Star Trek: Voyager Reviews for Season Five

• Okay, I admit, I really have to reach here but that's half the fun, right? In the opening scene with Chakotay and Seven are on the bridge talking about the fact that they're in the middle of nowhere (no good news), Seven is the one who wants to tell the captain and looks disgruntled when Chakotay says he'll take care of it.
• Later in the Astrometrics lab when Janeway and Seven are talking about the vortex, Seven asks if Janeway is going to destroy it, Janeway gives her a look that could mean a variety of things; Ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies?  Don't presume to question me?  Meet me later in my quarters and we'll ... 'discuss' it?
• And finally, on the bridge during the major conflict scene where the crew refuses her orders.  Janeway looks at Seven and she doesn't even have to say a thing.  Seven immediately responds, "I will not comply."  Does our Borg know our captain or what?  Then, when Janeway gives in to the inevitable, she stands side by side with Seven while they try to come up with a new plan.  The pair of them exchange some significant glances.
• Oh, and when Seven offers that line to Tom about Captain Proton, Janeway gives her such a proud "Aren't you so cute" look.

First off, this was an absolutely outstanding episode.  If people still want to write Seven's character off as just a bimbo designed to bring in the young male demographic, then they're not giving either the character or the fine job Jeri Ryan is doing in the role a fair shake at all.  This was a very touching episode and pure Trek in every sense of the word.

• Starts off with Seven practicing her smile in a polished surface of her work station in Cargo Bay Two.  Now why would she have to learn to smile?  Certainly not for the Doctor.  Now who could she possibly be wanting to learn to smile for?  Hmmm?
• The captain  refuses to terminate the Borg fetus.  Not sure why exactly.  Was it pure scientific curiosity?  Moral reasons?  Or did Janeway simply balk at the thought of destroying something that was a part of Seven?
• The scene where Janeway is telling Seven that she is now in charge of raising up the new Borg, "teaching him our values" and Seven responding with "if we fail", the sort of unified comments like a proud couple about to raise ... well, a puppy rather than a sentient being, but the key is, they were together on this.  And the look Seven gives Janeway all through this scene, the indulgent 'another crazy idea from Kathryn but I will comply' look.  Not to mention how much Janeway just plain likes getting up close to Seven, violating her personal space all over the place.  Not that Seven ever takes a step backwards, mind you.
• When One comes into meet Janeway, the captain keeps exchanging looks with Seven who gives them back. There's a whole lot of interaction going on here with eyes and lips that never make it into the dialogue.  And after One trots off to hang out with B'Elanna, Janeway immediately knows something is up with her Borg and asks her 'what's wrong?'.  It took her practically the whole episode to ask B'Elanna in Extreme Risk and that was only after her Chief Engineer almost killed herself.  It took about thirty seconds of eye contact here.
• The big question from One to Seven.  "Do you wish to join the Collective?"  Answer from Seven (after glancing at Janeway.)  "Voyager is my collective now."  Response from Janeway.  BIG GOOEY LOOK!  Worth two stars all by itself.
• Lots of compliments about Janeway in this episode from Seven.
• And lastly, though it was never actually shown in the episode itself, at the very end when Seven is grieving in Cargo Bay Two, how many people figure Captain Janeway was coming through that door in the next five minutes  to comfort her Borg.  Show of hands?  Yeah, I thought so too.  However, not showing that scene (which was a natural) keeps this ep from being a four star show.  Missed it by about thirty seconds, I figure.

This was a B'Elanna episode but I did notice something interesting in the few scenes that Janeway and Seven are in. They're always exchanging glances.  Janeway looks at her more than she looks at any other crewmember.  And the other thing is, there is all this subtle tension between them, in the way they look at each other, in their body language, in the verbal interplay.  Antagonistic in a way, yes, but also a dance of sorts, a 'pay attention to me' on both the character's part.  Very intriguing and definitely not something is happening between any of the other characters.  Even Tom and B'Elanna who are supposed to be in love with each other had no chemistry this episode (ironically, she and Chakotay did, but that's another site) .  I can't give this one a star because nothing leaped out but I do believe the sparks continue to fly between Janeway and Seven.

This is one of those ideas that sound good on paper but I don't think was executed very well.  I've always thought it would be a great idea if Species 8472 had turned out to be more the victims in the war with the Borg and for Voyager to discover they were actually on the wrong side.  Species 8472 were incredibly cool aliens, the important word being 'alien'.  However, with this show (and I fully understand that the opticals to show them in their natural form would have been beyond expensive) I think Trek really fumbled the ball.  They made the species too 'human'.  Voyager never had to get past the appearance to understand the culture beneath.  And that was a shame.

• A new outfit for Seven.  Coincidence that it is the exact color of a certain captain's eyes?  I think not.
• More antagonism between Janeway and Seven but in a more comfortable way.  They wrangle like an old couple now rather than a captain and a crewmember.  However, Janeway always makes a point of being near Seven whenever she can, both in the Astrometrics lab and during negotiations with Species 8472.  (And just what was Seven doing there anyway?  Did Janeway just want her close enough to put her hand on her knee under the conference table when things got tense?)
• Nice moment at the end where they 'walk and talk' though I wish they would figure out a standard height for Janeway.  She gains and loses height against Seven with such rapidness, it's dizzying.  However, Janeway's still trying to get Seven down to 'Earth' and Seven's still playing 'hard to get'.

This was absolutely a bust as far as sub-text was concerned because Seven and Janeway didn't appear in any scenes together.  However, Naomi is an interesting little addition and expect to see more of her in the future interacting with both the captain and Seven of Nine.  Could allow for tying our fav couple together even more.  In retrospect, I do think this ep was a little disappointing because they could have delved a little deeper in how having a child on board affects Voyager but since this was the first time Naomi has been referred to since her birth way back in season two's Deadlock, then I guess it's to be expected.  Janeway seems to forget she has a bit of a generational ship now, just as Picard did, and thus, needed to take that into account.

Okay, why do I have this mental picture of the Powers That Be all sitting around a big table and one of them says "Our 100th episode is coming up, what can we do that's special?"  And another guy (who for some reason, looks like Homer Simpson in my vision) says "I know, lets take the two most excruciatingly boring characters in the show and give them most of the screen time."

