Unity

DVD, Voyager S3 (Unity)

The first proper appearance of the Borg on 'Voyager,' and a long way away from the ongoing menace, the best known villain of the series, that they would become, without the controlling force behind the Collective that was the Borg Queen in the film 'First Contact' released not long before this episode, or Lore, as had been seen in the final 'TNG' Borg episode, 'Descent.' This was back to basics with the Borg, in a way, yet also managed to pull off an alternative look at them in a partially positive light: in my eyes it is the 'Q Who' of 'Voyager' to 'Scorpion's 'The Best of Both Worlds.' The threat had been laid out at the end of 'Blood Fever,' but for 'Voyager' to rush straight into dealing with that threat in the very next episode was perhaps a little out of character for the series, where usually we might be made to wait a few episodes, the lingering threads hanging. You could say that happened again here because this is an atypical Borg story, with the mindless creatures only a powered down, sleeping menace for most of the episode, leaving them to 'Scorpion,' the season-ender, to deal with on a large scale, but it works as a progression towards perhaps the biggest threat in Trek history.

It's good that this isn't immediately apparent as the Borg episode everyone had been expecting, allowing full power to the reveal of the ex-Borg in Chakotay's startled eyes - we're left as much in the dark as the Commander, not shown who or what is really going on. Even on emergence from his cell (did he really need to bang on the door when he knew there was a guard patrolling the gantry above - he seems undecided whether he's sneaking out or demanding to be released! Then again, a crack on the head will do that to you…), Chakotay's confronted by injured aliens, some missing limbs or eyes, rather than it becoming obvious who and what they are, or were. Of course we'd seen ex-Borg before, but not in this form of people trapped on a planet, completely cut off from the Collective and planning to reconnect to a personal link to avoid the in-fighting that had resulted in the loss of the Borg's link. (Just an aside: how did these remnants of Wolf 359 get there? There was only one Cube and it was destroyed. Were they picked up after floating through space by another Borg ship or did something occur akin to the Sphere escaping in 'First Contact'?). Opportunities were missed in fleshing out the factions on the planet, learning more about what was going on there, as we only hear it from Riley's point of view - it stands to reason that Klingons, Cardassians, and other races, once freed from the controlling power of assimilation would soon begin to reassert their own destructive and volatile natures on those around them. A shame, therefore that we never got to see any of these Alpha Quadrant races when it's such a rarity on this series.

They made up for this later, with holographic versions of 'home' races in 'Flesh and Blood,' but it's astounding when you think of the clear opportunity they had for warring Klingons, etc, that weren't taken. I can answer my own question to some degree: for a start they didn't want to give away that these were Alpha Quadrant races at first, so the monk-like attackers couldn't be recognisable. For seconds, attention could too easily have become focused on those races - Klingon genes tend to overpower most others, so the co-operative of humans, Romulans, and others we don't know, might have been undermined if their enemies hadn't been the rather nondescript variety we saw. The enemy also made a difference in that they gave us reason to root for the cooperative forces, even though they were doing a dastardly thing of using Chakotay against his will to shoot his own people and obey their instructions against Janeway's will - it's fortunate for Chakotay that he didn't have control over his actions or that last scene in sickbay where Janeway talks it over with him would have been a sharp dressing down - we've seen it before and it's not pretty!

At least we got to see one familiar alien in the Romulan, Orum (played by one of those fantastically and memorably named guest stars, Ivar Brogger!), who is very sincere and likeable in his bottled excitement for the cause and gratitude towards Chakotay for agreeing to help. We hardly ever see Romulans we can identify with, the few exceptions coming from such historic figures as the noble Romulan Commander of 'Balance of Terror,' or Telek R'Mor, the scientist from the past, of this series, and Jarok the defector from 'TNG,' so to have a sympathetic Romulan on side gives credence to the cooperative's goals and was an excellent choice of race. It's a shame then that he isn't quite as trustworthy as we thought, but then, neither is Riley or her mates. The big moral quandary of this episode is whether they were right to force Chakotay to activate the beacon against his and his Captain's wishes. Unlike Torres in 'Prototype' when she goes to the Captain like a pupil with a great idea to ask the headmistress, gets turned down and is furious, Chakotay's mission of mercy isn't as clear-cut. Riley's already got him pretty much on side with romantic inclinations (something that makes him look a little shallow and her as horribly manipulative, taking advantage of an ill man), but even then he's not entirely certain it's a good idea, so when Janeway balances more towards the negative, he doesn't try to argue her down - they make a great team.

So the cooperative make him do what he couldn't otherwise, they get their way, the other factions stop attacking, the floating Borg Cube destructs (though they could have given Voyager more than three seconds to get away rather than their undying gratitude!), and Voyager can go on its way, safe in the knowledge that this Cube won't be attracting its fellows or used by the cooperative which are still confined to the planet. Should Voyager just move on or should they return to confront the cooperative? It's just a thought I had, because the only reasons not to are that they feel their work is done and it's the end of the episode so we've run out of time, but in reality, you'd be more likely to go and have it out with them for doing what they did. The whole thing was in the same mould as the Prime Directive without actually being that: they're warp capable, just not warp available species. But then again they've created this new community on this planet so should a Federation ship interfere? Janeway decided no, so they went behind her back anyway, but they used her personnel to do it. It's not an easy question to answer, but neither is whether what the cooperative is doing is right: as Janeway points out, they're imposing their will on everyone on the planet!

