VOY: “Collective”

Date: March 3, 2021

Season 6, Episode 16

Music Video of the Day: Happy 3rd Day of Women’s History Month!

Interstellar News: It was a beautiful day out and this afternoon’s walk was wonderful.

TL;DR: Neelix, Kim, Chakotay, and Paris are on a shuttle (didn’t we just do this?) playing poker when they are taken in by a Borg cube run by several Borg children who were pulled out of their maturation chambers early when all of the adults died of a virus. Seven negotiates with them, she saves an infant Borg, and find out that the actual Borg have cut the kids off from the rest of the Collective. Eventually the Doctor is able to save at least four of the Borg kids and Janeway leaves them in Seven’s charge.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: Borg vessel, this is the starship Voyager. You’re holding our crewmen. We’re willing to cease firing if you return them.

Borg: Negotiation is irrelevant. You will be assimilated.

Janeway: Not today, and not by you. Agree, or I’ll resume firing.

Janeway is an absolute boss.

“They are contemptuous of authority, convinced that they are superior. Typical adolescent behavior for any species.”: There’s one absolutely brilliant moment in this episode. Janeway comes in to check on the Borg infant and the EMH tries to use her hormones against her by using the infant to try and talk her out of using the pathogen on the other Borg children, but it totally backfires because Janeway is more than the sum of her hormones! It’s the same for me, actually, unless there are baby animals involved and then it’s almost impossible for me to say no. There were other parts that were a lot of fun. Harry trying to outsmart the young female Borg and failing miserably, the second in command asserting his individuality, and the poker game. The rest of the episode, however, I saw coming as soon as the kids were involved. Captain Mom wants to save all the wayward souls and you know the one kid is going to die and Seven’s going to put in charge of children and it’s totally going to end badly. They need both Seven and Neelix’s ministrations, because their opposite approaches would help balance out to at least one competent parent. I rate this episode 6 excruciating hours at the Zootopia DMV.

TA Out!