Dragon’s Teeth: I’ll go back to the beginning but didn’t an episode of DS9 tell us that going to Warp in a star system is dangerous? Let alone the upper atmosphere of a planet?

And that was one hell of an energy calculation Janeway did in her head to decide how many radiogenic particles to take into the engine.

I liked this. It’s not going to top my list or anything but I think Seven learned a very, very valuable lesson. That said if she hadn’t woken the aliens from stasis, Janeway would have. But the way it happened, Seven is forced to face the weight of those decisions Janeway makes and realizes she doesn’t make them lightly. When you perform an action of interference, it’s hard to predict how far reaching those consequences will be.

I also just found it an engaging episode. It shows that Neelix still has some random knowledge that can be critical even out past where his species has been before. The two warring aliens both made sense and were both interesting species. And I like the twist that they never got the chance to blindside Voyager because somebody did their homework.

One Small Step: This is a very classic theme for an episode that was executed beautifully. I really enjoy the detail that Tom is so fascinated by earth’s history because it gives him a lot more depth. You could see his backstory here, from his desire to fly to his relationship with his dad. This episode was more of a Seven episode but look she gets a lot of screen time, okay? Let’s talk about Tom and Chakotay.

My heart broke when the astronaut’s log said, “And this time I can’t blame it on pilot error,” while they panned to Tom shutting his eyes tight. I could hear myself talking to my father in the words. That scene was filmed and acted so beautifully, panning from Seven to Tom To Chakotay and back. In that moment you feel like Tom almost wants that letter from his dad he never got to read.

Chakotay was WAY out of line. And I’m all for consequences but I think him having to watch Seven board the vintage space ship was an excellent punishment. A little morbid for them all to listen to the dude’s logs, since they knew how it would end. But you know what? I believe in Chakotay’s spirit and intentions here. I think people became better people for it. That said, when they realized it was slowing them down too much that should have been it.

This episode had the Janeway that I missed from season one, who believed in optimism and exploring.

And she told him who won the world series and now I’m crying. This episode made me so happy. The tears are a good thing it just means it was meaningful. You saw Tom smile when she recited the results of the World Series. It meant something to him, too. John Green once said, “It hurts because it matters.” Star Trek funerals kill me every time (except Jadzia’s they really botched that).

This might be my favourite episode so far. It was just really beautiful.

Voyager Conspiracy: and THIS is why I don’t watch True Crime shows anymore.

If you have enough information, of COURSE you are going to find patterns. I love that she went from Janeway and Tuvok to the entire Maquis crew.

1 person is, by definition, not a conspiracy Ms.Captain Lady... On a completely unrelated note, I’ve started noticing Harry doing the exaggerated “Yes, M’AMMM” thing that Tom does and I’m wondering if that was a plot to see who could do it the most dramatically and still make it to the final cut.

I do love Naomi with Seven. It’s so sweet.

Chakotay saying, “Seven was malfunctioning. We don’t have that excuse,” is the best possible wrap up to this episode. Usually episodes about mistrust are big and dramatic and complicated. I enjoy the simplicity of this episode. Seven malfunctioned and started seeing conspiracies everywhere. Voyager’s journey was all kinds of unlikely but space is big and complicated and things happen. But Janeway and Chakotay should trust each other not to believe that immediately when it happens. The fleas in the sensor grid gave Seven a lot of credibility which was a good idea. The episode had a solid flow to it that really worked.