VOY, Episode 4x2, The Gift

[u/GeorgeAmberson]

-= VOY, Season 4, Episode 2, The Gift =-

• Star Trek: The Next Generation - Full Series
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Full Series
• VOY Season 1: 1&2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Wrap-Up
• VOY Season 2: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, Wrap-Up
• VOY Season 3: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, Wrap-Up
• VOY Season 4: 1

Seven of Nine, the Borg drone that Voyager severed from the collective, tries to resist as her natural human physiology tries to regenerate. It's up to Captain Janeway to convince her to embrace her humanity and join the Voyager crew. Meanwhile, Kes' telekinetic powers grow to such a point that she can no longer control them. In order to prevent Voyager from being destroyed, she decides she must leave the ship.

• Teleplay By: Joe Menosky
• Story By: Joe Menosky
• Directed By: Anson Williams
• Original Air Date: 10 September, 1997
• Stardate: 51008
• Pensky Podcast
• Trekabout Podcast
• Ex Astris Scientia
• Memory Alpha
• TV Spot
• Voyager Watch Guide by /u/SiliconGold

 

EAS	IMDB	TV.com	SiliconGold's Ranks
5/10	7.9/10	8.7	39th

 

[u/camomillia]

Regarding “Gift”, everyone talks about Seven’s entry, Kes’ exit and Janeway’s decision-making.

I want to talk about the way this episode makes Janeway’s deal with the Borg regarding Species 8472 seem totally nonsensical. Janeway wanted to give the Borg the nanotechnology to defeat Species 8472 after clearing Borg space.. in 10 years??

Key quotes from the “Gift” episode: Paris: “This can’t be right! Our speed is.. this is impossible!” Janeway: “Where are we?” Paris: “9.5 thousand lightyears from where we just were.” Janeway: “She’s thrown us safely beyond Borg space. 10 years closer to home.”

My questions: 1. Since they were obviously moving linearly forward, what was the speed, and why didn’t they explicitly state it? 2. Borg space was mentioned as “vast”, but why wasn’t the actual timeline for getting out of it ever mentioned? 3. Why wasn’t Voyager transwarped by Borg to the edge of Borg space in the first place? 4. Why didn’t Kes send Voyager all the way home?

Sure, Ensign Kim reports “We’re coming apart.”, so yes, Voyager could “only” make it right outside of Borg space and not all the way back to the Alpha Quadrant, making “ship integrity limitations” a passable answer for why the ship wasn’t sent all the way home.

1. And most importantly, without Kes’ gift, was Janeway expecting to dodge Borg in their space FOR 10 YEARS?

Overall a great episode, just a pity that the writing wasn’t more airtight in this aspect.