Plot – Immediately my interest is piqued because this episode offers the enticing possibility of communication between Voyager and Earth, which means this is one of the rare times that the show is actually advancing their central premise and changing the nature of the show. The idea of the Hirogen being between the crew of Voyager and messages from their loved ones automatically makes them the biggest threat they have encountered.
Character – Chakotay states what a lot of people must be feeling and what some of the crew (including Janeway) have to come to terms with – what if their loved ones had gotten on with their lives and given them up for dead? What if there is no place for them in their lives now?
Most people are keeping their expectations at a reasonable level, simply expecting a message from somebody but you can imagine poor old Harry Kim longing for the news that Starfleet is going to get them home. He immediately leaps to the least likely conclusion and almost sets himself up for disappointment. He spends most of the episode moping about like a lost puppy whilst everybody else is getting letters from their family. So much so that it was a relief when his finally came through.
The look on Janeway’s face when she realises that the data stream is a series of letters for the crew is a great moment. They capitalise on her reaction to being able to give these moments of comfort to her crew perfectly. After all it was Janeway’s decision that trapped them in the Delta Quadrant in the first place. Then the look on her face when she reads a letter from Mark speaks volumes (a cheeky smile reaches her lips) and then turns very dark as she realises that he has gotten on with his life and fallen in love with another woman. Janeway has remained faithful to him whilst trapped in the Delta Quadrant (despite some interest from Chakotay) and so this much be particularly galling. When Janeway starts flirting outrageously with Chakotay over coffee (I love how she says she beat the Borg with it) seems to suggest that possibilities are opening up again. I think if Jeri Taylor had had her way that would have been the way forward (it’s one of the few things that she added to the show that I really liked) but the lack of cohesion within the Voyager writing room meant that other showrunners had other ideas. A shame.
Seven admits that the idea of hearing from Earth lacks any emotional resonance with her and her obsession with retrieving the messages is purely because it is something that Janeway wants so badly.
Tom doesn’t particularly care about getting a letter from home because all he expects to find in it is a wave of disappointment from his father. Did we know that Tom’s father was an Admiral before this episode? I don’t think so but it suddenly makes a lot of sense of his previous unlawful behaviour. If you have to try and live up to that legacy there is every chance you would fall to the wayside and react against it. His admission that what he has on Voyager is so much better than anything he had back home is a huge moment for his character. Halfway through the run and Paris realises that this is the best his life has ever been. Voyager has had a profound impact on him.
We have perhaps the best ever scene between Neelix and Tuvok and one that highlights their differences perfectly without having to smack us around the head with it. Tuvok has a message from his family that he will read once he has finished his work (because the content of the message isn’t going anywhere) and Neelix simply cannot understand why he doesn’t drop everything and read it right now. One of them is considered, the other impulsive. Neelix reading the news to him that he is now a grandfather is very sweet.
Production – The design of the Hirogen and their ship is impressive, even if there is nothing subtle about it at all. The designers are going for broke to make these nasties the creepiest race that Voyager has encountered in a while. They tower over the Voyager crew, have crude electronic voices and hang the skeletons of the victims they have hunted from the ceiling of their ship. It would take a particularly inept director to make this race seem formidable given they have been handed everything they need visually to do so.
Best moment and I wish they hadn’t done that – A huge moment comes when news of the Dominion and the war with them hits the Delta Quadrant and the Maquis have to come to terms with the idea that their terrorist organisation is no more. Torres says there are ‘thousands of us’, which means she still thinks of herself as Maquis and not a member of Starfleet. What a shame that there weren’t more crossovers from DS9 and Voyager because this feels like an important moment. It means that there is no longer any real need for the two crews to be at loggerheads (not that they have been for over two seasons now) and that an conflict is pointless. It fundamentally changes the nature of Voyager and it is confined to single character scene. This could have led to some interesting developments on the ship. What if the Maquis on Voyager made a last stand and took over and vowed to get home to re-ignite the conflict? Despite the excellent emotional resonance between Chakotay and Torres I feel there should be much more consequences than simply accepting their fate. The producers refuse to do that because it would effectively damage the standalone nature of the show, which is a great shame because (as ever) the possibilities are enticing.
A reason to watch this episode again – It is rare for me to fill up the character section of these reviews with so much substance for a Voyager episode but Hunters gets that side of the equation very right. The first half of Hunters is just about the finest character work you are likely to see on this show and it plays out at a relaxed pace so we can bask in the joy and distress of the crew receiving letters from home. It’s one of those times when the premise of the show yields impressive results and where you can see the nature of this hotchpotch crew of very distinct personalities has been very well thought through. Janeway is mortified to learn her boyfriend has moved on, Chakotay and Torres have to face up to the fact that the Maquis are gone, Tuvok learns exciting family news, Tom is praised by his father and Seven is contacted by family she never knew she had. This is such healthy development I’m surprised that they didn’t hand the entire running time of the episode over to these advances. The Hirogen are the unfortunate consequence of this episode, introduced as the latest Big Bad of the Delta Quadrant but taking up valuable time in an episode that needs the breathing space to deal with the shows regular characters. They just couldn’t resist adding an action subplot, which is the bane of this shows life. The Hirogen would be handled far more effectively in the next episode so my advice is to concentrate on all the character development instead of giving these lumbering heavies your time. What grates me is that none of these developments (except perhaps Tom’s) extends beyond this hour and that is a huge mistake within the show itself.
**** out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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