Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

Season 3 of Voyager was a step up from first two seasons. The writing has improved and some of the characters relationships developed. I was really interested to see if fourth season can keep up the momentum of getting better. Like previous seasons this one is also nicely packaged and divided on 7 DVD's each containing four episodes except the last which has 2 episodes and all special features.
The big change was the menu on the DVD which now contains a Borg cube instead of various Starfleet ships it contained in the previous seasons. This change was logical since in this season the crew of Voyager got a new member, the always popular (at least for male part of fan base) Seven of Nine of Borg.

Disc I
Scorpion Part II This is a very interesting conclusion to previous season cliffhanger episode featuring the conflict with Species 8472. Janeway has agreed to help the Borg develop a weapon against 8472 but refuses a neural link. The Borg assign a representative in the form of a female drone designated "Seven of Nine". The cube Janeway is on is attacked and Borg beam them back to Voyager and sacrifice themselves to protect the weapon but Janeway is injured. Chakotay is in command and disobeys Janeway when he decides to travel further from Borg space despite Sevens insistence to go back and link with another Borg cube. Doctor helps develop the weapon against 8472 and they are forced to retreat. Seven of Nine decides to assimilate Voyager but Torres manages to sever her link with the collective. Janeway decides to keep her on board Voyager. Special effects in this episode are great particularly the makeup effects on Seven of Nine. Performances from the cast are good.
The Gift Kes suddenly develops incredible psychological abilities and feels she must do something or become something different. Meanwhile, Janeway is dealing with Seven and discovers that she was assimilated as a very young girl. She then decides that she will help her become fully human again, but Seven has other ideas. While working to remove Borg modifications from Voyager she attempts to contact the Borg but Kes stops her using her abilities. Kes begins to transform and that bring Voyager in danger. She decides to leave but in her last action pushes Voyager 10 thousand light years from Borg space ending sevens chances to link with the collective. This episode marks the departure of Kes character as if making room for Seven. The episode feels somehow unrefined and put together in a hurry and the performances of the cast are equally forced.
Day of Honor Torres is reluctantly working with Seven trying to create a Borg style transwarp engines for Voyager but accident occurs and she is forced to eject the core. Paris and Torres take a shuttle to retrieve the core but they find a Catati, an alien race destroyed by the Borg, already trying to salvage it. Their shuttle is destroyed leaving them in space in their space suits waiting for Voyager to come and rescue them before oxygen runs out. Because they are about to die Torres admits that she is in love with Paris but was to proud to admit it. The performances from Dawson and McNeil are very good and that saves this episode from becoming pathetic.
Nemesis This is a very good episode. Chakotays shuttle crashes in the middle of a war zone. He teams up with the group of freedom fighters and slowly adopts their way of thinking and hatred for their enemies. The Voyager is trying to find Chakotay and Tuvok is sent down on the planet to try and rescue him. Chakotay is shocked to realize that he has been a victim of a sophisticated mind controlling program and that his friend are actually the aggressors. Robert Beltran is very good in this episode and this is probably his best performance so far.

