Hunters

Eric

I think the 4th season will be remembered as the year Voyager found a story to tell! No longer is it just existing from "event" episode to "event" episode, its trying to tie the shows together! I say "Well, what took you so long??". But at least they are there! I think the writers are finally in the zone! They dropped the ball a little with "Nemesis" and "Random Thoughts" but over all this year has been the best one yet.

Stuff that ruled :

1. Action Janeway is back!! Thank you for not killing her off TPTB!

2. The letters! This is what I've been waiting for since, well, 4 years ago! The crew actually talking about life before the DQ! Woe sometimes they DO get homesick ;-P

3. Tom NOT wanting to go home. This makes sense for him, I like it.

4. The Hirogen!!! Like 8472, they live up to the hype. This is the type of Aliens we should have been seeing since season one!

5. The FX. Thank you Foundation Imaging, thank you.

6. The stars reflecting in the Shuttle window. I so VERY much like the details! (Why yes, I AM a movie geek *G* what makes you ask??)

Things that bummed me out :

1. Once again we were short changed a battle!! One Voyager gets shot I want to SEE IT!!

2. Tuvok killed the Hirogen!!! Damn it TPTB Seven should have done that!!! NO FAIR!!!

and that's it! A damn fine episode IMHO.

Vickie T. -- 11 Feb 1998, 9:12 PM

A thoroughly satisfying episode, and the loose ends they tied up! I thought it was great. I liked too many things to list them all, here are a few:

A major J/C moment - you knew that would top my list! It may take a while, but you know they will eventually get together. Of course, we may never see it in the show, but that's OK. I can live with that.

Finally, letters from home. I hope we hear a little more about those letters in the next episodes, esp. Maquis reaction to the deaths of their comrades.

Janeway was again at her Captainly best. She didn't back down, she wasn't wildly reckless, and she didn't order the crew to do anything stupid. She went only as far as the situation called for. Sure, the communications array got destroyed, but I didn't feel like it was gratuitous. The events leading up to its destruction mostly made sense.

Tom Paris - what a guy. Sigh. If Chakotay wasn't such a hunk, and if I wasn't half scared of Ginny, I might be tempted to jump on the Paris bandwagon. Or, maybe just jump on Paris. Oww! Stop! I was just *kidding* Ginny!

A very satisfying Paris/Torres moment. TPTB have been doing a pretty good job with that relationship after they got that ridiculous making out in the Jeffries tube stuff out of their systems. I loved the way Tuvok grabbed up that letter from his wife after Neelix left. Grandpa Tuvok! I thought everyone did an excellent job in this episode, even Garret Wang, as Peter pointed out, appeared to be able to really act.

Miscellaneous Comments:

Those Hirogen are *really* tall, aren't they? Where did they find those actors...the NBA?...WWF?

Beltran has got to do something about his hair. A little Grecian Formula if you must, but lay off the black Lady Clairol.

In the previews for next week it looks like Ayala gets shot (again). He should have listened to us and kept his mouth shut.

Season 4 is indeed turning out to be a great year.

Mrs. Mac -- 11 Feb 1998, 9:19 PM

LIKES

1) Janeway barking out the orders in the end. It flowed nicely and made sense in a techobabble sort of way.

2) The Torres/Paris scenes were great. Okay guys. I think Tom and B'Elanna have already slept together. Mac says no way. What are your opinions?

3) Loved Seven's frightened look when she was presented the possibility that she had relatives on earth.

4) Predictable, but I liked the Neelix/Tuvok scene. I just knew he was dying to read that letter.

5) The Hirogen. I'm so happy Chakotay wasn't captured. He would have given them his angry warrior speech about how his ancestors used to take trophies...blah blah blah.

6) Hey! There's a blue alien aboard!

7) Continuity, I think we have a winner!

MINOR GRIPES

1) Mac wanted to slap Harry in a big way. This guy was a pest. Obviously he is still green around the gills. He hasn't yet learned to be cool like his pal Tom.

2) The doctor's speech was overdone to annoyance.

3) The Chakotay/Torres scene bothered me a little. I think it was a little overblown because, perhaps, some of those Maquis feelings may have washed out a little in the time past, and not too much later Chakotay was flirting with Janeway. No skin off his back.

MYSTERY

Torres certainly had time to get the rest of the letter from Tom's father. Afterall, in the end she tells Janeway that she retrieved most of the encrypted messages and a few more letters. Since Tom's letter was in transit before that, just how was it lost? Mac thinks Torres is holding out on Tom.

Martha -- 11 Feb 1998, 9:33 PM

Wow, so many great moments.

My favorites:

Getting a Chakotay/Janeway consolation scene, can he give any broader hints?

Seven and Tuvok's interaction is very natural, these logical beings analyzing the actions of the not so logical.

Of *course* Tom doesn't really want to hurry back to the AQ.

The utterly creepy Hirogen dissecting discussion. I'm glad our skeletal structure makes us so difficult to open from behind. That knife looked really scary.

My only complaint-- Why didn't B'Elanna get all of Tom's message? As he was heading out the door she almost had it.

Jason -- 11 Feb 1998, 9:46 PM

Well, I liked it more or less- unfortunately, my station's transmission of Voyager was a little jittery for some reason, so it was hard to concentrate on the picture, but it was a nice episode. Some parts I thought were overdone, some parts were not done enough, but unlike "Far Beyond the Stars" (a superior episode, by the way) I actually did feel an emotional connection with the Voyager's characters.

The best part of the episode was the back-to-back scenes of Janeway reading Mark's letter and Chakotay's "Something terrible has happened" scene with B'Elanna in Engineering. (Can anyone with good eyes actually make out what Mark's letter says? There's a clear shot of the padd, but like I said, the picture was jittery so I couldn't make it out.)

Minor points:

--The best part about the Hirogen are their computer controls! Talk about low-tech! Instead of computer interfaces, the Hirogen, for those who didn't notice, use really, really non-futuristic 'rods' to run their ship. Hey, don't the Russian computers still use those?

--Did anyone notice in the teaser that Garrett Wang seemed to be looking just over Janeway when he was speaking? It looked like he was reading from cue cards out of camera range.

--Those who follow the lives of the extras on Voyager can now put faces to the names thanks to Neelix's mail call. We saw "cold hands, cold heart" Nicolleti, and the Bolian mentioned in "Flashback" among others.

--The destruction of the entire array seemed way too convenient, but leave it to Voyager to throw a wrench in to a system that worked just fine on it's own for over 100,000 years.

--The Maquis element was dropped awfully fast. Did Janeway ever find out about it?

--What are the secret plans Starfleet sent Janeway??? I can't believe that Taylor and the rest of the writers will forget about it, but it doesn't seem to be coming up in any upcoming episodes.

Well, that's all I can think of right now. In short, "Hunters" was good, but not completely satisfying. What was done with the characters was fantastic. I was almost sniffling when Janeway read her letter.

Marie -- 12 Feb 1998, 12:27 AM

Vickie said: A major J/C moment - you knew that would top my list!

Ah, Vickie, they're just toying with us again, throwing a yearly crumb to the J/Cers. It's hardly fair. And Janeway's comment about not having any time *in FOUR YEARS* to pursue a relationship seemed weak and silly at best. But that's just MHO.

You said of Janeway "she didn't order the crew to do anything stupid." That's the comment I keep seeing lately (and have written myself), usually expressed with a sense of relief. If that isn't a clue that TPTB are *way, way* off on Janeway's character development, I don't know what is.

Carol -- 12 Feb 1998, 2:52 AM

Jason said -- "(Can anyone with good eyes actually make out what Mark's letter says? There's a clear shot of the padd, but like I said, the picture was jittery so I couldn't make it out.)"