Maybe it's me, but does anyone else think they're trying (and failing) to make these male characters interesting at the expense of the female ones who are the true breakout stars of the series?  Honestly, if these guys didn't get interesting in the first three years, what makes them think they can now?

I did like Seven getting a little tipsy (but wouldn't it have been more fun if the captain had taken her to sick bay?)  And I had to laugh at the 'intimate' dinner between Janeway and Chakotay.  The setting was romantic enough but all she wanted to know was would he follow her orders this time (unlike how he acted with the Borg and in the Void.)  Then she gets up and all J/Cers lean forward ... but she merely pats his cheek in a maternal sort of way and feeds him soup.  Now, I've seen Kate Mulgrew act seductive in a role ... this wasn't it.  So it's clear that her Janeway's got her mind on other things.  Or on another person.

The spoiler from next week's show looks tremendous.  Might even be able to award a star or two for that one.

Well, what can I say.  A tremendous episode which absolutely showed Jeri Ryan's range and skills to the best of her ability.  And there was even a wee bit of sub-text to top it all off.  If every episode was as good as this one, I'd have run out of stars a while ago.

• Isn't it interesting that Naomi thinks the way to the captain's heart is by imitating Seven?  You know, kids are more perceptive than adults sometimes and it makes sense that in order to get the captain's attention, Naomi would think that being 'perfect' like Seven is the way to go.  Out of the mouth of babes...
• Seven starts to go a bit bonkers.  It's a shame she wasted that 'love bite' on B'Elanna but didn't you appreciate how Seven got totally seductive with her even in Klingon form? Makes one wonder how she would do if it had been the captain who was the source of her desire and Seven was more in her own mind.
• In sickbay, Janeway got in a few nice squeezes on Seven's arm and sort of lingered on her elbow a bit.  She also had her arm around her while Seven was displaying the Ferengi personality.  Yet, in other scenes, when it would have been perfectly natural for her to put her arm around Seven (sans other personality) and comfort her, either as a friend or even as her captain, Janeway appeared very awkward and unsure of what to do.  She even seemed a bit strict with Seven in sickbay when the Borg was clearly distraught and explaining how afraid she was.  It was almost as if by making some physical gesture at such a moment would have been too revealing for Janeway, would have made clear that Seven is far more than just a crewmember to her in front of the Doctor.  Sometimes what isn't there is just as indicative as what is.
• Janeway returns to the bridge and says to Chakotay that maybe he was right in saying she shouldn't have taken Seven from the Collective.  A very harsh, almost cold thing to say about the situation.  Maybe he (and the viewers) would have  bought it ... if she hadn't wiped two tears away as she sat down.  How many times have we seen Janeway cry again?  That's about what I thought.
• The look on Janeway's face when the Doctor reports that Seven is gone says it all.  A star all on its own.
• Janeway risks her friend (Tuvok), her ship and her crew to save Seven.  Enough said.
• And at the end, Janeway can't even say something nice, she has to make a joke about Seven 'thanking' them by helping B'Elanna in engineering.  A far cry from how gentle she was with Harry at the end of Timeless or even, come to think of it, Arturis (who tried to have her assimilated) at the end of Hope and Fear.  Makes you wonder what exactly Janeway is afraid of showing.  If she didn't like Seven, she would hardly risk everything to save her.  And if she liked her only as a friend likes a friend, or in a maternal way, she'd have been a lot more comforting, don't you think?  It seems to me, Janeway is working awfully hard to hide her feelings.

A B'Elanna episode which includes a rather icky looking bug on her chest.  All in all, I think she would rather have Seven latched onto her by the teeth rather than this thing embracing her.  There were no scenes where Janeway and Seven were together (either physically or metaphysically) but I do know if I were the sort to write Janeway/B'Elanna fan fic, I'd start with that scene right at the end.  Smokin' stuff, that.

A reader mentioned that it was unusual for Seven to have been given B'Elanna's job and they were right.  Lt. Carey should have taken over in the absence of the Chief Engineer.  Our Captain isn't showing a little favoritism, is she?

I believed until now that the most excruciatingly bad episodes of Star Trek: Voyager were Chakotay episodes.  I was wrong.  Between Vis a Vis and now this one, I now know that Paris episodes are the standard to which sheer lameness is measured.  The plot inconsistencies alone made me laugh out loud and I can't really bear to watch it a second time to find the ones I've missed but here are a few that really stuck in my head.

• I wonder if B'Elanna is aware that Paris is playing his holo-game with the Delaney sisters?  (That's not an inconsistency, it's just sort of interesting to me.)
• If the Delta Flyer really sprung a leak at that depth, the force of the incoming water would have sliced a human in two.  It certainly would not be something anyone would want to stick his hand into.
• How polite was it of Paris not to point out during his disciplinary hearing all the times Janeway has blithely busted the prime directive.  But I guess ya gotta be a captain for that.  Or a Borg.
• B'Elanna should realize that 0700 is not 7:00 in the evening, it is 7:00 in the morning.  So she didn't invite him to dinner,  she invited him to breakfast.  But then, why didn't she say breakfast.  And does this really mean that the Trek writers don't think we'd know what it meant if B'Elanna had said 1900 hours?

Supposed to be a Janeway episode.  Looking forward to it.

Yeah, I can't believe I wrote that either.  No subtext to speak of.  Janeway plays this alien Nazi for a complete sap.  Unfortunately, she had to kiss him in the process.  Do I think she was really attracted to him?  Let's just say that five years is a long time, not just to be alone, but to have the constant burden of always being the captain, always being in command, always remaining just a little aloof from the rest of the crew.  I think she went into it not trusting him, having every intention of staying one step of  him just as Kirk did that Romulan commander with the cloaking device all those years ago, but unlike Kirk, Janeway's a warm, passionate and caring woman.  She probably couldn't help but feel something during all the flirtations and games, and let's face it, Janeway has always been a sucker for a sob story.  Look at her history (in Jeri Taylor's Mosaic) with men.  The more pathetic they were, the more she was attracted to them.  This guy gave her a good sob story and the more whiny he seemed, the hotter she got.

Bottom line, I think when she kissed him, she hoped she wasn't kissing a lizard.  But in the end, she was and while she's a trifle disappointed, she'll get over it.  As for Seven, maybe our Borg should stop being so wonderfully strong and independent and start acting more needy and helpless.  Come to think of it, Janeway was the most solicitous of her when she was going through hell with those multiple personalities in Infinite Regress.  Gives one ideas for that Borg two-parter they're talking about, huh?  Bound to be lots of angst on Seven's part there.

