The intriguing setup leads into what turns out to be a surprisingly boring episode. Janeway goes into her no-nonsense-no-arguments mode which only further solidifies her lack of definition as a captain and a character, refusing to listen to questions or advice from anyone. The plot attempts to explain this by the magical use of the "Omega particle" and it's priority over everything, including the Prime Directive. Hmm, nope, that's doesn't work for me and isn't enough. It's something that's come out of nowhere and isn't given anywhere near enough explanation: is it man-made or naturally occurring? If it's artificial, then how do random species across the galaxy all happen to stumble over making it? And surely there are all sorts of other equally dangerous substances encountered all across Star Trek that don't receive this level of paranoia?
While I also saw the semi-religious aspects of the episode as a failure (Seven's reverence of a particle is nonsense), I think that Jeri Ryan manages to save the episode from being a complete disaster. She sells Seven's feelings well and gets some excellent moments of conflict with the Captain. These scenes are ones which are making the show in general far better - somebody really needed to challenge Janeway's decision making and the scenes only help to improve both of the characters. By the same token, however, if Seven keeps on doing this then it's going to show a real lack of character development for her which would be a shame.
Very odd scene in which Seven begins treating the crew like Borg drones and Chakotay is perfectly fine with it. Seven seems to have rank privileges over Starfleet crew members now?
Review by LeftHandedGuitaristBlockedParent2018-05-06T07:48:19Z
The intriguing setup leads into what turns out to be a surprisingly boring episode. Janeway goes into her no-nonsense-no-arguments mode which only further solidifies her lack of definition as a captain and a character, refusing to listen to questions or advice from anyone. The plot attempts to explain this by the magical use of the "Omega particle" and it's priority over everything, including the Prime Directive. Hmm, nope, that's doesn't work for me and isn't enough. It's something that's come out of nowhere and isn't given anywhere near enough explanation: is it man-made or naturally occurring? If it's artificial, then how do random species across the galaxy all happen to stumble over making it? And surely there are all sorts of other equally dangerous substances encountered all across Star Trek that don't receive this level of paranoia?
While I also saw the semi-religious aspects of the episode as a failure (Seven's reverence of a particle is nonsense), I think that Jeri Ryan manages to save the episode from being a complete disaster. She sells Seven's feelings well and gets some excellent moments of conflict with the Captain. These scenes are ones which are making the show in general far better - somebody really needed to challenge Janeway's decision making and the scenes only help to improve both of the characters. By the same token, however, if Seven keeps on doing this then it's going to show a real lack of character development for her which would be a shame.
Very odd scene in which Seven begins treating the crew like Borg drones and Chakotay is perfectly fine with it. Seven seems to have rank privileges over Starfleet crew members now?