Ad for Star Trek: Voyager on Nov 6th, 1996.

Voyager # 161 The a-story is an absorbing but uneventful…

Voyager # 161

• The a-story is an absorbing but uneventful characters study. The focus is on Seven and her attempts to become more human. To this end, she has been spending more and more time on the Holodeck living out a fantasy life. A life with no implants, a uniform, some quarters and a boyfriend.
• How much you enjoy this episode probably depends on how invested you are in Seven and her progress. If you care, then this is definitely a good hour. And the roadblock she meets at the end will tug the heartstrings.
• The b-story is simple. Voyager has crossed into a minefield, and explosions have damaged her.
• Great performances from Jeri Ryan and Robert Picardo here. They are the only two characters who are aware of her experiments.

8/10

Voyager # 159 & 160 Another high concept two-parter and…

Voyager # 159 & 160

Another high concept two-parter and another rousing success.

• All the opening scenes create mystery. One by one we meet several members of our crew, but they are not quite themselves: toiling away merrily in a power plant on an unspecified planet.
• Next we jump back to Voyager and see the remaining crew (with the Doctor in command!) trying to find their crew.
• The rest of the fast-paced adventure is split between these two groups. We follow Janeway on the planet and her making a new life for herself, with bit-by-bit characters like Tuvok and Sevens start to figure things out. Meanwhile, beaming down from Voyager, Chakotay goes undercover at the power plant to find his friends.
• Plenty of action and adventure, with two engaging romantic plots in the mix – one for Janeway and one for Tom and Torres, who don’t know each other but are still drawn to one another.
• One lovely touch in the script finds people on the planet who are not part of the conspiracy and who join with our heroes on the second half to get to the truth.

10/10

Need to catch up on my Classic TV :)

Need to catch up on my Classic TV 🙂

Voyager # 158

Jonathan Del Arco, Paul Willson. Exciting high concept episode, with great Janeway scenes and a lot of depth & meaning. 10/10

Voyager # 157

Sherman Howard. Predictable, but thought-provoking, look at faith/prophecy. It is slow to start, but does have plenty of action in the final act. And there are some moments of subtle but genuine sadness between B’Elanna and the Klingon leader, dealing with her loss of faith and her lack of connection to her own heritage.

The comedy subplots (Harry, Neelix) don’t work.

8/10

Voyager 156

Jeff Kober. Unsubtle but effective look at capital punishment. Helped by making it a story personal to Seven and her unique backstory. Also helped by a downbeat ending. Any other conclusion would have been a cop-out and weakened the impact.

9/10