Seven is introduced to Naomi Wildman in this episode. She also demonstrates her Borg personality at its finest: she is blunt and unapologetic about Borg activities. She even seems rather aloof when she suggests "reactivating" Neelix after he dies on an away mission. The way she says she wants to salvage him because his function in the crew was diverse is reminiscent of the way one would talk about a machine.
Seven speaks with Tuvok about human ideas and fears surrounding death. Tuvok has become something of a mentor for Seven, probably because he has an outsider perspective that she identifies with. She says that because the Borg don't fear death, she doesn't either. She points out that in a sense, she will always exist at part of the Borg collective consciousness. But she seems to almost doubt herself as she says it.
Later, when she tries to join in a social celebration, she proves incompetent. Her repulsive attempt to join in the conversation by describing the process for maturating assimilated children does alert the doctor to her social ineptitude, however.
17 December 1997
26 November 1997
Concerning Flight
Seven seems to have made the astrometrics lab her second home and thrown herself into her work. Seven of Nine's relationship with Harry deteriorates due to Seven's lack of manners and increasingly brusque demeanor when he needs to use the astrometrics lab and they end up attempting to work together. She fails to engage in small talk or pleasantries, and treats Harry as though he were incompetent. Harry tells Seven she should be a little more diplomatic and seems genuinely disturbed by her lack of consideration for his feelings.
Seven's voice is low and business-like throughout the episode, especially when she goes to see the doctor for her weekly maintenance and is prodded by the doctor into engaging in small talk. She clearly doesn't want to have to participate in the social aspects of living on Voyager. Later, she is even rude to Tuvok, the only crewmember she has found anything in common with so far. Seven criticises Tuvok for referring to the da Vinci hologram as if it were a sentient being. Tuvok doesn't really have any feelings to hurt, but he does seem piqued that Seven questions his logic. Seven seems almost annoyed by Tuvok's apparently non-logical assessment of the da Vinci character. This is a weird scene, as it isn't expanded on at all for the rest of the episode, nor does it seem particularly relevant. I think maybe it is just an opportunity for us to see that Seven of Nine has zero social skills and is kind of a jerk.
Seven's voice is low and business-like throughout the episode, especially when she goes to see the doctor for her weekly maintenance and is prodded by the doctor into engaging in small talk. She clearly doesn't want to have to participate in the social aspects of living on Voyager. Later, she is even rude to Tuvok, the only crewmember she has found anything in common with so far. Seven criticises Tuvok for referring to the da Vinci hologram as if it were a sentient being. Tuvok doesn't really have any feelings to hurt, but he does seem piqued that Seven questions his logic. Seven seems almost annoyed by Tuvok's apparently non-logical assessment of the da Vinci character. This is a weird scene, as it isn't expanded on at all for the rest of the episode, nor does it seem particularly relevant. I think maybe it is just an opportunity for us to see that Seven of Nine has zero social skills and is kind of a jerk.
05 November 1997
Year of Hell
Don't worry, loyal readers, this isn't another one of my morose posts. It's the next episode in Star Trek: Voyager. The episode begins with Seven of Nine and Harry Kim unveiling the newly completed astrometrics lab. When Seven states that she estimates the astrometrics lab will shorten "your journey" home by five years, Neelix corrects her by reminding her that she is part of the family now. Later, when the ship is undergoing the year of hell, she is assisting Tuvok in analysing an armed chronoton-based torpedo that has been lodged in the hull. When it detonates while they are still nearby, Tuvok is injured as he moves to shield Seven from the effects of the explosion. As a result, he goes blind. After that, Seven and Tuvok become closer, Seven helping Tuvok with his daily activities. He helps her learn about life on Voyager and teaches her his respect for the Captain. Of course, at the end of the episode, they revert back in time, so the friendship between Tuvok and Seven never happened.
Just a few side notes: when Tuvok and Seven are attempting to get away from the chronoton-torpedo, the video is weirdly sped up for a few seconds before it explodes. Also, Janeway mentions to Anarax that Earth is 65,000 years from their current position. Although Voyager generally doesn't really try to maintain any sort of consistency, that's a pretty big inconsistency. The only number that they've been 100% sure about for the whole series is the fact that they were thrown 70,000 light years from home. They've for sure come farther than 5,000 light years in three and a half years. I believe Kes propelled then 9,000 light years all by herself at the end of The Gift.
