Unimatrix Zero
comments? pforooghi@compusmart.ab.ca
Well, let’s just say that "Unimatrix Zero" was a departure from what we’ve been getting lately from the show. Sure, it was interesting enough, but that’s not the first word I would use to describe it. My word of choice is perplexing. Why? Because this episode raised several troubling questions/concerns for me; issues which unfortunately I don’t have faith in the current staff of writers to resolve next year to my satisfaction. Or anyone else’s, for that matter. Let’s face it, the writers track record this year was far from stellar. But enough grousing; heaven knows I’ve been doing a lot of that in season six. Back to this episode. I suppose the best way to review it would be to go through my list of concerns one by one, and let you be the judge of whether I’m way off base and therefore overreacting to it all, or whether I’m somewhat accurate in my interpretation of the show. For all our sake’s, I hope the former ends up being true, not the latter. Only time will tell.
First off, I must start by saying that I had more than my share of misgivings when I heard that this episode would involve some type of Borg cyber space. My first thought was: "The Borg have a club med?! Who knew?" Well, none of us, because unimatrix zero was never a part of canon. So, in essence, the writers have tinkered with the background of the Borg race through some inventive revisionist history. I was outraged at first by this seemingly incredulous, not to mention ludicrous, premise of there being a Borg alternate universe for certain defective drones. I thought that my intelligence would most definitely be insulted by Voyager’s writers, yet again. However, after seeing the episode, I have to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that the entire concept is within the realm of possibility. It didn’t come off as ridiculous as I thought it would. After all, let’s be realistic here. Shows have practiced revisionist history since the advent of television, giving us plot points that may seem contrived or unrealistic. Yet somehow, we are able to suspend our disbelief most of the time because we realize how difficult a task it must be to keep a given show fresh and interesting. So, we end up cutting the writers some slack and accepting their new versions of well-established characters or plots. I would be willing to do just this for the Voyager writers if only their new plot device didn’t create so may concerns for me. If you will bear with me, I’ll go through just a few off the top of my head.
It seems to me that the Borg in general have been progressively weakened by Voyager, starting with Scorpion in the fourth season. Now, its almost as if the Borg have been castrated, for lack of a better word. Okay, so I could have said de-clawed or de-fanged, but somehow, castrated seems more apt. The Borg just don’t seem as terrifying and omnipotent a force as they once were. Sure, they are still malevolent and ruthless enough, but they don’t have the same bite as they once did. And after watching Unimatrix Zero, I believe more whole-heartedly in this position than ever before. To think that the omniscient, omnipotent Borg have millions of mutated drones in their midst that they’ve been unaware of until now, and that they are having difficulty in containing/destroying these drones, seems pretty unbelievable to me. As I said earlier, sometimes the writers dream up a plot that makes it very difficult to suspend one’s disbelief. So, to reiterate, my problem with unimatrix zero isn’t the fact that it exists per se- I’m willing to condone the writers’ prerogative to exercise revisionist history as they deem fit- my concern is what this virtual construct will do to the Borg in general. In my opinion, it will take away their edge to the point where they cease to be interesting villains. Up until now, the Borg have been my favorite bad guys, the ones that I so love to hate. After this point, I’m not sure that I’ll care one way or the other about the Borg anymore. That is, if they are not completely destroyed by the time this story plays out to its conclusion next year. Perhaps that’s what the writers are planning to do- annihilate the Borg altogether. Braga had hinted at one time that this was his plan. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has now decided to carry it out. What a shame that would be, because the Borg have always been quite fascinating.
Yet another issue that I find quite troubling with this episode is what it might mean to Seven’s character. At this point, I have to say that I believe Seven’s personality is firmly in place, and not likely to undergo drastic changes, even if she does end up remembering her life in this parallel universe. Whatever she recalls about her past life will in essence be immaterial to the struggles she’s had to face since the day she joined Voyager and attempted to reacquaint herself to her lost humanity. Who she is today is much more real and valid than whoever she was during her time in the unimatrix zero dreamscape. "Annika" was a fantasy, but Seven is reality, a reality which is quite fascinating. If there is one thing I could implore the writers to do, it would be to not change one iota of Seven’s personality next season. Again, since I don’t have much faith in their abilities, my greatest fear is that once Seven remembers how she was, she will begin to act more like Annika in unimatrix zero. This is quite doubtful, but who knows? The writers have made bigger blunders this season. My fervent hope is that Seven’s character does not end up becoming too human, because if that happens, she will have lost virtually all of her charm and uniqueness. Let’s keep our fingers crossed on this front!
Yet another concern is regarding this Axiom character. Yeah, I know, it’s Axom! First, I found it extremely odd that Seven did not remember him in any concrete way, other than having a vague sense that he was familiar to her. To me, this meant that they couldn’t have been very close in unimatrix zero, or if they were close, things ended badly between them. After all, she could remember that human by name (Laura) and another guy, but she couldn’t place her boyfriend of six years? That doesn’t seem right to me. My guess is either Axom is up to no good and lied about their relationship as well as his intentions to destroy the Borg, or else he did have an intimate relationship with Seven, but they later broke up. I noticed how Seven kept looking at him strangely throughout the episode, as if she didn’t trust him entirely. And later, when she found out from him that they were indeed more than just friends, she became angry that he kept that from her, prompting her to ask him to call her Seven of Nine instead of Annika. She pulled away from him yet again towards the end, telling Axom in no uncertain terms that whatever they meant to each other was irrelevant and that she wouldn’t want to pursue it at a later date. Which made me believe even more in my theory that they weren’t exactly on good terms during her time at unimatrix zero. Again, time will tell if Axom is really one of the good guys, or just another Borg drone in sheep’s clothing.
