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!

Date: December 21 , 2020

Season 5, Episode 14

Musical Accompaniment: Finally on songs that start with ‘T’!

Interstellar News: Today was very productive and the start of a three day week before “vacation”. I’ll still be working during break, but my days won’t be as full.

Also, the title of this episode reminds me of a wonderful book named Goblin Precinct by Keith R.A. DeCandido (who also has written a hell of a lot of Trek fiction). In it is a drug called Bliss that proves to be fatal. You can order it anywhere, along with the other books in the Precinct universe that are pretty awesome. If you order from Keith’s site directly, he’ll even autograph them for you!

TL;DR: Qatai, an older alien, yells at his ship while he flies right into what looks like a storm. Voyager finds a wormhole that leads straight to Earth and, while skeptical at first, the whole crew buys into its authenticity… except for Seven and Naomi Wildman. The hits keeps coming as there are letters from Starfleet, Janeway’s boyfriend is no longer engaged, Chakotay’s going to get a pardon, Paris and Neelix have dream job offers, and more. Everyone is so excited and suspicious Seven enlists the EMH… who is then taken offline and Seven is supposed to go into stasis. Seven tries to disable to ship but they wind up in the “wormhole” and everyone passes out, except Seven and Naomi. They meet Qatai, who is also trapped, and he explains that the “wormhole” is really a beast that shows ships exactly what they want to lure them to it and then it eats their biomatter. After reactivating the EMH they develop a plan which works and is then a trap but it really works the second time and the rest of the crew comes back to and they resume a real course for home.

Favorite Quote:

EMH: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.

Qatai: Your ship is being devoured. I’d say that’s an emergency.

Qatai is just a little dramatic.

“I’m a Doctor, not a dragon slayer. My program requires that I do no harm.”: I loved that Paris, Seven, and Naomi were on a mission together and they had wonderful banter in the shuttle. It makes sense that Seven doesn’t want to go to Earth, but doesn’t Naomi want to meet her father? This was a fun mystery episode because, at first, Janeway is all like “okay let’s not get too excited” but then she’s clearly being decided and doesn’t care at all. All along I knew something was wrong and was hoping that Qatai wasn’t part of the illusion… kind of like when Seven was alone and was hallucinating. I was glad when Qatai wasn’t part of the illusion, even with his tragic backstory, and he added a nice gruffness to the story. I also liked that there was that little twist at the end when Seven thought she was out of the monster but they weren’t really and she had to trust everyone else around her. It’s a crushing blow for the crew who remember everything, I almost wish they would have felt drugged and didn’t remember anything – but maybe that will teach them to listen to Seven in the future. 7 books in the series, as I hear Keith is working on the next book – Phoenix Precinct.

TA Out!

Date: December 19, 2020

Season 5, Episode 12

Musical Accompaniment: Holding steady with songs that begin with the letter ‘S’, but coming up on the last of them (or maybe not, there are 171!)

Interstellar News: I feel like I didn’t do anything today, but I did watch four episodes of Trek… so there’s that. I’m only writing about one because it’s so late… but the others will come.

TL;DR: Kim and Paris are playing “Captain Proton” when they crash land on Planet X and encounter something strange in the holodeck, but cannot stop the program. Voyager has come to a dead stop and has entered a layer of subspace. Kim and Paris are able to transport themselves out of the holodeck but Voyager stays stuck. Some photonic aliens beam onto the holodeck and think Chaotica is the enemy, so they start attacking him. The crew realizes they can’t shut the holodeck down so Paris has the “bright” idea of sending Janeway in as Queen Arachnia to disable the death ray so Paris as Proton can allow the photonic aliens to win. Janeway does an amazing job, they also send the EMH in as the President of Earth to negotiate with the photonic aliens since they believe the holodeck is the real world, and in the end Proton and team wins the day and Chaotica dies… or does he?!

Favorite Quote:

Seven of Nine: It seems your infantile scenario now poses a security risk.

Kim: It was just supposed to be a little harmless entertainment.

Seven of Nine: Entertainment. Another frivolous human endeavor.

Seven is not wrong, but it is a thing that has kept me quite sane during this apocalypse.

“Listen to me very carefully because I’m only going to say this once. Coffee, black.”: So this started off as a fun mystery and then they lost me as soon as Paris pitches Janeway to finish the holodeck chapter. There have got to be other ways to shut down the holodeck or, and wait for it, you get the EMH to talk to the photonic aliens just like he did. Once you get past that, and the screaming by Miss Goodheart, it’s a fun cosplay/holodeck-as-a-plot-device episode. I loved that Neelix was doing the thing that these shows almost never do and talked about people’s grooming habits – like going to the bathroom and showering. You forget just how many things need power (um, everything) when you’re on a spaceship. There were also some really great one liners, like when Chaotica calls Janeway an “impetuous harlot” or when Kim and Paris together scream “THE OTHER PANEL” at the EMH when he almost hits the wrong button. There was a lot of humor, Janeway getting to act silly, and a strange first contact situation that was resolved rather harmlessly. I’m rating this episode 8 cauliflower bread sticks that are surprisingly dense but tasty.

TA Out!