Post by Prole Hole on Jan 21, 2016 13:06:09 GMT -5
Season Five, Episode 15 / 16 - "Dark Frontier"
Jaaaaaaaaaneway
Intertextual
The Past
A Borg Cube, deep internal greens and greys flickering within the heart of the vessel, emerged from transwarp and decelerated into normal space. A scanning beam snapped on, the sensors instantaneously deriving all information about the small vessel in its path.
"Species: Human. Purpose: Reviewer. We will begin the analysis." The Borg voice was multi-layered but cold, clinical, and devoid of all expression. Everything vocalised was just a statement, passionless and direct. "You will explain the nature of flashbacks." There was a fractional pause. "Now."
The viewscreen on the small, one-person craft lit up, displaying the interior of the Borg Cube. There was no individual visible, no point of focus, just endless corridors, piping and duct-work. Hesitantly, the occupant began. "Well the principal purpose of flashbacks," he said, " is to convey information which is relevant to the story being told now, but which requires more detail than can be meaningfully conveyed in infodumps or lengthily exposition. So if we have a flashback, the writer is calling attention to details which happened but which we haven't previously seen, but that might have been suggested. Flashbacks tend, in other words, to be about character rather than story, and tend to be subjective rather than objective."
There was a pause as this information was digested. "Explain this in the context of "Dark Frontier."
The reviewer glanced nervously at the controls of his vessel. So far nothing looked out of place. But this was the Borg - that could change very quickly. "Well the flashbacks in "Dark Frontier" work to illuminate a past that we know Seven had but which, by nature of her assimila..." the reviewer hastily corrected himself, "experience with the Borg she has been closed off from. The triggering of her memories brought on by the reading of her parents' logs means that we have a mechanism to expand on the past directly. In this we see the subjectivity - Seven "remembers" these events, but the subjective nature of them renders the information we have questionable, if not wholly inaccurate. Whether those work as a satisfying narrative device is of course a separate question."
The Borg Cube again paused. "Explain."
Another glance over the controls. So far, so good, and no tractor beam. "Well, the problem with flashbacks is they can be a somewhat clumsy narrative device. A lot of the information communicated in the flashbacks here is largely literalizing something we already know - that the Hanson's were exobilogists, followed the.. uh, that is, followed you, then were caught and assimilated. It doesn't really tell us anything we didn't know, it just gives us more detail about something we already knew. And the subjective nature of the flashbacks is somewhat compromised, since we get scenes Annika/Seven wasn't present for, based on the log entries, and others she was, based on her own memories. It's a bit of a muddle."
"We concur."
Without further explanation, the Borg scanning beam flicked off and the Cube rotated on it axis. Before the reviewer could do anything, it leapt to transwarp and was lost to sensors.
The reviewer released a shaky breath he didn't even realize he had been holding, and plotted a course home. This was going to require some explaining.
Paratextual
The Present
"Dark Frontier" is so very nearly brilliant it practically hurts to admit where its failings lie. And its failings are mostly related to its flashbacks, but as a character piece for both Janeway and Seven it’s an absolute triumph, and as another emphatic re-enforcement of Voyager's feminism it is equally successful. We have three principal protagonists, all female, all written as characters first and women second, and who function as the entirety of the plot engine, from Janeway's initial raid on a Borg probe, through to the Queen's actions bringing Seven back into the fold, and the eventual threefold resolution to the central conflict. That’s not the first time I’ve typed out a sentence similar to that, and neither will it be the last, but it’s good to check in and make sure this motor is humming along from time to time, and it very much is. The story here is split fairly evenly between the two episodes - the first half being the run up to, and execution of, the "heist" and the second part dealing with the consequences, including the capture of Seven. It's not a complex story in its narrative construction, despite the inclusion of those less-than-successful flashbacks, but it’s one that gives the story plenty of space to breathe. Indeed, for a two-parter that's predominantly interested in the interactions between its three female leads there's actually a surprising amount of plot, even if the story itself is comparatively straightforward (and I'm drawing a clear line between plot, which is the "then-they-did-this, then-they-did-that" mechanics of scenes, and story, which in this case is basically just, "stole transwarp coil, lost Seven, got her back"). There's a lot of attention paid to repetition here, and repetition functions as one of the principal structures on which the episode is built, from the repetition of the flashbacks, as they slowly (oh so slowly) push forward the "then" plot, to the restaged scenes on the holodeck, and the Borg's opening speeches. The purpose of the repetition, which is really being used here as a rhetorical device, is that it keeps emphasis on the parts of the script that need focus, which using the nature of repetition to drive home what's being done - in other words, to add clarity to events. In this, it's a fairly successful device, and by adding that clarity to proceedings early in the episode we're give more freedom to explore further issues in the second half.