Disc II
Revulsion It has become a sort of a custom that the episode featuring the doctor are one the best in the season. This is the case here also. This time the doctor is excited since Voyager has found another holographic life form called Dejaren (Leland Orser). He is a servant and has been treated badly by the crew of his ship. This treatment has created a pathological hatred for organic life forms. Doctor and Torres try to help him but he attacks Torres and tries to kill her as he did the crew of his ship. As always the performance of Robert Picardo is great but this time it is nicely complemented by the performance of Leland Orser as a demented hologram and by Roxann Dawson as Torres. The only bad thing is stiff performance (again) by Garrett Wang as Kim while he tries to develop his friendship with Seven.
The Raven This episode focuses on exploring the history of Seven of Nine. She flees from Voyager and chases a Borg homing signal while having hallucinations. The signal is actually a memory of her parents and the place she was assimilated. Competent performance by Jerry Ryan as she deals with overwhelming emotions of fear. But it is not clear why she remains fascinated and convinced that the Borg are perfect after she discovers how they violated her and her parents almost 20 years earlier.
Scientific Method This episode is excellent. The Voyager is infested by aliens who hide behind a sophisticated cloaking technology while performing medical experiments on the crew. The doctor discovers them and is only able to communicate his findings to Seven who then tries to stop the aliens. She is discovered but manages to bring one of the aliens to the captain who is outraged by the actions of this alien race. The aliens threaten to kill the crew if they try to stop them. Janeway then pulls another of her out of control stunts and directs Voyager into the sun. Aliens manage to run away and Voyager remains whole. Very good performances from Mulgrew as she fights of the alien experiments which affect her reasoning skills.
Year of Hell Part I This is another excellent episode featuring time-travel. This time it is done very well. The story revolves around Annorax, a Krenim scientist responsible for developing a chronoton weapon which is able to change history. He is on a mission to restore Krenim imperium to his previous glory since he is responsible for their destruction. But his true motive is the restoration of his wife who was also lost while he first used his weapon. He is driven by his mission and doesn't care whole must destroy to achieve it. The Voyager is caught up in the battle as they try to pass through the Krenim space on their way home. With the help of Seven they develop shields capable of stopping Krenim cronoton weapons and this throws off Annorax's calculations and he tries to erase Voyager from time but isn't successful. He beams Chakotay and Parris to his ship for study. Kurtwood Smith is very good as Annorax, a man driven by love. He was not a bad man he just lost his moral center and his actions are directed by guilt and enormous pain of loosing his love.

Disc III
Year of Hell Part II Janeway has ordered the crew to abandon Voyager in escape pods. The damaged ship hides in the nebula while the skeleton crew trying to make repairs. Chakotay and Paris are on board Annorax's ship. Paris manages to find a weakness in the ship design which can be exploited by Voyager. Chakotay tries to get to now Annorax and convince him to use his weapon to restore all he has damaged so far. But when Annorax destroys another species he decides to act. He and Paris contact Voyager. Janeway has managed to forge a coalition with a few more species against Annorax and they attack. The attack doesn't go well and Janeway is forced to ram Annorax's ship. This destroys it and all the effects he caused are reversed and so we are at the beginning again. Like nothing happened, Voyager is undamaged, the crew safe and everything is as it was. The ending feels a bit rushed but this is still a great episode which is greatly helped by excellent performances by McNeil and Beltran as well as Kate Mulgrew and Kurtwood Smith.
Random Thoughts Voyager is visiting a peaceful planet which seems perfect. They control violent thoughts similarly to Vulcans but they also punish their citizens for just having dark thoughts. Torres is accused of spreading dark thoughts for which the punishment is some sort of brainwashing. Janeway refuses to let her be punished until Tuvok finishes his investigation. Tuvok discovers a sort of black market where Guill (played by Wayne Pere) sells dark thoughts which are very rare among the residents of the planet. He has conspired to provoke Torres and then steeled her thought. Wayne Pere is great in his role of menacing criminal as is Tuvok as a detective.
Concerning Flight Voyager is attacked by space-thieves which use a high frequency transport beam to stole technology from passing ships. They steal a computer core and the doctors mobile emitter and somehow Janeways Leonardo da Vinci programs ends up in the doctors emitter. Tuvok and Janeway locate it and Leonardo (played beautifully by John Rhyss-Davies) provides them with maps to the compound where Voyagers computer core is located. Janeway and Leonardo infiltrate the compound and Tuvok manages to retrieve the core. Leonardo and Janeway are pursued on foot by the thieves and are forced to use Leonardos flying machine to escape. The episode is very interesting and entertaining but has one very big thing against it. It is not consistent with the Starfleet spirit which is particularly visible by Janeway patronizing Leonardo. Leonardo was a genius and that is illustrated by his quick adaptation of his flying machine to new materials which actually make the machines flight possible. This makes Janeway attitude toward him that much more illogical and patronizing. There is the line "Do you accept that there is something that your mind can not comprehend" (not an exact quote) to which the Leonardo replies "Yes." That is as far away from Roddenberrys vision of Starfleet as it can get, never mind the fact that Leonardo would never accept it. Philosophy contained in this episode is exact opposite from the philosophy of ST:The Next Generation which promotes reason as the main weapon of human kind. Besides that all other complaints are minor.
Mortal Coil This is a beautiful episode but has absolutely nothing with science fiction or Voyager. It deals with Neelix and his peoples belief in afterlife. Neelix is killed while collecting a sample from a nebula. Seven uses Borg nanoprobes to revive him. Neelix is disturbed by the fact that his expectations about afterlife weren't fulfilled. His people believe that their families await them in the afterlife by the big guiding tree. He tries to hide his frustrations but eventually lashes out at Seven for stealing his life and decides to commit suicide. But at the last moment he is called to put Naomi (ensigns Wildmans daughter) to bed. He realizes that the crew of Voyager is his family now and he still has a reason to live. Ethan Phillips is excellent in this episode and this is his best performance so far.

