And here we are, The final season of Star Trek Voyager. It’s been a crazy ride through the Delta Quadrant but the crew of this intrepid little ship is far from done. Finishing their valiant attack on the Borg from the season six cliffhanger, and originally broadcast on October 4, 2000, this is Unimatrix Zero Part II.
The Episode:
Captain’s Log Stardate 54014.4 Unimatrix Zero Part II
Janeway and team infect the Borg from within giving the Collective a chance at freedom.
The Story:
An assimilated Tuvok and Torres meet on the Borg cube revealing that they have been inoculated by the doctor to keep their personalities, however Janeway appears to be missing.
On Voyager Chakotay and team monitor their away members from afar as they await the Virus being introduced to the Borg through the central plexus. The crew is understandably nervous but so far the plan is working
On the Borg cube, the team continue their work when the Borg Queen realizes that she can’t hear the Voyager crew members. Soon the away team, with Janeway, is able to infect the central plexus but, when Voyager arrives to collect their crew members, the Queen is ready and retaliates, re-capturing Janeway. The battle damages Voyager as the Borg now have their access code forcing Chakotay to retreat. On the Borg cube, The Queen suddenly realizes that her collective is beginning to collapse as the virus works it’s way through her drones.
With Janeway captured, the Queen tells the Captain that she is aware of Voyager’s plan to utilize Unimatrix Zero. The Queen is unable to stop the Virus but warns Janeway that if the Captain does not help stop the Virus, she will kill millions of drones and those deaths will be on Janeway’s hands. Janeway suggests that the Queen visit Unimatrix Zero herself. There the Queen talks with children and sees what is going on but does not change her mind. She tells Janeway that she will release a virus that will kill everyone connected to Unimatrix Zero unless Janeway gets the freed drones to return to the collective.
Janeway informs the Voyager crew that Unimatrix Zero can no longer exist and, although Seven and the Doctor are shock, Chakotay knows what is going on. Janeway has a plan. Soon another Borg vessel arrives commanded by the freed Borg, Korok, and the repaired Voyager joins it in it’s attack on the cube. The Borg Queen orders the destruction of the cube with the Voyager away team on board but, just before it’s detonation, Harry beams them back safely. Seven bids farewell to Axom knowing they may never see each other again and the Doctor begins to de-assimilate Janeway, Tuvok and Torres.
In the end Korok reports that he has been in contact with another freed Borg vessel and plans to connect with it. He leaves with his rouge sphere leaving Voyager the hope that this revolution will be the end of the Borg Collective.
Is this a ‘Good’ Episode:
As a season opener this is pretty solid but as a Borg story…well, I think the writers forgot about a few things.
Remember the Collaborative? You know, that group of Borg that Chakotay ran across in season three and we never heard from again? Yeah, them. Why the heck were they not the cause of Unimatrix Zero (UMZ) making this story a MUCH bigger and more satisfying story line. Hell, even the three Borg that Seven established a mini-collective with would have been great to revisit, surly since they were linked to Seven they were part of the UMZ. I mean, sure, members of the crew being assimilated and attacking from within the collective is rad, getting to actually see the collectives ‘primary’ hub was really cool and the Queen is always a joy to see in an episode but I felt like this two parter was not thought through and certainly ignored some of the preestablished events, like the Collaborative, I mentioned above. Heck, they mention Species 8472 at one point but the shapeshifting fluidic species are never seen.
All that aside, this isn’t a bad episode. It is full of action and some fun events but it is just one that feels more like a ratings grab than one that was really meant to further the story or the show much further. We all knew, going into the final season that Janeway, Tuvok and Torres would make it out alive and de-borgified, in fact it was pretty evident that this would be completed by the end of the episode as, unlike DS9, Voyager was not too keen on three and four part episodes. Imagine if this season had spent a big chunk of it focusing on rescuing the crew members from the Borg as the Collective collapsed. It would have been epic. Oh well. No sense crying over spilt nanoprobes.
Gleanings and Cool Bits:
- 0 photon torpedoes fired, -19 remaining.
- 0 shuttlecraft lost or destroyed, -6 remaining
- While they promise to return, we never see Axum or Korok again, so I guess they might still be out there?
- Also…where are the Borg kids in all this? We even visit their alcove but there is no sign of them. Did they just take a break or were they in class?
- The Doctor has a momentary jealous pang when Seven mentions she has someone in Unimatrix Zero. It is clear he’s got the hots for the former Drone.
- We learn that the Borg Queen is not the original Queen but was assimilated at a young age, her parents are there as well. How did she become the Queen? Were the Borg made through AI and not bio-technological from the start?
- The Doctor mentions that he was able to remove ‘most of’ the Borg implants in Janeway, Tuvok and Torres, MOST OF. This implies that they all have parts remaining in them…
Thanks for reading the Retro TV Review, I look forward to discussing the rest of the series with you, one episode at a time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Next Review: Imperfection
For more reviews: check out the weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and for more retro TV goodness check out the rest of the Retro TV Reviews here.
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Late To The Game 3/3/2021
Special Thanks to Memory Alpha as they are one of the best sources for details on Star Trek information available. Although I have a pretty deep knowledge on the subject, they have proven invaluable as a regular resource.
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