And what a second half it is. Voyager has spent some time exploring the Borg, but never quite to this degree. Indeed this story gives us more insight into the heart of the Borg than any other story to date, as we get to visit the Unicomplex and see the Borg Queen in her palace, as it were. Or termite mound. These sequences are by far the most successful of the episode - the heist material is good but, well, it's a heist and though the details might vary, one heist is pretty much like another. Come up with a plan, break in, and either succeed and/or fail. That's not to say there's no drama from them, because there certainly is - especially with Seven's ambiguous defection - but those scenes represent a stepping stone on the way, not reaching the other bank. The Unicomplex is the other bank, however, and the tug-of-love between the Borg Queen and Janeway represents the most explicit externalizing of the mother/daughter relationship between Seven and Janeway that we have yet seen. Throughout the episode, Janeway advises Seven - sometimes gently, sometimes not - in the way a mother would with a daughter, and in this context the Queen represents temptation. She's the embodiment of what it means to "leave home" - to strike out, to rebel, and to give in to selfish, self-indulgent impulses. That's what the whole section of Seven assisting with the assimilation of another species represents, and this is constantly re-enforced in the dialogue, with the Queen telling Seven repeatedly to drop her compassion and give in to the indulgences that her way of life represents. In this way the script could actually be conceived as fairly conservative, but what it really is, far more than that, is a representation of growing up. Seven comes face-to-face with her past, but her development over two seasons means she doesn't need to give in to that past, nor does she need to be beholden to the present. When she makes her decision to betray the Borg Queen, it's quite clear that it is Seven's decision - she's not doing it because she's rebelling (now against the Queen) nor is she doing it because Janeway orders it. She does it because she's grown up, and is perfectly capable of making her own decisions. It's a powerful moment for the character, and it's another way where we truly get to see what a different the previous two seasons have made to her, rather than being told about it.
Still, that's the climax of the episode, and I don’t want to sell the rest of it short, because there's some terrific material to be found there as well. I think I might have sounded a bit dismissive of the heist material earlier, but I really don't mean to be, because it's all well-implemented action and it helps to give some tension to the story. The action-adventure aesthetic has taken more of a backseat this season because of the character focus, so it's good fun to spend some time skulking round a Borg cube and dodging drones. Do we really think Voyager might fail and be overcome by Borg drones? No not really, but then again that's rarely ever the question, so the emphasis shifts onto not if they will survive their plan but how they will survive it. It's good to see the holodeck being used as a training device - again, in line with Voyager's ambitious use of holo-technology we get to see the simulations, not just get told about them running in the background. And as with "Gravity", we get to see Tuvok actually doing the job of someone at Tactical, putting together a strategy which does (losing Seven aside, though admittedly that's a big aside) actually work and gets Voyager the transwarp coil they need. There's lots of little moments like this in the first half, separate from either the flashbacks or the character work, and they demonstrate a crew getting on with the business of being a crew. They're not big moments, but they don't need to be - the fact that they are there and we get to see them is enough, and they work successfully enough to suggest why they're there in the first place. And though this could in no way be called an ensemble piece, everyone gets something relevant to do - even Neelix, who gets to put his scavenger past to good use filtering his way through the Borg debris and working out what's useful. It's not often a side we see of his used, so it's really great to see it being put to good use here, even when it's comparatively brief.
