In the season finale, Seven
discovers Unimatrix Zero, a virtual reality where Borg rebels dream.
(Originally aired May
24, 2000)
| She's Loved and Lost |
| Borg Queen: I've disconnected you from the hive mind. You're alone. I know how uncomfortable that can be. |
 |
 |
 |  | More Stories |
| |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|  | Related Links |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Story by Mike Sussman
Teleplay by Brannon Braga
& Joe Menosky
GUEST CAST
Susanna Thompson - Borg Queen
Mark Deakins - Axum
Jerome Butler - Korok
Joanna Heimbold - Laura
Tony Sears - Borg Drone
Ryan Sparks - Alien Child
WHAT HAPPENED
A Borg cube travels among
many other Borg vessels. Some drones are regenerating; one has the rapid
eye movement (REM) characteristic of human dream sleep. The drones wake
up and enter a room to meet the Borg Queen, whose body has just been assembled.
She tells one drone, Four of Twelve, that he has a "disease," and that
she wants info about it.
She disconnects him from
the hive mind and interrogates him, but Four merely gurgles that he doesn't
know or can’t remember. She orders the other drones to dismantle him and
retrieve data. They drag him away. (more spoilers)
ANALYSIS
"Unimatrix Zero" is a fairly
appealing finale to a season marked by sharp
peaks and troughs in quality. The premise of a Borg virtual reality
is an inspired one. Perhaps it was inspired partly by the film The
Matrix, though a key difference here is that dreaming is a tool
of liberation, not enslavement.
Even after numerous encounters,
the Borg remain an interesting foe, with new depths to be plumbed. However,
one might wonder why they are not as formidable as they seemed a few years
ago. Could it be residual damage from that war with Species 8572?
The cliffhanger ending has
a slightly comical quality, but intrigues nonetheless.
And in any event, it is good
to see new sides to the personality of Seven (or shall we call her Anika?).
WHAT WE LEARN
Anika and Axum saw a lot
of each other, albeit intermittently, over six years.
DANGLING PLOT THREADS
The fates of both Voyager
and the Borg Collective dangle in the balance.
TUNE IN NEXT FALL
You'll want to see more of
those radically new hairstyles glimpsed at the episode's end when "Unimatrix
Zero" continues.
advertisement
