Endgame

Star Trek can be very hit and miss with finales. Voyager, however, is the cream of the crop. It just has so much that works in its favor. Time travel shenanigans, action, drama, humor, a baby being born amidst the chaos, the return of Alice Krige as the true Borg Queen (thank god the other actress was unavailable, she sucked and Krige killed it as ever). The conclusion itself was extremely satisfying.

It just has one glaring flaw: a forced romance subplot that neither makes sense or works on a basic chemistry level. It comes absolutely out of nowhere and drags the story to a halt every single time they cut to it.

Bad romance aside, however. If you're a fan of Voyager, it will satisfy you on every other level. Kate Mulgrew in particular absolutely shines in a dual role.

I can understand the hate/dislike, as time travel, if not done right, can be considered as a lazy mans technique to bring a story to an end. However, this works in some places and not so much in others, but the ending 5 minutes still makes my hair stand on end.

My favourite TV show. Not my favourite episode. But I loved how they kept things open regarding the crew's future. Easy 10 stars. Here is how I would want VOY to continue from here: The exact same crew explores Romulan space. In a cloaked ship that looks Federation, except it's all Borg-like square shapes, instead of round circles. 'We look like Federation, but we're not. Hence, we're allowed to cloak.' Tuvok turns out to be a Romulan, really. The adventures of the new VOY crew resemble Indiana Jones from here. The crew constantly has Romulans in their backs. Romulan space is vast. And why are Romulans so secretive, anyway ? Let's have that kind of show, shall we ? Star Trek Voyager was the slickest, shiniest, smartest show I ever was so privileged to witness. Thank You. --- Find an invitation to my Star Trek Fan Project STAR FLEET: ROMULUS on Google Play Books. Codename Greenspace.

I love this show. It is my favourite in the Star Trek world except the original series. Too bad the writers went the "we don't want to fall into the sappy, captain gives a heroic speech, ticket tape parade trite ending" that most shows would naturally do. They went the Sopranos ending route and tried to change it up and not form to convention. yes, you can be bold and take that route but you also have to pay the piper if that route fails. I doubt David Chase can go anywhere even years later without a fan coming up and saying, "WTF guy! I felt stiffed!" When you have a 2 or 3 hour film you can play that card BUT when you have the finale show after a 7 year run that is ALSO part of a huge fan based universe for the past 40+ years, you have to pay off some debts buddy. Like it or not it is emotionally satisfying having those moments and when you cheat your audience by not showing them at all because you don't as filmmakers want to present the same old same old, then you can't complain when you are dragged out on the carpet for it. Your job is to present it in in a non-sappy way by use of writing, acting and directing skills to satisfy an audience, not to re-invent the wheel.

Mind you I still think "The Sentinel" and "Smackdown" and "Malcolm & Eddie" were better show but only because of Jeri Ryan ruining this show with her Allied Nordicist Yankee "Friends"-watching "Seinfeld"-hating presence. Anyways, this episode is also proof that "Voyager" knew how to chill when it came to the futuristic, at the expense of the old, beliefs. In this episode, the Borg try one final attempt to silence Voyager and capture Earth and the Federation. It's a brutal cat and mouse. Unfortunately (in something that doesn't detract from my rating), "Voyager" has already done irrepairable damage to the once threatening superpower. They have a leader and she resorts to threats and pettiness, and even compared to the renegades in "Descent," they come off as harmless. Nevertheless this is a hard-hitting episode that bought big ratings for UPN, and is testimony to my UPN/Warner Bros./WB flagship. :) And another reason why UPN consistently stomped non-Warner Bros.ish The WB left and right all 11 years in the ratings, and even in accolades. "The Sentinel" was critically acclaimed but given the TV Academy's bias towards CBS and (sorry I know Disney changed them but they still have the stigma from the pre-Disney days) ABC and The WB, as well as the Academy's bias towards Universal and Columbia Pictures, they got snubbed. Establishment "Friends"-watching fatcats

Still, this was a hard-hitting episode, and yes I prefer "Barney" over "Seasame Street" anyday, and "Barney" also aired in syndication on UPN (as opposed to Tribune favorite "Seasame Street.")