This tradition brought to you by the wonderful partners in my life.
Interstellar News: The goal was to finish my post from last night this morning… but that totally didn’t happen. I woke up, at breakfast, made a sweet potato pie, and then helped the husband person mount the TV downstairs. After that it was a Zoom Thanksgiving call with my Dad, stepmom, and her family. Then it was our daily walk around the neighborhood because it was SO NICE OUTSIDE. We then crashed another Zooms-giving with some dear friends and my NY family. Then we went downstairs and cleaned out the utility room, I started the turkey, and then I took a shower. I made a turkey breast, gravy, cornbread stuffing with craisins, pumpkin & sage ravioli, and green bean casserole with homemade cream of bacon soup (instead of cream of mushroom). It was all very delicious. We ate while we Zoomed with my in-laws. I ended the evening with a video chat with a dear friend and then drinking coquito and eating sweet potato pie for dessert.
Needless to say I am exhausted and my brain isn’t working. I promise to have some Trek for you soon. I will leave you with two more Thanksgiving Day traditions:
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
Interstellar News: I wanted to write about the two-parted “The Killing Game”, but I didn’t have the energy to. It was a busy three days of work before a nice four day weekend that we’ll be staying at home for.
What are you doing for Thanksgiving? What are your favorite foods?
My big questions is… What is your favorite winter beverage?
Musical Accompaniment: I’ve hit song #200 on my 4-star list (out of 1,351).
Interstellar News: I went out into the world today. Looks like I’m staying home until 2022 at least, sigh.
TL;DR: Voyager is dealing with an arms trader named Kovin, who is assaulted by Seven after he shoves her out of the way. The Doctor believes Seven has blocked memories and those memories find that Kovin was the one to assault her and extract Borg technology. Janeway thinks they might be hallucinations, like she had during “The Raven“, but she and Tuvok question Kovin anyway. He gets very defensive and doesn’t want to cooperate, but his government makes him. They find evidence that supports Seven but Kovin freaks out and escapes. In chasing him down, they realize they may have misinterpreted the evidence and he might have been telling the truth. It’s too late, however, as his ship explodes. Seven and the Doctor both experience remorse and Janeway tells the Doctor she hopes this will help them both to grow.
“We’re not talking about conjecture, we’re talking about science.”: I have very strong feelings about this episode, but I’m honestly not sure in which way. On one hand, it’s a great episode to give the Doctor some humility and for him to learn from his mistakes. The signs may all point to one thing, but you still need to stay objective and not become emotionally invested in your patient.
On the other hand, Janeway doesn’t really handle the situation well at all. Tuvok is the only one who, in my opinion, handled the situation the way it should have been. He questioned both parties and gathered evidence, but he didn’t make any judgements until he had more information. Jnaeway went from not trusting Seven because they’ve been on each other’s nerves, but then she decided Kovin was guilty because he was being defensive. Kovin was an absolute prick, but that didn’t mean he should die. Even if he had taken advantage of Seven, which is left unclear, he should have been punished according to his local system. I know in the real world that doesn’t always work, I mean this episode reminded me of ever Law & Order: SVU rape episode ever. The Doctor got Seven’s hopes up and put things into her mind, but he does so prematurely before he really understands the case. He’s so wrapped up in his new subroutine and this “damning evidence” that he completely forgets his objectivity and duty to science.
The real part that gets me, though, is how Seven is treated when the Doctor believes she’s a victim. Some people choose sides, Janeway even mentions Kovin being “innocent” at one point, and it just all rubs me the wrong way. I’m not saying every person should always be believed, but every person shouldn’t always be dismissed either. Seven and the Doctor had evidence of something and that needed to be investigated, but the whole thing could have been done better. This draft tried to die on my twice, so before I lose my writing again I’m going to end with no rating because I still don’t know how I feel about this episode. I just know I don’t feel good about it.
Musical Accompaniment: Continuing my 4-star playlist
Interstellar News: The new couch is wonderful and I am happy. These two episodes are not a two-parter, but they go well together and I wanted to write them up in one post.
“Hunters” inTL;DR: Voyager is trying to get a message from Starfleet command while the Hirogen go to intercept them. They arrive at the relay station and try to download the message, Janeway realizes it’s letters from home, and Neelix becomes the mailman. Chakotay and Tuvok get one, the Maquis have been wiped out and Tuvok is a grandfather. Janeway gets one from Mark, who is now married to someone else. Seven and Tuvok take a shuttle to try and get closer to the station, but are scanned, attacked, and tractored by the Hirogen. Janeway uses the field to her advantage, Seven and Tuvok are transported over, and Voyager escapes from the black hole. The relay stations are destroyed and Torres delivers a message to Kim, but the letter to Paris is lost. Neelix throws a party for everyone.
Favorite Quote:
Seven of Nine: This message is important to the captain
EMH: I’m aware of that. In fact, if it weren’t for me, this transmission wouldn’t have been possible in the first place. I was the one who risked my matrix in order to go to the Alpha Quadrant. If we ever get home, I expect I’ll become quite the hero. “Emergency Medical Hologram instrumental in the return of Voyager crew.” Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
Seven of Nine: On the other hand, it is entirely possible that your program will be deleted and you’ll be upgraded to conform to the most recent standards.
The EMH is adding to his ego while Seven tries to keep him down on Earth, errr so to speak.
“Coffee – the finest organic suspension ever devised.”: This episode packed a lot into a short span of time. A message from Starfleet turns out to be an encrypted message along with letters from home. Chakotay and Torres find out what’s happening to the Maquis during Seasons 5 – 7 of Deep Space Nine and it’s sobering that the reason they are stranded in the DQ no longer matters because the Maquis are no more. Kim spends the whole episode waiting for a note from his parents and he’s giddy as fuck when he gets his, but we have no idea what it says. Tuvok puts up a good, Vulcan face for Neelix but is clearly interested in what else his wife has to say and it’s damn adorable. Paris winds up being a dead end because his letter doesn’t come through, or maybe Torres nuked it because his dad was being a dick… but we don’t know.
