I loved the little surprises peppered throughout, but the best one comes during a commonplace technobabble exposition scene where B'lanna is suddenly interrupted when a Species 8472 falls on her head after climbing up the warp core. Artificial gravity suddenly disengaging and sending Tuvok flying is another uncommon moment.
The best turn in the plot comes when we realise that the creature was just trying to get home, which makes the Hirogen the real monsters in this story and suddenly turns the whole story on its head.
Character: It honestly doesn't matter what the writers give Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan to do in a scene together on Voyager, you can guarantee that it is going to be doozy. And the nerve of the Doctor teaching Seven to improve her bedside manner! In a lovely touch, the Doctor tells Seven that Kes used to help him with this kind of modified behaviour which reminds the audience of the one in/one out swap that occurred at the start of the season that has been entirely successful and yielded much better results for the show. I'm not saying that those three years that we got to follow Kes and the Doctor were worthless (far from it, it provided excellent development for both characters) but I will happily endorse that the Doctor/Seven relationship is on another level and far more amusing and touching to observe. I love the fact that the Doctor describes his efforts to improve his bedside manner painful.
Was Janeway mad to step on board the ship of a species that has been a threat until this point? Starfleet curiosity versus tactical efficiency seems to be the dilemma of the day and it gives a another terrific opportunity for Janeway and Seven to go head to head. I'm now convinced that these scenes, specifically those in series four and five before Seven was neutered a little, to be the best of the series of this episodes is one of the best examples of their fireworks. Janeway wants to extend compassion towards the Hirogen, something that would ultimately lead to a truce with the species at the end of The Killing Game. But Seven is convinced that they would attack and be a major threat to the ship, which also happens in The Killing Game so Prey puts the characters in a position where they are both ultimately right. What it affords is the sizzling Mulgrew/Ryan chemistry, leaning into the tension that was boiling behind the scenes, and allows for some real tension and character suspense. Not something that I would point at Voyager and compliment it for often. Janeway gets to show two opposing sides to her character; great compassion towards Species 8472 when they realise its real motive for seeking refuge on Voyager, and terrific fire in her belly when standing up to the Hirogen. It's this duality of character that makes her so fascinating to watch, and why I struggle with her at times too. Depending on the skill of the writing determines just how effective these traits are handled. Mulgrew excels here as she has a comfortably polished, confident script. Seven choosing to disobey her orders and beam the hunt onto one of the Hirogen ships where 8472 would undoubtedly be murdered is a shocking development. We're used to a predicable set of behaviour from the regulars on this show and Seven has come along to shake all that up and show how predictable they all are. The result is a brilliant confrontation between Janeway and Seven at the close of the episode where Seven still refuses to accept that she was in the wrong and she brazenly calls Janeway a hypocrite. I was cheering. It's exactly what I have been saying for three seasons at this point.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'A single act of compassion can put you in touch with your own humanity.'
'You will fail' 'And you have just crossed a line.'
'I believe that you are punishing me because I do not think the way that you do, because I am not becoming more like you. You claim to respect my individuality but in fact you are frightened by it. 'As you were.'
The Good: The pre-titles sequence gives them some space to have an adventure of their own before we catch up with Voyager and like Distant Origin before it, feels fresh and original for it. Hunting a member of Species 8472 into an asteroid and attempting to murder one for a trophy is a bold move, and it takes someone of Tony Todd's stature to convince that they will genuinely achieve it. Little touches like the war paint they finger onto their helmets before going into battle and disengaging the sensors so they can kill the prey with their own eyes goes a long way to convincing that these are seasoned hunters. Given we haven't seen them since the beginning of the season it is also a great surprise to see Species 8472 back in the show. Anybody who thought they were going to be the new big bad of Voyager must have been heartily disappointed but it is at least refreshing to see that by bringing together two reasonably successfully conceived but ill served alien species in one episode that highlights them both at their best does at least give them a single outing where their potential is realised. Tom Paris picking up what appears to be an abandoned helmet but turns out to be a decapitated head of a Hirogen is a great shock moment. There's nothing subtle about it at all and that is absolutely fine from time to time. There's also an especially dynamic shot of the Hirogen climbing the hull of Voyager. Sometimes this show really does put its money in the right places.
The Bad: You've got a master tactician in Tuvok and an ex terrorist leader in Chakotay (used to improvising and going on the attack) and so you would think that an episode that is all about hunting would be custom made for their skillset and yet they are summarily ignored for most of the piece, much like the series at large. Instead of leaning on Chakotay, Tuvok drafts in Neelix. Perhaps not his soundest tactical move. Groan for the scene where Janeway tells us the story of the wounded Cardassian that she saved in the past to teach Seven the value of forgiveness and compassion. It's the only duff note in the script, and is brilliantly shattered by Seven's refusal to be moved.
Result: It's easy to overlook the work of Allan Eastman given he only directed three episodes of Star Trek (Prey, Relativity and Honor Amongst Thieves) but its a trio of visually arresting, complex episodes that standout for their look, as well is their writing. I was aware throughout Prey of the unusually exciting visual flair on display from the well chosen special effects sequences, the genuinely dynamic action, the suspenseful scene setting and some very well shot dramatic scenes between the regulars. If Voyager looked like this week in/week out it would be something to really shout home about (actually it would probably be Battlestar Galactica) but what happens here is that we have something that turns out to be pretty unique; an episode of Voyager that hasn't aged a great deal. Brannon Braga is quoted as a saying that Eastman directed this 'like a movie' and for once I think he is right. Turning Voyager into the battleground between the Hirogen and Species 8472 is a fantastic idea and makes for tense and exciting scenes but what really impressed my was the soaring tension between Janeway and Seven, which I think is at its height here. Mulgrew might have felt like she had a lot to prove in the wake of Ryan's casting but I hope she realised that she did her best ever work against her. Add in some surprising twists, a great showing for both species and a star turn from Tony Todd and this show was rarely better than this. Soak it up. Clearly Brannon Braga has been inspired by the character shake up.
***** out of *****
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