VOY: “Dark Frontier”

Date: December 22, 2020

Season 5, Episode 15 (this is a double episode so it was listed on Netflix as “Parts 1 and 2” but it was aired as a full 1 hr 30+ min.)

Musical Accompaniment: I listed to songs that start with ‘U’ and ‘V’ while working this morning, so I’m on ones that start with ‘W’ now.

Interstellar News: I am looking forward to work being closed for two weeks, but unfortunately I’ll still have to check my email periodically.

TL;DR: Voyager takes down a Borg ship and, while salvaging, Janeway develops the idea of pulling a transwarp coil heist with a Borg Sphere that was heavily damaged. Seven is tasked with going through her parent’s notes and she has several flashbacks to before her assimilation, as her parents were Borg observers. Seven also has a virtual visit from the Borg Queen where she is told that Voyager will be safe if she returns to the Borg. The Doctor builds dampeners for the four going on the mission and Seven is almost pulled off by Janeway at the last minute, but Seven insists. The team successfully steals a transwarp coil but Seven defects and stays behind where she is taken to the Unamatrix One complex and introduced to the Borg Queen.

The Borg Queen reveals that Seven was specifically planted on Voyager so that she could learn about humanity in order for them to be assimilated more properly. Seven is made to oversee the assimilation of Species 10026 but she has definitely not drunk the Kool Aid and helps four beings escape. On Voyager, Janeway and crew put together the pieces while Naomi proposes a rescue plan in the most adorable way. Janeway, Tuvok, Paris, and the EMH go in the Delta Flyer to rescue Seven while the Borg Queen brings Seven’s drone father to the forefront to try to force her to play along. Janeway eventually confronts the Borg Queen and they are able to rescue Seven and escape. The Borg Queen and several ships follow but Chakotay collapses the conduit and the ships are totaled as they pass through. Voyager runs the transwarp coil until it collapses, bringing them 15 years closer to home and Seven debriefs with Janeway.

Favorite Quotes:

EMH: Eureka! I was hoping to find one of these. It’s a servo-armature from a medical repair drone. Laser scalpel, biomolecular scanner, micro-suture, all rolled into one instrument.

Paris: No Federation Sickbay should be without one.

The snark coming from Paris is subtle sometimes and other times I hear his sarcasm all the way from 25 years ago.

Janeway’s Jam: “I’d rather suffocate than vaporize. Do it!”

Borg Queen: You are the only Borg that has ever returned to a state of individuality. We want to keep you exactly the way you are. Otherwise you would lose your human perspective. We don’t want another drone. We want you.

Seven of Nine: I will resist.

Borg Queen: I know.

I totally pictured Han saying “I know” before he went into the carbonite here.

“Now, this is how I prefer the Borg. In pieces.”: The flashbacks were great, but it really got me thinking… HOW DID HER PARENTS GET TO THE DQ? I guess maybe they hopped into a transwarp conduit before it dissipated? I also don’t understand why The Borg Queen would want more humans when she already has some from over the years? The first part reminds me a lot of Ocean’s 11 because of the heist aspect but also because Janeway was doing that overconfident thing that gamblers do sometime. It was also confusing, though, because I thought they were out of Borg space… but clearly the Borg are everywhere so maybe not really? Naomi was absolutely delightful, especially since she has transitioned well from being scared of Seven to wanting to emulate her for her perfection. The first part is absolutely a great set up to the second part, because you want to know how it ends… at least I do.

“There are three things to remember about being a Starship Captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never abandon a member of your crew.”: This part was a lot of action mixed in with a lot of story. Seven’s obvious pain at being around an assimilation in progress while she’s not a drone is palpable. Seeing her father again, though, I totally saw coming but it didn’t add to the story the way it was used. Janeway does excellent rescuing work while Chakotay does wonderful captain work back on the ship. There were several things that jumped out at me. When Janeway and Paris were in the shuttle and engaged the transwarp drive, I was having flashbacks to “Threshold“. The Borg Queen suggests a new method of assimilation for the people of Earth and it strikes me as exactly what the Shadow supporters did to Earth at the end of Babylon 5. This is now the second Borg Queen that has been vaporized, so I’m interested in how she backs herself up and who was Queen before her as she was clearly something else before she was Borg (as she admits). For a two-part story, this was great at showing more of the Borg and how Seven grew up. I’m okay with giving this 6.75 liters of coffee soda with my salty Italian meat and cheese sandwich.

TA Out!