“Perhaps you are more interested in collecting relics. Perhaps your judgment is clouded.”
The most heartbreaking letter is for Janeway from Mark, especially because they may have gotten to a relay station sooner if it wasn’t for all of the side quests. After we process all of the letters, you have Tuvok and Seven who are captured by the Hirogen, who remind me of the hunters from “Captive Pursuit“. They seem like an interesting enemy. I will say there are a few issues for me here. Who killed the dead alien and what was the point of that scene? How has no one ever had an issue with the relay system when it’s been around for 100,000 years? What was in the encrypted message that was SO IMPORTNT and then everyone forgot about? 8 bagel bites for this episode, but only the ones with pepperoni and cheese… no sausage for you!
“Prey” inTL;DR: The Hirogen are following a ship that has Species 8472 on board. The Doctor is trying to help Seven with her socialization skills when Voyager encounters the damaged Hirogen ship. The Beta has been decapitated and the Alpha is severely wounded, so he’s transferred to sickbay. They are able to get more information on the Hirogen culture while 8472 is seen outside of the ship, which it then breaks into. It turns out this alien has been on the run since it was left behind and it just wants to go home. Janeway needs Seven’s help to open a gateway into 8472’s space, but she refuses. As 8472 and the Hirogen hunter both escape their confines and battle it out on Voyager, Seven takes it upon herself to transport them both into another Hirogen ship so they can fight elsewhere. Janeway reprimands Seven.
Favorite Quotes:
Janeway’s Jam: “He’ll be under your supervision, Commander. If he steps out of line, shoot him.”
Tuvok: Mr. Neelix, I must ask you to exchange your spatula for a phaser rifle.
Neelix: Sure.
Neelix just says yes, and sometimes that’s a good thing on a ship.
Doctor’s Orders: “You should know I’m a hologram and can’t be bent, spindled or mutilated, so don’t bother trying.”
“We will not be denied our prey. Give us the creature, or your crew will take its place.”
“This lesson is terminated. “: Here’s the problem with picking up strays, you never know how they are going to integrate into your existing structure. Neelix is a “yes man” who basically does whatever is asked of him because he’s so grateful to be anywhere other than where he was. Walk around the entire ship delivering letters? No problem. Cook meals for a variety of nutrition needs for 150 people? Let’s do it. Seven of Nine, on the other hand, has a very specific skill set that has nothing to do with people skills and everything to do with technology. Neither Neelix or Seven, however, is a member of Starfleet and they are not quite obligated to follow the command structure. Think of the families on the Enterprise, they needed to follow the rules of the ship but they probably wouldn’t have been forced to do something they didn’t want to. So Seven decides to disobey an order but what’s Janeway going to do about it? Well, it should really be Chakotay since he’s in charge of crew discipline… so there’s that. There’s not really anything she can do, other than kick Seven right off the ship. Seven misreads this as Janeway being jealous or scared, but it’s really Janeway being pissed that she’s being disobeyed. I’m tired and it’s late, so I can only think of 7 words I want to hear right now.
Musical Accompaniment: Day 2 of my 4-star playlist and also:
I mean, I couldn’t help myself…
Interstellar News: Today was a roller coaster. It started wonderfully, went downhill pretty quickly, started to ramp back up, and then ended suddenly… sigh.
TL;DR: Seven finds a Starfleet vessel in communication range through a series of relays, but they can only send the Doctor through as everything else degrades. The Doctor is sent to the Prometheus, which is an experimental ship that was just taken over by Romulans so the only other Starfleet officer on board is the EMH-2. They work together, hysterically, to get the ship back in the hands of Starfleet. The Doctor relays the last four years of Voyager’s antics and makes it back, telling Janeway that he was successful in making contact.
Favorite Quote:
EMH: Stop breathing down my neck.
EMH-2: My breathing is merely a simulation.
EMH: So is my neck. Stop it anyway.
The EMH’s snarking at each other.
“I was saving Voyager from annihilation when you were only a gleam in your programmer’s eye.”: This was an absolutely fabulous episode. The EMH mark 2, played by Andy Dick, and our EMH, played by Robert Picardo, makes for the most wonderful “Robert and Andy Show” as they try to take the ship back over. First our doctor needs to convince EMH-2 that he’s real, they shouldn’t deactivate and hide, and they are both more than just a program. There have also been medical advances in the last four years, so it’s fun to see the EMH unsure of which instrument to hand EMH-2. On the other hand, EMH-2 has only been active for a month so it has no idea what it’s capable of and takes times to come to the rescue when the EMH is being interrogated by the Romulans. Neither of them know how to fly the ship, which is hysterical when they accidentally separate the ship and send the Romulans in retreat.
“I told you, I’m a work in progress! I was only installed six weeks ago.”
There are some “meh” parts that still held some humor, but not near as much as the two EMH’s. Paris gets tagged for temporary doctor duty, Kim tries to build another EMH, and Seven shocks a Hirogen who is trying to disconnect them. The absolute best part, though, is the look on Janeway’s face when the Doctor returns and tells her he’s been successful. I am so excited to know what happens next. Will they get letters from home? Will there be a fight with the Hirogen? Will there be heartbreak or joy or a bit of both? I also know that Andy Dick is far from what you would call a decent human, but as an actor he had fantastic chemistry with Picardo and I would watch this episode again and again for the payoff at the end. 10 guava wafers for getting in touch with the Alpha Quadrant.
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 