This was a Doctor episode and raised some interesting questions about just how sentient is he and how much right does the Captain have in dealing with his programming.  I do think they could have explored this a little deeper but maybe it's something they'll get back to a little further down the road.  As for our couple ... oh yeah!!  We got some nice little moments in this story.

•  Seven drops by Janeway's quarters at two o'clock in the morning.  Okay, let's just consider that for a moment.  Gotta award a star just for the setup of that scene.  Especially since it opened with a shot of Janeway's very empty and very lonely big double bed.  I can't imagine a more blatant sub-text sort of moment.
• Janeway doesn't seem particularly surprised to see Seven, merely asking if she was having trouble regenerating.  Is that a problem Seven has a lot?  Is Seven in the habit of dropping by at that time of night for 'philosophical discussions'?  Also, wasn't Janeway  wonderfully disarrayed in a T-shirt and pants?  Yeah, I know, it seems to be the off duty fashion of choice this year, but hey, it's one layer closer to the Borg, right?  And far more casual than we've seen Janeway be with Seven before.
• So Janeway makes a decision eighteen months ago and presumably, as she said, considered all the points that Seven brings up.  Yet,  a few pointed comments from Seven, a remark about the captain possibly abandoning her next and the next thing you know, Janeway's completely reversed her attitude and is actually explaining things to the Doctor.  Hmmm, makes you wonder how easily Seven could convince the captain about other things should she set her mind to it.
• After getting no satisfaction from B'Elanna, Janeway immediately trots off to cargo bay two for another 'philosophical discussion' with Seven who is 'asleep'.  Janeway terminates her regeneration cycle, but only after watching her for who knows how long with this rather soulful, yearning expression (By the way, don't you think watching someone sleep ... or regenerate in this case... is a somewhat intimate thing to do?  And Seven seems to be the only crewmember Janeway does this with.)  And Seven isn't particularly surprised to see her either.  Hmm, do you supposed they're doing a lot of visiting each other after hours?
• Question from Janeway: "Do you regret it?"  Seven's answer: "You mean, if I could change anything, would I? No."  Janeway's response:  BIG GOOEY LOOK!!!  Or at least, the beginning of one, the scene cut itself off somewhat abruptly but you know it was coming.
• A reader noted (Hi Nadine) that the poem Janeway was reading was "La Vita Nuova". It's by Dante (Inferno) and

depending on which translation you read, it's either a treatise on how to write poetry or a love poem in itself about Dante's intense love for a young woman, Beatrice....  Somehow, I don't think Janeway was learning how to write poetry.

Somehow ya just knew that after a great ep like last week's Latent Image, they'd do a bomb this week.  I've come to the conclusion that ST:Voyager simply should not do holodeck shows (Killing Game notwithstanding).  Unlike The Next Generation which handled such plots well, Voyager seems unable to come up with a decent story line.  I think it's because, in ST:V, the characters in the holo-program are not handled any differently than they are the rest of the time.   However, in TNG, the straight laced Picard became the charming, rough-around-the-edges Dixon Hill while the naive and non-human Data  became the sophisticated and clever Sherlock Holmes.  Worf was shown to be a loving father as he romped in the Wild West with his son while Deanna Troi, the prim and proper counselor became the gun slinging Mysterious Stranger.  Timid and uncertain Barkley became one of the three Musketeers.  Every holo program on TNG showed the characters in a different light and gave the fans another shade to their personalities.  They were real fantasies from the characters, allowing the viewer to get into their psyche a little.

In Voyager however, the straight laced, scientific Kathryn Janeway becomes the straight laced nanny in 'Wuthering Heights' or the fellow scientist to Leonardo da Vinci.  There's nothing new about her personality there.  Harry is just as inept in the holo-program (unable to get the girl) as he is while at Ops.  Tom Paris is the same egotistical blowhard as Captain Proton that he is operating the ship's helm.  There's no opportunity to see these characters in a different light.  Making Janeway a 'vamp' would have been a lot more effective if we hadn't just seen Counterpoint which clearly showed her more than capable of manipulating men with her 'feminine wiles' for real.  And, if it's just an excuse to show the actors chewing the scenery and going over the top, then Living Witness did that far more effectively than any holodeck-centric show ever has.

Why not be daring?  Show Seven trying to deal with Flotter in Naomi's holo-program.  Or put Janeway in a swash-buckling role as a pirate or a jewel thief.  Show Neelix in a program where he's the captain of a starship.  Show Harry as an FBI agent (rather than Tom's proverbial sidekick).  Let the characters learn something about themselves in such a show just as the fans learn something new about them rather than continually sticking them in programs where they always have the same reactions and the same personalities.

Subtext?  Maybe if one really pushes.  There's a scene where Seven finishes Janeway's thought and the captain notes it by saying "You took the words right out of my mouth."  For some reason, that sounds incredibly erotic, but that may be just me.  And another scene where Janeway is tagged to become Queen Arachnia (sp?).  She looks first to Seven and then, as she discovers it's her who's being picked, Seven joins in on the teasing.  The key is, while everyone in the room was teasing the captain, it is not something Seven does with just anyone.  Apparently she is only comfortable enough with the captain to tease her a little.  Hmmm.  No stars, but just sort of interesting to note.

(From Jari, Dec. 3, 1999)
It isn't Janeway Seven subtext but more of the Captain herself, at least my take on it. In the scene where she is picked to play the part of Queen  Arachnia, the question to ask is why her? First of all, someone like a  person of authority, who could act like a queen is required. Another reason is, in the program itself, Chaotica is going to give Constance Goodheart, Captain Proton's secretary, to Queen Arachnia. Now why would he want to give the Queen a woman? There could be several takes on this but one does come to mind if you know what i mean. Tom knows what the characters in the program are about, the Queen who in the original story, gets Constance Goodheart as a gift from Chaotica. So who would be the best person on the ship to play the role of Queen Arachnia but Captain Janeway. A person of authority who likes female companionship and it just so happens that Constance is blond and has other qualities like a certain ex-Borg. Just like in Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy when Harry calls Janeway to come see the Doc's fantasy of Seven posing, he probably knows the Captain would like to see it while Tom figures Janeway would be able to play the role of the Queen without her having to do much acting.