*Costume Update* Seven is wearing an outfit similar to the one with the weird square neck.
Just a few side notes: when Tuvok and Seven are attempting to get away from the chronoton-torpedo, the video is weirdly sped up for a few seconds before it explodes. Also, Janeway mentions to Anarax that Earth is 65,000 years from their current position. Although Voyager generally doesn't really try to maintain any sort of consistency, that's a pretty big inconsistency. The only number that they've been 100% sure about for the whole series is the fact that they were thrown 70,000 light years from home. They've for sure come farther than 5,000 light years in three and a half years. I believe Kes propelled then 9,000 light years all by herself at the end of The Gift.
*Costume Update* Seven is wearing an outfit similar to the one with the weird square neck.
29 October 1997
Scientific Method
B'Elanna and Seven have a run in when Seven takes it upon herself to shut down some of the ship's systems in order to fix something without informing engineering, causing B'Elanna to scramble to find the cause of the shut down. B'Elanna eventually realises that Seven is simply unaware of how the ship operates and informs her that she had trouble adapting to working on a starship at first, too.
In this episode, Seven gets her first real opportunity to use her Borg nature to help Voyager. The Doctor adjusts one of her Borg nodes so she can see alien intruders who are cloaked out of phase and performing medical experiments on the crew.
As a side note, I think it's pretty funny that the aliens' manipulations that made Janeway super grumpy backfire when Seven takes of the aliens hostage and Janeway gets very threatening and scary.
*Costume Update* Seven of Nine is wearing another form fitting mock turtleneck suit with raglan sleeves in a sort of glittering greyish brown.
In this episode, Seven gets her first real opportunity to use her Borg nature to help Voyager. The Doctor adjusts one of her Borg nodes so she can see alien intruders who are cloaked out of phase and performing medical experiments on the crew.
As a side note, I think it's pretty funny that the aliens' manipulations that made Janeway super grumpy backfire when Seven takes of the aliens hostage and Janeway gets very threatening and scary.
*Costume Update* Seven of Nine is wearing another form fitting mock turtleneck suit with raglan sleeves in a sort of glittering greyish brown.
08 October 1997
The Raven
This episode is a pivotal moment in Seven's evolution. She begins the episode in the Leonardo da Vinci simulation with Captain Janeway. Janeway seems to be forcing her to try her hand at sculpting. Seven is not amused, and disdainfully pronounces the activity "truly unproductive." Her voice is sharper, lower, and with less timidity than in previous episodes. She is clearly no longer afraid to offend members of Voyager's crew by her lack of familiarity with human nuances. However, she does experience fear and frustration (and her voice gets softer) when she begins seeing visions of the Borg because something is happening to her and she doesn't know what it is.
While Neelix helps her eat her first meal, she blithely informs him that 39 Telaxians were easily assimilated by the Borg, and that the crew made excellent drones. Her hesitance while learning to eat is endearing, though, and her subsequent behavior is then even more jarring. Just as she is taking her second swallow, she freezes, has a vision that the Borg are calling her back to the collective, and threatens Neelix with assimilation.
She doesn't actually assimilate him, though. In fact, she doesn't really hurt him at all. Later in the episode while she is on a shuttle headed for a Borg homing beacon, Seven starts to threaten Tuvok with assimilation, but changes her mind mid-sentence, telling Tuvok she doesn't want him to be assimilated. She tells him he can take the shuttle back to Voyager and asks him to say thank you to Captain Janeway. Tuvok shows his sentimental side and points out how human she is becoming. He says he'll go with her to where the Borg ship is, because he does not believe it is an actual Borg ship and therefore doesn't pose a threat.
Turns out he's right, of course. The nanoprobes in Seven's blood have been activated by a signal emitted from the partially assimilated vessel that she and her parents were taken from 18 years ago. She begins having flashbacks, speaking as though compelled in a small, childish voice. Once she figures out that the Borg aren't calling her back, I think she realizes there is no easy way out of her problems adjusting to life as part of Voyager, and is suddenly resolved to return with Tuvok to the only family she has left. When they return, Seven's voice is back to being soft and vulnerable sounding as she discusses her experience with Janeway. Janeway offers Seven access to the Star Fleet files on her parents, but she rejects the offer for the time being.