I swiped this off of Usenet:

------snip------from: brianb1@home.com (Brian Barjenbruch)

For those of you who are curious about things like this :-) here is the text of Mark's message to Janeway, or as much as she can see on one screen: (Note: There's one word I couldn't make out so I put in asterisks in its place)

Dear Kathryn, I was just reminiscing about the birth of Molly's puppies and how long ago that seems. You should see how big they are. That and how well they get along with my new kitten. Things at work are still *******. The production schedule never seems to let up. However, I need to relate some very difficult news. Since you've been gone, it's been so difficult for me to accept...

That's all that's displayed on the screen. Again, I couldn't make out that one word about how things at work are so I sort of fudged it. (Mark has a CAT?)

------snip------

Carol -- P.S I hear there was a lot of "Mosaic" name dropping in this episode; Admiral Owen Paris, Mark Johnson (they gave people's first and last names :-).

Ruth -- 12 Feb 1998, 6:33 AM

Mrs. Mac wrote: Torres certainly had time to get the rest of the letter from Tom's father. Afterall, in the end she tells Janeway that she retrieved most of the encrypted messages and a few more letters. Since Tom's letter was in transit before that, just how was it lost? Mac thinks Torres is holding out on Tom.

Oooh! I hadn't thought of this. It would be interesting, and this episode shows that TPTB can follow up on some story threads when they want to do so. If the letter was a scathing indictment of Our Tom, she might have not wanted to show it to him. (Although Ginny is right -- he would suffer beautifully).

Mr. Mac. -- 12 Feb 1998, 7:12 AM

Not only that Ruth, I think that Torres may have gotten a letter herself. Wasn't she holding one more padd when she was speaking to Tom? We really don't know if Torres got a letter or not, but it's possible! I love it!

Vickie T. -- 12 Feb 1998, 8:03 AM

Torres censoring Tom's mail? Like Ruth, I never even thought of that, but it makes a lot of sense. I also wondered how Torres could possibly not have gotten Tom's letter when she was already downloading it before the fighting started. I like the idea.

Regarding whether or not Tom and B'Elanna have slept together...Mr. Mac, come on, wake up and smell the coffee! Of course they have! They've gotten way too comfortable with one another to still be in that "I want you body, but I don't know if should do it" manic phase of the relationship.

G'Inny -- 12 Feb 1998, 8:14 AM

HUNTERS wasn't completely satisfying. I though we were emotionally short-changed several times, and the direction was really awkward in a couple of places. But let me be methodical.

GRIPES

--Livingston is usually a better director than this. I thought the staging of the B'Elanna/Chakotay scene in Engineering was horrible (and Beltran's acting didn't help any), and I can't understand why he let Mulgrew remain in such an bizarre posture while she was pouring coffee in her ready room. It was so awkward and unnatural that it made me uncomfortable watching it.

--I also didn't think much of the Tuvok/Neelix scene, either, but that may have been the writing, not the direction.

--I thought B'Elanna was kind of nasty to Harry in the astrometrics lab scene. I am, however, willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to grief and anger at the news about the Maquis, but a couple of her comments about Seven and Harry were still pretty ugly.

--Commander Chakotay, Science Geek, is back. Found the array "fascinating", did he? How incredibly...boring. And he had uniformly blase` line delivery in this episode. Although I didn't think the final scene between Chakotay and Kathryn was written particularly well, it could have been saved by a skillful actor who inserted a subtext into his delivery. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

--And the thing that pisses me off most in this episode? The completely bogus way in which Tom's letter was handled. It is completely ridiculous to think that Harry's letter, which B'Elanna apparently retrieved after Tom's letter, made it through, and Tom's didn't. My first thought was, hold on - that doesn't make any sense. My second thought was - B'Elanna decided not to give it to him because of the content. Wow. If that, indeed, turns out to be the case, then I will rescind my current pissed off status and stand amazed and impressed at TPTB's audacity.

GRATIFYING BITS

--The Tom I knew and loved in the pilot episode is back--in a small way, at least. HUNTERS is RDM's best work in months IMHO. Even his line delivery has improved immeasurably. And I think he's lost a little weight.

--The Harry I knew and loved in the first season is back--but with a little more attitude, and, frankly, it becomes him. The scene in the mess hall with Tom was just terrific. It makes sense that Harry would expect a letter--so much so that the delay in getting it would make him edgy and snappish. His last comment to Tom was atypical for Harry, but, at the same time, so right for the situation, that I almost stood up and applauded.

--Tuvok and Seven--do these two ever strike a false note? I found Seven's question about away team procedures interesting, both because she implicitly trusts Tuvok's honesty (as opposed to Janeway's) in answering and because the question itself says so much about Seven's emerging expectations as a member of the crew.

--I wasn't sure about the Hirogen, at first--they didn't impress me much with the way they stood there and barked at each other, until I watched the episode gain and realized that I was observing classic pack behavior. The subordinate male Hirogen challenged the pack leader up to a point, and then he lowered his head in a ritual display of submission, affirming the alpha male's status and defraying further conflict. It's an interesting concept for an intelligent species--I'm curious to see how it plays out in the remaining episodes of the arc.

--The effect as the array was pulled into the singularity was pretty spectacular.

--Best line: "Coffee--the finest organic suspension ever devised...I beat the Borg with it."

--And what was the final "Yes, Ma'am" count? I heard five.

Vickie T. -- 12 Feb 1998, 8:29 AM

I'll do the best I can, Carol, to give you a summary of what went on between J & C.

First J/C scene: Tuvok is talking to Janeway in her office. Chakotay comes in the door then just stops and looks at J & T. Tuvok looks at C and turns & walks out saying "Commander" as he passes [side comment: I detected a real chill in the air between C & T. I could just be my imagination, or maybe C has renewed his annoyance at Tuvok the Spy upon hearing of the demise of the Maquis. Anyone else have any thoughts on that?] C give J a ship status report then asks her about her letter. She tells him what Mark said, C says well, we had to know that folks left behind would eventually get on with their lives, J says yes, but the letter was just so final and then the two of them are just standing there, face to face, looking into each others eyes. Kim's voice says Captain, Please come to the bridge, J keeps looking into C's eyes for another moment then without speaking turns away and goes on to the bridge with C following.

Second J/C scene: This is the last scene of the episode. C comes in to J's office. She offers him coffee, he accepts, they go over to the sofa thingie and sit down. He asks how she is, she says fine, he says you'd say that even if you had just gotten you legs torn off by a something beast, he points out all the things that have happened over the last few days, including her getting a...she says you can say it: a Dear John letter. J says maybe all this time I have just been using Mark as a safety net to avoid getting involved with anyone else. C says well, you don't have that safety net anymore. J says yeah, well, it's not like I have any time for a relationship, I'm a very busy person. C says well, that's one thing we do have lots of: time. Neelix's voice says "we're ready to start the party (Neelix organized a party in honor of the letters from home and to console everyone for losing their chance at getting any more) and we're only missing 2 people." J and C stand up, C offers his arm to J, she takes it and they walk out arm in arm.

Hope this helps a little bit, Carol. Anyone else, please add or correct my accounting as needed.

T'Racy -- 12 Feb 1998, 8:42 AM

...and the Hunters are U.G.L.Y.!

I loved this episode! But, I missed a few minutes here and there due to a certain 3 foot high distraction. (AKA Ehlana Podgorski) But, for the most part I caught everything. That won't stop me from watching it again this evening, though... Okay, here goes:

Likes:

The excitement the crew was feeling about getting letters from loved ones was quite contagious. I can remember feeling the same way when in Basic Training. Mail call was a time to get back to reality, a time where you felt really cared about. I think this excitement was well portrayed.

Harry's statement to Tom about Hope. Dead-on. I, too, thought Wang did a good job for this episode.