But, as I suggested at the beginning, there are failings here, because for all that most of this story works, it doesn’t quite all fit together. The linear nature of the script works fine from a storytelling perspective, but in truth it's probably just a bit too linear. It's all a bit A-B-C-D. Because the story takes a full episode before introducing the Borg Queen in person it means that we only get to see inside Seven's head for a couple of scenes before she's revealed at the big End Of Episode Climax. The reason is easy enough to understand - the script tries to suggest an ambiguity to Seven's actions, though from the first time we hear the disembodied voice and witness Seven's dream most of that ambiguity is wiped out, so it's not an entirely successful conceit. The idea of the Borg Queen playing puppet-master is a pretty effective one, it's just a little too limited in scope within the episode itself, and it's not drawn out as far as it should be. Still that's a relatively mild complaint, all things considered. And... oh wait one moment, I think there's someone at the door. Hang on, be right back...
Intertexual
The Present
"We are the Borg." The reviewer took a hasty step back from the door. Two drones, just barely shorter than the doorframe itself, stood there, red laser sights flashing.
"What..."
"We require information. Failure to provide it will result in immediate assimilation." One drone stepped forward, the assimilation tubules on the modified cybernetic left hand twitching. The other drone stayed where it was, blocking any attempt to run.
"Why... why not just assimilate me and take the information?" he asked, then immediately cursed himself silently for putting the idea in their head.
The drone cocked its head to one side. "You will answer the question."
"Fine fine, what question?"
"You will explain the reasoning behind "puppet master"."
"Oh well, that's when a character working behind the scenes gets to control events. It's another narrative technique, whereby we're presented with a character's actions which look to be ambiguous - such as Seven's conflict between the crew and her Borg past - and are supposed to understand that, because someone might be "pulling her strings" we don't know if her actions are her own or because of the manipulation of another party."
The drone stared blankly for a moment. "Clarify the lack of success in this technique," it eventually stated. There was no suggestion of this being a request or a question - this was information the drone wanted and would acquire.
"Oh. Um. Yes. Well, the problem is that, although we've seen Seven be on edge during the first half of the episode - most clearly when she snaps at Tom for his "mindless drone" crack in the mess hall - she's already had a big scene with Janeway when she states, "Voyager is my Collective". We're told by the character that she's satisfied where she is, then we're asked to buy her defection as an outgrowth of her past. It doesn’t really make sense, so it's obvious she's being manipulated, which removes the ambiguity the script is going for. Even more obviously, why doesn't Seven tell Janway about her dream/hallucination? If she can't do it because of the Queen's influence that's something that should be suggested on screen, but we don't get that, so she just looks a bit stupid not warning her captain that she's been contacted by this Big Bad of the episode. It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just not thought through enough to quite come to fruition on screen."
The drone fractionally inclined its head, the pallid grey skull jerking forward in a parody of acknowledgement. The reviewer took a reflexive step backwards. He couldn’t help it.
"Like the flashbacks," the done intoned.
The reviewer nodded. "Exactly. Like the flashbacks."
The drone jerked in the direction of its companion. "We have the information required. We can proceed."
The two drones faded away in a green swirl without further comment.
The reviewer carefully closed the door, breathed out once, and drained the full glass of wine he had put down to answer the door in one long swallow.
He had survived.
Paratextual
The Past
I mean, in one sense the flashbacks do definitely provide a function, which is to define what it is that Seven lost when she was assimilated. While it's never in doubt that the Hansen's were profoundly irresponsible in taking their young daughter along on a field trip that could (and did) turn out to be lethal, they do provide a familial context for Seven that we haven't directly seen before. Certainly the mother/daughter relationship with Janeway provides context for this to some extent, but to see the real thing is an entirely different experience. Despite the irresponsibility of bringing Annika in the first place, it's clear that her parents love her very much and provide a very traditional family set-up, so occasionally they will spoil her but generally she's treated like a normal child, her questions about the Borg are patiently answered but framed in a context Annika will understand given her limited knowledge of their context, she has regular bed-times, and so on. That these flashbacks are successful when discussed in isolation, but rather less so when actually witnessed is, however, "Dark Frontier"'s biggest failings, because both Hansen adults and young Annika are... not good on screen. It's clear that the (adult) characters have been modelled on zoologists who go out into the wild to observe species, but the two actors deliver every line with a gee-wizz lack of sincerity that makes it just impossible to take them seriously. They're supposed to be courageous explorers, off really tackling the unknown without Starfleet or the Federation to back them up, but instead they come across as one-dimensional comic book characters and, sadly, it's really down to the casting (maybe the direction, but Cliff Bole directed the first episode of "Dark Frontier" and it's hard to imagine him choosing to have them play that way). It should be a really nasty reveal when the Queen makes Seven's assimilated father step forward near the end of the episode as another lure to have her stay within the Collective, but instead you mostly end up thinking, "oh yea, that the idiot from the flashbacks who’s responsible for all this in the first place", which I guess is not the intended effect. So yea - the flashbacks are pretty undermining, but really, they're the only really substantial flaw here. Somewhere, I hope, there's an edit of "Dark Frontier" which doesn’t have the flashbacks. If there is, it's a better version of this two-parter.