It's not exactly made clear what this link will mean for the denizens of the planet. They must still all be individual because otherwise how would Riley and the others have distinct personalities, but at the same time the link is strong enough to stop the factions from fighting, so is it some kind of community dampening field on their emotions that stops them from getting angry? Is it a full-on Borg neural link that no one controls and everyone works for the betterment of the society? Or is it, and this is what I felt, something which Riley and her band of merry pacifists can control everyone else with? Because we don't get to hang around, we can't know for sure, but it's a worrying thought. The cooperative could have made an interesting contribution to the series in an ongoing capacity, but sadly we never meet them again, probably because as they said, they were only interested in their community and the planet had become their home. They weren't interested in leaving or they'd have been all about building ships or getting Voyager to help them move home. Not that I can see what was so great about the ugly, damage-strewn planet, maybe it was a touch of the Stockholm Syndrome and they'd only become attached after living there for so many years?

What were those good points about the Borg I mentioned earlier? For one we learn that the neural link that connects all Borg to a collective intelligence has healing properties: being joined to them is healthy! (As long as you don't want to be an individual, of course…). Being joined together stops fighting and ill will, meaning good things for everyone and a fair and efficient society! (As long as you don't harbour wishes to do your own thing…). So why not join the Borg today? Sign up for your free downloadable information pack: the Borg don't need you, you need the Borg. That might be one way to look at the situation, and certainly on first glance the cooperative's goals are worthy and based on Federation ideals. The only downside appears to be freedom, something which Riley and the others seem to have forgotten, but is that a result of becoming cut off from the Collective, or would she have had those ideals before? There are parallels with the 'DS9' story 'Hippocratic Oath' in which the second most dangerous adversary in Trek history, the Jem'Hadar, are seen without the inherent dependence and addiction to drugs. Seeing how badly that ended, Janeway and Chakotay's dubious thoughts on whether the cooperative will be a good thing looks more realistic: if they were willing to use their power at a moment of need, forcing their will on Chakotay, how long will it be before they're tempted to do more? Shame we never found out.

We've had a run of episodes directed by Trek actors, if three in short order counts as a run: 'Alter Ego' had been Robert Picardo's turn, Andrew Robinson had just done 'Blood Fever,' and now it was Robert Duncan McNeill making his second 'Voyager.' His style doesn't stand out, but that's a good thing, successfully telling the story as if it had been done by any professional Trek Director. It must have been an assured touch as I wouldn't have suspected a relatively unfamiliar hand if I hadn't known, so top marks for the conn-man. Paris barely features, but then Kes, Neelix and Kim aren't much in evidence either, this is a strongly Chakotay-centric episode, an experience to be enjoyed when you remember that he was all but forgotten in much of the later seasons. Something else all but forgotten had been the Nekrit Expanse. A big thing had been made of it in 'Fair Trade,' but how much did it really impact the ship's voyage apart for that setup episode? Barely, is the answer, paid only lip service, and that sparingly, a real waste of a good concept that should have been explored. It's little details like this that begin to stand out more with each repeated viewing, and while 'DS9' is solidifying in your mind and taking even firmer shape to back up all the good work, 'Voyager' starts to unpeel a little. You notice story details, or that the CG explosion of the Cube doesn't look as good as the live-action special effects used to.

What was good, and the regular benefits of the TV series' living off the big budget feature films being in evidence again, is that we get the kind of sets and Borg makeup from 'First Contact' that made the race more terrifying than the pasty-faced corpse version of 'TNG.' This was a newer series so it was only right that they upgraded the look of a familiar face, even if the work had been done for the film. The corpse the Doctor autopsied was from the Cube they found, but I've often thought it was the one they found at the end of 'Blood Fever,' which is why I didn't quite follow when Janeway talks of the corpse they found without reference to the planet of that episode. Pay attention! For some reason I was spotting themes from 'The 37s' in this one, though I don't suppose there's any real connection between the two episodes: Ensign Kaplan (who dies without any need to, how cruel was that!), suggests Voyager might have landed when they discover a Federation message; Riley's story of being abducted by aliens then being left to fend for themselves when they awoke from suspended animation (maybe she saw 'The 37s'?) is identical; the idea of staying on the planet as that's become their home - I was even expecting the plan she came to ask Janeway about to be an invitation for the crew to come and live with them and become part of the cooperative.

The attack on Chakotay and Kaplan could have been more fierce, though I suppose being confronted by hooded assailants on a planet you've arrived at expecting to help someone was pretty unpleasant. But Kaplan is killed off with nary a thought, and Chakotay, because he's a main character gets zapped by a super-weapon that knocks him out, damages his brain in some way and makes a nasty mark on the side of his head which appears to grow as if he's been assimilated in blood and it was happening very, very slowly. Or did he hit his head when he fell? That part of it was a little indistinct. I wondered if Riley and co. had either killed Kaplan or left her to die, but that wouldn't have made sense as she was an asset, and they would have wanted anyone they could get to join their group.

What they did with this episode was bring the Borg in in a new way, without resorting to a plain old action romp, but learning something about them or those that had been Borg, something the series would have to wrestle with in ups and downs over the course of the following four seasons. At this stage they still had sixty-seven years ahead of them (that would have been a lot of episodes - we'd still be watching it now!), showing that as yet there had been no big leaps, it was just standard warp power moving them along on the journey. But things were to change, and the biggest one was the Borg, so seeing their introduction here has a special resonance to the rest of the series. Even more so does the suggestion that there could be an even more powerful enemy than the Borg, something not spoken on screen before, I believe. In this case it turned out to be an electrical storm of some kind (those Borg ships really ought to have better health and safety!), but the hint of the future was powerful. Even the Borg were proved not to be as omnipotent as they seemed: for example their technology could replicate functioning arms, but not BBQ ribs…

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