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"The Gift"
Air Date: September 10, 1997
Star Date: Unknown

9/22/97 Update
9/15/97 Update

PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. Once a file hits 100K it's time to give the episode a rest!! You're welcome to send in addition nits and I will keep them on file but I won't be adding to this file any longer unless something really spectacular comes in!

Once disconnected from the Borg Collective, Seven of Nine's human biological components begin to reassert themselves, putting Seven of Nine's life in danger. Though Janeway knows that Seven of Nine would prefer to return to the Borg, she orders holodoc to being removing the Borg technology. Meanwhile, Kes's recent experience with Species 8472 awakes new psychic abilities that allow her to see beyond the subatomic level to a new reality where matter, energy and thought are combined. When Seven of Nine seizes an opportunity and attempts to send a message to the Borg, Kes uses these new powers to stop her. Unfortunately, Kes soon begins phasing to the new reality, endangering the ship in the process. Eventually, everyone agrees that she must leave for Voyager to survive and just in time she departs in a shuttle. Before diappearing from our reality, however, Kes gives Voyager one last gift. She emits an energy burst which propells the Voyager all the way across Borg space, shortening the crew's trip home by ten years. Meanwhile, holodoc completes the removal of eighty-two percent of Seven of Nine's Borg hardware, dresses her in a catsuit and presents her to Janeway. Having rediscovered her individuality, Seven of Nine tells Janeway that she will not attempt to contact the Borg again.

Brash Reflections

Some nice moments here. A necessary transition show so there was some housekeeping to do but all in all, I enjoyed it.

The pattern continues from last episode. Seven of Nine can't seem to get her pronouns straight. Sometimes, she says "I", sometimes "we", sometimes "this drone." A bit moe consistancy would have been nice but, hey, maybe she flunked Borg Grammar 101!

The "Don't Give Picard a Straight Answer" syndrome is alive and well on Voyager also. Two or three times in this episode, crewmembers call Janeway and tell her something to the effect, "You'd better get down here." I guess it would be too much to expect that crewmembers would give their captain a short synopsis of the problem so that their commanding officer could decide for herself whether or not her presence was required!

Nice of Kes to give Voyager a kick but I couldn't help wonder if Janeway--while attempting to look enthralled at the outcome--was thinking, "That's it?! That's it?! A stinking, measely 9.5 thousand lights years?! Couldn't she just slow it down a bit so that the ship wouldn't fly apart and send us all the way home?!?!!! (Just joking!)

There's more but I'll leave it to you, fellow nitpickers.

Phil

Reflections from the Guild

(Note from Phil: I have verified these reflections but they sounded good to me!)

Murray JD Leeder: And what a gift it is! Amazing that the spoilers didn't reveal THAT (at least not my sources, anyway. Thank God for small miracles). But a surprisingly good episode (some of it was too much like "Cold Fire" though.) It's too bad we had a scene with the Doctor mourning her loss.

First of all, Janeway is stupid to keep 7 of 9 at all. I mean, sure she's necessary for the repairs but after that just toss her into space! (or leave her on a planet) Surely she has heard about how the Borg actively attempted to retrieve Hugh? (granted, it's possible that was just because they were in the neighbourhood, and the Borg probably wouldn't bother because they're rebuilding after the Species 8472 war, but still...)

While sedated, watch 7 of 9 as Doc says "Aye Captain". Her neck twitches!

Don't you think you'd have visual problems if just one of your eyes had increased acuity?? (Note from Phil: Of course, Seven of Nine is probably used to it being a Borg and all!)

Shouldn't the bridge have called Tuvok when 7 of 9's attempt to send a message right away? So that he doesn't find out from... *ahem* unorthodox channels.

Well, at least she didn't say that Janeway was "worse than the Borg"!

Good job shooting the Borg attacking your captain, Ayala!

Is that duct tape on 7 of 9's shoulder?!? They still use duct tape in the 24th century? Red Green would be so proud...

Obviously Vulcans make money, unlike the humans! (Note from Phil: Apprently! After all, the Vulcan did double the price on the lamp!)

Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON - Until the Borg equipment is removed from the hull, the special fx people can't use the usual flybys they were using from the last three seasons. (Note from Phil: On that note, does it seem to anyone else that the Voyager shots are all computer generated now?)

The point of view from the Borg in ST:FC seemed more distorted than 7 o 9's

7 o 9 used the words "we" and "us" in almost every reference to herself but she used "I" a lot in the last episode.

If the Holo-Doc can make such an authentic looking eye why couldn't they do the same for LaForge?

The way Kim was trying to make small talk to 7 o 9, and the way he said "Stupid question" it almost makes me think that he was trying a pick up line on her. (Note from Phil: Patience, patience. If you believe it, it will happen . . . especially once Kim gets a look at Seven of Nine's new look. Way to go, Harry. Make a pass at her when she's still Borgerfied and she'll think you really love her for her soul!)

At least in this episode they had a plausable reason why Neelix got some lines in this episode. Not like the last one.

Major KMYF between Kes and Janeway.

What a surprise, another shuttle lost.

When Tuvok was attempting to meld with Kes and give her more control, it seemed that time was of the essense. Was there a reason why one cannot walk and meld at the same time? (Note from Phil: It's like chewing gum. Takes a lot on concentration.)

The same problem with the DS9 episode "The Muse". What excatly is the main plot of this episode anyway? Kes or 7 o 9? (Note from Phil: Yes.)

Joseph Pintar of New Hartford, NY: I just saw the Voyager episode "The Gift." Good episode. I'm going to miss Kes and her much improved hairstyle. Just when you like their hair, they leave. What are you going to do.

This episode was directed by Anson Williams, Potsie from Happy Days. He has also directed episodes of Hercules, Xena, and Melrose Place. With Voyager, he has quite a diverse directing resume, huh?

When the warp core is being reactivated, the crew is measuring in cochrans. What's a cochran? A unit of measurement named after O.J. Simpson defense attorney Johnny Cochran? That would be an interesting story about how that came about, if true. (Note from Phil: Cochrane comes from Zephram Cochrane, the "inventor" of warp drive--at least for humans. He was featured in the latest Trek movie, Star Trek: First Contact.)

Is it me or is Janeway basically forcing humanity on Seven of Nine? It remind of TNG episode in which Picard is teaching a human boy raised by aliens about humanity (I can't remember the exact episode title.). I think Picard made the right decision in that episode, but Janeway made the wrong decision here. Then again, Janeway's actions could be the result of necessity. That is, she needs the cooperation of Seven of Nine to get the ship running again after the Borg assimilated it. (Note from Phil: Janeway most definitely forced individuality on Seven of Nine. Sort of like cult deprogramming, dontcha know! And, I will leave it to you to decide on the ethical issues involved.)

Shane Tourtellotte: What, no wrapping? Not even a bow? Just 9500 light-years and seeya later? I knew I would have preferred a deathbed scene. At least you could understand *why* that was happening.

Rant mode off. Nitpicker mode on.

Why is everybody so cavalier about getting close to Good Old 8:53? (Think about it a minute.) Connected to the collective or not, doesn't she still have assimilation nanoprobes at the ready? At least The Doctor removed them later on, so this won't be a nit every week.

The Doctor couldn't remove some armor plating in 7o9's head because of nano-level anchoring. Might it not be possible to beam it out? Remember, he once performed a transporter delivery.

I suppose a human eye, cloned from the one she still has, would have been less functional than an artificial organ. Still, it would have been nice if The Doctor had mentioned the possibility. I mean, we aren't too far from doing that ourselves.

During their early meditation, Tuvok tells Kes to focus on the flame at the subatomic level. All those little balls I saw whizzing around: they sure looked like atoms to me, or what we all learned to expect atoms to look like in school, with the Bohr model and all. That's atomic level, not subatomic.

Oh, and why didn't Tuvok have this meditation flame around in "Cold Fire", Kes's previous experience with enhanced telekinesis? Made the poor thing work with a cup of coffee. Not very dignified; not very Vulcan. (Okay, unless it was Vulcan coffee. ;-) (Note from Phil: No doubt Kes was still in her "secretarial phase" at this point.)

Our two 47s for the day: The communications node 7o9 accesses has the serial number 59S47B; and Kes went into cellular flux in the mess hall for 17.4 seconds -- a reverse 47, behind the back, nothing but net. ;-)

And about that cellular flux in the mess hall: do you suppose Neelix's cooking was responsible all along?

For once, they get some use out of losing a shuttle, but again, nobody seems concerned about their dwindling numbers, and next week yet another one gets into big trouble. Yes, Voyager is back! (As if previews giving away the whole crux of upcoming episodes didn't tell you that already.)

Michael Apple: It seems our friends, the creators, have entered "the zone" in the past few episodes of Voyager. They even managed to seamlessly continue "Scorpion" into "The Gift". This impresses me, because, like TNG's "Best of Both Worlds", the crew has experienced a traumatic event, and instead of simply continuing on, like nothing happened, the creators have explored the changes the characters have experienced. Kudos.

Now, before I begin to rip this story apart, I'd like to contribute an anti-nit. Last week, we all nitpicked the idea of Seven of Nine having more difficulty with individuality than Hugh. After all, Hugh had been a Borg his whole life.

But actually, it does make more sense that Seven of Nine would have a tougher time of it. Now, we all know that the Star Trek novels are non- canon, but Seven of Nine's situation parallels that of another female Borg, who was separated from the Collective in "Vendetta", by Peter David. The Borg had been a smuggler, assimilated years before the Borg had contact with the Federation. As Geordi LaForge tries to help her return to her normal human life, it is so difficult for her that she eventually commits suicide. This is the same as Seven of Nine's problem. She was aware of what it was to be human, before she was made Borg. Now that she is returning to being human, her emotions are returning as well and the strain (from being human, to being Borg, then back to human) threatens to rip her apart. Dramatic, isn't it? :)

Now for Nits:

I found the scene between Kes and Neelix to be most amusing. Finally, the creators show the confrontation between them, when Neelix asks why she left him. And how does she respond... SHE STALLS! That's because there was no reason! The creators simply wanted to turn her into the "babe" of the show, and the idea crumbled when she decided to leave. The relationship between the characters was so strong, that even now the creators couldn't come up with a good reason for the break-up. (Isn't this like the "Klingons' appearance" discussion from DS9 "Trials and Tribbleations"? They couldn't come up with a good reason there either.)

