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Dang, I think I got to agree with the multitudes on this one: it's s4, Seven of Nine is here, and Voyager is definitely achieving a much more consistent run of quality episodes. We've just finished the Year of Hell arc and sat there for a few minutes afterwards like "was that great? we think that was genuinely great!" "aside from the unfortunate implications of the fact that Chakotay develops a huge crush on a guy who does genocide" "well yes aside from that". The Voyager experience!
1. Scorpion, Part 2
Seven of Nine is here! She's immediately very compelling, both conceptually and because Jeri Ryan is an extremely good actress! I don't actually care about the broad shape of the Borg plot and which terrible alien species shot which first but I do care very much about the various politics of command between Chakotay and Janeway that play out over the course of this episode; Voyager has actually I think done a really good job drawing out a subtextual arc about the way that the shifts in their Level of Romantic Intimacy have caused problems for the command structure. I also enjoy that Chakotay's brief Borg Romance from earlier in S3 becomes relevant again! Continuity!
2. The Gift
Kes is gone :(( I am still really bummed she got fed into the My Phenomenal Cosmic Powers Are Too Dangerous To Handle And Forcing Me To Ascend To A Higher Plane grinder right at the point when her character had the potential to become genuinely interesting!
On the other hand, the Seven of Nine and Janeway arguments in this episode about agency and acculturation are so immediately meaty and compelling, and, like, I know that the narrative is never going to really allow Janeway to be wrong about it, but the fact that Seven gets as much space to make her points as she does is still more than I expected, tbh.
Also: these plots are completely separate! After three full seasons, Voyager has, at last, learned how to do a B-plot! We couldn't be more proud!
3. Day of Honor
Ah, B'Elanna's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day [Of Honor], leading up to the pivotal Tom/B'Elanna 'And There Was Only One Communicator' trapped in space love confession. This was fine! I wouldn't say I'm, like, on board the Tom/B'Elanna train per se, but I like it when B'Elanna is happy and I no longer pull a face instinctively whenever Tom Paris is on screen so we've made progress.
4. Nemesis
Chakotay gets shot down onto a planet and spends forty minutes interacting with a group of Aliens A turn out to be a Radicalization Simulator designed to psychologically condition him to hate the Aliens B. Some really interesting linguistic implications here -- the Aliens A speak with a distinct groupthink kind of lingo, the use of which Chakotay can't easily understand at first even with the universal translator and eventually ends up adopting as he gets increasingly radicalized -- but we couldn't figure out why a.) this was a Chakotay solo episode when b.) the episode really barely references or explores Chakotay's extremely specific and relevant past of being a terrorist! Would have been fascinated to see this as either a Chakotay-and-B'Elanna episode either exploring their different feelings about their past in the Maquis over the course of their time in the Radicalization Simulator, or a Chakotay-and-some-other-Voyager-crew episode to highlight contrasts.
We also still have not forgotten about the Kazon kid that Chakotay almost adopts during that one episode in Season 2. In the version where all the one-off characters get to stay, this would also have been a great episode for Chakotay and his Kazon son!
5. Revulsion
In the A-plot, the Doctor meets another hologram and attempts to bond with him, but he turns out to be a serial killer who thinks living beings are gross. B'Elanna is also there and I will say the Doctor and B'Elanna's friendship is very cute, love when two rude people enjoy hanging out and being rude to each other.
In the B-plot, Harry Kim works on a project with Seven of Nine and crushes on her a little, until she propositions him For Research, at which point he gets very uncomfortable and asks to be put on a different project which Chakotay refuses. Chakotay! This is incredibly bad personnel management! If someone is uncomfortable working with a project partner after that project partner asked them to take off their clothes in the workplace, you don't sit back in your chair and chuckle, you move that person to a different project!
6. The Raven
SEVEN OF NINE AND TUVOK HANG OUT FOR HALF AN EPISODE. This is all I want out of Voyager! Okay by 'hang out' I mean 'he's trying to either knock her out or convince her not to drive a ship right back to the Borg' but he's doing great and then they have a Significant Emotional Moment. Significant, emotionally, to me! Also, Jeri Ryan's acting in the 'I am Eating Food for the first time and it is Very Weird' scene is simply stellar.
7. Scientific Method
Aliens Do Experiments On Voyager. I watched this one relatively recently but I have almost no memory of it except of Janeway being so cranky (due to aliens giving her migraines) that Tuvok calls her out on it, and the fact that at the end of that conversation, Janeway says that when the alien experiment crisis is over she's going to spend a few days in [holosuite] Renaissance Tuscany.
TUVOK: I will join you for a glass of wine.
