Ending season four without a cliffhanger meant the following year could start afresh.
Night is memorable for that, Jonathan Del Arco guesting as one of the void aliens and for the arrival of the universe's grubbiest bin men, the Malon. Kings of pollution certainly and here we got an allegory to present day Earth and environmental damage. Go Voyager for being on the button but also because this episode is a rare moment where Janeway doubts herself and the real possibility of actually getting home. The characterisation and brutality of being thousands of light years from home is a good and welcome touch that could have been played on a lot more often and was worked to the max in this season opener.
The Malon were heavily hyped as I recall and we did see them again in Extreme Risk and then much later Juggernaut - a better episode which built on the larger background story around the radiation-sickened crew and the very foundations of Malon society.
The Malon were heavily hyped as I recall and we did see them again in Extreme Risk and then much later Juggernaut - a better episode which built on the larger background story around the radiation-sickened crew and the very foundations of Malon society.
Five episodes from the end of the year it might be, but Juggernaut is a cracking episode. Lots of eerie shadows, tales of mutants and some genuine moments of brilliance it's one of Voyager's darkest hours and I bloody love it. Simple idea, well told.
In fact the Malon were managed only slightly worse than Species 8472 who turned up for their fourth (if you count Scorpion as two episodes) appearance but you can forget about them after the early part of this season. So with utter darkness out of the way, we head into more familiar space with the Borg and indeed, Future Borg (Drone) as Seven's nanoprobes and the Doctor's holoemitter get all funky in Sickbay. It's a clear parallel to Frankenstein but with less horror and Seven in a maternal role as this new creation adjusts to existence before heroically destroying itself when the Borg of the 24th Century attempt to assimilate it. Fairly predictable stuff with the whole "humanising" element in there plus the sacrifice - didn't The Next Generation do something a bit similar with I, Borg?
Extreme Risk will forever be remember as the episode that reminded us all of just how many shuttles Voyager got through in 97 episodes with the introduction of the (first) Delta Flyer. Y'know what? It's a damn cool little ship with those moveable teeny warp nacelles, glowing Borg tech, the retro controls a la Captain Proton plus the fact it's almost indestructible. Using it to recover a probe in a race against the Malon was a good, well-paced story and again gave the show a new twist for the new season. The Delta Flyer was a big staple of the year so much so that shuttles hardly needed to be ever used again - although where did they get all the materials to build it from?!
Then there's the humanising of Species 8472. If there's one thing that becomes more evident when you rewatch Star Trek is that the baddies always have that key episode where the writers try and make them understandable. While the episode might be good and give some great twists I always feel let down because the whole point of them being opponents is to be opponents. The Next Generation attempted to humanise the Borg with Hugh, Deep Space Nine with The Abandoned and Hippocratic Oath and Voyager cuddles up with 8472 in their recreation of Starfleet. It's a cool idea that they are training and learning about their enemies but by the end it's all a bit too nice and the sting is neutered. Oh - and nice to see Boothby back and Kate Vernon guest-starring with some very early, cutting edge CG for the day - and a step up from the quality of the lifeforms in season three's Macrocosm.
Now to Once Upon a Time. Repeatedly I have expressed the view that this is my least liked episode of any series ever made without question. It's appalling in every respect. What could have been a decent A story about Naomi's mum being lost is annihilated under the schmaltz and saccharine s**tness of Flotter. Adding a dash of Neelix in there just made it worse and this was at a time when I thought that the Talaxian was getting much better material to work with. I was sadly wrong. A big mess up and one to avoid - which is exactly the polar opposite of the next ep, Timeless.
Garrett Wang's favourite story (surprise!) it delivers in everything. Time travel, crashing ships, future Geordi, dilemmas, great character building and strong roles for two of the show's most maligned crew with both Kim and Chakotay taking a very prominent centre stage. Quite a bold move to make two of the "lesser" crew key players in what is the show's 100th episode but it works. Who could possibly forget them ploughing Voyager into that icefield? One of the show's best ironically after easily its worst.