The letter readings: Janeway's face as she read her letter, going from excitement to sentimentality, to deep sadness and loss...Well done, Ms. Mulgrew! That started me tearing up(sniff). Then, came Chakotay's letter and his conversation with B'Elanna about their deceased friends. Oh, boy, the eyes were a-fillin'. Then, Tom and B'Elanna's interaction. His emotional admission of not having ever been happier (and the way he wouldn't look into her eyes--Ginny, this guy does suffer beautifully, doesn't he?) and then her angry remark about feeling sorry for himself, that others had lost their lives. His realization that he was being selfish and their tender hug. Sigh. (This was about the time Mike P. came home, so I missed a little bit of the scene.)

Tuvok's giving in to the urge to read the letter from his family. Ah, the old softie! I really like Tuvok. He has so much depth that you don;t expect to see, but it's there, just below the surface.

The Janeway/Chakotay conversation about Mark, and the long moment they looked into each other's eyes. J/C'ers, Unite! Go ahead, do that little Victory dance you've been holding off for far too long...

Did I already mention the Paris/Torres scene?

Tuvok and Seven paired once again. These two make such a neat team. Of all people, I can see Seven revealing her feelings more to Tuvok, than any other crew member. They seem to share a closeness already. And her concern that she has still not been wholly accepted as an equal among the crew, especially by Janeway. A Borg wouldn't care. Our little Seven is growing up so quickly!

The all around character development that went on in this ep was wonderful. Another winner for the Voyager team!

Dislikes:

Okay, the Hirogen seemed to be a little too weenie for being such big, hulking guys. And didn't they tell Tuvy and Seven they were such wimpy prey a few too many times? I kept expecting them to say, "Baaad prey, you were such baaad prey. No cookies before bed tonight..." Otherwise, the costuming, IMHO, was outstanding, even though MikeP. disagrees. He thought that they looked stupid.

The quick wrap to the ep. I was disappointed that the relay station had to be destroyed so quickly. Something about the YAATE kinda disturbed me. Granted, Tuvok was about to experience live vivisection, and Seven was about to bear witness to the gory details, but I think that their rapid rescue was a little too quick for what is supposed to be a five ep story arc. Oh, well. A small complaint: Didn't the Hirogen make it a little too easy for Tuvok to fight back? He wasn't even restrained! Maybe I missed something.

Martha -- 12 Feb 1998, 11:05 AM

T'Racy, Tuvok wasn't restrained because they were about to hang him from chains to vivisect him. Apparently they took off the restraints that he was wearing when he woke up.

Mike D -- 12 Feb 1998, 11:24 AM

THAT was more like it. I complained because 'Message in a Bottle' was too campy, now I'm happy cause 'Hunter' treated the "contact with home" theme with the seriousness it deserves.

Likes:

I fell for Kate all over again last night {HEAVY SIGH} (luckily my wife didn't seem to notice ;^).

Please, TPTB, keep Kate this way FROM NOW ON! The key word hear is "consistency", people. Last night's Janeway was GREAT! Even after getting a heartbreaking Dear John letter from home that would have put most people whimpering in the closet, Kate held together like the powerful commander she should always be. First Katie managed to save Seven and Tuvok from a horrible death (to say the least) then she destroys much superior attacking forces with a flick of her adorable little eye lashes. This is the Captain that was once my number one favorite, over Kirk and the rest (cute eyelashes aside for the moment ;^).

Torres also continues to impress me with her character development. She's really learned how to reach out to her shipmates and express her own feelings openly. I was touched by her scenes with Tom and Harry. One minor complaint I have is that Dawson over-acted in the scene when Chakotay informed her of the Maquis being wiped out. I guess it was from all those raging pregnancy hormones she had at the time.

I enjoyed seeing Tuvok warn the AOTW that if he was not released they would pay the price. At first I though he was being a little presumptuous with these powerful aliens, but I shouldn't have underestimated his faith in the might Kate. She really did kick their asses :^) just like Tuvok warned.

Harry didn't irritate me out for a change. He actually seemed OK.

It was also nice to see yet another episode that didn't revolve around Seven (like the camera angle usually does :^).

Dislikes:

I'm going to go easy on my dislikes, cause I already wrote to much already. The only thing that really comes to mind is I hope the writers don't drop the ball after that great Janeway/Chakotay scene at the end. You know, the one where Kate admitted to using Mark as a "safety net". I wish something could finally really develop between her and Chuck. You could almost see the hope sparkle in Chuck's eyes when he learned *maybe* there was a chance for him after all. I loved the arm and arm scene when they left the ready room to head for the party. BTW, Kate, you stated " how do you think I defeated the Borg", when you were talking about all the coffee you drank. If I were you I wouldn't bring that little escapade up, it's best forgotten, or best "blamed" on a caffeine overdose. It was a rare moment of continuity mentioning something from a past episode, but you only defeated the Borg by the skin of your pearly white teeth, thanks to Chuck and your crew. Oh, and another thing is Kate's voice improving and starting to sound more feminine and less hoarse? Maybe it's cause she quit smoking :^).

Great episode, can't wait for next week.

Mike (Nice writing job J.T.)

Diane -- 12 Feb 1998, 1:14 PM

Ok, How do I explain this? I really liked the show, but I felt a little short changed.

RANTS

I felt a little short changed on the Marquis issue. I wanted someone to mention the Dominion War. I didn't not feel the Marquis issue had been settled. All living Marquis are in prison and no one on mentioned that they were correct about the Cardasians. I also did not see anyone questioning their alliance with the Federation, like we were lead to believe from Roxann Dawson's statements.

I was left hanging about Paris' letter. Most people on this board, and other boards, think that B'Elanna held back the information received. I would like to think so, but I am afraid TPTB will drop the ball, like they did with the lack of Kes references and scenes in Year of Hell. Just a feeling. If B'Elanna did hold back the real letter, then this could add some spice to their story. If not, as I suspect, they have now completed Paris' redemption with a Blah ending. That's it, no great story of Paris coming to terms with his father. No explanation, no mental anguish, just a nice resolution.

I guess I am now jealous of Seven. Is it me or are the cameras focusing on here, even if she is not the main focus or sharing the focus of a scene? Specifically, the scene in Sickbay and the shuttle. In Sickbay, the Doc and the Captain are doing all the talking, and in the shuttle, Tuvok is out of focus even when he is doing a good bit of the talking.

RAVENS

Loved the character development, especially with Torres. Is this a new mature side to her, i.e. more serious, caring, controlling her animation with only a brief explainable outburst.

With Paris, actions and words revealed a lot about his insecurities. I found it interesting that it is Torres who can now control him (a lowering of Tom's insecurity shields, like Torres in DOH), and that it is Torres who tells Tom to think that his father loves him—great irony, like when Tom gave the Doc the meaning of family speech. I must say that Tom's speech last year and B'Elanna speech last night says mucho about what these two must deeply feel and what they must have experienced at one point in their lives or what they consider the true ways a family should act.

I am also happy how TPTB resolved the "I'm saving myself for my fiancée" issue. I loved how Tuvok showed his vulnerability, after Neelix left the room

Suzanne [SuzyQ] -- 12 Feb 1998, 1:56 PM

IMO the last two weeks of reruns were worth the wait for "Hunters" for it tied up most of the emotional loose ends that have been hanging around on Voyager for more than 3 seasons. For once, TPTB did the right thing by not having Yet Another Abrupt Trek Ending in "Message in a Bottle" with the crew grinning from ear-to-ear as they read their letters. I think it's a *good* thing that the writers devoted one separate episode to the consequences of Doc's trip to the Alpha Quadrant instead of trying to cram it in the same episode.

How does "Hunters" tie up the loose ends? Oh, let me count the ways (and I will below in my likes section). But, it also made major points in the character development section. A big happy face to the writers for spreading the wealth to most of our regulars as each reacts (or doesn't react) with anticipation to the possibility of contact with their loved ones in the AQ. OK, here are my thumbs up and thumbs down:

THUMBS UP on...

- Mail Call! I know some of you were griping about no resolution in MiaB, but all I had to say then was,"Be patient!" Ha! I was right! This episode really explored the reactions of the crew. What were they? For those dying to know, I'll post a second detailed message after this review.

