Someone to Watch Over Me

I never imagined the funniest episode of Voyager would center around Seven of Nine. "This creature has an exoskeleton".

Continuing his efforts to teach Seven the art of social interaction, the doc is now destined to unravel the secrets of the dating and romantic relationships chapter. The doc himself though is more of a beginner than a professional when it comes to romance and love, but among the blind people the one-eyed man is king.

Since Seven still has a rather wooden and direct tone towards those around her, the doc's lessons lead to all sorts of funny situations, for example when Seven invites a colleague on a date and there is an incident while eating lobster. At the end of the date, she almost dislocates his arm while dancing, so he has to be treated by the doc for a torn ligament.

As the doc goes through the individual lessons with Seven, he slowly begins to fall in love with her. Some users see this as borrowing from the myth of Pygmalion, but the doc doesn't create his perfect woman himself for his own pleasures. It's more like the spark of romantic affection is ignited between two outsiders. However, Seven does not feel this affection to the same extent as the doc, so he ultimately does not openly express his feelings towards her.

The B-plot, on the other hand, is pretty lame and can easily be forgotten. Neelix has been given the task of looking after a diplomatic guest. However, the guest surprises him by discovering that he is not as averse to worldly pleasures as he assumed. Neelix plays babysitter while his guest makes his way through half of Neelix's menu and also gets a taste for synthehol. In contrast to the A-plot, this seems rather silly.

Awful Awful just Awful. Cringefest. It just doesn't work. It's embarrassing. Words fail me how bad this dire episode plays out.

We know the Dr can sing. It's nice that we find out 7 can also sing .

So why do we have to crowbar this ability into an inept episode.

I don't watch Star Trek for this kind of simplistic mellodrama. It is so desperately disappointing and at least a waste of electricity to view it.

No more simplistic melodramas please !

It just doesn't work. It's embarrassing. Words fail me how bad this dire episode plays out.

We know the Dr can sort of sing. It's nice that we find out 7 can also. Sort of sing .

So why do we have to wedge this ability into a dire episode.

I don't watch Star Trek for this kind of simplistic mellodrama. It is so desperately disappointing and at least a waste of electricity to view it.

The Doctor instructs Seven of Nine in a more complex social interaction.

This is a strong episode with great humour and character moments.

For me this is one of the better comedy episodes, as the jokes are well written and fairly prolific. There is a great mix of awkward social interactions, funny dialogue, sight gags, and fish-out-of-water situations involving Seven.

The writer deserves as much credit as the filmmakers for providing funny material that is not traditionally Star Trek, particularly with a lack of sci-fi focus. It does however embody the values associated with the show such as celebrating the difference of its characters. I appreciate this will depend on your own sense of humour, as comedy is in the eye of the beholder.

Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan are key to its success as they display impressive comic timing and excellent chemistry in their scenes together. Some of their more heartfelt character exchanges work very well too. Star Trek usually does romance badly and they are supported well by the likes of Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, and Roxanne Dawson.

...or My Fair Lady! This is the worst episode in Voyager since Retrospect. I honestly can't believe it has such a high rating. It's literally just Pygmalion with the Doc and Seven shoehorned into the lead roles, leading to an out-of-nowhere budding relationship between them by the end of it... which is honestly kind of creepy with them being in both a teacher-student relationship, as well as doctor-patient relationship. And even if Pygmalion didn't already exist and the show's writers came up with it on their own, I hate the whole concept of constantly pressuring Seven to conform to society and stifling her individuality. It's amazing that Seven is actually mostly human but she's the one constantly being programmed like a robot without objection, but the Doc is an 100% AI yet behaves 100% human to a fault.

I don't watch Star Trek for stories like this. Maybe if there was a futuristic/scifi twist to the story, then it'd be worthwhile, but any show could just spoof Pygmalion like this, and many shows have to the point of it being cliche. The "B story" going on with Neelix was the only worthwhile part of this.