(From Kristen, Dec 19, 1999)
If the interesting theory is true that Tom chose Janeway because she was the most logical person who could portray the over-the-top queen with potential lesbian tendencies with minimal effort, then this just adds another layer of meaning to the hysterical scene where he was trying to groom Seven to be Constance herself, knowing she would be given to the Queen. Was he being a matchmaker? (And this makes Jari's observation Janeway/Seven subtext after all.)

(Feb 5, 1999) A Tuvok episode that takes place on a planet so there weren't a lot of scenes with Seven and Janeway together and the few they were in were basically where they had a job to do and got it done as quickly and efficiently as possible.  It would have been a better ep if Seven had been down on the planet with Tuvok because I would have loved to see them interact more but that may just be my Tom Paris bias showing (and why are they trying to push him on us this year again?)  It did prove that Paris has the Bill Clinton concept of what fidelity really means however.  If you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with.  B'Elanna needs to know this, I think.

(Feb 12, 1999) Well, for a episode that featured Seven (which generally tend to produce the best sub-text) there was little interaction between her and the captain in this one.  She did get to chat with the captain a little in her ready room and there was a brief expression of  ... jealousy? on her face when she heard that Mark might still be in the picture (or maybe she was just disappointed that the idea of Mark is still such a lure for Janeway since obviously by that point, Seven knew something was wrong.)  And then horrors of horrors, Janeway actually zapped her.  All in all, a rather hard day for our favorite Borg and I thought it was cute at the end when Seven essentially tells the captain that she should ask the doctor for clarification since Seven was going to bed (regeneration).  I give it a star just cause it's a Seven show and all of her episodes generally deserve a second look.

(Feb 15, 1999) *ahem*  Apparently, in my excitement at the Borg tv movie trailers, I overlooked a certain amount of sub-text in this episode.  But fortunately my readers were quick to point it out.  To all of you, thank you very much and I guess I have to turn up that radar of mine to a higher level since some of this went completely by me.

• (m.c.) "I'm sure you'll thrive on Earth as you've thrived on Voyager" rates one (star)?  What about the fact that Seven is reading Janeway's personal logs and appears to be quite adept at over-riding the security codes to do so?  That seems to deserve a star as well.  (I don't know that they both deserve stars but I did miss these.)
• (Sue) Also, wanted to add some possible subtext to the ST Voyager episode "Bliss". Early in the show when Seven walks into Astrometrics after returning from the away mission, Janeway greets her with, "You're back, I was getting worried." The room also had Chakotay, Kim and Tuvok in it, yet, the Captain didn't say, *We* were worried. You could interpret that as a specific remark (Seven is back and the Captain was worried) rather than a general one (the away team is back and the bridge staff was worried). I thought Janeway's reaction to Seven's attempting to evade being put in stasis was interesting, as well. True Janeway zapped Seven but she didn't seem all that irate with Seven's attempt to take control of the ship. The Captain could have ordered Harry to initiate the surge. Perhaps she didn't trust Seven's life to anyone else's hands but her own. (This one went right by me.)
• (Lisa) The preview.  Not only does Kathryn say, "I'm not leaving without you," but you didn't mention the fact that when Janeway says, "We've lost one our own..." Torres starts to say that "She never really was one of..." Did you see the look Janeway gave her? (This wasn't for Bliss, but for the trailer previewing Dark Frontier. However, I believe this is the longer preview which I never saw on our local station ... I only saw the short one which didn't have any dialogue.  But I don't think this scene was actually in the episode itself ... anyone?)

(Feb 12, 1999) Oh my god.  The preview alone has me salivating.  Hmm, Janeway all frazzled exclaiming "I'm not leaving without you."  Yum.  Great expectations for this one.

(Feb 19, 1999) I will probably be adding to this one for weeks because I'm not sure I got even half of what there was on the first viewing. But here is tentatively what I have and it includes comments as well as just the sub-text stuff.

• First off, let me say that the PTB kept saying there was a maternal sub-text to all this, that it was like two mothers fighting over a daughter.  I don't think so. This Borg queen was just as sensual as the previous one (in ST: First Contact) and I got no sense of maternal concern from either of the females, her or Janeway.  But that may be just me.
• The Borg noted 143 life forms on Voyager.  Why is it the Borg can count but the crew of Voyager insists there's still 150 or so?  Are they in denial?
• I don't know about the rest of you, but I get very nervous when Janeway says things like "I feel lucky today."  I bet Seven does too.
• Wonderful scene as she trotting through the Borg debris and gets right down between Seven and B'Elanna when they're trying to make the transwarp coil work.  Puts her face right in there, practically cheek to cheek with the Borg.
• The scene in the conference room where Seven stays quiet, enough that Janeway notes it in the Ready Room scene right after this one.  Is it possible that Seven no longer wants to contradict or argue with Janeway in public?  She saves it for when they're alone to voice her concerns.
• The Ready Room scene where Janeway is pushing for all she's worth with Seven and perhaps realizes she's pushing a bit fast, but Seven tries her best to obey her orders.  Interesting look on Janeway's face when Seven leaves.
• Seven has a new outfit!  Like her brown one, but the plum one is a little more pleasing to the eye.
• Man, Seven had some self absorbed and arrogant parents.  And Janeway thinks she gets it from the Borg!
• Did anyone else notice that as they're walking and talking in the corridor, their shoulders are almost level with each other?  The rest of the time, Janeway's chin barely comes up to Seven's shoulder.  The variable Janeway height strikes again.
• Janeway tries to lure Seven into her favorite vice ... coffee.  Seven is still standing strong.  And it's clear in this scene that she really wants to protect Janeway, begging to be put on the away team.  Janeway is hesitant, she also wants very much to protect Seven, but in the end, it's the power of Seven's "please" that wins the argument.  (And don't underestimate the power of that 'please' ... Seven got the Borg queen to alter her attitude with it as well, a little later.)
• Various lines that triggered my sub-text meter all through this first hour; Janeway to Seven: "I know you."  "Voyager wouldn't be the same without you."  (Read 'I' for 'Voyager' and you have her real meaning, I think.)
• Finally they're on the Borg vessel and Seven refuses to go with her.  A ragged "I'm not leaving here without you."  A tearful "Go."  The look they exchange.  Seven saying good-bye and the captain somehow knowing she really doesn't want to though she has to allow it for now because the Borg are closing in.  (By the way, why did Janeway raise her phaser and point it at Seven?  What was she gonna do, stun Seven and drag her body through the cube?  I would have loved to have seen that one.)  A final, stricken look back by Janeway.
• The scene where they're cleaning out the Borg debris from the cargo bay.  Despite how much power it sucks up, Janeway refuses to let Seven's alcove be shut down.  And she gives Chakotay an evil glare to boot when he notes Seven's "I will betray you" line from way back when.  He might want to look in the mirror; during Scorpion, he was doing most of the betraying and double dealing, not Seven.
• Really cute scene between Janeway and Naomi.  It's the first they've been shown together and it's because they're both agonizing over Seven.  In fact, they seem to be the only ones to be losing sleep over this.
• Janeway figures out that Seven was being threatened by the Borg queen and did you notice how she started challenging the queen out loud (hence, freaking out Chakotay as he stands there wondering who she's talking to)?
• Okay, now let's get this straight, to retrieve Seven, Janeway goes strolling into not a cube, but an entire array of Borg structures?  And she takes along the ship's Chief Medical Officer, the ship's best helmsman (and the only other person with medical knowledge), the ship's security chief and leads the team herself.  Okay, but let's face it, this could have been a suicide mission and she really left Chakotay hurtin' for ship personnel if they hadn't come back.  She really wanted Seven back, didn't she?
• Janeway reads the 'Hansen Diaries" on the trip to the Collective and learns quite a bit about her Seven.  Had a really soft, gooey look on her face doing it too.
• Notice how Seven sort of needles the Borg queen about how she's being out maneuvered?  "My girlfriend's back and you're gonna be in trouble, hey na na na, my girlfriend's back."
• Final scene.  Janeway tucks in her tired Borg.  She notes that Seven has "picked up some bad habits" but I suspect she wasn't talking about the queen.  We know who likes pulling the all nighters and where Seven would have acquired the habit.  And you know, right before Seven steps up on the dais, I think, just possibly, in some small way ... THEY WERE FLIRTING WITH EACH OTHER!  Then Janeway gives her a big gooey look as Seven nods off.  Everyone ... Awww.

