Memory Alpha

Infinite Regress (episode)

  • View history
  • 1.2 Act One
  • 1.3 Act Two
  • 1.4 Act Three
  • 1.5 Act Four
  • 1.6 Act Five
  • 2 Log entries
  • 3 Memorable quotes
  • 4.1 Story and script
  • 4.2 Cast and characters
  • 4.3 Production
  • 4.4 Reception
  • 4.5 Continuity
  • 4.6 Video and DVD releases
  • 5.1 Starring
  • 5.2 Also starring
  • 5.3 Guest stars
  • 5.4 Co-stars
  • 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
  • 5.6 Stunt double
  • 5.7 Stand-ins
  • 5.8 References
  • 5.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Seven of Nine samples Kelaran wildebeest

Seven eats like a Klingon.

Late night aboard USS Voyager . In Cargo Bay 2 , Seven of Nine regenerates in her alcove . The lights are low. All is quiet.

But then a loud, echoing cacophony of voices is heard. Seven awakens, the computer warning her that her regeneration cycle is incomplete. She glances about suspiciously and steps down from the alcove, ignoring the computer's warning that the regeneration cycle is incomplete. She stalks about the room in a manner most unlike her.

She leaves, careful not to let anyone see her, and makes her way to the mess hall . There she inspects and tosses aside bowls of fruit and vegetables on the kitchen counter, with an angry growl. Going further in, she suddenly smells something that interests her, coming from the fridge. She throws the doors open and rummages around inside, making a mess on the floor, until she finds it: a large chunk of meat, which she immediately tears into. Seven's reflection on the inside of one of the doors is that of a Klingon male, ravenously tearing into the meat.

Act One [ ]

The next morning, Ensign Kim presents a report on a strange detection on the overnight sensor logs: a huge debris field, 120 km wide. Present is the senior staff : Captain Kathryn Janeway , Commander Chakotay , Lieutenant Commander Tuvok , Lt. Torres , Neelix … and Seven of Nine. Kim reports that he found a residual warp signature in the field. Seven is able to identify the field as the remains of a Borg cube . Chakotay inquires as to what destroyed it. Seven responds only a close-up scan would yield the answer. Kim says they will soon have the chance: the field is right ahead.

But Janeway has no intention of allowing curiosity to be satisfied here, as the Borg are known to investigate and salvage their vessels should they be damaged or destroyed. She orders a course alteration to steer clear of the field. The meeting is ended and all rise to leave.

Then Neelix informs them of the raid on the kitchen that occurred the night before, the latest in several such incidents. He names this time's loss, the meat Seven ate — a leg of Kelaran wildebeest he'd prepared for an Ensign 's birthday. He asks and obtains Janeway's permission to replicate locks for the fridge doors, as Tuvok has been unable to find any suspects to the crime. The meeting ends.

Naomi-caught-spying

Busted… Seven catches Naomi Wildman spying on her.

As Seven walks through the corridors, she is followed by young Naomi Wildman . The child is careful not to be seen, and Seven is seemingly unaware of her. Seven stops at a Jefferies tube , opens it, and takes some readings while Naomi hides, watching her and making notes on a PADD . Seven finishes and continues on round a corner.

Naomi steps out and rounds the same corner, her attention on her PADD… and runs into Seven, standing waiting for her. She was entirely aware of Naomi's presence. She tells the child to state her intentions. Naomi can only stutter, with her mouth opening and closing. Seven wheels round and continues on, intending to report her to the Captain.

Naomi hurries to catch up to her and begs her not to; she was just observing her. She explains that she is studying Seven, who is the model of efficiency; Seven tries to be perfect, even after leaving the Borg. Naomi explains that she hopes emulating Seven's dedication to her job will impress Captain Janeway enough to make her the Captain's Bridge Assistant . Seven reminds her that there is no such position. Naomi explains that there isn't yet , which is why she is studying to be efficient. Seven is impressed, telling Naomi that the rest of the crew could benefit for her goal, but tells the child she is too underdeveloped to follow her example. She starts to make a suggestion when she suddenly stops walking as the crowd of voices is heard again.

Suddenly, Seven's entire demeanor changes. A huge, sunny smile suffuses her face as she turns to Naomi and greets her brightly, as if she has never met her. Naomi, slightly confused but not alarmed, returns the greeting. Seven complains of boredom and suggests they go swimming . However, Naomi responds that she is not allowed to without her mother . Seven pouts disappointedly, acting exactly like a child of Naomi's age. But then she brightens and suggests kadis-kot , a game which Naomi loves. Naomi happily agrees and the go running off together, giggling.

In the Wildman quarters , Seven and Naomi play kadis-kot. Seven wins, impressing Naomi. But as she resets the board, both their reflections are seen in its surface. Naomi's is normal, but Seven's is that of a little girl, like with the fridge door. They continue to play and talk. Then Lt. Torres hails Seven from Engineering , asking her to come there. Seven acts as if she does not hear it. Torres repeats the hail, annoyed at Seven's failure to respond.

Suddenly Seven looks as if she has woken up in a place she has no idea how she got to. She responds to the hail and, in her normal demeanor, asks Naomi uncertainly what she, Seven, is doing there. Her reflection in the board is again her. Naomi responds with the obvious: playing kadis-kot. Seven shakily rises and leaves for Engineering, ignoring Naomi's questioning look. Naomi, again confused but not alarmed, starts packing up the board.

Neural interlink frequency

The neural interlink frequency found by Lt. Torres

In Engineering, Torres shows Seven a subspace frequency she has detected; it looks Borg , and she wants Seven to confirm if it is. Seven does so, and names it as a Borg neural interlink frequency , used to integrate the minds of Borg drones together. She tries to find its origin. Torres comments on her unsettled appearance. Seven confirms that she is not feeling well and tells Torres of her memory lapse. Torres suggests she go to the Sickbay but Seven refuses, intent on tracking the source of the signal as the lapse's possible cause.

She is going to another console when the voices are again heard. Her reflection this time as she turns back to face Torres is that of the Klingon man. She introduces herself to the dumbfounded Torres as the ' son of K'Vok ', in a deep, masculine voice. She walks around Torres as if checking her out sexually.

Seven Torres Love Bite

Seven of Nine tries to mate with Torres.

Torres, thinking that this is perhaps a joke that Tom Paris has put her up to, is not amused. She goes to another console and starts working, her back to Seven. Seven slinks up behind her, sniffing her in much the same way a Klingon man sniffs a Klingon woman in mating . " Come, warrior. Let me look at you, " she says huskily. Torres angrily warns her to stop.

Suddenly Seven seizes her and bites her cheek, another Klingon mating practice. Yelping in pain, Torres throws her off and retreats to a corner. She urgently hails Security . Seven cages her, voicing her approval of her as a potential mate. Torres grabs a heavy object and warns Seven to keep away. Seven slaps her chest, approving of how Torres wants to 'prove herself in battle', as two Security officers enter. They move to collar Seven, but she bulldozes past them and dashes out the doors.

On the bridge , Captain Janeway emerges from her ready room and orders a report on what is happening. Chakotay reports Seven's attack on Torres and reports her position, provided by the command console. Janeway orders Ensign Kim to deploy force fields to contain her. " Don't tell me those two have actually come to blows?, " she asks Chakotay.

Seven as a frightened child

" Did I do something bad? "

Meanwhile, a security officer is thrown hard into a corner. He stays down, unconscious, courtesy Seven. She picks up his phaser and tries to run. But she cannot leave the immediate area because of the force fields that now block her way. Tuvok closes on her position with another of his officers, both armed with phasers.

They find her crouched against a wall near to the downed officer, like a frightened child. In a childlike, scared voice, she tells Tuvok, " Someone's hurt and he needs help, " referring to the downed officer. She fearfully asks Tuvok if she " did something bad ".

Tuvok realizes this personality is not Seven. " Who are you? " he asks. She identifies herself as ' Maryl '. Tuvok has the computer drop the force field separating them. He and the officer carefully enter the space, and he has her give him the phaser.

Then the voices are again heard. As he signals the officer to assist the downed one, Seven rises and, in a Vulcan -like manner, comments that the logical action would be to take the officer to the infirmary. She now identifies herself as Subaltern Lorot of the Vulcan High Command and asks how she may be of assistance; Tuvok asks her to accompany him to Sickbay. She agrees, and walks ahead of him.

But then the voices are again heard. She stops dead, her manner becoming dark and angry; the Klingon is back. She curses and threatens him, and he orders her to keep moving, his phaser on her. She wheels and lunges at him with an angry bellow. He stuns her and collects her as she falls unconscious.

Act Two [ ]

Seven awakens in the Sickbay two hours later, with a cortical inhibitor on her neck. Captain Janeway and Tuvok are present, while The Doctor examines her. Seven asks Janeway nervously why she, Seven, is there. Janeway explains. The voices are again heard, but this time, Seven speaks of them; it is now clear that only she can hear them.

On The Doctor's instruction, she describes them as angry and chaotic. A nightmarish montage is seen, of Humans and aliens in Borg alcoves, one after the other, screaming in terror. They get louder and louder, until Seven suddenly sits up in pain and fear, gasping, " Too many voices! " The Doctor adjusts the inhibitor, which causes the voices to fade and cease. Seven is grateful. But she is very shaken to hear of her activities, which she remembers nothing of: playing with Naomi Wildman and trying to mate with Lt. Torres.

The Doctor calls them all to a console to show them Seven's neural pattern . He explains that he has found 13 other neural patterns in her brain along with her own. They belong to individuals assimilated by the Borg during her 18 years as a drone. They, like the neural patterns of all who are assimilated, are incorporated into the Borg hive mind , stored in the cortical implants of all drones, including Seven, when she was one. They are supposed to be dormant. But they are now very active in Seven and are manifesting themselves randomly, causing Seven to randomly mentally become that person.

Seven informs them of the Borg interlink frequency Torres had found. Tuvok further informs them of its apparent origin: the remains of the Borg cube they had found. Janeway suggests getting far away from it quickly, getting out of range. But Seven responds that this is impossible; the signal permeates subspace. The only way to stop it is to shut it off. Janeway orders Tuvok to have the ship return to the field, and orders The Doctor to keep an eye on Seven.

Seven of Nine tells Neelix to go away

Seven tells Neelix to buzz off… politely but firmly.

Seven and The Doctor head for Seven's Cargo Bay 2 quarters. On the way, The Doctor inquires if any Borg drone ever experienced anything like this. Seven responds that the Collective would immediately destroy any such drone; it has no tolerance for 'imperfection'.

As they walk, they are joined by Neelix. The Talaxian says he's heard she is not well, and has come to cheer her up. Seven's entire body language and demeanor make it very clear that she wants him to go away, but he persists, offering to finish assignments for her, prepare for her one of his 'wonderful medicinal teas', or prepare one her favorite nutritional supplements.

Finally Seven tells him in no uncertain terms: " Your concern has been noted. The Doctor will inform you when I am functional again. " He does not take it personally and withdraws, but not before giving her a gift from Naomi: a crayon drawing she has made. This touches Seven and she tells him to convey her thanks to the child.

In Cargo Bay 2, The Doctor checks Seven's regeneration logs. He finds several interruptions which, along with recorded spikes in her brain activity , finally reveal her as the kitchen's night raider; she did it while sleepwalking under the influence of one of the foreign neural patterns.

Seven then finds a data file she does not remember making. She plays it. It is an audio recording of her making a log entry as if she was a young Starfleet officer on her first starship assignment, the USS Tombaugh , under Captain Blackwood . Seven tells The Doctor that the Borg assimilated that ship and its crew 13 years prior. Seven had apparently personally assimilated this officer; she calls her one of her victims. Another data file is found, this one a recording of Seven speaking as alien female dictating a message to her romantic partner.

The Doctor inquires who she was. This is extremely uncomfortable for Seven, confronted with stark reminders of the atrocities she committed as a drone. These were people with lives, families, before she condemned them to living death as Borg abominations. She all but runs out of the room, angrily and ashamedly telling The Doctor she does not remember the names of each of the thousands she helped assimilate. The Doctor stops her and gently tells her this is only a bump in the road back to her Humanity; they'll get past it.

Then Chakotay hails her from the bridge; they have arrived at the debris field. She acknowledges the First Officer and heads for the bridge.

VinculumViewscreenVoyager

The vinculum, magnified on Voyager 's viewscreen.

On the bridge, Tuvok and Lt. Paris inform Janeway and Chakotay that no drones have survived and no Borg ships are about. Ensign Kim finds the source of the Borg frequency. Janeway orders it shown on the viewscreen , magnified.

A strange object is seen, parts of it glowing with Borg-green light. Seven identifies it as a Borg vinculum ; a central processor found in every Borg ship, which interconnects the minds of drones and purges all individuality from them. This one has apparently identified her as an errant drone and is trying to reintegrate her into the collective. But the commands it is sending her Borg implants are erratic and conflicted. She asks Janeway's permission to beam it aboard to study it and shut it down.

Janeway, however is very loath to do this; it is the heart of a Borg cube; she would much prefer not to have it on the ship. But Seven insists that to try to disable it remotely could permanently damage her systems. Janeway thinks it over, then reluctantly agrees. She orders Tuvok to beam it to Engineering.

But she tells him to lock it down under a level 10 force field and constant surveillance; it is to put back into space the moment it poses a threat. To Paris, she issues an order to remove them from the area at warp 9 as soon as the vinculum is aboard. She quietly assures Seven she will try to help her any way she can, but the safety of the crew comes first; they have not had the best of luck with the Borg. Seven responds that she has not either.

Synthetic pathogen

The synthetic pathogen.

With the vinculum aboard, Paris engages warp 9 as per Janeway's order. Voyager is seen flying past streaking lines of stars at very high speed. Meanwhile, Seven and The Doctor enter Engineering to study the vinculum. Her proximity to it increases its signal's effect on her, so that she hears the voices despite her cortical inhibitor. The Doctor adjusts it to compensate. Lt. Torres comes down from room's upper level, but stops in her tracks when she sees Seven and eyes her warily. Seven assures her the 'son of K'Vok' will not be joining them.

Reassured, Torres joins her and The Doctor at a console. Seven attempts to hack into the vinculum, but, in the process, finds what appears to be a virus in it. Amazed, The Doctor identifies it as a synthetic pathogen designed to attack technology as a normal virus attacks living cells. Seven calls up log information contained in the vinculum; it shows that the cube had assimilated a shuttlecraft 3 days prior. They were the cube's last contact. Logically, then, the vinculum's infection had come from them; as The Doctor puts it, they were the Typhoid Mary .