Tuvok states that there is nothing beyond the sub-atomic level. What about quarks? They are definitely smaller than sub-atomic particles like neutrons and electrons. Unless Tuvok included quarks as sub-atomic particles, which would expand the title to include everything smaller than atoms. But in that case, Tuvok would just sound silly saying "There is nothing smaller than sub-atomic particles," because anything smaller would just be instantly included under the title. (What kind of scientist IS this guy? No wonder he's stuck in Security.)

When the doctor suddenly started babbling on, when Janeway and Seven of Nine talk in sickbay, didn't that seem out of character? The acting seemed to be a little strained when I watched it. (Note from Phil: Maybe he likes Seven of Nine too!)

An observation: When Kes mentioned that she was going to give the Voyager crew a gift, and then the shuttle glowed. I thought maybe she was going to make a whole ton of shuttles out of the one they gave her. After the death toll that's mounted up on those things they sure could use more! (And they lost one this episode, and they will apparently lose another next week... Will the insanity never end? :)

One last nit: When Kes transforms, she turns into a creature of light. Why does every transformation turn the person into a creature of light? It happened in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, in ST:TNG "Transfigurations", and now in "The Gift." The writers should really have more creativity.

David D. Porter: Well, the opening flyby shot is a plus for the continuity folks; V-ger's hull still has the nanoprobe torpedo modifications.

Great line: "A reasonable diagnosis -- for a security officer." And later, the converse.

Hmmm. Maybe the almost-omnipotent Q didn't know about 7/9's parents? It was a good try by the scriptwriters to explain an assimilation several years before "Q Who."

Again Captain Janeway shows the willingness to make decisions contrary to the known wishes of the patient. Remember Tuvix?

Looks like this willl be the ultimate (in more ways than one!) 'Use the Force, Kes' episode.

Why isn't Chakotay, who *has* group-mind experience, helping with 7/9's 'weaning?'

Janeway must have been real persuasive to get 7/9 to help with the 'purification' of the engineering systems. Doesn't 7/9 still want to get back to the collective?

Doesn't Tuvok remember bleeding from his eyes the last time he tried to get Kes to see the subatomic essence of something? (Note from Phil: The guy is an eternal optimist I tell you!)

After 7/9's bit about 'attempts to assimilate this drone,' I really was hoping Janeway would say, 'resistance is futile!'

More of Janeway's 'Big Sister' act. 'You don't agree with me, so you obviously aren't competent to make a decision.' It's kind of unsettling. Phil, would you call this Kirkanization? (Note from Phil: I gotta admit that it's kind of nice to have a captain again who has the attitude, "I'm right. You're wrong. Sit down and be quiet." Now if we could only get that fear and trepidation look out of her eyes . . . ;-)

9/15/97 Update

Dave Pack of Newfoundland: I just finished watching The Gift. Overall a very good episode. I believe I picked up a few nits and I have a few comments too. First, I think that when Janeway was reading the stardate when 7 of 9 was born it was something like 25473. 47 being the operative number.

I think that a little more explanation into what happened to Kes would have been nice. Especially since they are now 9.5 thousand light years away from her last location and they'll probably never see her again. (Note from Phil: Of course, she does live in some kind of trans-dimensional domain now!)

Overall, a great episode and I'm sure we'll all miss Kes, prehaps she'll be back for a mysterious guest appearance :-)

Adam Howarter of Stow, Ohio: An interesting episode indeed. Of course as has already been pointed out Janeway comes down with what I call EDDINGTON'S desease. You know "**Everyone** wants to join the Federation, and nobody leaves paradise...*EVER*." Other examples of this is the fact that dispite the fact the Dominion have laid claim to the gamma quadrant, Starfleet still sends ship there (kinda makes you wonder who invaded who.) Janeway says "... you were part of a group, a collective..." I'm screaming "YOU MEAN A FAMILY!!" something this poor girl won't have once they get back "Home."

BTW... of the two main characters that have left their respective Star Trek series (Tasha Yar and now Kes) both were blond women, hmmmm. Add to this yoman Rand form TOS we have to wonder if maaaaaybeeee....naaaaa.

Johnson Lai: Looks like Mr. Ayala has been a bad boy. I'm pretty certain he held a "lieutenant" rank in one of the previous episodes. Now, he's only an ensign.

Kevin Weiler: Pretty good episode. Nice transition from the previous two.

I'm not really sure about this one, but did anyone else notice that 7o9's prosthetic on her left eye seem to wobble a bit when her head moved?( Like a computer added animation. It wasn't quite in sync with her head.)

At the end of the episode I was left wondering if Kes would run into John Doe.

Next week: Beauty and the Beast.....in Space!! (I assume you can guess which one is the beast. *snicker snicker*)

Kevin Weiler: One more thing I thought I'd add to this episode.

I thought the same thing when I heard 7o9 was assimilated 18 years ago. I liked the way the Voyager writers worked the "adventurer parents" into the explination. A warp capable shuttle can get pretty far in about the 10 years they were out there. Too bad there adventure was cut short!

Lisa Solinas: Ruminations: I was very happy when Janeway and Chakotay had a perfectly platonic-sounding conversation in the last episode and it carried over to this one.

Great line: "Red"--Seven, describing her favorite color as a tot. This isn't witty or spectacular, but it shows that she remembers some of her childhood. Sniffle.

Bestest lines: The exchange between Tuvok and the Doctor about medical and security measures.

We get plenty of lovely body-pans of Seven.

And of course we couldn't have her in ANYthing but a tight silver catsuit, could we?

Has Harry been taking lessons from Bashir? "Ways to offend the opposite sex in five easy lessons"?

When non-corporeal Kes tosses the Voyager across Borg space, shaving ten years off the trip, Tom yells that their speed is impossible. Sez who, Tommy? You broke the warp barrier!

The brainy Vulcan Tuvok tries to mind meld with an Ocampa who is turning into a being he knows nothing about? Help.

Torres reminds me of O'Brian in this episode with all her griping about the Borg "circus circuitry."

After accidently tossing Neelix across the room, Kes drops to the floor and her body from the ribcage up turns whitish and wavery. The holodoc later says that her body flew apart at the subatomic level. Then how does it retain her features?

Tony H Forbes: Nice episode! I figured out Kes' little "transformation into energy" deal about halfway through though. Since I just finished watching the episode, I'll range my nits backwards.

Okay! Let's see...7/9 seems submissive all of a sudden at the end of the episode. Very accepting of her fate. Also, the Doctor had been crawling about at a snail's pace in removing 7/9's implants earlier. I don't know how much time passes before Kes' transformation and the ending bit in the Cargo Bay, but it is a very sudden thing. The doctor suddenly managed without a nurse and removed most of 7/9's implants.

The security guard in the brig. Okay, I just watched the episode and I admit I can't remember his name, but it seemed familiar. Granted it was probably in some earlier Voyager episode, but was he in a DS9 or NextGen episode? Actually, all that stuff wasn't really a nit, but this is. It takes a lot of buttons to push to raise and lower the force fields.

7/9 knocks Kim out, and he stumbles into the security guard. He's got a phaser. WHY DOESN'T HE SHOOT HER?

It strikes me as odd that every time an alarm goes off in sick bay, the doctor has to run from the table to the console. Shouldn't the console face the table for easier access? Also, why can't the doctor just link with the computer to find out what the problem is?

Starfleet Captains must really get sick with the way they get paged. It's always, "Sir, I think you should see this." Why can't people explain anything?

Joshua Truax: Well... we've known about Kes leaving Voyager for a few months now, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who wondered how they were going to write her out of the series. For most of the episode, I was certain I was going to be royally disappointed. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Jennifer Lien's departure, or of what we may have thought of her character, the fact remains that Kes was a big part of the Voyager ensemble, yet up until the final act it seemed that even in her swan song, Kes was taking a back seat to Seven of Nine. Fortunately, the writers wised up in the end, and in fact enabled Kes to quite literally go out with a bang! I do realize how hard it must have been for the writers to introduce a new character and give an old character a good sendoff in the same script, so all things considered I thought they did a good job under the circumstances...

Actually, we all should have seen Kes's departure coming, even long before it was announced. Granted, hindsight is always 20/20, but we should have realized that something was up when the creators unceremoniously ended her romance with Neelix in "Warlord". Also in retrospect, I wonder whether "Before and After" wasn't their way of showing us all the Kes stories we'd otherwise never get to see - a sort of "It's a Wonderful Life" in reverse?

Nitpicking time: How come they've gotten rid of everyone's (except the captain's) rank in the opening credits? Robert Beltran's character is now displayed simply as "Chakotay" instead of "Commander Chakotay," Robert McNeill's as "Tom Paris" instead of "Lieutenant Tom Paris," etc. I actually noticed this while dubbing the season premiere, but by then I had long since sent out my e-mail for this episode, so I decided to save it for this one...

At one point Janeway tells 7/9 that she has met people who have regained their individuality after being assimilated by the Borg. Evidently Janeway's just pulling 7/9's tube. Up until now, the only people known to have recovered from assimilation are Jean-Luc Picard, Hugh and Lore's Borg from "Descent" [TNG]. Has Janeway really met any of these ex-Borg? (There is one possibility here, but it's a longshot: In "The Loss" [TNG], Troi mentions an Ensign Janeway on board the Enterprise-D. If this is a relative of Kathryn's, then it's possible that Kathryn was introduced to Picard by her relative. Then again, I don't recall this mysterious relative ever being mentioned either in any Voyager episode or in the novel "Mosaic", which Jeri Taylor wrote as Janeway's "biography"... (Note from Phil: Didn't the people from "Unity" survive assimilation?!)