Followed up by Infinite Regress, we have a fine example of mental health issues tackled by Star Trek as Seven experiences the personalities of others assimilated by the Borg during her time within the Collective. Certainly an opportunity for Jeri Ryan to stretch her acting muscles beyond the placid Seven - who would have thought we'd get to see her imitating a Ferengi? It's a good story but it's at this point that the season really kicks in. Thirty Days does the previously unthinkable and demotes Tom Paris to Ensign in a very bold move which is carried through for a good chunk of the year (although why he gets promoted ahead of Kim...) and deals out a wonderful "this is what happened" tale as we get to find out why he's in the holding cell for a month. Nicely played, unexpected and at least an episode where the issues aren't wrapped up in 42 minutes
.
Next is the brilliant - and I do mean brilliant - Counterpoint. Laced with the ironically calming classical soundtrack, it's a gripping take on the persecution and suspicion of one race (telepaths) by another. Definitely hallmarks of the Holocaust and many other examples of displaced and threatened populations across every century of our history. The relationship between Janeway and her nemesis, played by Mark Harelik are the stuff of TV dreams. The verbal repartee is sparkling with the duplicity that unravels between them just mesmerising. Another of the best that Voyager ever offered not just in this season but ever.
The Doctor is the focus of Latent Image wherein he uncovers a "forgotten" crewmember (Ensign Jetal), leading to a key revelation about his development that we didn't see in the previous season (because it hadn't been written!). As with all the Doctor stories you wonder about the relevance given that he is a computer programme but the character and Picardo's portrayal easily make you forget that and remember how much a part of the crew he has become.
Fortunately for a season that is heavily dramatic and character developing we have Bride of Chaotica! another great concept episode that turns the action monochromatic and puts us into a holodeck adventure which (sort of) makes sense for once. Incorporating photonic lifeforms and Paris' Captain Proton programme it's played more tongue in cheek than 100% serious with everyone getting a chance to open up a little especially Janeway as Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People. While it's good and certainly unique, I actually found myself loving Gravity.
Mainly played out between Tuvok and Lori Petty's guest character Noss, we find a shuttle party trapped on the wrong side of a subspace sinkhole with seemingly zero chance of every returning home and being forced to scavenge the desolate landscape they are marooned in for the remainder of their lives. Partially a chase episode as others on the planet seek to steal the new technology Tuvok, Paris and the deactivated Doctor have brought with them, Gravity just has it. There's an emotional punch and the combination of Russ and Petty is unusual but beautifully worked - just as well as the sparring we experienced in Counterpoint. I genuinely love this episode with the crew's efforts to rescue the shuttle on one side and on the other the dawning realisation that the nothingness of the wasteland is all that the shuttle crew will have for eternity. Well played and even though you know they will be rescued there's still a looming vulnerability right to the end.
Bliss seeks out the solo strength of Jeri Ryan as she deals with a silent starship with the crew all KO'd by a sinister space anomaly leaving them all convinced their journey home is over and done. Great gravitas brought to this one through the arrival of W Morgan Shepherd as an alien captain obsessed with the phenomenon.
Dark Frontier is a rarity in Star Trek, acting as a feature length story slap-bang in the middle of a season. I've recently covered over this return of the Borg and the expansion of Seven's backstory in Breaking Borg but it's still well worth a good note. Susanna Thompson's Borg Queen is ok but doesn't have the smooth gravitas that Alice Krige brought to the role in First Contact. The pair would share the role across her Voyager appearances and even with all the danger and darkness here, you know Seven will never leave her new family. Dark Frontier is a major event for the series and the pacing, for once, over 90 minutes is pretty even. Helps when you're planning both parts of a two-parter at the same time.
Course: Oblivion is one of those stories that changes with a second viewing. The twist, which (SPOILER) links back to season four's Demon is held back for a while and divides the episode clean in two. With a few differences thrown in on the "demon" Voyager, it's an entertaining watch with a tragic conclusion which both pulls at the ol' heart strings but does that Voyager reset that the series was so fond of pulling.
For Chakotay fans - and Robert Beltran - the sidelined first officer claws his way back to the surface for his most impactful performance since Timeless. Problem here is that the episode is fairly run of the mill. The boxing scenario framed within Chakotay's mind is fairly forgettable and one of the show's alltime weakest. Even now I'm pushed to remember what the hell happened and you have to feel sorry for him almost getting a "token" episode.