- Janeway: She was written real good this ep and I couldn't be happier. Mulgrew also did well balancing Captain Janeway with the "I just got dumped" Janeway.

- Harry: Yeah, can you believe it? His anxiousness and impatience were right on, and it's nice to see that someone on the crew actually has a close bond with their family.

- Seven: I don't know how she did it, but Ms. Ryan managed to convey so much in so little screen time. Her scenes indicated that our girl definitely trusts Tuvok, values Janeway's opinion, thinks of herself as part of the crew (remember her bravado w/the Hirogen, saying essentially that "our" captain would kick their butts?), and is still a workaholic.

- Hirogen: These guys are B.A.D. Scarier than Species 8472 IMO. I kinda chuckled when Doc found their latest victim, deboned and gutted like a chicken, thinking, "Boy, the writers aren't pulling any punches with these aliens." Sounded like the Borg weren't too excited about the prospect of meeting them either.

- Twosomes: We got J/7, J/C, Tuvok/7, Harry/Tom, Harry/Torres, P/T, Tuvok/Neelix - all in the same show! And, at the same time, we got... ANGST: Janeway angst, Tommy angst, B'Elanna angst, even...holy cow... hold on to your hats...Tuvok angst! Sometimes angst can be more fulfilling than romance...

- Maquis resolution: Just thought it was interesting that Chakotay went to B'Elanna first about the news of the Maquis' destruction (as opposed to Janeway), and that he felt he had to break the news to the rest of the Maquis. I wasn't too pleased with B'Elanna's reaction (see below), but I did like the tightrope that Chakotay walked, expressing sadness for losing so many friends, sentiment at being one of the only Maquis left, and maturity that death was one of the risks involved. It felt like Chakotay had moved on and really identified with being part of the Voyager crew.

- The Ending: As opposed to being abrupt, I thought it set the stage perfectly for what's to come. The Hirogen aren't going to be happy with Voyager destroying their communications system that's been up and running for some 100,000 odd years. Then, there's still the matter of decoding Starfleet's maps and text that was under all the personal stuff...yes, I do like story arcs...

THUMBS DOWN on...

- B'Elanna: She's been one of my favorite characters from day one, and I honestly expected her to react in shock and outrage when discovering the Maquis are kaput. But, c'mon, when she signed up with the outfit, she had to know the rules of war. The Maquis were the underdogs to begin with, and their defeat was because they were outgunned. Because they refused to yield, they were blown away.They should have known what the consequences would be. The whole revenge, "I'll make them pay for killing my friends" thing was a bit over the top IMO. The woman is half-Klingon; she should know

something about winning and losing with honor. But, this is a minor nit-pick as her scenes with Tom and Harry were good.

- UPN commercials: For the record, I am not a gung-ho Winter Olympics viewer. The only thing I am inclined to watch is figure skating. But, I thought the "No, No, Nagano" commercial was in bad taste. Even if you don't like winter sports at all, I would hope that most people would support the athletes in their efforts, wish the country whose hosting the event well, and embrace the spirit of the Games in general. I didn't like the commercial because it promoted ignoring the Olympics in a city that has bent over backwards to welcome everyone. What did Nagano do to UPN to deserve that? UPN should be ashamed of themselves.

- My Darling Tom: He was petty and rude to his lover and his best friend. His feelings for his dad have always been evident so why take it out on everyone around him now? He didn't even do that in "Caretaker." Besides, doesn't he care about the rest of his family enough to see what news there might be of them in his dad's letter? Is *everything* back in the AQ about his father? Geez, grow up, Tom. I would have thought becoming a valued crewmember on Voyager would have made him more confident, secure and mature so he could take whatever daddy dished out. Evidently not...

- Tom's Lost Message: Balderdash! Tom's message came through before Harry's and Harry gets his while Tom's is lost? Grrrrr...and, no I don't think B'Elanna held out on him or lost it on purpose because of harsh contents. That seems too dishonest for our crew. Wish the writers would have given him at least a partial one, maybe half received. That way his dad's feelings could still be a mystery to all.

Suzanne [SuzyQ] -- 12 Feb 1998, 1:59 PM

For our international folks and those who have lost UPN in their area, here is a recap of who got what in the mail:

Janeway: good news - her dog had puppies; bad news - Mark married someone else a few months ago

Chakotay: bad news - Maquis were wiped out; good news - none, evidently this man has no family since the guy who wrote him was an imprisoned former Maquis (how sad)

Tuvok: good news - he's a grandfather! And, the whole clan went to a revered temple on Vulcan to pray for his safe return (Vulcans are really family-oriented, aren't they? That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.) Refused to show any outward excitement, but in private you could just tell how important it was to him, as he interrupted his duties and sat down for a good long read.

Torres: no mail for B'Elanna She got stuck sorting and delivering when Seven went with Tuvok on another doomed shuttle mission. (Another one bites the dust!)

Tom: no mail for the Luminous One Apparently his was lost during the brouhaha with the Hirogen. But, he decided to believe that his dad's message contained good things - like we love you and miss you.

Harry: good news - we don't know because it was delivered at the end of the episode. He was on edge the entire ep waiting for his parents' note. Quite touching IMO.

Seven: now *that* would have been a shocker if she had mail delivered, but no, didn't happen. Her reaction to Janeway who asked her about the possibility of having relatives in the AQ was one of surprise. She looked as taken aback as a Borg can look.

Neelix: Had the responsibility of distributing the messages as Seven unscrambled them. Was as excited to be giving news as the crew was to receive it. Refused to leave Tuvok's quarters until Tuvok acknowledged his interest, which Tuvok barely did.

Fliteman -- 12 Feb 1998, 2:28 PM

I've read & agreed with most of what everybody says here; I really, REALLY liked this ep.

Now... Harry. I hate Harry. Always have... But... Didn't you just feel for this guy, waiting so long for his letter? And...ever present... I was just SURE he was going to get a letter from a dignitary some place, offering his condolences on the death of his parents. What a crappy thing to do to Harry.

I KNEW it was going to happen, and I was really hating TPTB for it... I'm just really glad they didn't do that to the poor kid.

Okay. NOW push him out the airlock.

Jason -- 12 Feb 1998, 2:32 PM

I thought of this as well. David Livingston has the remarkable capacity to turn a bad script in to a good episode. Last night, all I could think was "Boy, this must read as a better script than it is an episode."

This is why I think the writers take too much flak sometimes-- this is a story which covered all the bases but much of the execution was off. The only scene where I thought the direction & music & acting etc. gelled together perfectly was when we watched Janeway read her letter.

Livingston is known for his fast paced stories. Maybe this was a story that was too slow for him to make his directorial style work on. I do think Jeri Taylor deserves a lot of credit for a strong script, but that it just didn't translate well in to the episode it could have, and was intended to be.

Mr. Mac -- 12 Feb 1998, 2:32 PM

I don't know guys. I just looked at the last Janeway and Torres scene where Torres has downloaded the last of the messages. She was very somber and *insisted* very quickly that she deliver the messages herself. When Janeway said that Neelix could deliver them she said, "No need. Anyway, there's one I want to do personally." Therefore, there WAS a letter, and there was something in one of those letters that

1) Affected HER emotionally, and 2) She didn't want Neelix to read.

I do not think that the one she was concerned about was Harry's because she delivered his kind of nonchalantly. She was still troubled when she walked over to Tom. So, if there was an important letter to deliver, and it was Tom's, then she DIDN'T give it to him. I definitely think she is holding back something from Tom.

Jason -- 12 Feb 1998, 4:43 PM

Yeah, that's insensitive, but so what? With all the hours of displeasure Harry's given us, I think it's time he gets some in return.

I was hoping his letter would never come through. I thought that if it did, it would be a cop-out of some fairly interesting (as far as Harry goes) development about his hopes about returning home. After thinking Starfleet was going to send a plan to get them home, I thought it would be very dramatic if Harry was left, at the end, without anything. It's time we see a depressed Harry than Happy Go Lucky Harry and I think Jeri Taylor cheated him of some interesting character development at the end.

