My Random Journey Through Trek #25

Voyager
S6 The Voyager Conspiracy

In The Voyager Conspiracy we have another Seven story as she explores her former Borg ability to analyze every scrap of data a cube or the collective acquires which is sadly missing from the ability of Voyager. She builds an addition to her alcove to allow her to process data which has been ignored and as she sifts through reports, observations and scan results she begins to draw conclusions that have no bearing to how known events had played out. Slowly but surely her suspicions take root amongst the crew and doubt and mistrust bloom leading to a potential explosive confrontation when not if one or another party act on the information she has provided.

The Voyager Conspiracy is not that bad a Seven episode at all, it clearly indicates how information by itself can never really standalone nor that when viewed in conjunction with other elements is guaranteed to provide a clearer picture of events. It was clever to have Seven come to two very different conclusions based on basically the same information yet disappointing to see the various crew members so easily convinced despite spending so much time on Voyager and living with the people who could not have kept all these plans secret for so long. In that respect maybe a being with more life experience would recognise the winding path they were going down and dismiss the more dubious conclusions but Seven is still very young in terms of social dynamics but again annoying she convinced so many so easily.

Tash played by Albie Selznick

I did like young Naomi played by Scarlett Pomers and her interaction with Seven was always fun, the fleas were also an interesting consequence of space travel and I suppose that initial success linking facts together would reinforce Seven's confidence in her abilities. I had to look up the reference to the "Jankata Accord" and processing 30 million teraquads seems like a lot of hard work and to be honest makes Data look less and less impressive year after year :)
Tri Cobalt weapons, cloaked starships, invasion of the Delta Quadrant, year long project, collusion with known and as yet unknown races all make a good story but if Seven had slowed down just a little and engaged her own mind she may have seen through the fog of paranoia and confusion.
Overall I enjoyed the episode, it stands alone quite well and I can easily overlook how some of the characters act and of course they did make use of yet another alien device to jump a few light years closer to home. High points were Naomi with Seven and Janeway's from the heart laying out the truth of the last few years in the same manner Seven had used but in a much softer and compelling way which eventually brings Seven around. Oh yes, coffee not poisoned any more than usual :)

IMDB
Rating 7

My Random Journey Through Trek #11

Voyager

S7 Body and Soul 

This is a Seven and Doctor episode even though we do see too much of the Doctor although thanks to Jeri Ryan's acting talent his mannerisms and character comes through her motions and dialogue delivery. So the Delta Flyer flew by PDH is attacked by a ship as they have been detected to be carrying Photonics, it seems this culture is in the middle of a social and political upheaval as the holograms fight for well I guess we can assume self determination and freedom. To save the Doctor from being wiped Seven loads his data into her network and in essence allows the Doctor to control her body and thus we have the comedy and a little drama plus the joy of seeing the Doctor experience a few firsts via cheesecake and attraction to Lt. Jaryn played by Meghan Gallagher.

The smaller "b" plot deals with Tuvok and his seven year itch which can be handled to a degree by satiating his emotions via a holographic representation of his wife but the use of the holodeck is restricted due to the threat of the local civilisation which adds some drama on board the Voyager and smirks from Tom and well meaning annoyance from Neelix:)

Overall I enjoyed this episode, Jeri Ryan was exceptional mimicking Robert Picardo's portrayal for the Doctor with skill and precision and there was an awful lot of fun to be had as the two of them trade barbs between bouts of being themselves. It is a pity their dynamic was not explored to a greater degree, they were made for eachother but the issues of the rights of sentient beings particularly holographic are addressed.

IMDB

Rating  8

No Time Like The Past

Here is my short and sweet review of No Time Like The Past the latest Greg Cox Star Trek novel I've read, I bought the paperback on the day of release once again weighing up the cost benefits of the e-book option and again decided for a few pence more I'd prefer to own the physical book.
So No Time Like The Past at least on the surface sounds a little far fetched, granted it's scifi and Star Trek so some of more outlandish plots can be found in the genre but when done right any story can be sold as being both entertaining and consistent within the franchise. Greg in bringing together James Kirk and Seven Of Nine dallying with the potential for a disaster but by offering up a well worked time travel story with enough mystery, action and depth for the characters he pulled it off and the story never once stayed into the grave yard of cheesiness.

The basic story has Seven along with Voyager tracking an energy signature via local folk lore of a "wizard" who could transport vast distances, tempting certainly but what they find is quite surprising and more so when faced with no option Seven gets herself flung in her distant past and to a place where a certain Starship Enterprise is in orbit conducting a secretive diplomatic meeting the goal of which is to reduce the influence of the Orion syndicate in that region of space. What comes next is a race across the galaxy and the timescape to solve an aeons old mystery while dealing with a Federation Ambassador who as they do causes all sorts of problems and a determined Orion Captain and crew who see Seven as a valuable resource to be sold to any interested parties with resources to spend for access to knowledge from the future.

It was great fun seeing the crew of the original Enterprise having to deal with another time traveller, more so because in our minds we know Seven and we know Kirk and well you know but thankfully that is never an issue and it's the puzzles and adventure that really pays off. I really enjoy getting more of a taste of the worlds visited in the original tv series especially Cheron (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield) and we see the world as it was before it's fall when the civil war was in full flow leading to the tragic events which left it a barren and dead world.

I can highly recommend the novel for fans of the original series, less so for Voyager folk as it seems the love of Seven isn't universal but if you are even considering Trek then Greg has a winner as shown by the books performance on the sales charts when it was released. 

Greg's Official Site

Literary Trek 54 (Greg Cox Interview)

Amazon US and UK