Think Tank is memorable for the inclusion of Jason Alexander as a member of the cerebral super-group as well as a revelation that they have cured the Vidiians of the Phage. It's ok, leading to a standard kidnap plot and probably another weak point in the season which started favourably. At least there's Juggernaut and then the superb Someone to Watch Over Me to follow. The second one there is truly one of Voyager's key stories and utilises, surprise, surprise, the Doctor and Seven. By this point you start to realise that the writers did love to scribe for these two and Janeway creating a new triumvirate on the intrepid starship.
Both actors are, admittedly, on top form here and every single scene is electric. One that's well worth a re-watch again and again - another for a best of... collection.
11:59 capitalises on the upcoming (at the time) millennium celebrations spending 99% of the episode in the late 90's retelling the story of Janeway's ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell. The captain's knowledge of Shannon differs to the actual account with the story uncovering O'Donnell's battle to help a bookshop owner stop the development of the Millennium Gate project. The episode places a pin into the era in which Voyager was filmed but fails to capture the magic we have seen in other "non-Trek time period" stories where the main cast have been used for other roles.
Following on we have Relativity which kind of sequels the third season Future's End with the return of (a recast) Captain Braxton and chucks Seven through a helluva mill to try and work out a mystery on Voyager that takes her back to a time before the ship launched and into a Starfleet uniform for the one and only time. It's a fun episode and makes up for the shortcomings of the previous week's time-adjusted story with lots of dips into Voyager history although, ultimately, the end reveal is a lot more disappointing than it should be and almost robs the episode of its soul. Harsh, but I think that sums it up pretty fairly!
Then Warhead might have just been called Dreadnought II since it's the return of a sentient weapon with a mission to complete. While the "original" from season two pitted Torries against her own ingenuity, Warhead gives Robert Picardo one more chance to stretch his acting talents from the usual sarcastic Doctor to the cold personality of an alien weapon. A neat bottle show for the series, Warhead utilises the cast perfectly around the possessed EMH to deliver a satisfying but rushed last ten minutes. It's an episode that feels like there's a lot of quality build up only to be skipped over to reach the titles in the allotted time frame - this 42 minute format (plus ads makes an hour) really killed Star Trek's creativity and writing muscles in the '90's.
The season finale does make up for a lot of the mediocrity that fills out year five. At least these days with a limited run per series we get higher quality each week without too much filler to bulk the schedule.
Equinox is fantastic. A new type of starship onscreen with the Nova Class (an initial design for the Defiant) and the distinct parallel to Voyager's journey home. This is a sublime "What If" storyline treading the water of events if Janeway had chosen to do anything to get home and not follow Starfleet principles. Captain Ransom is a captain well out of depth to being with, commanding an ill-suited, small research ship on a lengthy trip home and also without the depth of character we see in Janeway. All the cards are against him from the beginning with the bleakest touch being the fate of Equinox's EMH and the removal of his moral subroutines.
This is top ten Voyager stuff with a genuinely terrifying conclusion leaving Voyager in dire straits and it looking as though the Equinox is going to succeed and escape retribution once again. Class from start to finish and with a conclusion that would open the sixth season and actually be well worth waiting for.
Season Five never really hits its potential with an inspired, gritty opener that is quickly dispensed with as soon as the stars reappear at the end of Night. Voyager could have explored the bleak reality that the journey was now in its fifth year a lot more than it did although you can understand the need not to make the show too dark for too long.
While Seven would receive a lot of screentime, there are some real key moments for the others who do feel horribly underused on occasion with Robert Duncan McNeill fairing the best outside the "big three" with genuine character changing events unseen outside of this series (until Burnham was stripped of rank in Discovery). What it does do well is the sense of continuation in some of the stories with callbacks to other Voyager episodes thanks to Braxton in Relativity, the continuing Seven and Borg Queen head to head in Dark Frontier and the Demon crew for Course: Oblivion - it feels like there are some real consequences to actions taken which Equinox would hint at and be addressed further by stories such as Flesh and Blood.
It's a year heading towards a more satisfying sixth season. Voyager finally seemed to be fitting into its own Star Trek niche, doing conceptual, off the track stories - and would continue so in the following year...