Act Three [ ]

Torrot in Seven

Seven wants to buy the Astrometrics viewscreen.

Later, in Astrometrics, Seven briefs The Doctor and Captain Janeway about the aliens whose assimilation infected the cube's vinculum with the pathogen. They were members of a species the Borg designated 6339 . This race's first contact with the Borg had occurred 4 years prior. Since that time, nearly the entire species was assimilated; over 11 billion people. The Collective had detected one of their last surviving shuttlecraft and a cube intercepted it.

The Doctor and Seven believe the aliens aboard carried the virus in their bodies. It infected the vinculum upon their assimilation. Seven muses that the drones aboard undoubtedly experienced the same effect the vinculum's signal is having on her, leading them to eventually destroy themselves and the cube. Janeway decides that they should try to find other members of the species in the hope they could help Seven. She orders Seven to start scanning for them on long-range scanners.

Seven starts saying she already has, but then the voices are heard. She stares at the viewscreen and, in the manner of a Ferengi , waddles up to it, comments exaggeratedly on its size and offers Janeway 20 latinum bars for it. She introduces herself as DaiMon Torrot , a Ferengi title and name. Janeway and The Doctor know they need to get her back to the Sickbay immediately. The Doctor convinces her to accompany them by telling her she has the Ankaran flu ; treatment is free of charge. She goes with them, loudly complaining about how the Ferengi Health Commission is trying to revoke her trading license.

In the Sickbay, Janeway and The Doctor manage to get Seven near a bio-bed so that she can be contained by a force field. As she loudly protests being "kidnapped", The Doctor concernedly tells Janeway the inhibitor is no longer restraining the foreign neural patterns. Seven's own neural pattern is destabilizing; it could soon be lost, taking Seven's sanity with it.

Then Seven gets their attention again when her voice suddenly changes to that of a pleading, frightened woman. She asks Janeway for help in finding her son, Lt. Gregory Bergan . He was serving on the USS Melbourne , one of the fleet of 39 starships that was obliterated by a single Borg cube in the Battle of Wolf 359 . She begs Janeway's help in trying to find him, saying that her own ship, a civilian transport, was caught in the battle and they had to leave in escape pods.

Of course, the fact that Seven is manifesting her neural pattern means that she was, in fact, captured and assimilated. Then the voices sound again and Seven returns to normal.

But the experience is beginning to break her spirit. She is anguished and very afraid; she does not know how much longer she can bear this. Janeway has the computer drop the force field. She goes to Seven's side and tells the former drone that her job is to hold on, even when she thinks she cannot, and leave the rest to her and the crew.

An hour later, Janeway returns to the bridge, worn out from dealing with Seven's multiple personalities. 12 personalities manifested themselves in that time; Seven's state became so bad she had to be sedated. Janeway confides in Chakotay her thoughts that Chakotay had been right; perhaps bringing Seven back to Humanity is indeed impossible; her Borg part would always cause problems and complications.

Chakotay assures her he no longer thinks this; he did not believe she would last a day, but here she is, still there after one year, a valued crew member. Torres then calls from Engineering; she and Tuvok have set up to begin taking the vinculum offline, and are ready to start. Janeway gives the go-ahead.

Seven in agony

Seven suffers terribly under the vinculum's influence.

Torres and Tuvok begin. At first all goes well; in the Sickbay, The Doctor reports that Seven's neural pattern is stabilizing. But then it goes horribly wrong. The vinculum, in the way of the Borg, adapts, its signal becoming even stronger. Seven's condition rapidly degenerates. The voices become deafening as the many foreign neural patterns clash with each other for dominance. Her mind begins to break down as she thrashes about in pain, screaming for help.

The Doctor frantically shouts at Torres and Tuvok to abort the procedure. Torres tries to change tactics to stop the vinculum's adaptation, but Tuvok stops her, seeing that it would not succeed. He informs Janeway of their failure. Janeway commands The Doctor to report on Seven's condition.

Seven is seen lying unconscious. A somber Doctor tells Janeway her neural pattern is completely gone; the others have fully taken over. She is lost. Janeway stares forward in horror.

Act Four [ ]

In the briefing room, The Doctor and Tuvok give their bleak reports to Janeway personally about Seven and the vinculum. The Doctor agitatedly reports that he has stabilized her brain functions, but it is no longer Seven of Nine who lies in the Sickbay. The foreign neural patterns now flit through rapid-fire like a strobe light. A new one manifests itself every few seconds; she can no longer even finish a sentence now before another takes over. It is severely straining her brain's cerebral cortex; if the vinculum is not soon deactivated they may never recover her. He has tried every medical treatment in his database, and has run out of options.

Tuvok then suggests an alternative; a mind meld . The Doctor is horrified at the suggestion. Tuvok elucidates: Seven's own neural pattern is in chaos, her sense of self is drowning, under the sea of the other patterns. He will attempt to enter her mind, reach her true self, and bring it back to the surface. The Doctor insists that this is too risky, and Janeway herself wonders if he will be able to deal with the multitude of personalities in Seven's mind without losing his own.

Tuvok calmly responds that the risk is his to take. She considers silently, and then agrees. The Doctor tries to persuade her otherwise, but she reminds him of what he himself said: they are out of options. She grants Tuvok the 2 hours he requests to meditate in preparation. Chakotay calls her from the bridge; they have found a Species 6339 ship. She goes onto the bridge, while The Doctor returns to the Sickbay.

On the bridge, Ensign Kim reports that the aliens' vessel is heavily armed: 22 phaser cannons on its aft section alone. Janeway has him hail them. She identifies herself and Voyager , but as she explains the reason for contacting them, one cuts her off, demanding to know if she has the vinculum. She responds affirmatively. " You've made a terrible mistake, Captain. " he tells her.

Ven

Ven, the captain of the 6339 ship.

Janeway has the two aliens beamed over. She speaks with them in Engineering, with Chakotay and Torres. The one she spoke to, Ven , explains that the virus in the vinculum is in fact a weapon. Ever since the Borg decimated their world they had been seeking ways of retaliation. 13 of their surviving people agreed to allow themselves to be infected with the virus and then be assimilated for the virus to infect the vinculum. He angrily complains that they had the opportunity to infect dozens, even hundreds of Borg vessels until Voyager interfered, and demands an explanation.

Janeway and Chakotay explain Seven's situation, and Janeway voices her hope they could help treat her. Ven responds that the virus was created to destroy Borg; a treatment was never considered; Seven will not survive. But he insists that the vinculum must be returned to the debris field before any other Borg ships come to investigate, or the chance to spread the virus to other Borg ships will be lost, and the sacrifice made by those 13 of his people would be in vain.

Janeway agrees to return it, but only after a way is found to counteract its effects to save Seven's life. She has Lt. Torres begin to explain a plan she has formulated to do that, but Ven cuts her off impatiently, saying they have no time for this, and demands the vinculum. Janeway refuses, saying she cannot return it to them yet; Seven must be saved first.

Ven pointedly reminds her of the firepower power of their vessel. Janeway responds that they could severely damage Voyager , but they would also be damaging the vinculum; are they willing to risk this? But Ven dangerously counters that the device already survived the destruction of one vessel, far larger and more powerful than Voyager. Janeway and her officers stare at him, uncomfortably aware of how right he is.

In the Sickbay, The Doctor has managed to temporarily reach Seven's neural pattern, but it will not be long before it is lost again. Seven awakens, restrained on a bio-bed. The Doctor explains that some of her recent 'guests' were violent. She asks about the vinculum. He responds that they have not been able to shut it down as it keeps adapting. The former drone understands this perfectly.

The voices sound again. Seven fearfully informs him. Knowing he is about to lose her again, The Doctor fulfills his duty of informing her about Tuvok's plan, as a possible treatment option. Seven asks about the risks to Tuvok. The Doctor tells her that his mind could be destroyed, but Tuvok believes the likelihood of that is low. Desperate, Seven agrees to the procedure. She thanks The Doctor for his patience asks him to convey her thanks to the crew for their help, whether she survives or not.

Then the voices rise to a deafening level. She convulses, agonized, straining against the restraints, her screams heart-breaking. The Doctor quickly sedates her.

Tuvok ready

Tuvok is ready to help;

Tuvok, in his quarters, completes his meditation. His eyes open. The intensity of focus in them is as a Borg cutting beam . He rises and heads for the Sickbay.

Ven and his party return to their ship. Janeway arrives back on the bridge, where Lt. Paris reports that the aliens are charging weapons and coming in for an attack run. Grimly, Janeway orders shields raised.

Tuvok in Seven's madness

Tuvok in the nightmare of Seven's degenerating mind.

Tuvok arrives at the Sickbay. The ship shudders under the aliens' fire. The Doctor attaches a cortical inhibitor to his neck and informs him of his intention to break the meld at the first sign of trouble. But Tuvok tells him not to interfere; there will undoubtedly be many 'signs of trouble', and The Doctor must have faith in his ability to endure them. The Doctor uneasily goes to a console to monitor the procedure. Tuvok has the computer drop the force field between him and Seven, and approaches her.

She is again awake, but there is no trace of her, only the foreign personalities; she begs for release as a child, curses and threatens him as a Klingon and offers to buy from him as a Ferengi. He ignores them all as he positions his hand on her head to initiate the meld and begins repeating the meld mantra: " My mind to your mind; your thoughts to my thoughts. " More personalities flash through; a Vulcan calmly telling him he will be unsuccessful; a woman screaming frantically that the Borg are assimilating the ship; a terrified child crying for her mother. Tuvok stays focused. Finally, he forms the mental bond.

But it is as a nightmare. He finds himself in a dark, surreal world looking like the inside of a Borg cube. Hundreds of people, Human and alien, young and old, Starfleet and other, press and pull at him, screaming, shouting, violent.

He begins searching the chaos for Seven.

Act Five [ ]

The alien vessel hammers Voyager . The difference in power is evident; they are untouched, but Voyager 's shields are quickly degrading under their assault. The targeting systems are off-line, as are main thrusters. Janeway orders all available power to the shields and has Chakotay, at the Tactical station filling in for Tuvok, manually target their weapons systems. In Engineering, Lt. Torres, having instituted her plan to prevent the vinculum from adapting, hails the bridge and informs Janeway of success; power is being drained from it; it should be off in the next 60 seconds. In the Sickbay, Tuvok wrestles with the personalities of the assimilated in Seven's mind. He hears Seven and sees her some distance from him, being assaulted as he is.

He tries to reach her, but cannot. They continue calling out to each other, as her body thrashes about under the restraints on the bio-bed. Tuvok maintains his hand on her face, breathing hard, eyes shut tight, body swaying slightly. In Engineering, in contact with the bridge, Torres calls out the vinculum's dropping power level percentage from her console.

But then the ship is shaken and sparks fly. She informs Janeway that the emitters of the dampening field that is draining the vinculum's power have gone offline; the vinculum starts to power up again. Janeway responds that they took a hit to the power grid , and has Chakotay switch to emergency power. The emitters start working again. Torres resumes her call-out of the vinculum's dropping level percentage. Its Borg-green lights, which had glowed steadily, begin to flicker, until finally they go dark, as its power level finally drops to zero.

It is done.

In Seven's mind, the violent throngs disappear. Tuvok runs to Seven. She was holding onto a wall to keep herself from getting taken away. But when she feels Tuvok's hands on her shoulders and sees they are now alone, she lets go. They look around, exhausted. Tuvok breaks the meld, nearly collapsing with exhaustion, his face filmed with sweat. Seven opens her eyes, once again alone in her mind. The Doctor hails the bridge and informs Janeway. Janeway has Ensign Kim try to hail the aliens to tell them they are surrendering the vinculum but they do not respond. She angrily orders Chakotay to beam it into space. He does so. The aliens withdraw. She orders Paris to remove them from the area at warp 9.

Seven and Naomi

" Kadis-kot. Instruct me how to play. "

Seven, after her ordeal, regenerates for nearly a week to recover from the massive strain put on her Borg systems. On awakening, she is checked by The Doctor, with Janeway present. The Doctor happily confirms that she is fully recovered and fit to return to duty. Janeway asks about the other personalities; The Doctor responds that they have returned to their dormant state. Seven concernedly asks him for confirmation that they will not return. He pensively replies that, in actuality, since they are stored dormant in her cortical implants, they will, in fact, always be with her; she will simply not hear them. She knows this and accepts it.

She tells Janeway she is uncertain how to reciprocate to the crew for the risks they took to help her. Janeway smiles and suggests she can start by helping Lt.

NaomiPleased

" I will comply. "

Torres in Engineering recalibrate the warp plasma manifolds. Seven says she will join her shortly; there is someone she must see first, and then leaves. Janeway and The Doctor look at each other, wondering of whom she speaks.

Later, Seven and Naomi Wildman walk along a corridor. Seven gives her PADDs with information for her to study, such as star charts for the next three systems Voyager will pass through, and sociological data on 173 Delta Quadrant species. She instructs her that all of this information will be relevant to her as the Captain's Bridge Assistant. Naomi eagerly agrees to study it all. As they enter the turbolift , Seven gives her one more assignment: she wishes to participate in recreational activities, and wants Naomi to teach her one in particular. " Kadis-kot ". Seven tells her. " Instruct me how to play. " The words are a command. Her demeanor and tone make it a gentle request. Naomi happily agrees to comply.

Log entries [ ]

  • Seven of Nine, as an alternate personality.
  • " Captain's log , supplemental. Long range sensors have detected a vessel belonging to Species 6339 . We've set a course to intercept them in the hopes they can help us restore Seven of Nine . "
  • " Captain's log , Stardate 52356.2. After nearly a week of regeneration Seven of Nine has finally recovered from her ordeal. "

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Since Mister Tuvok has been unable to round up any suspects, I'd like to ask that stronger measures be taken. " " Perhaps an armed security detail. "

" Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman. State your intentions. "

(to Seven) " I have some wonderful medicinal teas, maybe I can prepare one for you! " " Talaxian homeopathy? I don't think we're quite that desperate yet. "

" We haven't had the best of luck with the Borg. " " Neither have I. "

" Captain, you can't actually be considering this Vulcan mumbo-jumbo! "

" Meet anyone interesting? "

" Don't worry Lieutenant, the son of K'vok will not be joining us. " " Glad to hear it. Does this qualify as our second date? " " Just think of me as your chaperon. "

" With all of these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you. "

" My! My, my, look at the size of that thing! The viewscreen! It's gotta the biggest I've ever seen. I'll give you twenty bars of latinum for it. " ( The Doctor to Janeway) " I think the inhibitor's gone offline. (To Seven) Would you come here, please?" "Be quiet! Can't you see I'm in the middle of a deal?!" (To Janeway) " Name your price… Captain…? " " Janeway. " " Daimon Torot." " You're Ferengi ?" " Of course I'm Ferengi! Is that some kind of insult about the size of my ears?! "

" This is an impressive ship, Captain. Galaxy class? " " Intrepid."

