VOY: Repentance

         I have to say this is one of the more realistic episodes of VOY in terms of things turning out not the way the characters want all the time. In this case we have some prisoners, but really only two have any character we are shown. All are condemned to die and one of them is clearly dangerous while another seems like a friendly victim of circumstances. Now having Seven's nano-probes suddenly make a man capable of feeling guilt accidentally is a stretch, but if that is the worst we have to deal with I am ok with it. In the end it turns on the one they are all afraid of has just had a mental disorder while the friendly guy turns out to be a dangerous sociopath. I realize this is Trek's attempt to deal with the death penalty and that part in particular didn't seem as well handled as the rest of the episode.
         We open with Voyager rescuing the occupants of a badly damaged ship. Most are sent to the cargo bay but two go to sickbay. Tuvok shows up in the cargo bay as the guards are horrified to realize they are now disarmed and on their own with the prisoners, but with security there everybody is cool. In sickbay though Iko, one of the prisoners, has taken Seven hostage with a knife. She easily knocks him away and he futilely takes the Doctor hostage. Janeway has a special prison section built for them and guard duty is shared between the local guards and Voyager security personnel. The warden, Yediq, isn't too pumped to give up control, but sees he has little choice. Neelix starts bringing the prisoners meals over the objections of Yediq and befriends one of the men named Joleg. The two start playing board games together and Neelix starts looking into the local law and finds it badly discriminates against Joleg's species. 
         Things take a turn for the worse when Yediq has the guards beat Iko up when Iko threatens his children. Janeway removes the local guards and Iko is taken to surgery. Nano-probes from Seven are used to heal him which work but also do something to his brain that suddenly makes him capable of feeling guilt. He and Seven make a connection but because of how guilty he feels he now believes strongly that he deserves execution. With Neelix's research on local legal practice Janeway gets an appeal going for Iko and meanwhile Joleg talks Neelix into sending a message to his brother. Joleg's brother shows up and attacks Voyager knocking out the shields in the jail allowing the prisoners to escape. Joleg is suddenly super violent and takes several captives with Iko's help. But Iko realizes it is wrong and turns his weapon over to Yediq ending the uprising. Yediq sponsors his appeal but it is still turned down.

         Review: A few problems, but overall a very good episode. I was worried it would just turn out that all the prisoners were totally innocent and it would be hella ham-handed about preaching the evils of the death penalty, but it manages to be much more nuanced and interesting.

7 out of 10