Any Other Business:
• "Dark Frontiner" is agonizingly frustrating. There's just one wrong thing too many for it to be a straight-up classic, just one script revision away from something really, seriously excellent. What we have is broadly terrific, but it never takes that extra step that pushes it into "Year Of Hell" or "Scorpion" territory.
• We get to see two new Borg vessels here, an oblong Borg Probe, and a sort of diamond-shaped vessel that the Queen apparently uses to gad about the galaxy in while overseeing assimilation. Both are pretty well realized.
• It's really interesting to see Janeway go on the attack for a change. Given Voyager's extensive experience with the Borg, and the fact that they have an ex-drone on board, it makes sense that they're able to do this in a way other Federation ships haven't been able to up till now.
• Scarlett Pomers is surprisingly good at playing aggressive during Seven's hallucination/dream.
• If Tuvok needs to shave a few seconds off his tactical simulation, he could stop saying, "place the charges here, here and here" while pointing at positions Harry already knows are where they need to go. That should save you about six or seven seconds. Also, maybe try running down the corridors rather than walking?
• The scenes when Tom and Janeway explain the whole Fort Knox thing are pretty laboured and while the cast do their best to look game it's understandable why nobody's really selling it as well as they might.
• The Hansens are idiots. Sorry, but they just are. You're not, I think, meant to be on the side of the Borg when they're attacked.
• Needless to say, Ryan and Mulgrew are excellent here, but Ryan really surpasses even her own high standards when begging Janeway to include Seven on the away mission. And her pained decision to remain on the Borg vessel at the end of the first episode is similarly excellent.
• Wow, the Unicomplex is... quite something. For a TV show, that really shows some stunning ambition.
• Similarly, the assembly of the Borg Queen is just a little bit more ambitious than First Contact, with her legs sliding out from underneath the deck plating and everything clicking together. Again, for a TV show that's just incredible effects work.
• Obviously, though, this isn't the same Borg Queen we had in First Contact. Susanna Thompson steps into Alice Krige's shoes and fills them admirably. Her performance is less explicitly sexual than Krige's but noticeably more seductive.
• Saying that, the scenes when she communicates with the Borg silently, such as when to have them release the ship Seven tried to save, I think she's actually better than Krige (though no disrespect meant there, because Krige is excellent as well). The control of her eyes, facial movement and tics, is quite flawless.
• Those big super troupers that follow the Borg Queen about as she struts round suggest some unusual design priorities for the Borg…
• I love the way the Borg Queen hisses, "Jaaaaneway" when she realizes who's going to be riding to Seven's rescue.
• Everything - and I mean everything - about that final confrontation between Janeway, Seven and the Borg Queen is absolutely note perfect. Seven growing up enough to make her own decision, the cat-and-mouse as the Queen and Janeway try to outwit each other, the tension as to just how they're going to get out of it... it's a page-perfect example of how to do this kind of confrontation.
• And of course there's something incredibly satisfying about the way Seven sneers, "our thoughts are one" to finally break the deadlock and escape.
• Another lovely shot, this time of the destroyed diamond vessel as its shattered remains tumble out of the transwarp corridor.
