| Voyager comes across a training ground for an 8472 infiltration of Earth; in a space station, they have recreated Starfleet Command, and have taken human form and are acting out daily life there. Chakotay infiltrates them (with his Maquis rank insignia still on), and goes on a date with a female-appearing 8472 in order to figure out what is going on. He is discovered, so Voyager comes in, ready for a fight. However, the 8472 there have taken on some human characteristics with their human physiology, and a truce is negotiated. |
I had a very difficult time getting around the premise for this episode. The whole simulation thing feels very contrived; if they have such detailed intelligence, why do they need to go through this song and dance? Well, clearly their intelligence is limited to every spec of Starfleet Command's physical presence, or they'd know that Voyager has no way of communicating with home. And wait, they're telepathic, so why does it take so long to discover Chakotay? Okay, maybe they lose that ability in human form. But again, if they are telepathic, why go to all this trouble?
And isn't 8472 the species of "the weak will perish" and "your galaxy is impure?" What happened to that? I mean, I guess you could see this as giving them more depth, but it came across to me as simply being inconsistent. If they're going to completely change 8472 so they can use them in this episode, why use 8472 at all? You could just have some other species that Voyager has wronged along the way, a la Arturis. I've gone on record as saying that Voyager is at its best with alien of the week guys, and I find this episode to be no exception.
Janeway is up to her usual obnoxiousness again, preaching to Seven. This time it is about the importance of giving your enemies a chance to
Watchability: 2/5
Bottom Line: Well, it was nice to see Ellen Tigh in another role.
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