Star Trek: Fan Collective – The Borg

I think the idea behind these Fan Collective DVD Box Sets is actually a sound one. At first I thought it was just yet another way for Berman and the folks at Paramount to ring the neck of the golden goose until the damn thing is dead, buried, dug up, re-killed, cremated and then buried again. But as it turns out, this works for the not-so-hard-core, I-don’t-need-to-own-every-episode casual Trek fan. And surprisingly, those people do actually exist.

Of course we begin this new series of releases with Star Trek: Borg. Aside from the Klingons, the Borg are probably the most recognized alien villains in the franchise. During the run of Voyager and Enterprise, whenever things seemed bleak, numbers started to drop and interest began to fade, all you had to do was call up the Borg and your ratings would shoot right back up.

The only issue I have with this particular collection is the ridiculous amount of continuity issues inherent in the Borg story line. WARNING "” HUGE GEEK OUT MOMENT AHEAD (but it’s ok cause I have lots of sex… with other people) – As we all know, of course, the Borg first came to humanities attention on Stardate 43996.7 when Q flung the Enterprise 7,000 light years deeper into space than had ever been explored before right into the path of a Borg Cube. This held true as the beginning of the Borg until the seventh feature film, Generations, shows the Enterprise B rescuing Elurian refuges that were fleeing the destruction of their home planet, curtosey of a Borg attack. Clearly, Starfleet would have been told about the Borg at this point, but conveniently we’re supposed to believe that didn’t happen. From that point on Borg craziness goes all over the place. Seven of Nines parents were some how studying the Borg for years before the Enterprise encountered them which is what led to her assimilation and of course we somehow had to get the gang from Enterprise involved by having them encounter the Borg hundreds of years earlier. I think they got to the point where it was just like, fuck it. Let’s use em where ever and however we can.

All inconsistencies aside, they always make for great episodes! The Enterprise episode, Regeneration where the remains of the Borg who attacked Earth in 2063 (via a time travel incident in First Contact) are uncovered and the scientists unwittingly reactivate a few of the drones who assimilate their ship and leave Earth bound for the Delta Quadrant, was awesome! It made absolutely positively no sense in terms of Star Trek lore (which used to really piss me off), but it was a great hour of television. The only way to enjoy any episode of Enterprise is to just accept the inconsistencies and enjoy it at face value.

The rest

of the episodes were well chosen for the set. Following the false Borg start in Regeneration, comes the true beginnings of the Borg in Q-Who? This was one of the best early Next Gen episodes. It took them awhile to find their footing in the 24th, but once they did, they hit their stride around season 3 and were consistently impressive. This episode came mid way through the second season when expectations were still low. It's a great Q episode and a stunning introduction of a new deadly enemy; So well done.

Next up is arguably the best of the best of the Next Gen; the two part cliff hanger episode that started the awesome tradition of season-enders that left audiences guessing for months for countless seasons to come, The Best of Both Worlds. The greatest thing about these two episodes is that a good half of the first hour is dedicated to setting up the dread that was felt by the Federation just at the mere prospect of the Borg invading. First Contact was an amazing film, don't get me wrong, but it lacked the tension of, 'holy crap"¦ The Borg are coming!' These episodes have that in spades and it works to create fantastic dramatic tension and raises the stakes of the encounter to the highest we had ever seen. When Picard shows up on the view screen half Borgified as Locutus, Trekkies everywhere had mini orgasms that lasted for weeks.

The next time the Borg show up is in the episode I, Borg, where a single Borg recovered from a crash site is separated from the collective and begins to develop a unique personality and becomes a functioning individual. This was another great use of the Borg storyline that truly did justice to the characters in the show as Picard and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) deal with their innate bigotry and learn to accept the possibility that Borg could eventually change as a people.

When we hit Descent and Descent 2 the season 4 finale and the season 5 premiere is where we start to get a little rocky. The concept behind the show is that some Borg have now become individuals and are under the command of Data's evil twin brother Lore, and they are bent on destroying all biological organisms in favor of completely artificial life-forms. Good idea, but it guts what makes The Borg a terrifying enemy. Take away their collective mind and power, and they become just another race of bad guys. The episode also deals with Data's emotion chip and his quest to become fully human. Again, well executed, but not a great Borg show. The one huge upside is that Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) is finally given something meaningful to do as she is left in command of the ship and has to fight off a Borg attack on her

own. Love her, and love seeing her in the big chair!

Speaking of awesomely powerful women in Star Trek history, our next stop on our tour through the Borg storyline is found when Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) squares off against the collective in the two part season ender and opener, Scorpion part I and II.

Now, of all of the incarnations of Trek, I do believe that Voyager owes more to the Borg than any one. Without the event style episodes that the Borg were able to deliver and of course the introduction of one of the most interesting characters on the show, late addition Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), I doubt Voyager could have lasted the full seven years on air that it did.

Scorpion begins with a mind blowing scene where two approaching Borg cubes are completely destroyed by unknown energy weapons putting an end to the truth behind the saying, Resistance Is Futile! From that moment on the direction of Voyager changed "” all for the better I might add. After suggesting an alliance with the Borg, Janeway finds herself confronted by Chakotey (Robert Beltran) who believes her obsession with getting the crew home is blinding her to the broader ramifications of her plan. This was seriously one of the best scenes in Voyagers seven year run. If you see nothing else of Voyager these are the moments to witness. And unlike Best of Both Worlds II, which did not live up to the same excitement of it's first part, Scorpion II most certainly did with the tension between Captain and first officer rising and a battle that landed a wayward Borg on their ship for the rest of their journey.

These episodes delivered on all levels, excitement, drama and most importantly it helped to humanize these characters more and enhance the sometimes hard to see personal connections between them. Aside from Kate Mulgrew, who always put more layers in her performance than a celebrity wedding cake, the supporting cast often had trouble delivering more than what was on the surface. The inclusion of a Borg trying to regain her humanity really did a lot to help not only the show as a whole but the rest of the cast as well. The Borg may have assimilated thousands of species throughout the galaxy but they also saved Voyagers ass!

The remaining episodes in this collection are of course all Voyager episodes and they all pretty much measure up to Scorpion. In Drone they find a baby Borg that turns out to be from the future thanks to a little help from the Doctor's (Robert Picardo) 29th century mobile emitter. Then in Dark Frontier Janeway and Seven of Nine come face to face with the Borg Queen for the first time as she attempts to re-assimilate Seven back into the collective. Unimatrix Zero parts I and II

brings us back to the Queen and a civil war within the collective, and the final episode of the series, Endgame where a final show down with the Borg results in Voyagers triumphant return home!

The only downside to these fan collector sets as I see them, is that they offer nothing other than these select episodes and some random commentaries. They don't even have clever new intros or menus. Kind of a downer and a bit of a waste, Trek fans would be much more willing to re-buy the same episodes over and over again if there were at least some new featurettes or interviews, or something along with them. As it is, these will probably only appeal to the fans I mentioned at the beginning. So if that's you"¦ then get out there and buy this set! Let's be honest, the Borg rock!

Fan Collection Grade: A-

DVD Features Grade: F

Overall Grade: B-