Constantly budding heads with Captain Janeway, unintentionally humorous, budding heads with B’Elanna Torres, you name it, the character stirred up lots of things on the ship. Seven and the Doctor also became real close, which was also added value. It seemed only natural as the Doctor was also very close to Kes, but in a different way.

Season 4 definitely is a big step up from season 3, and for a large part this is due to the new character Seven of Nine, she brought some much needed freshness to the show. Season 4 has only a few episodes which are below par, not more than a handful. It has many strong episodes which I graded between 8 & 10 out of 10. Star Trek: Voyager finally also has some worthy villains. The Borg of course, but also Species 8472 and perhaps the most interesting adversary this season, for me anyway, were the Hirogen. In season 4 The Borg are still fresh but unfortunately not so much in the rest of the series simply because Voyager won every time of this villain who should be no match for only one Federation vessel.

In the “Scorpion” part two we meet Seven of Nine, who is a liaison between the Borg and Captain Janeway and Tuvok. Voyager wants a free passage through Borg space. The Borg are in the middle of a war with species 8472 from fluid space, a war the Borg has started and now, Species 8472 wants to wipe out everybody in normal space. Note - An epic opening to the 4^th season, definitely comparable with The Next Generation’s “Best of Both Worlds”. I mean with comparable that “Scorpion” was just as much a game changer for Voyager than “Best of Both Worlds” was for The Next Generation. But if I have to pick a favorite of the two, I would pick “Best of Both Worlds”. When Voyager escapes, Seven of Nine becomes a new member of the crew but entirely against her will!

In “The Gift” we say goodbye to Kes, an emotional goodbye for the Captain, who really has a hard time seeing her leave. But the situation is untenable because of her growing powers. Upon her leaving she has a gift to the Voyager crew, she sends them 9.500 lightyears closer to home, beyond Borg space. Meanwhile Seven of Nine buds heads with the captain. In “Day of Honor” A species called Caatati contacts Voyager with a question for aid, their people have been decimated by the Borg. Captain Janeway helps them with what they can but next this species comes back with 27 ships, not asking but demanding! Talk about gratitude! Note - In this episode we see Tom Paris and B’Elanna grow further together. When B’Elanna believes they won’t make it, she tells Tom she loves him. But then Voyager rescues them! “Nemesis” is season 4’s first awful episode! Yes it is another Chakotay episode and these usually are not that interesting I’m afraid. This is most likely my least favorite season 4 episode. In “Revulsion” the Doctor meets up with another hologram on a ship where this hologram is alone. Soon it becomes clear that this particular hologram, he calls himself an isomorph, finds organics repulsive. Apparently these shipmates of him weren’t very nice to him, so he killed them. Tuvok is promoted to Lt. Commander. Guest starring: Leland Orser (Enterprise, The Pretender) who is the Isomorph. Next up, a favorite of mine, “The Raven”, a Seven of Nine episode where she is having hallucinations about the Borg, which frightens her. She sees a black bird, shrieking, she escapes Voyager because of it. Tuvok joins her and together they go to a planet which Seven is drawn to. They find a ship called The Raven, her parents spaceship, where she was taken by the Borg and her parents assimilated.

“Scientific Method” is also another favorite of mine, like this one particularly for reasons I cannot really describe but to know that someone would experiment on you constantly without you knowing, because these people, who are doing It, are invisible to the human eye. Really enjoyed this episode where the Doctor and Seven are responsible for uncovering the truth about these aliens on board Voyager. Perhaps the best episodes of the season are of course “The Year of Hell” parts one and two, where Voyager enters Kremin space not knowing they will be pulled into a devastating war which lasts a full year. The ship is a wreck, a wonder it still flies through space. All because of captain Annorax (Kurtwood Smith), on a temporal ship who wants to restore the Kremin 100%. At one point they reached 98% but this wasn’t enough for him. He has personal reason because his wife, who died, still hasn’t been restored. His claims he wants to restore everything but it is just because of his wife. Note - Great episodes and at the end of the episode, the episodes did not happen!

“Random Thoughts”, a B’Elanna story. Better than I remembered but not a really great episode, still entertaining where a violent thought is considered to be a felony. The crew didn’t know this before they came down to the planet. A bit silly if you ask me that such things slip through the cracks. Anyway B’Elanna is being framed for this. “Concerning Flight” was really not my cup of tea where we get an adventures story with the holo character Leonardo da Vinci (John Rhys Davies). Forgetful. “Mortal Coil” is an interesting Neelix episode where Neelix actually dies, but is revived after 18+ hours. He wakes up and realizes there is no after life, he thought he would meet his lost family and friends again. Neelix’ character definitely has grown. Great Chakotay speech, Naomi Wildman is a reason, for him, to keep on going. “Waking Moments” where the crew of Voyager all having bad dreams and they all see an alien in these dreams. The aliens are trying to conquer Voyager via these dreams and Chakotay has a plan how to stop them in his sleep. Note – Not many Chakotay episodes are successful, but this one is one of the better ones.

