Plot – Nebulas are tenapenny to Voyager at this stage and they have adjusted to their debilitating effects. Janeway states in no uncertain terms that this one that has an even more adverse effect than the regular nebulas are not going to stop them getting home and I braced myself for another hour of Voyager experiences the weirdness of travelling through space. Maybe Neelix will get spottier again? Or it will contain another sex alien that wants to hump Voyager. What actually transpires is something much more sinister. Rather than focussing on the whole crew (because this is a real mixed bunch), the writer instead chooses to focus on Seven (always a good idea in seasons four and five) and her fear of being alone. Instead of churning out another Trek weird science episode it goes for the psychological jugular and to impressive effect for some of its running time.
The tension comes not from Tom Paris crawling around the ship in pain (because Duncan McNeill isn’t up to portraying those scenes convincingly) but with Wade Williams’ creepy alien visitor who is either taking advantage of Seven’s isolation (he’s disturbingly flirty) or a figment of her imagination working against her. The line this episode draws between the two is expertly done for some time and Williams’ performance really helps to give the character some seedy presence.
Character – This is a terrific showcase for Seven in a season that showcased the character to the extreme because it was, at the time, the best thing it had going for it. That’s not to say that it always gets the character perfect because there was a few moments where I questioned her stupidity for the sake of the writers attempts at comedy (would Seven really ask a ton of questions to Torres and Kim and not wait to hear their answers when she is trying to learn how to integrate socially? Thank goodness it is a holosuite programme because Torres would probably have smacked her down in the real world). We’ve gone from not being able to trust Seven for an instant to her enormous development over the season to the point where she can now be trusted to look after the safety of the entire crew. At the penultimate episode of the year, this is a huge vote of confidence in the character from Janeway and the crew. Ultimately this is Seven’s chance to truly prove herself to the people she has chosen to live her life with and she takes that responsibility very seriously (like everything else, although I love the acerbic jokes that the Doctor makes at her expense in that respect, which she rebuts perfectly). Seven choosing to sit with her crewmates at the climax might not sound like a revolutionary act but it’s the first real sign that she is going to integrate into the crew.
Performance – We’ve not really seen Seven this desperate or panicked before and Ryan doesn’t disappoint. She manages to somehow keep that icy coolness even when screaming out in fear. She really was quite a find.
Watch very closely in the last act where Seven hallucinates the crew behaving in a very hostile way towards her…only Kate Mulgrew can pull this off with any verve. Everybody else sounds a little embarrassed. Anyone who suggests that Mulgrew, Picard and Ryan are the strongest members of this ensemble is highly perceptive in my book.
Terrible Dialogue – ‘Should we replicate you a teddy bear?’ HARRY KIM MUST DIE.
Production – It’s not until you empty the sets of actors that you realise just how functional and claustrophobic they can be, despite their size. Kenneth Biller deserves a lot of credit for his creative use of the camera to explore the Voyager sets and the lighting is especially good to make the rooms feel more oppressive and like they are closing in on Seven.
Best moment – I still adore the shot of Seven, alone and afraid, in Engineering as the camera pulls back to reveal her alone in the huge set. It’s the showcase moment of the episode.
Worst moment – How wonderful is the moment on the Bridge when all the crewmembers have to act as if they have all eaten a poisonous stew of Neelix’s concoction and clutch themselves in pain? It’s really very funny watching them all convulsing and groaning.
I wish they hadn’t done that – I admire the ambition of the sequence where the turbolift opens and Seven finds herself facing the interior of a Borg cube, but it doesn’t really convince. Think what they could do with that sequence today.
A reason to watch this episode again – Stripping the show of everybody but Seven and the Doctor…how can this be anything but a good thing? One is a little thin on plot but full of juicy insights into Seven and her isolationist phobia. It’s an episode that I enjoyed far more when I watched the series in sequence than as a standalone experience because it is expertly placed in the season to have maximum effect on Seven’s character development. It’s a well-crafted piece visually but Star Trek wasn’t known for pushing psychological horror and so this still stays on the side of family friendly. If this would made for today’s audience, I am sure the claustrophobic terrors would be more shocking and the effect on Seven far more distressing. Ultimately this was a fun shipboard episode that highlights Jeri Ryan’s not inconsiderable talents as an actress and when all is said and done that is enough of an excuse for an episode for me. What drags this back is a little too much emphasis on technobabble and not enough emphasis on psychology, which means that Jeri Ryan has got the wrong hat on when writing this. A lot of the best work is done by the actors and the director.
***1/2 out of *****
Clue for the next episode:
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