Episode Review – Drone (Voyager, Season 5)

 For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here.

Overview – An away team is studying a proto-nebula when the shuttle is caught in a gravimetric sheer. As the transporter beams the team to Voyager, there is an accidental merging of the Doctor’s mobile emitter with some of Seven of Nine’s Borg nanoprobes. The result is an advanced Borg drone that is largely made up of assimilated 29^th Century technology. The drone, who adopts the designation of “One”, learns about his origins and surroundings from Seven. Together, One begins to assimilate to life onboard Voyager while he eventually learns about the true nature of the Borg. When the Borg become aware of One’s existence, they send a sphere vessel to assimilate Voyager. It soon becomes apparent that only One can save the crew from assimilation.

 

Score: 9/10 – Imagine Seven of Nine as an unexpected adoptive mother, and that is the basic theme of this episode. It is a touching and heart-felt tale of an unusual character that sadly only appears once in this episode. When re-watching it to write this review, I was impressed with a lot of the attention to even small details that was given to this excellent character story. Of course, as was the case in many of these season 4-5 episodes, it focuses mostly on Seven of Nine, although the Doctor is prominently featured. I particularly liked how the episode began and ended with the same shot of Seven examining herself in a mirror. At the start, she is practicing her smile, while at the end it looks as if she is trying to pick up where she left off but finds that she cannot after the loss of One. One himself is an interesting character, one that develops quickly. I would say that the only thing that I would have done differently would have been to spread this out over more than one episode. The movement from his adjusting to life on Voyager to the point where he sacrifices himself for the crew seems a bit rushed at the end. One is such a cool character that his untimely demise could have been even more powerful if he had been around for at least another episode. Despite that, this is a very enjoyable episode and should warrant a few viewings in one’s lifetime.

Relevance - 2 points. At the start of the shuttle mission the away team experiences some turbulence. This leads to some criticism of the type II shuttle they are using, to which Seven suggests that Paris designs and builds a bigger and more efficient type of shuttle. In the next episode, “Extreme Risk”, Tom has indeed designed a new shuttle, which became the Delta Flyer. I am also scoring a point for Seven's motherly instincts that will be very evident later in this series with Icheb, and carries over into Star Trek: Picard. 

 

Continuity – 3 points. One of the nice features of this episode can be addressed in discussing its story continuity. When you watch this episode, pay attention to the number of security guards that are assigned to escort One. At the beginning there are at least three, all heavily armed. As One’s character grows and becomes more accepted, the number of guards and their armaments decreases. It’s those types of little details that strengthen the story. Character continuity is also solid here. The Doctor is naturally distraught over losing his mobile emitter, Neelix is used perfectly as one of One’s early guides/friends. B’Elanna shows typical annoyance at having another Borg on the ship. Seven is acts as we would expect a former drone to act in an unexpected parental role (which adds a fair bit of humor to the story). Janeway’s use is particularly noteworthy here. She mentions that she would rather try to help the drone become an individual as a means of protecting themselves from the Borg. She mentions that she would rather not have to kill the drone, although she makes it clear that she will do it if necessary. This reminded me of her choice to sacrifice Tuvix to restore Tuvok and Neelix. Her statements here fit her character perfectly. As for universe continuity, that also gets its point. 

Character Development – 3 points. Of course, there is a lot of development for Seven in this episode. She goes through many stages of parenting in a short amount of time, from infant to child to adolescent. We also see in the opening shot that she is trying to improve her interpersonal skills by practicing a smile. I also found that the Doctor was given some important development here. For almost two years he had enjoyed the freedom that a mobile emitter gave him. It was nice to see him faced with the possibility of losing that freedom. When One mentions that the emitter is a part of his central nervous system, the Doctor’s expressions accurately depicts the sting he still feels at his re-imposed limitations. That is partially due to Robert Picardo’s excellent acting in this episode.

 

Social Commentary – 3 points. Dealing with becoming a parent and the loss of someone you care for are just two themes rolled into one in this story. Seeing the drone follow Seven like a little child, trying to be like his “mother”, is cute and relatable. Seeing how Seven has to learn patience with the emotionally juvenile Borg causes many parents to nod in appreciation for what she is going through. As I mentioned earlier, Seven had been practicing her smile. At the end of the episode, she turns back to her mirror in an apparent attempt to return to her earlier endeavors. After suffering the loss of One, she just cannot find it in herself to go back to her old routine just yet. That is something that almost all of us who have lost someone important to us can relate to.

 

Cool Stuff –2 points. A point must be scored for One. Everything from his look to the wonderful performance by J. Paul Boehmer gives us a delightful character that we are sad to see go and makes us wish that he could have been around longer. In today’s television I suspect he would have been around for at least one, maybe two more episodes before being killed off, just to hit us even harder in our emotional core. I am also scoring a point here for the proto-nebula. They are able to get some beautiful shots of Voyager super-imposed on the nebula. It is a really good effect that adds to the already strong episode.

 

Rank – Admiral (21 points). An excellent episode that seems to truly capture Seven of Nine in an engaging way. The fine attention to detail be director Les Landau adds to the strength of a compelling story that draws you in and gives us a memorable, yet sadly one-time only, character. One of the highlights of Voyager’s fifth season.

If you would like to read other reviews from Star Trek: Voyager, click on the link here.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.