" Report. " " Seven of Nine attacked B'Elanna in Engineering. She's on deck nine, section 23. " " Force fields. Don't tell me those two have actually come to blows. "

" Lock onto the damn thing. Beam it into space. "

Background information [ ]

Story and script [ ].

  • The genesis of this episode concerned the personalities that the Borg Collective had assimilated, though the installment was to have originally featured one of these in particular. Explained producer Kenneth Biller , " The original idea of the episode was that Seven met one person who was trying to pull out of Seven the personality of some loved one who had been assimilated by the Borg. That seemed a little far-fetched, that you could dig out one specific personality out of somebody who was a Borg that had assimilated millions of people. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • This story idea was coupled with the concept of the Borg vinculum, which originated in a completely unrelated story idea that was thought up and pitched by Jimmy Diggs ; the suggested plot involved the discovery of a destroyed Borg vessel. Executive producer Brannon Braga was interested in using the concept of the vinculum but initially insisted that the story featuring it would be, in the words of supervising producer Joe Menosky , "a maddening tech story." ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • With the two story ideas combined, Robert Doherty wrote the installment's script , with guidance from Ken Biller. The latter writer commented, " My contribution to that episode, other than guiding Rob Doherty through the writing of the script, was to say that this would be a lot more interesting if something weird happens to Seven. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • Challenged with incorporating the technicalities of the vinculum into the script, Brannon Braga did much uncredited rewriting of the teleplay. " That vinculum ended up an albatross around [Brannon Braga's] neck, " Joe Menosky recalled. " Brannon paid the price for it, because he had to do a massive amount of rewriting. It was a very difficult script to get in shape. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • The scenes in which the Ferengi persona emerges from Seven of Nine represented four script pages and were written by Brannon Braga. ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 28)

Cast and characters [ ]

  • Largely because she was not entirely familiar with Star Trek , Seven of Nine actress Jeri Ryan struggled with this episode. " 'Infinite Regress' was a challenge on a lot of different levels, " admitted the actress. " It would have been a challenge anyway if you had two or three weeks to prepare for it. But I didn't. I had no research time […] It was tough. I was really doing it by the seat of my pants, I felt. " Ryan, who had never seen a Ferengi or full-blooded Klingon before, was given tapes to watch. " They were throwing tapes at me from episodes of DS9 that had Ferengis in them, so that I could at least watch how they move and how they talk, " she said. " They were throwing Klingon tapes at me, because really the only Klingon I had encountered was B'Elanna, and that doesn't count because she is only half-Klingon. " Ryan joked, " I was about ready to murder […] Brannon Braga for writing [so many] pages of Ferengi. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 28)
  • The difficulties inherent in Jeri Ryan's multi-faceted role here did not inhibit her enjoyment of performing in the episode. She especially found that transitioning her performance from the usually reserved character of Seven of Nine to "the complete opposite extreme" was "so much fun" and thought the episode ultimately "turned out pretty well." ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 28)

Production [ ]

  • The mind meld sequence in which Tuvok tries to rescue Seven of Nine from the assimilated personalities was almost entirely crafted using a variety of unusual camera lenses. The only element that involved visual effects was the large pit in the sequence. Director David Livingston said of the specific lenses used, " We brought in a 'squishy lens.' We used a 'mesmerizer,' which is an anamorphic lens in the front of a regular lens. When you rotate it you get weird spherical effects. We also used this 'pebble lens,' that director of photography Marvin Rush had. We incorporated them all and came up with weird and dramatic effects. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • Tim Russ found the production of the episode's mind meld sequence to be memorable. " That dream sequence was pretty amazing, some pretty remarkable stuff with the camera, so you get the images and the feeling for being in that situation, " Russ commented. " That was a lot of work. That was a hard week actually. We were shooting on that stage some pretty long days. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 39)

Reception [ ]

  • Ken Biller liked the final version of this episode. " I thought that was great, " he said, " a tour de force for Jeri Ryan. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • David Livingston was proud of the crazed mind meld sequence, which he referred to as "my favorite sequence that I have done for Voyager ." He also enthused, " I thought that was a really cool sequence. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 31, No. 11, p. 37)
  • After it had been used in this episode, the prop of the Borg vinculum was put on display at Star Trek: The Exhibition in Las Vegas. ( Star Trek Explorer , Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 6)

Continuity [ ]

  • Among Seven's personalities is a Krenim scientist , with whom Janeway (at one point) says she has been debating "the finer points of temporal physics." In the Season 4 two-parter " Year of Hell " and " Year of Hell, Part II ", the central antagonist is a Krenim military temporal scientist ( Annorax ).
  • In the mind meld sequence, a Hirogen is seen among the crowd of people. This could be seen as an error given that Seven was unable to identify them in " Message in a Bottle " and implies in " The Killing Game, Part II " that the Borg had not encountered them yet either, so it's unlikely one of her personalities would have been a member of that species. However, it's possible that the Borg had assimilated the Hirogen after Seven's liberation and that some of the figures seen were emanated from the vinculum.
  • Another continuity oddity is when Seven identifies the Ferengi as Species 180. All of the other Alpha Quadrant species had four-digit designations, and most of the Delta Quadrant species had three-digit numbers, suggesting the species designations were sequential in order of contact. The designation for Ferengi seems to contradict that.
  • Furthermore, one of the personalities is a Starfleet ensign from a ship Seven identifies as having been assimilated "13 years ago", dating the incident to 2362. This would appear to be at odds with " Q Who ", wherein the Borg are, according to Q , unaware of the Federation, or at least haven't encountered Starfleet ships out this far before.
  • On discovery of the pathogen in the vinculum, Torres says with incredulity, "an organism that attacks technology?" In fact, Torres has twice encountered just such a pathogen before on Voyager itself, when the bio-neural gel packs became infected in " Learning Curve " and in " Macrocosm ".
  • One of the species that swarm Seven is a bumpy skinned reptilian that first appeared as Venturi ( β ) in the video game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy .
  • The "TNG-style" uniforms from Star Trek: The Next Generation are seen in one of the flashbacks.
  • The events of this episode are used by Seven of Nine in the Star Trek: Picard episode " Dominion " to determine that the version of Tuvok to whom the USS Titan -A crew is speaking is actually a Changeling .

Video and DVD releases [ ]

  • UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 5.4, 24 May 1999 .
  • As part of the VOY Season 5 DVD collection.

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

  • Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway

Also starring [ ]

  • Robert Beltran as Chakotay
  • Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
  • Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
  • Ethan Phillips as Neelix
  • Robert Picardo as The Doctor
  • Tim Russ as Tuvok
  • Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
  • Garrett Wang as Harry Kim

Guest stars [ ]

  • Scarlett Pomers as Naomi Wildman
  • Neil Maffin as Ven

Co-stars [ ]

  • Erica Mer as Little Girl
  • Majel Barrett as Computer Voice

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

  • David Keith Anderson as Ashmore
  • David Brett as Voyager operations officer
  • Marvin De Baca as Patrick Gibson
  • Maria Dykstra as assimilated Bajoran deputy
  • Sylvester Foster as Species 6339 alien
  • Irving Lewis as Voyager security officer
  • Mark Major as assimilated Romulan
  • William Rizzo as Son of K'Vok
  • Brian Simpson as Voyager security officer
  • Boylan (voice)
  • Assimilated Bajoran
  • Assimilated Cardassian
  • Assimilated "cheater species"
  • Assimilated Hirogen
  • Assimilated Klingon
  • Assimilated Rasiinian
  • Assimilated Reptohumanoid
  • Assimilated Shivolian
  • Assimilated tailhead
  • Assimilated Viidian

Stunt double [ ]

  • Leslie Hoffman as stunt double for Roxann Dawson (unfilmed)

Stand-ins [ ]

  • Brita Nowak – stand-in for Jeri Ryan
  • Stuart Wong – stand-in for Garrett Wang

References [ ]

47 ; 2362 ; 2371 ; ability ; active duty ; Alpha Quadrant ; Ankaran flu ; armed security detail ; assimilation ; asteroid belt ; asteroid cluster ; Battle of Wolf 359 ; bearing ; Bergan, Gregory ; Bergan's mother ; Bergan's mother's ship ; biological agent ; Blackwood ; Bolian ; Bolian manicurist ; Borg ; Borg cube ; bridge assistant ; Boylan ; cerebral cortex ; chaperone ; cortical inhibitor ; DaiMon ; day ; Delta Quadrant ; dozen ; drawing ; emergency power ; engram ; EPS manifold ; escape pod ; evasive maneuvers ; Federation ; Ferengi ; Ferengi Health Commission ; first contact ; force field ; freedom ; Galaxy -class ; green ; heart ; Intrepid -class ; Intrepid class decks ; Grid 124, Octant 22-theta ; hive mind ; K'Vok ; kadis-kot ; Kelaran wildebeest ; kilometer ; Klingon ; Klingonese ; Krenim ; latinum ; logic ; Lorot ; malpractice ; manicurist ; Maryl ; Maryl's brothers ; Maryl's mother ; maturation chamber ; medicinal tea ; Melbourne , USS ; mess hall ; Midnight Snacker ; mind meld ; month ; mumbo jumbo ; mutation ; multiple personality disorder ; nagging ; nanosecond ; neural interlink frequency ; neural pattern ; neurological disorder ; neurotransmitter ; nightmare ; off switch ; power grid ; prefrontal synapse ; Prime Directive ; regeneration cycle ; rocking horse ; Ryson ; self-awareness ; sentence (linguistics) ; serotonin ; Shivolian ; short-term memory loss ; sleepwalking ; Son of K'Vok ; Species 180 ; Species 6339 ; Species 6339 shuttlecraft ; Species 6339 starship ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Headquarters ; Stone ; strain ; subaltern ; sue ; suspect ; swimming ; synaptic pathway ; synthetic pathogen ; Talaxian homeopathy ; temporal physics ; Terrelian ; tetryon ; Tombaugh , USS ; Tombaugh 's first officer ; Torrot ; trading license ; transneural matrix ; tricardial diagnostic ; Typhoid Mary ; vinculum ; viral agent ; Vulcans ; Vulcan High Command ; " wide berth "; Wildman, Samantha ; Wolf 359

External links [ ]

  • "Infinite Regress" at StarTrek.com
  • " Infinite Regress " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
  • " Infinite Regress " at Wikipedia
  • 1 Kenneth Mitchell
  • 3 Kol (Klingon)
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Recap / Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 7 Infinite Regress

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This episode provides examples of

  • Given that he's seen it go badly in " Meld " and " Blood Fever ", the Doctor's objections are presumably based on its unpredictability.
  • Artifact of Doom : The Vinculum, the CPU of a Borg cube which erases individual thoughts and merges drones' minds with the Collective: bringing order to chaos. This one, separated from its destroyed Cube and infected with a virus from another assimilated species, 6339, is malfunctioning and sending errant commands to Seven's cortical implant, bringing out the assimilated victims: chaos to order .
  • Assimilation Backfire : Invoked by Species 6339, who sent 13 of their number to be assimilated so that they could infect the Borg with the pathogen.
  • Battle in the Center of the Mind : In addition to shutting down the Vinculum, Tuvok must also perform this. It takes the form of billions of souls separating Tuvok and Seven, including a Destination Defenestration , but they all vanish once the Vinculum is killed.
  • Big Sister Worship : Seven is initially irritated at Naomi following her around, until Naomi explains that she wants to learn from Seven's pursuit of perfection, which actually elicits a brief smile. Apparently Seven is not immune to flattery.
  • Bilingual Dialogue : When Seven is channeling the son of K'vok: Seven: Do-raQ me'roch. note  What do we have here? B'Elanna: I beg your pardon?

