At the end of the 3^rd season and in season 4 I really was excited with the Borg, but I do think they were used too often and Voyager won too many times, so that the Borg no longer were the feared adversaries we were used to in The Next Generation. I thought Species 8742 was a really interesting foe. A Species even stronger than the Borg was nicely done.

As I said, there are too many episodes which failed badly if you ask me. This is subjective of course because thankfully we do not all have the same taste. I am gonna mention them here quickly and I am not going to say too much about it. “The Chute”, really didn’t like the episode, a heavy episode which didn’t work well for me. Although Janeway is for me the one positive thing with some great scenes. “False Profits” falls flat for me too, a bad Ferengi episode. Perhaps the worst one for me was “Sacred Ground”, After Kes is injured by an energy field on a planet's sacred ground, Janeway must undergo a spiritual quest in order to save her life. One word: Boring! “Warlord” is a close 2^nd if you ask me, where Kes gets invaded by a sadistic ruler and Kes is fighting him all the way. Jennifer Lien does a good job, but it is really annoying to watch, not in a good way. This is the first episode where Kes and Neelix go their separate ways. I really wasn’t a fan of “Darkling” where the doctor becomes violent after upgrading himself with several historical characters. It actually was annoying seeing him behaving this way. “Favorite Son”, An ensign Kim episode was also not my cup of tea when it suddenly looks like Ensign Kim is not from Earth but from a planet they are flying towards. These, for me, were my least favorite episodes of the season, episodes which I would rate 5/10 or lower.

That still leaves us 20 episodes, and no, I don’t rate these all 7.5/10 or higher, but a large number of these 20 remaining episodes do. Basics Part 2 is the first episode of season three. In the past I would rate this episode better than I do now. It’s because I really can’t stand these Kazon, really dislike them and it really annoys me that they are able to take over Voyager. Again Suder (Brad Dourif) and the Doctor have the best scenes, trying to get rid of the Kazon on Voyager. We also learned that Seska’s kid wasn’t Chakotay’s. A shame about Suder’s fate, on the other hand, he becomes a true hero! “Flashback” was Voyager’s 30^th Anniversary episode where we spend time with Sulu on the Excelsior. It was really fun to see Sulu one more time in action as captain, but the episode is not in the same league as Ds9’s 30^th Anniversary episode Trials and Tribble-ations.

I actually really love the episode “The Swarm” where Voyager must go through a part of space that belongs to a species who does not tolerate aliens to pass through their space. Around it would take 15 months at the highest warp speed. The doctor’s programming is degrading, very soon he does not know anything anymore. Kes and B’Elanna call in the help of dr. Zimmerman of Jupiter station to help. One of the best episodes this season in my humble opinion, the B-story was also very interesting, the Swarm were in one episode more interesting than the Kazon in 2 seasons. I think they could have done more with this aggressive alien species. I was not looking forward to “Remember” but I actually enjoyed it more than with previous viewings, the last 20 minutes of the episode made me realize it actually had a deeper story which is interesting and reminding me of current times we live in, not literally of course! Still not a great episode.

“Future’s End” is undoubtedly not only one of my favorite episodes this season. I would rate this two-parter at 9/10. Really fantastic time travel tale where the Voyager crew must fight against a 20^th century businessman Henry Starling (Ed Begley Jr.) with 29^th century tech. For the Doctor this episode means from now on he gets more freedom because of the 29^th century tech the mobile emitter which allows him to leave sickbay. “The Q and the Grey” was a very enjoyable Q episode. I have to say I am not a fan of most Q episodes but till now the ones on Voyager are entertaining. In this episode Q wants to marry Janeway and have a child together to create a new kind of Q! Janeway rejects the idea and Q’s girlfriend agrees with her! “Macrocosm” is the episode where Captain Janeway becomes Die Hard’s John McClane to fight a macro-virus. Very entertaining episode, nice to see Janeway becoming the action hero here.

