Scorpion, Part 2

Series Four, Episode 1

 Harry makes a quick recovery. Janeway gets injured, but by the end both she and Chakotay win. 7 of 9 gets 10 out of 10.

 Review:

Another wow. While not quite as effecting as part one, this is still a riveting show.

Like the first part, the best sections in this episode focus on Janeway and Chakotay. It’s a veritable land mine for fanfic writers. Many people have argued that Chakotay did the 'wrong thing' by spacing the Borg in the cargo bay. He seemed to think that the only action he could take was to kill them, but he could have beamed them direct to the brig (unless the Borg had somehow prevented that from happening and TPTB conveniently forgot to tell us. Not the first time it's happened).

To a certain extent I would have to agree. He waited barely any time at all before killing the Borg. In this episode Chakotay provides a fitting reflection of Janeway in Part 1. In the previous episode she suggests and indeed carried out a radical order to try and pass safely through Borg space. In this episode Chakotay does the same. Both are driven by desperation. Janeway does so to get the crew home, and Chakotay does so to try and keep them safe.

All of the scenes between them are very well done. Let's see…there's the first scene in sickbay where she begs him to make the alliance work. (Btw, did anyone notice the double meaning of this scene? She tells him something along the lines of 'They'll push you. They'll argue with you. But they need you. They need this alliance.' If you swap the word 'they' for 'I' each time it sheds light on the scene and gives it a whole new meaning).

There's also the other scene in sickbay when he talks to her while she's in the coma. Very sweet scene (awww) and also a copy of the scene in 'Cathexis' where she leans over his naked chest (heh). Although in 'Cathexis' she had her hands all over his chest. I don't think we would get away with him doing that to her on primetime television. Would have been fun though…

And of course she then wakes up and they argue again. Once again the conflict needed to be there and once again it was given to us (wow). I love seeing these two arguing. Okay, so I prefer seeing them flirt with each other, but they argue well.

The scene when Harry comes back to work is short but sweet, and the doctor gets some nice lines. Apart from that none of the regular characters do much except make the ship go faster or fire weapons.

I have to, of course, talk about 7 of 9. Jeri Ryan portrays the Borg ego brilliantly. She always looks down on the humanoids, but she has good reason to. As far as we have been told, the Borg have never really been threatened and so their ego is to be expected. I actually don't mind the Borg outfit. Yes, her assets may look ridiculously large, but it is a good outfit. Nicely designed.

1. Fluidic space? What is that about?? I'm the first to admit that it was definitely an unexpected plot twist, but it felt like an Original Series idea and doesn't have a place on Voyager.
2. When we first meet 7 of 9 she says "I speak for the Borg." I? I?! She's a Borg. They are not individuals. They don't want to be individuals. If you remember, in 'I,Hugh' Picard made a big deal over the fact that Hugh referred to himself as 'I'. Here they ignore it.
3. Harry recovered awfully quickly. Part of the cliffhanger was wondering what was going to happen to poor Harry, but five minutes into the show we know he's going to be alright. Completely drains that section of tension.
4. The same goes for Janeway's injuries. Doc tells Chakotay that he has to put her in a coma to protect her higher brain functions, but even so she may not recover. A few scenes later and she's up and about again.

"You are small and you think in small terms."

-7 of 9

"You've still got a tendril up your nose."

-Torres

"Ensign Kim…the Captain…I'm two for two."

-The Doctor

"But you're not just my Captain. You're my friend. I hope you'll understand."

-Chakotay

Rating: 9 out of 10.