infinite regress voyager

  • Book Ends : To little Maryl, who played Kadis-kot (a form of Tic-Tac-Toe with colors?) with Naomi; at the end, aside from helping Naomi prepare to be 'Captain's Assistant' (a role Seven previously stated was non-existent), Seven herself requests to be taught how to play the quirky children's game.
  • Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough : Inverted , according to "Ensign Stone", who describes her captain as a real hardass while the XO tells her not to take the hazing too personally.
  • While channelling a Klingon Seven bites B'Elanna's cheek, just as B'Elanna bit Tom during "Blood Fever".
  • The Doctor still has an innate distrust of Vulcan mind melds.
  • The Hitler Cam is once again used to highlight the size difference between Seven and Naomi, as well as how a grown-up like Seven must look to a little girl like Naomi.
  • A Vidiian (from seasons 1-2) is briefly visible among the crowd of personalities in Seven's mind. Presumably the Phage isn't a problem for the Borg.
  • One of the personalities mentions her son was serving on the USS Melbourne , which was lost at the Battle of Wolf 359. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-part episode " The Best of Both Worlds ", Riker got offered to command the Melbourne in Part I but turned it down, and Starfleet's Borg expert, Commander Shelby, specifically points out the destruction of the Melbourne in Part II.
  • Deadpan Snarker : The Doctor, just before Tuvok Mind Melds with Seven: "With all of these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you ."
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? : Well, as much as the Vinculum is 'alive,' because it adapts, has self-preservation instincts, etc., but B'Elanna finally manages to kill it.
  • Driven to Suicide : The drones who experienced similar symptoms to Seven's when infected by the Vinculum's virus.
  • Fictional Sport : Kadis-kot.
  • Filching Food for Fun : Few take the mysterious thief helping themselves to a midnight snack seriously, except Neelix of course as he's in charge of the kitchen.
  • Genki Girl : Seven, when Maryl emerges. It's still about as unsettling as seeing Tuvok or Spock emote, but When She Smiles ...
  • Gratuitous Latin : Vinculum is Latin for chain or bond.
  • Hearing Voices : Seven experiences this just before new personalities emerge, and they reach truly cacophonous levels near the end as her condition gets worse.
  • Honest John's Dealership : DaiMon Torrot, the Ferengi trader.
  • Hope Spot : It seems like choking out the Vinculum with a Techno Babble is going to work, but like all Borg technology, it adapts, and Seven's own neural pathway is totally submerged in favor of the potentially hundreds of others.
  • The son of K'vok!
  • "Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman. State your intentions."
  • Incredibly Obvious Tail : Naomi tailing Seven through the corridors of Voyager. Seven soon tires of her behavior and confronts her directly.
  • Innocent Inaccurate : Naomi's back! She's a bit nonplussed by Seven becoming Maryl, but she recovers quickly.
  • Irony : The Borg Vinculum is designed to replace individual thoughts with the Hive Mind ; as Janeway says, "It brings order to chaos." The malfunctioning Vinculum, however, is screwing up Seven's mind with multiple personalities; as Tuvok says, "bringing chaos to order."
  • I Want My Mommy! : Seven shouts this while channeling Maryl, a terrified little girl on a Borg cube.
  • Jabba Table Manners : Seven while channeling the son of K'vok.
  • Jerkass : Species 6339, who want to use the Vinculum to continue to infect Borg with the virus they created, with symptoms similar to Seven's, which is... somewhat justified , but they refuse to let our heroes shut it down in order to save Seven and continue attacking even as the Mind Meld goes on!
  • Known Only by Their Borg Designation : Species 6339.
  • Kubrick Stare : As shown above, Seven does this when the Son of K'vok emerges.
  • Large Ham : When Seven's other personalities emerge.
  • The Mirror Shows Your True Self : The Klingon (presumably the son of K'vok) seen as a reflection when Seven is stealing from the kitchen. Similarly, the reflection of a little girl in Naomi's Kadis-kot board.
  • Mood Whiplash : Seven herself goes through this, shifting from an angry Klingon to a scared little girl, then to a logical Vulcan, and so forth.
  • Noodle Incident : The Ferengi are given the designation Species 180 by the Borg. Since the designations are assumed to be in order of their encounter with the Borg Collective, note  the only other species with numbers below 1000 are from the Delta Quadrant this implies that the Borg had contact with the Ferengi centuries earlier through an unknown incident.
  • Oh, Crap! : When Seven suddenly discovers she has the equivalent of dissociative identity disorder.
  • The Oner : The scene between the EMH and Seven in the regeneration chambers, where they listen to the personal logs Seven recorded as two of the various personas taking over her mind, runs over two minutes in length.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business : Everybody gets alarmed at how the typically stoic Seven is suddenly exhibiting emotional personalities. Naomi in particular finds it strange that Seven is suddenly open to playing games with her when she's possessed by a 6-year-old's personality... but she still has fun with her, all the same.
  • Say My Name : "SEVEN!" "TUVOK!" "SEVEN!" "TUVOK!" "SEVEN!" "TUVOK!" "SEVEN!" "TUVOK!"
  • Smells Sexy : Seven of Nine does this to B'Elanna when she is possessed by the personality of a Klingon male.
  • Split Personality : Sometimes coming on SO fast it's shocking.
  • The Spock : Subaltern Lorot of Vulcan High Command.
  • Suddenly Shouting : Seven (as Son of K'vok) trying to get it on with B'Elanna. "Your blood is SWEET!!! "
  • Surrounded by Idiots : Seven regards it as perfectly natural that Naomi should regard her as a role model, saying many of Voyager's crew should follow her example.
  • Tron Lines : Species 6339's uniforms have this particular element.
  • Understatement : When 12 new personalities including a Bolian manicurist and a Krenim scientist manifest in an hour, and her brain is in danger of utter collapse, and Janeway is so exhausted keeping up with all the personalities, she snarks to Chakotay that "Seven's having a tough time of it."
  • World of Ham : Seven's mind. And not the fun kind, either.
  • Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 6 Timeless
  • Recap/Star Trek: Voyager
  • Star Trek Voyager S 5 E 8 Nothing Human

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Star Trek: Voyager

“Infinite Regress”

3 stars.

Air date: 11/25/1998 Teleplay by Robert J. Doherty Story by Robert J. Doherty & Jimmy Diggs Directed by David Livingston

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

"You are strong. You will make an excellent mate." "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" — Seven as a Klingon, and Torres on defense

Review Text

Nutshell: There's not all that much to the story, but what's here is executed well.

"Infinite Regress" is a true example of high concept. From the critical view, there's a weird phenomenon about high concept: It sends the mind, if only for a brief moment, into a bizarre series of gauging stages. In the first stage, the mind suspends analysis in favor of a sense of adventure, saying to itself, "Wow, that's a really cool idea." In the second stage, the mind's skepticism retorts, "But wait a minute—that's really just a shallow gimmick." In the third stage, the mind uses reason to strike a balance between the first two thoughts, with the sentiment, "Let's wait and see how they handle this idea, because it could just as easily work as fall flat."

Okay, maybe that's just my own thought process, but you get the point. A high concept's ability to suck you in can turn out to be its own undoing because of the question: Where can the story go from its setup as pitched?

The five-words-or-less pitch for "Infinite Regress": "Borg multiple personality disorder." Okay, so now what?

Well, if you can assemble some good performances and a good director, you might have something here. At least, you'd better hope so, because there isn't all that much meat to the story ... although there's an abundance of technobabble (albeit tolerable technobabble) and plot procedures that are somewhat arbitrarily conjured.

This is an episode that could've come off as pedestrian, but thanks to the skilled David Livingston (one of my favorite Trek directors) it ends up being intriguing and at times fairly intense and haunting.

What's causing Seven to experience "Borg multiple personality disorder," you ask? The crew's investigation leads it to the debris of a destroyed Borg vessel, where they find the Borg ship's "vinculum" is still functioning. The vinculum suppresses individuality in Borg drones, regulating and organizing their thought patterns for maximum efficiency in the hive mind. It "brings order to chaos," as Janeway aptly puts it. But somehow this vinculum is transmitting a signal that is causing Seven's brain implants to malfunction and bring forward the repressed personalities of other individuals the Borg had assimilated.

The crew must now shut down the vinculum in order to solve Seven's problem. Destroying the vinculum without first initiating a proper shutdown would not be a great idea because Seven could suffer brain damage. (PC users take note: This is what happens when you don't shut down Windows before turning off your computer—you get brain damage.)

The can of worms of course is: If this vinculum had been 5,000 light-years away, and Seven couldn't escape its side effects because it "permeates subspace" (you gotta love those tech rationales!), she would essentially be screwed. I can't see Janeway following a signal for five years to cure Seven of multiple personality disorder. But never mind; I'm reaching here. My point is simply that any plot device that alleges the ability to affect something half a galaxy away makes me somewhat uneasy.

"Infinite Regress" is primarily plot-driven. As such, there are some well-played ideas here to go along with the dubious ones. For example, I liked the subtle exchange where Janeway reluctantly agrees to bring the vinculum on board the ship so Seven can deactivate it. Janeway's skepticism is appropriate: Not only is there the "Trojan horse" issue, but one would think something as important-sounding as a "vinculum" might draw further Borg attention—and, personally, I wouldn't want to be caught dead with it when they came looking.

Naturally, the crew's attempts to shut down the vinculum are complicated by the fact that some nearby aliens had intentionally corrupted it with a virus designed to spread through the Borg collective and wreak havoc on as many Borg ships as possible. These aliens, listed in Seven's Borg database as Species 6339 (we never learn what they call themselves), want the vinculum back, because it is a Trojan horse—and they want the Borg to re-assimilate it. It's their retaliation for the bulk of their society being assimilated four years ago. (As a side note, it's an episode like this, among other Voyager offerings, that makes me wonder how it is the Borg decide whom they're going to attack and when.)

These aliens provide an understandable, but all-too-routine conflict. Their captain, Ven (Neil Maffin), is at least is willing to talk to Janeway, but when she refuses to turn over the vinculum to them until Torres can disable it, Ven opts to attempt taking it by force. This leads to the requisite battle sequence, etc. Although these aliens are provided with just enough motivation to avoid falling into the usual Hard-Headed Aliens of the Week paradigm, I couldn't help but think there was a more inventive way the writers could've handled this.

But forget all this, because it's not what makes "Infinite Regress" work (which doesn't say much about my ability to write in inverted pyramid style). This episode's selling point is its high concept implications—Seven exhibiting multiple personalities.

I would imagine such a device would be a lot of fun for an actor. Here, Jeri Ryan gets to show a much more diverse range, as buried personalities hijack control of Seven's mind, making her act out the parts of a lustful Klingon, a greedy Ferengi, a logical Vulcan, playful and scared children, a terrified Starfleet officer looking for a loved one who was supposed to rendezvous with her at Wolf 359 (oops), and so forth. "Infinite Regress" walks the line between compelling chaos and outright excess, but Livingston and Ryan keep the story on track.

A lot of this is interesting to watch simply because it's so un-Seven-like. There's one scene where a 6-year-old personality emerges and plays a game with little Naomi Wildman (a character who is starting to grow on me). Jeri Ryan dives head-first into the role in a way that, in another actor's hands, could've made the whole idea look silly, but here works well. Other characters, like the Klingon personality who tries to (ahem) jump Torres in engineering, highlight Ryan sporting a confidence that strikes me as refreshing: She's going all the way out there whether it ultimately works or not. And for me, it worked. Even if it didn't work, she'd still get an A for effort.

The final act, in which Tuvok mind melds with Seven to keep her individuality from disappearing into nothingness while Torres attempts to take the vinculum off-line is an exercise in blurringly fast-paced, pure technique. There's an interesting metaphor used to show the struggle inside Seven's mind, as we see Tuvok trying to find Seven on a Borg ship, while all of the other people in Seven's mind shout and get in his way. The way this is shot is eerie and intense; I thought it worked very well. In particular, the little girl screaming for help was effective and unsettling. The extreme cinematic chaos utilized in this sequence effectively conveys the chaos in Seven's mind. Meanwhile, chaos breaks loose on Voyager as the 6339s open fire.

Sporting hyperactive camera movements and even one noticeable jump cut (Livingston betrays his secretly repressed desire to direct an episode of Homicide ), the final act pushes the envelope in a way that borders on excess—as we cross-cut between the 6339s' attack on Voyager , the battle inside Seven's mind, and Torres' frantic attempt to disable the vinculum. Livingston pushes almost too hard, but I still liked the net result.

If this episode is truly about anything substantive on a character level, it's that Seven has reached a point of no return in her evolution. She can no longer bear the voices that she once needed to survive as a part of the collective. Instead, she has come to appreciate her social ties. She is grateful to the crew for risking themselves to help her. And at the end she reaches out to Naomi, whom we suspect reminds Seven of something she herself never completed—her childhood. The story doesn't analyze these themes in any deep or groundbreaking way, but what's here is pleasant.

"Infinite Regress" is a superior example of an episode in the spirit of stories like " One " and " The Raven ," which all fall into their own Voyager genre: Borg psychological thrillers. I liked it. It has energy and a strangely appealing impudence. It shoots for the moon at times, but, hey—if it works, it works.

Next week: Torres bonds with an alien—literally—requiring treatment from a Cardassian hologram. (Say what?)

Previous episode: Timeless Next episode: Nothing Human

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Comment Section

77 comments on this post.

The biggest hole I found in this episode was the conversation between Chakotay and the Captain where she says she's wondering if he was right that they could never bring Seven "into the fold". I have a hard time believing that Janeway would take this technological borg problem of the week and actually have it in her mind that this is an internal Seven problem, and not some external force acting upon her. As an audience member, clearly this is a problem of the week that will be solved by show's end with no ill effects. I simply can't see how Janeway can take this incident (it's like an illness) to shake her confidence in Seven's ability to become human. It's not the kind of incident where Seven willingly defied orders or the chain of command because of her borg hard-headedness. This was completely beyond her control.

PS: I also had a problem with the Doc calling Tuvok's mindmeld idea "Vulcan mumbo jumbo" after telling him in a previous episode that he was programmed with the knowledge of all of the experts on mind melds; it seemed very out of character. In the same scene, Tuvok tells Janeway that the risk is his to take, and she agrees - I'd have expected her to have questioned him on that one, saying that she couldn't let him put himself at risk as his captain. Again, uncharacteristic. I should also point out that Doc tells Seven about the mindmeld idea, well after he has informed the captain that Seven is completely gone and the other personalities have taken over. She was around for quite a long time too, considering earlier he said that she was changing identities without even being able to complete a sentence. The cheesy looking shower curtain and masking tape alien outfits didn't help the episode. I didn't like this one as much as you did, it seems.

Ensign Sturdy Neutron

I'm not sure what to make of Jeri Ryan's performance in this episode. At times she's very good, but at other times she embarrassingly bad. She gets it right most of the time though. Still, it's just another one of those Seven's Borg technology malfunctions (again!) episodes. From Seasons 4-7, there were far too many Seven episodes, and they almost made Chakotay an extra in many episodes.

I like this one a lot. A four star for Voyager fans.

No, best line is 'With all these personalities around, shame we can't find one for you Tuvok'.

Seven to that annoyingly precocious kid: "Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman, state your intentions." HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's worth five stars right there. I wish they'd let Seven and the Doctor stay their synthetic selves, rather than trying to turn them human all the time.

At one point Seven mentIons a Starfleet vessel that was assimilated "thirteen years ago." That would have been before Q introduced the Enterprise to the Borg, and wasn't that supposed to be the first time any vessel manned by Federation people (except for the Hansens') had any contact with the Borg?

This is a 4-star for me.. loved it. Okay it was no "inner light" but it's one of those type of episodes where the character work is so good that it makes the plot mostly irrelevant. So I didn't mind the little glitches really. Others have had multiple personality episodes... I seem to remember Nana Visitor had a good one in DS9 for example... Jeri Ryan really shines with this instance of it though, probably one of the best of the lot. If I have any gripe at all it's not about the episode but about Voyager as a series from 4 onwards: Jeri Ryan steals the show. She's great, this episode was great, but all the other cast go completely ignored. I'd like to see some of the others get a bit of characterisation once in a while! (except Neelix, as he's back to being annoying like in season 1)

I liked this episode a lot. It showed that the possibilities for the character of Seven and the idea of the Borg were practically endless. Jeri Ryan's portrayal of Seven was easily as good as Brent Spiner's Data. It's really no wonder the best episodes of Voyager often revolved around her. @Michael, Star Trek in all its incarnations is in its heart of hearts a study of the human condition. Based on this and many of your past comments, it is clearly not the show for you.