Now to Once Upon a Time. Repeatedly I have expressed the view that this is my least liked episode of any series ever made without question. It's appalling in every respect. What could have been a decent A story about Naomi's mum being lost is annihilated under the schmaltz and saccharine s**tness of Flotter. Adding a dash of Neelix in there just made it worse and this was at a time when I thought that the Talaxian was getting much better material to work with. I was sadly wrong. A big mess up and one to avoid - which is exactly the polar opposite of the next ep, Timeless.Garrett Wang's favourite story (surprise!) it delivers in everything. Time travel, crashing ships, future Geordi, dilemmas, great character building and strong roles for two of the show's most maligned crew with both Kim and Chakotay taking a very prominent centre stage. Quite a bold move to make two of the "lesser" crew key players in what is the show's 100th episode but it works. Who could possibly forget them ploughing Voyager into that icefield? One of the show's best ironically after easily its worst.
Followed up by Infinite Regress, we have a fine example of mental health issues tackled by Star Trek as Seven experiences the personalities of others assimilated by the Borg during her time within the Collective. Certainly an opportunity for Jeri Ryan to stretch her acting muscles beyond the placid Seven - who would have thought we'd get to see her imitating a Ferengi? It's a good story but it's at this point that the season really kicks in. Thirty Days does the previously unthinkable and demotes Tom Paris to Ensign in a very bold move which is carried through for a good chunk of the year (although why he gets promoted ahead of Kim...) and deals out a wonderful "this is what happened" tale as we get to find out why he's in the holding cell for a month. Nicely played, unexpected and at least an episode where the issues aren't wrapped up in 42 minutes.
Next is the brilliant - and I do mean brilliant - Counterpoint. Laced with the ironically calming classical soundtrack, it's a gripping take on the persecution and suspicion of one race (telepaths) by another. Definitely hallmarks of the Holocaust and many other examples of displaced and threatened populations across every century of our history. The relationship between Janeway and her nemesis, played by Mark Harelik are the stuff of TV dreams. The verbal repartee is sparkling with the duplicity that unravels between them just mesmerising. Another of the best that Voyager ever offered not just in this season but ever.The Doctor is the focus of Latent Image wherein he uncovers a "forgotten" crewmember (Ensign Jetal), leading to a key revelation about his development that we didn't see in the previous season (because it hadn't been written!). As with all the Doctor stories you wonder about the relevance given that he is a computer programme but the character and Picardo's portrayal easily make you forget that and remember how much a part of the crew he has become.
Fortunately for a season that is heavily dramatic and character developing we have Bride of Chaotica! another great concept episode that turns the action monochromatic and puts us into a holodeck adventure which (sort of) makes sense for once. Incorporating photonic lifeforms and Paris' Captain Proton programme it's played more tongue in cheek than 100% serious with everyone getting a chance to open up a little especially Janeway as Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People. While it's good and certainly unique, I actually found myself loving Gravity.
Bliss seeks out the solo strength of Jeri Ryan as she deals with a silent starship with the crew all KO'd by a sinister space anomaly leaving them all convinced their journey home is over and done. Great gravitas brought to this one through the arrival of W Morgan Shepherd as an alien captain obsessed with the phenomenon.
Dark Frontier is a rarity in Star Trek, acting as a feature length story slap-bang in the middle of a season. I've recently covered over this return of the Borg and the expansion of Seven's backstory in Breaking Borg but it's still well worth a good note. Susanna Thompson's Borg Queen is ok but doesn't have the smooth gravitas that Alice Krige brought to the role in First Contact. The pair would share the role across her Voyager appearances and even with all the danger and darkness here, you know Seven will never leave her new family. Dark Frontier is a major event for the series and the pacing, for once, over 90 minutes is pretty even. Helps when you're planning both parts of a two-parter at the same time.Course: Oblivion is one of those stories that changes with a second viewing. The twist, which (SPOILER) links back to season four's Demon is held back for a while and divides the episode clean in two. With a few differences thrown in on the "demon" Voyager, it's an entertaining watch with a tragic conclusion which both pulls at the ol' heart strings but does that Voyager reset that the series was so fond of pulling.
