It is strange to go back to an episode where the Rock is a guest star and he barely stands out. Well, he owns the scenes he is in, but that is maybe only 5 minutes of the episode. Honestly I kinda wish he had been the one to take on the role of training Seven to eventually kill him. It turns out the Rock is a great actor so it would have been awesome, but Martok isn't a bad choice either. Oh yeah, the trainer also played Martok and the sleazy fight promoter played Weyoun making this an episode with some solid guest stars. I can't help but wonder if the writers heard Ridley Scott was directing a gladiator movie when they came up with this one. Sure it came out before the film so it clearly didn't rip it off, but the closeness of their releases makes me wonder if there is any relationship.
We open with a wild crowd cheering on an arena right between two aliens. One defeats the other by hitting it in discs that emit some sort of electric or other charge when hit with glowing panels on their hands and feet. After the fight we see Torres and Chakotay are in the crowd. They return to Voyager very excited about the fight. Janeway leaves just after they arrive on a mission in the Delta Flyer and the rest of the crew are taking shore leave in shifts. Chakotay sticks Torres with the job of running the bridge while he heads down for a fight. Seven and Tuvok though have decided to take a shuttle to check out a collapsing nebula or something which the Doctor considers quite dull. However on their way to the nebula they are attacked and taken captive but the people running the arena fight. Tuvok is injured and they refuse to treat him unless Seven agrees to fight.
In the arena Seven faces off with a slightly aliened up Rock. Chakotay and Neelix are horrified in the crowd to see Seven in the arena and they get Torres to try to beam her out, but it seems she isn't actually there. It is a holographic projection. Seven almost wins the fight but hesitates on the final blow allowing the Rock to best her. After the fight Seven wakes up to a Hirogen treating her wounds. He has been there for 19 years and offers to train her. She agrees and after a while the two hit it off. He convinces her to see her opponent as prey since it is literally kill or be killed in some matches. Tuvok tells Seven to do all she has to do to win her next fight as she is taken to the arena.
Voyager meanwhile has tracked down the fight ship, but it is huge and dangerous. They open fire as Seven enters the arena to learn she will be fighting her trainer to the death. He tells her he wants a good death, he has been here too long. Voyager manages to get Tuvok out but Seven is behind too much shielding. She is hesitant in the fight but eventually gets the best of the Hirogen. Just before she delivers the killing blow the Flyer knocks out the transmitters and the shields drop enough to beam both Seven and her opponent to safety. He leaves to look for his son and she questions whether she has lost her humanity again.
Review: A decent episode with some solid guest appearances and a story with some action. Pretty typical gladiator story ala TOS, but not in a particularily bad way.
6 out of 10
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