• (Lisa) The preview.  Not only does Kathryn say, "I'm not leaving without you," but you didn't mention the fact that when Janeway says, "We've lost one our own..." Torres starts to say that "She never really was one of..." (Taken from the Bliss review above.)
• (Feb 26, 1999) A reader (Jan) suggests that: the comment by Torres ("she was never one of us") was a temporary cut for the two hour "movie" edition. Voyager episodes are always 45 minutes without commercials including the opening and closing credits. The first hour of Dark Frontier was only 40 minutes long, and the entire length was only a little over an hour and twenty minutes. This episode will eventually be a two-parter, so they will have to put the cut scenes back in when they release the two-part episode. (We'll all have to wait and see if that happens.  Wow, a reason to tape a rerun.)
• (From Jari, Dec 24, 1999) I watched my tape of Dark Frontier again and wish to add something else about the final scene where Janeway tucks in Seven. Notice Seven goes directly into her alcove without setting the controls to start her regeneration cycle but the Captain punches in the numbers/commands for her. You'd think Seven would have stepped over to the control panel and set the controls for herself but somehow she knew the Captain would do it and stepped dirctly into her alcove. Also Janeway knew exactly which buttons to press which indicates that she has tucked Seven in before given the fact being the Captain of the ship, she must have dozens of access and command codes to remember. Plus how many other Captains say "Sweet dreams" to one of their crew?
• (From Jari, Feb 18, 2000) The only new scene I noted in this first part was just after they were examining the Borg debris in the cargo bay and Seven tells Janeway it will take 2 hours to get info from the Borg data nodes. The next scene shows Tom and Harry go into the messhall for a beer. Tom tells Neelix that is was Harry's idea for sending the torpedo to the Borg ship. Harry was hoping the explosion would have been smaller but Tom says they did the Borg a favour, they were just mindless drones anyways, just as Seven walks in and hears the comment. Tom turns to her and  apologizes but she says there is no need, she's just a mindless drone.

(Feb 19, 1999) A Harry ep but I'm kinda looking forward to it.  Did he actually ... snap at Janeway?

(Feb 26, 1999)  Well, he did snap at Janeway but in the nicest possible way.  It occurs to me that this crew is entirely too polite to each other.  Just once I'd like someone to really give it to Janeway about getting them lost.  And you know what, I think it would be good for her because she could give it right back, everyone could air out all the little stresses they've been undergoing and move on from there. It would certainly be better than her hiding away for two months in her quarters.

I will note that the whole idea of having to ask your captain to have sex, is absolutely ridiculous.  Chakotay certainly didn't run to Janeway when he shagged that blond chickie (Unforgettable).  Paris never asked the captain if he could have an affair with the married woman in season one (Ex Post Facto) and even the Doctor went right ahead and slept with a Vidiian (Resolutions) without talking to the captain first.  Who came up with these rules suddenly?  It's like that silly 'fondling her commbadge' thing they came up with last week. Just out of the blue, they hauled in a plot device and called it character exploration.  And it makes no sense whatsoever.

If I wanted it to, however, I could explain it away as an 'Ensign' thing.  If Kim had not been an ensign (who is still intimidated by his captain and would believe the whole 'thrown into the brig' threat ... a lieutenant probably would have laughed in her face) or if he had just quietly taken along a medical tricorder so the lovers could scan each other (the 23rd century equivalent to buying condoms or asking for a clean bill of health to insure safe sex) the captain would not have had to address it in the manner she did.  I think she reprimanded him for being stupid, not for what he actually did.  Once it was brought to her attention, she had no choice but to throw the book at him officially.  There's no question in my mind that he is far from the first Starfleet ensign to have relations with another species without asking his captain first (and seriously, certainly won't be the last).  He just did it in such an inept manner that she was forced to have to deal with him harshly.  And because he's an ensign, she can't explain that if he had been a little smarter about bending the Starfleet protocols, she could have looked the other way.  She may have been too gentle on him, as a matter of fact, by not making it clearer why she was really reprimanding him and poor Kim is so utterly clueless, he's not liable to pick up on it by himself anytime in the near future.