By the way, did anyone notice that Janeway only got letters from Mark, not her mother or sister? Chakotay never got a letter from his cousin, etc., etc. If Starfleet was only able to send one letter per person (quite likely considering Torres only needed another half hour to get the rest of the crew's messages) you'd think that they'd give preference to Janeway's real family, not her two timing fiancée.

Terry M. -- 13 Feb 1998

Well, here's my impressions of "Hunters" a day late and a dollar short again. I loved this episode. No great action or tremendous special effects. (Well some good special effects but who cares.) The episode showed us a lot about the characters: their past and current feelings about Voyager and their families back home.

Warning: This episode really got me enthused about talking about it. Please forgive my effusiveness here. Since I haven't read anyone else's comments, I apologize for repeating any obvious points.

The Writing

First as an aside, I wondered who the writer was while I was watching. I could easily tell that it wasn't Braga - too sensitive and introspective. Menosky has the ability and talent but he hasn't exhibited the excellent grasp of ALL of the characters on display here. Klink understands the characters well enough but she always uses much more humor. Biller - perhaps but didn't seem to be his style. Fuller - like Menosky, has the ability but seems to know only some of the character well enough at present.

Well, I forgot about Jeri Taylor. And it was her script. I guess that I also forgot how good some of her TNG scripts were. This was IMHO her best Voyager script. Much better than the confused mess of "Coda" or the flawed "Day of Honor". This episode made excellent use of each and every character and showed that she knows these characters much better than I ever supposed. I now believe that she will be missed next year and that Voyager might have been better if she had spent more time actually writing scripts.

As I just said, Hunters was mostly about the characters. I was very pleasantly surprised that the Hirogen B-plot was kept so small. The usual mistake is to weaken an potentially excellent A-plot with a lame action B-plot. This episode did much to reinforce and advance several changes in individuals and relationships that have been developed this season and last. It even managed to reverse the deterioration of the Harry Kim character. It was very much a writer's episode.

Individuals

Seven appeared more human and emotional than ever before. She was surprised to find that she was curious about her family and heritage. And surprised to realize that she cares about other's approval. And is exercising her wicked sense of humor under the guise of Borg bluntness on the Doctor to deflate his ballooning ego.

I have rarely liked and even respected Harry Kim as much I have in this episode. Despite his desperate desire for word from home and his wishful thinking about a Starfleet rescue, I thought that he was acting like a real man for a change instead of a fool. He was even more actively involved in solving problems in a crisis on the bridge than usual. His conversation with Tom with Harry was excellent.

Harry was trying to hang on to his optimism while dreading the worst; Tom was acting fatalistic while hoping for the best. And Harry's comment: "I'm not you, Tom" hit a emotional bullseye for me. Harry was a three-dimensional person here for the first time since "The Chute".

The other characters were also well handled here. Janeway's disappointment at an expected Dear John, Tom's desire to forget the Alpha Quadrant, Neelix's desire to make people happy, Tuvok's refusal to let others see how much he cares. (Who didn't realize that he would grab that PADD and read his letter as soon as Neelix couldn't see it?)

Chakotay and B'Elanna's reaction to the Maquis defeat wasn't effective as I had hoped but I was glad to see it attempted anyway. Probably this subject really needs a more lengthy treatment. None of these subjects will probably ever be dealt with again in much detail so I'm glad that they were explored as much in "Hunters" as they were.

Relationships

And of course, the episode reaffirmed and advanced EACH of the main one-on-one relationships on Voyager. Neelix trying to pep up Mr. Tuvok again. Tuvok and Seven finding an easy companionship with each other. Seven reestablishing Janeway as her mother figure. (Does Mom really love me? :) Harry and Tom's best buds routine getting upset by Harry's attempt to express his feelings and Tom's refusal to let down his macho facade. Harry's and B'Elanna's friendship; full of banter like Harry and Tom's friendship but more capable of a true exchange of true feelings and doubts.

Tom and B'Elanna sharing their feelings with and comforting each other. Finally, an intimate scene between the two without antagonism or sexual tension. Hey, maybe they can have more than lust and banter? And Janeway closing the book on Mark and coming close to talking about her attraction to and possible future relationship with someone on aboard. Wonder who that could be? Anyway, she and Chakotay appear to be close friends.

Tidbits: We finally saw Ensign Golwat, previously only talking about. And saw Susan Nicoletti from the front! We know Mark's last name and that he WAS engaged to Janeway. And we know the name of Tuvok's mother and granddaughter. Did we hear his oldest son's name, too?

Nitpick: How did Harry recognize the ship as Hirogen? Oh yeah, the Hirogen. Who cares? I don't. Well, Janeway killed those Hirogen even though she had to rip the universe a new black hole to do it. Well, I'm glad that I avoided most of the spoilers on this one. Even better, the few spoilers that I heard were wrong! I've got to watch this episode again real soon.

Grifone -- 13 Feb 1998

Hey, that was a pretty good episode! I liked the emotional tension inherent in receiving "letters from home" -- good news, bad news, no news, unexpected news....

PLUSES + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Follow-up! Follow-through! I was beginning to wonder if TPTB were capable of it. (Still waiting for that Kes memorial service...)

Tuvok: he's just such a Vulcan, isn't he? Yeah, right, gotta finish these weekly status reports before I glance at the letter from my family ... Nicely done, perfectly in character. I liked his wife's report that his eldest son had "made it" through pon f'arr....interesting choice of words ;-)

B'Elanna: it was really nice to see that (1) TPTB remember there used to be some Maquis on board; and (2) some of the characters care. I loved her reaction to the terrible news from Chakotay about the deaths of their former comrades...and their cause: "DON'T try to console me!" For many people, anger is a defense against pain, and we've seen this with B'Elanna before. Like Tuvok, her scene was nicely done, perfectly in character. To learn, so unexpectedly, that the friends you once fought with are all dead ("except a few lucky ones, in prison..." Brrr!), and the cause you fought for has been crushed.... Distance can't dull the anguish, and would only increase the frustration in being unable to do something (however futile), about it. I thought B'Elanna's scene with Chakotay conveyed the pain and frustration and grief very powerfully and poignantly.

Yet she was also able to sympathize with her pal Harry in his anxiety over waiting to hear from his folks (and even tease him about 7).

I also liked the way she handled herself with Tom -- calling him on his feigned indifference, reminding him (since he was too self-absorbed to ask her if she'd gotten any news herself) that there are worse things than not getting praise from a distant dad (i.e., learning about the death of your friends), and yet still feeling compassionate about his problem (enough to keep him posted, and to deliver the news, or lack thereof, in person)

I also liked the scenes between Tom and B'Elanna because it showed they are close, without any of that frantic groping we'd seen in earlier eps. (yeah, I know, "the aliens made us do it.") Nice comforting hug Tom gave B'Elanna...

Chakotay: well, the bad news is, all your Maquis friends and comrades are dead, except for a few in prison. The good news is, Mark dumped Katherine! Now, if we can just get past that chain o' command issue...

Nice scenes, and you've gotta admire the guy's restraint -- while she's yakking on about how she hasn't had time to develop a relationship in the Delta Quadrant -- Hey, Kate, who's the guy who built you a *bathtub* while ol' Mark was getting on with his life?

Janeway: Frankly, I think the whole "Mark's married, I'm free" attitude is a cop-out (see below), but aside from that, I loved Mulgrew's evocative reactions -- the eagerness in her voice in the teaser, when she tells Harry to get closer to the array; the way her expression as she read her letter changed from nervous anticipation to joy to disappointment; the way she shifted gears into Action Kate mode when duty called....Nice range, convincing and subtle.

4 cups of coffee in the morning?! Ah, coffee -- "The finest organic suspension" known to man. LOL when she said, "coffee helped me defeat the Borg."