Even Kes's final, noble act is fair game for nitpicking, and two big ones come to mind. First, flash back to "Q Who" [TNG]. Q hurls the Enterprise-D into sector J25, two or three "warp-years" from Federation space, where it encounters a Borg cube. Guinan later tells Picard that her people used to live in this neck of the galactic woods, until the Borg destroyed their homeworld a century ago. Evidently the Borg have maintained a permanent presence in and around sector J25 for at least a century. Yet in this episode, as Kes flashes out of existence, she drop-kicks Voyager 9,500 light-years away, and the dialogue indicates that they are now beyond Borg space, and ten years closer to home. That means Voyager has about 62 years left to go now, if anyone's counting. More to the point, they're also about 59 or 60 years away from sector J25. So there's almost 60 warp-years' worth of space between Borg space and sector J25 that the Borg have obviously been through (how else could they have gotten to sector J25?) and decided *not* to assimilate?! Does this seem right? (In other words, somehow I doubt we've seen the last of the Collective on Voyager...)

Kes's final act also creates a nit in the episode "Before and After". In that episode, Kes lives out her 9-year lifespan aboard Voyager. A few months into the future, Voyager encounters the Krennam, thus beginning the so-called "Year of Hell". As you may or may not already be aware, the Krennam are supposed to return sometime next month in a two-parter to be titled (you guessed it) "The Year of Hell". Since this would take place a few months after "Before and After", it seems to fit the time frame depicted in that episode... but wait: Since Kes never flashes out of existence in "Before and After", she never gets to punt Voyager ten warp-years closer to home, meaning that even at the time of Kes's "death" at the beginning of that episode, Voyager should still be at least a couple of years away from Krennam space. In other words, they should never have encountered the Krennam at all in that episode! (Note from Phil: Unless, of course, that was some kind of alternate future thingy like "All Good Things.")

Clay Johnson: David D. Porter speaks about how Kes made Tuvok bleed from his eyes. I assumed that the male Ocampa who visited Voyager made Kes able to do this by allowing her mind to access his powers. I also felt that he didn't like Tuvok and it was his doing that made Kes make Tuvok bleed. Maybe I'm wrong, but what do you think? (Note from Phil: Hard to know for sure!)

Brian Straight, Shawnee, Kansas.: Well this was certainly an interesting episode. It really seems like Voyager has a great year planned for us! I even heard, in a article, one of the creators said "we're going to tear the (expletive delted) out of the ship.." for a November sweeps epoisode! I have a feeling I'm going to get a weekly sickness, having to excuse myself from work, every Wednesday now!

It's now the fourth season, is anyone else ready for a new opening sequence? They've obviuously mastered CGI graphics now, so why not treat us to something new? (Note from Phil: Those opening sequences are expensive!)

Seven was born on Stardate 25479, it is now stardate 51000 (or something), that would maker her, about 25 years old (assuming 1000 units euals a year), and she was assimilated when she was 8. The problem here isn't with her age, but more with Starfleet's (or the creator's) quirky idea of stardating. Several times in The Next Generation stardates prior to the first season of TNG where simply refered to as Stardate 40.... regardless if it was twenty years prior, or one. It would be much easier if the creators just used normal calendar dates, it's not like they stopped using them (I KNOW I've heard regular dates used), or use a "treker's stardare" like today would be Stardate 9709.11 (or something). Because this method get's complicated, and has gotten the creators into a lot of trouble.

The crewmembers working on removing the borg technology from Voyager's hull must be camera shy, whenever we see an outside shot of the ship no one seems to be working on it.

if Voyager's engines are down, howcome the engines are lit? And there's something fishy about the way the warpcore looks when it isn't working. IT still has that swirly-cloud effect thing in there, it just dosen't move.

Granted Voyager is now 10 years closer tohome, but looking at the whole scheme of things, it really dosen't help. Granted, they are clear out of Borg space, but what if Kes caused them to miss a stable wormhole, or a species willing to help Voyager get home, or a dirlect ship that had a working transwarp drive, or something... And they still have another, like, 60 year trip. Although one could argue Kes just brought them 10 years closer to any of the aforementioned possiblities to get home.

The Doctor has to remove part of Seven's skull to remove the Borg implants. Was the smae done to Picard? Or was Beverly more patient with removing the implants? (Note from Phil: Or maybe Picard's implants weren't as extensive because he was only a part of the collective for a matter of days!)

The Doctor gets frustrated when Tuvok stands in his way. Why not make himself walk-throughable and pass right through him?

The Doctor gives Seven a "normal" eye. From my understanding in the dialouge. So will we see Geordi with the samething in the next TNG feature?

Obvioulsy the Borg give their drones an armor that appears to be solid metal, but isn't. As Kes stops Seven's seisure Seven breaths heavily, and her "armor" rises up and down with her stomach. And during many close ups of Seven's face the part of her Borg armor around her neck, bends and flexes like rubber too.

Obviously baldness is a fashion-trend in the 24th century, because medical science can stimulate hair folicles and cause hair growth.

Warp technology, transporters, holodecks, and still scientists in the 24th century haven't discovered that there's something in between the molecules and sub-atomic particles in an object? Something that I'm sure even present day scientists are open to.

And finally, during the closing pull back (haven't gotten away from them yet), I was able to use Tuvok's body to figure out the height of the doors along Voyager's rim (the very doors that were opened in Scorpion II to eject the Borg)., as they are seen at the end of the pull-back. As I said in my nits of that episode the doors seemed very large, and figured three Borg could be stacked ontop of eachother and make up the height of the opening. I estimated this made the opening between 18 and 20 feet. But Tuvok only fits in the door once, with a little room left over, so it must only be about 10 feet tall (the height of you're average "story" or deck).

Josh Truax of Platteville, WI: It just occurred to me this morning that Voyager's creators have done more than just written out one character and introduced a new one. By also flinging Voyager ten warp-years away from where they were, the creators have, for all intents and purposes, re-invented the series, giving it a fresh start in a completely new part of the galaxy. (Indeed, some would say that a fresh start is just what this series needed!)

One more thing: In my humble opinion, [the individuals in "Unity"] don't count [as having survived assimilation]. They still remain linked to one another through those neural transceivers. Indeed, at the end of "Unity" the Cooperative defeated would-be plunderers by "assimilating" them into the Cooperative against their will.

Trevor Ruppe: Q: What do you get when you combine "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (TOS) and "Suddenly Human" (TNG)? A: "The Gift"--one of the most predictable hours of TREK ever.

Was anybody *really* surprised that Seven ended up as a typical "non-regulation-uniformed blond babe with a Starfleet communicator," and VOYAGER's answer to TNG's "I'm-becoming-more-human" Data? Was anybody *really* surprised when the "Kesgoddess" sent the ship closer to home?

Only three problems come to mind:

Since she's already more human than Borg, why not start referring to her as "Annika" instead of "Sevenofnine"?

The Creators prove in this episode that they knew they were making a continuity error when they claimed the 18-yrs-ago Borg contact, so rather than waste script space explaining how she was the First Ever Human Assimilated, why not just have her be from Wolf 359 or "First Contact" and let it go at that? (Note from Phil: Personally, I found the explanation of her parents being rough explorers to be very plausible!)

Since the Creators sat down and came up with the Gary-Mitchell-style exit for Kes, they could've given her the ability to send the crew ALL THE WAY HOME--but she didn't only because they didn't want her to. So now it's 60 yrs instead of 70, huh? Yawn.

Finally, about next week's episode: is anyone else sick of the let's-let-all-the-characters-on-DS9-and-VOY flirt-with-each-other-endlessly? I'd like to see Belanna look Paris in the eye and say "We're going to die, so there's something I have to tell you..." (dramatic KMYF pause) "...YOU GET ON MY NERVES!"

All in all, an incredible let-down after such a strong opening to the season. Hopefully they're getting the worst episodes of the season out of the way NOW so the rest of the season will be great.

ALEX OTIS: I love Voyager's new look. I am glad they have kept it so far. There was a major KMYF between Kes and the Captain during Kes's "I have to leave" speach. Kes warping Voyager out of Borg space was a big cop-out. At least we know that we haven't seen the last of the Borg. They are too good an enemy.

Bob Canada: This was a pretty good episode, considering it was directed by Potsie. Although it suffered in the end from OOOTS (Oops, Out Of Time Syndrome). Everything was going along and progressing nicely, then suddenly in under 5 minutes Kes starts tearing the ship apart and has to leave and 7 Of 9 has an abrupt change of heart. Shoulda been a 2 parter, or split into 2 episodes.

Finally, Tuvok uses the neck pinch. I was beginning to think he'd forgotten how to do it. Maybe it doesn't work on Delta Quadrant aliens?

I realize that every year computer technology and storage capacity increase, but is the ENTIRE Federation database really stored onboard Voyager? Even down to photos and detailed history of citizens who disappeared 20 years ago?

The Doctor states that removing the Borg headpiece from 7 Of 9 is "like peeling an onion." Has the Doc ever really peeled an onion. Maybe when he was in his family simulation (BTW, is he still doing that?). (Note from Phil: Then again, he does have the collected "wisdom" of all those doctors and that is something that McCoy might say!)

Obviously Tuvok deactivated the ships fire-suppression mechanisms before he and Kes started playing with fire in his quarters.

At least 2, and possibly 3 47s this episode. (1) Tuvok says Kes' body was destabilized for 17.4 seconds. (2).Annika (7 Of 9) was born on Stardate: 2547.9. (3) work with me on this one--7 Of 9 talks about Species 259. 2 + 5 = 7. 9 - 5 = 4. I know, that ones strecthing it a bit, but it works.

That security guard posted in engineering when 7 Of 9 cold-cocked Harry was worthless! He wasn't even facing her direction!

Shouldn't the Structural Integrity Field intensify itself automatically when a bulkhead comes apart, instead of waiting for Chakotay to order it?

Another bald joke by the Doc. Again I ask, if its bothering him, why not just programsome hair. Every time we see a future timeline he's got hair, so...

7 Of 9 seemed to get over her collective-disconnection trauma awfully fast. And last week, she was connected to the collective and kept referring to herself as "I," now she's disconected and keeps referring to herself as "this drone."

Hopefully there'll be an explanation as to why, a few episodes from now, Neelix's Ocampan lung doesn't start glowing and trying to tear apart the ship (maybe everytime he sneezes the ship could be thrown 2 or 3 years closer to home :-) (Note from Phil: Cute! However, I got the impression that it was Kes's mind that was doing the transformation!)

Brian Lombard: Before I make this nit, I want to remind everyone that Voyager was lost before the events chronicled in "Star Trek: Generations". We know this from the given stardates. That given, I find it odd that Holodoc knew how to construct artificial eyes, long before Geordi ever acquired them in "Star Trek: First Contact". Did Starfleet have this technology for a while? You'll recall that in "Generations" Geordi still had his visor.