No stars.  Seven might have learned a little bit about love but considering who she was learning it from, she picked a pretty bad teacher. I did find this episode hysterically funny but I'm pretty sure that was not the intent of the script.

(From Jari, Feb 25th, 2000)
The first one happens just after Harry and Tom get back to the ship, after Harry's liasion with the woman. Tom is going back to the bridge while Harry goes into his quarters and hails the woman and they talk for abit. The new scene is Tom on the bridge engaging Tuvok in some conversation about the aliens and their life but Tuvok's logic put's Tom off. In only 2 minutes Chakotay says and then Tuvok picks up the transmission being made by Harry to the woman. That's when the original scene showed the actions on the bridge. The second new scene is when Janeway is having supper with Chakotay and she is called to engineering by B'Elanna, the new part has Janeway walking with the leader of the Varo ship who is complaining about the disrupting influence Harry and they are going to engineering together.

(From Teresa Neal)
"The Disease" is not a J/7 ep, but I did just notice a moment which could point to the good Captain's taste.  Harry appears in the Ready Room after his affair with the Generational ship's Ta'al is discovered. While Captain Janeway  is disappointed, she has no difficulty understanding Harry's dilemma.  Before rebuking him, Janeway says of Ta'al: "She's an impressive woman--beautiful."  Perceptive woman, that Kathryn.  Especially when it comes to women.

(March 5, 1999) Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but it did leave me with a sense of depression.  No matter how hard the little carbon copies strived and struggled, it was ultimately futile and you know, that's not what Trek is about.  Even if the real Voyager had just managed to recover the probe it would have meant that their existence, their explorations, their achievements meant something and instead, they died unremembered, unmourned.  Perhaps that's what the show was trying to get across, that there are the forgotten victims.  But what Trek has always done is made a point of showing us how to remember them.  They failed here.

No sub-text in this one or even if there had been ... ultimately, it didn't count.  So no stars.  In fact, a reader suggested I give this one a black hole rating because it just sucked all the positive emotion out of him.

(From jessica copley, April 19, 2002)
It is near the end of the show, so, by this time B'Elanna and the rest of the engineering crew are dead, Seven is the only one left in main engineering, Janeway is dead, and Kim is acting Captain.  Kim is speaking to
Seven from the bridge, as they have just detected the other (original) Voyager.  Kim wants to drop from warp, as the commlink will only work at impulse, but the controls are fused.  He tells Seven to eject the core, Seven "will not comply", she says that ejecting the core at this velocity would destroy the ship.  Kim is, by now getting desparate, so he says, "What would Captain Janeway do?"  Seven gets this injured look on her face (well, as injured as Seven can look anyway) and immediately goes to the control panel to eject the core.  It seems as though, even in death, the Captain has power over her.  Although, as you quite rightly pointed out, it doesn't really count, as this was the copy of Seven, not the real thing, so technically it didn't actually happen...

 (March 26, 1999) Well, a vastly silly kind of story but there were a couple of small moments with Janeway and Seven;

• When Seven needs Janeway to come to Astrometrics (and by the way, she tells Janeway, she doesn't ask her though she did add a 'please'), Janeway hops up and goes, no questions asked.  She doesn't do this for just any crewmember.
• When in Astrometrics, Janeway offers a nice pat to Seven's shoulder.
• When Chakotay is on the bridge and swings a few times at Tuvok (and how funny is it that Tuvok puts him down with two fingers) where the hell is Janeway when all this is going on?  I know where I think she was ... hanging out in Astrometrics 'helping' Seven recalibrate the sensors.
• Have you ever notice when Seven comes up with an idea or a theory, Janeway sounds so proud of her ... far more pleased than she does with anyone else?

(March 26, 1999) This is the episode that the guy from Seinfeld is guest starring in and they're promoting it big time.  My local station rarely carries next week's previews ... the only other time they've done it this year was for the Dark Frontier promo ... so for them to show it means they think it's a big deal.  Me, I'm looking forward to what seems like a Janeway/Seven episode.  Did anyone check out the look on Janeway's face when someone says "Seven is gone"?

• (April 1, 1999) There was a nice bit at the beginning when Janeway is trying to figure out the 'rubic's cube' type puzzle and refuses to let Seven help her.  Seven gets a little 'aren't you so cute' expression on her face.
• The story itself would have been more interesting if it wasn't so obvious.  They told all the plot twists before we even got started, showing how the Think Tank was not entirely beneficial.  It would have been better if they hadn't shown that opening teaser, leaving us with the idea that Seven might actually find this whole idea attractive.
• A star gets awarded just for Janeway telling Seven "I don't want you to go."  Not that the ship would be worse off without her, not that she would miss her as a crewmember, just flat out, I (Janeway) don't want you (Seven) to go.
• Janeway gets a cute indulgent look of her own when she discovers how Seven had figured out the puzzle.  Apparently, being inovative is encouraged with Seven while it is not with say, ... Tom.  *G*.
• Janeway was at her cocky best this episode and Seven was right there along with her. In fact, one might say they're starting to act more and more alike ... just like any couple seems to after a long period of time.
• (April 16, 1999) I forgot the gooey look Janeway offered Seven when Seven said she's wasn't going to be leaving and the captain told her she was glad to have her around.
• (April 16, 1999) One of my readers (Hi Sally) adds that when they were all on the bridge talking about going over to the Think Tank and Janeway told Seven something to the effect that aren't you and I lucky we're going to see it.  She didn't seem to have even considered taking anyone else.
• Also, the subtext seemed to be a real part of this one and the pieces with the rubic's cube were adorable.  The "Seven, how did you do that?" after 7'd mastered it was really nice, none of this "damn she's beaten me again" stuff, just full acceptance of her partner and some real pride that "her woman" had done it.
• (Lena adds) Think Tank just aired here.  One bit that I really liked in it was when 7 and Janeway return to the bridge of Vog' after their first trip to the Think Tank ship. The scene begins with the turbolift opening showing Janeway's back to the door obviously engrossed - in discussion I'm sure - with 7 (well how would you choose to pass the time in a turbo lift with our fav borg?!)More seriously did you catch the look Janeway gives 7 when she describes the trip as (paraphrasing here) 'intriguing'.  Talk about lingering look.  What was that about? Does Janeway fear 7 might be interested in joining George, his reptile lookylikey friend, their pet computer and fishtank collective?  Or does the 'intriguing trip' refer to the one in the turbo lift? ;)
• Dec 17, 1999 (Sushi - chan adds) I did want to point out a little subtext you might have missed from "Think Tank." In the scene where Janeway and Seven visit the Thinkers' ship, when Seven steps up to interface with the little robotic guy, Janeway's eyes freely roam Seven's body. I mean, she really helps herself to an eyeful of Borg. Also, I can't remember which scene it is, but Kathryn refers to Seven as "The Ultimate Lure." Now, maybe she was talking about how much they wanted her mind, but she certainly doesn't clarify, and I think that might be one of the raciest compliments Kate's ever paid to any of her crew

members.

