|
Dark Frontier, Part II |
|
|
Synopsis: When Seven is recaptured by the Collective in a plan to assimilate humanity, Janeway launches an all-out mission to rescue her. After being lured back to the hive during Voyager's mission to steal a transwarp coil, Seven is trapped on a Borg vessel. The Queen informs her that the Borg "allowed" Voyager to liberate her from the Collective, but she won't be turned back into a drone because they want to study her memories. With her individuality intact, the Borg can look through her eyes to help them assimilate humanity. Meanwhile, Janeway discovers that Borg signals were being sent to Seven in her cargo bay alcove. Determined to rescue Seven, Janeway leads an away team in the Delta Flyer to find the Borg sphere that took Seven away. They use the stolen coil to take the shuttle into transwarp space, and incorporate multi-adaptive shielding based on the Hansens' field notes from the U.S.S. Raven to go undetected by the Borg. As Seven is given her first assignment to assist in the assimilation of a species, she secretly helps four of the individuals escape. The Borg Queen scolds her, saying that her human emotions of compassion and guilt are weaknesses that are causing her pain. However, when Seven pleads with her to let the getaway ship escape, the Queen grants her request. After the away team follows the sphere into Borg space, Janeway prepares to send a message to Seven through her Borg interplexing beacon. The Queen gives Seven a new assignment -- to assist in the programming of nanoprobes that will assimilate humans. The Borg plan is to detonate a biogenic charge in Earth's atmosphere, and Seven will be turned into a drone if she does not comply. Taunting her, the Queen reveals that one of the drones standing next to her is Seven's father. Suddenly, Janeway's signal comes through, and the Queen discovers it. As the Borg adapt to Voyager's shielding, Janeway is forced to beam to the vessel and disable the shield matrix around the Queen's chamber. While Paris eludes the other ships, Janeway confronts the Queen and orders Seven to leave with her. A dispersal field is formed around the chamber to block the Delta Flyer's transporter beam, but Seven tells the Captain to target the power node above the chamber. This disrupts the Queen's command interface, and Janeway and Seven are beamed to the shuttle. They quickly enter a transwarp conduit, but not before a Borg vessel sneaks in behind them. On Voyager, Chakotay and Torres fire a full spread of photon torpedoes at the conduit threshold, collapsing it just as the shuttle bursts through. The Borg ship is destroyed, and Seven is home again. |
 You are mine...
As this was originally a 2 hour episode my comments are repeated here. Overall Rating: A great episode even with the dumbing down of the Borg. This episode changes Borg history using Seven's parents and even goes against what we learned about them (Seven's parents) in Season 4. But, in spite of this, I found this episode to be gripping and the Borg Queen to be creepy. One of the best Voyager episodes of the series to date. Subtext Rating: This is quite possibly the best Janeway/Seven subtext episode ever. With the possible exception of the final scene of Voyager Conspiracy, the scenes here contain the most poignant moments of their relationship. From the strangled " I'm no leaving without you!" to Seven's "Please..." to tucking Seven in at the end, this episode is truly Voyager at its finest and Mulgrew and Ryan at their very best. Tape worthy? Yes, this episode is a MUST HAVE for any Janeway/Seven fan as well as for any Voyager fan worth his/her salt!!
|
