Date: December 16, 2020

Season 5, Episode 10

Musical Accompaniment: On songs that begin with the letter ‘S’ and I didn’t realize how many songs were named “Satellite”!

Interstellar News: I made a lemon cream cake tonight, mostly as an excuse to finish the lemon curd in my fridge. It was delicious. Also, it’s my WordPress anniversary! Happy one year to this site!!

TL;DR: Voyager is traveling through Devore territory and must submit to their inspections, which includes hiding telepaths (crew and refugees) in the transporter pattern buffers each time. The lead Inspector, Kashyk, catches up with them and says he wants to defect. They find Professor Torat and play good cop/bad cop in order to find out about the wormhole that will help the telepaths escape the Devore. They work on finding out where it will show up next and counterpoint is the key. Kashyk explains why he’s defecting and gets closer to Janeway. They have to head through a sensor net and almost elude it but trigger it on the second pass and now it’s a race against time. Kashyk heroically decides to go back in order to save Voyager, smooches Janeway, and off he goes. Voyager submits to their fourth inspection and, when they are alone, Janeway tells him where the wormhole is. At this revelation Kashyk double crosses Janeway and tries to destroy the portal, but it’s Janeway who was lying because she never really trusted Kashyk. She had already sent all of the refugee telepaths and two shuttles out to the wormhole and they make it through safely. Kashyk realizes he’s been defeats and orders Voyager to leave their space.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: Then what do you want, Inspector?

Kashyk: Call me Kashyk, please. I never liked that title. In fact, I’ve left it behind.

Janeway: Did somebody offer you a promotion, or are you just having a bad day?

Kashyk: I’m defecting, and I need your help.

The chemistry between them is lots of fun.

“I’d be glad to discuss that and any other philosophical issue you care to raise if you would just slow down and talk.”: I loved everything about this episode except for two things. First, the dude who played Kashyk was delightful but everything he said came out slimy and not genuine. Second, at the very end… WHERE DID THEY HIDE TUVOK, VORIK, and the BETAZOID for the last inspection? Obviously they didn’t go on the shuttles through the wormhole but they couldn’t have been in plain sight but they also couldn’t stay in the pattern buffers because of the degradation… so where were they?!?! Other than these two things, I absolutely loved Janeway and Kashyk. They had the good cop/bad cop routine down pat like they’ve known each other for years and their chemistry throughout the rest of the episode played well. I legit gasped when Kashyk turned on Janeway and then was reminded of “Scorpion” when Janeway turned the tables right back on him. It was such a good lead up and I totally didn’t see it coming, though it made perfect sense. I also loved them working on how to find the wormhole, the bit where the security guard smirked when Kashyk tried for a “nightcap”, and the damn barrels of vegetables instead of telepaths at the end. It was glorious and delightful and I enjoyed it lots. 9 games of seven card stud for this episode.

TA Out!

Date: December 13, 2020

Season 5, Episode 7

Musical Accompaniment: I’ve plowed through a few letters and am now onto songs that begin with the letter ‘M’ in my 4-star playlist, about halfway through the list.

Interstellar News: It’s still my birthday month, but I am now post-birthday. I watched a wonderful movie this morning with a dear friend, had a wonderful dinner with some family, and got in a late night grocery run when we were the only ones in the store.

TL;DR: Seven’s regeneration is interrupted and she stalks her way into the kitchen in order to trash it and grab some meat, though her reflection shows a different alien. Voyager alters course to avoid Borg debris and Neelix is concerned about “the midnight snacker”. Naomi follows Seven around, as she is intent on becoming a Captain’s Assistant, and witnesses Seven’s personality change. Seven “comes to” and heads to Engineering, where she turns into a Klingon and bites Torres. Tuvok takes her to sick bay and we see a piece of Borg technology, a viniculum, floating in space. Seven goes through many more personality changes and the crew tries to disable the viniculum. It turns out that Species 6339 created a virus to try and disable the Borg from the inside out, so they try to see if they’ll help Seven. 6339 do not want to help and they want to put the viniculum back in the wreckage so it will be assimilated. 6339 eventually fires on Voyager, Torres disables it to save Seven while Tuvok mind melds with Seven, and they space the viniculum for 6339 to have as they bugger off. Seven recovers and decides to mentor Naomi.

Favorite Quote:

Seven of Nine: You hope to achieve this goal by emulating me?

Naomi: Are you mad?

Seven of Nine: No. There are many on this crew that would benefit from your example.

Naomi: So you’ll teach me?

Seven of Nine: Your objective is admirable. However, your neocortical development is incomplete. You would require several months of accelerated growth in a Borg maturation chamber.

Also… “Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman. State your intentions.” I cackled at this.

“Does this qualify as our second date? — Just think of me as your chaperone.”: Species 6339 tries to pull off what was mentioned in “I, Borg“, get something into the Borg Collective that will cause it to destroy itself. This, however, was only a small part of the plot as everyone was concerned about Seven. Seven did a FANTASTIC job of morphing into each different personality. She was able to show orc, young girl, Klingon male, Vulcan, and even a human mother among her many personalities. Seven was also able to project how much pain she was in, which led to three great supporting roles. The Doctor tries his hardest to fix Seven medically and to be there to see what is happening first hand. He also tries to be the voice of reason. Janeway has to play Captain and Mom here, but she does her best to balance both of those roles. Tuvok, however, has the best supporting role here. He not only walks with a purpose (instead of running) toward the danger that is Seven, but he also immediately figures out what’s happening to her and acts accordingly. He also decides that the logical thing to do is meld, despite the danger, as it’s what is safest and likely the only option at this point. I’m not saying this episode is without its problems, like how did Seven’s neural pattern just suddenly reappear, but it was a fun delve into multiple personalities. It also shows the tenacious Naomi and the bit at the end where Seven decides to take her on is just heartwarming. 8 sleepy doggos a-snooze in their little beds for this episode.

TA Out!