'Hope and Fear'

Stardate: 51978.2
Written By: Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Joe Menonsky
Directed By: Winrich Kolbe
Rating: *** (out of 5)

This Season Finale takes us in a full circle from the events that have occurred during this season, but there are a number of missing things in this relatively lack-luster show.

As a Season Finale I would�ve expected something a bit more grand, or a bit more epic, or just something different from what we have here.  There isn�t anything wrong with the story, although I can�t say I love it, nor can I say that it was done well.

Auritus was a good character with motives that seem logical to me.  It�s nice to see TPTB can remember events from the beginning of the season, all that time ago, and I like seeing that Voyager has an affect on people through their actions.

But Auritus was a stupid villain.  He should�ve known they might have found out about his plan.  He should�ve deleted the other message or damaged it further.  He should�ve confined Seven and Janeway better knowing there was also a Borg in there.  They shouldn�t have been confined together, although Seven was wearing a comm badge too and still could�ve done the modifications.  Why didn�t he confine Janeway when she was on the Bridge?  Why couldn�t he deflect the Transporter Beam at the end?  Why couldn�t he fire?

I know he did counter for being caught, but how obvious did he make it: �"She's been sabotaging your every effort to reach Earth, you don't have to believe me, Captain. You can find all the evidence you need in her personal database."

Auritus should�ve been made to be smarter and not blinded by his quest for vengeance against Janeway.  He seemed friendly, and was only acted well by Ray Wise when he was friendly, but we all knew he had a hidden agenda.  I loved his ultimate fate, seeing his ship flying into those Borg Cubes was genuinely creepy.  But it would�ve packed a more emotional punch if we had seen Auritus get assimilated.

But enough on Auritus, there was plenty of good scenes to go around, although the majority of them where taken up by Seven and Janeway.  Their Velocity match was good, Seven believing she should have the upper hand because she�s superior, but she doesn�t use instinct and intuition.

I found their scenes to be great, showing that even though the often argue, they have a deep respect for each other and a close friendship.  But I found their dialogue in the Astrometrics Lab scene to be unfair for Seven.  I disagree that Janeway can say such things to Seven and Seven take it.  To be honest, I didn�t really understand the point of what Janeway was saying to Seven.

But I�m glad that Seven learns that her fear for returning to Earth is governed the unknown of the situation - will she be excepted, will she be able to cope with billions of individuals?

While that is the theme for �Hope and Fear� the plot would�ve been better if Voyager hadn�t have made it closer to home after having backtracked all the way to Borg territory.  I would�ve much-preferred Voyager suffering a major setback.

I can�t say that the Dauntless was realistic enough in terms of Starfleets accomplishments.  I wouldn�t believe the ship to be Starfleet, considering the new technologies used etc, I doubt the ship could�ve been designed and built in the time Voyager�s been lost.  I�m sure also that Doc would�ve got some mention of this during his visit and I think that Starfleet would have more sense than to send a Starship into the unknown like that and leave it sitting there unguarded.

It�s good to get some follow-up on the events during this season, but I would�ve liked it do have been thought through better (which is a common complaint, it seems) and more of an ensemble show than just Janeway and Seven .  �Hope and Fear� is satisfying, but not fantastic by any means.