Craggus’ Trek Trek:
Now, Voyager! Vol 20
Craggus’ Trek Trek Now Voyager Vol 20 sees the series start to prepare for the end while filling time with not one but two two-parters.
Star Trek Voyager S7E09: Flesh And Blood
There’s something of a preoccupation in Voyager seventh season with all things holographic, and nothing summarises it like this feature-length instalment which may as well be called “Holodeck Malfunction: The Movie” and acts as a direct sequel to The Killing Game. The Hirogen, not content with the holographic hunting grounds provided by Janeway, find that their after-market modifications have deadly repercussions as they create a race of super-intelligent holograms who turn out to be better hunters than hunted. By redefining holograms as their own distinct race, The Doctor finds himself in a difficult position between his duty as a Starfleet officer and his “people”. There’s a lot of talking, a few double-crosses and a great deal of moral philosophising and handwringing before holographic megalomania makes everyone’s choices much easier.
Star Trek Voyager S7E11: Shattered
When you want to do a Voyager episode that puts a character through the emotional wringer, you go to Neelix. Need an episode where a reformed jock does something stupid? Tom Paris is your man. A story about an eager young crewman getting slapped down and taught his place? Paging Harry Kim. But when you want to fracture someone’s psyche and send them spiralling into a temporal multiverse? Chakotay, we choose you! With 155 episodes under their belt and the finish line looming, you can’t really begrudge Voyager a victory lap to celebrate being the first episode of any Start Trek to premiere in the 21st Century. It’s great to see Seska back but it’s a shame that Jennifer Lien didn’t get to reprise Kes here rather than in the lacklustre Fury and, of course, Kate Mulgrew gets to reprise the many hairstyles of Janeway, right back to the original buns of steel. The glimpses into the potential future are fun too, although we all know they won’t come to pass because of the events of episodes yet to come.
Star Trek Voyager S7E12: Lineage
A story that might have had ambitions to explore the moral and ethical implications of prenatal testing gets bogged down in a kitchen-replicator drama between Tom and B’Elanna that never once feels like it’s enough to be the A-story, never mind the only story, for an episode. The ease with which the Doctor’s free will and actions are shown to be so easily manipulated also severely complicates and even undermines the ongoing theme of holographic rights the series is building up.
Star Trek Voyager S7E13: Repentence
An interesting premise – which stretches the Macguffinery abilities of bog nanoprobes to the limit – turns into a neat story examining crime and punishment from a pretty unique viewpoint. When a prison transport ship suffers an accident, Voyager comes to the rescue but in treating one of the wounded convicts, the Doctor accidentally cures a congenital defect which turns out to be responsible for his psychopathy. Despite its meaty philosophical theme, it never really does anything but nibble around the edges and although it provides some nice moments for Janeway, Seven of Nine and The Doctor it never gets close to the bone.
Star Trek Voyager S7E14: Prophecy
Out of nowhere (and possibly out of ideas) Voyager pulls off one of the franchise’s barmiest Klingon lore episodes – and that’s saying something given the competition – as the ship encounters an ancient generational Klingon D-7 battle cruiser full of heretics searching for their messiah, who they promptly decide must be B’Elanna Torres’ unborn. It’s all absurd nonsense, of course, but there’s no denying it’s nice to see a D-7 cruising alongside Voyager but you can’t help feeling we’ve seen this Klingon political soap opera played out a dozen times before. Qapl’eugh!
Star Trek Voyager S7E15: The Void
Falling into a subspace sinkhole, the crew of the USS Voyager are forced to create a mini United Federation of Planets in order to secure their safety and plot an escape. It plays out as a modern homage to original TOS episode Journey To Babel, except given the reduced scale of the drama, perhaps it’s more Journey To Babybel. It’s another “principles over pragmatism” episode for Janeway, but it’s always nice to see the Federation’s high-minded ideals put to the test and come out on top.
Star Trek Voyager S7E16: Workforce
How on earth was this story not called Human Resources? An episode that feels like it takes its inspiration from headlines twenty years in its future, acute labour shortages, shady and corrupt commercial practices and the need for constant inoculations combine to give Star Trek one of its most overtly political and yet curiously blunted episodes ever. When almost the entire crew of Voyager are kidnapped (off-screen, before the episode begins), their memories are wiped, and they’re put to work in a massive industrial complex on the planet Quarra. Thankfully, Neelix, Chakotay and Kim were on an away mission, and they arrive in time to help The Doctor (in his Emergency Command Hologram mode) stabilise the ship’s systems and set about rescuing the crew. The latter is easier said than done with the crew embracing their new salaryman lives and Janeway even beginning an office romance, while Tuvok’s mental conditioning is starting to unravel.
Star Trek Voyager S7E17: Workforce, Part II
There’s more than a hint of Blake’s 7 in the aesthetic of this story, with the industrial complex evoking memories of Terry Nation’s brilliant but critically underfunded classic. Once again, Mulgrew herself seems a little more at ease here amidst a more down-to-earth drama and there’s a palpable sense of authenticity to her reluctance to let go of her more planet-bound life to resume her duties as a starship Captain. There’s a lot of running around in this episode as it seeks to fill out the second part which is odd as the eventual rescue of *the entire crew* ends up taking only a few minutes. Voyager’s last non-finale two-part story isn’t the weakest, but it is the drabbest as the focus on personal dramas over plot slows things down.
