The end of Voyager seems to be a mix of wrapping things up episodes and normal random eps. Today was definitely in the random category other than I guess they decided to kill of a "named" crewman. Unfortunately they picked a guy who other than some alternate timeline stuff hadn't been seen since the first season. Honestly I already assumed he was dead so having him die and the captain get all emotional felt kinda odd. I think this episode was supposed to be about environmentalism among other things, but it didn't really work for me. The idea that these people blame humans for destroying their planet just doesn't make much sense, so when they start making unreasonable demands I am not sure what Janeway was supposed to do. At least the jackass leader got shown he was wrong, but even for a jackass he seemed particularly stubborn.
We open with the titular probe arriving an an alien world and entering the atmosphere. On Voyager Janeway is talking with Admiral Hendricks in the Alpha Quadrant and he gives her a mission to track down Friendship 1. Kim gets to work and after making some corrections they find on a planet badly contaminated with anti-matter radiation (whatever that is supposed to be). Tom, Chakotay, Neelix, Kim and Carey take the Flyer to the surface but soon come under attack. Tom, Neelix and Carey are taken hostage as Chakotay heads back to Voyager under heavy fire. The aliens on the planet are badly hurt by the radiation and demand insist that humanity is at fault and Janeway should be willing to evacuate their entire planet. Janeway starts looking for options but isn't happy to be negotiating with hostage takers. Paris manages to befriend a pregnant alien and manages to save her baby, but without a trip to Voyager it still won't make it.
To prove he is serious the alien leader kills Carey when Janeway doesn't move fast enough for him. In a transporter test one of the aliens ends up on Voyager and has his radiation treated. He is a scientist and starts working on plan to remove the radiation from the atmosphere. Janeway is done with the hostage takers though and sends Tuvok with a rescue team and gets them out of there. But Paris talks them into sending the baby with them and returns it treated. Voyager begins bombarding the planet to get rid of the radiation and the scientist has to talk the leader into not nuking them with their missiles. It works and the leader finally sees he was wrong.
Review: This is a pretty ham-handed episode that takes what is at least in theory a good Trek message of being careful with weapons or something and turning it so many times that I am not sure what it is trying to say. Maybe in 5 years when Mission Log gets here I will figure it out, but it didn't work for me.
3 out of 10
Friday, December 2, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
VOY: Author, Author
After spending seven seasons building up the Doctor as a fairly well fleshed out, if often annoying, character, they realized we had almost reached the end without a Measure of a Man episode. So we got this. I actually found the idea of the Doctor writing a story about his experiences interesting and seeing how he dealt with the crews reaction was awesome. But I didn't need the trial over subspace to determine if he was an artist. Also it would honestly be easier to feel empathy for him if he wasn't so annoying and uncaring about his patients experiencing pain at times. Also it seems odd to have a holo character creating holo novels filled with other holo character that he has forced to do his will being upset that he is being forced into a role by his crew, but maybe that is just too meta for VOY.
We open with the Doctor working on a fairly incipid holo novel about himself called Photons Be Free. In astrometrics they are testing a new live link the the Alpha Quadrant created by Barclay of course and we learn the crew will be able to make short, live calls to their family. To decide who gets to go in what order they have a lottery of numbered isolinear chips and the Doctor gets chip number one and uses his time to get his holo novel off to a publisher. He convinces Tom to try it out and he is horrified that it is a clear copy of Voyager and her crew and they are all awful to the Doctor. Tom talks his friends into giving it a go and it depicts them all as awful people who think of him as a worthless piece of technology. Janeway calls a meeting to discuss their concerns with him and he totally blows them off. Paris then takes matters into his own hands creating a similar program that replaces the Doctors program and makes him play through a simulation from Paris' perspective. This makes the Doctor absolutely livid and he loudly argues with Tom about it in the hall. Eventually though Paris explains that he thought he had gained some of the Doctors respect and he is sad that he hasn't which makes the Doctor see at least a little reason.
