Star Trek: Scorpion, Part II

Episode: "Scorpion, Part II"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 4, Episode 1

Original Air Date: September 3, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Voyager's fourth season opens with our gang putting Janeway's Borg alliance plan (see here) in motion.  Among the challenges in such a collaboration is differing communication styles.  Janeway requests a single drone to speak on behalf of the collective.  A drone, clearly formerly human, is chosen.  She identifies herself as Seven of Nine. 

The operation is further complicated when Janeway is incapacitated, leaving Chakotay in charge.  Before relinquishing she gives clear orders to maintain the new alliance.  But we know from the previous episode that the First Officer does not entirely agree with her plan.

Fortunately, in the end, everything comes out right.  The Doctor's nanoprobe weapon works splendidly in scaring Species 8472 back to their own dimension (fluidic space: cool idea).  Once the shared objective is achieved, Seven of Nine reneges on the agreement (shocker) and tries to assimilate Voyager after all.  Thank goodness, our friends have a plan.  They manage to disconnect Seven from the collective.  Now they own a new problem: how to help a former drone assimilate back into "normal" society.

A moment for the geopolitics before I go into full on gush mode over Seven of Nine...

The two-part "Scorpion" story is an interesting reflection of the world of the mid-to-late '90s.  In the immediate post-Cold War period, with American anxiety over Communism (represented in Star Trek by the Borg), a new crisis was emerging: the rise of Nationalism.  Turns out, the Communist regimes that had held sway in places like Yugoslavia had managed to tamp down the historically hostile tensions between different ethnic groups within their borders for several decades.  With the suddenly weakened centralized power, factional conflict was on the rise.  On a good day, Nationalism is problematic.  On the worst days, it's genocidal.  Species 8472 sees our galaxy as impure and wishes to clean it up, not so different from the ethnic cleansing too prevalent in the real world of the 1990s.

I'm struggling not to overstate what a big deal Seven of Nine's introduction is.  In one episode, she establishes herself as Star Trek's strongest and most fascinating female character to this point in the franchise's history.  Dax, Kes, Kira and Torres are all great - certainly huge improvements over NextGen's female principals.  Captain Janeway is coming into her own.  But Seven owns the screen.  All credit to Jeri Ryan, too, who was given little to go on in creating the character.  The voice booms without shouting and my god, she moves beautifully.  And all this without even seeing how stunningly gorgeous she is without the Borg crap all over her.

It's a whole new ballgame, folks.  Game on!

A new principal character needs a chair (see here).  We still get one more episode with Kes so, at least for the moment, all of the original series chairs are occupied.  Fortunately, Seven's narrative progenitor is obvious.

Hugh = Seven of Nine

Through the character Hugh (see here), Star Trek first started exploring the question of what could happen if a Borg drone is separated from the collective.  With Seven, we're going to get answers to a lot of questions - and, of course, a bunch of new questions, too.

Best Voyager episode so far.  Many prefer the first part of the two-parter.  For reasons I expect are obvious, I prefer the second.

Acting Notes

via Leverage Wiki

Jeri Ryan was born Jeri Lynn Zimmerman in Munich, West Germany, February 22, 1968.  Her father was in the US Army so the family moved a lot during her childhood.  She graduated from Northwestern as a theatre major.  She was Miss Illinois in 1989, ultimately placing third in the Miss America pageant.  

Seven of Nine was Ryan's big break and she made the most of it.  She's won two Saturns for the role, 23 years apart: one for Voyager in 2001 and one for Picard in 2024.  She has had other principal television gigs, including Boston Public, Shark and Body of Proof.  She's had recurring roles in The O.C., Two and a Half Men and Leverage (a family favorite of ours).  Guest appearances include Who's the Boss, Murder, She Wrote and Psych.  Big screen credits are surprisingly modest.  I guess television has kept her busy.  Among others, Ryan appeared in Disney's The Kid, Dracula 2000 and Down with Love.  

Step by Step: Checking the Numbers

Eating well and exercising regularly are, of course, worthy endeavors in and of themselves.  However, they are not always intrinsically motivating.  Over the past couple years, I've had a specific reason for doing these things, a particular number on my labs that I wish to reduce.  I don't want to get too deeply into the details here.  Suffice to say, it's all about blood sugar.  A couple years ago, one of the numbers came in too high but the doctor said as long as I could manage it with diet and exercise, I wouldn't have to be medicated.

I've done my best to take it seriously.

Had my wellness exam this past week.  The number came in a little higher than it was a year ago, but still not as high as it was when we first started worrying about it.  So, not terrible but also not quite what I wanted.

Honestly, over the past twelve months, I've been more consistent with the diet than I have been with the exercise, especially in comparison with the twelve months prior to that.  I truly believe blogging about it will help keep me honest so, you're all in it with me.  Thank you in advance.

I haven't actually gotten my GP's feedback yet.  That's probably soon, though.  I'll consult with my nutritionist next week.

Meanwhile, 7 for 7 on fitness goals for the week.

Star Trek: Call to Arms

Episode: "Call to Arms"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 26

Original Air Date: June 16, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Garak episode!