Mr. Ayalla's been demoted. During the first season, he was referred to as Lieutenant, yet in this episode he summons the bridge as "Ensign Ayalla".

Ed Watson: Chakotay said crews were working around the clock to remove the Borg armaments, but the exterior shots of the ship never showed anyone working on it.

The scenes with Janeway and 7o9 were great. 7o9 gave a great description of Janeway's case of WTTB. Janeway was giving her freedom to do anything she wanted, except to go home which is what she really wanted to do. She even had the great line. "Then you're no different from the Borg."

I like the way they wrote Kes out of the script. I just wish there could have been some kind of "Saying Goodbye" scene. I suppose that would have been to hoky.

To say the ending was predictable would not be exactly correct. It would be more accurate to say the ending is what I hoped would happen while watching the show. I was thinking "Wow, Kes could send them all home!....wait a minute, no she can't. The series would be over. OK, so she could send them part of the way home, at least past Borg space." I usually don't call the endings that accurately.

Harvey H. Kitzman, Jr.: Kes' gift was an interesting way to get through Borg space quickly - remember it was going to take them several months to get through it.

Also, interesting background on the parents of 7 of 9. However, if she was assimilated prior to the Enterprise-D's first encounter with the Borg, wouldn't they have started coming to the Alpha Quadrant sooner? (I know, we beat this one to death last week). (Note from Phil: Maybe not! Perhaps the Borg didn't find 7o9's parents that interesting!)

I loved Holodoc's comment about regenerating 7 of 9's hair.

I forgot a comment my wife made regarding the episode. She pointed out that 7 of 9's name Anaka (Hanake - sp?) could be a female version of Anakin - as in Anakin Skywalker who as Darth Vader was a combination of man and machine, not unlike the Borg. Could this have been a nod to Star Wars?

Michael Gurwitz, Washington, DC: Not a bad episode, held my attention.

Nit: After Kes propels Voyager 9500 light years closer to the Alpha Quadrant, Janeway boldly proclaims, "She's thrown us clear of Borg space." How does Janeway know that, since they've only been in their new location what, 5 seconds? You'd think Janeway would assume the opposite, given that the Borg already invaded the Alpha quadrant once before (to her knowledge).

I'm now proud to introduce my wife, Maria Schmit, as a new guild member. Though now a true Trek fan, she still came up with this after I told her about the episode: When Kes propelled Voyager 9500 lightyears thru space, how come Voyager didn't collide with anything (planet, asteroid, space junk)? Pretty lucky, eh? Or is Kes just that good? (Note from Phil: Welcome to the Guild, Maria!)

Mike Konczewski of Havertown, PA: "The Gift" was not bad; a good sendoff for Kes, leaving the door waaaaay open for her return in the unspecified future. Maybe she'll run into Wesley or Q in her travels.

An observation--7of9 made a good point about Janeway when she said Janeway is as bad as the Borg. Janeway is convinced that she knows what's best for everyone. Didn't she try to convince Kes to stay, without fully understanding Kes's transformation (and almost destroying the ship in the process)? Why couldn't she promise 7of9 that, if 7 still wanted to be a Borg after the period of transition, it would be okay? I'm not counting this all as a nit, cos it's just an aspect of Janeway's personality--she's a bull-headed busybody.

Nits: Tlaxian champagne--properly speaking, this should have been called either "sparkling wine" or "champagne-style sparkling wine." Only sparkling white wines made in the Champagne region of France can legally be called Champagne. Of course, this brings up the whole Romulan Ale, Vulcan Port, Aldeberan Whiskey question--why should an alien food product, made with alien foods, be named after a terrestrial product? Ease of translation, I suppose.

This episode had a serious case of PAL, and I predict the same for next week. In fact, I'll make this prediction about next week--just as B'lanna is about to tell Paris the Something Important Before She Dies, they're both going to get beamed onto the ship and get saved. Then she'll tell Paris, "Oh, never mind; it wasn't important."

Ed Ouellette: Is "Voyager" dying? I've watched the premiere and the second episode and it seems that the "Borg Babe" was added simply to get the 18-34, lonely, troubled male audience. The stories just weren't that good. Also, if the holographic doctor could figure out a way to 'rehumanize' 7 of 9 don't you think the Federation could do the same with all its vast knowledge and doctors? And if one could be brought back from the Borg collective (à la 7 of 9) does that mean that Capt. Picard can now be brought up on murder charges for his actions in "First Contact"?

Do you consider the "evolved" Kes sending the Voyager almost 10,000 light years closer to home a Deus Ex Machina? Was this the only way the writers could think of to get them out of Borg space without repeating the Kazon trap (of voyaging without making any headway)?

Is "Voyager" becoming a "Love Boat" in space? There seems to be something between Janeway and Chakotay, Torres and Paris and now (maybe) Kim and 7 of 9.

Since the doctor developed a weapon that could attack specifically those aliens who were beating the Borg (I've forgotten their name) could that weapon now be tweaked to attack any sentient group? Could this be a new genocidal weapon?

Paul MacEachern, Hudson, MA: It looks like the new edition of the Borg babe is going to be a hit.

That Starfleet Database never ceases to amaze me. The information on the human that eventually became 7 of 9 seems extremely remote to say the least. It looks like her parents were migrating all over the place, never filing a flight plan. To be blunt, why would Starfleet care??

It was obviously no mystery that 7 of 9 would remain on Voyager. I just have a feeling that her transition from Borg to human is going to be a breeze. And I hope I'm wrong. I would love to see the ongoing psychological rebuilding of this person throughout the season. We will see.

Is Janeway taking any more suggestions from anybody on Voyager anymore? She made the decision to keep 7 of 9 on Voyager against the trepidation of at least the senior staff and probably most of the crew. I guess she just made her mind up.....again.

And by the way, even though 7 of 9 is altered from her human state, doesn't she have a right as a 'Borg' to want to rejoin the collective? I think the Captain is severely violating the prime directive here. (When was the last time you heard THAT phrase on Voyager?)

Tuvok seems extremely uneven in his security of the Borg. At the beginning of the episode with 7o9 in sick bay, he was keeping such close tabs on the Borg he was getting in the doctor's way. Yet as the episode elapses, Tuvok is nowhere to be found and consequently the Borg tries to contact the collective, slamming poor Harry in the process.

I thought of a half a dozen ways they could extract Kes from the show. Kes' transcendence was really a cool way to do it.

George Angstadt of Reamstown, PA: Ok, they wanted to remove the borg armor from the hull of voyager, why? armor is armor, is it not?

The doctor put dermoplastigrafts on the borg.....looks like duct tape to me. Glad to see that its still around in the 24th century, its just being used for medical reasons.

Janeway is in the brig with the borg. The borg attacks her. The security guy is still standing there..hmmmm. If you attacked the captain of a ship today, you could probably lay money on 3 or 4 guys beating the tar out of you. She sure took a risk going in there though...the borg threatened to kill her!

Tuvok has some BIG quarters, doesn't he? on the final shot, when he puts the candle in the window, that window is huge....going by that standard, there must be about 20 people on the ship, or the bridge crew gets really big quarters, and everyone else sleeps 35 to a room. :-)

Best lines, "Not a bad diagnosis, for a security officer" and "Not a bad security measure, for a doctor"

John W. Weiss of Northfield, MN

Tuvok tells Kes to "see the flame at the subatomic level. Even a secutiry officer should know that there is no "flame at the sub-atomic level." Fire is chemical, not nuclear.

While there, Kes makes the flame more intense, "hotter" in her own words. But looking at the flame, it gets bigger! A hotter flame would turn bluer. What she did was actually make it less hot if anything.

What, in general, lights the hulls of the starships in any incarnation of Trek? THey are usually too far from the nearest star to create that kind of light. We can only assume that the vessals have flood lamps that fly along side them.

How is it that the inertial dampers can take a jump to warp or high impulse, but not a tremor from a blast? Having vital stations (tactical, helm, engineer, etc) unamanned during crutial moments of battle has to be unsafe. (Note from Phil: The Tech Manual explains that the response of the inertial dampeners is not instanaeous. For planned manuevers, it can compensate.)

Chris Booton: In my opinion, this was a very good episode , it's exploration of the human and okampin (sp?) spirits worked out very well to produce a high quality episode that was definitely one of Voyagers best to date. I think that the producers picked a very interesting way for Kes to depart (which I would rather that they didn't have her depart at all), it was much better than simply killing her character as is often done. Seven of Nines behavior and attitude towards her situation was believable in that she did not adjust to individuality easily and likely will not. As for the nits I saw (I always find it hard to find nits in good episodes but I will try)

At one point Janeway mentions Tuvoks vulcan candle thing as something he purchased 8 years ago from another Vulcan. I find it hard to believe that Vulcan's would use money of any kind, as they would see it to be illogical.

After Voyager goes out of it's hyper warp they report that they are 9500 light years away from their previous position. Original calculations gave it as 1000 light years per year so an estimate of 9 years 6 months is more accurate (but then again saying 10 years closer sounds better)

At the end seven of nine appears to be almost fully restored, when you consider that it took nearly the entire episode to get like 20% of the borg off of her this does not seem realistic (but then again perhaps the doctor was able to remove the other stuff quicker once he got rid of the hard stuff) . Not only that but after surgery that severe would she realistically be wearing a skin tight suit, but then again she looked great in it.

Not nits just obervations

Why is it that only Janeway is visibly upset when Kes leaves? Other crew members liked her just as much if not more (paris and nelix for example).

When seven of nine and Janeway fight in the brig for a short time just before they sit down Janeway gets an expression on her face like she had just been stabed or something and yet after they sit down she looks just fine.

Charles Sylvia: When Janeway is escorting Kes to the shuttle bay and Kes is reluctantly blowing up the walls behind them everyone seems to think that they need to get Kes off Voyager into a shuttle craft so she doesn't blow apart Voyager. But...why wouldn't she just blow apart the shuttle craft with her new found extremely volatile and hard to control telekenetic powers? (Even though she actually was just in the process of becoming some sort of new entity, they didn't know that, so I would think putting Kes in a shuttle is more of a death sentance for her since it would probably just rip itself apart once she got in. Of course, it didn't since at exactly the right moment, Kes stopped blowing up everything and turned into some kind of big bright transparent energy type thingy....um....yeah.)