Finally seeing that he is hurting his friends through his actions he decides to revise his novel and resend it to the publisher. But when he tries to contact him he learns that the novel has already been published without his permission. Janeway gets a call from the Alpha Quadrant with similar news. The publisher is claiming that since the Doctor is a hologram and not a person he has no rights as an artist so we have to have a MoaM style trial. But not nearly as convincing. In the end the Doctor wins his rights to the novel and we close with a group of first generation EMH's toiling in a mine talking about his exciting new novel.
Review: If the Doctor were less annoying to work with at times it would be easier to have empathy for him in this situation. I mean, I do have some, but he is also responsible for a lot on the ship and probably should occasionally try to work as a team player. Still not a bad episode even it it is no Measure.
6 out of 10
We open with the Doctor working on a fairly incipid holo novel about himself called Photons Be Free. In astrometrics they are testing a new live link the the Alpha Quadrant created by Barclay of course and we learn the crew will be able to make short, live calls to their family. To decide who gets to go in what order they have a lottery of numbered isolinear chips and the Doctor gets chip number one and uses his time to get his holo novel off to a publisher. He convinces Tom to try it out and he is horrified that it is a clear copy of Voyager and her crew and they are all awful to the Doctor. Tom talks his friends into giving it a go and it depicts them all as awful people who think of him as a worthless piece of technology. Janeway calls a meeting to discuss their concerns with him and he totally blows them off. Paris then takes matters into his own hands creating a similar program that replaces the Doctors program and makes him play through a simulation from Paris' perspective. This makes the Doctor absolutely livid and he loudly argues with Tom about it in the hall. Eventually though Paris explains that he thought he had gained some of the Doctors respect and he is sad that he hasn't which makes the Doctor see at least a little reason.
Finally seeing that he is hurting his friends through his actions he decides to revise his novel and resend it to the publisher. But when he tries to contact him he learns that the novel has already been published without his permission. Janeway gets a call from the Alpha Quadrant with similar news. The publisher is claiming that since the Doctor is a hologram and not a person he has no rights as an artist so we have to have a MoaM style trial. But not nearly as convincing. In the end the Doctor wins his rights to the novel and we close with a group of first generation EMH's toiling in a mine talking about his exciting new novel.
Review: If the Doctor were less annoying to work with at times it would be easier to have empathy for him in this situation. I mean, I do have some, but he is also responsible for a lot on the ship and probably should occasionally try to work as a team player. Still not a bad episode even it it is no Measure.
6 out of 10
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
VOY: Q2
When I saw that there was one more Q episode left in VOY I wasn't exactly excited. But it does do a pretty good job of wrapping up the crisis in the continuum plot from several seasons earlier and introduces us to the son of Q. Of course they are always just called Q so I will steal from the episode title and refer to the boy as Q2. Q has always been obsessed with humanity so it is hardly surprising that when he has problems with his family he turns to he current Trek captain to solve them. And honestly this give Janeway an opportunity to show her leadership skills in a way she hasn't had much of a chance to the last few seasons. I admit it, I loved when Neelix lost his speech. Sure, he isn't as bad as the first few seasons, but it is nice to see them acknowledge that maybe they haven't done the best job of not making him super annoying.
We open with Icheb giving Janeway a presentation of Kirk and the early Federation for his on board academy training. When he leaves Janeway is surprised to see an annoying young man in her ready room making fun of what he just watched. It is Q2 and before long Q shows up. It seems Q2 has been brought to learn about humanity and before long Q disappears leaving them to deal with him. So Q2 starts rampaging around the ship causing problems every where until finally he gets them attacked by the Borg getting Q to step in. Janeway gives him some parenting tips, but Q isn't able to make it work so they agree to some consequences. Q2 is to be left on Voyager for a week as a human and if he can't prove his value he will be turned in an amoeba for the rest of eternity. At first he is still up to his old tricks, but Janeway calls him on it and he straightens up and even befriends Icheb. After five days Q shows up again to tell him he has failed so Q2 steals the Flyer with an unwilling Icheb but they encounter hostile aliens and Icheb is mortally wounded. Q2 returns to Voyager and demands that Q fix Icheb but instead he is sent along with Janeway to apologize to the hostile aliens. He give a heart felt applogy and we learn the alien was actually Q. This is enough for Q, but not for the continuum so we have a fake out where Q2 thinks he will have to stay a human the rest of his life. But Q returns with the good news that Q2 has been accepted back into the continuum. Q thanks Janeway and we actually deal with why Q doesn't just send them home, kinda.
