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 EPISODE REVIEWS | ||
 | "Scorpion II"
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|| Airdate: September 3, 1997 Written by: Joe Menosky and Brannon Braga Directed by: Winrich Kolbe Short Take: Somewhat of a relief, as Scorpion II proves better than most Trek two-part enders while providing interesting captain/first officer tensions in the midst of a truly "explosive" crisis. Brief Summary: The alliance with the Borg proposed by Janeway is secured but collapses when the Borg commandeer Voyager and force it to attack 8472's home region. The attack is successful, but the one remaining Borg, Seven of Nine, is disconnected from the collective and joins the crew. Review: Excitement was in the air following last season's finale for Voyager. "Someone more powerful than the Borg" as the commercial said was enough to leave fans everywhere waiting for season four to arrive. Expectations, however, tended to fade as time passed. Word of the "Borg Babe" plus the obligatory fear that the Trek reset button would pressed had many fans wondering if Voyager was going to blow it. Once bitten by the first Scorpion, twice shy with the sequel, you could say. That fortunately did not happen. Scorpion Part II was not quite up to the level of its predecessor, but it nonetheless an exciting (mostly) mix of action and suspense. Ironically, it was not so much because of what it did with the Borg but what it did between Janeway and Chakotay that made it so strong an episode. Similarities between it and Best of Both Worlds are obvious, and the TNG episode wins on almost every count. Scorpion, however, wins in characterization, thanks to a truly divisive issue that further developed the relationship between the Captain and First Officer. Part Two shares much in common with Part One in that it got off to a somewhat slow start, with debates over whose torpedo to use and why for instance. This is not too surprisingly, since the episode from the start was clearly going to mainly run off the material introduced in Part One. The episode though still managed to offer enough twists to keep the unsuspecting viewer on his toes. Of course, that tends to make the events seem artificial, though to the show's defense nothing seemed particularly forced. Chakotay's linking with Seven of Nine, while introduced in the typical heroic last-ditch effort fashion, made sense given his previous encounter in "Unity." The major plot problems arose from the little things. Voyager takes more hits from 8472 than a Borg cube can withstand. They conveniently have four hours to prepare for an attack. They end up a great distance way from most Borg worlds. Too many coincidences can spoil the broth. As mentioned, what in actuality sold the episode was not the war between 8472 and the Borg but the struggle between Janeway and Chakotay. There's plenty of room for complaint with how the Janeway/Chakotay relationship has been handled, and at first it seemed that it was going to lean too heavily on the non-existant romance portion of their relationship. A friend I was watching the episode with asked me halfway through whether or not they were sleeping together. But the episode moved quickly to redeem itself. The conflict foreshadowed in Part One came to a head and resulted in Chakotay's decision to abandon the Borg and break the deal. He may have been right; then again, Janeway was not totally wrong with her fears about 8472. The conflict worked not so much because both had logical reasons to believe what they believed, but because they both had more personal issues at stake. Chakotay's past experience with the Borg has led him to mistrust them, and Janeway's desire to get the crew home has blinded her to simply giving up. This sort of compulsiveness on the part of both chracters may have taken some of the shine off of them, but in a strange way this sort of thing improves them tremendously. We can now actually relate to them. One area I was disappointed in was with Kes, used mainly to have Troi-like moments of aura to foreshadow her demise next week. The telepathic link made sense given what we knew of 8472, but it really wan't really used effectively. Kes innocently hearing a conversation could have led to a major disaster. Instead we just got a couple of omnious scenes that belong better in a horror movie than they do on Voyager. Kes's departure makes way for Voyager's new character, Seven of Nine. It's obviously too early to decide how the character or Ryan will develop, but the episode didn't do much to create a fan consensus. At times she was very good and quite intriguing; at others, she was uneccesarily adversarial and forced. This week's moment to wince over was her first appearance. I hope to goodness they were trying for a Frankenstein effect, for with those cords popping out and the long march down the hall, that's what they got. That was followed by "But you may call me Seven of Nine," a somewhat polite remark for a member of race not big on inefficient verbal communication. At the same token, an interesting character was beginning to develop. The "small indvidiuals, small terms" quote hinted that she seemed to be speaking for herself more than she was for the collective, and I found that extremely effective, as it portrayed her as being indoctrinated more than anything else. As the show progressed Ryan became less confrontational without losing the calculating menace, if that makes any sense, and I began to feel comfortable that she could provide more for the show than sex appeal. Her speech, the typical Borg mantra about how chaotic life outside the collective was, worked well, not only because it because it echoed the Janeway/ Chakotay conflict but also because she delivered it well. If Seven of Nine continues to move in a positive direction, I see no reason to worry, since she certainly has enough storyline possibilities to work with. The Borg themselves made a great deal of sense I thought. The sacrifice, while somewhat noble for a race lacking in that quality, was completely logical, as was most of what they did. Sometimes they seemed unnecessarily stubborn, but overall they were what we have always seen from the Borg. I find the notion that the Borg have been somehow diminshed because of Voyager hard to prove at best. What hurt the Borg was bottled quality of the episode. All of what happened, with the exception of tht dealing with Kes, will likely be forgotten next week. As a result, what has happened to the Borg is now a side issue at best. It makes sense that Kim would be cured early on given the need to try out the cure, but more is needed to follow up on events of such a large magnitude. Chakotay has demonstrated his command ability. Let's see that again. Let's hope that something (anything!) from 8472 to Borg tech on the ship comes up later this season. If Braga's promise that the Borg will be Voyager's Klingons comes true, then connect it with what we have here. And if they do live up to their word, balance the methodical "Unity"s with the the more tightly plotted "Scorpion"s. We can only handled so much hype in one season. Part Two was by no means a perfect episode. Like many other Trek two-part concluders, from "Descent" to "Past Tense" it tended to coast a little too much on what happened in the first episode. But nonetheless it brought a logical if not completely satisfying conclusion to the dilemma facing the crew in the previous episode, and, more importantly, it offered the character dimension that we have not always gotten from Star Trek and Voyager in particular. All in all, a good way to begin the year. Some short takes: - The CGI was outstanding and a clear improvement over part one. The images seemed crisper without standing out too much. It also seemed to be a little less gratuitous. - Fluidic space. 'Bout time we go where none have gone before. - Note that the Borg Queen was not mentioned after all. Rumors said she would be referred to. - Most of the jokes worked - particularly Tuvok's - but does anyone else get worried that the Doctor's ego is getting a little too big? - [This from Steve Krutzler] - Did you all notice that the torpedo proposed by the Borg was a schematic of the Borg vessels from TNG's "Descent"? Writing: A few unexplained plot points, but mostly good. Seven of Nine had some very good speeches mixed with a characterization a bit too personal at times for my tastes. Acting: Well done for the most part, though Beltran seemed to waver between flat and tough far too often. Directing: A few nice touches but mostly neutral. Rating: 9.3 out of 10.0 Quote: "Don't worry, I'll delete myself at the first sign of trouble... well, maybe not the first sign." -The EMH, in response to Chakotay's order to be alert to a Borg takeover. Discuss This Episode and/or Review in the Fan Comm Link Discussion Board! | |
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