ME: omg ... when this is all over, they're going to go to Five Guys ... 🥲
8. Year of Hell, Part 1
Voyager gets caught up in an evil and obsessed alien scientist's efforts to create the perfect timeline for the development of his own species by systematically rewriting the timeline to erase other species from existence. The evil and obsessed alien scientist is played an actor whom I know primarily as a Sitcom Dad (That 70s Show, I think?) which did create a sense of cognitive dissonance, but not a displeasing one!
Anyway, this one is mostly build-up of life on Voyager getting increasingly harrowing and the ship getting increasingly broken-down to set up for Part 2, but it's really effective build-up; shout-outs especially to the really fantastic continued Tuvok and Seven bonding ... Tuvok-Seven really starting to rival Tuvok-Janeway as my favorite dynamic on the show, and I don't say that lightly!
9. Year of Hell, Part 2
Voyager's crew has dispersed! Voyager is terribly damaged! Janeway is getting increasingly Grim and Reckless Action Hero about it and looking simply stellar in a Darkest Timeline Dirty Tank Top!
Meanwhile, Chakotay and Tom Paris have been picked up by the evil and obsessed alien scientist sitcom dad and his moderately disaffected crew. Tom Paris shows up in this episode in silky prisoner pajamas partly unbuttoned, very clearly prepared to seduce his way through the crew to freedom, and is wildly successful. Chakotay, on the other hand, shows up in silky prisoner pajamas demurely buttoned up to the top and thus becomes prey to the obsessed alien scientist sitcom dad's efforts to seduce him to the dark side of manipulating time for personal gain with just a soupcon of genocide. Much to Paris' chagrin, the evil scientist constantly plying Chakotay with honeyed words about Chakotay's instinctive understanding of time math is super effective; I think at one point Chakotay straight-up says "I could fix him!" Now admittedly Chakotay suddenly becoming a YA heroine faced with a Bad Boyfriend dangling the lure of Being Redeemable in front of him is very funny in a vacuum but outside of a vacuum Chakotay of all people probably would I think have some quite strong feelings about genocide??
All that said, obsessed alien scientist sitcom dad's speeches about how Time is taking personalized vengeance on him are delivered with such confidence that they somehow turn out shockingly effective, and Janeway's battle of wills with the Doctor over her increasingly Grim Action Hero decision-making are phenomenal, highly enjoyable episode overall. Great job, Season 4! Keep it up!
1. Scorpion, Part 2
Seven of Nine is here! She's immediately very compelling, both conceptually and because Jeri Ryan is an extremely good actress! I don't actually care about the broad shape of the Borg plot and which terrible alien species shot which first but I do care very much about the various politics of command between Chakotay and Janeway that play out over the course of this episode; Voyager has actually I think done a really good job drawing out a subtextual arc about the way that the shifts in their Level of Romantic Intimacy have caused problems for the command structure. I also enjoy that Chakotay's brief Borg Romance from earlier in S3 becomes relevant again! Continuity!
2. The Gift
Kes is gone :(( I am still really bummed she got fed into the My Phenomenal Cosmic Powers Are Too Dangerous To Handle And Forcing Me To Ascend To A Higher Plane grinder right at the point when her character had the potential to become genuinely interesting!
On the other hand, the Seven of Nine and Janeway arguments in this episode about agency and acculturation are so immediately meaty and compelling, and, like, I know that the narrative is never going to really allow Janeway to be wrong about it, but the fact that Seven gets as much space to make her points as she does is still more than I expected, tbh.
Also: these plots are completely separate! After three full seasons, Voyager has, at last, learned how to do a B-plot! We couldn't be more proud!
3. Day of Honor
Ah, B'Elanna's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day [Of Honor], leading up to the pivotal Tom/B'Elanna 'And There Was Only One Communicator' trapped in space love confession. This was fine! I wouldn't say I'm, like, on board the Tom/B'Elanna train per se, but I like it when B'Elanna is happy and I no longer pull a face instinctively whenever Tom Paris is on screen so we've made progress.
4. Nemesis
Chakotay gets shot down onto a planet and spends forty minutes interacting with a group of Aliens A turn out to be a Radicalization Simulator designed to psychologically condition him to hate the Aliens B. Some really interesting linguistic implications here -- the Aliens A speak with a distinct groupthink kind of lingo, the use of which Chakotay can't easily understand at first even with the universal translator and eventually ends up adopting as he gets increasingly radicalized -- but we couldn't figure out why a.) this was a Chakotay solo episode when b.) the episode really barely references or explores Chakotay's extremely specific and relevant past of being a terrorist! Would have been fascinated to see this as either a Chakotay-and-B'Elanna episode either exploring their different feelings about their past in the Maquis over the course of their time in the Radicalization Simulator, or a Chakotay-and-some-other-Voyager-crew episode to highlight contrasts.