Scott Padulsky: In response to someone's complaint that if Holo-Doc could make 7of 9 an eye, why coudn't La Forge get one. Well first, the Doc mentioned that he was incorporating her Borg implants to make it work, implying that Federation science aone wasn't enough. And second, La Forge *did* get his own eyes in First Contact.

I can't remeber the dialogue exactly but it seemed to me that they were measuring the output of the matter/anti-matter reaction in Cochranes. I thought (recalling the tech manual) that Cochranes were a measure of warp fields. Shouldn't the output of the core be measured in power (watts) or energy (joules?). I could be wrong but I always assumed that the warp field wasn't formed in the reaction chamber, but by the energy from the reaction chamber being pumped through the warp coils. The m/a-m reaction was a source of *power* for warp not a source of warp itself. Yeah I know its a show and weren't talking about stuff that doesn't exist but stuff that doesn't exist should be consistant right?

Scott F. Newton of New Brunswick, NJ: Looks like everyone caught my nits, except these:

Where's Q? shouldn't he be concerned about someone developing abilities like Kes's? (A future episode?)

What's up at the prop department? Besides the duct tape (pointed out by another nitpicker), that new eye for 7/9 looks like something you could buy at a novelty store.

I admit I'm not much on sorting through technobabbble, but I can't figure out why the Borg implants in the engines would render them inoperable. The engines seemed to work fine in the previous episode.

The TNG episode in which Picard allows a human boy to return to his non-human father was "Suddenly Human." What's the difference between that boy's situation and 7/9's? Does respect for individual choice only extend to non-ex-Borg? Never mind that leaving her behind on a planet is probably the tactically correct thing to do (as a number of nitpickers have pointed out).

A NON-NIT: Kes probably tried to get the ship all the way home, but she phased out of our universe before she could finish. (Or something like that. Like I said, I'm not much on understanding technobabble!)

Nit mode off, rant mode on.

It's only been two episdoes, and already I can't stand 7/9! She has a chip on her shoulder the size of a Borg cube. At least Hugh had a modicum of humility. (My only hope is that her personality will change over the coming episodes.) We all know what's up with this costume. As a man, I find it rather insulting that I'm supposed to be entertained by something like this. Granted, Kes was a babe, too, and so was Troi for that matter, but at least they both had brains AND a legitimate reason to be on the ship. I hope the creators are reading this because I'm disappointed that they got rid of Kes and I'm even less thrilled about this new character. After a great start to the new season, they took a major step backwards in this episode. (I knew the creators were going to make this change, but I wanted to wait until I saw the actual episode before I said anything.) Maybe it's time I started watching Drew Carey (which airs opposite Voyager in my area).

Karen Fischer, Hercules, CA: I must admit I liked the way Janeway showed 7o9 the data she found on her as a young child. Now the question I have is how long ago was she assimilated? In Scorpion II, 7o9 says that "this body was assimilated 18 years ago." Then in this episode Janeway tells Chakotay, or was it Tuvok that she was assimilated 20 years ago. Which one was it?

Did love Doc's line at the end about stimulating her hair follicles and saying it was a vicarious experience for him. Was that a smile I saw on Janeway's face when he said that?

It does look like the surrogate mother/daughter realationship thing will be more successful with Jeri Ryan than it was with Jennifer Lien. Especially since Jeri's character needs training in how to be human. Let's see what kind of job Janeway does.

Murray Leeder: I think Kes has become a Traveller... like Wesley, she noted something along the lines of "maybe space, time and thought aren't so separate after all". Plus, she super-accelerated the Voyager, just as the Traveller did the Enterprise.

Stephen Mendenhall: Why did Janeway suggest, "maybe it's all in your head," like it's a hallucination? I would have shrunk her down to doll-size, flown her around the room, and said, "how's that for a hallucination?" (Grin)

Considering she's about to leave the ship she might feel safe in "letting go" and being a little impulsive. (Grin) Why didn't Q show up like he did for the episode "True-Q"?

Brian O'Marra, Little Rock, AR: A pretty good episode. It seems to deal with the same issues of I Borg: Leave the Borg alone, or allow it to assert its individuality.

These Ocampans are amazing. Not only can they grow hair really, really fast, but they can evolve mentally even faster. Telekinesis, seeing beyond the atomic level, etc. In fact, it reminds me of the same dilemma Wesley faced in Journey's End. Once you have ascended to explore higher plains of existence, you have to leave your family behind.

One observation, maybe a nit. In Scorpion II, Doc used Borg technology to excise 8472 from Kim. The nanite probes deassimilated the creature from Kim that was eating him from the inside out. The sound effects wizards went to work: you could see and hear Kim's rapid recovery. Moments later, he is completely cured and back in action, fit for duty.

However, Doc seems to struggle with 7 of 9. Remember, 7 of 9 is a Borg. Shouldn't it be easier to use Borg technology to remove Borg technology than a completely alien assilimiation. Yet, Doc needs help from "higher-plain Kes" to do his job. In fact, for almost the entire show, 7 of 9 recovers very slowly, fighting the assimilation the entire time.

Beau Landaiche: Everyone is making this big deal about her 7o9 saying "I" instead of "we" at points. However, she only referred to the singular in the matter dimension. Also, she said that the connection to the connaction was very weak. Does it not seem logical that she would refer to herself as "I" if she is not totally connected to the Collective.

By the way, we finally see that "Baywatch" connection everyone was talking about with "Future's End" last season. Obviously, the Borg travelled back in time to 1979, captured some girl who was destined to become a lifeguard 17 years later, and brought her to the collective in the future! ;) Actually, this is probably the best Voyager episodes I've seen in a long time.

Sean Breen: I dunno if anybody's gotten to this one yet, but it's a pretty big nit if you think about it...

Recall the TNG episode "Q Who?" when the Enterprise is launched to System J25 and encounters the Borg for the first time. At System J25, we can safely assume that that is the farthest frontier of Borg space in the Delta Quadrant. However, it's also within 7,000 light years of Federation space! According to Kid Genius Wesley, it would take two years at max warp to get back to Fedland from the edge of Borg territory!

So what's this about Kes managing to shave *just* ten years off the Voyager's journey? If you think about it, getting to the other edge of Borg space would shave 60+ years off their travel time!

Or is this the creators trying to downscale the Borg so they can keep having adventures in the Delta Quadrant without being *too* close to home?

YOU make the call!

Christine Henry: RE: to Muray Leeder -Actually, you can have better acuity in one eye and not suffer visually. Modern RK /laser surgeons will usually leave one eye slightly nearsighted in people over 40 so that they can still see and read without any use of glasses. The brain's able to compensate for the difference without you noticing.

I think that Voyager should keep the Borg additions. Voyager's been tossed to the other end of the galaxy, eaten by giant space critters, shot at by practically everyone they've met, beaten up by god-knows how many anomalies -and doesn't have A SCRATCH ON HER! By now the ship should have something to show for all that it's been through; and beside looking neat, the Borg technology has a useful purpose in giving the crew more launchers to shoot with. (Not to meantion the looks on the faces of Starfleet officials if they came back Borgified!;)

I must say, the last thing I ever expected see in an opening shot was an eyeball sitting on a counter! The effects guys must've had fun with that one.

Seven of Nine is going to make a great engineer, knowing all of the specs for Voyager. B'Elanna's not going to like this...

It's now getting into the fourth year of Voyager, and they've yet to run out of shuttles or fuel. As for the shuttles it's anyone's guess, and deuterium (matter) is collected from the surrounding space as they go, but what about antimatter? Voyager only had a two year supply when they started out, right? Did they make a pit stop back in-between episodes? This might be an interesting plot to run through a few episodes, having the ship running out. (Though if I remember it right, E-D had small generators according to the tech manual - maybe Voyager has a lot of 'em...;)

Jennifer Patterson of Centerville, OH: The "Wesley Crusher Solution." Whenever a character outlives their usefulness, such as Kes has done, TPTB simply develop their awareness to a heightened state and allow them to move to a higher plane of being! Pretty convenient.

Laurie Davis of Duluth, Minnesota: Well I've looked through all the nitpicks so far and haven't seen it. When Harry and 7-of-9 are working and she takes her shot at contacting the Borg are we really supposed to believe that Harry's falling body was really enough to render that security guard useless as well? Actually he was pretty useless from the start. He's standing outside the door facing away from them - just who exactly is he protecting? Afraid some rouge gangs of ensigns might happen by and rough up the borg-babe? Shouldn't he be watching HER if she's THE THREAT!!! Maybe I'm just not aware of the latest security techniques.....

Murray Leeder: How come the Doctor didn't check to make sure Kes's seratonin levels or whatever it is went down?

Aaron Nadler of New Cumberland, PA: When 7 of 9 is in the brig, Janeway comments that she has met Borg who have been seperated from the Collective. Picard?? Otherwise who is she talking about?

I loved Tuvok's "Leaving a candle burning in the window "moment at the end. Great touch.

David T. Shaw of Hamilton, Ontario: I was very disappointed in Capt Janeway's behaviour in this episode. When the Doctor stated that 7 of 9's immune system had started back up and was rejecting the borg enhancements, I thought "Ah ha - a rational reason for removing the Borg equipment."

Then Janeway ruins this - it is obvious that even if 7 of 9 was in no danger at all she would have still ordered the removal. It seemed to me that 7 of 9's request to make the choice once she was human again was perfectly reasonable - in fact I was waiting for Janeway to make it so 7 of 9 would agree to the surgery. The Captain's response of "I don't think you'll make that decision" must have lacked conviction, otherwise she would have agreed, right? And would you really want to be have a passenger on your ship who's sole wish was to leave? For seventy years? (Of course, it's only sixty now, but Janeway didn't know that at the time.)

Which brings us to the question of the immune system - it is made dormant by the link to the collective? (It was after the link was destroyed that the problems started). So how do people get assimilated by a mere injection? If the link is needed to suppress the immune system, then how is the link established immediately? If the immune system doesn't need to be suppressed, then why does it fail to prevent assimilation but can apparently afect someone who is fully assimulated? It would seem to me that the injection should be attacking the immune system first, as well as affecting the mind so the victim has a desire to report to the nearest Borg ship to be sized for a metal suit and an artificial eye.