I enjoyed Jeri Ryan's acting in this one. She doesnt portray all of the roles perfect (Her Vulcan falls flat) but she manages quite well with the others. I like this one. Species 6339's reasoning makes a lot of sense as well...

Although I often disagree with him, this time I have to agree about the subunit of Ensign Wildman, a laugh out loud moment if ever there was one... I think it was an interesting episode, but I would perhaps have delved more into the idea of Seven's guilt about her role/actions in the collective, that could have been more interesting and had more impact.

Jo Jo Meastro

Not much to add except that I really liked this one, it was very effective and it had a certain energy and freshness about it. It struck a good balance between action and drama, had just the right amount of humour and it services character over plot manipulations. I especially enjoyed the ending sequence with the mind meld, it was original and chilling and an excellent pay-off to the story. Perhaps this will help develop a bond or a friendship between 7 and Tuvok, after all these two can learn a lot from each other as they both continue to adapt to our perplexing human ways. Even if such a friendship/relationship doesn't end up happening, this episode is still above the standard Voyager faire IMO. 3.5/4

Jonathan Baron

Balanced against my sympathy for the people who created the weapon was the horror that it made eternal all the anguish and fear of all Borg victims. Yet I wonder - did they give species 6339 such ludicrous early Doctor Who outfits so that we'd have less sympathy for them?

The sequences with all the assimilated personalities screaming in terror - including children - were absolutely terrifying. Well-directed.

I wish Star Fleet had apprised them of the new uniform specs with that data burst in season 4. Those TNG uniforms look awful by comparison.

To me this episode marks the point where Jeri "Eye Candy" Ryan made it absolutely clear that she's more than a walking, talking wet dream. Sure, I'm still convinced she was hired (and dressed) to keep the male audience coming back for more week after week, but luckily they also got a skilled individual at the same time they hired that killer body and big blue eyes. Ryan's acting is stellar - she glides in and out of the many characters seemlessly, making each and every character believable (and sometimes hillarious) with a lot of empathy. Wonderful job! The girl playing Naomi Wildman should also be commended: she's not just adorable, her way of delivering lines is great and she has a superb screen presence. A different note about the episode: This is one of the VERY few Trek episodes I've seen that made me question whether children should watch it. The sequence where Tuvok is inside 7's nightmare is really disturbing!

The interactions with species 6339 were almost a throw-away subplot, but I think that this was one of the most frightening parts of the episode. The Borg are relentlessly bad in Trek (although freed drones are almost universally good...), and the Borg are the most terrifying force in the galaxy. However, the fact that species 6339 had created and deployed biological weapons of mass destruction against them got me thinking about how far Trek was willing to go in this arena. Species 6339 had already been assimilated - there was no ongoing conflict with the Borg - this was just a revenge weapon. And according to the aliens, it wasn't intended to defeat the borg, just inflict a lot of damage. The fact that the writers didn't have Janeway question the use of such a weapon at all was a bit disappointing to me. Yes, the episode was better without delving into that topic, but that's an awfully potent throw-away story that shows some of the dark side of the Federation, imho. On a side note, Jeri Ryan's performance was quite good. Not amazing, but believable in every role. The transitions were crisp and the personalities were kept distinct, rather than feeling like it's just the (adjective) version of the main character like so many multiple personality TV shows. The performance was comparable to Toni Collette's acting on United States of Tara, although the characters were a bit too stereotypical and cliched. She's got real chops.

The midnight snacker ate an animal leg Neelix was saving for some ensign's birthday, but with Voyager's compliment, someone on Voyager is likely having a birthday every three or four days...is it really that special?

TH said: "The biggest hole I found in this episode was the conversation between Chakotay and the Captain where she says she's wondering if he was right that they could never bring Seven "into the fold". I have a hard time believing that Janeway would take this technological borg problem of the week and actually have it in her mind that this is an internal Seven problem, and not some external force acting upon her." I get where you're coming from, but I saw Janeway's comments more as meaning that Seven's Borg nature may leave her vulnerable to a number of unique and unpredictable situations, of which this is but one, which may make reclaiming Seven chronically problematic.

I would have given this 3.5 stars, but for the most part I agree with Jammer's analysis... The writers at this point in Voyager's run were salivating over this new character, and I actually liked that they formed the friendship between Seven and Naomi. That is ripe for fun character development... Another solid outing in what was shaping up to be another great season of Voyager!

Well, huh... I watched the episode, gathered my thoughts, and came here, only to see that Jammer's review captured practically everything I wanted to say. Guess that means I'll just have to come up with something new, somehow. Jammer's description of gimmicky high concept episodes is spot on. To be honest, my feelings were pretty much stuck on the second stage for the first half or so of the episode. I mean, Seven's multiple personalities were fun, and Jeri Ryan's (overexaggerated, but also probably necessary given the circumstances) acting made it interesting to watch, but the plot didn't grip me like other high concept episodes like, for example, TNG's Cause and Effect. It seemed as if it was going to be good for a few cute scenes, but the plot was going to be routine. Yet the second half was anything but. Actually, it reminded me a lot of The Thaw in one respect: the technobabble solution failed. We had the viculum or whatever beamed aboard and the plan to disassemble it to save Seven. What usually happens is it becomes waiting to see how much fake drama Voyager could draw it out for. Instead, the plan failed and Seven got worse, just like the original plan to extract the people in The Thaw failed. Yes, it just meant they had to go through the technobabble solution again a second time, but first it meant some actual character choices. It meant Janeway had to decide whether or not to risk Tuvok. It meant Seven got to feel real fear, real panic at the thought of losing her mind rather than it simply being a problem. It meant she had to beg Tuvok for help, even if it hurt her pride of being perfect. And it meant Janeway had to deal with the aliens. Although honestly, I think that could have been done better. I disagree with Kevin that Janeway should have questioned the morality of the weapon, quite the opposite in fact! In BOBW, Riker was prepared to ram the Enterprise into the Borg ship in a desperate attempt to save Earth. Worf was prepared to do the same with the Defiant in First Contact. Hugh willingly sacrificed himself in hopes that his individuality would cripple the collective. In other words, if you have a chance to hurt the Borg, you do it! These aliens were the heroes of their own story. You can't say they were no longer at war with the Borg, the Borg were still a threat. And, regardless, they are still a threat to everyone else in the galaxy. Maybe this saves another civilization. Maybe it just gives another civilization a few more years. Maybe it keeps the Borg away so the survivors can build a new home, a new planet. Why would you want to stop that? While there may be cracks in the idea that one is perpetually a drone thanks to Hugh and Seven, the fact remains that the Borg are still as close to pure evil as possible in the Trek world. Thus, rather than the boring fight scene (not that fight scenes are boring, but Voyager wayyyy overuses it), and also rather than the silly discussion of Janeway's regret about Seven (I agree, dumb conversation), Janeway can agree with the aliens. It'll take XX hours to reach the dead ship, and Janeway promises that they will only work on a cure that long. Once they arrive, they'll drop the viculum thingy off and sacrifice Seven. In other words, Janeway comes to the realization that she can't prioritize a single member of her crew over the threat of the Borg to another species. Picard was willing to let Q die to save the random aliens from the moon crashing. Troi was willing to order Geordi to his death to stop a warp core breach. Being a captain is about making the tough decisions. Put a bit more weight on this episode. Then they could have arrived, with Torres saying they need just another 10 minutes or whatever, and then you can have the drama as Janeway stalls for time with the aliens if you wanted. Oh well, that's the only real complaint I have about the second half. And my biggest complaint about the first half is that Tuvok is a rather incompetent security officer if he couldn't solve the Mystery of the Midnight Snacker. Seriously, the combadges are tracked by the computer, and Seven didn't take hers off!

Diamond Dave

Second superb episode in a row. This is headed up by what I think is a wonderful Jeri Ryan performance - as noted above, if anyone was still thinking of her as nothing more than a babe in a catsuit then that should have been dispelled. But we also run the gamut from humour (Seven's scenes with Naomi are a joy) to a really intense, and indeed disturbing, conclusion. I am really a fan of that kind of dreamlike imagery but it works so well here in demonstrating the 'chaos' referred to earlier in the episode. Excellent stuff - 4 stars.

For all that may think Jeri is just eye-candy, this episode (and one coming in the future) should remove all doubt. Jeri is a VERY capable actress. Were all the different characters she had to display "perfect"? probably not, but this is one episode in a season of 25 and it's not like they have the time to spend to make something like this perfect. Jeri was awesome. I too am enjoying the addition of Samantha. This little gal is endearing and we get a side splitting moment like this.... "Naomi comes around the corner and is face to navel with Seven.) SEVEN: Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman. State your intentions." I lost it :-) .... but seemingly forgotten is the following conversation what is the beginning of a great little relationship between 7 & Naomi. These two work great together on screen. Maybe 7 internally feels the need to bond with a child after losing hers (One) "Consider it assimilated." "I will comply" Don't kids always seem to put a bright spin on things? 4-star episode for me.

The scene where Seven is crouched on the floor acting innocently and Tuvok releasing the forcefield seemed to me a risky move on his part. She still had the phaser pointed at him and could easily have killed him once the forcefield was disengaged. The prudent move would have been for Tuvok to have her drop the weapon first.

Strange that none of the personalities protested their surroundings. The little girl immediately plays with Naomi. The Klingon snacks on food at night. An ensign makes a few logs. Not one of them snapped to the reality they were in, equally odd is too many of them were from the Alpha Quadrant, the Borg piling them all on that ship is very unlikely.

Nicholas Ryan

Amazing how all of the personalities are from the Federation's corner of the galaxy.

Hospital show. eerrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!! seven has mpd. bah (0)

Did I miss something? What was the benefit in shutting down the vinculum (or whatever) if they were going to turn it over to the aliens? Won't they just reactivate it? It was mentioned earlier that leaving the area was not an option as the signal "permeates subspace", so if it could be reactivated wouldn't the whole problem with seven just begin again? I've read the comments above and nobody has mentioned this, so either I missed something or I noticed something no one else did (but I don't think I'm that clever). If anyone has an answer please let me know. Regardless, still a very good episode. Jeri Ryan was outstanding. 3 stars.

Ferengi are Species 180? That seems like an incredibly low number for a non-Delta Quadrant species.

@Dave - There was a random Klingon ship from Kirk's time in the Delta Quadrant.... probably a Ferengi ship floating around there somewhere too :P

Wonderful Ryan episode. Funny though how her Vulcan is very close to her normal Seven performance, the rest of the performances were top notch. :) Doctor & Seven-centric episodes, along with time travel ones, continue to be my favourite.

OMG, at the end, Naomi + Seven are so adorabubble. :) "I will comply."

grumpy_otter

I join everyone's praise of Ryan's performance in this--except for her Vulcan, who i thought was just Seven back to normal until she identified herself. But I have a few problems with the episode that haven't been addressed yet. The little bit at the beginning when Neelix points out that Tuvok had been unable to catch the meat-eating intruder, and Tuvok is REALLY snarky suggesting an "armed security detail" when Neelix asks for stronger measures. I thought Neelix was dead-on to insinuate that Tuvok didn't take the thefts seriously. And then, after Tuvok's snark, all Neelix wanted was some padlocks. Serisouly? Tuvok hadn't thought of LOCKS for cabinets before this? I thought this was a great Neelix moment, and I wanted to slap Tuvok. When Seven turns into the Klingon and B'elanna thinks it was a joke from Tom? Really? That struck me as completely unbelievable that B'elanna would entertain for even a moment that it was a joke. She knows what Seven is like--has Seven EVER done such a thing? Her immediate reaciton should have been "Torres to Sickbay; something is wrong with Seven." Once again, the aliens of the week have to be assholes in order to create "tension." Are any aliens ever just nice people? If they seem nice, they are greedy or underhanded. All I can think of are 8472, who SEEMED mean but were really only acting defensively. They turned out to be really nice once they weren't scared. It would have been funny if one time an alien race was just nice and helpful, and then after Voyager got what they needed they simply comment "Well, they were nice." And that's all. Refreshing. Unlike others, I HATED the ending. I loved the setup, and the idea of Tuvok risking himself to help Seven, and yes, it was really scary in Seven's mind. But I was rooting for Tuvok to be what saved her--and it turned out to be B'elanna turning off the tech thingie. What Tuvok did turned out to be useless. I would suggest this is similar to what George Lucas did in later films--in the original Star Wars, all the tension leads up to the single focal point of Luke destroying the Death Star, and we as the audience are with him every moment. In each film following, the climax of the films became split more and more. In TPM, for example, we have to split our attention from the fight on Naboo with Qui Gonn, the droid fights, the battle in space, and good lord maybe more. What winds up happening is we care for none of these climaxes. I would have handled this by having Voyager vanquish the bad aliens as one small climax, then B'elanna fails to turn off the vinculum, all the while Seven's condition deteriorates. THEN Tuvok steps in as the last resort and all focus is on his ability to find the real Seven in her mind. We'd all be focused and able to enjoy Tuvok and Seven's success. Instead, our attention, and the tension of the episode, keeps getting pulled from what is happening in Seven's mind. I found that less than effective at building emotion.

A minor complaint. You would think that after the second time the "midnight snacker" struck the kitchen, they would've put cameras or something in the kitchen. Is that so hard? Screw the security detail, how about a basic level of passive security - especially considering that Neelix would probably not be so lit up about it if Seven wasn't throwing food everywhere. But I suppose its consistent with the other MAJOR complaint about ST:Everything. Most of the injuries on the bridge, and ESPECIALLY the shuttle crashes, could be avoided by using restraints/seat belts/duct tape/anything aside from nothing. Also, how is there a "midnight" on a starship? Of course, there's an 0:00 hour, but does the ship shut down for 8 hours and everyone go to sleep? The ship should be crewed 24/7 and the galley should conceivably be open as well with "over-nighters". On a good note, Naomi is very cute and a great actress. She's growing on me as well - dispelling the usual dread that comes with child actors.