• And it wasn't all for nothing - Voyager gets another fifteen years closer to home by the time the transwarp coil burns out. It was a hard-won victory.
Jaaaaaaaaaneway
Intertextual
The Past
A Borg Cube, deep internal greens and greys flickering within the heart of the vessel, emerged from transwarp and decelerated into normal space. A scanning beam snapped on, the sensors instantaneously deriving all information about the small vessel in its path.
"Species: Human. Purpose: Reviewer. We will begin the analysis." The Borg voice was multi-layered but cold, clinical, and devoid of all expression. Everything vocalised was just a statement, passionless and direct. "You will explain the nature of flashbacks." There was a fractional pause. "Now."
The viewscreen on the small, one-person craft lit up, displaying the interior of the Borg Cube. There was no individual visible, no point of focus, just endless corridors, piping and duct-work. Hesitantly, the occupant began. "Well the principal purpose of flashbacks," he said, " is to convey information which is relevant to the story being told now, but which requires more detail than can be meaningfully conveyed in infodumps or lengthily exposition. So if we have a flashback, the writer is calling attention to details which happened but which we haven't previously seen, but that might have been suggested. Flashbacks tend, in other words, to be about character rather than story, and tend to be subjective rather than objective."
There was a pause as this information was digested. "Explain this in the context of "Dark Frontier."
The reviewer glanced nervously at the controls of his vessel. So far nothing looked out of place. But this was the Borg - that could change very quickly. "Well the flashbacks in "Dark Frontier" work to illuminate a past that we know Seven had but which, by nature of her assimila..." the reviewer hastily corrected himself, "experience with the Borg she has been closed off from. The triggering of her memories brought on by the reading of her parents' logs means that we have a mechanism to expand on the past directly. In this we see the subjectivity - Seven "remembers" these events, but the subjective nature of them renders the information we have questionable, if not wholly inaccurate. Whether those work as a satisfying narrative device is of course a separate question."
The Borg Cube again paused. "Explain."
Another glance over the controls. So far, so good, and no tractor beam. "Well, the problem with flashbacks is they can be a somewhat clumsy narrative device. A lot of the information communicated in the flashbacks here is largely literalizing something we already know - that the Hanson's were exobilogists, followed the.. uh, that is, followed you, then were caught and assimilated. It doesn't really tell us anything we didn't know, it just gives us more detail about something we already knew. And the subjective nature of the flashbacks is somewhat compromised, since we get scenes Annika/Seven wasn't present for, based on the log entries, and others she was, based on her own memories. It's a bit of a muddle."
"We concur."
Without further explanation, the Borg scanning beam flicked off and the Cube rotated on it axis. Before the reviewer could do anything, it leapt to transwarp and was lost to sensors.
The reviewer released a shaky breath he didn't even realize he had been holding, and plotted a course home. This was going to require some explaining.
Paratextual
The Present
"Dark Frontier" is so very nearly brilliant it practically hurts to admit where its failings lie. And its failings are mostly related to its flashbacks, but as a character piece for both Janeway and Seven it’s an absolute triumph, and as another emphatic re-enforcement of Voyager's feminism it is equally successful. We have three principal protagonists, all female, all written as characters first and women second, and who function as the entirety of the plot engine, from Janeway's initial raid on a Borg probe, through to the Queen's actions bringing Seven back into the fold, and the eventual threefold resolution to the central conflict. That’s not the first time I’ve typed out a sentence similar to that, and neither will it be the last, but it’s good to check in and make sure this motor is humming along from time to time, and it very much is. The story here is split fairly evenly between the two episodes - the first half being the run up to, and execution of, the "heist" and the second part dealing with the consequences, including the capture of Seven. It's not a complex story in its narrative construction, despite the inclusion of those less-than-successful flashbacks, but it’s one that gives the story plenty of space to breathe. Indeed, for a two-parter that's predominantly interested in the interactions between its three female leads there's actually a surprising amount of plot, even if the story itself is comparatively straightforward (and I'm drawing a clear line between plot, which is the "then-they-did-this, then-they-did-that" mechanics of scenes, and story, which in this case is basically just, "stole transwarp coil, lost Seven, got her back"). There's a lot of attention paid to repetition here, and repetition functions as one of the principal structures on which the episode is built, from the repetition of the flashbacks, as they slowly (oh so slowly) push forward the "then" plot, to the restaged scenes on the holodeck, and the Borg's opening speeches. The purpose of the repetition, which is really being used here as a rhetorical device, is that it keeps emphasis on the parts of the script that need focus, which using the nature of repetition to drive home what's being done - in other words, to add clarity to events. In this, it's a fairly successful device, and by adding that clarity to proceedings early in the episode we're give more freedom to explore further issues in the second half.
