The 1997-98 season gets a noticeable boost from the character addition of Seven of Nine, the half human, half Borg female played by Jeri Ryan, whose striking features and statuesque figure instantly made her a fan favorite (especially among the show's male followers). These 26 episodes find Voyager stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from Federation outposts and constantly beset by hostile forces. The season opener, “Scorpion, Part Two,” has Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) striking a temporary alliance with the Borg in order to fight a common enemy, with Seven of Nine coming aboard as part of this agreement. Over the course of the year Janeway will gradually encourage Seven to shrug off her Borg characteristics and allow her human qualities to come to the fore. With a surfeit of strong female characters, the series doesn't really suffer from the early-season departure of the empath Kes (Jennifer Lien), who gets a dramatic sendoff in “The Gift.” The high point here is undoubtedly “Year of Hell,” a tense two-parter in which Voyager is time-transported into a war zone, subjected to merciless attack, and very nearly destroyed. Series regular Robert Picardo, who plays the Doctor, takes center stage in “Message in a Bottle,” which finds him making contact with an embattled Federation ship in the Alpha Quadrant. And Jeri Ryan proves her ability to carry an episode in “One,” which puts her in charge of Voyager when a highly radioactive nebula forces the rest of the crew to go into long-term stasis. Many fans who thought the third season showed evidence of fatigue felt that the fourth season episodes represented a shot in the arm for the series, and some devotees number these 26 installments among the very best. DVD extras include five featurettes (on the season, characters, special effects, etc.) and a couple of Easter egg clips. Recommended. (E. Hulse)
Star Trek: Voyager--The Complete Fourth Season
Paramount, 7 discs, 1,193 min., not rated, DVD: $139.95 December 13, 2004
Star Trek: Voyager--The Complete Fourth Season
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