Review: I skipped over a lot of the Q2 antics because they weren't all that central to the plot, but overall this manages to balance itself pretty well into a good Q episode. Not nearly as goofy as they sometimes get and some actual lessons seem to have been learned.
6 out of 10
We open with Icheb giving Janeway a presentation of Kirk and the early Federation for his on board academy training. When he leaves Janeway is surprised to see an annoying young man in her ready room making fun of what he just watched. It is Q2 and before long Q shows up. It seems Q2 has been brought to learn about humanity and before long Q disappears leaving them to deal with him. So Q2 starts rampaging around the ship causing problems every where until finally he gets them attacked by the Borg getting Q to step in. Janeway gives him some parenting tips, but Q isn't able to make it work so they agree to some consequences. Q2 is to be left on Voyager for a week as a human and if he can't prove his value he will be turned in an amoeba for the rest of eternity. At first he is still up to his old tricks, but Janeway calls him on it and he straightens up and even befriends Icheb. After five days Q shows up again to tell him he has failed so Q2 steals the Flyer with an unwilling Icheb but they encounter hostile aliens and Icheb is mortally wounded. Q2 returns to Voyager and demands that Q fix Icheb but instead he is sent along with Janeway to apologize to the hostile aliens. He give a heart felt applogy and we learn the alien was actually Q. This is enough for Q, but not for the continuum so we have a fake out where Q2 thinks he will have to stay a human the rest of his life. But Q returns with the good news that Q2 has been accepted back into the continuum. Q thanks Janeway and we actually deal with why Q doesn't just send them home, kinda.
Review: I skipped over a lot of the Q2 antics because they weren't all that central to the plot, but overall this manages to balance itself pretty well into a good Q episode. Not nearly as goofy as they sometimes get and some actual lessons seem to have been learned.
6 out of 10
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
VOY: Human Error
I know from what I have read about the episode that this was supposed to have been about post traumatic stress, but I didn't see that at all while watching. I do get that Seven was experimenting with giving up her cold, Borg demeanor and wanted to see how people would react, but also it had a heavy fantasy element to it. Presumably since it isn't considered unethical people in Trek have fake affairs with their coworkers on the holodeck all the time, but in this case it has a double level of concealment since Seven doesn't want people to know she is opening up her emotional side. Honestly all I saw while watching this episode was that it was a set up for Chakotay and Seven to end up together by the end of the series. I will also admit I didn't really get why Chakotay and the captain weren't closer the first time through, but this time I totally get it. Janeway has cut herself off from the thought of relations with a member of her crew and also been quite a jerk to Chakotay over the years so I understand, I just don't see why he and Seven are getting together.
We open with Seven playing piano, but when we see her face her implants are missing. Cut to the mess hall where they are holding a baby shower for B'Elanna and Seven seems to be fitting in really well. She even gives a toast in the babies honor. Janeway discusses Seven becoming more human and offers her quarters and Seven even asks for a uniform. But this is interrupted when she is called to astrometrics by Janeway since she was just talking to Janeway. We quickly learn this has all been on the holodeck and things haven't really changed for her after all. In astrometrics Seven reports to the captain that she has been unable to figure out what is going on with some debris ahead but they all agree it isn't a problem. As she leaves Janeway tells Seven and Tuvok that she expects them at the surprise baby shower for B'Elanna but Seven tries to talk her way out of it. After telling Janeway she would go Seven instead heads back to the holodeck and ends up asking Chakotay on a date.