The shit hits the fan.

Dominion convoys are passing through the wormhole on the regular, heading towards Cardassia, newly in the fold.  While the ships are there officially to defend the new ally, suspicions are growing that an attack on Deep Space 9 is imminent.  Our friends attempt to mine the wormhole in order to stop the supply line but that only gives Gul Dukat the excuse to strike.  Most of those aboard the station evacuate.  As the episode, and the season, come to a close, Cardassian control over DS9 - now Terok Nor once again - is restored.  The Dominion War has begun.

By design, "Call to Arms" leaves a whole bunch of dangling threads for Season 6.  There are touching goodbyes-for-now between multiple couples.  There's Jake who manages to stay on the station when he really should have left.  The Starfleet crew head into battle on the Defiant.  Odo, Kira and Quark remain behind to make the best of things on the station.  The writers wanted options heading into the next season and now they had plenty.

But the War is definitely for real.

The two most poignant goodbyes...

Dax and Worf, who is off to serve on the Klingon ship Rotarran: Dax agrees to marry Worf once the war is over.

Rom's wonderful Casablanca-esque farewell to Leeta, not long after the two have finally married:

"You've got to go, Leeta. The problems of two newlyweds are but a small thread in the tapestry of galactic events. You might not understand that today, or even tomorrow. But someday you will. So get on that shuttle. And don't look back."

For comparison (for the record, the most famous line, "Here's looking at you, kid," is the lousiest line in the whole movie):

Overall, "Call to Arms" is one of DS9's best.  There's meaningful material for everyone and several storylines reach significant junctures.  We have a lot to look forward to.

And before my season wrap, I must acknowledge what a brutal week it has been for Star Trek...

Walter Koenig
1936-2026

Patrick Stewart
1940-2026

RIP, Gentlemen.

Thoughts on Season Five

General Impressions

Season 5 is not as seamless as Season 4 but it's still awfully damn good.  Six episodes rank in my current running top ten for the series.  Even seemingly run-of-the-mill installments sparkle with dependable professionalism.

Favorite Episode: "...Nor the Battle to the Strong"

Deep Space Nine set itself apart from the rest of Star Trek in bold and significant ways.  Perhaps most meaningfully, the series sits with the horrors of war in ways other series do not.  "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" is the most important episode in this vein.  Screenwriter René Echevarria dug deep into classic war literature for inspiration: Crane, Remarch and especially Hemingway.  Much as The Clone Wars episode "Rookies" feels like something more than Star Wars, "Nor the Battle..." dares to go beyond Trek.  In both cases, they did it by going smaller and more personal.  

Least Favorite Episode: "Let He Who Is Without Sin"

It took over four seasons, but I finally got to a DS9 episode I just don't like very much.  "Let He Who Is Without Sin" is a Risa holiday story, primarily focused on Dax and Worf as they explore their newly romantic relationship.  The idea had potential.  But when the network told the writers they couldn't have the full-on sleaze fest they wanted, they couldn't pivot to something more meaningful.  There are a lot of beautiful women in the episode's cast.  That's really it's only redeeming quality.

Favorite Recurring Character: Garak

It's always Garak.  Maybe at this point, it's more meaningful to highlight a runner-up.  Rom comes into his own in Season 5.  He thrives in engineering and, of course, he marries Leeta.  Other good recurring characters this season include Grilka, Martok, Ishka, Leeta...  As ever, the DS9 bench dazzles.

But Garak's still #1.

Favorite Blasts from the Past: Kirk and Spock

Without a doubt, 1960s Kirk and Spock casually strolling onto the screen in "Trials and Tribble-ations" is one of the great Wow! moments in all of Star Trek.  

Overall, the episode is one of the franchise's most powerful and magical nostalgic tugs.

Favorite Guest Actor, One-Shot: Kaitlin Hopkins

via Memory Alpha

Hopkins played Kilana, a Vorta in the wonderful early-season episode, "The Ship."  She is a narrative descendant of Joanne Linville's Romulan Commander character in the original series episode, "The Enterprise Incident."  She doesn't have quite the same sexual tension with Sisko that the Commander had with Spock but nonetheless, she manages to be a lot more appealing than the typical Vorta.

Onward

The end is coming.  You can feel it in Season 5.  For both Sisko and Odo, in particular, we get a glimpse of narrative paths the audience won't be allowed to follow.  I intend to savor the last two seasons.  It was decades before Trek was anywhere near this good again.

Step by Step: Burlington Sunsets

Burlington, Vermont dependably has the most spectacular sunsets in the northeast.  Facing west across Lake Champlain from New York's glorious Adirondacks, you can pretty well count on a stunning show every night.  We spent a great deal of our weekend at Main Street Landing as it is the host venue for the annual Vermont International Film Festival.  They have an especially nice view of the lake.

Here's a daytime shot from more or less the same spot for comparison:

Great festival.  I saw twelve films in all.  My wife managed 14.  My favorite of the batch was Look Back, a gorgeously filmed Japanese coming of age story about teenage manga artists.