Disc IV
Waking Moments The crew of Voyager is attacked by aliens who live in dream reality and perceive a "waking species" as a threat to their existence. Chakotay attempts to communicate with them using a technique called "lucid dreaming". After he wakes up all other members of the crew except the doctor are asleep and sharing the same, alien controlled, dream. Chakotay locates the sleeping aliens and the source of neurogenic field which they use to induce sleep and implant dreams. He gives the doctor instructions to destroy the aliens if he just before he falls asleep. The aliens, facing their destructions are forced to leave Voyager alone. Very good episode with interesting aliens and good performance by Robert Beltran. I wish there was more of this kind of episodes.
Message in a Bottle Seven finds an alien communication relay station and uses it to establish a link with a Starfleet vessel in the Alpha quadrant. Holographic stream is the only signal capable of traveling that far so the doctor is sent in the hope he will be sent back the same way. Unfortunately Starfleet vessel in the Alpha quadrant is new experimental ship which has been kidnapped by the Romulans. Doctor must regain control and enlist the help of EMH-2, a new improved version of holographic doctor from the new ship. They manage to recapture the ship and the doctor communicates his story to Starfleet headquarters and is sent back to Voyager with the massage of hope. This, being the doctor episode, is again a good one. Robert Picardo is great as is Andy dick as EMH-2. Episode features a good story, very nice acting and good special effects. Everything you can ask for from a science fiction show.
Hunters In the previous episode Voyager has used an alien communication technology. The technology belongs to the Hirogen which were not happy by actions of Seven and the Captain. Unfortunately a chunk of Starfleets massage was left lodged in one of the communication relays and Janeway wants to get it. Seven tries to download the massage but it degrades after they download a part of it. That part contains letters from home in which there are some good and some bad news. Seven and Tuvok take a shuttle to the relay station but are captured by Hirogen hunters who plan to make trophies out of their skeletons. Janeway refuses to sever the link with the station and Hirogen attack. Using daring maneuvers Janewas manages to defeat the Hirogen and save Seven and Tuvok but the entire network of relay stations is disabled. The crew is once again left without a link home but at least some of them received some good news. This is a good episode in which Hirogen race is introduced as fearless hunters with sadistic tendencies. It seems Voyager has gotten another enemy.
Prey Voyager encounters a damaged Hirogen ship with a wounded hunter on board. They beam him to sickbay where the doctor treats his injuries. Meanwhile something entered Voyager. It turns out it was one member of Species 8472. He was Hirogens prey and now is onboard Voyager and gains access to engineering. Hirogen demands that he be allowed to continue the hunt otherwise he will tell approaching Hirogen vessels to destroy Voyager. Janeway orders Seven to make modification to phasers to shoot Borg nanoprobes as Species 8472 are vulnerable to them. They soon corner the wounded 8472 and the Hirogen tries to kill him. 8472 was left trapped from the war with the Borg and was unable to return to his domain. He tried to use Voyager to open a singularity and return home. Janeway orders Seven to help him but she refuses. Hirogen attack and the hunter on board Voyager manages to engage 8472 in a fight. Seven beams them to one of the Hirogen ships and they break off their attack since they got their Prey back. Janeway is angry with Seven and severely restricts her rights on board Voyager because she disobeyed her orders. This is again an excellent episode featuring interesting alien races a good story and very good performances from Kate Mulgrew and Jery Ryan as they continue their battle of wills.

