Written By: Kenneth Biller
Directed By: Robert Duncan McNeil
Rating: ***3/4 (out of 5)
The episode has Chakotay and another Ensign investigating a Starfleet signal on a planet and then being fired at on the surface. The ensign is killed and Chakotay wounded but saved by another group of people whom Chakotay befriends but soon discovers that they are ex-Borg trying to make a life for themselves. Chakotay is then said to be close to death and the only way to save him is for him to link with the collective mind that is said to heal organic tissue and even inorganic stuff. When Voyager finally arrives these Borg request that Janeway help them activate a Borg Cube nearby and establish a Collective mind between everyone on the planet so everyone can be controlled. When Janeway decides it�s too much of a risk the ex-Borg force Chakotay to activate the Cube, through the link. The Cube becomes activated again before it is destroyed.
Not a bad story; I really liked the idea of ex-Borg and the community they are building, or trying to build. It would make a good episode to explore this issue in more detail, before and after the link is established. We�ve seen Borg become individuals before, first in TNG�s �I, Borg� and later in �Descent I and II.� Those Borg seemed to go through a hell of a lot of angst and the separation from the Collective is meant to be painful. We never get any indication that these Borg suffered pain, that there was much of a challenge in getting to even accept themselves little lone others.
There is a lot of vagueness in �Unity� when it comes to the Borg and what we know of them and what is showed here. I can�t explain all of it but anything about the Borg seemed as though the writers were saying things that they really hadn�t got the gist of. I can�t explain it more then that unfortunately, I simply get the feeling through the dialogue that there isn�t enough clarification for things. Like at the end in sickbay - trying to understand how Chakotay could have heard the ex-Borg telling him what to do. And also about activating the Borg ship.
On that note, I also noticed another tendency in �Unity.� A lot of the time speculation was made that seemed to want to frighten us, but the words rang false. It�s as though the writers needed to make the situation scary any way possible. Two major examples are B�Elanna saying �Or maybe it was something more powerful then the Borg� and also when the Borg in Sickbay activated for a few seconds. Even having the Borg Cube activating again near the end or even having those people attacking Frasier and company near the end are other examples.
Other complaints: how did these people get into the Delta Quadrant? A lot of them were assimilated at Wold 359 seen in TNG�s �Best of Both Worlds� and DS9�s �Emissary.� Wasn�t there only one Borg ship attacking the Federation? And what happened to taking every precaution with activating the Borg ship? How does anyone know that the Borg communicated with the Collective?
Well I�ve gone on about the bad things in �Unity� but there are a lot of good things here too. I�ve already mentioned that the premise is an interesting one but I though the relationship between Frasier and Chakotay very realistic, thanks especially to Roberth Beltran and Lori Hallier. A few final comments from Chakotay and Janeway were very interesting. Janeway says, �� so far they're not acting like typical Borg� and Chakotay replies, �But that didn't stop them from imposing their collective will on me when it served their interests � I wonder how long their ideals will last in the face of that kind of power.�
Very interesting note there because will the ex-Borg community end up becoming Borg again? What will happen to the colony they have built? This could�ve been how the Borg were originally created � a species trying to stop war decides to link everyone together. If this were TNG a sequel would be appreciated, however being Voyager means that they will never encounter these people again.
�Unity� is not bad. It had a good premise but it wasn�t perfect in terms of story and was only a few plots away from being a rehash. I enjoyed it but a classic this one ain�t!