Seven starts having some problems with her implants and complains to the Doctor at her physical but he is more worried that she hasn't been regenerating. On the bridge things start going bad quickly as the ship is rocked by a series of shock waves. Janeway and Tuvok head to astrometrics as Seven has discovered the explosions were caused by warheads, but not ones aimed at Voyager. Seven gets assigned the job of figuring out where they are coming from, but instead of working she heads to the holodeck to go on her date with holo-Chakotay. Things keep getting worse for her as she fails to be at her station the next time things go bad because she slept with holo-Chakotay and then spent the night in her holo-quarters instead of being at her station. She gets chewed out by Janeway and decides to break things off with her holo-boyfriend but collapses and summons the Doctor who sees what is going on. She tells him that she feels empty after losing Unimatrix Zero and has been experimenting with her humanity. He tells her that her implants won't let her feel strong emotions and she says she wants to keep them. She gets called back to astrometrics though as there are more warheads on the way. She gives the wrong information but then asks for transporter control to beam out the detonators. Janeway is dubious because of how she has been having problems but she saves the day. After she runs into Chakotay and clearly feels awkward, but he seems a little interested in her as we go to credits.
Review: I don't hate the idea of Seven experimenting with romance, but the way she does it on the holodeck with simulations of real people came across as a bit creepy. The threat to Voyager B plot was ok, but not amazing either.
4 out of 10
Monday, November 28, 2016
VOY: Workforce, Part II
This episode manages to be an interesting look into who people are after they lose their memories and if they would want to go back to their old lives if they can. I was kinda disappointed they didn't make this episode more about Tuvok. It seems like the problems of a Vulcan unable to restrain his emotions are more interesting than all the internal politics of the work planet, but I guess they went that way instead. I don't hate the investigation that Seven conducted, but it seemed like almost an after thought compared to how much time we spend with Janeway. The issues with Harry and the Doctor don't really get resolved. Sure, they work together, but in the end they are right where they started with the Doctor thinking Harry is terrible in command and Harry thinking the Doctor is a bit of a pompous ass. I guess the problem is they are both right.
We open with Chakotay escaping his pursuers but getting injured in the process. Voyager too is damaged and can't return for him so he flees to Tom's bar where he runs into Janeway. He is forced to disappear again when investigators show up but he learned Janeway is moving in with Jaffen so he heads to her old quarters. She finds him there with a gun but agrees to help him with his injuries after he explains what happened. Seven meanwhile has started her own investigation into what happened with Tuvok as she has regained at least some of her memories. On Voyager B'Elanna's recovery is going slowing but she has accepted that she lost her memories which is making things easier on her. Jaffen learns about Chakotay from Janeway and sends guards to arrest him. But the investigator in that case is shocked when Chakotay is taken from him to be treated in a medical facility. That guy starts working with Seven. In the hospital they find the communicator implant and signal Voyager to meet who they think will be Chakotay. I admit all the aliens with bland brown uniforms got a little confusing for me, but eventually Janeway convinces Jaffen to help her lower the shields on the facility and the crew are beamed out. Her memory restored Janeway has a touching good bye with Jaffen.
Review: Other than getting a little confused about who was who on the alien planet this was a fun episode. It is almost like having character where uniforms of colors that tell you their job makes it easier for the audience.
6 out of 10
We open with Chakotay escaping his pursuers but getting injured in the process. Voyager too is damaged and can't return for him so he flees to Tom's bar where he runs into Janeway. He is forced to disappear again when investigators show up but he learned Janeway is moving in with Jaffen so he heads to her old quarters. She finds him there with a gun but agrees to help him with his injuries after he explains what happened. Seven meanwhile has started her own investigation into what happened with Tuvok as she has regained at least some of her memories. On Voyager B'Elanna's recovery is going slowing but she has accepted that she lost her memories which is making things easier on her. Jaffen learns about Chakotay from Janeway and sends guards to arrest him. But the investigator in that case is shocked when Chakotay is taken from him to be treated in a medical facility. That guy starts working with Seven. In the hospital they find the communicator implant and signal Voyager to meet who they think will be Chakotay. I admit all the aliens with bland brown uniforms got a little confusing for me, but eventually Janeway convinces Jaffen to help her lower the shields on the facility and the crew are beamed out. Her memory restored Janeway has a touching good bye with Jaffen.
Review: Other than getting a little confused about who was who on the alien planet this was a fun episode. It is almost like having character where uniforms of colors that tell you their job makes it easier for the audience.