(April 30, 1999) Well, as it turned out, my local station showed this episode and the next as a double bill Thursday night so I'm relatively happy (but only relatively, there was little subtext in either episode.)

Juggernaut was a B'Elanna story and Janeway and Seven weren't even in a scene together.  I personally didn't mind the episode all that much but I am curious as to why, of all the characters who beamed over, only B'Elanna stripped down to a tank top (not that I minded necessarily but ... don't Klingons feel the cold more and if B'Elanna was warm, shouldn't Chakotay and Neelix be sweltering?)  And why didn't they send Seven instead of B'Elanna especially since the Borg has been shown to have a much higher resistance to radiation than anyone else on the ship (though they could explain that by saying Borg implants absorb greater amounts of theta radiation than organic cells)?  Plus, why weren't the characters wearing environmental suits (I know, cause that wouldn't have been 'visually appealing'.)

I don't mind B'Elanna portraying the Angry Young Woman (that was her original role after all) but it just seems so forced now.  If she had been displaying this anger all along, it would have made her a much more interesting character.  Also, the idea of the Maquis being destroyed seems a somewhat weak provocation for all this anger.  It would be more interesting if she was just sick and tired of being trapped in the Delta Quadrant. That could provide some interesting conflict with Janeway.  This show seems afraid to have any character (other than Seven) be in conflict with Janeway, almost as if they think it would weaken the captain's position.  Which is odd because they couldn't have show Janeway as being any more weak than she looked cowering in her quarters in Night.

No stars cause I couldn't find any sub-text.

(April 30, 1999) This was a fairly cute, funny and somewhat bittersweet episode.  However, Janeway leaves at the beginning of the show and doesn't return to the end so the captain had no idea what was going on.  (One does wonder how she would have reacted had she known Seven was being taught how to date by the Doctor.)  Of course, it would have been better for our purposes if Janeway had been teaching Seven the ropes about dating rather than the Doctor.  Still, I am curious as to why Seven is interested in dating all of a sudden.  And why there is no one in the crew she feels would make a suitable mate.  Perhaps she doesn't want to be looking at the crew, but at the captain? Both the Doctor and Seven's roles were played well this week and there were some wonderfully funny moments (particularly when Seven tears her poor date's ligaments.)  My only problem was that there never seemed to be any concern on either the Doctor's part or Tom Paris's part about how Seven felt through all this and that she could be hurt emotionally.  They were more concerned with their wager and then, the Doctor telling her how he felt.  No one made an effort to protect Seven from getting involved with a possible jerk or someone who would try to take advantage of her ignorance.  It's fortunate for her that the guy she chose for her first date was a nice guy (even if he was a little out of his league.)  If the Doctor was going to teach her, he should have been a little more careful about describing the sort of person she should be looking for, not just someone who shares the same interests.  At least Harry helped by warning her that one of the guys on her list had no sense of humor.

No stars but usually any Seven show because of Jeri Ryan's consistantly outstanding performance always deserves a second look come rerun time.

(May 7, 1999)  OH MY GOD.  Apparently this episode deserves a star or two after all because of a scene that not everyone got to see (I didn't but some of my readers did and explained exactly what was cut on most stations.)  During the opening credits, after the initial blowup between Seven and B'Elanna, there was a scene in the ready room with Janeway reprimanding Seven about 'studying' the crew as if she's on a field expedition even as the captain is getting into her dress unifrom, attempting to get ready to go down to the Kati planet.  Now get this, Janeway loses a pip, finds it under the desk and GETS SEVEN TO PUT IT ON FOR HER!!!  How intimate is this?
And apparently, as Seven is doing this, (carefully putting Janeway's pip above her right breast ... it's her dress tunic, remember ... I cannot believe they didn't show this *aarrgghh*)  Janeway tells her that instead of studying romantic interaction, Seven should be trying it for real (what did Janeway mean by that?!?) and the two exchange quite a significant glance.   As anyone can see, that changes the whole dynamic of the episode.  Now it's not just Seven going along with the Doctor's tutoring, it's her trying to carry out Janeway's suggestion (though perhaps not as the captain had in mind?).  For those very few  who got to see it, this is prime sub-text material.  For those who didn't ... well, our imaginations will just have to fill in the blanks.

(April 30, 1999) Preview for this one look somewhat interesting.  Is it Seven that Janeway's telling her ancestor's story to?  Now of all the people on Voyager, why would she be going and doing something like that? *G*

(May 7, 1999) Well, it was primarily a Kate Mulgrew showpiece with only a few scenes with Janeway and Seven together but those scenes were quite resonant with sub-text.

• Janeway goes into to Astrometrics to ask for Seven's help in researching her ancestor.  Seven isn't very enthusiastic until Janeway says that it's important to her personally.  Then Seven really starts to help out.
• The crew (Tom, Harry, the Doctor, Janeway and Seven) are sitting around the captain's quarters telling stories about their ancestors.  The key here is that Janeway and Seven are on the couch together, sort of leaning towards each other yet still apart, as if trying to be discreet.  But exactly as they would if they were a couple.  Take out that awkward little space and Janeway's draped all over Seven.  Definitely if she leaned over, she'd have her head in the Borg's lap.
• There is a photo being taken by the Doctor at the end and Seven (even though she's tall and should probably be in the back) is right there in the front beside Janeway who is the center piece.  Plus, Janeway shoots her an odd little look as they position themselves, a sort of shared look of indulgence for having to take the picture.

(May 14, 1999) Seven goes back in time to save Voyager as Janeway captures this intriguing Starfleet ensign.  Now perhaps we have an idea why Janeway was so interested in Seven, right from the beginning.  Her face has haunted Janeway all this time.  This was an interesting episode but not something you want to think too hard about because then you'll start suffering from 'temporal psychosis' yourself.