Disc V
Retrospect Voyager is buying weapons from a trader named Kovin. Seven is assigned to help him install it. She feels agitated and attacks Kovin and is ordered to report to sickbay. Doctor finds that the reason for her attack are repressed memories trying to surface. Doctor helps Seven remember and they accuse Kovin of attacking her earlier and trying to steal Borg nanoprobes. He claims that it was an accident and escapes as the mere accusations will ruin him on his planet. Voyager pursues and further investigation reveals that Sevens accusations were false. She confused the memories of the accident with the memories of Borg assimilation. Kovin attacks Voyager, his weapon systems overload and he is killed. Seven and the doctor experience remorse. Great performances by Robert Picardo as he tries to help Seven remember and Michael Horton as Kovin.
The Killing Game Part I The Hirogen are back. They have taken over Voyager and captured the crew making them a part of giant holodeck simulations. The crew is implanted with a device which makes them believe they are a part of simulations not being able to remember Voyager. Hirogen leader believes this technology can provide a future for his race which have become obsessed by hunting and are scattered throughout the quadrant. Simulations are violent and the doctor is forced to repeatedly treat injuries and send crewmembers back into the simulations. Harry Kim is forced to work on expanding the holodeck to more and more parts of the ship. In one simulation Janeway is a leader of French resistance in a small village, Seven is a singer and a munitions expert, Tuvok is a bartender and resistance member suspecting Seven of being a collaborator. The Americans led by Chakotay and Paris invade the village and resistance is helping them by destroying German communication equipment. Doctor manages to disable Sevens implant and sends her back into the simulation with instructions on how to help Kim deactivate all implants. Seven manages to deactivate Janeways implant just in time before American attack. Simulated explosion disables part of the hologrid since the safety protocols are off. Nazis and Americans gain acces to real Voyager and Hirogen have a real war on their hands. Great episode and it was a treat watching a Borg sing.
The Killing Game Part II Janeway manages to gain access to sickbay and disables the implants. She is captured and brought before the Hirogen leader who explains his motives for wanting the holodeck technology. Janeway offers to give him the technology but one of the hunters ignores his leader and the fight continues. Neelix enlists the help of some Klingons from another simulation to win the battle as Janeway is forced to run before a Hirogen who has killed his leader. Janeway manages to lure him into a trap and kills him. The truce is then negotiated and as a sign of good will Janeway gives the remaining Hirogen the holodeck technology. This two part episode is very good. I enjoyed seeing WW2 characters run around Voyager. Performances of the cast are very good and they clearly enjoy portraying a bit different characters. Mulgrew is very good as a resistance leader but some of the guest stars do a good job as well, particularly the lead Hirogen played by Danny Goldring.
Vis a Vis An alien steals Parises body and begins living his life on Voyager. I was not impressed with this episode at all. The performance of Robert Duncan McNeill is pretty good particularly when he gets to play the bad guy. The story is very predictable and not interesting at all. The ending is particularly bad as everything sorts out too quickly and feels rushed and unfinished.

