When Seven of Nine's cortical implant begins to fail, she finds herself facing a terminal medical diagnosis. Her only chance at survival is a transplant, and finding a working replacement node is a long shot.
Eagle-eyed Star Trek fans (who care far more deeply about continuity than I generally do) will point out when the stardates of two consecutive episodes fall out of order. But you don't need to venture that far into the weeds to know that this wasn't meant to be the second episode of Voyager's seventh season. First, the Delta Flyer is somehow back again (after having been destroyed in the season six finale). Second, Tom Paris can clearly be seen wearing a wedding ring while he assists the Doctor in a surgery. Both of these developments would be explained in the next episode to air.
So why was this episode pulled forward to run earlier in the season? My best guess is that some network executive wanted to front-load as much Seven of Nine and/or Borg content as possible, imagining it would juice the ratings at the start of the season. And maybe it even did at the time. But in a world of syndication (or now, streaming) it makes for three back-to-back episodes stuffed full of basically the same thing, and feels a little tiresome for it.
That's a shame, because this episode is quite a bit more convincing, emotionally, than the "Unimatrix Zero" two-parter. Although the premise is very sci-fi, the story still touches on many aspects of terminal illness. Seven of Nine feels shame at her condition, as many patients irrationally do -- and in particular doesn't want her "child" Icheb to see her in a compromised state. We see how different people interact with Seven: the Doctor showing rare tact, Neelix "goading" her into a game (so she doesn't withdraw further), B'Elanna having a rare and deep conversation with her about the afterlife, and Janeway trying a hopeful pep talk that Seven simply doesn't want to hear. Of course, it's also a big episode for Icheb, who decides he wants to join Starfleet, comes up with a way to save Seven's life, and shows willingness to sacrifice his own life -- all in one episode.
Still, I feel like the episode could have given us even more, by removing a few other elements. A rather pointless action beat involving alien scavengers aboard the Borg cube serves only to make Tuvok look dumb for being ambushed. And while writing off all the other Borg children in a quick teaser does put the emphasis on Icheb, it short-cuts deeper emotion surrounding their departure. (Others besides Seven of Nine have bonded with some of them. Neelix, for example.) Losing the other kids also too-obviously telegraphs Icheb as the solution to the current situation -- though, admittedly, it's unclear whether he'll have to die or not.
Other observations:
- The makeup and visual effects are notably well done throughout the
episode. Seven's exposed implants look gnarly. Every time an implant is
shown going in or out of someone's forehead, it looks unsettlingly
convincing.
- Poor Chakotay just doesn't get anything to do these days. He doesn't even lead the away team to the Borg cube. He just comments (stupidly) that it's not every day they encounter the Borg, when the last several episodes have made it seem like that's exactly what they do.
Okay, that action sequence accomplishes one thing: Paris ordering Captain Janeway around aboard the Delta Flyer is a fun exchange.
- While I like the scene between B'Elanna and Seven about life and death, you'd think B'Elanna's "Barge of the Dead" experience would leave her with more certainty on the topic.
I give "Imperfection" a B -- though perhaps I would have rated it a bit higher were I not feeling some "Borg fatigue." Even when the storytelling isn't exactly "serialized," sequencing matters.
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