Joe Carey appears.
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

Equinox I/II Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

Out of all the episodes of Voyager this is without doubt the only story that went to such dark lengths to show those 'shades of grey' that humanity can be capable of. However the only ones who suffer for it in this episode are members of the Equinox crew. Ransom was a man driven to the edge, not equipped to deal with the situation as incredibly well Voyager did (for the fact that Voyager was nothing more than a science vessel either, not some cruiser prepared for long term space travel unlike say, the Enterprise), and in the process he was offered a chance to get his crew home quicker.
This is the essential difference between the 2 Captains, Janeway's cruise was fraught with danger, but never, never to such an extent, while not condoning Ransom's actions, one wonders if Janeway would've preferred Ransom just sit back and die rather than break a Directive she had no problem 'bending' (which is still no justification for her actions many a time), that seems to have been the only other option we could discern from Ransom's situation, so without anything like, mention of a planet they could've settled on, or just staying with friendly aliens, we can't accurately judge Ransom's actions. But in the end he predictably redeems himself, his final quiet moments of solitude 'on the beach' are quite poignant and with his death he becomes a tragic figure.
Now Janeway's actions we can judge though, her vendetta pushes her to breaking point, this sort of behaviour would've of course have enamoured the fanboys and girls alike, but it's none the less still as criminal as Ransom's. Torture? Even today the argument is made that torture isn't a reliable way to extract information, so as mused by Picard in "Chain of Command" where he to was subject to torture by a Cardassian, why is it still practiced, by Janeway of all people? A woman who in the 1st part talked about principles being something that holds our humanity together. Hypocrite much? Considering Lessing's eventual co-operation, what was the point of the scene at all? To show how 'mad' Janeway was? By appealing to her blood lust in an effort to track down someone equally bloodthirsty? The logic is still a bit lost on me.
And yes, I am a fan of Enterprise, and are aware of Archer's actions in "Anomaly"' where he tortures an Osaarian pirate, however that WAS in an effort to stop Earth's destruction, and in a much less 'enlightened' time than the post-TNG era.
So that brings me to Chakotay, who finally 'mans up' and defies Janeway's orders, what does he get? Another speech from his Captain about how she appreciates his honesty? No. Getting relieved of rank. For years Chakotay towed Janeway's line, he when in command followed Starfleet's way in spite of his past, when serving Janeway he went along with all her insane risky plans that put the ship and crew in danger, even when he protested. Here for a change he follows through like perhaps he should've done before and is thrown in the brig for it. Poor chuckles. But that doesn't matter much, things still look rosey in the end, and surely will be next episode. Only in the final moments do we see the pair sort of mirror Janeway and Ransom as the episode started, Chakotay offering to put the plaque back on the wall, mending the damage the battle's, both on and off the ship, have done.
So that's it, the whole episodes about character. The Equinox crew, well, nearly beyond salvation, Burke of course pays for his crimes in blood, Lessing and Gilmore also are to be locked away (plus some goldshirts). The Doctor has a traumatic experience torturing Seven, but they do little more than laugh it off thanks to Seven's lack of comprehension.
So basically, the slate is wiped clean for Voyager and her crew. Everyone affected will have learnt once more the values of the Prime Directive as those who they've just witnessed commit such atrocities are either dead or swept under the rug.
There's clearly some superior effects work going on, the battle between Voyager and the Equinox is very impressive. The nucleogenic aliens aren't though and the technobabble about their conversion to matter thankfully isn't elaborated on much. Some dark sequences to, the Doctor torturing Seven, forcing her to sing 'Oh My Darling Clementine'. However I'm not too sure it was needed.
So it comes to rating, it's still a top couple of episodes, there's some things I didn't like about it though, but it's certainly above average considering the performances from the leading cast and the subject itself. It may have been corny to show another Federation starship in the show, but at least it was handled without dwelling on the weight of the situation too much, though it's a shame it's all so inconsequential.
Remarkable nicknames: 'BLT = Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato' for B'Elanna Torres and 'Turkey Platter' for Tom Paris.
Remarkable ship: The U.S.S. Equinox
Remarkable dialogue: "Starfleet Regulation 3, Paragraph 12: In the event of imminent destruction, a captain is authorized to preserve the lives of his crew by any justifiable means." - "I doubt that protocol covers mass murder." - "In my judgment, it did." -Captain Ransom and Captain Janeway
Remarkable dialogue #2: "They say...they want the humans to die." - "A difficult place to start a negotiation." -Captain of the Ankari ship and Tuvok
Remarkable quote: "It's easy to cling to your principles when you're standing on a vessel with its bulkheads intact, manned by a crew that's not starving." -Captain Ransom
Rating: 7 (Cameron)

