Seven does a tour-de-force performance here when asked to pretty much run the ship for over a month. While the crew is forced into stasis, she must fight her own demons to maintain control. When the Doctor begins to fade from the effects of a nebula, she is alone and dealing with hallucinations. Jeri Ryan is a breathtaking creature and she shows her acting chops here. Her transitioning from her Borg roots gets a real boost in this episode.
12 Reviews
All alone
Tweekums13 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
When Voyager enters a Nebula the radiation levels are so high that the crew start to feel ill immediately, suffering terrible headaches and burns so severe one crew member dies, they only just manage to turn around and exit the nebula before it is too late for everybody. It turned out only two members of the crew were unaffected by the radiation; Seven of Nine and the Doctor. As it would add a year to the journey to go around the nebula it is decided to put the crew in stasis while Seven and the Doctor run the ship alone for the month it will take to traverse the nebula. Seven has only just got used to working as part of a crew rather than being in the Borg Collective so solitude is very hard for her. As time passes the radiation has effects on the ship and the Doctor's mobile emitter fails so he must stay in sick bay and Seven is truly alone. As her Borg implants start to malfunction she encounters another ship who's single crew member starts to torment her; is he really there or just an hallucination? Just as it seems she will be out of the nebula in a matter of minutes the engines fail and she is forced to make a drastic decision about where to get the needed power to restart the engines.
This was a good episode which gave Jeri Ryan to show a greater acting range as Seven starts to be effected by the solitude. It was also nice how she solved the problem demonstrating that she is really a member of the crew.
This was a good episode which gave Jeri Ryan to show a greater acting range as Seven starts to be effected by the solitude. It was also nice how she solved the problem demonstrating that she is really a member of the crew.
Sometimes You Have to Roll the Hard Seven!
spasek26 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Since I started watching the series, Tuvok has been my favorite character. I love Vulcans, especially when they are played well, and Tim Russ does a masterful job in the role.
Seven has quickly grown on me. She's like a walking robot who--like Tuvok--doesn't give in to wild emotions. Her scenes are often quite funny, especially when she is taking lessons from the Doctor about how to interact with humans. Jeri Ryan has to be given a lot of credit for how much dimension she is able to bring to the role.
So, I obviously enjoyed an episode in which Seven becomes the only crew member who has to help navigate Voyager through an especially toxic nebula--one that will take at least a month to get through.
Seven, however, discovers that she is not completely immune to the radiation either, and we see her struggle to keep the crew alive and get Voyager to the other side of the nebula.
People who view Seven as nothing but a sexy bombshell clearly underestimate the strength of depth of the character. My only complaint is the suit she's asked to wear. It still makes no sense to put her in a skin-tight suit while everyone else is in a regular one. It simply doesn't fit the Star Trek dynamic.
Still, this is easily one of my favorite episodes of Season 4.
Seven has quickly grown on me. She's like a walking robot who--like Tuvok--doesn't give in to wild emotions. Her scenes are often quite funny, especially when she is taking lessons from the Doctor about how to interact with humans. Jeri Ryan has to be given a lot of credit for how much dimension she is able to bring to the role.
So, I obviously enjoyed an episode in which Seven becomes the only crew member who has to help navigate Voyager through an especially toxic nebula--one that will take at least a month to get through.
Seven, however, discovers that she is not completely immune to the radiation either, and we see her struggle to keep the crew alive and get Voyager to the other side of the nebula.
People who view Seven as nothing but a sexy bombshell clearly underestimate the strength of depth of the character. My only complaint is the suit she's asked to wear. It still makes no sense to put her in a skin-tight suit while everyone else is in a regular one. It simply doesn't fit the Star Trek dynamic.
Still, this is easily one of my favorite episodes of Season 4.
7 of 9
haldamere-9263118 June 2018
Excellent
nisbethnisbeth7114 September 2020
Seven home alone
tomsly-400151 January 2024
This is an interesting character building episode for Seven of Nine. Similar to the movie "Passengers", she is the online wake person on a ship (well the doctor is also around). To pass a radioactive nebula that burns the skin of anyone on board but Seven, the doctor puts the whole crew into stasis to protect them. Seven, now in command, has to make sure, that the ship will travel safely through the nebula for at least a full month. And although Seven never has been fond of social interactions with her crew mates, the days of loneliness suddenly make her feel uncomfortable and she realizes, she needs the crew more than she thought.
While I doubt that just one month of being alone on a spaceship with holodecks, that can create any diversion you could ever dream off (sports, a visit to your favorite city, nightlife, nature, climbing the Everest, fight historical battles, a romantic affair...) would be too hard to survive, it still is not a half bad depiction of being alone with the burden of responsibility for a ship full of over 140 people.