Even with all the movies, I managed to get steps in.  7 out of 7 for fitness goals for the week.

Star Trek: In the Cards

Episode: "In the Cards"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 25

Original Air Date: June 9, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Emotions on the station are at a low ebb.  The sense of impending war with the Dominion has everyone feeling down.  Even Captain Sisko isn't able to muster his usual optimism.  Jake takes it upon himself to cheer up Dad and he enlists Nog's help.  Among the treasures in Quark's latest auction is a Willie Mays rookie baseball card.  The two young buddies scheme to get it.  Obviously, nothing goes quite as planned, yet all falls into place by the end and they manage to make a lot of other people happy along the way.

As soon as we finished, the kid declared this one of their favorite DS9 episodes.  I was surprised.  I certainly appreciate the comic relief stories as the series can get heavy for long stretches but I rarely think of them as the best ones.  In fact, quite a lot of critics are partial to "In the Cards."  What do I know?

I do feel a little sad for Leeta, no longer having a teddy bear.

It's a great episode for the recurring cast, though aren't they all?  Nog, Kai Winn, Weyoun, Leeta and Morn (we haven't really talked about him, have we?) all get meaningful material, the last two without any spoken lines.

Music Notes

via Memory Alpha

Composer Dennis McCarthy won an Emmy for Deep Space Nine's main theme.  His Star Trek credits are extensive with underscore work on 88 NextGen episodes, 77 for DS9, 65 for Voyager and 30 for Enterprise.  He is also the score composer for Star Trek Generations.  He has ten Emmy nominations in total including nine for Trek.  

Step by Step: Peak Foliage 2026

7 out of 7 days on fitness goals this week.

Star Trek: Scorpion

Episode: "Scorpion"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 26

Original Air Date: May 21, 1997

via Memory Alpha

There's a new bully in town.  15 Borg cubes zoom past Voyager, evidently in too much of a hurry to assimilate our heroes.  Not long after, the crew happen upon the same cubes, completely destroyed.  What could be so powerful that it could so easily overwhelm the irresistible force of the Borg?  Species 8472, that's who.  The Doctor invents a nanoprobe that could be used to combat the new enemy.  Janeway hatches a bold plan: give the nanoprobe tech to the Borg in exchange for safe passage through their territory.  

Yup, "Scorpion" is quite a story.  For many, it is Voyager's very best.  The Janeway proposal presents a Trek dilemma of the highest order and the resulting tension between the Captain and Chakotay brings extra weight to an already solid season-ending cliffhanger.

Thoughts on Season Three

General Impressions

Voyager found more sure footing in its third season.  While quality is still uneven, the disastrous offerings of early Season 2 seem distant memories.  The show still feels like DS9's awkward younger sibling but the best episodes are satisfying.

Favorite Episode: "Distant Origin"

I can understand how one might prefer "Scorpion" if they like lots of action and a fast pace.  But if anything, Forra Gegen's trial over his assertion that his people, the Voths, descend from Earth's dinosaurs feels even more poignant now than it would have in 1997.  Plus, using the holodeck to extrapolate how that evolution might have occurred is one of the coolest applications of the technology to that point, even if it does feel quite a lot like 2020s AI in hindsight.

Least Favorite Episode: "Macrocosm"

This choice is actually a reflection of the series's improved quality in Season 3.  "Macrocosm" really isn't so bad, just not my cup of tea.  Compared to the disastrous lows of Season 2, "Macrocosm" is pretty good.  

In an Aliens send up, Janeway prowls the corridors in a tank top with a big gun, hunting the overgrown micro-organisms that have infected the rest of the crew with a debilitating disease.  I'm not keen on horror movies so this one didn't do it for me.  But it's not terrible.

Favorite Recurring Character: Rain Robinson

via Movie and TV Wiki

Because of the nature of Voyager's broader epic, recurring characters are rare compared with other series.  This time, I'll take Rain Robinson (Sarah Silverman), the scientist caught in the middle of Voyager's cat-and-mouse chase with the evil Henry Starling (Ed Begley, Jr.) in the two-part "Future's End."  She's also a low-grade love interest for Tom Paris.  

Favorite Blast from the Past: Sulu

Overall, I was underwhelmed by "Flashback," the big nostalgia offering to help celebrate Star Trek's 30th anniversary.  But I still love Sulu.  It's always good to see him in the Captain's chair and who wouldn't be drawn in by that low, resonant voice.  You get Janice Rand and Kang in the episode, too, but Sulu's the star.

Favorite Guest Actor, One-Shot: Giusseppina Pentangelli

via Memory Alpha

A fictitious 22nd century opera diva, Pentangelli (Carole Davis) was Mimi to The Doctor's Rodolfo in the latter's La Boheme holodeck program.  Davis barely gets any screen time at all but she makes the most of it.  The singing voice is her own, too.  The character would have been well worth bringing back but alas, "The Swarm" is her only appearance.  

Onward

Big changes are coming and right soon.  We'll gain a principal character and the narrative impact is seismic.  We'll lose one, too - one of my favorites.  Stay tuned.