6 out of 10
Sunday, November 27, 2016
VOY: Workforce
I have no idea how Netflix decides which two part episodes to leave divided and which to combine. Previously I thought that if it was a season ending cliffhanger they would leave it divided, but this mid season divided two parter proves that guess wrong. This one is going to be particularly hard to judge since I have never seen part 2, but the first half managed to be interesting enough to keep me going. I have to say I totally get Harry's objections to being put under the command of a hologram, but then again his last command didn't exactly work out all that well. I guess technically Chakotay told him and the Doctor to "work it out" but I think we all know what that means. Also, always fun to get to see a less emotionally under control Tuvok. I suspect the aliens had no idea what they were getting into when they brainwashed a Vulcan.
We open with Janeway reporting for work on a large industrial world. She goes by her name but doesn't seem to recall anything about being a captain. She gets to work on some sort of fusion machine thing but makes a mistake which sounds an alarm. She is rescued by a man named Jaffen but the two are soon scolded by Seven who is the new plant efficiency supervisor. Tom manages to talk his way into a bar job while Janeway and Tuvok are taken in for inoculations. Janeway accepts them but Tuvok has to be restrained. Meanwhile on the Flyer Kim is sick because Neelix talked him into drinking some foul meat juice drink while Chakotay looks for Voyager. On Voyager the Doctor is alone attempting to keep the ship running all by himself and seems to have changed into a red uniform. He gets an intruder alert signal but is relieved to find that it is Chakotay and Harry. The Flyer was gone when Voyager was stricken so the Doctor tells Chakotay the whole story. They were hit by a mine and then flooded with radiation. Janeway and the crew abandoned ship on escape pods after activating the Emergency Command Hologram protocols. They start repairs and also working to find the missing crew.
Back on the planet Tuvok is having flashbacks of his old life and tries to talk to Janeway about it but she has no memory of it and rebuffs him. Janeway and Jaffen start dating as Tom starts to hit on B'Elanna every chance he can get, even though she doesn't seem interested. Back on the ship they have tracked their crew down but when they contact the planetary officials they are told that their crew all now happily have new jobs, oh, and no, you can't talk to them and we have a planetary forcefield so fuck off. Chakotay gets disguised as an alien and along with Neelix they get jobs on the planet after flying down in Neelix's shuttle. Harry and the Doctor are left to bicker of who is in charge. Tuvok meanwhile manages to mindmeld with Seven before being dragged off by security. Chakotay and Neelix quickly learn the crew don't remember them and come up with a plan to "rescue" Torres. She, not remembering them, screams when Neelix grabs her and beams out but they can't get Chakotay since Voyager is now under attack.
Review: A tense cliffhanger but they have laid the seeds of their eventual escape I suspect with the mindmeld. I kinda skipped over the Janeway romance stuff, but she agrees to marry Jaffen, I guess only being a captain is keeping her from falling head over heals for some dude.
6 out of 10
We open with Janeway reporting for work on a large industrial world. She goes by her name but doesn't seem to recall anything about being a captain. She gets to work on some sort of fusion machine thing but makes a mistake which sounds an alarm. She is rescued by a man named Jaffen but the two are soon scolded by Seven who is the new plant efficiency supervisor. Tom manages to talk his way into a bar job while Janeway and Tuvok are taken in for inoculations. Janeway accepts them but Tuvok has to be restrained. Meanwhile on the Flyer Kim is sick because Neelix talked him into drinking some foul meat juice drink while Chakotay looks for Voyager. On Voyager the Doctor is alone attempting to keep the ship running all by himself and seems to have changed into a red uniform. He gets an intruder alert signal but is relieved to find that it is Chakotay and Harry. The Flyer was gone when Voyager was stricken so the Doctor tells Chakotay the whole story. They were hit by a mine and then flooded with radiation. Janeway and the crew abandoned ship on escape pods after activating the Emergency Command Hologram protocols. They start repairs and also working to find the missing crew.
