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Voyager Rants/Reviews are my opinions and do not (thank god) reflect the opinions of Paramount, the Voyager writing staff, or anyone else who has power of life and death (mostly the latter) over the series. Star ratings are out of five (five being very rare). I may, on occasion, be compelled to use a mild sw**r w*rd. The dates I put down here are those that I actually get around to writing the review, not the date the episode was aired. Since I was a bit sluggish at the beginning of this season, some of the early reviews have late dates on them. I'm trying to get back on course, but with this show, it ain't easy.

5/23/01--Review for: "Endgame"

The last offering from Voyager (and you notice, I am prompt with my review this time :-)

Before I say anything else, let me again take the opportunity to moan about the whole Paris/Torres relationship. It was never a romance that excited me (and I know that I am not alone in this attitude). I disliked it from the moment Tom started putting the moves on our beloved half-Klingon. I believe that it has damaged B'Elanna's character, if in no other way than shunting her own separate life to the back burner as far as episode plots are concerned. I nearly screamed when I saw the episode where they got married, and the pregnancy was even worse. I have given up on any redemption for B'Elanna Torres. But now that that's out of my system, let's get down to the real issue here, which is: how was the final episode?

It was great. It was wonderful. I might even go so far as to say outstanding.

I never would have credited the Voyager writing staff with the ingenius conclusion they were able to create for their series. It was better than "All Good Things." It was almost on par with "What You Leave Behind." It was absolutely incredible.

And that's with the Paris/Torres thing.

Time travel has always been a popular Star Trek theme. In this episode it was used well, without being overdone. The older Janeway's cleverness was terrific, and Mulgrew more than did her justice. For once, Harry Kim's character shone with a promotion (to captain, no less--never mind that it's in the future). Harry also got a lot of great lines, and I absolutely adored the speech he gave to his crewmates, dispelling at last his boyish image of wanting to get home at any cost. Tim Russ also had a great part to play, as the deteriorating Tuvok. I laughed out loud at the Doctor with his new bride--I just know that the first camera angle, showing only her long blonde hair, was meant to make us think that it was Seven! But even if she'd been alive, Seven had other ideas: our nearly forgotten and beloved first officer. After being ditched so often by Janeway, it's no wonder poor Chakotay decided to pursue someone else. The chemistry is actually quite nice (a real case of opposites attract). Don't get me wrong: I was as strong a JC'er as the rest when this season opened. But as opportunities opened and Janeway remained cold, I am willing for Chakotay to make the switch to Seven. He deserves it, poor man (see if anyone ignores him now). The only real complaint I have about this romance is that we haven't seen enough of it! In the same light as Julian/Ezri, we suspected it was coming, but didn't see enough of the actual romance to satisfy us. Oh well, I guess that's what movies and fanfic are for :-)

Ah yes, one more thing: the Borg Queen. No offense to Susannah Thompson (VGR's regular Queen) but Alice Krige IS the Borg Queen!!!! Her performance in this episode was almost as chilling as First Contact--the same slimy, seductive, perfectly evil villain we first met in that film. Her death in "Endgame" was very well done, with her losing a body part every 30 seconds. I loved the end where her head and shoulders came undone from her "bodysuit."

Okay, one more gripe about the episode: how much did the destruction of this transwarp hub really affect the Borg's conquest of the galaxy? They said quite clearly that there was a total of SIX hubs in the galaxy. Let me say that again: SIX. The purpose of one of these hubs is to transport Borg vessels to different areas of the galaxy. This one apparently had outlets in all four quadrants. So, are we supposed to believe that the other five are not similarly designed? Young Janeway and her crew seemed to think that billions of lives would be saved if the hub was destroyed...hmmm...I would buy that if the other five were also destroyed, but as it is...sorry, Kathryn; I going to have to disagree on this one.

Okay, enough griping. I liked most of the small touches of this show. Despite my hatred of Paris/Torres, I loved the portrayal of the daughter. I loved Harry's ship (the Rhode Island). The armor plating on the hull of the older Janeway's shuttle and Voyager was a really neat effect. On the whole, the rating for this episode is going to have to meet with a break in tradition: I can't give it a five, because it wasn't absolutely perfect. However, I can't honestly give it a four and 3/4 either, because I think it's better than that. Therefore, I am creating a whole new rating, just for this episode: **** 7/8

See you next series....
Commander Illani

4/13/01--Rant for: "Q2"

Okay, this is the first Voyager review I've done in awhile, so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. "Q2" was in some respects an unusual episode, my favorite part of it being the fact that Q's son is played by John de Lancie's real-life son. That was cute (and the family resemblance is evident).