We also still have not forgotten about the Kazon kid that Chakotay almost adopts during that one episode in Season 2. In the version where all the one-off characters get to stay, this would also have been a great episode for Chakotay and his Kazon son!
5. Revulsion
In the A-plot, the Doctor meets another hologram and attempts to bond with him, but he turns out to be a serial killer who thinks living beings are gross. B'Elanna is also there and I will say the Doctor and B'Elanna's friendship is very cute, love when two rude people enjoy hanging out and being rude to each other.
In the B-plot, Harry Kim works on a project with Seven of Nine and crushes on her a little, until she propositions him For Research, at which point he gets very uncomfortable and asks to be put on a different project which Chakotay refuses. Chakotay! This is incredibly bad personnel management! If someone is uncomfortable working with a project partner after that project partner asked them to take off their clothes in the workplace, you don't sit back in your chair and chuckle, you move that person to a different project!
6. The Raven
SEVEN OF NINE AND TUVOK HANG OUT FOR HALF AN EPISODE. This is all I want out of Voyager! Okay by 'hang out' I mean 'he's trying to either knock her out or convince her not to drive a ship right back to the Borg' but he's doing great and then they have a Significant Emotional Moment. Significant, emotionally, to me! Also, Jeri Ryan's acting in the 'I am Eating Food for the first time and it is Very Weird' scene is simply stellar.
7. Scientific Method
Aliens Do Experiments On Voyager. I watched this one relatively recently but I have almost no memory of it except of Janeway being so cranky (due to aliens giving her migraines) that Tuvok calls her out on it, and the fact that at the end of that conversation, Janeway says that when the alien experiment crisis is over she's going to spend a few days in [holosuite] Renaissance Tuscany.
TUVOK: I will join you for a glass of wine.
ME: omg ... when this is all over, they're going to go to Five Guys ... 🥲
8. Year of Hell, Part 1
Voyager gets caught up in an evil and obsessed alien scientist's efforts to create the perfect timeline for the development of his own species by systematically rewriting the timeline to erase other species from existence. The evil and obsessed alien scientist is played an actor whom I know primarily as a Sitcom Dad (That 70s Show, I think?) which did create a sense of cognitive dissonance, but not a displeasing one!
Anyway, this one is mostly build-up of life on Voyager getting increasingly harrowing and the ship getting increasingly broken-down to set up for Part 2, but it's really effective build-up; shout-outs especially to the really fantastic continued Tuvok and Seven bonding ... Tuvok-Seven really starting to rival Tuvok-Janeway as my favorite dynamic on the show, and I don't say that lightly!
9. Year of Hell, Part 2
Voyager's crew has dispersed! Voyager is terribly damaged! Janeway is getting increasingly Grim and Reckless Action Hero about it and looking simply stellar in a Darkest Timeline Dirty Tank Top!
Meanwhile, Chakotay and Tom Paris have been picked up by the evil and obsessed alien scientist sitcom dad and his moderately disaffected crew. Tom Paris shows up in this episode in silky prisoner pajamas partly unbuttoned, very clearly prepared to seduce his way through the crew to freedom, and is wildly successful. Chakotay, on the other hand, shows up in silky prisoner pajamas demurely buttoned up to the top and thus becomes prey to the obsessed alien scientist sitcom dad's efforts to seduce him to the dark side of manipulating time for personal gain with just a soupcon of genocide. Much to Paris' chagrin, the evil scientist constantly plying Chakotay with honeyed words about Chakotay's instinctive understanding of time math is super effective; I think at one point Chakotay straight-up says "I could fix him!" Now admittedly Chakotay suddenly becoming a YA heroine faced with a Bad Boyfriend dangling the lure of Being Redeemable in front of him is very funny in a vacuum but outside of a vacuum Chakotay of all people probably would I think have some quite strong feelings about genocide??
All that said, obsessed alien scientist sitcom dad's speeches about how Time is taking personalized vengeance on him are delivered with such confidence that they somehow turn out shockingly effective, and Janeway's battle of wills with the Doctor over her increasingly Grim Action Hero decision-making are phenomenal, highly enjoyable episode overall. Great job, Season 4! Keep it up!
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YOU WOULD THINK but also he has a strong history of, uhhh, switching sides and immediately becoming a strong partisan for whoever his new leader is, so this is at least consistent.
(In an otherwise extremely mediocre tie-in novel, the friend who recruited him into the Maquis is basically a Ukrainian amazon -- I wouldn't go so far as to say she's a Soviet Night Witch IN SPACE because she definitely wasn't that cool, but suffice to say, Chakotay will bend to the will of the nearest obsessive leader he can find.)
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(FASCINATING)