Seven of Nine is contacted in her "sleep" by a small group of Borg drones who have forged a mental oasis within the Borg collective, inside which they can exist as individuals. But the Borg Queen is aware of their "defect," and is determined to root them out. If Voyager intervenes, they may be able to protect people from the Borg -- or even fan the flames of a resistance movement. But if they do, they invite retaliation from the Queen.
This story wasn't actually conceived of as a Borg tale, or even as a cliffhanger. Writer Mike Sussman's core idea revolved around an away mission conducted virtually through the use of the holodeck. The Voyager writing staff wasn't quite into that... but wasn't quite not; Sussman was given the opportunity to revise and re-pitch the idea. He fully fleshed out two other takes on it, plus a third "backup" notion that the virtual reality could be buried inside the Borg collective. That's what the staff went for, elevating it to "season finale" status in the process. (Sussman later quipped: "William Goldman's pronouncement that in Hollywood 'nobody knows anything' is as true as it ever was. The story they bought, the idea that sold, was the one I had the least faith in.")
I will say, though, that the episode starts out on better footing than simply, "we're going back to the Borg well again." Voyager is not in direct conflict with the Borg here; they're just being good Star Trek humanitarians, and the urge to "do good" brings them into conflict. Seven of Nine connecting with an alternative and more human version of herself is interesting, and even the question of her romance with another drone, Axum, is intriguing.
But the further we get into the episode, the more it becomes "just another Borg story" -- most of all in the actual cliffhanger. Star Trek has already given us "the captain has been assimilated!" as a season finale, so what does this episode do to one-up it? It two-ups it, by having Janeway, Tuvok, and B'Elanna all assimilated. Sure, we're told that this time, it's "all part of the plan." Still... it feels "been there, done that."
Yet also, the breakneck pace of everything allows for several fun moments. We revisit the Doctor's skepticism about Vulcan mindmelds. We get fun banter between Janeway and the Borg Queen. ("How are things in the Collective?" "Perfect.") There's an oblique reference to the last season-spanning cliffhanger, as this time Janeway wants Chakotay to buy into her crazy scheme. They even destroy the Delta Flyer to show us just how high the stakes of this story are! (Though, a few episodes into season seven, they'll retroactively undermine these stakes with how easily they just build another one.)
The same blinding pace also papers over a few moments that don't work as well. What exactly did Tom Paris do to get promoted? (It would be nice if he "earned" it as clearly as he earned the original demotion.) Shouldn't the ex-Borg kids figure into this story somehow? Surely their first confrontation with the Borg since leaving the Collective should come with huge emotions hard for young children to handle. What's with the Borg Queen's weirdly specific threat to Harry Kim ("We'll see you soon, Harry.") when there's no particular past connection between them, and this moment isn't paid off in any way in part two?
Regardless of what you think about the story, good and/or bad, you have to acknowledge that the episode certainly gets a big budget treatment. Impressive visuals include a look at a massive Borg "city" in space, a new variation on the assembly of the Borg Queen, a bombed-out station on a spinning asteroid, and a new Borg cube design that looks all armored and burly. Plus, not all the fun effects are computer-generated. The severed Borg heads we see are great props. (One is actually a mold of Brent Spiner -- "Data's head," reused from The Next Generation.)
Other observations:
- At the start of the episode, when the Queen confronts a "malfunctioning" drone, he keeps repeating "I don't remember." I, not "we." Is this a slip in the dialogue, or a deliberate telegraphing that he's remembering Unimatrix Zero in his waking life now?
- Chakotay says the plan to help the "drones" of Unimatrix Zero violates half a dozen Starfleet protocols. Which protocols would those be, exactly? A group of people have specifically requested aid from a Starfleet vessel. In no way could the Prime Directive apply to the Borg. The Federation is essentially at war with their enemy. What's the issue?
Though I do find this episode a bit of a mixed bag, I think I ultimately enjoy the earlier, more original elements than I dislike the later, more "reheated Best of Both Worlds" elements. I give "Unimatrix Zero" a B.
And with that, season six of Star Trek: Voyager comes to a close. My picks for the top 5 episodes of the season are: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy," "Blink of an Eye," "Pathfinder," "Life Line," and "Unimatrix Zero." One final season of Voyager to go; next up, season seven!
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