Startrekwatcher

2.5 stars. Very average The episode is watchable but not very compelling or entertaining. I find it hard to believe the Borg would save the personalities of assimilated individuals. They'd extract the relevant knowledge and delete the rest. The idea other aliens working to destroy the Borg was welcome. But again the episode just can't grip me. That said one of the better episodes from a very AWFUL fifth season on Voyager

Pretty good episode with the strong point being Jeri Ryan's terrific acting. So used to her Borg persona but she seamlessly became a child, a Klingon, a mourning mother, a Ferengi, etc. and then her own fears of dying or suffering brain injury. Also another great performance from Picardo -- clearly showing the caring bond he has for 7 and I also loved his skepticism of the mind meld and his line to Tuvok about maybe getting a personality from the mind meld! I think, within the Trek paradigm, this story can make sense with the Borg vinculum interfering with 7 and how another species decided to implant a virus in it. Pretty good premise for me. VOY is definitely creative. The ending was a bit of a blur -- the strength was the vision of the mind meld with Tuvok trying to reach 7 amid all the chaos on a Borg ship, the weak part was the nonsensical machinations with the vinculum (who knows what Torres was trying to do as the thing powered up and down). Also think it was perfectly logical for the alien species to act as they did, so nothing wrong there. The Borg assimilated billions of them so they're not going to take crap from Janeway. A strong 3 stars for "Infinite Regression" -- another good character development piece for 7 who is getting more and more human all the time. She wanted to show gratitude and recognized the crew for their help. Nice little scene at the end with the eager-beaver kid wanting to be a bridge assistant as well. I guess it is a bit fortunate (or contrived) how it all worked out in the end with 1) mind meld working, 2) vinculum deactivating and getting beamed into space before 3) Voyager nearly gets blown to bits.

Naomi and Seven dialogues were a hoot as many have said but I agree with Paul. The best line belongs to the Doctor: 'With all these personalities around, shame we can't find one for you Tuvok." Hahahaha...

Prince of Space

I have nothng to say about this episode that hasn’t already been said ad nauseum by the artsy-fartsy folks above. No... I only comment to have the weird pleasure of saying “howdy!” to the very first commenter on this episode, TH. 9 and 1/2 years later, I can’t help but find it interesting. I hope “TH” is still out there, somewhere, and doing well. My thoughts are with you, oh random Internet stranger that went by the name TH!!

The episode does seem to exist to serve the high concept, which in turn is a way to show off Jeri Ryan's versatility as an actress. It's hard to begrudge them that, and she *is* great. When the episode is doing comedy, it is, if not laugh-out-loud funny, generally agreeable and entertaining and thus worth the price of admission. When it gets serious, it feels as if there's a much better episode inside this one waiting to get out. The episode eventually mostly gets to a "Seven realizes that they care about her enough to save her" place, which is fine, but not really the most interesting place to go. There are two angles in particular I'm thinking of, of how this episode could work very well with the "Borg multiple personality syndrome" conceit, and I think the episode kind of gestures to both but doesn't go deep enough: 1. This is the one the episode goes to more heavily, and this is: these are people who the Collective assimilated, and thus whose lives (and individuality) were destroyed. Seven experiencing their lives actually forces her to confront some guilt over what she did (was forced to do) as part of the Collective. Seven having her identity crowded out by all those other voices then sort of symbolizes her being dragged under the weight of the lives she feels some responsibility for ending, and Tuvok's efforts to reach and save her are a way of helping restore her recognition that she is a person who deserves her own life, tempting as it is to get bogged down in guilt and dismay at the number of people lost. This element works to a degree, but it short-circuits it a little by having Seven mostly seeming to forget her experiences being other people, rather than remembering them and then having to deal with them. 2. The personalities could reveal something about Seven -- something that she is missing in her own life. Maybe her own aggression is coming out when she goes into the Klingon mode, for instance. This would also work better if Seven remembered or were more aware of the different voices that came up. This one sort of pays off at the end, in which Seven seems to want to act out as herself some of what she did while playing the little girl character (playing Kadis-Kot with Naomi), but otherwise I can't think of any indications of it. That the one element of her alternate personalities Seven seemed to want to use in her daily life was that one -- the girl -- makes me wonder what Annika's thoughts would actually be, and if they are still somewhere as part of the suppressed collective individual voices. The exact functioning (where are those thoughts coming from? who is thinking them? how much is Seven still connected to the collective?) is hazy and incoherent, but it seems as if the thoughts and personalities are mostly from people before their assimilation. It makes me wonder if that young girl might even have *been* Annika (though it probably doesn't fit with the way she's portrayed in [spoilers] Dark Frontier). But anyway, this maybe adds a (3): in experiencing how strongly people held onto their individuality before the Borg wiped it out, so that she still has an echo all this time later, Seven maybe gains a greater appreciation for it. And her pre-Borg growth was basically stunted as Annika as a child, and so her deciding to bond with Naomi to try to recreate what she'd lost makes sense. The stuff with the aliens, culminating in the space battle, is pretty pedestrian. The idea of a species' attempt to take down the Borg affecting Seven inadvertently is a good one, I think, and worth further exploration at some point, but not much is done with it here. The big head-scratcher in the episode for me was in the Janeway/Chakotay bridge scene when she ponders aloud whether maybe it wasn't worth it to bring Seven along, that maybe it just wasn't possible to rehabilitate her. Huh? It'd be one thing if Janeway said this after Seven's insubordination in Prey, where it looked like Seven might be impossible to control; or after something like Drone, where it might be that Seven and her Borg technology might prove too big a risk to the ship, in that there's a risk of Borg attacks whenever she's discovered. But in this episode, Seven is sick, through no fault of her own (except very indirectly in that she was a member of the Borg Collective and the Borg are dangerous enough to have people trying to kill them with a virus), and after she's locked in sickbay, she's not a danger to anyone else but herself. Janeway does risk the ship to save Seven by fighting the aliens in the perfunctory weekly battle scene, I'll grant, but Janeway doesn't frame her concerns as a "I'm not sure if it's worth risking this ship to save one crew member" dilemma, but some vague sense that Seven getting infected with a Borg Multiple Personality Disorder virus that affects only her is some predictable moral failing. It's really bizarre. This is the second time B'Elanna has had someone aggressively choose her as a mate in Engineering (also Vorik). Not the best workplace experience. Anyway the episode is fun and has a bit of meat, but that much. Better than you'd expect it to be but not as good as it could be; 2.5 stars.

I also don't understand why the vinculum would have all the personalities and memories of everyone assimilated. In fact Seven specifically says it purges them. SEVEN: The processing device at the core of every Borg vessel. It interconnects the minds of all the drones. It purges individual thoughts and disseminates information relevant to the Collective. And if the virus makes all the drones crazy why was the Borg ship destroyed? And why wasn't the vinculum destroyed along with it? And wouldn't the rest of the Borg have realized what was going on, since they are all connected? Why would they go pick up a vinculum that drove an entire cube insane, and then hook it up? I assume the ship that picked it up would already have a vinculum. You'd think they would either leave it there, or destroy it. Why would they pass it on from ship to ship? I don't understand any of that. Not a bad episode. 2 1/2 stars.

I Hate Janeway

I guess you're supposed to just enjoy Jeri Ryan acting as a bunch of different personalities, and ignore the stupidity, incompetence, and plot holes surrounding it, but the bad parts were so bad I could not suspend my disbelief to enjoy the episode. The Borg are the greatest threat to the galaxy, and Janeway should be doing whatever she can do defeat them. She shouldn't have taken the McGuffin on board in the first place, and she should have handed it over to the aliens immediately. Sucks for Seven, but the needs of the many (and we are talking tens of billions who will be assimilated by the Borg in the future) outweigh the needs of the one. Spock taught me that. Captain Kirk and Spock would have done the right thing. McCoy might have complained about having to let someone die, but he would have lost the argument. And on top of that, don't they have security cameras in the future? And the Doctor making fun of Tuvok's mind meld is completely out of character.

Ever since the episode where the doctor was trying to determine if he was a real person hallucinating being a hologram or a hologram hallucinating that he was a real person hallucinating that he was a hologram, i’ve said that Voyager has done Horror well. This episode is another example, if only in the mind meld scene.

Grumpy_otter - great review. I think this was a 'high-concept' episode that was written as a rush-job, and that's why there were all the plot holes and gimmicks mentioned in the previous reviews. I would add to plot holes that Naomi should have immediately known something was wrong with Seven, not spent an hour with her playing a game. I'll bet Jeri Ryan relished the range the episode offered, and I"ll bet she enjoyed playing the Ferengi most.

'Borg Multiple Personality Disorder' would have worked better as a well-thought-out multi-episode story arc. But that's not how most television worked at the time.

I haven't watched too many of the Voyager episodes, my preference being the original series, but I found this one to be a real thriller. It was a well written story centering on the trials and tribulations of Seven of Nine as she grappled with a whole slew of invading entities threatening to destroy her, and Jeri Ryan turned in a real tour de force of a performance. And when that doctor, whom I can't stand because he's always so full of himself, failed in his efforts to remedy the situation, he was forced to step back and let the Vulcan, Tuvok, have a go at it---and Tuvok came through, going all-out with a powerful and dramatic Vulcan mind-fusion (not unlike the one Spock used in "The Paradise Syndrome", by the way), joining Seven's mind and helping her drive off the invaders. I always enjoy the mind-meld sequences in Star Trek, and this was one of the most electrifying.

Good acting, some annoyingly contrived drama (of course, the signal doesn't get weaker with distance? Really? It did seem to get worse when they brought it closer)... and yet again, the absurdity of every drone seemingly having every bit of information held by the entire Borg Collective - or even of just one ship, it's no less absurd. All those personalities, we're told, weren't sent from the vinculum, but were in Seven's implants and activated. That's nuts. But my biggest single complaint is that this exemplifies, again, Voyager's contempt for science, compared to previous Trek series. The Doctor (as others noted, out-of-character in this) dismisses mind melds as "mumbo jumbo" when they are a well known and recognized phenomenon... so far as I could tell, this was just to provide the bogus "alternative medicine" viewpoint... "Oh, this runs counter to all known science, but there is this option proposed...." Come on. The Doctor is an expert on mild melds and other therapies, as he's said... mind melds are not magic, even if we're left in the dark just how they work. "You will just have to have faith in my ability"... how about a less loaded word, like trust? Trust in the real and recognized psychic abilities of Tuvok, for instance ... and yes, the Doctor should still have qualms because of the risk and seemingly low probability of success, but... that's not the same thing at all. Here he came across as hidebound in orthodoxy and objecting uselessly to the unconventional, which is a disservice to his character, and to science too. Oh, but I loved when Seven asked "What is the probability of success?" THAT was a great question, and one the Doctor should have been considering himself. That's how one makes rational decisions, in medicine and otherwise.

Gary, you hit it right on the button with your description of that doctor. Hidebound,yes. Stick-in-the-mud, yes. Unwilling---and perhaps unable---to even consider alternatives. Otherwise he would have known that the Vulcan mind-fusion is the most powerful (if the most stressful) version of the mind-meld and that it had been a lifesaver in several episodes of the original series, and he should have, just once, extracted his head from the quicksand he usually kept it in---but no matter. Tuvok, the Vulcan chief of security (which would include psychological security as well) went after the problem and saved Seven of Nine's sanity, and indeed her life. And if that didn't cure the doctor of his misconceptions and mistrust of mind-melds---well, perhaps he should have gone in for opera full time, because he did have the voice for it.

An additional comment: In the last act of this episode Tuvok said that he would need two hours to prepare. This meant only one thing: he was going all-out with the most powerful, and the most stressful, version of the mind-meld---the Vulcan mind-fusion, and he knew that this was going to be one very rough ride indeed---which he had to undertake if he were going to rescue Seven of Nine from the life-threatening situation she was in. And he told the doctor, who was way out of his league in this situation, to stay out of it and not interfere. Both participants in this very rough ride worked up a terrific sweat, but it was worth all the effort---Tuvok helped her drive off the invading entities, and she in turn, after a week of regeneration, was herself again. (The invaders were still there, but they were dormant, and if they were to resurface again so would the Great Stone Face---Tuvok.)

Correction of the spelling of my last name: it's Zita Carno. Now for my additional comment: In the last act of this episode Tuvok said that he would need two hours to prepare. This meant only one thing: e was going all-out with the most powerful, and the most stressful, version of the mind-meld---the Vulcan mind-fusion, and he knew that this was going to be a very rough ride indeed---which he had to undertake if he were going to rescue Seven of Nine from the life-threatening situation she was in. And he told the doctor to stay out of it and not to interfere. (The doctor was way out of his league in this, so he complied, however reluctantly.) It was indeed a very rough ride, but Tuvok accomplished his mission, joining his mind with Seven's and helping her repel the invaders, and after a week in the regeneration chamber she was herself again. (The entities were still there, but they were dormant---and if they would ever resurface, so would the Great Stone Face---Tuvok.)

It's amazing how wildly divergent they made Janeway on the Borg. Here they had her "give them a wide berth"... Cut to Dark Frontier, where she basically invades them.

And...I can't stand the sci-fi trope where someone who is possessed by another entity will see the image of the person "in them" by looking in a mirror or reflective surface. It's absolutely absurd on its face. Who first came up with this?

Jeri Ryan was great! What a talented lady. Interesting way to convey the horror of the Borg - the helplessness, the terror of being assimilated, the billions who've been subjected to it. Disturbing. Don't think I could have stood another moment of that mind meld sequence.

That mind-meld sequence was the real turning point of the whole episode. You may recall that Tuvok had said he needed two hours to prepare, and that meant only one thing: he was going all-out, no holds barred, with the most powerful and the most stressful of all the mind-melds---the Vulcan mind-fusion, which had been a real lifesaver in several original-series episodes, and which was needed here in order to rescue Seven of Nine from that life-threatening predicament she faced. And the Great Stone Face accomplished his mission, with assistance from B'Elanna Torres in engineering who worked to destroy the Borg vinculum. And what a relief, when the thing was gone and he was able to get to Seven and join his mind with hers in a full meld and pull her out of that mess---I'm sure you must have felt the same sense of relief. Not tio mention that in no uncertain terms he had told that---uh---doctor, who was really out of his league here, to stay out of it and NOT interfere! I have long enjoyed, and I continue to investigate, the mind-meld sequences in all of Trek, and this was one of the most electrifying.

