Voyager is hailed by a former crewmember, Lieutenant Ballard, believed dead – in fact, she was buried in space. But although she has Ballard’s memories and some of her DNA, she was saved and reanimated by a race called the Kabali – and she looks like them now. Back on Voyager, she deals with her Kabali body by changing cosmetically to look like a human, but she is Kabali, and she cannot fit in, or think like a human anymore. She hangs around with Harry, who has a crush on her, but when her Kabali father comes back for her, she starts to reconsider her decision to return to Enterprise. By the time her Kabali father returns with a trio of ships, she has decided that her place is with her new species.
A side plot deals with Seven’s difficulties in caretaking the Borg children.
It’s not a bad episode, although the basic plot structure is well-worn, so we know where they are probably heading, and they do end up there. Lt. Ballard looks great as a Kabali, and I thought the makeup effects were really good.
I enjoyed the complex graphic that Seven devises to control the movements of the Borg children, and Chakotay’s reaction to it.
Nits: Why didn’t Seven bring Ballard back to life, like she did for Neelix in ‘mortal coil’? Why doesn’t the Universal Translator translate Ballard’s Kabali outbursts into English?
Quotable quotes:
"Hair is one of my specialties – despite evidence to the contrary." – the doctor
Kim: I don’t want to lose you.
Ballard: You already did – but at least this time we get the chance to say goodbye.
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