My VOY reviews

Your place to discuss any Trek that does not fit in the above categories

Moderators: justTripn, Elessar, dark_rain

User avatar
Kevin Thomas Riley
Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Posts: 4336
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:42 am
Show On Map: No
Location: NX-01

Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:21 pm

Season Four overview

Tallying up the grades of season four I was surprised that their average did not exceed the previous season – they both got a 5 (this season more precise a 4.98). This despite the introduction of Seven of Nine, the character that generally made Voyager a better show and probably saved it. This goes to show that just a new character, albeit more interesting, alone isn't enough. Or that despite her presence there were still too many clunkers to even things out. Looking through the grades I notice that they rarely are in the middle, they're either above or below average, and that probably explains it.

The season started strong, with a few episodes focusing on the introduction of Seven (Scorpion, Part II, The Gift, Day of Honour). Then we have the somewhat connected Message in a Bottle, Hunters and Prey, that manages to succeed despite having the disappointing and ultimately uninteresting Hirogens. Then there were some good stand alone episodes like The Raven (another Seven of Nine story), Retrospect and The Omega Directive.

But in the end they couldn't make up for the really bad ones, like Unforgettable, Vis à Vis and Demon, plus a slew of others. And I didn't like the two two-parters, Year of Hell and The Killing Game. The former was a reset button™ tease about what we could have had, and the latter a pointless Alien Nazis™ plays on the holodeck.

We hardly ever saw the Borg, or the new enemy Species 8472, which might have elevated the season. But at least we got a lot of Seven of Nine, so much in fact that some fans got angry that she almost took over the show. Well, if your other regular characters are mostly bland and uninteresting what do you expect? And even if the show-runners stuck her in a catsuit for the obvious sex appeal (and she does have an awesome figure), it wouldn't have worked if Jeri Ryan wasn't such a good actress as she is. Her excellent performance alone made sure that the Barbie of Borg designation wouldn't hold up. Seven butting horns with Janeway were many of the highlights of this season, as were her trying to come to grips with being human.

There isn't much to say about the rest. They plod along on an established course. Neelix keeps being his annoying self, Janeway is still all over the place, and Chakotay manages the feat of getting even more uninteresting. Roxann Dawson's pregnancy, that had to be hidden, made B'Elanna Torres take a backseat and unfortunately nothing much was made of her new relationship with Tom Paris. The Doctor continues to be my favourite character, now together with Seven of Nine.

So in retrospect I suppose I had made the appearance of Seven a much bigger deal that it was. Voyager kept being its mediocre self, but at least it didn't get worse. Maybe I'll find that it will improve somewhat in the seasons to come, but I'm not holding my breath. Season four was also the last for show-runner (and creator) Jeri Taylor, and the subsequent replacement with Brannon Braga, and we'll see what that does.
She's got an awfully nice bum!
-Malcolm Reed on T'Pol, in Shuttlepod One

Image


Return to “Other Trek”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests