Hope and Fear: while I can appreciate what Janeway was trying to do- take responsibility and care for Seven, I think the way she talked to Seven in the astrometrics lab is awful. Seven has done what she asked. She tried living with humans. She hasn’t made the progress she’d hoped for. She doesn’t want to go to earth. Obviously she didn’t end up having to make the choice, but Janeway essentially said, “We’ve given you everything [that you didn’t ask for and didn’t want] so now you’re coming with us!” It’s honestly cruel to me.

I like this alien character. I mean, he’s right. Janeway essentially decided who won that war, which she really had no right to do, but I mean, it’s been done.

That was a really sad way for that to end, at least to me. Did he try to kidnap and assimilate the whole crew? Yes, but that’s because their actions directly led to what is essentially genocide. And Janeway hardly acknowledged it.

As far as season finales go, I didn’t mind it. It was nice and circular, tying us back to the way the season began. I also appreciate that it wasn’t a big blowout space battle. Those tend to be finales and intros so I always like to see something different. That said, it was a meh episode.

I think the quality and complexity of these episodes is increasing as we go. That said we have lost some of the hope and optimism I’ve been feeding on in this show. I think it’s becoming more like DS9 and less like Enterprise. That’s not a good or bad thing necessarily but I did find the positivity refreshing in Star Trek.

Night: Oh I’ve heard the actors talk about Captain Proton before! I love that Harry is perfectly content to be the one tied up while Tom saves the day.

For a second there, I thought seven was going to ask Tuvok to show her how to meditate.

I mean Janeway’s right, this is entirely her fault. She should feel something. I’m not saying it was the wrong decision, but I am saying she made it herself and that is how the crew got stuck here.

Loved Harry asking for Tuvok’s opinion of his clarinet on the bridge, meanwhile Tom is trying to teach seven about what is essentially old comic books on the holodeck.

“From day one, I’ve kept you at arms length,” Chakotay said, as he walked all the way around the table to the furthest point from Tuvok.

Awe this is the most sweet, subtle mutiny I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m not even calling for consequences. Although I will say that I think the doctor had a responsibility in here somewhere to treat Janeway for depression. She was obviously isolating herself from the crew, lost interest in things she cared about, among other things. So this whole time he had some responsibility to do something about this.

We helped ourselves and the other species at the same time! I liked the way this episode paired people. Tuvok and Chakotay had to play off each other, we got some Tuvok and Kim scenes, some fighting between Tom and B’Elanna, some Tom and Harry, Chakotay being caring to Neelix, and some Chakotay trying to be loving to the captain. It was just a joy to watch.

This episode also reminded me very much of classic doctor who. The black and white captain proton, the leathery aliens.

Drone: there goes another shuttle. Uh oh it’s borg.

Oh he follows Seven like a duck.

You know I’ve been watching too much Star Trek when this comes across as a mashup of two other episodes to me. It’s like the episode where we split B’Elanna in half and she had to confront herself one part at a time, crossed with the episode where Odo found a baby changling that just up and died out of nowhere.

I thought it was the season finale that would make me cry, but no. It’s Seven telling him he’s hurting her by refusing treatment.

Also does refusal of treatment mean absolutely to the EMH? The drone is clearly and consciously refusing treatment and the doctor just says “No worries I got this,” and tries to sedate him. How is that okay? He’s such a great character and has the technical skills of a great doctor but he’s an ethical nightmare, at least to me.

Good episode, great development for Seven. It is really hard to write a blog on this when I am already completely absorbed in the next episode which is about B’Elanna and therefore has some of that Tom and B’Elanna relationship that is totally addicting to watch.

Extreme Risk: Warning: this episode was about B’Elanna’s risk taking behavior in response to the trauma of losing the Maquis.

Guys I’m so excited to finally see the episode where a Delta Flyer is introduced. I was starting to think they chose that for the podcast because it sounds cool.

How are Tom and B’Elanna dating and neither one notices when the other goes totally off the rails, completely depressed? Which happens a lot for some reason?

I am obsessed with the idea of a space race. It kind of shows that no matter how advanced we get, there’s always room for more technology and more advancement. In that sense this episode is very optimistic.

I don’t really want to go too far into B’Elanna’s story in this episode. I will say that quite frankly, the crew let her down massively, especially the doctor. When we talk about people hiding mental health issues, it’s because they hide it. B’Elanna hid nothing. Tom, at the very least, should have raised all kinds of red flags. But Chakotay is her best friend. Neelix gets to see all of them all the time. Somebody must have past her in the hallway before she got all of the injuries treated. But the doctor noticed something was seriously wrong, pulled her off duty and put her in her quarters. Now, we’ve established that he is not a sufficient psychologist. But there is no way he isn’t capable of attempting a basic psychiatric medication plan. The same thing with Janeway in the void awhile ago.

In terms of interest, I was way more invested in the Delta Flyer plot. Nothing brings me more joy than watching Tom play with the levers. It also feels like Harry is doing what he always wanted to do by designing a ship and Seven is just thrilled to be part of a dedicated team.