Thoughts: This is the culmination of Voyager's nerfing of the Borg, and it's something I cannot abide. Gone are the days when a single Borg cube was an impenetrable fortress, an ominous juggernaut that strikes fear in the hearts of all who regard it. Janeway doesn't just go after any cube, she picks a freaking super-cube. And then, of course, Spoiler » Janeway's plan is to get assimilated. Janeway's plan is to get assimilated. Assimilation, up to this point, has been portrayed as bestowing a lifelong trauma for anyone who manages to escape the collective, but Janeway just flippantly decides assimilation is a great idea! After all, we suddenly have this magic neural suppressant that will keep us sapient, and we're experts at un-Borgifying people these days! Hey, that reminds me, the four Borg children are weirdly absent from this story. One would think they might have some sort of input on this insane mission. Well, anyway, the good drones do battle with the bad drones in Unimatrix Zero, an artificial construct where they physically fight each other and make crude traps with the local foliage, none of which makes sense since none of it is real, but, no matter, we have action! Romance! Drama! A ticking clock! Excitement! Intrigue! Spoiler » And don't forget explosions! The Delta Flyer is blown to smithereens but somehow magically reappears in the very next episode! The very next episode, which is another Borg-related episode, but we're barely going to mention the physical and emotional scarring three of our heroes suffered in this two-parter!

Thoughts: This episode aired out of its originally-intended order, which turns out to be a bit of a disservice to the show. It creates some small problems, including the fact that Tom can be seen in this episode wearing a wedding ring, but it makes even bigger waves simply because of its placement right after the season premiere. We just had a major Borg episode, and here we are again. The Delta Flyer is mysteriously back to life, and there is little to no acknowledgment of the events of the previous episode.

Thoughts: This is a personal favorite. I just like the concept; it's nice to see Voyager take a break for a little fun, and those pilot uniforms are impressive. Too bad we'll never see them again, except as an animated version in an episode of Lower Decks. Anyway, this episode was supposed to come before the previous one, but even so, they just casually wave their hand at the issue of the Delta Flyer being destroyed in the series premiere as they've magically built a brand new one, and everyone seems to have gotten over the trauma of being assimilated. Everything's back to normal! I mean, come on, couldn't we even get B'Elanna to yell “I was a Borg last week!” during one of her arguments with Tom??

Thoughts: I thought Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) did a wonderful job in this episode. There were times when I truly forgot that Robert Picardo (the Doctor) wasn't somehow acting through her.

Thoughts: This episode takes a stupid and obvious track. Harry's first command goes badly, but then Seven gives him a pep talk, the crew rallies behind him, and he successfully completes the mission while learning an important lesson about being in command. Never mind the fact that they've taken sides in a war that is none of their business and possibly tipped the balance of power in the region! As long as Harry walks away with a cute little lesson learned, that's all fine! Ugh.

Thoughts: Huh, Janeway gave the Hirogen their holodeck technology way back in Season 4, and yet here they are again, somehow, despite Voyager having been on a direct course for Earth all this time. Anyway, I find this episode to be nothing more than average. For a feature-length story, it really didn't impress me... “Holograms: Oops, All Moriartys!” just doesn't resonate with me as villainous. Hey, maybe I am prejudiced against holograms just like they claim all “organics” are! I also don't fully understand Iden's disagreement with the Doctor talking about organic species' cultures. They, themselves have been modeled after organic species. Iden may look like a Bajoran, but he isn't. Why doesn't he change his physical parameters to... I dunno what! It's difficult to understand how they want to live – they rely on their AI to be stored in an external device, their physical form is only a projection... a projection that mimics organic species... but they want to keep being projections? I just don't get it.

Thoughts: This episode suffers from not having enough follow-up. B'Elanna goes from dangling over the edge to “everything's okay now” much too quickly. There's no consequences for her actions, and there's never any mention of this again.

Thoughts: Normally, we just suspend our disbelief and accept force fields as a modern marvel that must have some sort of advantage over physical barriers, but it's hard to ignore the downsides in this episode. Why do they insist on incarcerating prisoners behind a barrier that requires power to function? Why not a physical barrier, like the ancient technology called “bars”? If the power goes out, the prisoners stay put! Instead, in this episode, all the prisoners escape their cells and wreak havoc when the force fields drop because of a power outage. At least their attempt to get to the shuttlebay is thwarted because of the clever use of a LOCKED DOOR!

Thoughts: (One day in the writers' room) “Hey guys, you know what would be hilarious? We should have Tuvok and Neelix bunk together! That's comedy gold! It's not like we've done this same tired idea before with Tuvix and Riddles!”

Thoughts: Let's start with the “get sucked into a region of space and can't get out” theme from VOY 5x13: Gravity and VOY 6x08: One Small Step, throw in a little “there are no stars” from VOY 5x01: Night, and top it off with our theme of “Starfleet principles are always right and will always serve as deus ex machina in any situation” from VOY 2x14: Alliances and VOY 5x26 & 6x01: Equinox, and we've got ourselves an episode, baby!

Again, I have rated an episode below what others have rated it, but I just don't care for this obtuse idea that “Starfleet is always good and right” and that there is never any grey area. Grey areas are what make for good storytelling, it makes the audience think and consider what they might do in a similar situation. This story doesn't make you think, it just tells you what is good and what is bad.

And while I'm complaining, what the hell was the point of the short scene where Neelix serves a “fancy” dinner to Tom and B'Elanna? The fancy dinner in the opening scene at least serves as a contrast between wanting for nothing and having to ration food, but that middle scene just seems like filler and it feels out of place. Then there's that stupid “getting work done” montage with people talking and pointing at consoles...

Thoughts: The first part of this story shows us a humorous “alternate” version of Voyager, and the even more humorous re-write by Tom Paris. Then it turns into a story about the rights of an artificial intelligence, somewhat akin to TNG 2x09: Measure of a Man, but that part is only a minority of the story, taking up only about 9 or 10 minutes of the episode.

Thoughts: I like imagining that in the scene where Tuvok keeps speaking “hypothetically” he's really buttering up Neelix and trying desperately to get him off the ship.

Thoughts: Here we are, the final episode before the series' grand finale, and it's just a standard adventure-of-the-week, but I'm not sure exactly what might have been a better story for this episode. They've already put the kitchen rat off the ship, and there really isn't anyone else who needs closure before the finale. Janeway's closure will be getting her crew home, Chakotay doesn't have any personality that requires a wrap-up, Tuvok never had a need for character growth, Paris and Torres have gotten married and will soon be parents, the Doctor is a fully self-realized hologram, Seven is as ready as she's going to be to return to humanity, and Kim... oh, you know what? They could have spent this penultimate episode devoted to Harry finally getting a promotion. Just think how proud he would have been to make it home with a shiny new pip on his collar. Poor Harry.

Thoughts: The Season 7 Relationship that Nobody Asked For!™ is back, just for this final episode, just to add a touch of romance to the story. The Chakotay/Seven thing only existed previously as a holodeck fantasy, and we haven't had enough screen time to get used to it, so it just feels contrived. Anyway, overall, this episode has everything you want in a series finale: action, adventure, romance, time travel, the Borg. There have been some objections to the time-travel “cheating” way of getting home, but this is at least the second time someone has broken the Temporal Prime Directive to give Voyager an advantage. I can't give this a full 5-star rating just because it is yet another episode involving the nerfed Borg, this time helpless in the face of future tech. But other than that, it's a fine ending to the series.