“Message in a Bottle” is another wonderful episode when the Doctor is being sent to a Starfleet vessel at the edge of Federation space, which is visible to them because Seven uses an alien communication grid. Once arrived there, the Doctor soon realizes that the ship has been taken over by Romulans. He activates the EMH, which is a newer, more snobbish version of the Doctor but with a different face (Andy Dick). Note - This episode is just hilarious, these two holograms trying to save the ship, which is done with a lot of funny banter between these two characters, well done! New alien adversaries are briefly introduced, they “own” this alien communication grid, the Hirogen. The next two episodes definitely (also) belong to my favorites of this season. Two Hirogen episodes “Hunters” & “Prey”. In “Hunters” the Voyager crew receives letters via the alien relay station, the same one the doctor was sent to the Alpha Quadrant. Janeway learns that her fiancé has moved on, Chakotay learns that his former Maquis colleagues, most of them have killed been by the new allies of the Cardassians, the Dominion. The Hirogen no longer tolerate the use of the relay station and come to intercept, they take Tuvok and Seven prisoners who are in a shuttle closer to the relay station. In “Prey” a wounded Hirogen (Tony Todd) and a member of Species 8472 are on Voyager and the wounded Hirogen wants to continue the hunt for his prey who previously escaped from its captor. While Janeway wants to see if she can help the member of Species 8472, Seven only thinks of the safety of the entire crew and wants them both gone from Voyager and transports them both back to nearing Hirogen vessels, resulting in fact, that the member of Species 8472 will not have a chance to survive. Captain Janeway is furious at Seven for going against her orders.

“Retrospect” is an episode where Voyager is visiting a planet, having dealings with an arms dealer. Seven is experiencing hallucinations of sorts which the Doctor indicates that Kovin, the businessman in question, has violated her. This becomes a witch hunt while the arms dealer keeps saying he is innocent, nothing happened. Even though, without any hard proof, he is still treated as a criminal. But is he guilty? “The Killing Game” two parter is an interesting episode but for me it is not in the same league as say, they earlier Hirogen episodes. Hirogen has captured Voyager and their commander is using Voyager’s holodeck to hunt for their prey, using the Voyager crew. This commander sees that their way of life ultimately will decimate the Hirogen because every member is always on the hunt, being isolated, they are no longer a people. He wants to change that. When Captain Janeway finds out his motives and reasoning, she has a solution. Shame really, because the Hirogen storyline could end with this episode! To be honest, I am not sure if they will be back in the following seasons, but if so, not as a continuous threat.

“Vis a Vis” is one of the weaker episodes, not awful but simply less interesting. Tom Paris has a body swap with alien and this alien is pretending to be Tom. “The Omega Directive” sounds interesting, even starts out interesting, but it ultimately disappoints because it never really gets interesting. It is not bad, but when an episode starts like that, you expect a “Year of Hell” kind of episode, which it definitely is not. “Unforgettable” well, is also kind of forgettable, pun intended! About an alien woman asking for asylum on Voyager. She spend a few weeks on the ship earlier but no one remembers her. Their people have ways to erase knowledge of them from other species. It is not bad, but a bit bland. Guest starring: Virginia Madsen, directed by: Andrew J Robinson. “Living Witness” is step up from the last 3 episodes. The Doctor’s back-up module is found, his program is brought on-line for the first time in seven hundred years. In the future, Kyrian Museum of Heritage teaches a history that writes Voyager as playing a detrimental role in beginning their Great War with the Vaskans. The Doctor, who is the only living witness, sets the record straight but this causes violence and destruction. Note - With past viewings I found this episode more entertaining than with this viewing, cannot explain it.

“Demon” is an interesting episode where our Voyager crew is being replicated in order for them to be able leave the planet. Of course we know these replicated versions will return later on. “One” is a very strong Seven of Nine episode where she is forced to be alone on the ship with only the doctor for a month or so because the crew has to be in stasis chambers to get trough an unavoidable poisonous nebula. Season 4 ends with two episodes, “One” is the first one where Jeri Ryan stretches her acting skills. The other one is “Hope and Fear” where an alien visitor named Arturis (Ray Wise) (virtually a living universal translator) interprets a damaged five-month-old data stream message from Starfleet Command, leading Voyager's crew to the Dauntless, an unmanned Starfleet rescue ship. Its novel "quantum slipstream drive" offers a quick trip home to Earth. Janeway wants to be happy but this feels all-too-convenient and of course that is what it turns out to be. Some really nice Seven-Janeway scenes, Seven is apprehensive to go back to earth.

Final Word:

As I said, this season Star Trek: Voyager really flourishes, it is not one but several ticks up from the previous seasons. I dare say this is one of the best seasons of Voyager, perhaps even the best. But I will come back to this after I am finished with my rewatch! Adding Seven of Nine to the cast did hit the mark, it has had even more impact than adding Worf to Deep Space Nine. I think I like to grade Voyager’s 4^th season with an 8.5/10.

Screencaps - Taken from TrekCore