'Child's Play'

Stardate: Unkown
Written By: Paul Brown
Directed By: Mike Vejar
Rating: ****1/4 (out of 5)

After a dry spell of episodes we finally get something that tells us there is life in Trek. "Child's Play" is my reminder that this series is good when the right formula's are applied. It isn't perfect but it doesn't matter because I had a good time!!

"Child's Play" manages to combine a good dose of drama and a good dose of action into an episode which gives us some good reason for the Borg children, picked up in "Collective," to be around. The best thing about "Child's Play" is the continuity. In fact this shows very well that Voyager' s writing staff do plan things. I hope that this trend continues because it just shows what will happen if the writers put in more effort. I'm impressed!

The first good thing "Child's Play" pulls out is Icheb. Originally his character, like the other Borg children maybe except the young girl, were simply cardboard. But here we see that all four of the children have room for development and there might be several avenues this Borg children plot could take us. Manu Intiraymi also pulls off a good performance that has me even more impressed.

What works well in the story is Seven's aggressive attachment to Icheb. Actually I'm pleasantly surprised how realistic Seven's attachment to Icheb seems despite the fact that only three episodes ago we first saw him and the Borg Children's appearances have been limited. "Child's Play" succeeds because we now know how strong the bond between Seven and Icheb is; but it fails because we never knew the bond really existed. But positive and negative cancel each other out so I accept this as it is.

There's also the decent performances by Tracey Ellis (Damn it! I've seen her before somewhere!) and Mark A. Sheppard (I've seen him before too) who are Icheb's parents. And these certainly are devious parents. They have morals but accept the reason for their actions.

Icheb was genetically altered from birth to produce a pathogen into Borg shi ps, for example the Borg ship the Children came from in "Collective," and his parent's plan on sending him back. Wow! Can you see the continuity? I love it! But I'm not sure why the Doc didn't discover the pathogen upon medical examination of Icheb?

Of course Janeway and Seven discover this and attempt to save him from reassimilation. This is where the action kicks in (or the typical Voyager segments). But why would the Bronali waste Icheb by summoning a Borg ship? Shouldn't they just wait for the ship to come and assimilate their planet?

The major stumble of the episode however, is Janeway's decision to save Icheb from the Borg. By doing that, she is in violation of the Prime Directive. If you're a Voyager watcher and don't watch other Trek you might say "Prime . what?" because Voyager often forgets this important directive; not to interfere with the development of alien cultures. "Child's Play" doesn't become philosophical at all because that isn't the point of the episode, but its not very good too make a quick decision like that without even thinking about the consequences it could have. I would've wanted some reflection from Janeway.

The action scenes are typical Mike Vejar directed sections - bold. I love the way the climax is structured, especially the getaway CGI when Voyager warps away! It's a great way to end the episode despite the drama that unfolded in the first half.

With the Seven-Icheb bond in hand, and the knowledge of Icheb's genetic alterations I can see a possibility for a future episode. Icheb may well sacrifice himself for the Voyager crew against the Borg in the future. And I 'd like to see that happen, it would be great for Seven's character, like we haven't had enough development for her!

Some final notes: I liked the Science Fair at the beginning. Especially when the Borg twins wanted too clone Naomi for their project! I don't understand why Seven couldn't have designed the wormhole device Icheb did. In that case, why can't Seven add a whole heap on enhancements? I also admired Icheb 's fascination with Astronomy, it proved to be a good character trait particularly here.

Just like the episode, I feel I've crammed quite a bit into this review. We have a very enjoyable episode that is almost too big for itself. It deals with loosing loved ones, alien cultures, Prime Directive and mindless action all within 44 minutes and still manages to be very satisfying.