7/9: I liked the subtle shift in her expression, when Janeway pointed out that she might have family she never knew back on Earth.

Harry: glad the kid got his letter from home, finally!

Neelix as "the Postman" was a lot cheerier than Kevin Costner! Cute touch, and a plum assignment, particularly fitting for the "Morale Officer."

The Hirogen: well, they sure seem dangerous, and it looks like they'll be hunting Voyager for a while, so we'll see some villain-continuity.

MINUSES- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Hirogen: wow, an alien enemy who's big, mean, and ugly! and they speak in growly monotonous voices, and have no morals (per Tuvok). How trite. How simplistic. Why don't they wear black hats, too?

For once, I'd like to see a subtle, dangerous enemy -- aliens who are very attractive humanoids, intellectual, technologically advanced, but guess what? they don't happen to believe in the Word According to Starfleet! So they have an agenda that conflicts with ours, and that leads to inevitable battles.

"Dear Kate..." As I said, I think Mulgrew's scenes regarding her news from Mark were quite touching and well-acted. But I am irritated that TPTB felt the need to "free" Janeway's character by having Mark give up and "get on with his life" and get married. What a cop-out. She should have gotten on with *her* life a few years ago. For the first couple of years (i.e., pre-RESOLUTION), I think it was appropriate for Janeway to hang on to her commitment to the guy she left behind her -- I think perhaps it sustained her belief that, surely, she would be able to get herself and her crew home, any day now... But after a while, I think Janeway began to accept that it could be now or forever or never, before she ever saw Earth and Mark again. At that point, I think it would have been natural and mature for her to get on with *her* life. (And no, I don't mean, necessarily, with Chakotay. Though I think that could be interesting, I realize the actors may have resisted being locked in to an on-screen relationship. But there are a lot of fish in the galaxy....) And I would have loved to see the episode that explored that issue for Janeway.

And I would have loved to have seen that Janeway sent a message to Mark saying "I don't know when I'll be back -- I love you, but I'm moving on with my life, and you should do the same." She described her commitment to Mark as a "security blanket" -- I wonder if she's been using it as a shield. Maybe TPTB will explore that in a future story -- that could be revealing.

"Me,me,me...." What's with Tom Paris, anyway? Too wrapped up in his adolescent desperation to please daddy to offer any sympathy to his buddy Harry or even ask how his lover B'Elanna is doing...Never asked, "Any news from home, hon?" She had to tell him about finding out that all her Maquis friends and comrades were dead. Yes, then he did give her a real nice hug (and I'll chalk up his woefully inadequate "Oh, B'Elanna, that's *awful*!" to inarticulateness, rather than unconcern) ;-) -- but then one line later, it's back to *his* issue with his father! "And here I am going on about something that isn't even important..."

You got that right, pal. Not that issues of self-esteem and parental approval aren't important, but fretting over whether your dad will say "I'm proud of you," simply doesn't compare to "My friends and comrades have been slaughtered, and the cause I fought for crushed..."

It was emotionally generous of B'Elanna, I think, to react so sympathetically, and I wish Tom had then done the same -- i.e., at least making a pretense of shrugging off the daddy issue, offering her some more comfort, *something*.

Just a quibble, I guess, since I did like their scenes together. But, whether by accident or carefully-designed writing (ha!), I do see this as another instance B'Elanna (of all people!) being more open and caring and giving in their relationship than Tom.

Speaking of self-absorbed -- what's with Janeway?! OK, so she found out her fiance is married. And she feels she has to tell Chakotay all about it, either (1) because she's sending him a Subtle (as a Smoke) Signal (yeah!); or (2) because she takes him so much for granted that she's perceives him as a buddy/lapdog (boo!) But heck, couldn't *she* have asked him, "What news from home, Chakotay?" I would have been interested in seeing how she handled the Maquis issue.

Maybe this will come up later in the "arc," because I imagine when they decode the Starfleet message it will talk about the Dominion etc.

As I've said before, I am disappointed that TPTB have decided to allow the ship to make *any* connection to Alpha Quad -- I preferred the original premise, where they were isolated and cut off from friends, family, and command structure. Theoretically, this could have led to all sorts of interesting developments in the way people on the Voyager interacted with aliens and each other -- i.e., an evolution into "tribe Voyager," with crew accepting a life-long, multi-generational journey; some crew deciding to stay on a friendly planet and start a new life; taking on new recruits as replacements; training the next generation of crewmembers....etc.

However, TPTB didn't ask my opinion, and as they have obviously decided that long distance is the next best thing to being there, I'm grateful that at least they explored the personal repurcussions of making contact.

I just hope that, after allowing the characters to send word to and get word from home, Voyager is *not* going to find any way to maintain regular communications with Starfleet. Then the show would diminish into yet another series about yet another Starship wandering around space, following orders from a central command.

I also hope that Voyager isn't going to be dragged (somehow) into the whole Dominion war thing which is going on over on DS9 -- it would make the galaxy seem awfully darn small be battling across *quadrants*.

And I *really* hope that when they decipher that encrypted message from Starfleet, it *doesn't* include orders for new black-and-silver stormtrooper uniforms, like the ones on DS9 (inspired? oh, surely not! by similar uniforms on B5....) ;-)

Anyway, overall I enjoyed the episode, which I haven't been able to say about most of this season. Maybe because it focused on the characters instead of the alien monsters and slam-bang special effects.

And continuity! That was *so* refreshing!

Terry Miles responding to Grifone

>"Dear Kate..." As I said, I think Mulgrew's scenes regarding her news from Mark were quite touching and well-acted. But I am irritated that TPTB felt the need to "free" Janeway's character by having Mark give up and "get on with his life" and get married. What a cop-out. She should have gotten on with *her* life a few years ago.

In her defense, her situation is not the same as Mark's. She knows that he is alive and that they may meet again. He went on with his life knowing that she was probably dead.

>"Me,me,me...." What's with Tom Paris, anyway? Too wrapped up in his adolescent desperation to please daddy to offer any sympathy to his buddy Harry or even ask how his lover B'Elanna is doing...Never asked, "Any news from home, hon?" She had to tell him about finding out that all her Maquis friends and comrades were dead. Yes, then he did give her a real nice hug (and I'll chalk up his woefully inadequate "Oh, B'Elanna, that's *awful*!" to inarticulateness, rather than unconcern) ;-) -- but then one line later, it's back to *his* issue with his father! "And here I am going on about something that isn't even important..."

I agree with that except that in Tom's defense, you could hardly expect to anticipate such bad news for B'Elanna. In fact, he probably knew that she hadn't even received a letter. (She learned the Maquis news from Chakotay.) And you're completely off-base about his "And here I am going ..." statement. You can't fairly criticize his confession of being self-centered as being a self-centered statement. (Well, maybe you can but probably shouldn't.)

>I just hope that, after allowing the characters to send word to and get word from home, Voyager is *not* going to find any way to maintain regular communications with Starfleet.

I thought that it was obvious when the whole Hirogen communications network blew-up in a chain reaction that TPTB were closing off all communications. Forever.

>Anyway, overall I enjoyed the episode, which I haven't been able to say about most of this season.

Maybe because it focused on the characters instead of the alien monsters and slam-bang special effects.

Lauren -- 12 Feb 1998,, 03:36 PM

>B'Elanna: it was really nice to see that (1) TPTB remember there used to be some Maquis on board; and (2) some of the characters care.

I'm also curious as to Star Fleet's reaction to the news that not only is Voyager still intact, with many of the original crew alive, but that the present crew consists of several Maquis, most of whom would probably be arrested the minute they get home. I guess, if we hear anything about that at all, it will have to be on DS9, now that the array is kaput.

>I loved her [B'Elanna] reaction to the terrible news from Chakotay about the deaths of their former comrades...and their cause: "DON'T try to console me!" For many people, anger is a defense against pain, and we've seen this with B'Elanna before. Like Tuvok, her scene was nicely done, perfectly in character.

