Body and Soul

There has always been a character in every Star Trek series that is restrained emotionally and therefore somewhat limiting to the actor who plays him or her: Spock, Data, Tuvok, Seven of Nine. Thankfully the writers find ways to occasionally set the actor free with plot devices such as emotion chips for Data, viruses that overcome Vulcan logic or in this case, a body switch between the Doctor and Seven.

Jeri Ryan has always done a fantastic job with the Seven character and in this episode where she plays the Doctor, her acting skills are even more on display. She plays the Doctor's mannerisms and voice inflections to perfection and it's great fun. The Doctor is running amok in his human/Borg body and stirring up all kinds of trouble while saving the day in his haphazard way.

Loved this episode and I hope Seven/Jeri gets more chances to break out of her Borg shell.

Seven of Nine: And the massage you got from Lieutenant Jaryn?

The Doctor: Entirely therapeutic!

Seven of Nine: You became sexually aroused in my body!

Ha! The best line of the series!

Ever notice that the non humans have the best role.

Seven Doc Data T'Pol K-2SO ok he was from Rogue One but you get the point.

Seven of Nine, Harry Kim and The Doctor are abducted by a race of beings who seem to have a problem with holograms.

As plot, this episode is really just an excuse to do a pretty effective body swap comedy. As an idea it is not original but it works well. We are used to Seven's no-nonsense, deadpan persona and to see her exhibiting The Doctor's exuberant mannerisms is laugh out loud funny in most scenes. The Harry Kim character functions as an effective straight man for all the humour.

The only thing you really need to do is sit back and enjoy Jeri Ryan doing an impression of Robert Picardo and listen to them banter in the sequences when they are back to their original character forms. These are actors with great chemistry providing memorable moments for the Star Trek franchise.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I like to round upwards.

I agree with several reviews that gave this episode a 10. But it was first after a second viewing that I grew to appreciate Jeri Ryan's fantastic talents. I understand from the trivia section that she studied Picardos mannerisms painstakingly. It must have been one of her proudest moments in the series. IT was surely one of the most enjoyable ones for me. I originally rated it an 8 two years ago, but after seeing it again and the many uncontrolable laughing spurts I had, I can truly say that I enjoyed it. This is a gem in the rough! I see Jeri Ryan in an entirely different light after coming to appreciate this episode,

As if we needed another reason to love Seven of Nine and the actress playing her. Fantastic performance by Jeri, stole the show, and showed you what she was capable of as an actor.

The addition of Seven as a character provided the writers with fertile ground for new stories. I don't blame the other actors for resenting Jeri/Seven. I wish the writers focused on the other characters as much as they focused on Seven (and on the Doc), Voyager would have been a more balanced show toward its characters. I love them all, by the way, and I love the show--to me it's like comfort food.

A few episodes before this, Seven was given another chance to shine, it was the episode in which she thought she was going to die.