*Costume Update* In this episode, Seven is wearing a brownish form-fitting one piece jumpsuit with a lower, squarish neckline. It's not nearly as shiny as the silver one, but it does have a sort of shimmery, multi-hued quality to it.
While Neelix helps her eat her first meal, she blithely informs him that 39 Telaxians were easily assimilated by the Borg, and that the crew made excellent drones. Her hesitance while learning to eat is endearing, though, and her subsequent behavior is then even more jarring. Just as she is taking her second swallow, she freezes, has a vision that the Borg are calling her back to the collective, and threatens Neelix with assimilation.
She doesn't actually assimilate him, though. In fact, she doesn't really hurt him at all. Later in the episode while she is on a shuttle headed for a Borg homing beacon, Seven starts to threaten Tuvok with assimilation, but changes her mind mid-sentence, telling Tuvok she doesn't want him to be assimilated. She tells him he can take the shuttle back to Voyager and asks him to say thank you to Captain Janeway. Tuvok shows his sentimental side and points out how human she is becoming. He says he'll go with her to where the Borg ship is, because he does not believe it is an actual Borg ship and therefore doesn't pose a threat.
Turns out he's right, of course. The nanoprobes in Seven's blood have been activated by a signal emitted from the partially assimilated vessel that she and her parents were taken from 18 years ago. She begins having flashbacks, speaking as though compelled in a small, childish voice. Once she figures out that the Borg aren't calling her back, I think she realizes there is no easy way out of her problems adjusting to life as part of Voyager, and is suddenly resolved to return with Tuvok to the only family she has left. When they return, Seven's voice is back to being soft and vulnerable sounding as she discusses her experience with Janeway. Janeway offers Seven access to the Star Fleet files on her parents, but she rejects the offer for the time being.
*Costume Update* In this episode, Seven is wearing a brownish form-fitting one piece jumpsuit with a lower, squarish neckline. It's not nearly as shiny as the silver one, but it does have a sort of shimmery, multi-hued quality to it.
01 October 1997
Revulsion
Seven of Nine is assigned to work with Harry to upgrade their astrometric sensors and create an astrometric lab. Harry is nervous to work with her, because last time they worked together she rendered him unconscious and tried to contact the Borg. Not to mention he has a growing crush on her. One of my favorite lines from Seven ever occurs when Harry nervously tells her he has always wanted to learn Borg, and she doesn't laugh at his feeble joke. She responds with "I am familiar with the concept of humor. It may not be apparent, but I am frequently amused by human behavior." BURN. She also makes her first mistake, albeit a minor one, and surprisingly takes it in stride, declaring her humanity must be reasserting itself. Harry tries to make small talk with her, and it proves to be a waste of time, since her free time is mostly spent "contemplat[ing] my existence." Seven seems almost meek in this episode, at least at first. As she gets to know Harry, though, she becomes more assertive; her voice becomes less soft and she seems more certain.
Seven of Nine experiences her first acknowledgment that she has become weak when she slices her hand open while working with Harry. Harry is concerned that she feels vulnerable, but I'm not convinced. She seems to get over these little things pretty quickly in the early days. He tries to woo her while they work, but instead of exploring a budding romance, he learns that she considers beauty and comfort irrelevant, and is treated to her diagnosis of his condition: she figures he is in love with her and wants to copulate and then demands he take off his clothes. She's game to exploring her humanity, but doesn't understand the way human relationships work, thereby putting Harry off from helping her explore. Harry asks to be reassigned from working with Seven, but Chakotay rather cruelly forces him to carry on.
I think some of the character inconsistencies in Seven's character are mostly due to the fact that her character is still in development. Perhaps the writers aren't so concerned with continuity at this early stage, but in retrospect, she seems simultaneously unconcerned and unaware of her new humanity and frightened that she is becoming weak.
Seven of Nine experiences her first acknowledgment that she has become weak when she slices her hand open while working with Harry. Harry is concerned that she feels vulnerable, but I'm not convinced. She seems to get over these little things pretty quickly in the early days. He tries to woo her while they work, but instead of exploring a budding romance, he learns that she considers beauty and comfort irrelevant, and is treated to her diagnosis of his condition: she figures he is in love with her and wants to copulate and then demands he take off his clothes. She's game to exploring her humanity, but doesn't understand the way human relationships work, thereby putting Harry off from helping her explore. Harry asks to be reassigned from working with Seven, but Chakotay rather cruelly forces him to carry on.
