Unity - Voyager

Plot – Like Q Who before the Best of Both Worlds, Unity provides a lot of the atmosphere of disquiet whereas Scorpion delivers the action. This is a terrific teaser for what would ultimately be two of the finest Voyager episodes and by far their most compelling use of the Borg. It’s looking at the Collective in a fresh and interesting way and suggests that Voyager is going to take the kernals of TNG and for once enhance them. It ultimately does quite the reverse, but points for kicking off on precisely the right foot. ‘Maybe the Borg were defeated by an enemy even more powerful than they were’ – stop and think about the implications of that… 

For once we have an A and B plot that are cleverly linked, but we don’t realise that at first. Chakotay’s adventures seem to be disconnected from Janeway’s investigation of the dead Borg Cube until the great shock moment that he stumbles on Riley, bald, and being Borged up by one of her colleagues. I like how this is linked back to Wolf 359 (which remains one of the most pivotal moments in Star Trek history thanks to the implications to both Picard and Sisko).

I was perfectly convinced that the episode was going to go down the route of the ex-drones trying to get Chakotay hooked up so they could take over the Voyager crew. That they were still Borg and this was some clever ploy. That would have been the obvious approach. Instead Kenneth Biller makes them a genuinely sympathetic force, facing the prejudice and horror that comes with being ex-drones. The show would soon play that idea out in a big way with Seven of Nine but it first introduces the idea here and so, Hugh from I, Borg aside, this is pretty revolutionary in how it adds a sympathetic edge to the Borg. The episode never quite drops the insecurity that these drones might turn at any minute, whilst making them entirely compassionate. It’s an impressive tightrope to walk. When the drones take control of Chakotay towards the end of the episode I was still in a lot of doubt as to their intentions. Not many Star Trek episodes keep you guessing until the last minute.

Character – Ensign Kaplan – Voyager has an uneasy habit of introducing one shot Voyager officers who are more disarming than the regular crew. Nervous, uncertain, shy, she’s very appealing because she’s not the model Starfleet officer. Given she essentially serves as a red shirt, she’s pretty memorable for the few scenes where she’s in.

Paris is gobby on the Bridge and it strikes me whenever there is exposition to be avoided that it is Paris who gets to state an opinion of some kind but looking at the alternative options – the personality of Harry Kim, Chakotay and Tuvok could barely fill one character satisfactorily – what other option is there?

Chakotay might have been hooked up to her mind and feel a connection but he shows no restraint in hooking up with an ex-Borg drone, which under any circumstances is a REALLY bad idea. It does however show his taste for such women and is weirdly an early sign of his later attraction to Seven of Nine. Although I like to pretend that that never happened. However, I really like his characterisation when it comes to his discussion with Janeway about whether to go ahead with the activation of the Borg cube because he honestly states that in his heart he would love to help them but he can completely understand her reluctance to do so, given her responsibilities to everyone on Voyager. He’s written compassionately, and reasonably.

You can understand Janeway’s reticence to allow the ex-drones to create a much larger neural link and bring together all of them into one harmonious family. It’s taking a small group of potential drones and allowing them to become a much larger and potentially a much bigger threat should anything go wrong. Janeway’s natural prejudice against the Borg is in full force here and it is completely understandable. I can say that about all of her decision making throughout the series. ‘They want us to reactivate a Borg Ship?’ she states incredulously.

Performance – It’s the rarest of episodes; one where Robert Beltran’s gentle (some might say dull) turn as Chakotay works to his advantage. Chakotay is a huge bleeding heart and this time he has a good reason to reach out – he’s the lone voice opting to support this Borg quorum. ‘You want to hook up my mind to some Borg Collective’ – Beltran looks both frightened and appalled at the notion that the Unified ex Borg drones want to add them to his number and I can’t think of a scene where I have identified with him more.

Production – A really tasty, punchy score, which was hardly the norm in the Berman era of Trek. It’s especially muscular when the Borg Ship reactivates and the drones are on the move.

The first episode directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and it’s a doozy. He delivers an episode packed with impressive visuals, an atmosphere of suspense and disquiet and several genuine shock moments. Star Trek rarely delivers shocks on a visceral level effectively but Unity manages to do that several times.

The ghost ship Borg Cube is even more scary than usual with the suggestion that a drone might lurch out of the darkness at any minute. Duncan McNeill uses darkness in a way that Voyager rarely does, having characters use torches to highlight the horrors of the Cube.

The moment the Borg Cube is activated is especially satisfying because it happens last minute and I had been anticipating it throughout.

Best moment – The dead Borg cube in space makes for an arresting moment and poses many questions. One of the best ideas in an episode full of them is the one of doing an autopsy on a dead Borg. It’s a chilling enough procedure anyway, dissecting a robotic corpse but the moment it activates and sits upright suddenly and wields its arm menacingly counts as one of the most effective shock moments that Trek ever produced. My heart was racing the first time I saw this and still makes me jump now. To discover that this flailing, wide eyed zombie is still a corpse and these reactions were purely mechanical is even more nasty. It highlights the horror of what the Borg do to their victims really efficiently.

Worst moment – ‘We’ve made a good life for ourselves on Voyager’ says Chakotay at one point. Discuss the problem with the show suggesting that spending 70,000 years trying to get home alone in a dangerous quadrant as a jolly adventure ala Original Trek.

I wish they hadn’t done that – This is Star Trek so heaven forbid a man and a woman have a relationship that isn’t in some way romantic. Chakotay and Riley have better chemistry than he manages with anybody on the show, aside from Janeway herself, but I still could have done without that element being added. It’s all done with longing looks and subtle touching and isn’t emphasised too much but it’s definitely there and a little out of place. ‘Can you still hear what I’m thinking?’ ‘Yes’ ‘Then you know I want to be closer to you…’ Oh brother.

Neelix gets a whole line. I wouldn’t have bothered with him, it’s such an obvious contractual obligation. Something that trips up Star Trek time and again.

Chakotay shoots B’lanna and it has no consequences whatsoever. The Voyager syndrome of putting all the toys back in the box at the end of the episode rather than leaving some out and seeing what develops.The biggest disappointment is how this is wrapped up so quickly in a big explosion – a Trek pitfall. It’s all set up well and finally delivers the answer as to whether we can trust the ex-drones or not but the episode comes to screeching halt after such a measured pace and build up of tension.

The fallout for Chakotay is minimal. Suggesting he was acting against his will robs the episode of it’s character development for his character.

A reason to watch this episode again – Unity isn’t just a great episode of Voyager, it’s a great episode of Star Trek and you can’t say that many times about this show so it should be celebrated even more when you can. An engaging premise, terrific direction, intelligent discussion and a large number of scenes that rank amongst this series’ best. This is the level of quality that Voyager should have been reaching for every week.

****1/2 out of *****

Clue for tommorow's episode...

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