However, don't think that I'm going to let this episode off lightly. This is one of those shows that had potential, but just didn't play out quite right. The acting was terrific, but some of the plot premises were a bit shaky. For instance, Janeway dons her "Dr. Laura" hat when admonishing Q: "You should be taking a more active role in parenting your child," or something like that. Okay, whether you fall for Dr. Laura's rhetoric or not, this is a stupid thing to be telling an omnipitant being. Janeway seems to be assuming that the values that are or should be adopted by the Q Continuum are similar to those of human beings. Come on, Aunt Kathy: GET REAL. The values of other humanoid species seldom coincide with those of humans, and she's expecting the Q to agree with them? As we've seen in the previous episodes containing Q (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint," "Hide & Q," "Q-Who," "Deja Q," "Q-Pid," "True Q," "Tapestry," "All Good Things," DSN: "Q-Less," and VGR: the one with the suicidal Q and "The Q and the Grey") the Q Continuum has nothing like our set of values or rules. So Janeway is telling this totally alien species how to raise their kids? Isn't this just a tad racist? Does Janeway even realize what she is saying? This prejudice puts a cloud over the whole episode.

I did enjoy Q2's banter with Icheb. Icheb is growing on me; he's really one of the only characters left on that show that hasn't been plastered with bad characterization and careless lines. I think he has a crush on Seven, though...no doubt some fan or other will start a relationshipper site about these two :-)

Anyway, here's my rating: ****

1/31/01--Rant for: "Repentance"

Compared to last week's offering, this was a jewel in Voyager's crown, but don't get excited...I'm not letting it off that easily.

Now then, I'd like to keep the debate on the death penalty out of this; whatever your views of capital punishment, it was plain to anyone with half a mind what this episode was about. Not even Spock could have stated its premise more plainly.

But I'm not here to talk about my views on capital punishment. Your opinions are yours to treasure, so lets just get down to a couple of problems with the episode itself. First of all, it was perfectly obvious from the moment little Neelix first spoke to the prisoner that the guy was trying to manipulate him. The point about racial profiling is perfectly valid, but here was someone who was an exception to that general rule and using it to his advantage. I get the impression his betrayal was supposed to be as much of a surprise to us, the innocent little audience, as it was to our favorite Talaxian. Not so, my writing friends....

Now then, I did happen to like the main prisoner guy who finally got his conscience all connected up properly. This was a very thought-provoking idea that will probably leave a mark on many who watched the episode. The ending was sad, but I wasn't at all surprised. Voyager's writers need to work on surprising us more. They're really not that good at it most of the time. Anyway, the connection with Seven and her past crimes as a Borg was interesting, but I believe we're treading on old ground here. Didn't we already go through this a season or two ago? Oh well....

The rating: kudos for the main premise, the actor who played the cured prisoner, and the cool effects with the forcefields. Take off points for the Neelix ploy, some of the Seven stuff, and the Doctor's usual inability to stay out of the spotlight for more than five seconds (not that I don't like the chap, but when he repeats the same line 15,000 times it just gets a bit old :-) ***3/4

1/24/01--Rant for: "Lineage"

I'm warning you: this ain't going to be pretty....

This episode was ill-conceived (pardon the expression) and had several serious continuity faults that I simply will not forgive. The idea of Paris and Torres getting married was bad enough, but now they are expecting a child? Excuse me while I puke in a nearby trashcan.

Even if you aren't put off by this horendous concept, allow me to point out a couple of things that should never be allowed to happen:

1) B'Elanna Torres as Adolf Hitler. Well, that's essentially what it was: selectively removing the "ethnic" part of an entity, in this case a child. I guess that just goes to show what the Paris-Torres marriage has done to B'Elanna's mind.

2) Continuity error 1: Torres and her father. I'm sorry for pointing this out, but as someone who remembers the beginning of the series, I feel it is my duty: B'Elanna's father left her when she was almost too young to remember, NOT when she was 10-12 years old, as shown in this episode.

3) Continuity error 2: "John Torres" himself. It looks like the baby isn't the only one who is threatened with changes in ethinicity: B'Elanna's father was clearly described early in the series as Hispanic, not white, as he is here. Just another indication that Voyager's writers aren't paying attention to what's come before.

Anyway, a terrible episode, with almost no redeeming qualities (no, not even the baby name stuff or Harry's lumpy couch). It's not like some episodes that didn't have a premise; it just had a bad premise. *

1/22/01--Review for: "Shattered"

This was an interesting show to watch, and it's the kind of alternate reality, complicated show that I've always loved. Basically, Chakotay gets zapped by a lightning bolt that allows him to be immune to the shattering of realities around him. He can travel to a variety of realities: back to before Voyager was sent to the Delta Quadrant, to the time when Seska and Cullah had control of the ship, to Seven's initial days aboard Voyager, or even far into the future, to see a grown-up Icheb and Naomi Wildman as Starfleet officers. First of all, bravo to the powers that be for finally giving Rob Beltran something other than complete trash. This is the first decent Chakotay episode in I can't tell you how long--and for all those JC'ers who are still clinging on, this was an oasis in the desert that is modern Voyager. The dialogue between Chakotay and Janeway (past and present) was terrific, and I was glad to see the antagonism between Starfleet and Maquis explored again.

To everyone involved in making this episode: congradulations, you've done the name of Star Trek proud at last. This is one of the best Voyager episodes ever, and as close to perfect as it has come in a long time. ****3/4

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