“Fair Trade” is a Neelix episode, rather an okay episode where Neelix is afraid his usefulness is coming to an end because till now he was a guide for Janeway but beyond the current Necrit Expanse, he has no knowledge of. Under influence of fellow Talaxian he meets, he does some shady things which Janeway is very disappointed about. “Alter Ego” was not a favorite of mine, just an average episode where an alien uses the holodeck to interact with the crew. The alien wants Tuvok but he rejects her. First inkling of the start of something between Torres and Paris. “Coda” was one of the better episodes this season. A time-loop episode which I am mostly not really fond of, but this was better than I remembered. Janeway supposedly dies and from the other side her father comes to help her cross over. But is he who he says he is? An emotional memorial after Janeway’s death, reference again to Paris and Torres by Janeway, it is in the making… and why did they not let Chakotay and Janeway end up together, again you see how much she cares for her and she for him, a real shame.

Another strong episode is “Blood Fever” where Vorik is undergoing the Pon Farr. The strong chemical imbalance affects B'Elanna Torres as well, leading her to irrational thoughts and behavior. She begs Tom to help her and according Tuvok she could die if he doesn’t help. But Vorik gives them another solution, a challenge to a dual. He wants to fight Paris, but B’Elanna rejects this, she wants to fight Vorik. Chakotay discovers a Borg corps, they were the invaders. B’Elanna and Tom Paris become closer yet again. “Unity” is also a Borg episode but not in the sense as we used to see the Borg. Chakotay and ensign Kaplan answer a distress call and are caught between two warring factions. Ensign Kaplan dies and Chakotay is fatally injured. The colonists, all ex-Borg, can save Chakotay's life but at the cost of his becoming part of their newly formed "Cooperative”. Meanwhile the Voyager crew discovers a dead Borg cube in space!

“Rise” was an okay episode, a Neelix and Tuvok episode. Neelix feels that Tuvok does not appreciate him and during this mission tension between these two reaches its highpoint. Tuvok and Neelix survive a shuttlecraft crash landing. Together with a motley group of aliens, they repair a mag-lev tether to rise high enough from the surface for Voyager to detect and rescue them all. “Before and After” is another above average episode where Kes seems to be traveling back in time from the time she is 9 years old and dying. Nice touch is that the episode “The Year of Hell” has already been foretold in this episode. “Real Life” was great Doctor story where he has decided he wants to have a family. The family however is too perfect according to B’Elanna and Kes and the Doctor takes on the challenge to get a more realistic family, which causes lots of hardship. B-story about Astral eddies was alright. As said, good episode, if I remember correctly, we will not ever hear or see anything about the docs family, which is a shame.

“Distant Origin” is also a great story where two Voth scientists find the remains of crewman Hogan, who died on that planet where the Kazon dropped of the Voyager crew. These Voth scientists discover that it is more than likely that they also originated on Earth. However, when the lead scientist tells this to his leaders, he gets into a lot of trouble. “Displaced” was kind of a fun episode where the Crew of Voyager is being replaced every 9 minutes. At first it seems accidental, but the captain immediately has a knot in her stomach. This appears to be the tactic of these people, to conquer without bloodshed. The Tom & B’Elanna relationship is touched upon again in this episode. “Worst Case Scenario” is a mediocre episode in my opinion where the crew is engulfed in a holo-novel of which the writer is anonymous. This seems like a game to the Voyager crew but actually Tuvok wrote it at the beginning of their journey as a training program, because he foresaw mutiny from the Maquis crew, which never happened. Seska apparently had muddled with the program when she still was onboard Voyager.

The season finale “Scorpion” Part One is a topnotch episode where not only the Borg are back, but also another new vicious enemy called Species 8472. At least this is the designation given by the Borg. Voyager has arrived at Borg space. They’ve detected a corridor through which Voyager could travel through. But soon Voyager finds out that The Borg themselves are running from a new enemy, species 8472, they are relentless. Kes has formed a bond with one of them and she realizes they are pure evil. Janeway proposes a deal with the Borg, because of this deal, the Borg actually has a chance against Species 8472.

Final Word:

The season finale ends with a cliff-hanger and definitely tries (and in part succeeds) to mimic Star Trek: The Next Generation’s The Best of Both Worlds, which also aired at the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4. All in all, I enjoyed the season, strangely enough also the average episodes. I would rate the 3^rd season with a 7/10. It bit too many below par episodes to give it a higher rating. As said, this season also has some really good episodes so there is a lot to enjoy with a new rewatch!

Screencaps taken from: TrekCore.com