For Chakotay fans - and Robert Beltran - the sidelined first officer claws his way back to the surface for his most impactful performance since Timeless. Problem here is that the episode is fairly run of the mill. The boxing scenario framed within Chakotay's mind is fairly forgettable and one of the show's alltime weakest. Even now I'm pushed to remember what the hell happened and you have to feel sorry for him almost getting a "token" episode.Think Tank is memorable for the inclusion of Jason Alexander as a member of the cerebral super-group as well as a revelation that they have cured the Vidiians of the Phage. It's ok, leading to a standard kidnap plot and probably another weak point in the season which started favourably. At least there's Juggernaut and then the superb Someone to Watch Over Me to follow. The second one there is truly one of Voyager's key stories and utilises, surprise, surprise, the Doctor and Seven. By this point you start to realise that the writers did love to scribe for these two and Janeway creating a new triumvirate on the intrepid starship.
Both actors are, admittedly, on top form here and every single scene is electric. One that's well worth a re-watch again and again - another for a best of... collection.
11:59 capitalises on the upcoming (at the time) millennium celebrations spending 99% of the episode in the late 90's retelling the story of Janeway's ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell. The captain's knowledge of Shannon differs to the actual account with the story uncovering O'Donnell's battle to help a bookshop owner stop the development of the Millennium Gate project. The episode places a pin into the era in which Voyager was filmed but fails to capture the magic we have seen in other "non-Trek time period" stories where the main cast have been used for other roles.
Following on we have Relativity which kind of sequels the third season Future's End with the return of (a recast) Captain Braxton and chucks Seven through a helluva mill to try and work out a mystery on Voyager that takes her back to a time before the ship launched and into a Starfleet uniform for the one and only time. It's a fun episode and makes up for the shortcomings of the previous week's time-adjusted story with lots of dips into Voyager history although, ultimately, the end reveal is a lot more disappointing than it should be and almost robs the episode of its soul. Harsh, but I think that sums it up pretty fairly!Then Warhead might have just been called Dreadnought II since it's the return of a sentient weapon with a mission to complete. While the "original" from season two pitted Torries against her own ingenuity, Warhead gives Robert Picardo one more chance to stretch his acting talents from the usual sarcastic Doctor to the cold personality of an alien weapon. A neat bottle show for the series, Warhead utilises the cast perfectly around the possessed EMH to deliver a satisfying but rushed last ten minutes. It's an episode that feels like there's a lot of quality build up only to be skipped over to reach the titles in the allotted time frame - this 42 minute format (plus ads makes an hour) really killed Star Trek's creativity and writing muscles in the '90's.
The season finale does make up for a lot of the mediocrity that fills out year five. At least these days with a limited run per series we get higher quality each week without too much filler to bulk the schedule. Equinox is fantastic. A new type of starship onscreen with the Nova Class (an initial design for the Defiant) and the distinct parallel to Voyager's journey home. This is a sublime "What If" storyline treading the water of events if Janeway had chosen to do anything to get home and not follow Starfleet principles. Captain Ransom is a captain well out of depth to being with, commanding an ill-suited, small research ship on a lengthy trip home and also without the depth of character we see in Janeway. All the cards are against him from the beginning with the bleakest touch being the fate of Equinox's EMH and the removal of his moral subroutines.
This is top ten Voyager stuff with a genuinely terrifying conclusion leaving Voyager in dire straits and it looking as though the Equinox is going to succeed and escape retribution once again. Class from start to finish and with a conclusion that would open the sixth season and actually be well worth waiting for.
Season Five never really hits its potential with an inspired, gritty opener that is quickly dispensed with as soon as the stars reappear at the end of Night. Voyager could have explored the bleak reality that the journey was now in its fifth year a lot more than it did although you can understand the need not to make the show too dark for too long.
While Seven would receive a lot of screentime, there are some real key moments for the others who do feel horribly underused on occasion with Robert Duncan McNeill fairing the best outside the "big three" with genuine character changing events unseen outside of this series (until Burnham was stripped of rank in Discovery). What it does do well is the sense of continuation in some of the stories with callbacks to other Voyager episodes thanks to Braxton in Relativity, the continuing Seven and Borg Queen head to head in Dark Frontier and the Demon crew for Course: Oblivion - it feels like there are some real consequences to actions taken which Equinox would hint at and be addressed further by stories such as Flesh and Blood.
It's a year heading towards a more satisfying sixth season. Voyager finally seemed to be fitting into its own Star Trek niche, doing conceptual, off the track stories - and would continue so in the following year...
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