The showdown at the end, when Seven has to shut off life support to power the engines for the final few minutes to exit the nebula, is a little bit over the top though. This spaceship is huge. Even if you would shut down life support, there would be so much oxygen in the air, that a single person would be able to breathe for months. The temperature would also not drop to absolute zero right away. This ship is insulated, it would take time until it gets colder inside. So, Seven could have easily disabled life support and would have been perfectly fine.
Also, when they show the nebula on the computer display, it is quite wide but not very tall. Again, the writers do not think three dimensional. When it would take a year to fly around it, it would hardly take so long to fly over it! And by the way: What is a year of detour anyway? Unless they find a shortcut or are rescued miraculously, they will need around 60 more years until they will be finally at home. Most of the human crew members on board are around 30 to 45 years old. Even by Star Trek standards it is safe to say, that some of the crew will die of old age before they reach earth anyhow. And others will be 90 or 100. And what does it matter if you are 95 when you are back home or 96? At that age, you won't do much more than feeding pigeons in the park or tell your grandchildren about your adventures. Can we talk how dangerous it would be to fly at least for a month through an unknown nebula with only Seven and the doctor alive? They have encountered strange things in nebulas before. They never could rely on the idea that all will be fine. If something went wrong with propulsion, they could have been dead in the water in the middle of the nebula with no chance to be able to repair the damage because everyone would just burn to death in a few minutes after the crew had left their stasis chambers. And how comes Voyager carries like 140+ stasis chambers anyway? Are they stored in the same cargo bay where all the shuttles are stored? They destroyed like a dozen of them already and still don't run low.
While I doubt that just one month of being alone on a spaceship with holodecks, that can create any diversion you could ever dream off (sports, a visit to your favorite city, nightlife, nature, climbing the Everest, fight historical battles, a romantic affair...) would be too hard to survive, it still is not a half bad depiction of being alone with the burden of responsibility for a ship full of over 140 people.
The showdown at the end, when Seven has to shut off life support to power the engines for the final few minutes to exit the nebula, is a little bit over the top though. This spaceship is huge. Even if you would shut down life support, there would be so much oxygen in the air, that a single person would be able to breathe for months. The temperature would also not drop to absolute zero right away. This ship is insulated, it would take time until it gets colder inside. So, Seven could have easily disabled life support and would have been perfectly fine.
Also, when they show the nebula on the computer display, it is quite wide but not very tall. Again, the writers do not think three dimensional. When it would take a year to fly around it, it would hardly take so long to fly over it! And by the way: What is a year of detour anyway? Unless they find a shortcut or are rescued miraculously, they will need around 60 more years until they will be finally at home. Most of the human crew members on board are around 30 to 45 years old. Even by Star Trek standards it is safe to say, that some of the crew will die of old age before they reach earth anyhow. And others will be 90 or 100. And what does it matter if you are 95 when you are back home or 96? At that age, you won't do much more than feeding pigeons in the park or tell your grandchildren about your adventures. Can we talk how dangerous it would be to fly at least for a month through an unknown nebula with only Seven and the doctor alive? They have encountered strange things in nebulas before. They never could rely on the idea that all will be fine. If something went wrong with propulsion, they could have been dead in the water in the middle of the nebula with no chance to be able to repair the damage because everyone would just burn to death in a few minutes after the crew had left their stasis chambers. And how comes Voyager carries like 140+ stasis chambers anyway? Are they stored in the same cargo bay where all the shuttles are stored? They destroyed like a dozen of them already and still don't run low.
Hilarious and Terrifying focusing on Seven of Nine
dleijajensen13 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The banter between Seven of Nine and the Doctor is hilarious and watching this episode would be worth it alone , but its also a damn good (and terrifying) episode.
Yadda yadda yadda, because reasons the doctor and seven of nine are the only ones who can run the ship while the crew goes through a dangerous nebula. The nebula begins affecting the tech of the ship as well, causing the doctor to be confined in Sick bay, leaving Seven to do most of the work. I don't want to spoil too much but it really shows Sevens struggles with Identity and how she is still figuring out her human side. Sometimes I do wish that Sevens character could be more honest about her vulnerablities, but I get that, she's just not that kind of character (at least not yet).
What she sees quickly turns terrifying, and i find it hilarious that it ends with her regaining consiousness and the captain is smiling over her saying "Seems like you had quite the adventure. I'd love to hear about it later." Like hell no, that was terrifying, I wouldn't tell anyone what I saw, I would'nt even want to think about it 😂
Yadda yadda yadda, because reasons the doctor and seven of nine are the only ones who can run the ship while the crew goes through a dangerous nebula. The nebula begins affecting the tech of the ship as well, causing the doctor to be confined in Sick bay, leaving Seven to do most of the work. I don't want to spoil too much but it really shows Sevens struggles with Identity and how she is still figuring out her human side. Sometimes I do wish that Sevens character could be more honest about her vulnerablities, but I get that, she's just not that kind of character (at least not yet).
