Body and Soul

An extremely refreshing and light-hearted episode in which Jeri Ryan can once again show that she is a versatile actress and is capable of portraying more than just the cold and emotionless Seven.

I was skeptical at first. Most stories about body swapping (especially when the body is that of the opposite sex) tend to be silly, cheesy, and cringe. Just look at the DS9 episode "Profits and Lace". Although no bodies are swapped here, Quark is suddenly more woman than man and Ferengi. One of the low points of this series.

However, this episode does this body swap in a fun and interesting way. Because the doctor is a hologram and has not yet been able to perceive smells or experience the joys of epicurean indulgence, he reacts through Seven's senses like a small child who has been given too much candy. Above all, it is the small situations that create a funny overall picture. E.g. When the doctor (in Seven's body) replicates American cheesecake, swallows a few bites, then replicates another cake for the captain, but then gives him his/her half-bitten piece and keeps the other piece himself. Or when the doctor notices the smell of Harry's sweat for the first time and then smells himself, or rather Seven's body, and then remarks that despite the long day, she still smells like the proverbial rose.

Jeri Ryan does an excellent job of imitating the doctor's gestures and facial expressions. Even the little things like his "hmmm" or his smile or the movement of his head. It seems pretty authentic.

The series has actually gotten better since Seven came on board. Kes, on the other hand, was designed to be pretty one-dimensional from the start and her character was never given the chance to get as much screen time as Seven.

Probably the best two characters on from Voyager make this a thoroughly entertaining episode. As the delta flyer with Harry, Seven and the Dr have been on a mission through Lokrim space they are arrested for transporting a phototonic, our Dr (only we know him as Voyagers' hologram). So to save him from being - terminated Seven downloads his program to her cyber implants and that's where the fun begins as he is now actually in control of her body. After she/he is taken to the captain of the lokrim ship for interrogation, having to prove that the replicators are not weapon creators, an overindulgence of rich food and sinthahol leads to an extremely funny 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.

This is definitely one of my top 5 favourite episodes of voyager. The Doctor and seven Of Nine do a body swap thing and it is so funny. I like most of the other voyager characters too but those two are by far my favourites. I wish they ended up as a couple they are the perfect couple of beauty and brains. This episode shows what great actors they both are and it is really well written. It is definitely one of the funniest episodes of Star Trek ever. Robert Ricardo is great as always as the doctor he could read the phonebook and make it entertaining. Jery Ryan really shines in this episode though because she has to channel the doctor character and clearly had fun with it, like she gets to do an impression of her friend. I'll freely admit I can be very shallow and the fact that she looks like a supermodel with a perfect body means I could watch her do anything and enjoy it, but she actually is a great actress too. You sometimes don't see it because the seven of nine character is so focused and rarely emotes but in episodes like this you see that she has a lot of talent and range as an actress. I think it is kind of like Data from TNG he is so wooden because that is what the character is but when you see him play other parts you see how good the actor is. I think Voyager might be the most underrated Trek series. It is a bit hit or miss but its best episodes can easily compete with the other shows too. I'm now going to look up some pictures of seven Of Nine in her skin tight body suit for research purposes.

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,