Now, I must address my confusion regarding Janeway’s actions. Is she slowly but surely taking leave of all of her mental faculties? Sure looks that way! Seems to me that when it comes to dealing with the Borg, Janeway has become too cocky and over-confident for her own good. And as we all know, over-confidence can be the bane of one’s existence. At this point, having defeated the Borg in several past confrontations, Janeway feels that she is somehow invincible, that nothing they throw her way can touch her. Case in point: her very cavalier attitude towards entering a Borg cube, and hell, even getting assimilated! She thinks that she can overcome assimilation for god’s sake!! Now if that isn’t arrogance, then I don’t know what is! Of course, we all know that our beloved trio will come out of all this unscathed, since neither one of the actors are leaving the show next season. So, no one will perish. I suppose the fact that we know nothing serious will happen to the characters diminishes the suspense and excitement of the episode considerably. However, this doesn’t change the fact that I vehemently disagree with the writers’ characterization of Janeway overall. They have made her progressively more reckless, irresponsible, selfish, and yes, arrogant, and it all seems to be getting worse with this episode. And who can overlook how irrational and at times insane she has appeared. Alas, we know who to blame for all this, don’t we?
Just to shift gears slightly before continuing on with my litany of concerns, I should note a blatant continuity error. In the beginning of the show, after Seven had her "dream", the Doctor congratulated her for experiencing yet another human "first"- dreaming. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Seven begin dreaming in Season 4, specifically in the episode "One"? She even referred to her visions of a cold, desolate ice planet while she was regenerating as a "dream". Even if she didn’t call it a dream, it doesn’t change the fact that this is exactly what it was. What a big oversight on the writers’ part! It jumped out at me right away! Oh well. On an unrelated note, didn’t Chakotay sound exactly like Seven when he told the Captain in her ready room that he preferred to stand? Has he been picking up on Seven’s cute expressions? Sure seemed that way.
Finally, what kind of a Borg episode would it be without some meaty, juicy J/7 subtext to sink our teeth into? Well, it would be this episode! Sure, there was some interaction between our dynamic duo, but I would hardly call it subtext. That spark, chemistry, that je ne sais quoi was most definitely missing in all their scenes together. I have a sneaking suspicion that all of this is quite deliberate, on both TPTB’s and the actresses’ parts. I’m sure that they have decided to tone down considerably on the subtext because it was starting to get so patently obvious by the end of last season. As we all know, even Mulgrew herself acknowledged its presence. So, what have they decided to do about it? Easy- kill it and hide the bodies so well that not even a trace of the old season 4/5 magic can be detected at this point! I mean it folks, J/7 subtext on the show seems deader than a door nail. I guess the mainstream heterosexual establishment won (as they always do), since it looks like the writers have decided to shift more of their attention back to J/C. So, let’s all lower our heads and take a moment of silence in honour of the fabulous, undeniable chemistry and passion that J/7 once generated..... Moment over.
In the final analysis, I don’t know why, but this episode really bothered me on so many different levels to the point where I’m somewhat dreading how its going to be resolved next season. And, despite the fact that I tried to express my concerns in this review, I feel that I’ve done an inadequate job in conveying exactly why this episode troubled me. Let’s just say that I don’t have the verbiage for it, but my gut tells me that the writers are going to royally screw up the outcome of "Unimatrix Zero" next year, in one way or another. Either they are going to fail to examine the ramifications of Janeway et.al’s assimilation, alter Seven’s character in some ineffable yet irrevocable way, do the same to Janeway, or all of the above. Maybe I’m being too paranoid and am blowing things way out of proportion here. I do tend towards melodrama and making mountains out of mole hills in my personal life, so perhaps my analysis here is just another extension of this annoying trait. As fans of this show, let us fervently hope that I’m wrong about every single thing I’ve said in this review. But somehow, I doubt that I am. Which leaves the issue of rating it. Since it wasn’t as exciting or outstanding an episode as most Borg shows have been in the past, and since it left me so confused and troubled, I can’t very well give it a perfect rating. However, it was still a pretty good episode, so three comm badges it is!
Incidentally, since the season is now over, perhaps this would be the best time to explain my rating system, just so you all know how it works. Before I do that, I would like to thank you all very much for taking the time each week to read my endless ramblings on this show, and for indulging my oft-times long-winded tirades. Your patronage is most appreciated! Have a great summer everyone!
Cheers!
Pooneh’s ratings: one comm badge- bad show.
two comm badges- good.
three comm badges- very good.
four comm badges- excellent/outstanding
Gut-wrenching, blood curdling scream- self-explanatory! LOL