What she sees quickly turns terrifying, and i find it hilarious that it ends with her regaining consiousness and the captain is smiling over her saying "Seems like you had quite the adventure. I'd love to hear about it later." Like hell no, that was terrifying, I wouldn't tell anyone what I saw, I would'nt even want to think about it 😂
A truly charged psychological thriller
robert-macc1 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
NOTE: I want to say that "Voyager" was not a bad show as some of the naysayers here are saying. UPN still stomped The WB in the ratings, and this show was not the only popular show on UPN's opening night. "Pig-Sty" was popular. And then a year later, came "The Sentinel" which was superpopular. I do not like Jeri Ryan at all. I'm reviving UPN and creating WB, a real Warner Bros. Network (no "The" before "WB," no Tribune, no frog). UPN was more Warner Bros.ish than The WB and more popular, 11 years straight.
That being said, this episode was a truly terrifying thriller. For once, Seven of Nine has to work alone, although at first she's somewhat unnerved, but at first she has the EMH for company. One of the things that was initially funny about the Doctor at first (being he came off for comedy and it was actually a good thing because this show dared to be experimental) is actually gone. He comes off as a full-fledgd hero and assertive. No longer is he the angry comical George Costanza/Quark/Neelix-like foil, but he's rose to the occassion. In fact, this was not the first episode where he outgrew his comical beginnings. "Real Life" also had the Doctor as a full-fledged hero with 3 dimensions, no longer just a comical version of Data. Anways, the episode is significant because Seven of Nine is used to working in a group. It's an effect the Borg upbringing has had on her. An interesting review I saw a few years ago (2 to be exact) about this episode really speaks volumes. There is a deep psyche in her about fear of her biological side not working, because the only reason she was chosen for the job is because she still has the mechanical in her. She manages to be OK the first week or or so, but the effects start to show. The build up is creepy and a homage to great phycological thrillers of the likes of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Fresh" (and I mean the hood movie from 1994, which was UPN material in every sense of the word). At first it's not hallucinations but rather the computers themselves are reporting things which are not there, an effect of the nebula the ship is crossing. The gel packs have been corrupted. But this has an effect on Seven.
The biggest one is that a creepy alien enemy tries to torment and seduce her to the dark side. It's creepy because (1) he's symbolic of "Friends"-loving "Seinfeld"-hating Allied Nordicist Yankeeism, and (2) because he's very reminscent of the HBO rated R guy who did the ratings voiceover bumpers from 1994 to 2006, a man so creepy and evil. Everything about him is well-done. From this point this becomes a creepy cat and mouse chase, until it's revealed that he was all just a hallucination and that the gel packs were affecting Seven as well (we also learn that the EMH is fading out because of this). "Enterprise" (on The WB, the less popular of the networks) did a version of this story, but it was far more about the hullucinations belittling Phlox (but they're not far-fetched from the real characters). OK it wasn't on The WB but it was not a true UPN show. This was so much better, and for as unlikable as Jeri could be, you really feel horrible for what her character goes through. The ending is all of Seven's worst fears tormenting her, as the hallucinations of the crew bring up her Borgness against her, saying all those tough choices is because she wants to kill the crew. The show was also a symbol of technology catching up to humans and the fears we have that our biological selves will one day be overrun by the machines. A perfect thriller in every sense.
That being said, this episode was a truly terrifying thriller. For once, Seven of Nine has to work alone, although at first she's somewhat unnerved, but at first she has the EMH for company. One of the things that was initially funny about the Doctor at first (being he came off for comedy and it was actually a good thing because this show dared to be experimental) is actually gone. He comes off as a full-fledgd hero and assertive. No longer is he the angry comical George Costanza/Quark/Neelix-like foil, but he's rose to the occassion. In fact, this was not the first episode where he outgrew his comical beginnings. "Real Life" also had the Doctor as a full-fledged hero with 3 dimensions, no longer just a comical version of Data. Anways, the episode is significant because Seven of Nine is used to working in a group. It's an effect the Borg upbringing has had on her. An interesting review I saw a few years ago (2 to be exact) about this episode really speaks volumes. There is a deep psyche in her about fear of her biological side not working, because the only reason she was chosen for the job is because she still has the mechanical in her. She manages to be OK the first week or or so, but the effects start to show. The build up is creepy and a homage to great phycological thrillers of the likes of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Fresh" (and I mean the hood movie from 1994, which was UPN material in every sense of the word). At first it's not hallucinations but rather the computers themselves are reporting things which are not there, an effect of the nebula the ship is crossing. The gel packs have been corrupted. But this has an effect on Seven.