And what a second half it is. Voyager has spent some time exploring the Borg, but never quite to this degree. Indeed this story gives us more insight into the heart of the Borg than any other story to date, as we get to visit the Unicomplex and see the Borg Queen in her palace, as it were. Or termite mound. These sequences are by far the most successful of the episode - the heist material is good but, well, it's a heist and though the details might vary, one heist is pretty much like another. Come up with a plan, break in, and either succeed and/or fail. That's not to say there's no drama from them, because there certainly is - especially with Seven's ambiguous defection - but those scenes represent a stepping stone on the way, not reaching the other bank. The Unicomplex is the other bank, however, and the tug-of-love between the Borg Queen and Janeway represents the most explicit externalizing of the mother/daughter relationship between Seven and Janeway that we have yet seen. Throughout the episode, Janeway advises Seven - sometimes gently, sometimes not - in the way a mother would with a daughter, and in this context the Queen represents temptation. She's the embodiment of what it means to "leave home" - to strike out, to rebel, and to give in to selfish, self-indulgent impulses. That's what the whole section of Seven assisting with the assimilation of another species represents, and this is constantly re-enforced in the dialogue, with the Queen telling Seven repeatedly to drop her compassion and give in to the indulgences that her way of life represents. In this way the script could actually be conceived as fairly conservative, but what it really is, far more than that, is a representation of growing up. Seven comes face-to-face with her past, but her development over two seasons means she doesn't need to give in to that past, nor does she need to be beholden to the present. When she makes her decision to betray the Borg Queen, it's quite clear that it is Seven's decision - she's not doing it because she's rebelling (now against the Queen) nor is she doing it because Janeway orders it. She does it because she's grown up, and is perfectly capable of making her own decisions. It's a powerful moment for the character, and it's another way where we truly get to see what a different the previous two seasons have made to her, rather than being told about it.
Still, that's the climax of the episode, and I don’t want to sell the rest of it short, because there's some terrific material to be found there as well. I think I might have sounded a bit dismissive of the heist material earlier, but I really don't mean to be, because it's all well-implemented action and it helps to give some tension to the story. The action-adventure aesthetic has taken more of a backseat this season because of the character focus, so it's good fun to spend some time skulking round a Borg cube and dodging drones. Do we really think Voyager might fail and be overcome by Borg drones? No not really, but then again that's rarely ever the question, so the emphasis shifts onto not if they will survive their plan but how they will survive it. It's good to see the holodeck being used as a training device - again, in line with Voyager's ambitious use of holo-technology we get to see the simulations, not just get told about them running in the background. And as with "Gravity", we get to see Tuvok actually doing the job of someone at Tactical, putting together a strategy which does (losing Seven aside, though admittedly that's a big aside) actually work and gets Voyager the transwarp coil they need. There's lots of little moments like this in the first half, separate from either the flashbacks or the character work, and they demonstrate a crew getting on with the business of being a crew. They're not big moments, but they don't need to be - the fact that they are there and we get to see them is enough, and they work successfully enough to suggest why they're there in the first place. And though this could in no way be called an ensemble piece, everyone gets something relevant to do - even Neelix, who gets to put his scavenger past to good use filtering his way through the Borg debris and working out what's useful. It's not often a side we see of his used, so it's really great to see it being put to good use here, even when it's comparatively brief.
