164 – Human Error

Grade: C+

Summary

This episode has a quick intro. We hear someone playing the piano with a metronome, and then we see that it’s Seven. Then it cuts to commercial. When we come back, we’re at Tom and B’Elanna’s baby shower. It seems a bit early for that, but whatever. We notice that Seven no longer has her Borg implants, then she delivers a very good toast to the couple.

Commentary

I probably should have liked this one a lot more, since it’s a character story. But the biggest problem is that it’s all a holodeck fantasy, and I usually don’t like holodeck episodes. I honestly wish they had never invented the holodeck because it gives the writers an easy way out every time. They don’t have to come up with aliens every week, or any real character development, or anything of consequence. Usually, holodecks are where the real characters go to waste time and escape reality. So what happens there never matters. You want proof? Remember that Fair Haven storyline? Janeway supposedly fell in love with a holodeck character, remember? Yeah, so much for that. Not that I’m complaining – I thought that was extremely boring. My only point is that what happens on the holodeck stays on the holodeck, and at best, we rarely hear about it again.

OK, now that’s out of the way. Back to this episode. Seven has apparently been learning to play the piano, she has her own quarters, and she’s fully human. She’s even learned to develop a relationship with Commander Chakotay. However, once it is discovered that Seven’s cortical node has been deliberately created to prevent Borg drones from developing emotions, Seven decides she’ll never develop emotions again. So here we have a limit placed on becoming more human. Why? What’s the point of preventing a character from developing something that she really wants? Why does Voyager consistently take the easy way out every single time?

I honestly felt cheated because I thought this was going to turn into something. Instead, we’re slapped in the face with a “gotcha!” from the writers. Voyager usually avoids taking risks. The dreaded Reset Button strikes again.

Of Note

I always thought the Doctor’s relationship with Seven was really creepy. This episode did nothing to fix that.