>To learn, so unexpectedly, that the friends you once fought with are all dead ("except a few lucky ones, in prison..." Brrr!), and the cause you fought for has been crushed.... Distance can't dull the anguish, and would only increase the frustration in being unable to do something (however futile), about it. I thought B'Elanna's scene with Chakotay conveyed the pain and frustration and grief very powerfully and poignantly.

I agree. That B'Elanna calmed down eventually demonstrates that her initial rage was due to the fact that she was so shocked by the overwhelming news of the fate of the Maquis, and the fact that she's not too in touch with "weaker" emotions, like fear and grief. I thought her character was written perfectly here.

>Janeway: Frankly, I think the whole "Mark's married, I'm free" attitude is a cop-out ... For the first couple of years (i.e., pre-RESOLUTION), I think it was appropriate for Janeway to hang on to her commitment to the guy she left behind her -- I think perhaps it sustained her belief that, surely, she would be able to get herself and her crew home, any day now... But after a while, I think Janeway began to accept that it could be nowor forever or never, before she ever saw Earth and Mark again. At that point, I think it would have been natural and mature for her to get on with *her* life.

Well, I *do* agree that Janeway should have let go of Mark before this. But...she didn't. Or the writers/producers/directors wouldn't let her. Given that she has been hanging on to Mark (who, incidently, was not mentioned in ONE EPISODE in season 3!) and the thought of reclaiming her old life, it is good that the writers are getting her to move on, even if it's due to a "Dear Janeway" letter and not the character's own choice.

Incidently, although I don't actually categorize myself as a J/Cer, I wouldn't mind if TPTB explored the relationship that they alluded to way back when in "Resolutions" (which, IMHO, was not a particularly good episode but is a guilty pleasure of mine nonetheless). I have watched all episodes of all 4 ST series, and I am SICK of these captains who are married to their ships and can't pursue any kind of romantic relationship for more than one episode. (OK, Sisko has a girlfriend, but she's hardly ever seen and anyway, he's in charge of a space station, with a slightly different lifestyle than if he commanded a starship.)

Gee, Chakotay is the only choice if they were going to pair the Captain up with anyone. He's closest to her in rank, so the issue of rank isn't as heavy as it would be with anyone else. There's an on-screen chemistry between the actors. And he can cook! But after 4 years lost in space, B'Elanna and Tom are the ONLY new couple?! Comeon!

>The Hirogen: wow, an alien enemy who's big, mean, and ugly! and they speak in growly monotonous voices, and have no morals (per Tuvok). How trite. How simplistic. Why don't they wear black hats, too?

I was disappointed in the Hirogen, too. We've seen enemies who consider themselves hunters and other species prey before. Although gutting your captives to keep their innards as trophies...that's a little different anyway!

>For once, I'd like to see a subtle, dangerous enemy -- aliens who are very attractive humanoids, intellectual, technologically advanced, but guess what? they don't happen to believe in the Word According to Starfleet! So they have an agenda that conflicts with ours, and that leads to inevitable battles.

Wouldn't the Q Continuum fit your description, above?

>As I've said before, I am disapointed that TPTB have decided to allow the ship to make *any* connection to Alpha Quad -- I preferred the original premise, where they were isolated and cut off from friends, family, and command structure. Theoretically, this could have led to all sorts of interesting developments in the way people on the Voyager interacted with aliens and each other -- i.e., an evolution into "tribe Voyager," with crew accepting a life-long, multi-generational journey; some crew deciding to stay on a friendly planet and start a new life; taking on new recruits as replacements; training the next generation of crewmembers....etc.

VOY *could* have explored all these neat things...but they didn't. Given that the show dropped the ball several times, the messages from home could mean a little more life in the show. After all, when was the last time the concerns of the Maquis crewmembers, as separate from the Starfleet crewmembers, were addressed? Or "home" was more than just a vague destination to be reached within 60 years? I think that this short communication with the AQ could sort of reset some of the VOY themes that have been languishing for the past few seasons.

>I just hope that, after allowing the characters to send word to and get word from home, Voyager is *not* going to find any way to maintain regular communications with Starfleet. Then the show would diminish into yet another series about yet another Starship wandering around space, following orders from a central command.

I agree wholeheartedly. I do think that Hunters can help bring back those elements in this show that are unique in ST--the Maquis/Starfleet divisions, the sense of separation from loved ones and home, the sense of being alone in uncharted territory. If it doesn't, it was, for me, one of the more enjoyable hours of VOY so far this season.

Lauren Gattilia

Joyce H. -- 13 Feb 1998

There were some interesting points in this episode, and a lot of unresolved questions.

I agree with Grifone that it was a bit of a cop-out for Janeway to get a letter from Mark and learn that he'd gotten married. I'm not faulting Mark at all, but this just strikes me as Jeri Taylor's way of trying to protect Janeway from criticism. (Which *never* works -- the people that want to criticize Janeway are *going* to criticize Janeway, whatever she does.) It would have been more interesting for Janeway to have to decide whether or not she was actually going to have a personal life without knowing what was going on back home.

But -- here's a gripe from Jenny's Mommy -- what happened to the *dog*? Yes, it's nice that Mark found homes for all the puppies, but what about the dog herself? Is she still with Mark? Is she happy? Does she still miss her Mommy? (The local dog trainer here thinks Jenny and I are Over-bonded. Sigh.)

*Why* was B'Elanna so bloody snipty and rude with Harry when he came in to see if he'd gotten a letter? So *what* if he's interested in Seven? For some reason, that seemed to make her angry! But, why? (Is this more of that weird 24th century aversion to sex or something?)

Then the issue of Tom's letter. *What* was going on here? Interesting theory over at the Coffee Nebula, that there *was* a letter and B'Elanna suppressed it. The proponents of this theory say that she seemed disturbed when she told the Captain that she wanted to deliver the letters herself. Well, if this is true, I guess we'll find out in upcoming episodes. (Wow! Episodes that actually refer back to events in previous episodes! What a concept!)

*If* this turns out to be the last we hear about Tom's letter, what do you suppose was going on? I have several theories.

One -- the writers were trying to make a Point, about how what your folks think about you isn't as important as how you feel about that. Could it be?

Or -- the writers had an immense internal power struggle over what the letter would say. (In this scenario, I see Jeri Taylor voting for a letter along the lines of "Glad to hear you're still alive, son, your mom and I are so proud of you", and Brannon Braga voting for something more along the lines of "Oh, s***, aren't you dead *yet*?!" And Ken Biller voting for there being no letter at all.) So they decided to split the difference, and have there be a letter, but no one ever finds out what it said.

I found that very unsatisfying -- always hated The Lady Or The Tiger.

SuzyQ

Joyce wrote:

> *Why* was B'Elanna so bloody snipty and rude with Harry when he came in to see if he'd gotten a letter? So *what* if he's interested in Seven? For some reason, that seemed to make her angry! But, why? (Is this more of that weird 24th century aversion to sex or something?)

Although it wasn't clearly portrayed, I had the impression that the bad news of the Maquis annihilation was what drove B'elanna's attitude in the first half of the scene. Wasn't her previous scene with Chakotay? Also, a little reactionary jealousy of Harry's close relationship with his folks might be detected because it's something she obviously lacks in her own life. It must be pretty painful to see everyone getting mail and think that no one back in the AQ would care enough to write. But, half way through you could see her soften toward Harry and tell him to be patient, something would come for him.

> Then the issue of Tom's letter. *What* was going on here?

Interesting theory over at the Coffee Nebula, that there *was* a letter and B'Elanna suppressed it. The proponents of this theory say that she seemed disturbed when she told the Captain that she wanted to deliver the letters herself. Well, if this is true, I guess we'll find out in upcoming episodes. (Wow! Episodes that actually refer back to events in previous episodes! What a concept!)