But, as I suggested at the beginning, there are failings here, because for all that most of this story works, it doesn’t quite all fit together. The linear nature of the script works fine from a storytelling perspective, but in truth it's probably just a bit too linear. It's all a bit A-B-C-D. Because the story takes a full episode before introducing the Borg Queen in person it means that we only get to see inside Seven's head for a couple of scenes before she's revealed at the big End Of Episode Climax. The reason is easy enough to understand - the script tries to suggest an ambiguity to Seven's actions, though from the first time we hear the disembodied voice and witness Seven's dream most of that ambiguity is wiped out, so it's not an entirely successful conceit. The idea of the Borg Queen playing puppet-master is a pretty effective one, it's just a little too limited in scope within the episode itself, and it's not drawn out as far as it should be. Still that's a relatively mild complaint, all things considered. And... oh wait one moment, I think there's someone at the door. Hang on, be right back...
Intertexual
The Present
"We are the Borg." The reviewer took a hasty step back from the door. Two drones, just barely shorter than the doorframe itself, stood there, red laser sights flashing.
"What..."
"We require information. Failure to provide it will result in immediate assimilation." One drone stepped forward, the assimilation tubules on the modified cybernetic left hand twitching. The other drone stayed where it was, blocking any attempt to run.
"Why... why not just assimilate me and take the information?" he asked, then immediately cursed himself silently for putting the idea in their head.
The drone cocked its head to one side. "You will answer the question."
"Fine fine, what question?"
"You will explain the reasoning behind "puppet master"."
"Oh well, that's when a character working behind the scenes gets to control events. It's another narrative technique, whereby we're presented with a character's actions which look to be ambiguous - such as Seven's conflict between the crew and her Borg past - and are supposed to understand that, because someone might be "pulling her strings" we don't know if her actions are her own or because of the manipulation of another party."
The drone stared blankly for a moment. "Clarify the lack of success in this technique," it eventually stated. There was no suggestion of this being a request or a question - this was information the drone wanted and would acquire.
"Oh. Um. Yes. Well, the problem is that, although we've seen Seven be on edge during the first half of the episode - most clearly when she snaps at Tom for his "mindless drone" crack in the mess hall - she's already had a big scene with Janeway when she states, "Voyager is my Collective". We're told by the character that she's satisfied where she is, then we're asked to buy her defection as an outgrowth of her past. It doesn’t really make sense, so it's obvious she's being manipulated, which removes the ambiguity the script is going for. Even more obviously, why doesn't Seven tell Janway about her dream/hallucination? If she can't do it because of the Queen's influence that's something that should be suggested on screen, but we don't get that, so she just looks a bit stupid not warning her captain that she's been contacted by this Big Bad of the episode. It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just not thought through enough to quite come to fruition on screen."
The drone fractionally inclined its head, the pallid grey skull jerking forward in a parody of acknowledgement. The reviewer took a reflexive step backwards. He couldn’t help it.
"Like the flashbacks," the done intoned.
The reviewer nodded. "Exactly. Like the flashbacks."
The drone jerked in the direction of its companion. "We have the information required. We can proceed."
The two drones faded away in a green swirl without further comment.
The reviewer carefully closed the door, breathed out once, and drained the full glass of wine he had put down to answer the door in one long swallow.
He had survived.
Paratextual
The Past
I mean, in one sense the flashbacks do definitely provide a function, which is to define what it is that Seven lost when she was assimilated. While it's never in doubt that the Hansen's were profoundly irresponsible in taking their young daughter along on a field trip that could (and did) turn out to be lethal, they do provide a familial context for Seven that we haven't directly seen before. Certainly the mother/daughter relationship with Janeway provides context for this to some extent, but to see the real thing is an entirely different experience. Despite the irresponsibility of bringing Annika in the first place, it's clear that her parents love her very much and provide a very traditional family set-up, so occasionally they will spoil her but generally she's treated like a normal child, her questions about the Borg are patiently answered but framed in a context Annika will understand given her limited knowledge of their context, she has regular bed-times, and so on. That these flashbacks are successful when discussed in isolation, but rather less so when actually witnessed is, however, "Dark Frontier"'s biggest failings, because both Hansen adults and young Annika are... not good on screen. It's clear that the (adult) characters have been modelled on zoologists who go out into the wild to observe species, but the two actors deliver every line with a gee-wizz lack of sincerity that makes it just impossible to take them seriously. They're supposed to be courageous explorers, off really tackling the unknown without Starfleet or the Federation to back them up, but instead they come across as one-dimensional comic book characters and, sadly, it's really down to the casting (maybe the direction, but Cliff Bole directed the first episode of "Dark Frontier" and it's hard to imagine him choosing to have them play that way). It should be a really nasty reveal when the Queen makes Seven's assimilated father step forward near the end of the episode as another lure to have her stay within the Collective, but instead you mostly end up thinking, "oh yea, that the idiot from the flashbacks who’s responsible for all this in the first place", which I guess is not the intended effect. So yea - the flashbacks are pretty undermining, but really, they're the only really substantial flaw here. Somewhere, I hope, there's an edit of "Dark Frontier" which doesn’t have the flashbacks. If there is, it's a better version of this two-parter.
