VOY: “Drive”

Date: May 19, 2021

Season 7, Episode 3

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: I went to a nail salon for the first time in over a year and it felt wonderful. Tonight we also continued in our MCU movie marathon and watched Iron Man 2.

TL;DR: Paris and Kim enter a race while Torres thinks she and Paris are over. Kim likes one of the other pilots, but the curse of Harry Kim continues as she winds up being one of the bad guys. Paris and Torres are adorable, fight, almost get themselves killed, avoid getting everyone else killed, and then get engaged and married all in the same episode!

Favorite Quote:

Torres: Seems like the entire crew has come down with race fever.

Seven of Nine: Maybe you could persuade the Doctor to develop a vaccine.

Seven tries humor and it’s wonderfully delivered!

“She’s not a Borg, she’s not a hologram, and she’s not dead. Looks like you might have finally found yourself the perfect woman.”: There are parts of this episode I really enjoy. Paris and Kim get themselves into a road race but then there’s the added plus of the other pilot being someone Kim fancies. Torres trading in every favor she has, Paris realizing he’s about to be killed because he forgot their special trip, and how he pulls over to tell her how he feels. This is a really good episode in terms of the Torres-Paris relationship, Kim always being the bridesmaid, and even Voyager making friends with other species. Neelix becomes the crazed announcer when Seven doesn’t do it “right” and the whole ship is really enjoying themselves and getting a break from being years away from home. I love how Janeway tells the boys she thinks the race is a great idea and they weren’t expecting that reaction. The reveal that Kim’s “love” interest is the one causing problems was one I didn’t see coming, but probably should have.

What I dislike is that Torres and Paris never really communicate with each other until it’s almost too late, and that you don’t even realize they’re married until the very end if you pay close attention. Where’s Neelix gushing over Klingon wedding preparations? Where’s Paris asking Kim to be his best man? Where’s the EMH practicing for singing at the reception? Where’s the bachelor party on the holodeck where some shenanigans happen? I get why that’s not in this episode, but knowing it won’t happen in future episodes makes me sad. I don’t understand why he didn’t ask Torres to be his co-pilot from the get go. That would have changed the whole tone of the episode for me. For all its faults, I didn’t hate this episode. It earns itself 6 tubs of strawberries.

TA Out!