7x26 Endgame (2)

EDIT: I changed my mind. Looking back, I liked this show more than I say I did. The cast are fun and likeable, even if I never fell in love with their characters.

Hey, everyone, I made it! I got through my least favourite Star Trek show for the first time after numerous attempts. And I have to say, I didn't completely hate the journey.

But, this is how it ends? That's it? What a thoroughly disappointing way to finish things. The finale introduces some random new plot elements that really don't work and just come out of nowhere (Tuvok's disease and the Chakotay/Seven relationship - which did have some hints but they were completely from Seven's imagination, so this feels jarring), and worst of all we get no proper resolution to so many things.

Voyager arrives back home and there's zero emotional payoff; we don't get to see their welcome back or any reunions with family and friends. Tom's father is on the screen when they make it back and doesn't acknowledge his son sitting right there. What's going to happen to the Maquis crew members now? B'Elanna gives birth but we don't get introduced to the baby or even find out what they name her. Seven asks to have the Doctor perform the procedure on her which will "unlock" her ability to feel the full range of emotions, but we don't even know if he actually does that. In just the previous episode, the Doctor declared his love for Seven but that's not addressed at all.

Instead, the final episode decides to spend its time on another dull Borg story that feels like it lacks any impact. Voyager has defeated these guys so many times now that it feels pointless for them to keep encountering them (and this time they have convenient future tech). Yes, it's nice to have Alice Krige reprise her role as the Borg Queen, but the episode doesn't actually do anything interesting with her. The entire bullheaded mission of future Admiral Janeway is dubious at best and depicts her as extremely selfish.

The entire show was a missed opportunity to do something interesting, and it chose to stay as safe as possible all the way through. Any time the series did do something good, it was forgotten about and not mentioned again (remember when Seven's nanites were discovered to be a cure for death? Sure would have been useful to do that again. Remember the previous episode when the Delta Flyer's communications were destroyed so Janeway transmitted a message through the deflector? Why hasn't that been used in the uncountable times communications were down?).

The show had some really good characters, though. The Doctor was the standout by a long way and the introduction of Seven was a good move. Captain Janeway is inconsistent in her actions and motives, but Kate Mulgrew was never less than fantastic in the role. I just wish everyone had some evolution across the show. Harry, Tom, Tuvok, Neelix, Chakotay: they really never changed their personalities (and this even applies to the Doctor and Seven). There's an argument that everyone became a better person, but I say that nothing about them actually evolved. The fact remains that I just don't care about characters like Tuvok or Chakotay, because they never felt like real people.

Still, it is an easy and entertaining watch and in the end it is Star Trek and delivers a lot of the storytelling and universe that makes me feel cosy. I just probably won't watch it again (hmm... maybe if it's given an HD upgrade and released on blu-ray). I know the show has a lot of fans and if you like it then that's great, but I don't think I'll ever quite understand why.

To me Janeway's reaction to her older self isn't very credible. Couldn't she be just a little bit confused? Then she discusses breaking the rules with her older - disturbingly confident - self. Is that how we can imagine her decision making process throughout the series? She contemplates breaking the rules, knows it's wrong but does it anyway? That's at least in line with her previous somewhat erratic behavior. Plus, the way both the Queen and old Janeway regard Seven as their pet project is strange. It's really like they wanted to assign an importance to Seven, that I fail to understand. Yes, she's a valued member of the crew and Janeway always used to be her custodian, but she shouldn't be the raison d'être for both the finale and the show. One last praise to Ryan. Although Seven's romance is surprising (and ill-prepared) and makes no sense to me, Ryan can effortlessly adapt her character. For years, she played the reserved Borg drone but now (ill prepared over the course of the last few episodes) she's able to add a very romantic and flirty side to Seven. The interactions between Seven and Chakotay, her alternating between being the professional science officer we used to know and experiencing a teen romance, are great. Could this maybe the only romantic story of the show depicted decently? Too late too find out whether that story could actually work, though.

The actual exit is a hodgepodge of ideas: time travel, doppelgangers from the future (who basically guides them single-handedly blindfolded to the exit w/o much help of the crew), Borg, the Borg Queen, trans-warp tunnels (extending all the way to Earth), future technology (integrated within days), space battle, a mind communication interface, an anti-Borg virus and whatnot. Compressed into 20 minutes or so. Show runners desperately needed a positive outcome and since they never concocted a concise framework for the overarching story, they never prepared the viewer for how it all will end. It all feels isolated, random and desperate.

And the absence of any emotional gratification is stunning. Really? No reaction? The admiral asks for minutia (while Tom is right there and he became a grandpa this very moment!)? Janeway announces to file a report about the events? Not even a Q2-style party in engineering? Not a single emotional outburst? No outlook? What will happen to our heroes? Does nobody care? (Given how the show was designed, they will probably have forgotten these events by next week) No welcome-home scene? No emotional looking-back to their adventures (like DS9 did in a very kitschy way)? Over the course of seven seasons characters and audience have imagined how it is to come home, but ... nada. Kim is not even promoted to full officer; the Marquis members not pardoned?

I'm perhaps a bit too critical with this episode. Overall, it's an exciting action episode and how could you not be captivated by the end of such an epic odyssey? How could you not feel relieved they made it home? Thus, it's an 8/10 (it's of course not an ubiased judgement after all the time invested in watching but as long it's not a fiasco to the proportions of GoT's finale, I'm very generous about show finales - they are hard to master).