Endgame

DVD, Voyager S7 (Endgame)

So the series ends in style, seven years of a journey complete. If you didn't wish to know whether they made it back or not, the crux of the whole series, you shouldn't be reading this, because it is the focus of the finale and the most important fact of all the episodes. As Kim said, perhaps the journey was more important than the destination, but they were always so set on returning to Earth and the Alpha Quadrant that anything less would have seemed a harsh result.

Though that question is answered, the beginning of controversy was instigated, and I would argue, is much more of an issue than the final episode of 'Enterprise' - the fact that it all ends so abruptly, without the extended winding up, sorting out and general completeness of 'DS9'. 'Voyager' was a series apart, from its inception it was far from the Trek universe, and it didn't have a continuation that elements of 'DS9' had, which it inherited to a small degree, or the closure of the 'TNG' or 'TOS' films, or that final episode of 'Enterprise'. Only one character would reappear, and that briefly, so it remained contained in its own place even to the end.

That's not to say they didn't bung in a few references to their brethren in this last two-parter. Tuvok quotes Ambassador Spock, the future uniforms seen in 'TNG' and later, 'DS9', further tie down the future beyond the current timeline, the Defiant (or one of its class of ship) is there at the end, and I even noticed a call for Dr. Pulaski at the future Tuvok's medical centre. Even Neelix gets to show his face and Chell is talked of as a substitute cook. In some ways the series should have taken the long way round, because according to Admiral Janeway we'd have got a total of 23 seasons to watch! But it was an appropriate time to end, following in the footsteps of its two older 24th Century series' by concluding after seven years.

I'm left with mixed feelings about both this episode and the series as a whole. When I first watched it through on original BBC2 transmission (aah, Sunday evenings, the last thing to look forward to before the onset of school!), I enjoyed it at least as much as 'DS9' and was enthralled by the USS Voyager's adventures. But as I've got older, my tastes have shifted a little, and what was once exciting can now sometimes be merely satisfactory, even mundane. 'DS9' seemed to change with me as I saw new things in it, but 'Voyager' mostly became less than it was, for me. This episode is a case in point, perhaps tempered by those first thoughts back in 2002 (when I think it was shown on TV), as I waited to see the fates of these characters. And no matter what, it is they that still make it an enjoyable series.

Some of the CGI hasn't aged so well, the Borg ships exploding didn't have enough weight or reality to them, and there seemed to be a preponderance with exposition in rooms and corridors. I also now find slight cracks in the smart and shiny veneer of what was a thrilling climax - the fact that a disgraced Klingon could invent some device that would allow Janeway to go back in time, or why she couldn't simply prop the 'door' open and tractor Voyager through into the future. The Seven/Chakotay thing almost comes out of nowhere, if it weren't for Seven's thoughts being shared with us in 'Human Error', and of course the lack of finality or chance to see the consequences of getting home. Yet it is still meaningful because this is the last time we'll see these characters that we've travelled with on the journey. Though we won't get to see the start of so many new lives we can imagine for ourselves their future.

The fate of the Borg is uncertain, crippling them is a more likely outcome than their total destruction, and if Janeway's past abhorrence of taking even Borg lives is any indication, she wouldn't have agreed to genocide. Alice Krige retakes the mantle of the true Borg Queen in suitable style, Reg Barclay (both old and not quite so old) is part of things, and there are some nice, small moments for each crewmember, though it's sad that with two Janeway's Chakotay doesn't fulfil his place by her side as he usually would in other episodes. There was even the slightest of bloopers, hardly worth mentioning, but I will anyway - Seven hits the keys on her console when leaving Admiral Janeway in the Cargo Bay, but you only hear the thump of her hitting the button, not the bleeps that usually accompany such an action; and the Borg Queen starts to break the set as she stumbles around, loosening a couple of rods surrounding Janeway.

I can't say that this is the absolutely brilliant ending I used to think it was, but it does sport some attractive visuals with the Borg cubes emerging from the golden mist, and the huge, glowing centre of the transwarp hub. It also completes the mission of the Voyager and her crew, and that's more than can be said for many TV series' before and since, that have ended in ignominy, not having the chance to sign off with a flourish. Plus nobody dies! If every series had the wealth of characters and so many great episodes then there would be a lot more worth watching. This series may not have fulfilled its true potential, but it tried hard and will mean a lot to many people for years to come.

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