The biggest one is that a creepy alien enemy tries to torment and seduce her to the dark side. It's creepy because (1) he's symbolic of "Friends"-loving "Seinfeld"-hating Allied Nordicist Yankeeism, and (2) because he's very reminscent of the HBO rated R guy who did the ratings voiceover bumpers from 1994 to 2006, a man so creepy and evil. Everything about him is well-done. From this point this becomes a creepy cat and mouse chase, until it's revealed that he was all just a hallucination and that the gel packs were affecting Seven as well (we also learn that the EMH is fading out because of this). "Enterprise" (on The WB, the less popular of the networks) did a version of this story, but it was far more about the hullucinations belittling Phlox (but they're not far-fetched from the real characters). OK it wasn't on The WB but it was not a true UPN show. This was so much better, and for as unlikable as Jeri could be, you really feel horrible for what her character goes through. The ending is all of Seven's worst fears tormenting her, as the hallucinations of the crew bring up her Borgness against her, saying all those tough choices is because she wants to kill the crew. The show was also a symbol of technology catching up to humans and the fears we have that our biological selves will one day be overrun by the machines. A perfect thriller in every sense.
Send everyone home this week and let Jeri Ryan do the show!
planktonrules23 February 2015
As Voyager nears some nebula, it begins exerting a weird effect on everyone except Seven of Nine and the Doctor. However, to go around it would add a year to their trip, so Captain Goody-Goody (just wanted to see if you were looking) decides to have everyone placed in stasis while Seven commands the ship with help from the Doc. While this sounds like a reasonably sane idea, things don't work out so well, as soon she begins seeing and hearing things and she might not be able to do it all by herself. Is this real? Are there aliens on the ship or projecting these weird images? Will they make it through this nebula?
Despite being almost a one-woman show, this is a pretty good episode. I particularly liked the conversations between her and the crew during the worst of the hallucinations--they were darkly funny. Worth seeing and unique. And, I appreciate the character development in Seven.
Despite being almost a one-woman show, this is a pretty good episode. I particularly liked the conversations between her and the crew during the worst of the hallucinations--they were darkly funny. Worth seeing and unique. And, I appreciate the character development in Seven.
Handing the keys off to Seven of Nine.
thevacinstaller1 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
An episode examining the lovely human emotions of fear and anxiety as a crucible to get seven of nine to appreciate her crew members aboard Voyager.
It was well executed and Jeri Ryan does an admirable job. I felt the hallucination plot was revealed a bit too quickly and could have been stretched out longer or redesigned in some form to give added tension.
It was well executed and Jeri Ryan does an admirable job. I felt the hallucination plot was revealed a bit too quickly and could have been stretched out longer or redesigned in some form to give added tension.
Good Seven episode
snoozejonc14 July 2023
Seven of Nine and The Doctor navigate Voyager through a dangerous nebula whilst the rest of the crew go into stasis chambers.
The writers include some good psychological moments and character development for Seven, plus it provides strong material for Jeri Ryan and Robert Picardo in their dialogue exchanges. Both actors do excellent work here. However much of the plot unfolds in a very predictable way, especially the scenes involving the guest character.
There are some worthwhile themes explored in relation to Seven's backstory, social skills, the need for companionship, belonging and of course the effects of isolation on certain individuals.
Visually it has a number of strong moments that heighten the psychological stress the lead character is experiencing.
The writers include some good psychological moments and character development for Seven, plus it provides strong material for Jeri Ryan and Robert Picardo in their dialogue exchanges. Both actors do excellent work here. However much of the plot unfolds in a very predictable way, especially the scenes involving the guest character.
There are some worthwhile themes explored in relation to Seven's backstory, social skills, the need for companionship, belonging and of course the effects of isolation on certain individuals.
Visually it has a number of strong moments that heighten the psychological stress the lead character is experiencing.
7 of 9 got downgraded to a 6
dkmauws26 March 2023
It's a good thing Jeri Ryan looks good in a tight body suit because she couldn't act to save her life. All these reviews about her acting abilities. We know what they really mean
Too bad they didn't put Kes in that body suit. Much more interesting character. All 7 of 9 centered episodes are the same. It's like the producers go to the writers and say we need a 7 of 9 episode and the writers take the last script, change a few words and pass it off as a new script. So predictable.
Everyone knows that the best episodes are the ones centered on the doctor. At least, Robert Picardo can act. Much more entertaining.
Too bad they didn't put Kes in that body suit. Much more interesting character. All 7 of 9 centered episodes are the same. It's like the producers go to the writers and say we need a 7 of 9 episode and the writers take the last script, change a few words and pass it off as a new script. So predictable.
Everyone knows that the best episodes are the ones centered on the doctor. At least, Robert Picardo can act. Much more entertaining.
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