| abstract | - While the story-telling of Voyager's seventh and final year in the Delta Quadrant is comparable to season six, (being populated with single story episodes largely independent of one another), the season as a whole has more of a feeling of continuity than its predecessor. A multitude of familiar aliens are revisited for a final shout including the Ferengi in "Inside Man" , the Hirogen in "Flesh and Blood" , the Klingons in "Prophecy" , the Hierarchy in "The Void" and "Renaissance Man" , the Q in "Q2" and the Talaxians in "Homestead" . To complement this feeling of continuity, a smattering of episodes revisiting past story lines are also thrown in to the mix, to give the season more of a feeling of completion. Most significant of these occurs in "Shattered" when Voyager encounters a space-time anomaly which fractures the space-time continuum aboard the ship. This leaves Commander Chakotay (and later Janeway) tasked with sealing the fractures and repairing the timeline. With different areas of the ship trapped at varying points in Voyager's journey through the Delta Quadrant, the audience is treated to 45 minutes of pure nostalgia as the captain and her first officer jump from time frame to time frame, interacting with their own histories as they go. Back for one last round is Seska and the Kazon, intent on sabotaging Chakotay's attempts to heal the shattered ship. Retrospective continuity is also maintained in "Repression" , when a transmission from the Alpha Quadrant pits Starfleet personnel against the former Maquis, giving Janeway one last opportunity to chide Chakotay for reverting to his old mistrust: "Maybe someone on your crew couldn't put the past behind them." "My crew?" - Chakotay and Janeway "Drive" sees Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres pilot the Delta Flyer II in a "trans-stellar rally" before finally tying the knot, and in "Body and Soul" , Jeri Ryan (forced, as Seven of Nine to hide The Doctor's program in her cybernetic implants) attempts, and largely succeeds in mimicking Robert Picardo. The fun continues towards the end of the series as well. In "Q2" John de Lancie returns with his errant son, desperate for the assistance of "Aunt Kathy" which completes the "Q" story arc begun in seasons two and three, and in "Author, Author" , the crew get to play in the holodeck alongside adulterated versions of themselves, when The Doctor publishes his first holonovel to less than stellar reviews. After marrying in "Drive" , B'Elanna Torres and Tom Paris' relationship, so quintessential to the series from season three onwards bears fruit in the seventh season. Torres discovers that she is pregnant in "Lineage" , before contending with a group of Klingons convinced she is carrying the Klingon Messiah in "Prophecy" . Ultimately, Torres gives birth at the very moment Voyager bursts into the Alpha Quadrant from inside an exploding Borg sphere in the series finale "Endgame" . From Ethan Phillips's point of view, one of the most pleasingly poignant episodes of the season comes when Neelix makes contact, and ultimately decides to stay, with a small group of Talaxians in "Homestead" . In hindsight, this is perhaps the best thing the writers could have done for the character, as Voyager's all-action finale would have undoubtedly featured less of Neelix had he remained on board. The development of the character, and Phillips' portrayal are arguably two of the unsung strengths of the series as a whole, and so the inclusion of an episode towards the end of the series, dedicated to Neelix's decision to stay with the newly discovered members of his race, allowed closure to his relationship with Tuvok and the character's complete story arc. And so, in a final "nod" back to the origins of the series, Janeway's decision to destroy the Caretaker's array is used against her by none other than her future self, to persuade her that collapsing a Borg transwarp hub, and risking its destruction before she can use it to return home is folly. The Captain provides the ultimate retort however, by presenting her senior officers with the final say. "A long time ago, I made a decision that stranded this crew in the Delta Quadrant. I don't regret that decision. But I didn't know all of you then, and Voyager was just a Starship. It's much more than that now. It's become our home. I know I could order you to carry out this plan, and none of you would hesitate for a second. But I'm not going to do that. You know the crewmen that work under you, and you know what your own hearts are telling you. So we're not going to attempt this unless everyone in this room agrees. No one will think less of you if you don't..." - Janeway to her senior officers "... to the journey!" - Janeway and her senior officers The plan is forged and agreed upon, and the series concludes with Voyager returning home with the Federation fleet flanking her. The series finale, "Endgame," drew far significantly less viewers than when the series premiered six and a half years earlier. "Caretaker", as a whole, drew 21.3 million viewers; (citation needed • [ edit]) "Endgame" drew 8.8 million viewers, almost a third of the show's original audience from January 1995. (citation needed • [ edit]) Unfortunately for UPN and Star Trek fans everywhere, it would be a sign of things to come for the network and franchise as a whole. (citation needed • [ edit])
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