Jeffrey Jakucyk

Add me to the list of people who love the "Naomi Wildman, sub-unit of Ensign Samantha Wildman, state your intentions" dialogue.

Captain PeaNiz

Has anyone else noticed that Seven of Nine has nice implants? They should rename her to Two of Double D.

As much as I liked the creepy visuals, I wish they'd done more with it than just having "Larry" Tuvok (as we call him) and Seven yelling MULDER!!! and SCULLY!!! at each other across a chasm. Also, I had to chuckle at some of the "convenient" framing of those Sickbay shots. The Doctor, with Picardo really selling the concern: "Seven? Are you okay?" Seven, with Ryan crushing it conveying the distress: "Please help me!" Seven's Boobs, filling up 1/4 of my screen: **HEAVE*HEAVE*HEAVE*HEAVE**

Wow, what richly humorous observations the last two commenters made! As Jammer has observed, Seven’s character development has been one step forward, the producers and writers not remembering or caring about what that step was, and then a subsequent episode that may be a step backward. For the writers to have established a linear progression of her development, they would first have to have someone surgically pry their fingers off the weekly reset button. Season 5 in particular highlighted this problem: several episodes including this one were about “Seven is being called back by the collective somehow!” - it’s hard to write her as a living, breathing character when she is constantly at the mercy of the folks who ran the UPN promo department. What did Seven really “learn” by the end of the show? Upon the conclusion of the last stand-alone episode she was in, “Natural Law,” the answer was nothing. (Whatever happened in Endgame to her and everyone else was so Jeri-rigged that it’s hard to remember any specific character beats, save for Harry Kim’s laugh-Out-loud proclamation that “It’s always been about the journey, not the destination!”)

@ alcoremor, I guess you might say that Seven's character progression forward in the series was marked by...infinite regress.

Sleeper Agent

Jeri Ryan did a wonderful job with all the fragmentary characters; the Ferengi impersonation was my favorite. The alien of the week a.k.a species 6339 was a bit of fresh air as well. Their suites were very cool - I hope we get to see them again. The rest was moderately entertaining. OK episode, but would probably skip during a re-watch. 2 Stars.

I actually sympathised a lot with the aliens... but is Borg genocide justified? According to Picard in I, Borg: no, it's not. But if you witness your quadrant slowly and relentlessly eaten out by the Borg... well, I thought about it a lot!

Sarjenka's Brother

3.5 stars for me. Great episode. I particularly enjoyed Jeri Ryan's Ferengi.

I thought the story here was pretty weak. In particular I cosign grumpy otter's complaint that the deactivation of the vinculum made Tuvok's mindmeld superfluous. But the episode is saved by Jeri Ryan‘s virtuoso acting. She was given a showcase for her thespian chops and really took full advantage of the opportunity.

Oh geez, the opening scenes have Hooters of Nine going medieval on Neelix's produce. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the episode. What the frick!? "With all these personalities around, shame we can't find one for you Tuvok." - Yeah, coz being logical, stable, dispassionate, erudite, reliable, consistent, loyal, inscrutable... - is not a personality. Having a personality means behaving like everyone else in the Oprah/Ellen collective. There's a damn good reason Tuvok and the Doc are such stand-out characters. Could it be because they actually stand out? When Seven goes mental and overpowers Torres as well as three security officers, you wonder why the hell they carry phasers if they never use them. What happened to "set your phasers on stun"? Well, I guess we'd not have much of a show if security personnel did its job. Plus, it's mind-blowing how many vulnerabilities everything on the vessel--equipment and crew alike--has. Voyager and its personnel are easier to exploit than Windows 95, for Pete's sake! Even its security procedures and mechanics (such as level 10 forcefields) routinely get circumvented. Sheesh... But anyway. Pretty enjoyable. Seven did a great job with the multiple personalities and the overall idea is intriguing. Seven-qua-Klingon's "You're strong, you'll make an excellent mate" and then "Naomi Wildman, subunit of Ensign Samantha Wildman, state your intentions" gave me the LOLZ that make this a 3-star-er!

Bob (a different one)

This is Jeri Ryan's show and I have no problem with that. She's great here. Tuvok and Seven work well together. I can't remember if there are any episodes after this that team them up, but there should have been. As others have said Doc's "personalities" line and Seven's "Sub-unit" line are both gold. I like Naomi Wildman. Many child actors are annoying but Scarlett Pomers is good. You know what really sealed the deal for me though? The screaming little girl at the end. Being assimilated by the Borg should be an abominable fate, and that little girls stark terror really brought the horror of the situation home.

Lol whenever Tuvok or any Vulcan recommends a mind meld, we always get the usual protest from a doctor only for the meld to proceed anyways. Can we just skip the predictable protest?

"Infinite Regress" had some great performances by Jeri Ryan, but the direction was painful to the ear and to the eye. It definitely over pumped the strobe-lights to the point that it became unwatchable. It takes a First Place ribbon as the episode most effective in compelling the viewer to endure pretty much the same mental torture that the victimized character experiences.....shades of sitting in that chair in Tantalus Colony with Dr. Adams. (TOS Dagger of the Mind). 2 stars....not for the faint-hearted, or the wasily nauseated, and I couldn't help but notice that the other characters really looked awful....weakened and depressed from having been sidelined to cipher-level. Bad vibes.

Easily-nauseated..... Man what a noisy episode.....and one that is surely seizure-inducing for photically-sensitive viewers and epileptics. I had a text exchange with a Voyager-watching friend 45 minutes after I wrote the review and sent up a red flag to warn her off this one. All she wanted to do was to sit back after a hard day's work, watch a good Voyager and have some home-made ice cream. This was definitely not a good ice cream Voyager.

Jack said: "The midnight snacker ate an animal leg Neelix was saving for some ensign's birthday, but with Voyager's compliment, someone on Voyager is likely having a birthday every three or four days...is it really that special?" On that...unless Neelix replicated an animal leg only to store it in the fridge, which seems odd, it really is an animal leg. When did the crew go hunting?

Torres and Tuvok were trying to "disable" that vinculum thing. Why didn’t they just beam it into space and shoot a phaser at it?

I meant before the Species 6339 guys got there.

I feel the most satisfaction with logical consistency, and this is another VOY episode where that was lacking: The vinculum permeates subspace so there is no escaping it, so what would happen if Seven were effected at a much greater distance that Janeway couldn't do anything about? They deactivate the vinculum and free Seven, but then beam it off the ship back into the hands of the aliens, who will just... reactivate it? Wouldn't Seven then be at risk again? The aliens were boring, alien-of-the-week material, and their space suits were laughable. For once it would be nice to see some non-reactive aliens on this show. They are smart enough to rig the vinculum and use advanced starships, but not talk diplomatically for more than 5 minutes? Seven says the viculum's function is to purge individuality, yet the collective somehow retains all the individual personalities for... some reason? And these personalities are all inside of each drone? How could a single drone have enough storage capacity to store the personalities of trillions of assimilated individuals? Why would the collective come to salvage a damaged vinculum when we know from Dark Frontier that all relevant technology in a Borg vessel fuses when the vessel is destroyed, to prevent other species from using it? The doctor says "we've lost Seven" which is seemingly for dramatic effect because Seven resurfaces a short time later and is fully interactive for the rest of the episode., including making her own medical decisions. When Seven attacks B'elanna, when isn't B'elanna already armed? I mean, with a new hostile invader every week, you think engineering would be armed all the time at this point. I could go on.

- Shields down to 60 percent! - Evasive maneuvers. Target their weapons array. - Targeting systems are malfuctioning! Shock Shock.

This is a good episode. I enjoy seeing some of the technology behind the Borg. All the personalities get assimilated and then filtered out so the collective order comes through. I also think Jeri Ryan was great in this episode. Jammer referred to this as another "borg psychological thriller", I have enjoyed all of these episodes to this point.

I’m surprised so few commenters have taken issue with voyager’s decision to once again help the Borg. I mean, I like seven as much as the next nerd, but isn’t the ethical balance in favor of these aliens and their viniculum based hijinx? It seems that the virus planted in the viniculum thing essentially re-individualizes the personalities of assimilated people, so in a way this plan of theirs would be deborgifying billions of people. Granted it’s also placing them in some sort of horrid steam punk fever dream nightmare, but still how can Janeway and co ethically justify denying all those people their chance at regaining some semblance of individuality? Also, I have to believe that when voyager gets back to the federation, there’s gonna be a lot of questions along the lines of “you did WHAT??” This is the second time in so many seasons that voyager has bailed out the Borg. I think Starfleet command might need an explanation or two. Lastly, for all those wondering if it’s moral to use weapons of mass destruction against the Borg, the answer is yes, yes it is. The Borg have essentially declared a genocidal war against the universe. They’re really more akin to a virus than a civilization, so my vote is that there should be no punches pulled. If you have a chance to do some damage, do it. Failure in that direction runs the risk of making you morally culpable for the next species that gets assimilated while you were doing your little hand wringing routine.

It's a rite of passage for Star Trek actors to be called upon to present "alternate personalities." Jeri Ryan acquitted herself well in this episode on the challenge. I liked the episode if only its demonstration that young Jeri was capable of being much more than just eye candy. My pet Star Trek peeve, however, is in this episode and that's totally illogical "alien makeup." I suppose that's Michael Westmore. Some Star Trek aliens are very good (e.g. the Borg) but then there are these weird creations concocted by someone who spent too much time in art school and not enough thinking about how the appendages and other add on plastics could have been the product of any kind of evolution even in an alien environment.

It's pretty brutal how Seven of Nine re-cites a female officer/starfleet crew member that was supposed to meet her lover at Wolf 359, while she was probably directly involved at assimilating her.

It would have been cool if Tuvok's degenerative neurological disease would've been a result of this painful Mind Meld in this episode.

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Infinite Regress

Infinite Regress

Star trek: voyager.

  • Voyager comes in contact with Borg technology which causes Seven of Nine to display multiple personalities.
  • Seven of Nine begins to exhibit multiple personalities from a wide range of disparate species. The culprit? An ailing Borg "Vinculum" broadcasting a neural interlink frequency from the center of a debris field from an exploded Borg cube. As the crew try to dismantle it, Seven's neutral pattern dissipates, allowing other personalities to take over. Tuvok steps in just as an unfamiliar alien culture challenges Voyager for the Vinculum. — statmanjeff

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Infinite Regress Stardate: 52188.7 Original Airdate: 25 November 1998

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Star Trek: Voyager - Episode Guide - Season 5

What’s that? You want even *more* Borg? Welcome to season 5 of Star Trek: Voyager! At least four episodes are devoted entirely to the cybernetic badasses – “Drone”, “Infinite Regress” and the two-part “Dark Frontier” – and rare is the Voyager season 5 episode in which Borg or Borg technology is a key plot device or character motivation.

Not that Star Trek Guide is complaining: This show had been wanting serious badassery to test Janeway et al for much of four seasons, and the Borg certainly bring that.

(Quite frankly, STG believes that the Borg are the single greatest alien race created for any of the ST series. Vulcans? Give me a break! Klingons? Baktag, wej naDev! Tribbles? You may have competition there…)

This season is also notable for its high number of character-focused episodes. In fact, of all the main characters, only Neelix is (justifiably) denied at least one solo shot in this season.

1. Night – Let’s get things started in Beckettesque fashion! Voyager attempts to cross “The Expanse” a region of empty space spanning thousands of cubic light years in all directions. Pretty excellent Beckettesque nightmare fuel here is ruined by Janeway’s completely out-of-character pouty behavior for the first two-thirds of the episode. ***

2. Drone – Though “Drone” begins with the well-worn trope of transporter malfunction, the episode’s remainder tells an interesting story of a Borg accidentally created with 29th-century technology. ****

3. Extreme Risk – While much of the Enterprise crew gets to work building a bigger, faster shuttlecraft, B’Elanna suddenly starts suffering from survivor guilt from news she received 11 episodes ago as thus takes up lots of extreme Klingon sports in the holodeck. **

4. In the Flesh – In the middle of nowhere in the Delta Quadrant, the Voyager crew stumbles upon an intensely detailed mockup of Federation headquarters in San Francisco. The actual revelation of who’s behind the recreation and why is questionable, though interesting enough. ***

5. Once Upon a Time – What’s the difference between Neelix and the officer’s daughter for whom he’s caring? One is an annoying little alien trying desperately to be cute, and the other’s a little girl. *

6. Timeless – All right, temporal paradox! Some 15 years in the future, Kim, Chakotay and Chakotay’s girlfriend who happily accepts the possibility of nullifying her own existence seek to change the past and thereby prevent Voyager’s destruction. Kim gets to act intense for a while before insufferably freaking out; good thing The Doctor’s on hand to balance the melodrama. And *Captain* Geordi LaForge? Nice. ****

7. Infinite Regress – What might have descended into a silly tale of Seven developing multiple personalities is actually quite watchable thanks to a brisk pace and Jeri Ryan’s outstanding devotion to the part. ***

8. Nothing Human – When B’Elanna Torres becomes attached (literally) to a very large symbiote, the Doctor creates a hologram of a Cardassian doctor who’s the galaxy’s foremost expert on exobiology. The Doctor soon suffers a crisis of conscience, however, when he learns that his new comrade is actually quite the war criminal… ***

9. Thirty Days – At an aquatic planet, Tom Paris suddenly declares that he loved reading Moby Dick and Jules Verne as a child. (Yeah, sure.) His involvement in helping save the world’s environment goes over the top and gets him busted. ***

10. Counterpoint – Voyager passes through a bit of space ruled by the Devore, a species especially paranoid about telepaths. Several times are a handful of crew members and picked-up refugees stowed away – and then one of the chief Devore law enforcement officers turns traitor. Some awesome cat-and-mous stuff with Janeway coming out the clever badass. ****

11. Latent Image – The Doctor discovers that he has operated on Harry Kim but has forgotten about doing so entirely; he’s also experiencing hallucinations starring an “Ensign Jetal” (cough cough Red Shirt ahem cough hack), a crew member he’s never heard of before… ***

12. Bride of Chaotica! – A fan favorite and a classic holodeck-based episode. Whilst Paris and Kim are playing another round of “The Adventures of Captain Proton,” Voyager appears to be attacked from within the holodeck. Soon, Janeway and The Doctor are enlisted to play parts in the black-and-white holo-serial – don’t ask; just enjoy the hilarity. ****

