Prey

This episode was very well done, though writing could have been improved on a little bit. I will admit that this season has taken a large step up for the series, but I have found the early episodes with Seven of Nine a bit difficult. Ever heard the term OP in gaming? Seven is the Over-Powered character of the Voyager series; overly knowledgable, super strength, technologically advanced. Jeri Ryan is an amazing actress and once Seven as a character begins to grow and expand, the episodes she features in become much better. This episode also showcases an excellent Tony Todd, albeit almost completely unrecognizable as the Hirogen hunter.

However, I have never understood some reviewers obvious disdain for Captain Janeway throughout this series. Some seem to insist that she lay a course for the Alpha Quadrant and let that be that. No research, no discoveries or curiosity. Would this make for an entertaining show for you then? Episode after episode of ships maintenance and officers log reports?? Yawn.

Yet still, others have complained that Janeway is not forceful or aggressive enough. Is there a problem with compassion? Would you prefer a militaristic version of ST along the lines of Battlestar Galactica? Fine, it already exists.

One of the best aspects of the Star Trek universe as originally envisioned by Gene Roddenberry was the idea of EXPLORATION, seeking out new life and new civilizations... yes I'm quite sure I've heard that somewhere before. As for the crew that reviewers get so touchy over, they signed up for Starfleet, they knew the risks of job. To Janeway's credit, fighting what would appear to be an overly hostile ENTIRE quadrant, she has managed to keep a crew and ship together against terrible odds. Facing very difficult decisions on a nearly weekly basis, finding the balance between duty and compassion, hostility and peace, Janeway has done an admiral job with one of the most difficult situations in the ST universe.

The episode takes the Hunters, the Hirogen, to the extreme. They're hunting the Borg hunters, Species 8472, now. It's exactly as cool as it sounds. I love it. But I'm after a different feeling here. The episode should trigger a feeling that's not obvious, but possible to achieve from this point: Disillusion-Rejection-Oblivion. The Hunter species, the Hirogen, feel so real because they are based on real-history's Prussians in North-Eastern Europe. Their country is now extinct. Put yourself in the shoes of a bystander, watching the Hirogen. Say, like the Prussians, they just lost their empire. Nothing to call home, anymore. And still, the Hirogen keep chasing insanely stupid goals: Hunting other species. And no other species tells them how stupid that is! The Hirogen consider everyone else prey! They never get any feedback. And you (Captain Janeway) won't tell them, either. In fact, you can't. The Hirogen openly admit, they oppose anything you're going to do. 'Hello, enemy.' As a result, you'll watch them, too, in a state of Disillusion-Rejection-Oblivion.

Sorry, Species 8472 vs Hirogen

I will disagree with other reviews about the sense of Cpt Janeway - species 8472, despite the peril it poses, deserves some compassion, at least as a dramatic device. Describing it as pure evil was unfair - in general, non-humanoid species are rare enough in Star Trek, and usually shown as xenophobic (probably to explain why they are not around much).

Anyway, the episode was quite good, except of course for the captain's hypocrisy (or, better, the writers' disregard for continuity): she is unwilling to sacrifice the hunted alien even if it saves the whole of Voyager, but no one is there to remind her of that time she killed a guy called Tuvix.

Have to agree with some of the other reviews. This one is just nuts. Janeway is so busy trying to be "compassionate" that she puts her crew and ship at risk pretty much constantly. To the point of being clearly unfit for command.

Once again Janeway ignores a chance to move on in order to explore a new species. In this case, Tuvok and Seven have already had an encounter and were nearly killed. Seven expresses her disdain for the Captain, reminding her how foolhardy she is. The issue is a hunting force going after a creature and Janeway's stupid decision to bring the thing on board their ship. I don't know if the writers were meaning to show Katherine as incompetent as she seems, but it certainly plays out that way.