Star Trek: Voyager--The Complete Fifth Season

The 1998-99 season tracks the ascendancy of Jeri Ryan's character, Seven of Nine, who had by now become an overwhelming fan favorite, and whether by accident or design, most of the fifth season's best episodes showcase Voyager's sexiest crew member. “Infinite Regress,” for example, deals with the problem posed by Seven's exposure to rays that bring on multiple-personality disorder. The two-parter “Dark Frontier” revolves only partially around the efforts of Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to recover valuable Borg technology; of more pressing importance seems to be the Collective's attempt at coercing Seven to rejoin them. “Someone to Watch Over Me,” a pleasant change of pace, finds Seven studying human dating rituals under the supervision of the Doctor (Robert Picardo). She's also featured prominently in other outstanding episodes, such as “Drone,” in which a technological mishap merges nanoprobes with the Doctor's mobile holographic transmitter, creating a highly advanced Borg drone. “In the Flesh” has Janeway and the others investigating a remote outpost where an alien species has assumed human form in preparation for some secret mission. And “Timeless” finds Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) attempting to correct a mistake he made 15 years earlier--with serious consequences to Voyager. Other popular cast members--including Roxann Dawson (as B'Elanna Torres) and Robert McNeill (Tom Paris)--get their turns in the spotlight, but season five definitely belongs to Seven, and Ryan makes the most of the numerous opportunities afforded her. DVD extras include five featurettes (on the season, characters, special effects, etc.) and five Easter egg clips. Recommended. [Note: Star Trek: Voyager--The Complete Sixth Season and Star Trek: Voyager--The Complete Seventh Season (the last) are also newly available.] (E. Hulse)