Plot – As a revenge plan, this is needlessly complex. There are about two dozen ways that Arturis could have gone about destroying Voyager that didn’t involve such an elaborate ruse. I also say the best plots are those that hit us with a mystery or a dramatic development and proceed to lay out all the ingredients that got us there, tying everything in a neat bow at the climax. Hope and Fear had me intrigued for half of its run time but by the climax I was asking so many questions about the implausibility of the twists, the motives for doing so and the method chosen that I wondered why they had bothered in the first place. Questioning an episode’s existence does not a satisfying closer make. The one positive thing to take from this story is that Janeway’s decisions are having a detrimental effect on races in Delta Quadrant and the consequences are starting to catch up with her. Yes, I said positive. I’d rather this show was flung into dramatic territory than merely churn out another holodeck episode.
When Janeway said that everything was a little too perfect she could have been talking about the conclusion. It plays out, beat by beat, so effortlessly that it never feels like they are in any danger at all, despite the appearance of a Borg ship.
Character – It’s worth acknowledging again and again that Janeway took agency away from Seven when she forced her to reject her Borg nature and become human again. I have heard plenty of valid criticisms about shows where men are taking away the agency of women (the Doctor and Donna at the end of series four, for example) and yet this is the rawest example of such an act that I can imagine. Seven explicitly stated that she did not want to return to her human roots and that decision was taken away from her. I’m not saying it was the wrong decision. I’m not even saying I disagree that it needed to be done. I’m just saying that Seven has every right to be pissed at Janeway (even if at times she does come across as a teenager acting out against her mother) for everything that she is going through because this was never a journey she wanted to take. In this episode Seven says she doesn’t want to return to Earth with the others and whether she is scared or not that is her choice. Janeway won’t have it, she tells Seven that she owes them enough to come with them. I think had this panned out Janeway would have taken that choice away from her too.
What do Tom Paris, Chakotay or Neelix think about going to Earth? I don’t know because the episode doesn’t take the time to consider them.
Performance - Does the knowledge that things were not smooth between Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan during the fourth and fifth seasons of Voyager add an extra spice to proceedings? I would say so, and it’s interesting that around the time they started to gel sociably as actors the tension started to dissipate between the characters and a mutual admiration starts to emerge. Seasons four and five are my favourites of Voyager by a country mile (I have a fondness for the latter half of season two as well but that doesn’t exactly make me popular) and a lot of that is down to the tension that both Seven of Nine and Jeri Ryan brought to the show. It might have been a cynical marketing exercise on the part of the producers but it genuinely added a touch of spice to the series, which made it a much more enjoyable experience to watch. Watch Mulgrew and Ryan in the first scene; there’s fire in their eyes. It’s a good thing there is this tension because as pre-titles sequences for season finales go, this is lacking in any kind of information or anticipation for the coming episode.
Arturis is no Leyland Palmer, that’s for sure. Ray Wise seems a little uncomfortable in the role of the little gremlin that tries to blast Voyager into obscurity through the most technobabbly complex method possible. He has to convince as both a guileless visitor, a great benefactor and later a twisted victim bent on destruction. It’s a demanding role and Wise would seem to be a great fit since his turn on Twin Peaks saw him at his dangerous best, playing some really twisted scenes. But there is a politeness and unexciting angle to his performance that meant I never really connected with him, neither as a good guy or a bad guy. When there is no passion in the characterisation or the performance what you have left is a stock Star Trek character who is built up to be somebody important, and can’t live up to it. I thought the most unusual aspect to this character was his look, a creepy make up job that makes Wise head look extremely bulbous and veiny. Ultimately, he is a weak villain, and not because he has been forced into a revenge-driven psychotic but because Wise simply doesn’t believe a word he is saying.
Production – It is a fact that as soon as Avery Brooks and Kate Mulgrew were allowed to harden/soften their images (respectively) they suddenly stated given their most effective performances. Mulgrew looks so much more comfortable with her hair down and her uniform looser. The Delta Quadrant has had an unstiffening effect on her.
If you’re the sort of person that gets giddy at the sight of spanking new Starfleet designs then this is going to be precisely the right episode for you since Hope and Fear shows off some luxurious and stylish new sets. I’m far more interested in character development than technology, so the thought of integrating any of this new tech into Voyager does very little for me.
Best moment – The discovery of the ‘Starfleet’ vessel and how it links so incitingly into the shows theme of returning to the Alpha Quadrant. It’s easy to forget that that is the aim of Voyager because it is brought up about three times a season (in between the really exciting things like Leola root stew, anomalies and Tom Paris’ latest holodeck obsession) but the countereffect of that is that it is pretty exciting when we are jolted back into the primary mission of Voyager. But…
Worst moment – …that is what leads to the most disappointing aspect of Hope and Fear. How it gets the crew whipped up into a frenzy of excitement and with a series of unsatisfying plot twists snatches away their dream again. Only for them to pull their socks up, go ‘oh well’ as if they expected this all along and move on their merry way. When did drama become this formulaic?
This is directed by a seasoned Trek director and he does a sterling job for the most part. What is that dreadful action sequence when Arturis is exposed all about then?
I wish they hadn’t done that – The most interesting character thread is Seven questioning whether she will be able to adapt to life back on Earth, facing the prejudice of humanity for the Borg? It’s something I longed for the show to explore in more depth. I wished they had gotten home at the end of season six and spent the final year addressing the wealth of interesting possibilities like this. The tension between Torres and Seven is always welcome, especially when it yields moments where they put their differences aside and lean on one another. Chalk this one up to another potentially fascinating character pairing that never got the exposure it deserved. This would have been a brilliant relationship to start out hostile but to develop into something that sparkles (think Miles and Julian).
A reason to watch this episode again – It teaches the characters nothing, it offers no technological developments (despite promising some) and it suffers from questionable motives and a needlessly deceptive plot. Hope and Fear is one of my least favourite season enders because it lives the Voyager dream: promising a great deal and delivering very little. It’s a script that cheats and then offers a simplistic ending so no matter what character examination it might offer, Hope and Fear rings of disappointment. At least if Janeway had gotten through to Arturis at the climax and he had joined the crew (he had some serious skills to offer) it would have meant something.
** out of *****
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