I think some of the character inconsistencies in Seven's character are mostly due to the fact that her character is still in development. Perhaps the writers aren't so concerned with continuity at this early stage, but in retrospect, she seems simultaneously unconcerned and unaware of her new humanity and frightened that she is becoming weak.
17 September 1997
Day of Honor
Seven begins her life on Voyager with a subdued request. She asks Chakotay for a duty assignment in engineering in a low, soft, almost meek voice. Chakotay agrees, and B'Elanna Torres, the chief Engineer is not happy about it. Thus begins their rocky relationship.
Janeway asks Seven of Nine how she would like to be addressed, offering her her given name, Annika Hansen. Seven of Nine responds with a modicum of concern, saying that she has been Seven of Nine for as long as she can remember. Janeway concedes by offering to call her just "Seven" which, as you can see, I have already begun doing, and it was likely an unnecessary scene to add, as it would seem like a natural transition. Seven deems the designation "imprecise but acceptable." She seems to be getting some of her Borg arrogance back.
B'Elanna makes no secret that she does like Seven from the very beginning. As they are working together in Engineering, Voyager encounters a ship that needs their assistance. Most of their resources and people were destroyed by the Borg. B'Elanna asks Seven in a hostile tone whether she feels any guilt for the billions of lives she helped destroy. Seven evaluates the question and responds with a decisive "no." She senses the friction, however, and excuses herself to go wait in her alcove until she is needed.
Later in the episode she shows herself to be practically immune to the way others treat her, with disdain, disgust, anger, and even fear: she still perceives the world like a Borg drone, although she does admit to Janeway she is finding it difficult to integrate into Voyager's crew. She even offers to give herself up to the aliens when they become hostile and are holding Voyagers warp core hostage, but Janeway begins her long crusade of trying to integrate Seven into the family by refusing to let her go. Later, Seven single handedly saves the day by using her knowledge to help make the damaged alien ship self-sufficient, and Janeway very cheesily lauds her for her first "unexpected act of kindness."
*Costume Update* In this episode, Seven of Nine wears a shiny silver suit with raglan-type sleeves and a mock-turtle neck.
Janeway asks Seven of Nine how she would like to be addressed, offering her her given name, Annika Hansen. Seven of Nine responds with a modicum of concern, saying that she has been Seven of Nine for as long as she can remember. Janeway concedes by offering to call her just "Seven" which, as you can see, I have already begun doing, and it was likely an unnecessary scene to add, as it would seem like a natural transition. Seven deems the designation "imprecise but acceptable." She seems to be getting some of her Borg arrogance back.
B'Elanna makes no secret that she does like Seven from the very beginning. As they are working together in Engineering, Voyager encounters a ship that needs their assistance. Most of their resources and people were destroyed by the Borg. B'Elanna asks Seven in a hostile tone whether she feels any guilt for the billions of lives she helped destroy. Seven evaluates the question and responds with a decisive "no." She senses the friction, however, and excuses herself to go wait in her alcove until she is needed.
Later in the episode she shows herself to be practically immune to the way others treat her, with disdain, disgust, anger, and even fear: she still perceives the world like a Borg drone, although she does admit to Janeway she is finding it difficult to integrate into Voyager's crew. She even offers to give herself up to the aliens when they become hostile and are holding Voyagers warp core hostage, but Janeway begins her long crusade of trying to integrate Seven into the family by refusing to let her go. Later, Seven single handedly saves the day by using her knowledge to help make the damaged alien ship self-sufficient, and Janeway very cheesily lauds her for her first "unexpected act of kindness."
*Costume Update* In this episode, Seven of Nine wears a shiny silver suit with raglan-type sleeves and a mock-turtle neck.
10 September 1997
The Gift
The Gift
The episode The Gift comes immediately after the conclusion of Scorpion, Part II. Janeway and the Doctor make the difficult decision to operate on Seven of Nine in order to save her life by removing her Borg implants, despite the fact they strongly suspect she will not be pleased to become human again. They were right. She is disdainful of the inefficient way that Voyager operates.
At the same time, Kes begins to transform into some higher being, which causes major problems with the ship when she begins to break down her surroundings beyond the sub-atomic level. As the Captain says, "I've got an Ocampa who wants to become something more and a Borg who's afraid of becoming something less."