What I am saying is that I don't buy the explanation for the removal of the Borg equipment. Something along the lines that the power surge from last week's episode fried most of the Borg equipment, and it was now unstable would have been more satisfying to me.

Does it stike anyone else as strange that even after 7o9's massive superstructure of an eye was removed, she could still zoom in to the control chip? Or was the eye she had a temp loaned by the Doctor until he managed to match the iris colour?

A prisoner is in a holding cell, and starts to act up - what do you do? Call the Officer on Watch? The security duty officer (my choice)? Apparently according to Starfleet protocols, you immediately call the captain. If all ship's personnel acted this way, the captain would never have a moments piece on the Bridge (or anytime to sleep). Of course, Janeway might have given orders for her to be notified immediately of any change in 7o9's behaviour, but we never saw that.

The Doctor has a complete record of all Starfleet medical logs - yet he was unable to diagnose Kes as going through a Transfiguration, even after she starts phasing in and out at the mess hall - Kes herself has to figure that out. Didn't Crusher keep any logs about John Doe in "Transfigurations"?

When Janeway was struggling to get Kes to the bridge, it struck me that Starships seem to have a lack of stetchers. One of the first things to get knocked out in a battle seems to be the transporters, and yet have you ever seen any casualities transported lying down? It must be that all injuries sustain are either fatal, or of the 'walking wounded' variety.

Matthew Chase Maxwell of San Francisco CA: When Seven of Nine goes into a seizure just before Kes uses her mental powers to remove the Borg neural implant, watch the pillow on the biobed. It shifts position throughout the scene.

When Seven of Nine was using her "bionic" eyesight to see the communications node, I flashed back to Steve Austin in the "Six Million Dollar Man." Too bad we don't get to hear the sound his eye made!

After Kes and Neelix have their heart-to-heart, Kes phases, doing much damage to the structural integrity not only to the mess hall itself, but also to the deck on which it resides. This seems to me like a significant danger to those in the area. So who goes to investigate? Captain Janeway! Isn't there a crew member who is -- well -- more expendable than the captain to check on the problem? I would think Tuvok would see the logic in this prudence.

Great shot of the shuttle bay door closing as Kes leaves the Voyager. Nice touch!

Best line goes to the doctor: "I also took the liberty of stimulating your hair follicles. A vicarious experience for me as you might imagine."

I'm enjoying Seven of Nine thus far. I would , however, have liked to see her remain a little more visually Borg for several more episodes. As for her silver outfit, it is the high heels in which they have put her that I find most objectionable. (Note from Phil: Then again, Maybe Bridget Borgette always dreamed of high heels even when she was Seven of Nine!)

Simon Crowley: *sees 7o9 at end of ep; jaw drops* Whoa. That's good surgery, doc. REALLY good surgery. I mean, that's. . . OK, fine. Off with the hormones, on with the nitpicking!

WANTED: Brig security guard. Ensign or NCO, must have poor vision, awful hearing, and limited intelligence. Duties: sit around and fiddle with computers while totally ignoring everything going on around you.

Oft-used line: "Inacceptable." A very Borg-like term, I guess. But she wasn't very Borg-like later, as she sobs into Janeway's shoulder. Good performance by Jeri Ryan there.

And lastly: Paris & B'Elanna: Love in Space. *gag, choke, cough, wheeze* That sounds like a weak "bottle"-type show, full of cliches and such. Well, I can only hope that Previews will still Always Lie!

David T. Shaw, Hamilton Ontario: I've just seen "The Gift for the second time and I have some info to add.

After Kes says that she's stopped 7o9 Tovac asks the bridge for a status report (let us just skip the problem of asking the captain instead of whoever is maining the security station). Janeway says something along the lines of "There was explosion and stopped her before she could send a transmission." Up to this point no one has told Tovac that 7o9 was trying to send a transmission (at least not officially - I wouldn't rely on the emerging psychic powers of a crew member to keep my chief of security informed). So why didn't the Captain say "7o9 tried to send a sub-space message but there was an explosion..." Maybe Janeway assumed that security had did it's job and informed their boss of the incident, and Tovac prudently decided not to correct her false impression.

The Doctor has to tell Tovac to move out of the surgical bay while operating on 7o9. Surely security must have procedures for guarding dangerous prisioners while being treated? Ones that don't get in the doctor's way? (I would have Tovac on the far side of the surgical bay, that way either him or the other security guard in the back ground would have a clear shot at 7o9 no matter were the doctor was.

And if Tovac is so worried about 7o9 rising for sedation (hey - it could happen - the Borg components could deactivate it or something) why did he allow himself to be distracted by Kes's display of telekensis (which was interesting but of no immediate danger to the ship) and actually leave the room with a chunk of inert Borg technology? Couldn't he call a flunky to carry it, or relieve Tovac of watching 7o9 whilst he talks to Kes?

Lastly, I find it interesting the 7 of 9 still seems to have all of her memories intact. I would think that a Borg drone would have a limitted amount of memory storage space to download info from the collective at need, and wiped out if it was not pertinent to the matter at hand. Thus, maybe she would still have the technical specs for the enterprise in some chip in her head, but why would she know which species originated a certain piece of technology, or information about Galatic Cluster 3? Doesn't seem useful to me if I were in the process of trying to a) win a battle against an unassimulatable species and b) to betray my erstwhile allies, which is what she was involved in prior to losing her link.

If the Borg do have good enough technology that all or most of their database is carried by every drone, then 7o9 has more information in her head than probably exist in the entire Federation (the complete records of the Borg and the several thousand species that it has asslimated.) This means she can build transwarp engines and the like (which Janeway would be more than happy to use I imagine)

In any case, it now seems that Voyager has a member with an perfect memory - a walking log for away missions.

Shane Tourtellotte: "I, Borg" just reran in this area on Saturday. In it, Picard states that if Doctor Crusher removes some damaged Borg implants from Third of Five's brain(he wasn't yet Hugh), he will die. Are holographic doctors that much better, that The Doctor can take out Seven of Nine's brain implants without ill effect? Okay, I know, he only removed 82% of the Borg technology from her body, but what do you want to bet that some throwaway line on some future episode will tell us the remaining implants aren't in her brain? Stay tuned....

Brian O'Marra, Little Rock, AR: While perusing the episode again, I think I may have found some additional nits...Maybe some questions to be raised...

First, 7 of 9 was a little girl when she and her family left the Omega sector to head for the Delta Quadrant. Chakotay says that she was the first human to be assimilated by the Borg. Janeway says that that was almost 20 years ago.

The title "Omega Sector" (Omega the last letter of the Greek alphabet) implies that this sector is on the outskirts of the Alpha Quadrant. Since she is a Borg in the Delta Quadrant, and 20 years older, are we to assume that Borg space is right on the doorstep of the Alpha Quadrant.

Let me illustrate: she and her family head to the Delta Quadrant.Let's assume that the Borg are right there in the Alpha Quadrant to assimilate her. They do and bring her back to the Delta Quadrant where they can meet Voyager. At most the Delta Quadrant is 20 years from the Alpha Quadrant, not 70 minus 3 seasons! In fact, it may be closer, since time had to be spent to raise her.

Therefore, Kes' nudge closer toward the Alpha Quadrant (10 years) means that they have no more than 10 to get back!

Unless, the Borg can travel 70 years in 1/4th the time! Well, Kes apparently is suffering from a post reaction from her contact with species 8472. This episode implied that. Species 8472 was more powerful than the Borg! Making your observation Phil, about that puny ten year nudge more valid!! She could have sent them the full 70!

Lastly when 7 of 9 attacks Kim he hits the back of a security officer! Amazing both are knocked out! A glass shoulder, amybe?

Murray Leeder: I had no idea that the interior of the human brain was so amazingly well lit!

Paul Crewe: When Kes and Neelix have their talk in the mess hall, Kes says when she concentrates on something it starts to do that distorsioin thing (ie. the table) why doesn't it happen to Neelix when she was stareing at him?

Also at the end of the show when it showed Tuvok in the window did anyone notice that little green dot just below him. I know it could just be part of the borg modifications but it was so small and no where near any of the other borg stuff. It just seemed strange.

Jason Liu: Voyager (TM), by Timex. Takes a lickin', but keeps on tickin'.

OK, here I go into Rant Mode (TM): Was I the only one who was a bit bothered by how the crew treated 7 of 9? It seemed to me that Captain Janeway went way overboard on the high and mighty moral stance. Of course, the Federation is _always_ right. Forget the Klingons, Romulans, Tholians, Ferengi, Cardassians, whatever. Humans are the proper standard for the galaxy. Starfleet is the bastion on the moral high ground. Forget freedom of choice, if the Federation says it's right, it is. The wrong way is irrelevant. Resistance is futile.

I'm sorry, I seem to have gotten carried away there. Anyway, seriously, I thought that 7 of 9's argument while in the Brig was pretty good. And Janeway never really came up with a coherent response. The Voyager basically takes 7 of 9, abducts her from her home, performs radical surgery without consent, and then tells her to assume a new life and identity. Now, 7 of 9 was Borg for basically all of her life. Wouldn't it be _possible_ that the transition back to "humanity" might be too hard, and beyond her capability? Just maybe? Janeway doesn't even consider this at all. I guess I would have followed along if she had at least wrestled with the question a bit. But she didn't, she just went ahead with all the single-mindedness of, well, the Borg.

Yes, everything will turn out alright in the end. 7 of 9 will become a happy human, and our good captain, in her everlasting wisdom, will be proven right again. Voyager will get a new babe in a bunny suit (who needs Kes?). Ensign Kim will get a new girlfriend (and forget about his fiance back home). And things will be all hunky-dory (sp?).

By the way, my little rant above was written before I read your cult deprogramming analogy. I hadn't thought of that. Actually, that's quite a good argument, Phil, for Janeway's side. Hmmm...looks like ethics rears its ugly head again :)

My vote for Great Lines: "You must comply." Spoken by Janeway when she asks for 7 of 9's help in reconstructing the ship. The reaction shot from 7 of 9 was great (it seemed like her eyes grew to double their size!).