13. Gravity – Paris and Tuvok crash-land a shuttle (didn’t take long for one of these to hit DS9 season five) on a planet whose time moves at a different rate than the surrounding universe. They take refuge for weeks (relatively) against hostile aliens of all sorts with an alien named Noss. **

14. Bliss – Voyager suddenly begins receiving an incredibly unlikely stream of good news – but what’s that got to do with the lone captain figure with the distinctly Ahab vibe seen in the cold open? ***

15. Dark Frontier, part I  – Janeway & Co. get gutsy as they make plans to steal Borg technology right off a cube. The plan works, except that Seven decides to rejoin the collective. ****

16. Dark Frontier, part II – The Borg Queen, last seen in Star Trek: First Contract remanifests in order to oversee Seven’s reentry into the Borg fold, though why the Borg ever figured Seven would play ball without getting properly re-assimilated remains a mystery. ***

17. Disease – Kim finally gets some, only to get a gnarly STD and/or fall in love, diseases which turn him into a regularly glowing whiner. (What? He was always a whiner? Oh.) Star Trek Guide is quite intrigued with those “differences” Kim and his Varro girlfriend mentioned, though… ***

18. Course: Oblivion – Star Trek: Voyager is often at its best when deep-diving into a bleak, Beckettesque plot. On the off-chance you haven’t seen this episode before, the mind-blowing twist about 20 minutes in involving B’Elanna’s apparent death is perhaps the finest in all of Star Trek history. The subsequent degeneration of things is equal parts engaging and existentially depressing. ****

19. The Fight – Comination head trip/holodeck trip for Chakotay, who must use dream-symbolism and memory patterns to communicate with aliens. A decent story whose unfortunate padding means the crew figures out the mysteries long before the audience. ***

20. Think Tank – An utterly unrecognizable Jason Alexander guest stars as a representative of the Think Tank, a small group traveling about the galaxy solving planet-sized problems. And when a large fleet of Hazari sets to hunting down Voyager, it appears the Think Tank can help – until they propose an untenable deal, almost an indecent proposal, if you will. ****

21. Juggernaut – The Voyager crew has another run-in with the Malons, those waste dumpers of the galaxy, when they encounter an ailing freighter packed with radioactive, volatile stuff. ***

22. Someone to Watch Over Me – As for episodes featuring Seven and The Doctor, Star Trek Guide prefers those with more wit and intrigue, as opposed to fluffy stuff like this, with Seven learning about dating. *

23. 11:59 – Janeway learns about one of her ancestors which completely changes the captain’s opinion. An attempt at breaking form, this one falls well short of Deep Space Nine episodes like “The Visitor” and “Far Beyond the Stars.” **

24. Relativity – All right, Captain Braxton of 29th-century Starfleet is back! The time-travel authority hurriedly recruits Seven (several times, as it turns out) to find terrorist or terrorists who will destroy Voyager. Interesting stuff, but one question: How did Braxton remember his 30 years trapped in the 20th century when Voyager helped wipe out that timeline altogether? ****

25. Warhead – An Enterprise away team discovers – and The Doctor takes a quick liking to – a sentient robot which turns out to be a rather single-minded space-traversing weapon. ***

26. Equinox, Part I – Voyager’s path comes across that of the Equinox, another Federation ship accidentally brought into the Delta Quadrant by The Caretaker. The Equinox is a science vessel reduced to half its already small crew immediately upon entering the quadrant currently, the ship is relentlessly under attack from “nucleogenic” aliens. A disturbing realization is made about Equinox’s operations, and the aliens invade the Enterprise as well as the Equinox… ***

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Infinite Regress

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Voyager is on a routine mission across the delta quadrant when Lieutenant Tuvok is taken over by a parasitic alien species known as the Vhnori. The Vhnori have the ability to transfer the memories of their deceased into the bodies of other species, and while this seemed to be an interesting cultural practice, the crew soon realizes the danger when Tuvok’s memories are taken over and he is unable to control them.

The parasite has taken over the memories of several of the Vhnori, one being a woman named Suder. Suder’s memories have been replaying in Tuvok’s mind, creating a disconcerting chain of events. Upon further investigation, Captain Janeway discovers that the Vhnori were conducting dangerous experiments to revive their dead, and the memories of the victim are too divided between the two species.

Now, the crew has to find a way to separate Tuvok from the alien memories, as they are draining his mental energy and causing him to go into a violent trance. With her knowledge of the Vhnori customs, Janeway is aware that the only way to break the cycle is to find the source of the infection and destroy it.

Meanwhile, Tuvok is struggling to keep his composure, as the memories of the Vhnori keep coming back to haunt him. He is experiencing a never-ending cycle of suffering, which leads him to an emotional breakdown. In order to save Tuvok, and to prevent the Vhnori from further experimenting on other species, the crew sets out to locate the source of the infection.

Through their investigation, the crew discovers that the source of the infection is a ship located on the other side of a nearby singularity. While the ship is beyond their reach, the crew is able to send a shuttle full of crew members into it. Led by Lieutenant Paris, the team finds an artificial intelligence called the Caretaker, which is responsible for creating the Vhnori parasites. The Caretaker has been trying to find a way to revive its own species, but their experiments have gone awry.

Upon learning this, Janeway is determined to find a way to purge the artificial intelligence from the ship and the Vhnori parasites from Tuvok. With the help of the Caretaker, the crew is able to locate the source of the infection and destroy it, freeing Tuvok from the parasites.

With the Vhnori experiment foiled, the crew is able to continue on with their mission and Tuvok is able to heal from the traumatic experience of being taken over by the parasite. This ordeal teaches the crew a valuable lesson about the importance of understanding other cultures and the consequences of tampering with their customs.

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The Mind Reels

The Mind Reels

Where culture goes POP!

Star Trek: Voyager (1998) – Infinite Regress, and Nothing Human

Captain’s log: stardate 52356.2

Robert J. Doherty pens this episode from a story he developed with Jimmy Diggs. It first aired on 25 November, 1998, and sees Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) to suffer from a development of multiple personalities when the Voyager comes across compromised Borg technology.

This will affect the developing friendship between Seven and the young Naomi Wildman (Scarlett Pomers) as different personalities begin to manifest.

There’s some cool stuff in the episode, when Seven’s personalities shifts, we see who she really is in reflective surfaces.

As Seven, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Torries (Roxann Dawson) try to solve the problem, and investigate the Borg equipment, all in an effort to help Seven deal with her issue.

And the answer may be extreme as Tuvok (Tim Russ) initiates a mind meld with her while the Voyager is under attack by the people who infected the Borg technology.

I won’t lie, I’m a little tired of the Seven of Nine episodes already, and she’s only been on the show for a season so far. I get it, she’s a fairly interesting character, they have her in a tight outfit (that does not look comfortable in any regard), and she’s a more friendly version of one of the scarier villains of Trek.

All good. But I don’t need a new story for her every other episode.

That being said, Ryan actually gets to do a little more this episode as she has portray the physicality, mannerisms, and speech of each of her manifested personalities, and that makes this episode a bit of fun for her.

seveninfinite

Captain’s log: stardate unknown

Jeri Taylor pens this Torres/Doctor episode that sees the engineer in dire emergency when a strange alien creature latches onto her, and seemingly can’t be removed. The episode first aired on 2 December, 1998.

The creature design is pretty cool, and where the story goes is pretty solid as well, as the Doctor seeks assistance and turns to a holographic version of a Cardassian doctor. Crell Morset (David Clennon) is a brilliant exo-biologist but when Torres learns that Morset was also responsible for the deaths of thousands of Bajorans during The Occupation she refuses the treatment.

This brings to the fore a great story, because some science has been advanced by terrible things, our history is littered with it. Leading to ethical questions; do we stop using it because of where it came from and the ethics of those who created it? Or do we try to use it for something better?

There’s some lightness to the episode with the Doctor’s slide show, and that makes for a nice balance to the things Torres is going through.

Next week, the Human Adventure continues with Star Trek: Voyager – The Complete Series on DVD from Paramount Canada!

Boldy go…

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Gorky Park and Sparrow Hills

The history of the gorky.

The park was built in Soviet times between the two world wars and named after the author Maxim Gorky at the time. Up until the turn of the century, the area not far from the center was only a residential area with huge estates and then, in the turmoil of the civil war and shortly afterwards, served as an illegal landfill where citizens and entrepreneurs disposed of their garbage. After intensive cleaning in the early communist years, the site was first used as an agricultural exhibition in the mid-1920s until the Moscow City Council decided to set up a park here that was accessible to all citizens of Moscow. After all, this was supposed to take a full ten years of construction. Throughout the entire Soviet period, the park was incredibly popular and familiar to every Soviet citizen, whether from Moscow or not.

Rebirth after basic renovation

However, after the end of the Soviet Union, the area fell into disrepair – cheap hustle and bustle like shooting booths and slowly rusting rides shaped the sad picture. Only outsiders got lost in the park, which lived more from its reputation than from the sad reality. Only with the fundamental and just as expensive renovation in 2011 did the Gorky become the park it was once loved by the locals. Especially the promenade along the river with its large sunbathing areas in summer and the numerous ice rinks for ice skating in winter now attract thousands of locals to Gorky every day. Countless food and café stands scattered across the site provide visitors with everything imaginable – from Georgian delicacies, a decent café to traditional Russian kvass, or ice cream and smoothies in summer.

Concerts, art and privacy place

Even bigger crowd pullers are just the concerts in the park and these have a long tradition here. In 2018 alone, David Guetta, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Killers and Lana del Rey performed numerous international music greats Open Air. But even outside the big events there is always something to see in the Gorky. The modern art center “Garage” (website https://garagemca.org/en ) in the park holds regular art and design exhibitions. In addition, the art center gave the park the largest children’s playground in all of Russia for its 90th birthday in 2018. Numerous play equipment, including 29 different swings alone, are the perfect place to spend a few hours with the youngsters. Pedal boats can also be rented at several locations in the park, for example at the Andreevsky ponds, which is also suitable for children. Sports courses for adults are held regularly in the park. From jogging to yoga or Pilates there are organized courses – beach volleyball fields, soccer fields and an open air fitness studio offer further opportunities to do sports. Afterwards, beer gardens invite you to linger – all of this happens primarily in the central part of Gorky Park, known as the Neskuchny Garden. Would you like to experience Gorky Park and the magic of Moscow by yourself? Then you need a visa first – you can find out how to get it here !

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Away from the central part: Muzeon and Sparrow Hills

In the section called Muzeon north of the Crimean Bridge there are over 1000 statues, Soviet monuments and modern art facilities. This open-air museum-like section of the Gorky invites you to take a walk that takes you past oversized and pompous Soviet busts as well as avant-garde art objects of the 21st century. Surrounded by statues of Lenin, this section looks partly surreal. The Stalin statue in particular, which had its nose removed, magically attracts visitors. For photographers, the sometimes slightly rusty busts and remains from the Soviet era offer great motifs. If you’d like to improve yourself as a promising photographer, you can even take a photography course in the park at Photoplay ( https://photoplay.ru/courses/workshop/photoplayatgorky.html ) At 2900 rubles, i.e. just under $ 41, this is significantly more affordable than comparable products in Asia or Australia. No wonder this section is considered an Instagram paradise for Moscow’s exploding hipster scene. Events are also held time and again in the Muzeon – for example, the warm months over and over here are held cinema screenings outdoors. Russian classics such as international cinema are shown. You have absolute peace in the Sparrow Hills, which also belong to the park but are spatially separated from the other part. About four kilometers further along the Moskva River out of town is this section of the Gorky Park, which is largely natural. There, just opposite the large Luzhniki Stadium on the other side of the Moskva River, where the Olympics and the World Cup finals have already taken place, there is another privacy place in the middle of Moscow. At the highest point of the Sparrow Hills, to which a cable car leads, you have a fantastic view of Moscow.

Alexander Popov

Welcome to Russia! My name is Alexander, I was born in Moscow and I'm a passionate tour guide. I want to share my passion for Russia and my hometown with you. On my website you will find useful information to make your individual trip to Russia as interesting as possible.

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  1. Star Trek Voyager Ruminations: S5E07 Infinite Regress

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  2. Star Trek: Voyager : Infinite Regress (1998)

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COMMENTS

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    List of episodes. " Infinite Regress " is the 101st episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the seventh episode of the fifth season. The show depicted a Starfleet spacecraft slowly making its way back to Earth after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant. This science fiction story focuses on the character Seven of Nine (played by Jeri Ryan) and the Borg ...

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    Late night aboard USS Voyager. In Cargo Bay 2, Seven of Nine regenerates in her alcove. The lights are low. All is quiet. But then a loud, echoing cacophony of voices is heard. Seven awakens, the computer warning her that her regeneration cycle is incomplete. She glances about suspiciously and steps down from the alcove, ignoring the computer's ...

  3. "Star Trek: Voyager" Infinite Regress (TV Episode 1998)

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    Star Trek: Voyager Infinite Regress Sci-Fi Nov 25, 1998 45 min Paramount+ Available on Paramount+, Prime Video, iTunes S5 E7: Seven of Nine begins exhibiting the personalities of people that she assimilated as a member of the collective. Sci-Fi Nov 25, 1998 45 min ...

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    Voyager encounters a Borg device floating in space which causes Seven of Nine to exhibit multiple personalities, including that of a Klingon, a Fereng…

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    Infinite Regress Stardate: 52188.7 Original Airdate: 25 November 1998. [Cargo Bay two] (Seven wakes from a cacophany of voices.) COMPUTER: Regeneration cycle incomplete. (She prowls around the cargo bay, searching for something, then goes out into the corridor. In the Mess hall she sniffs some food then knocks other bowls onto the floor.

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    The Delta Flyers is a weekly Star Trek: Voyager rewatch & recap podcast hosted by Garrett Wang & Robert Duncan McNeill. Each week Garrett and Robert will rewatch an episode of Voyager starting at the very beginning. This week's episode is Infinite Regress. Garrett and Robbie recap and discuss the episode, and share their insight as series ...

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    Russia's capital Moscow has over 100 parks and larger green spaces. The Muscovites regularly seek refuge in the countryside when the hustle and bustle of the big city grows over their heads. None of the 100 parks is as well known and popular as the huge Gorky Park in the south of the capital, which is located on the Moskva River and consists ...