Any Other Business:
• "Dark Frontiner" is agonizingly frustrating. There's just one wrong thing too many for it to be a straight-up classic, just one script revision away from something really, seriously excellent. What we have is broadly terrific, but it never takes that extra step that pushes it into "Year Of Hell" or "Scorpion" territory.
• We get to see two new Borg vessels here, an oblong Borg Probe, and a sort of diamond-shaped vessel that the Queen apparently uses to gad about the galaxy in while overseeing assimilation. Both are pretty well realized.
• It's really interesting to see Janeway go on the attack for a change. Given Voyager's extensive experience with the Borg, and the fact that they have an ex-drone on board, it makes sense that they're able to do this in a way other Federation ships haven't been able to up till now.
• Scarlett Pomers is surprisingly good at playing aggressive during Seven's hallucination/dream.
• If Tuvok needs to shave a few seconds off his tactical simulation, he could stop saying, "place the charges here, here and here" while pointing at positions Harry already knows are where they need to go. That should save you about six or seven seconds. Also, maybe try running down the corridors rather than walking?
• The scenes when Tom and Janeway explain the whole Fort Knox thing are pretty laboured and while the cast do their best to look game it's understandable why nobody's really selling it as well as they might.
• The Hansens are idiots. Sorry, but they just are. You're not, I think, meant to be on the side of the Borg when they're attacked.
• Needless to say, Ryan and Mulgrew are excellent here, but Ryan really surpasses even her own high standards when begging Janeway to include Seven on the away mission. And her pained decision to remain on the Borg vessel at the end of the first episode is similarly excellent.
• Wow, the Unicomplex is... quite something. For a TV show, that really shows some stunning ambition.
• Similarly, the assembly of the Borg Queen is just a little bit more ambitious than First Contact, with her legs sliding out from underneath the deck plating and everything clicking together. Again, for a TV show that's just incredible effects work.
• Obviously, though, this isn't the same Borg Queen we had in First Contact. Susanna Thompson steps into Alice Krige's shoes and fills them admirably. Her performance is less explicitly sexual than Krige's but noticeably more seductive.
• Saying that, the scenes when she communicates with the Borg silently, such as when to have them release the ship Seven tried to save, I think she's actually better than Krige (though no disrespect meant there, because Krige is excellent as well). The control of her eyes, facial movement and tics, is quite flawless.
• Those big super troupers that follow the Borg Queen about as she struts round suggest some unusual design priorities for the Borg…
• I love the way the Borg Queen hisses, "Jaaaaneway" when she realizes who's going to be riding to Seven's rescue.
• Everything - and I mean everything - about that final confrontation between Janeway, Seven and the Borg Queen is absolutely note perfect. Seven growing up enough to make her own decision, the cat-and-mouse as the Queen and Janeway try to outwit each other, the tension as to just how they're going to get out of it... it's a page-perfect example of how to do this kind of confrontation.
• And of course there's something incredibly satisfying about the way Seven sneers, "our thoughts are one" to finally break the deadlock and escape.
• Another lovely shot, this time of the destroyed diamond vessel as its shattered remains tumble out of the transwarp corridor.
• And it wasn't all for nothing - Voyager gets another fifteen years closer to home by the time the transwarp coil burns out. It was a hard-won victory.