I can't wait to see this Paris/Torres episode. Hopefully, I won't miss it this time.

Matt Nelson: You know, I really have to say that I liked this episode, even though it almost seems cruel that the producers couldn't have thought of some way for everyone to say goodbye. But then, I guess that just makes it a little more real. I was almost unhappy when they switched to the "7o9" bits, because I was hoping we'd get to see a farewell between Kes and a couple more characters! All in all, though, it was a good episode! Maybe the Voyager boys are just now hitting their stride! (Too bad it's taken them so long.)

You know, chalk it up to my memory, but when did we hear that Kes had telekinesis? I just can't remember. Anyone?

I'm confused. When Kes dissolved that implant in 7o9's skull, did she dissolve it into nothing, or what? If there's lil' bits of that floating around in 7o9's bloodstream, she could have a stroke or something!!

Jeffrey M. Muscato: First of all, I've got to say this is possibly one of the best Voyager episodes of all four seasons. Okay now on to the comments/nits: regarding the pronouns, I think Borg drones can say "I" or "me" when referring to that specific drone. While it makes sense to say "we will assimilate you," it doesn't make much sense to say "we are 7 of 9" -- in that case the Borg really is talking about itself as an indivdual -- not to say that it has any sense of individuality, but physically it is one drone talking.

When 7 or 9 said that Janeway is just like the Borg in "assimilating" her against her will, I began to actually think about 7 of 9's argument -- when the Bajorans were about to join the Federation, one of Sisco's responsibilities was to oversee the absorption of the Bajoran militia into Starfleet (which brings up another point -- why isn't the Klingon Defense Force in Starfleet if they're part of the Federation?). It seems that the Federation, in thinking that their way of life is the best, also thinks that everyone else should live like they do. Although Janeway's right in that the Borg will probably be happier as a human once she regains her humanity, at that point in time 7 of 9 was trying to make a decision and Janeway was blocking it.

Regarding the question of which plot is the main plot, and which is the subplot (Kes or 7 of 9), I kinda like this kind of episode (like in TNG "Brothers," concerning Data and Lore, and the Potts brothers on the Enterprise.)

It seemed kind of weird to me when Paris said "nine-point-five thousand light years." I've never heard anyone use a "point" for whole numbers with anything less than a million (one-point-three million, six-point-seven billion, etc.)

Regarding the question as to whether that part of 7 of 9 could be beamed out, I guess this is as good a time as any to ask why sick bay has a "medical transporter," and if this transporter is any different than normal transporters. It seems to be able to beam stuff from off the ship (the Doc once beamed something from a Vidiian ship), so I'm wondering if this is one of those inventions that's really more of just a new way to use an existing device, rather than a new invention. Because it seems that the only difference is that someone decided that it'd be really cool if Ensign Wildman's baby could be born by "transport delivery."

I mentioned this about the First Contact Borg; what's the point of eyes that actually make an image harder to see? If these Borg have such advanced doohickies over one of their eyes, how come it doesn't show normal visual images most of the time, with the ability to zoom in, examine things in other EM bands, or do other cool effects when desired?

These next two nits might be more fitting for "Scorpion II," but I'll include them here: if the Borg can't communicate with the Collective without using a Starfleet deflector dish, how do they stay in constant communication with their dinky little tranceivers built into their Borg body parts? Also, just what kind of provisions for humans does a Borg ship have? Or did the Voyager send over a little shelter with a replicator, beds, and sonic shower (like the one from the episode when Janeway and Chakotay were stranded on that planet when they had some disease) for them to set up on the Borg ship?

Jason Gorell: What a way to get rid of Kes!! Just send her to a new dimension of being and she can live way past her 9 year life span as an Ocampa. Possible plot: have her meet up with Q?

How about 7/9.

1. Somebody please explain the attitude she has. This Borg has a grudge against everyone non-Borg. (Note from Phil: Seems reasonable to me that the Borg are racist. They don't allow anyone different to exist!)

2. How atypical this Borg is. What's up with her lashing out at the forcefield in the brig. From all the past episodes we've seen dealing with the Borg, they choose the most efficient course of action, the one that accomplishes their goal using the least amount of energy. Why expend energy in a frivolous attempt to break out?

Even though her link to the collective had been permanently severed (it sure looked permanent) 7/9 still seemed to be able to recall detailed information about Voyager when she aided Torres in restoring the ship to pre-Borg shape. In TNG when Hue was isolated in the brig, he was totally clueless. 7/9 appeared not to have changed at all after her link was cut. Same high and mighty attitude as before.

I will not be totally negative on this subject. Someone on the writing team did include an important detail. At the end of "Scorpion II", Janeway states that 7/9 will have to use the Borg re-energizing station until her human functions take over. Applause.

Cydney Williams of Chicago heights: I just have a problem in general with Seven of Nine (SoN). It is not necessary for any Borg to have secondary sexual characteristics, so the Borg being pragmatic would have suppressed those hormones. So why is SoN (and the Borg Queen for that matter) built like women from "Baywatch?" I haven't seen this many full-body close-ups (both back and front) on any on character since Deanna Troi of ST:TNG. (Note from Phil: Boys Will Be Boys)

Donald Carlson of Birmingham, AL: Okay, according to "Scorpion, Part II" the Voyager can travel 40 light years in 5 days. That's 8 LY per day.

Kes through the ship 9,500 LY. Janeway says "10 years closer to home."

Is it? 9500/8 = 1187.5 days = 3.25 years (approx)

This is, of course, not factoring in stopping at various planets along the way, being borded by hostile aliens and left stranded every 3-4 months, etc.

Even if you consider the ship must slow or stop occasionally for maintenance -- it's not reasonable to have the ship travel at maximum warp for over three years -- clearly Janeway's estimate of time saved is at least double what it should be.

Jeffrey M. Hall: Didn't Kes play with fire before, and almost burn down the quarters.

Let me hear this, Kes wants the leave the ship deep in Borg space. Her ability to turn bulkheads into jelly could be may be better than that virus that Picard wanted to give them. But that brings the count of shuttlecrafts down again.

Erin Hunt of High Point, NC: Whatever makes Tuvok think that a *mind meld* will slow down system-wide cellular instabilities? While we're on the subject, when Harry Kim says Kes's DNA is "degrading"- what does that mean? (Note from Phil: Who knows on the DNA thing but I was under the impression that the cellular instabilities were *directly* related to the lack of control in her psychic abilities. In that case, a mind meld makes sense!)

James Rioux: The stardate that Janeway gives as Seven of Nine's birthdate starts with a 2. Since the first digit indicates the century, Seven of Nine was born in the 22nd century, in the year 21-something. Somehow I don't think this is right... (Note from Phil: Um . . . I've heard this "first digit indicates the century in the stardate" thing many times but it simply can't be right! The stardates on the episodes for this season will be 51xxx and the year--according to the Chronology--is something like 2374 AD!)

9/22/97 Update

Lee E. Patterson: I don't really have any nits as such. And if I did, they would no doubt be expressed already by someone else. The problem is, here in Columbia, MO, my cable co. doesn't have a UPN channel. So I don't even get to watch Voyager until Saturday night. In any case, having watched "The Gift," I just wondered if Kes and Wesley Crusher and the Traveler and V'Ger are having a nice party up there in the Dimensional Highland of the Universe (a party which Q would no doubt enjoy crashing). Also, about that Talaxian champaign, yes, I really do grow weary of hearing alien adjectives attached to Earth foods and especially ANIMALS, e.g., Tiberian bats. Well, enough of that. Time for me to feed my Andorian dingo. Cura ut valeas, as the Romans say.

James R. Dolan III: I have a theory, which is related to the episode "The Gift" in that it involves Kes leaving the show. I call this theory "The Counselor Troi Theory."

Kes didn't fit into this theory, which is why she was written out, and 7of9 fit into the theory, which is why she showed up. The theory is this: Each starship must have at least one crewmember who has cleavage, looks good in a skin-tight bunny-suit, and has absolutely no purpose whatsoever except to provide something for the male officers to stare at.

Kes did not fit this description. They tried to get her to fit, though: First they had her divorce poor Neelix for no reason except to give her an excuse to wear a skin-tight bunny-suit. Although she did look good in the bunny-suit, she still didn't have enough cleavage, and her character already had an established purpose. Knowing that the viewers would not accept more than just her hair suddenly growing from hardly anything to something substancial in the blink of an eye, and being unable to come up with an acceptable amnesia story-line, they just wrote her out and brought in 7of9.

Do you agree? (Note from Phil: It's a cute idea but from what little I understand about this situation--and am *not* at liberty to share--the problem was more than the catsuit.)

Brian Dominguez, Oswego NY: For an 8-year-old girl, didn't there seem to be a LOT of information on Annike. Even if it included stuff on her parents, the data just kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling.

As for Ayalla, maybe that's the creators way of telling us that stuff happens to other crew members. Hey, why couldn't he have been be demoted?

Tuvok summons security to engineering, but how did he know she was there? Wasn't he dealing with Kes?

To add to Joshua Truax explanation of the happenings of "Before & After," I'll take it one step further.

Shouldn't the arguement be that they have ALREADY passed Krennim space.

If the happenngs in "Before & After" were preceded with Q or some other space anomaly shooting them 9.5 years ahead, then they should meet the Krennim in the coming season. However, I'm pretty sure with all the info we got in that "B&A" that they would have blamed Q for the Year of Hell.

So it's more logical to assume that they met up with the Krennim in the same General area as the Borg, not 9500 light years away.

Not a nit:

Since Anneke was assimilated along with her parents, I think it would be cool if her Borgified parents made a visit, and 7o9 had issues with that. Even cooler would be if the Borg were using that to their advantage.

Clay (No Last Name Given): Phil in your most recent "The Gift" update you said the year according to the chronology is 2473. This can't be right otherwise it would be the 25th century. I think all the 47s of late has given everyone a case of the Freudian Slips. I think you mean 2374. Which is it? (Note from Phil: Oops, sorry oops. Typo! I fixed it! Should be 2374.)

Travis McCord: First, a quick nit: many people have mentioned the interplay between the Doc and Tuvok in this one. Problem is, in this, Tuvok appears to be showing both chagrin and resentment (the latter at being one-upped by HoloDoc)... both of which are _emotions_. Oops.