Disc VI
The Omega Directive Omega symbol appears on Voyagers display and Janeway starts giving orders without explanation. The crew is baffled but Seven of Nine knows the meaning of the symbol. It is a secret Starfleet order in which captains are ordered to destroy the omega molecule, which is extremely powerful but unstable and dangerous. Janeway is in no position to consult with Starfleet command and decides to let the senior staff know about the omega directive. They set out to destroy the molecule which is detected on a planet which natural resources were depleted and the inhabitants believe omega molecules power is their only hope of survival. There was an accident and the laboratory was destroyed but a lot of molecules remain in test chamber. There is a lot of molecules so they must be transported to Voyager in a special resonance chamber Seven has designed using Borg knowledge. Molecules are transported and Janeway orders their destruction but the aliens object and try to pursue Voyager. Seven also believes the molecules should not be destroyed since for Borg they represent perfection. Then suddenly just when they are about to be destroyed, the molecules spontaneously stabilize and Seven stares at them in awe. She has had a spiritual experience. Performances from Kate Mulgrew and Jery Ryan are very good and the story is well written and very entertaining.
Unforgettable An alien from a secluded world of Ramura asks for asylum on Voyager. Her name is Kelin and she claims she has come to Voyager because she and Chakotay were in love. Chakotay doesn't remember her but she explains that is because her peoples bodies produce a pheromone which prevents another races to keep them in their long term memories. Her people hunt all who try to leave their world and then wipe their memories of another planets thus keeping the order. Kelin has violated that law and soon realizes that a hunter is on Voyager trying to bring her back. She was a hunter before, and that was the reason she was on Voyager before. She worked with Chakotay in apprehending another of her people who was hiding on Voyager using a sophisticated cloaking technology. Being together Chakotay again falls in love with her but the hunter arrives and wipes her memory. She forgets Chakotay but he decides to write about her in her personal log so he will never completely forget her again. This is another good episode featuring interesting aliens but again focusing too much on a love story. Robert Beltran and Virginia Madsen (Kelin) play their parts very well.
Living Witness The episode starts with captain Janeway ordering the genocide on a innocent planet in exchange for worm travel to Alpha quadrant. We soon learn that this is a simulation in a museum 700 years in the future. Museum curator has pieced the simulation together using stories and distorted recordings and made Voyager look like the aggressors. He is stunned to find a data storage device still working. He manages to activate it and realizes that it is a holo storage containing the backup of the doctors programe. Doctor is appalled that the crew of Voyager is perceived as violent and sets out to set the record strait. This causes the two races who live on the planet to erupt in violent confrontation but the doctor manages to sort everything out. This is the best episode of the season and again the doctor is in the middle of it. Great performance from Robert Picardo and guest star Henry Woronitz as Quarren, the museum curator. Only complaint that I have about the episode is that 700 years in the future the aliens should have much more advanced technology.
Demon The title refers to Demon class planet which contains an atmosphere which is toxic and hot and can not contain human or any other form of life. But since Voyager is almost out of fuel and this is the only source of it in the vicinity Kim and Paris go down to search for it. When they are not back Voyager lands on the planet and Chakotay and Seven go after them. They find them walking around without environment suits apparently adapted to the environment. When they beam back to Voyager they begin to suffocate and doctor announces that their DNA was rewritten and it is irreversible so when Voyager moves on they will be forced to stay on the planet. Later the real bodies of Kim and Paris are found and the Kim and Paris in sickbay are merely copies the strange living fluid on the planet has created. That enabled the fluid to gain consciousness and now it doesn't want to go back to the way it was before. The fluid agrees to let Voyager leave in exchange for DNA samples of the crew which will enable it to make more copies to populate the planet. The performances of Robert D. McNeill and (strangely) Garett Wang are very good. In this episode we meet "the new" Kim who is more assertive and active.

Disc VII
One Voyager has reached an enormous nebula whose radiation is deadly for the crew but Seven and the doctor are unaffected. Since it would take a year to go around it and only a month to pass through it, Janeway decides to put the crew in stasis and leaves the ship in the hands of Seven and the doctor. With the crew asleep Seven seems to cope well with loneliness but as time goes by she becomes more and more agitated. She starts having hallucinations as her Borg implants become affected. When the doctors mobile emitter fails Seven is left truly alone. The loneliness gets to her and hallucinations intensify as she faces her deepest fears. Jery Ryan is surprisingly good in this episode as she portrays the fall into madness caused by fear and loneliness.
Hope and Fear An alien named Arturis comes on board Voyager. He seems very intelligent has an amazing capacity to learn languages after hearing just a few phrases.He is also very good in encoding and decoding. Janeway uses this opportunity and lets him try to decode the last part of the Starfleets massage she and Seven were unable to decipher for months. He is successful and the massage is a set of coordinates. Voyager goes to the coordinates and finds a strange ship which appears to be sent from the Federation. Hopes rise even more when they realize the ship is equipped with a quantum slipstream drive which will significantly shorten their voyage home but Janeway is skeptical. Torres tries to duplicate the technology on Voyager but succeeds only partially. Meanwhile Kim discovers alien technology on the new ship confirming Janeways suspicions. Alien then kidnaps Janeway and Seven and sets the course to the Borg territory using his quantum drive. Arturis is angry with Janeway since the help Voyager gave Borg in the war against Species 8472 enabled Borg to win which in turn meant the destruction of his race also. Back on Voyager Chakotay risks everything and engages experimental quantum drive and pursues Arturis. Seven manages to sabotage his ship and Voyager arrives just in time before Arturis enters Borg space. Voyager was damaged by the quantum drive so they will not be able to use it to shorten their voyage home. Surprisingly the season finishes without a "...to be continued" but this episode is very good and wraps up the season nicely.

