There's a real sense of fun about this one which helps to make it very watchable. The opening suggests that something is very off with B'Elanna being an ensign, Janeway's old hairdo, etc., and to be honest I was ready to write the episode off as nonsense after the opening scene, but once the holonovel aspect is revealed it changes gears wonderfully.
But once the Seska twist is comes into play, things kind of begin to fall apart. I'm always happy to see Seska again - especially since her end back in 'Basics' didn't give her a decent send off - but none of this rang true. I can't believe for a second that she programmed all of this to happen in such detail before leaving Voyager. There was absolutely no reason for her to, plus how did she manage to change a program that only Tuvok can change? The fake dramatic tension and threat also serves to undercut the fun the episode was having as things turn into yet another "holodeck gone wrong" episode.
Fortunately, that final third isn't enough to ruin things, and this has to be one of my favourite Voyager episodes so far. Tom and Tuvok work very well as the comedy odd couple, and how weird is it to see a character in a different colour of Starfleet uniform that we're used to?
Review by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2018-02-25T13:04:26Z— updated 2018-02-26T13:30:15Z
There's a real sense of fun about this one which helps to make it very watchable. The opening suggests that something is very off with B'Elanna being an ensign, Janeway's old hairdo, etc., and to be honest I was ready to write the episode off as nonsense after the opening scene, but once the holonovel aspect is revealed it changes gears wonderfully.
But once the Seska twist is comes into play, things kind of begin to fall apart. I'm always happy to see Seska again - especially since her end back in 'Basics' didn't give her a decent send off - but none of this rang true. I can't believe for a second that she programmed all of this to happen in such detail before leaving Voyager. There was absolutely no reason for her to, plus how did she manage to change a program that only Tuvok can change? The fake dramatic tension and threat also serves to undercut the fun the episode was having as things turn into yet another "holodeck gone wrong" episode.
Fortunately, that final third isn't enough to ruin things, and this has to be one of my favourite Voyager episodes so far. Tom and Tuvok work very well as the comedy odd couple, and how weird is it to see a character in a different colour of Starfleet uniform that we're used to?