'Scientific Method'

Stardate: Unknown
Written By: Brannon Braga and Joe Menonsky
Directed By: Alan Kroeker
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

Why do I love �Year of Hell� so much?  Because it not only has great action and SFX, and shows how Voyager could�ve been, but it also successfully shows how the crew would react under such strenuous circumstances.

Voyager is being battered like hell, the Bridge is wrecked, the hull is scorched and moral is low.  This is more like how Voyager should be, not so squeaky clean, but more gritty.  Voyager has never been shown to have this much damage and fighting so much for survival.  Even against the Borg, Voyager has had minimal damage.

How many times during �Year of Hell� did my spine shiver?  Lots.  There was when Deck 16 blew; the Doctor having to close the hatch on those two crewmen who where so close to escaping, that would�ve been very difficult, even for the Doctor.  There was also when Tuvok is blinded from the Torpedo in the Jefferies Tube, when Janeway�s Lucky Teacup smashes and during the last 10 minutes, that was the main highlight.

When Annorax was trying to erase Voyager and they went to Warp, hull fragments ripping off and then one hits the screen and it goes dark.  Than Janeway�s speech, �Asking you to stay, would be asking you to die,� and the Escape Pods with �To be continued . . .�  I just sat there with my mouth wide open, thinking �Wow!�

I loved seeing the timeline changing when the crew didn�t realize it.  And then later, Voyager�s protected with Temporal shields, and they witness the change in the timeline.

There is only two small nits; other species would�ve been able to develop Temporal Shielding, and they would�ve been an anomaly to Annorax�s ship just as Voyager was.  This would especially be the case in the timeline where the Krenim are a major power.  The other is that Kes wasn�t mentioned once, she warned Voyager about the Krenim in �Before and After.�

Annorax and his crew are very interesting, and in Part II I hope to find out what Annorax�s obsession with changing the timeline and about Kyana Prime.  I also loved Kurtwood Smith�s performance.  Annorax seems to be a very rich character, hopefully in Part II we get to know him better.

I�m glad the continuity continues this season with the Astrometrics Lab finally being unleashed.

I can see the �Reset Button� being pushed big time in Part II, but I doubt that it will matter, seeing Voyager in this kind of situation and somehow getting out of it is worth seeing, even if there is a �Reset�.  �Year of Hell� is a huge winner.