Disc VII also contains these special features:
Braving the unknown: Season Four
Branon Braga talks about creation of Seven of Nine, having the Borg character on board Voyager. It was a "cool" idea, turning Star Trek into Baywatch, but Braga thinks she is a great character. Talk about the decision of removing Kes from the show, Keneth Biller was against her removal. There is a nice bit about The Killing Game, a lot of the crew like that episode since it is not placed in the usual Star Trek universe. Robert Picardo talking about Massage in the bottle and how much fun he had in collaboration with Andy Dick (EMH-2). Then there is the bit about Day of honor and the birth of the romance between Torres and Parris. We learn that R. Dawson was 3 months pregnant during the filming of that episode. R.D.McNeill talks how much fun he had playing the bad guy in Vis a Vis. Kate Mulgrew and Jerry Ryan talk about Hope and Fear and finishing the season without the cliffhanger. This documentary is longer than usual at 21 minutes.

Time capsule: Seven of Nine
Again a lot of talk about Seven of Nine. We see how Jerry Ryan got her part, some of the photo sessions focusing on her beautiful figure. A lot of discussion about how sexy Seven of Nine looks in her tight suit. Jerry Ryan talking about the fans fascination with her. Sort of like a fashion show with Star Trek as an excuse. In my opinion a big degradation of Star Trek legacy but in no way is this meant as an insult to Jerry Ryan. She plays her role perfectly, but the idea of "sex sells" in Star Trek is really not necessary, but in the mind of the producers it was a way of getting new and younger fan base. It lasts 13:30 minutes.

Time capsule: Harry Kim
Garret Wang talking about his auditions, which he had 6 and how mush it meant for him to get the part on a Star Trek show. He then talks about the relationship between Seven ("the babe of the show") and Harry Kim also about the teasing he got for refusing her offer to copulate. Talks about Star Trek cruises of the Caribbean with fans and actors of various Star Trek shows. Garrett is very proud of his involvement with Star Trek. This documentary is 14 minutes long.

The Birth of specie 8472
Dan Curry, special effects manager and John Teska, CGI animator talk about the creation of CGI animated tripod character of Species 8472. It was Currys idea realized by Teska using Lightwave 3D software which if I remember correctly was also used for creating Dinosaurs in Jurrasic Park. Very interesting documentary with a lot of technical information which lasts 9:30 minutes.

The Art of Alien Worlds
Another technical feature with Dan Curry explaining the creation of alien worlds using matte paintings in combination with live action. Interview with Syd Dutton, the artist responsible for creation of most matte paintings on a lot of ST shows, from ST:TNG, through DS9, then Voyager and some of the motion pictures. Very interesting 10 minutes.

Photo Gallery

Promotional Trailer – Trekkies 2 Denise Crosby is host to the movie about Star Trek Fans and the conventions. It is only 2:00 minutes.

There are three "hidden" special features which are accessible by highlighting the lower left part of the Borg cube on each of special features menu screens.
Hidden One: Tim Russ talking about his directorial debut in Living Witness. It lasts 3:00 minutes.

Hidden Two: Ethan Phillips talks about playing a Klingon in The Killing Game and how much fun he had during that episode. Only 1:00 minute.

Hidden Three: Director David Livingstone talks about the episode Hunters and the difficulties actors had with full body suits of the Hirogen hunters. It lasts 2:30 minutes.

Cast of characters

Kate Mulgrew as captain Janeway
Robert Beltran as Chakotay and
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Parris
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Roxann Dawson as B'Ellana Torres
Tim Russ as Tuvok
Robert Picardo as the Doctor
Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
Jenifer Lien as Kes

More information about the set

Release Information:
Studio: Paramount Home Video
DVD Release Date: September 28, 2004
Production Company: Paramount
Package Type: Box Set
Edition Details:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Available subtitles: English
Number of discs: 7

Final Thoughts

I hoped I would be able to say that this season was better than season three. Unfortunately, this is not the case. But at the same time it was not much worse just the complaints are different. There are some good things in the season but also some bad things, unfortunately bad thing although fewer, concern a more important aspects of the show.

Lets start with the good parts. There are a lot of very good episodes. The Killing game parts I and II, Year of Hell parts I and II are good two part episodes with good stories and a lot of special effects. Massage in the bottle is very funny and entertaining. I also like Living witness where doctor is defending the Voyager legacy 700 years in the future. Episodes One and Hope and Fear are very good and I like Scientific Method and Waking moments for their nice stories.