I'm one of those who *doesn't* subscribe to the conspiracy theory. I think Harry's letter is the one she wanted to deliver because she was back in Big Sister mode. Besides, if she wanted to *hide* the letter she wouldn't have been that gung ho about delivering zilch. Just IMHO.

> Or -- the writers had an immense internal power struggle over what the letter would say. (In this scenario, I see Jeri Taylor voting for a letter along the lines of "Glad to hear you're still alive, son, your mom and I are so proud of you", and Brannon Braga voting for something more along the lines of "Oh, s***, aren't you dead *yet*?!" And Ken Biller voting for there being no letter at all.)

Ha! I can actually see this (how sad). I really hated the fact that they dangled a carrot in front of both the character and the audience, then went "Psych!" However, it does afford Tom the opportunity to decide how he wants to deal with his relationship with his father on his own without placing blame on anyone else. Knowing that one was sent, at least one possibility is that his dad cared enough to write. Which is how they left it.

Mrs. Mac -- 13 Feb 1998, 6:39 AM

Hi Terry. If you are implying that Tom's letter was encrypted then I disagree. I think (although I could be wrong) that only the Starfleet messages/maps were encrypted. I don't believe the letters were. After all, both Janeway and Torres were reading them as they were coming through but the encrypted messages required Harry to do some work on them. Remember the last Torres/Janeway scene? Torres suggested that Harry should work on the encrypted messages but that she was going to deliver the letters.

Terry -- 13 Feb 1998, 7:01 AM

Anyway, I worded my statements above too strongly. Encryption doesn't have to be applied to an entire file so that "miss part, miss all" applies. But if it wasn't encrypted, then Tom should have known that part of the message came through. Again, maybe they only recovered the message header as the data was scrambled.

Diane -- 13 Feb 1998, 7:00 AM

Mr. Mac., Even though hour theory is intriguing, remember, Voyager is not a Soap Opera type show. I don't think B'Lanna has held back anything. Because she could not get the entire message, and she new how this news would affect Tom, she delivered the bad new herself. It's that simple. This follows along with Jeri Taylor's book MOSAIC.

Have you read it? It's no literary masterpiece, but it does show that Admiral Owen Paris was not an ogre. He cared deeply for Tom and was extremely proud of him. What it may be leading up to is a show where Tom deals with his changing feelings for his dad. Jeri Taylor stated earlier in the season that Paris would be dealing with this relationship. Maybe it will be in the Upcoming episode "Demons" that Carol mentioned. The title is appropriate.

Jules -- 13 Feb 1998, 7:31 AM

While the Maquis were indisputably created and featured in TNG and DS9 to sow a few background seeds for Voyager, I can't see that the Maquis in the Delta Quadrant would necessarily trouble themselves greatly about the Dominion. Their focus would undoubtedly be on the fate of the Maquis themselves. And I'm pretty sure that, the focus of that fight being what it was, they'd lay the blame on the Cardassians. The fact that the Cardassians found themselves some new allies in order to achieve the Maquis wipeout would be almost incidental.

It'll be interesting to see how Starfleet view the Maquis survivors on Voyager, but unless that is part of the information they sent Janeway before the relay network blew up, we might have to wait a while to find out...

And if DS9 is going to mention Voyager then it's a healthy and welcome attitude. All too often in the past it seems to have kept a rather snooty distance from its younger relative... and its older one come to that - there was the big tussle about "borrowing" the Defiant and Worf for First Contact, after all. It is a shared universe, and it seems to me that on the whole the ship 70,000 light years away in another quadrant has kept that in mind rather more clearly over the past 4 years!

Diane -- 13 Feb 1998, 7:11 AM

The Next Generation and DS9 PTB created the Marquis specifically for a backdrop for Voyager. In fact, Berman was concened as to how they would resolve this issue. Well La! We have The Dominion War. Destroy the Marquis on DS9 and the problem is solved on Voyager. In fact, Ron Moore of DS9 has stated that later this season, there will be mention of Voyager.

This has left me with some questions as to the, may I say "Assimilation" of the Marqui into Starfleet. Will they be exhonorated for serving Starfleet on Voyager? Will the Marquis crew members be bought completely into the fold and be given field commissions, like Paris; thus wearing Starfleet Pips instead of bars?

Martha -- 13 Feb 1998, 8:48 AM

Well, first let me say I agree with you that it would be in character for B'Ellana to hide a letter for herself. She wouldn't want to be caught up in sharing her "what's going on in my part of the AQ" conversations that are probably happening all over Voyager. *But* I think that if it comes out that B'Ellana with held a letter to Tom, then lied to him about it, in order to "protect" his feelings he would hit the roof. He has been an emotional loaner all these years, and while we've seen his shell start to break down, it's clearly still there to some degree. I think that it would even be cause for a break up, he would claim he wouldn't know how to trust her.

Mrs. Mac -- 13 Feb 1998, 9:46 AM

 I agree, Martha! I think this is a perfect scenario for causing complications in the P/T relationship. I'm sure it won't go over too happily with the P/Ters but I'm equally sure that if there are any problems they will be eventually resolved.

Season ending cliffhanger: "Will B'Elanna and Tom resolve their feelings after B'Elanna hid the letter from Tom's father and Tom found it? Stay tuned to Season V on UPN!"

I read Mac's posts and rewatched the scenes he was talking about. There is also the part when P/T embrace and Tom says that he really does care what his father things. Lo and behold, what if B'Elanna got the entire message and it was a nasty note from daddy! After hearing what Tom said she just might be inclined to hold back a disappointing letter.

G'Inny -- 13 Feb 1998, 10:27 AM

... and I'd be the first one to leap up and cheer if "the course of true love never did run smooth" for Tom and B'Elanna (who have become too relaxed and comfortable with each other too soon IMHO), because she withheld Tom's letter. However, I find it highly unlikely that Admiral Paris would have sent a nasty letter to Tom. I'm inclined to think that it would be more along the lines of a very awkward, very formal letter that, essentially, said nothing of real emotional substance.

SuzyQ

>B'elanna: She's been one of my favorite characters from day one, and I honestly expected her to react  in shock and outrage when discovering the Maquis are kaput. But, c'mon, when she signed up with the outfit, she had to know the rules of war. The Maquis were the underdogs to begin with, and their defeat was because they were outgunned. Because they refused to yield, they were blown away.

>They should have known what the consequences would be. The whole revenge, "I'll make them pay for killing my friends" thing was a bit over the top IMO. The woman is half-Klingon; she should know something about winning and losing with honor. But, this is a minor nitpick as her scenes with Tom and Harry were good.

Ginny Wrote:

I think there were acually two problems with this scene, SuzyQ--the direction and the acting. And since there weren't any special effects to distract us... I'm a *huge* fan of Dawson's ability to deliver her lines with clarity and emotion, but her performance here was simply below standard. I may be being a little harsh, but I guess I just expect so much better from her. Her outrage simply was *not* believably acted.

The staging of the scene was awkward, too--although I'm inclined to believe that it may have been a function of the logistics in hiding Dawson's pregnancy.

And Beltran--sheesh! When the man is good, he's very, very good (see the final scene in NEMESIS), but when he's bad (which is much more often), he's a zombie. In fact, I thought his was the overall weakest performance in this episode.

Mrs. Mac wrote:

Well, I don't have to tell anyone here whether or not I'm a Dawson fan! You bet!   I will have to agree with Ginny here. I didn't think the Dawson/Beltran scene was very good. It seemed to be horribly underplayed by Beltran and overplayed by Dawson. I wonder if some director was shouting, "More emotion! More emotion!" until Roxann's hormones kicked in to exaggeration. I also think that after 3-4 years her emotions wouldn't be quite as strong for the Maquis. She has pretty much achieved the most success / acceptance on Voyager than anywhere else. I would imagine she is relatively happy right now. That whole scene may have been awkward for the actors as well.

On the other side of the coin, when she was in Astrometrics with Janeway I thought the acting was very, very well done.