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Storyline
The crew of Voyager discover a simulation of Starfleet Headquarters being run by Species 8472, the enemy they helped the Borg defeat in the two-part episode "Scorpion". It is being used to practice infiltrating the Federation. With the aid of regular doses of drugs, Species 8472 are able to shape-shift into human form. It is up to Janeway to try to convince the aliens that Starfleet is not a threat to them. Written by
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Goofs
When the cadet takes a holoimage picture of Boothby and Chakotay, Boothby kiddingly tells her not to cut of their heads. We see through the viewfinder's image that she does cut off the top of Chakotay's head. Yet later, when the captain and others are reviewing the pictures, we see all of Chakotay's head.
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Quotes
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first lines]
Admiral Bullock:
Welcome to Earth. I'm Admiral Bullock, and I'll be your commanding officer for the next six months. Questions, comments - bring them to me. Problems - talk to Lieutenant Kinis.
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This episode serves one purpose. It's clear that by the introduction of Species 8472 an enemy worse than the Borg was introduced. I can understand this may have been seen as a mistake, but this episode so blatantly tries (and succeeds) to reverse their threat and utterly tame Species 8472, turning them from the villain that could defeat the bad Borg into potential best friends with the Federation, and humanising them in the process through their shape shifting abilities. By making them look and act human, they become less threatening after all.
It is like (and I suspect probably was the case), someone said "we can't have an enemy who can defeat the Borg. Write an episode that makes them harmless and we can be rid of them".
It's a shame as the episode is not half bad. It starts off well with the mystery of an alien species recreating Earth with the potential for an invasion (though like so much of Voyager, a rehash of earlier Trek, especially Deep Space Nine's Dominion shape shifting infiltration of Earth).
It disappoints though with no real action, a diplomatic discussion that's all rather too easy and ends with them all effectively shaking hands and that's the end of the threat. The Borg are thus returned to number one evil status. It does the job intended but has spoilt a potentially good truly alien species. Non humanoid species in Star Trek are a rarity (and perhaps a little against the rules), but it's a breath of fresh air to see them, and one that truly could be evil. Perhaps it could have been taken further to develop them as a race to trust with caution and have a kind of Cold War scenario. Although the Klingons before them served that purpose and even the Romulans.
Certainly not a terrible episode, but one that frustrates me for what it achieves rather than the content.