• The scene on Voyager while it is still docked at Utopia Planecia where Janeway had a choice of getting a comment from the big burly guy in Operations yellow or the cute ensign in the coveralls, who does she ask for an opinion on the conference room?  Yep, the cute blond in the Starfleet coveralls.
• The scene with the force fields.  Wonderful eye contact and the plea "Trust me."  Could the Janeway of three years ago resist?  Not a chance.  Resistance, after all, is futile.
• Janeway and Seven promptly team up to chase Braxton.  They're such a natural couple, aren't they?
• The end when Janeway is 'recruited' ... who does she keep looking at?  Seven of Nine in the Starfleet uniform.
• (May 21, 1999) Apparently I left out the last scene where Janeway and Seven share some banters on the transporter dais just before beaming back to Voyager.  Just like a couple who's been together for a while. *G*

(May 21, 1999) A Harry Kim episode that borrows heavily from Star Trek: The Motion Picture (according to my TV Guide). Surprisingly, this had a few good moments.

• Janeway: "I'll be in Astrometrics, scanning the surface."  You almost expect B'Elanna and Harry to roll their eyes.  She's so obvious.  Right.  We wouldn't want to be running the scans from the bridge now, would we, Captain?  Not like we did the entire three years prior to Seven's arrival.
• Janeway and Seven work side by side as a team to determine that the device is actually a weapon of mass distruction.
• Poor Janeway.  Tries to do something good and loses control of her ship.  See what happens when she doesn't listen to Seven?
• Seven offers to solve the problem. I could make a comment about a certain gooey look which comes over the captain's face at that (which never seems to be there for anyone else) but I won't.

(May 28, 1999) The end of another season and unlike last year, this one is a cliffhanger.  A lot of stuff happened  in terms of story yet nothing really to do with the subtext between our favorite couple. There was a nice moment with Janeway and Seven at the beginning when they're looking over the Equinox and Janeway mentions that she looked up to the Equinox captain's scientific abilities.  So of course, Seven promptly says she wants to meet him, thereby getting bit of a smile from Janeway though it occurs to me that this time last year, that would have gotten a big gooey glance.  Gotta work a little harder now, Seven. (By the way, didn't Janeway used to do all this scanning and stuff on the bridge?  What does she suddenly have to go down to Astrometrics all the time now?  Well, besides seeing her favorite crewmember, I mean.)

Biggest unintential laugh of the episode?  Janeway when asked if she's ever broken the Prime Directive saying that she may have 'bent' it but never broken it.  That one put me on the floor.  For crying out loud, Voyager is stuck in the Delta Quadrant because she broke the Prime Directive.  What about that war she interfered with?  You know, the one where she picked herself up a Borg cutie on the cube?  Plus, countless other times when aliens have refused her passage through their space but she's bombed on through any way.  (Including that time when Seven went off to discover the Raven and Janeway followed her.)

And people wonder why Seven adores her so much. ; )

In any event, we're left with Janeway on Voyager and *gasp*, Seven trapped on the Equinox which is getting away (along with the 'good' Doctor, I think because he would have had to go somewhere when the 'evil' Doctor took his device ... hey, I like the guy, but let's not have any smarmy romantic stuff with him for Seven to start the sixth season.)  I'm sure Janeway will track down these villians and rescue the girl but man, what a long summer it's going to be.  It's a far more disappointing ending than Hope and Fear of last year.

This year seemed to have less emphasis on Seven (and hence, her relationship with Janeway) while a great many episodes tended to concentrate on the other characters.  Plus, in the fourth season where every Seven episode was also a Janeway episode and vice versa, this year there were Seven and Janeway episodes that did not include interaction with the other (Night, 11:59, Bliss, Someone To Watch Over Me).

Yet, that said, the interaction that did appear in individual scenes throughout the season, was much more involved than any episode in the fourth season.  The 'philosophical discussion' scenes in Latent Image seemed of far greater significance than any discussions in episodes like One and Omega Directive.  The longing, wistful look Janeway gave a unknowing, regenerating Seven in that same episode was far more poignant than any the good captain gave Mark (her fiance!) or his picture in the early seasons.  The quiet moment in 11:59 where the couple share a seat on the couch, relaxed and leaning toward each other seemed to have an emotional resonance that Omega Directive's final scene where they sit close together in da Vinci's lab lacked.  And the 'trust me' stare of  Relativity had just as much intensity as all the crackling antagonism of Prey.

Time after time, Janeway is shown very much in Seven's personal space to the extent that it's just become accepted as what she does ... not to mention all those times where Kathryn is looking Seven up and down (checking out her body?) or glancing at her in a scene even though she's not talking to her.  (I personally have absolutely no clue what Kate Mulgrew is up to with that.  I don't know if she's been instructed to glance at Jeri Ryan by the director, if these particular takes are what the producers chose for reasons of their own, if the looks are antagonistic/confrontational in some way, or ... since they seemed to increase in episodes after February ... if Mulgrew is somehow trying to 'make up' to Ryan for her ill concieved remarks about the actress during her well publicized 'I need more time off' press conference.  All I know is that Kathryn Janeway looks at Seven of Nine far more intimately than all her other crewmembers combined.)  There was also a lot more physical contact this season in the various episodes including of course, the infamous 'missing pip scene' of Someone To Watch Over Me.

This year also brought us three outstanding 'relationship' episodes in Drone, Infinite Regress and Dark Frontier.  I appreciate that the producers are claiming this is a 'maternal' subtext that they are building for these two, but I have to say, I do not see it at all nor am I the only one.  And it is not limited to lesbians.  I have a significant amount of 'straight' readers who also see a subtext evident in the show.  Of course, it is all a matter of perception but then, isn't that what the multitude of J/C fans do when they search every episode seeking out some nugget for their favored relationship? Not to mention the poor Paris/Torres fans who get some kind of half hearted 'romance' moments from the show which in no way radiates the sheer chemistry that Janeway and Seven share in the most innocuous scenes. To be perfectly honest, one might feel a little sorry for those other groups because frankly, we who write J/7 have had a whole lot more to work with than they have had the last two years.   There is unquestionably something there between our couple ... be it friendship, attraction or an emotional bond unique to a Starfleet Captain and a Borg but whatever it is, I hope to see even more of it in season six.