Back on the planet Tuvok is having flashbacks of his old life and tries to talk to Janeway about it but she has no memory of it and rebuffs him. Janeway and Jaffen start dating as Tom starts to hit on B'Elanna every chance he can get, even though she doesn't seem interested. Back on the ship they have tracked their crew down but when they contact the planetary officials they are told that their crew all now happily have new jobs, oh, and no, you can't talk to them and we have a planetary forcefield so fuck off. Chakotay gets disguised as an alien and along with Neelix they get jobs on the planet after flying down in Neelix's shuttle. Harry and the Doctor are left to bicker of who is in charge. Tuvok meanwhile manages to mindmeld with Seven before being dragged off by security. Chakotay and Neelix quickly learn the crew don't remember them and come up with a plan to "rescue" Torres. She, not remembering them, screams when Neelix grabs her and beams out but they can't get Chakotay since Voyager is now under attack.
Review: A tense cliffhanger but they have laid the seeds of their eventual escape I suspect with the mindmeld. I kinda skipped over the Janeway romance stuff, but she agrees to marry Jaffen, I guess only being a captain is keeping her from falling head over heals for some dude.
6 out of 10
Saturday, November 26, 2016
VOY: The Void
This is allegedly an episode about forming a new mini-Federation inside a giant space trap in order to escape with some friendly ships. We have reached the point in the show where every episode or two Chakotay and Tuvok show up in the ready room to tell the captain just how bad they think her latest idea is. And yes, everything works out this time for Voyager, but that is because they wrote it that way. Janeway won't let any one into her alliance that steals from others, fine, but she spies on her enemies, sabotages their engines risks the lives of her crew which hardly seems very starfleet. Well, the risking lives part maybe, but not the rest.
We open with Seven serving a meal she cooked to the crew who are loving the break from Neelix's food, but they are interrupted by the ship shaking. Voyager is sucked into some sort of void in space and immediately attacked. A bunch of their supplies are stolen, but afterwards they are contacted by some dude who I guess offers to help her steal stuff? But she says no, they are going to try and escape instead. They track the ship that robbed them down, but it has already been stripped by the dude she talked to at the beginning. She tracks him down and takes back there stuff but refuses to take anything extra. B'Elanna manages to salvage some parts and is surprised to find a wounded alien on board. While Janeway builds her mini-Federation the Doctor works with the stowaway and teaches him to talk using a pad. More of his people join them as the alliance builds. Janeway kicks out one ship for stealing stuff but is very down with the crew of a survey ship who devise a way to spy on any ship in the void. They eventually technobabble an escape plan but are attacked at the last minute. Somehow they beam the void aliens into the other ships (with shields up on both sides, so yeah, not sure how that worked). The aliens disable the hostile ships and Voyager escapes along with several other ships.
Review: This episode was way too preachy for my taste. Also it seems like taking stuff from people who are trying to kill you isn't an awful thing to do morally, but I guess I am no Janeway.
5 out of 10
We open with Seven serving a meal she cooked to the crew who are loving the break from Neelix's food, but they are interrupted by the ship shaking. Voyager is sucked into some sort of void in space and immediately attacked. A bunch of their supplies are stolen, but afterwards they are contacted by some dude who I guess offers to help her steal stuff? But she says no, they are going to try and escape instead. They track the ship that robbed them down, but it has already been stripped by the dude she talked to at the beginning. She tracks him down and takes back there stuff but refuses to take anything extra. B'Elanna manages to salvage some parts and is surprised to find a wounded alien on board. While Janeway builds her mini-Federation the Doctor works with the stowaway and teaches him to talk using a pad. More of his people join them as the alliance builds. Janeway kicks out one ship for stealing stuff but is very down with the crew of a survey ship who devise a way to spy on any ship in the void. They eventually technobabble an escape plan but are attacked at the last minute. Somehow they beam the void aliens into the other ships (with shields up on both sides, so yeah, not sure how that worked). The aliens disable the hostile ships and Voyager escapes along with several other ships.
Review: This episode was way too preachy for my taste. Also it seems like taking stuff from people who are trying to kill you isn't an awful thing to do morally, but I guess I am no Janeway.
5 out of 10
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