Date: May 1, 2021
Season 6, Episode 26 and Season 7, Episode 1
Music Video of the Day:
Interstellar News: Two posts in a row? Has she gone mad? No – I’ve just finally gotten to the end of the semester!
TL;DR: The Borg Queen identifies drones that have a “disease”, but it’s really a recessive mutation that allows them to be individuals when they are regenerating. Paris is reinstated as a Lieutenant and Seven is brought to “Unimatrix Zero” where the drones who are individuals request her and Voyager‘s help. They help by having Tuvok, Torres, and Janeway become assimilated, though able to retain their individuality. Axum reveals Seven and he were together for six years while Janeway gets the better of the Borg Queen. Although Unimatrix Zero has to be destroyed, Seven and Axum hope to see each other again.
Favorite Quotes:
Seven of Nine: My appearance is irrelevant.
Axum: No, it’s not. They may have turned us into drones, but they can’t change the essence of who we are.
Axum dropping hot truth bombs when your appearance has been changed against your will.
Tuvok: “As always, your logic is impeccable.”
Chakotay: Lieutenant. A First Officer could get in a lot of trouble for talking to his captain that way.
Paris: Well, I’ve learned from the best.
Paris is acting first officer and ribbing Chakotay.
“It’s my understanding that when we receive a distress call, we respond. Starfleet protocols.”: Part 1 is a great setup and leaves you with the same feeling as when Picard was assimilated in “The Best of Both Worlds“. You want to find out if this was all part of the plan, if something went wrong, and what is going to happen next. You can tell there is/was something between Axum and Seven, and it’s sort of wonderful to know she embraced being Annika for a time. I was saddened, however, to see the Delta Flyer destroyed. I’ve lost count how many shuttles have now been put out to pasture in the DQ. The Borg Queen gets a lesson in debugging as she finds one problem, thinks she has solved it, and several others pop up. Whoops.
“I don’t compromise with Borg.”: Part 2 is where Janeway has decided she’s had enough of the Borg’s bullshit. Way back in “Scorpion” she needed to bargain with them to make it home, but there’s no more Captain Nice-pants left after a few more years stuck in the DQ. I love that it’s Tuvok who loses control, because we never see him like that. I also really loved seeing Paris worried about Torres, but his arrogance is still there and it’s not completely out of a place of love and worry. It’s wonderful when the Klingon drone, Korok, comes to help out Voyager and do battle once again… even if he was a bit of a dick inside Unimatrix Zero. The one bit I don’t like here is how many drones, who used to be and still are people, were killed while Janeway was not negotiating with the Borg Queen. It’s a huge loss of life and it needed some acknowledgement. I also don’t quite buy Seven all-of-a-sudden wanting to be with Axum, but I am glad she’s engaging with her humanity a bit.
As a season finale, season opener two-parter, this was far better than “Equinox” but still had its issues. I give them a combined score of 8.23, just to mess with the Borg Queen. This also means I AM ON THE LAST SEASON OF Voyager, finally!
TA Out!
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 