Equinox I/II Stardate not given: Synopsis in main VOY listing

A 2 parter episode which brings in the complex moral choices that many trek episodes have used over the years. The story starts with a typical plot, the stranded crew of Voyager find the U.S.S Equinox heavily damaged in the Delta Quadrant. After rescuing the crew, baffled that another Federation ship is in this quadrant, Voyager starts being attacked by interdimensional aliens that have been attacking Equinox. It's soon discovered that the crew of Equinox has been performing sinister experiments on these aliens, turning them into fuel. After the crew escapes from Voyager, helped by a evil EMH, Equinox runs, stealing Voyager's shield generator, and part one ends.
In part 2, Voyager chases after Equinox, which has Seven of Nine and the Doc on her. After a fire fight, and a meeting with aliens responsible for allowing Equinox to meet these aliens, good old Captain Janeway turns sinister, almost getting a captured Equinox crewman killed. Eventually, after mutiny and a fierce battle, the Equinox is stopped, Voyager takes on some of her crew, and continues onto Earth.
A brilliant 2 parter episode, with strong acting and some cool scenes.
Remarkable Borg aren't all that Scene: In part one, Janeway tells seven that Equinox's captain made first contact with the Yridians. Seven comments saying that "Species 6291, the collective determined they were extinct." Oh dear, the Borg got it wrong. Very un-perfectional.
Remarkable technology: 1) Multiphasic forcefield - designed to hold the Aliens in this dimension; 2) Synaptic stimulator - a holodeck in your head; 3) Summoning Device - Calls the aliens.
Remarkable scenes: The bubble type shields of the Nova class, the two ships merging together, Voyager vs Nova, Nova's nacelle exploding, Seven of Nine showing emotion, there is many.
Remarkable Star Trek babble: 1) Interspatial fissures - holes that allow the aliens in; 2) Auto initiating security grid - a way of stopping the aliens; 3) Materials - kemocite ore, mercurium; 4) Thermionic radiation - lethal, emitted by EPS conduits; 5) Nucleogenic energy - haven't a clue what that is; 6) Triquadric algorithms - a way past shields?; many many more.
Remarkable insights: Starfleet Rules - 191 article 14, in a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority [Seen in film 'First Contact, Picard takes control of the fleet]; 3, paragraph 12, in event of imminent destruction, a captain is authourised to preserve the lives of his crew by any justifiable means. Humour - Max and Torres nicknames, BLT. Oh and Turkey Platter [Tom Paris]; Seven called an angel of mercy [a Borg being a angel?]; Klingon insult, puhtag [or however its spelt]; Naomi being Captain's assistant; Tuvok stating the obvious [He doesn't want us to go in the research lab]; loads more.
Nitpicking: How can a starship make their shields extend like they do around 2 ships? Disengaging power couplings, don't you have to have clearance? Won't it be detected? 0.03% warp core enhancement, hardly anything, I think Ransom would need more than 63 more aliens. That's only a increase of 1.89% in total. 10,000 light years in 2 weeks? That would be near Warp 10! With only a 0.03% increase! Surly the damage to the nacelle would make stable drop out of warp impossible? How can the doctor in sickbay find the shield frequency? 5 new crew, never seen again.
Rating: 10 (craig)

 

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