Robert Beltran has two good episodes, Nemesis and Unforgettable. In Nemesis his character is a witness of an alien mind control and in Unforgettable he has some tender moments with a new love interest. Beltran delivers good performances in both episodes but later in the show disappears like most of the cast in front of Jerry Ryan and Kate Mulgrew as their relationship slowly becomes the central point of the show.

Introduction and exploration of the Hirogen race in Hunters, Pray and The Killing Game is a nice addition to the show. Hirogen race becomes much more complex in The Killing game than it was assumed when they were introduced. Even though Hirogen remind me of Predator from a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, they are sufficiently different not to be an exact copy. The race and its heritage is very well written and developed. This is one of the best parts of Season IV.

There is a nice story line this season about the contact with the Alpha quadrant. The story line begins in Massage in the Bottle, and continues through Hunters and Prey and is again touched upon in Hope and Fear. It is interesting to see that the show can be very good when there is a story line which actually has something to do with the original premise of trying to get home.

There a also the bad parts of the show. Even though Seven of Nine is a good character and deserves a place in Star Trek but, not as much attention as she gets. The development of the character was very and in the space of only three episodes she transforms from a Borg drone into a vision of beauty and Kes is removed to make room for her.
During the season writers frequently pay a lot of attention on the development of her character. In episode Revulsion Seven and Kim have their famous conversation about love and sexuality. The following episode The Raven is exclusively devoted to explaining the origins of Seven and her assimilation into Borg collective. In the next episode Seven is a savior of Voyager when her and the doctor stop the aliens who are conducting experiments on the crew.
In Massage in the Bottle it was Seven who discovered the alien communications grid and managed to get the massage to Starfleet. In Hunters it was Seven that was kidnapped and brought aboard the Hirogen vessel. In Prey we have a big confrontation between Seven and the Captain and some of her rights are revoked. Following episode, Retrospect, is again focused on Seven of Nine and her struggle with human emotions. In The Killing Game she is again responsible for saving Voyager, and as a bonus we get to see Jerry Ryan sing.
In episode The Omega directive the writers again emphasize spirituality and faith as the only way for Seven to become human. Faith implies belief without the need for evidence which, for Borg, should be impossible but the writers ignore that fact and present Omega molecule as god for the Borg. Again moving further away from Star Trek spirit, not to mention ruining continuity with previous ideas about Borg. In the final two episodes Seven is again featured very strongly.
In One she is the only hope of Voyager and in the last episode she is the one captured with Janeway. In this episode the relationship between Janeway and Seven begins to form as friendship.
The performances of Jerry Ryan are very good and Seven is a good character but, as I said before, she is becoming an overwhelming presence rather than a part of the show.

The Year of Hell Part II ends with the image of Annorax creating his weapon again, or for the first time. It is unclear is it in the future or in the past. It must be in the past since it was said that he was on his mission for 200 years. So his changes from, lets say 5 years in the past may have led to the changes in the Voyager timeline, so by ending the episode thus, the writers bring into question all the events in the Delta quadrant and all the previous episodes, contradicting everything. But, this is just a TV show, everything is allowed more so since this is science fiction.

Mortal Coil is beautiful episode but it's not science fiction since the same story could be done in any other setting. More and more episodes are focused on characters and much less time is attributed to science fiction and Star Trek. In previous Star Trek series this type of episodes were much rarer and the personal information about characters were much less available. It seems that the American fascination with privacy has penetrated Star Trek in a big way. That is the biggest complaint about this season of Voyager and science fiction series in general.

I will count Omega Directive and Concerning flight among the bad parts of the season even though these episodes are interesting. I tried to explain the reasons I don't like the episodes above and will not repeat it here.

That is it for now. Fourth season is behind me and it really provoked mixed feelings. I really wanted to like it but some of the parts of the show really annoyed me. Voyager is turning into a show about Seven of Nine with all the other characters put aside. It is a shame since after the third season it looked like it is going to be a really good show. I'm keeping my expectations of the fifth season much lower. Maybe then it will actually look better than it is.


Related reviews

Star Trek Voyager:

Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete Third Season

Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete Second Season

Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete First Season


Star Trek movies:
Star Trek: First Contact



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8