Second, a thought... a horrible, horrible thought: Kes appears to have gone into the same limbo as a few other characters in Star Trek... the good news is, at some point, she could come back. The bad news is... _so could Wesley!_ (aaaaah!)

Third, an anti-nit: a few people have wondered why she didn't 'throw' the ship all the way home. Well, maybe she intended to... but stopped when she saw the ship itself couldn't make it. Kim said the ship was breaking up right before they dropped out of ... whatever that was; maybe she sensed that too!

Of course, the _real_ reason is that, if she did throw them all the way home, the show would end. I may have mentioned this before, but every now and then the characters and/or situations have to go through convolutions in order to let the show continue... times when they have to make some mistake, or have some circumstance prevent them from getting home & ending the series. In fact, sometimes, they have to be just plain dumb for that to work!

I'd like to submit (yet another) glossary term for this: DSS -- Data's Stratagema (sp?) Strategy (or DaSS if you really want it to be an acronym). Defined as: any decision that serves to let the show _continue_ rather than letting the ship go home--especially one that seems out of place/character/whatever. Named, of course, after Data's end-of-show 'winning' strategy in the first-season episode ... uh ... slipped my mind. Oh, well, I'm sure you can find it... (Note from Phil: It was a second-season episode, "Peak Perfomance". ;-)

Johnson Lai: At the end, Janeway said something (to 7 of 9) like "you will have more access to the ship when I'm sure you won't try to contact the Collective again." Then, what's the first thing Janeway does? She gives Seven of Nine a commbadge, a subspace transceiver. True that its range is rather short, but Borg are known for being handy with technologies. Well, maybe she's trying to show a bit of trust?

Derek Giromini of Richardson, TX: After watching "The Gift", a friend of mine observed that there is no *real* difference between the Borg Collective and the Pakleds. In "The Gift", some dialogue between Seven of Nine and B'elanna revealed that much of what we consider Borg technology is really just acquired from other races. No new information there. It's just the way Seven of Nine said it, something along the lines of, "We didn't create it, we took it." In the TNG episode "Samaritan Snare", the Pakled technology was described as a smorgasborg (sp?) of other "borrowed" technologies. So, really, the Borg are just Pakleds with one huge brain.

John Reese of Austin, TX: I detected some sour grapes from Tuvok when he told Kes that her psychic abilities were "undisciplined", and she required his supervision. What was his basis for such a statement? She just preformed delicate brain surgery with her mind, for heaven's sake! Now, if she had made 7 of 9's head explode, I would understand. "Very good, Kes, but you need to work on control..."

Then again, I can see why Tuvok is developing an attitude. He's out of the loop! In the midst of a MAJOR security crisis, no one bothers to contact him!

When describing Kes's "phasing", they seem use the terms "cellular", "molecular", "atomic" and "subatomic" interchangeably. Then again, it is technobabble, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

When Kes presented her "gift", Tom says, "Our speed is...unbelievable!" This from someone who traveled at Warp 10 a couple of seasons back. If I were the captain, I would worry about the whole crew turning into giant salamanders. (I'm sure they didn't reveal the true speed because the writers are now totally confused about the meaning of "warp", "transwarp", etc.)

Ron Saarna of Toronto, Ontario: I'm not quite sure it is fair to call the fact that another Vulcan sold Tuvok the candle a nit. Vulcan society in general is cashless, but that doesn't exclude individual Vulcans from operating monetarily if the situation warrants it. Take for example the situation of a Vulcan ambassador to the Ferengi homeworld (not that I am saying there is one, but use it...) To get around on the planet and conduct his business, he would need to "grease a few palms". It would be the only logical course of action.

Also, the Vulcans are not the Borg. They don't act as one, and I.D.I.C. is living proof to the philosophy of individuality. I would imagine there are Vulcans that are quite happy working in a barter system. Most of them don't, but there may always be a few that rub against the grain. Remember Sybok from ST:V?

Murray Leeder: I gotta wonder... in the upcoming "The Year of Hell" they better give one good explanation of why they are encountering the Krenim on the other side of Borg space! Obviously they didn't travel that distance in "Before And After", because Kes was still there! Oh, the problems with writing history!

Bob Canada: A correction. In my nitpickins for "The Gift" last week, I made the comment that it was about time we saw Tuvok apply the Vulcan neck pinch. Oops! I was watching it on the fuzzy station just like Phil.

At the beginning of the episode, when Janeway, Tuvok & Doc are examining 7 and she starts to act up, it looked for all the world like Tuvok reached up and neck pinched her on the fuzzy channel. When I saw it later in the week on the clear station, I realized that Tuvok just sort of placed his hand on 7's shoulder, and the Doc zapped her with a hypospray.

Mark Bowman: When Kess destablizes the bulk head and zaps the female borg, how was she able to reassemble it? Is it possible for a mind, even ocompan (spelliing?) to be able to keep track of all of the molecules in that bulkhead?

How come at the end they did not show Neelix mourning for Kess, especialy since he was her lover?

Derek Moffitt and Melanie Koleini: More nits and clarifications on "The Gift":

About the stardate of Annika's birth: She was born about 25 years ago on stardate 25xxx, but Kestra Troi ("Dark Page" (TNG)) was born about 35 years ago (30 before that episode) on stardate 30xxx. Not only are the stardates not always the same length, they're not even *increasing*.

Yes, the power output of the warp core should not have been measured in cochranes. I believe we've heard "kilojoules" before, but I can't recall an episode.

Covering 9500 ly in 10 years implies a speed of about 1000c, or warp 8; this is consistent, roughly, with the estimated average speed implied by the 75000 ly trip home requiring 70 years. Covering 40 ly in 5 days implies a speed of almost 3000c, or *well* over warp 9 (more like 9.9, I believe); it seems unlikely that the _Voyager_ could maintain such a speed for five days, especially in its current condition. (Unless the Borg souped up the engines a bit....)

If (read: when) Kes shows up again, the writers had better have a *really* good excuse for her not flinging the ship another ten years homeward. (Either that, or they'll have to make sure she doesn't turn up too often....)

And one more might-be nit: In the opening scene in Cargo Bay 2, Dr. Z doesn't appear to be wearing his remote emitter. We never get a good view of his left arm; it's only briefly visible in the blurry-vision sequence, and after much freeze-framing the Nitpickers' Local has been unable to agree on whether the emitter is there or not. Perhaps someone else out there has a better-quality videotape and can resolve the situation?

Lisa Solinas: My sister says that at one point, either Kim or the Doctor refers to Species 8472 as Species 8417. I have not verified this as of yet.

Janeway tells Seven that she's part of a human community. A bit.... er, Terraistic? Isn't that? What about Bajorans, Bolians, half a Klingon, Vulcans, and numerous others?

Seven sways while unconscious.

Best line: "I have no expression on my face."--Tuvok, meeting Janeway's quip.

"You MUST comply." When I heard this, I kept expecting "Resistance is futile."

The stardate of Annika/Seven's birth was 25479.

And of course, the doctor can't have the new babette grow hair without a cool cut and possible mousse.

Throughout most of the show, Seven is clad only in her ratty- looking Borg armor. And it leaves plenty of bare spots from gaping holes on the shoulder and leg.

Seven certainly has a cool pose at the end. [I'm going to shut up now.]

I'm going to beat my dead horse. When Hugh was severed from the Collective, he simply was an individual with a lot of Borg implants. Nothing happened. So why does Seven's body reject her implants. (Note from Phil: I'm figuring that whole "gotta remove the implants" was just a cover for holodoc's real motive. He had guessed that Kes would be leaving and this was his best chance to get another woman dressed in a catsuit! I mean, who do you think suggested to Kes in the first place that she start wearing the catsuit? Huh, huh? Wanna venture a guess that it was holodoc? I mean, think about it, he's got the accumulated attitudes of 300+ doctors!! So . . . holodoc gets the clue that he's losing his bunny and gives Seven a hypo to make her flop around. Then he tells the captian, "Oh me, oh my I'll guess I'll just have to remove her implants." Very conveniently--at the end of this process--he manages to make her hair grow, style her hair and, oh yeah, somewhere come up with a babette outfit for her to wear!! Of course, he will require that Seven come in for many, many, auxilliary check-up just to make sure that everything is . . . ahem . . . working properly. Yeah, I'd say that Seven would have been just fine like she was without the activity of holodoc's holohormones!)

Scott Newton of New Brunswick, NJ: Several people mentioned a nit about Voyager being "beyond" Borg space, even though J-25 was clearly in Borg space and still ahead of Voyager. But who ever said Borg space was continuous? For a present-day example, just look as the United States: There's the "lower 48," Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam ... I think you get the idea. Based on statements made in "Scorpion II" and "The Gift," I get the impression that the Borg don't care about territory; they care about what each new species has to offer. Why bother assimilating your neighbors if they're Kazons and don't even have transporter technology? As if they couldn't just waltz right across Kazon space any time they jolly well please! Go after the big boys first and take their technonlogy. There's always time later to mop up the little people.

Jeff Carpenter: There is a lot of talk about Geordi and the eyes holodock made in this show. First off, Geordi's "eyes" in First Contact were still a VISOR. Just a more compact version. And second, I know Geordi was offered real eyes by either Crusher of Pulaski within the first two years of Next Gen. He refused, saying his VISOR made him unique.


PLEASE NOTE: This file is frozen. Once a file hits 100K it's time to give the episode a rest!! You're welcome to send in addition nits and I will keep them on file but I won't be adding to this file any longer unless something really spectacular comes in!

If you would like to add some comments, drop me a note at chief@nitcentral.com with the Subject line "The Gift". Please include your real name, city and state (or province and county as the case may be) in the body of the e-mail so I can give you credit if you are the first person to bring up a particular nit. (Remember the legalese: Everything you submit becomes mine and you grant me the right to use yourname in any future publication by me. I will do my best to give you credit if you are the first person to submit a particular nit but I make no guarantees. And finally, due to the volume of mail received at Nitpicker Central, your submission may or may not be acknowledged but that entry will make you a part of the Nitpickers Guide is you aren't one already!)

Copyright 1997 by Phil Farrand. All Rights Reserved.