Starring Kate Mulgrew as Commander Katherine Janeway, a career Starfleet
officer who is forced to overcome all manner of obstacles as she attempts
to get her ship and crew home from an unexplored region of space 70 years
from their home.
The fourth season is often seen as the strongest of all of the Voyager
seasons though many believe it set the stage for problems that would arise in later seasons that would in turn hinder the development of the show.
The biggest change for season 4 was the addition of Jerri Ryan as 7 of 9, a former Borg who was removed from the Borg Collective and has to learn to act as an individual and re-discover the humanity she had taken from her. While this is a great character who installed numerous avenues of conflict amongst the characters and a new sense of unpredictability in the show. To many though the introduction of the character seemed to many to be a move made simply to draw in younger male viewers thanks in large parts to the very tight costumes that 7 wore.
Regardless of this, I found the character to be a very interesting and worthy addition to the series as for the first time in Trek, there was a wild card who had unpredictable nature which lead to some great dramatic moments. Sadly though, the show lost the character of Kes (Jennifer Lien), who was removed when producers did not think her character was working. The move served to diminish the character of Neelix (Ethan Phillips), who would spend a portion of the season trying to re-establish his diverse nature as he was often left to be simply the ships guide and cook, as well as comic relief. Kes and Neelix were a great dynamic and it was sadly missed by the removal of Kes. It would also have been good drama to see how Ryan and Lien would have played off one another in years to come.
That being said, Season 4 had some outstanding moments, especially in the episodes “The Raven”, “Message in a Bottle”, “Prey”, and “Hope and Fear”, to name but a few of the many, many outstanding episodes on this set.
The Season Four DVD set is a well crafted. The menu functions are well
designed and easy to navigate and highly detailed. Aside from the plethora
of behind the scenes, interviews and making of segments, the series
features all 26 episodes in sparking color and sound.
DVD Features:
Available subtitles: English
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
26 episodes on seven discs: Scorpion Part II, The Gift, Day of Honor, Nemesis, Revulsion, The Raven, Scientific Method, Year of Hell Part I, Year of Hell Part II, Random Thoughts, Concerning Flight, Mortal Coil, Waking Moments, Message in a Bottle, Hunters, Prey, Retrospect, The Killing Game Part I, The Killing Game Part II, Vis a Vis, The Omega Directive, Unforgettable, Living Witness, Demon, One, Hope and Fear
Braving the Unknown: Season Four
Time Capsule: Seven of Nine
Time Capsule: Harry Kim
The Birth of Species 8472
The Art of Alien Worlds
Photo gallery
Number of discs: 7
4 stars out of 5