Seven, after having many many temper tantrums about feeling alone, small, and weak separated from the collective, and after attacking Ensign Harry Kim and contacting the collective, has been temporarily subdued. 83% of her Borg implants are removed and she begins to accept the inevitability of her situation once we (finally!) lose Kes at the end of the episode when she hurls the ship about 9,000 light years safely away from the Borg, and away from herself. Seven tentatively thanks Janeway and the Doctor for their efforts and pronounces her new, extremely form-fitting suit to be "sufficient." A note on the suit: although the costume designer admits that the whole point of Seven and her suit was to sex up the flailing Star Trek series, the form fitting design can almost be justified if we all just pretend it was made that way to help heal her skin after all the implant removal.
The episode The Gift comes immediately after the conclusion of Scorpion, Part II. Janeway and the Doctor make the difficult decision to operate on Seven of Nine in order to save her life by removing her Borg implants, despite the fact they strongly suspect she will not be pleased to become human again. They were right. She is disdainful of the inefficient way that Voyager operates.
At the same time, Kes begins to transform into some higher being, which causes major problems with the ship when she begins to break down her surroundings beyond the sub-atomic level. As the Captain says, "I've got an Ocampa who wants to become something more and a Borg who's afraid of becoming something less."
Seven, after having many many temper tantrums about feeling alone, small, and weak separated from the collective, and after attacking Ensign Harry Kim and contacting the collective, has been temporarily subdued. 83% of her Borg implants are removed and she begins to accept the inevitability of her situation once we (finally!) lose Kes at the end of the episode when she hurls the ship about 9,000 light years safely away from the Borg, and away from herself. Seven tentatively thanks Janeway and the Doctor for their efforts and pronounces her new, extremely form-fitting suit to be "sufficient." A note on the suit: although the costume designer admits that the whole point of Seven and her suit was to sex up the flailing Star Trek series, the form fitting design can almost be justified if we all just pretend it was made that way to help heal her skin after all the implant removal.
03 September 1997
Seven of Nine
I'm going to go ahead and unabashedly geek out for a bit. I love Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager. She's one of the most interesting token "outsider" characters that Star Trek has come up with. Don't get me wrong, I love Data, but Seven actually has emotions. Not to mention she's way more hot. So I've always wanted to be able to read about her evolution, but nobody has geeked out enough to chronicle it. That's where I come in.
Scorpion
Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of unimatrix 01, is introduced to us at the beginning of Season 4 of Star Trek: Voyager in the continuation of the last episode from Season 3, in a two-part episode titled Scorpion, Parts I and II. She is the Borg drone assigned to act as a liaison between the individually minded crew of Voyager and the rest of the Borg collective when they forge a temporary alliance to fight Species 8472. She manages to stay in cargo bay 2 when Chakotay orders it decompressed because the Borg are trying to assimilate Voyager after their alliance has ended. She is eventually severed from the collective and incapacitated, and Janeway decides to keep her on board, since her human physiology is reasserting itself, and she would die without medical treatment; and they obviously don't want to wander back to Borg space to take her back. Thus begins season 4. As a Borg drone she speaks in the third person: "We are Borg." She also lets the crew know that the Borg, and therefore herself, consider Star Fleet tactics to be inefficient and divisive. She comes off as rude, although that could just be the standard Borg efficiency--after all, there is no time for emotions.
Scorpion
Seven of Nine, tertiary adjunct of unimatrix 01, is introduced to us at the beginning of Season 4 of Star Trek: Voyager in the continuation of the last episode from Season 3, in a two-part episode titled Scorpion, Parts I and II. She is the Borg drone assigned to act as a liaison between the individually minded crew of Voyager and the rest of the Borg collective when they forge a temporary alliance to fight Species 8472. She manages to stay in cargo bay 2 when Chakotay orders it decompressed because the Borg are trying to assimilate Voyager after their alliance has ended. She is eventually severed from the collective and incapacitated, and Janeway decides to keep her on board, since her human physiology is reasserting itself, and she would die without medical treatment; and they obviously don't want to wander back to Borg space to take her back. Thus begins season 4. As a Borg drone she speaks in the third person: "We are Borg." She also lets the crew know that the Borg, and therefore herself, consider Star Fleet tactics to be inefficient and divisive. She comes off as rude, although that could just be the standard Borg efficiency--after all, there is no time for emotions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)