Three More 'Body and Soul' Reviews

The most recently aired Voyager episode, 'Body and Soul', seems to have struck the right note with most of you out there in TV land and, judging by today's positive reviews, the show's critics also found something to like.

• First off today is Jason Bates of IGN Sci-Fi who, it seems, loved the episode, providing us with the most positive Voyager review of his that I can recall without looking.

  That payoff was Jeri Ryan doing Robert Picardo. It made the show. Even if the rest of it had tanked (which it didn't), this part would have carried it into that "positive viewing experience" category so desperately sought by UPN on its deathbed. Jeri Ryan was that good. Part of it has to be chalked up to the novelty of seeing Seven out of character, but only part: she was consistently entertaining all hour with her imitation of Picardo's mannerisms and gesticulations, right down to his rubber-faced expressionism. She's got Doc nailed: half Kelsey Grammar, half Jim Carrey.

  And that's just the beginning. Jeri-as-Robert Picardo-as-The Doctor-inhabiting-Seven eats cheesecake, drinks wine, gets kissed by a Kirk-like male captain, massaged by a sympathetic Troi-like female doc, and rolls around on a bunk in her skintight bodysuit while the director lovingly shoots from above. It's just one awkward, subtextual moment after another. You can read whatever subversive themes you want into it; all that's definitely there; I'm just glad they didn't beat us over the head with it in the usual Trek PC fashion. No, they stuck to just being funny, and frankly that's what baffled me. What happened? Were Berman and Braga on vacation? Isn't it their job to bleed the life out of the stories, nix anything sexy, and delete any jokes that someone who doesn't program FORTRAN seventy hours a week might find funny? Quick, somebody get on a cellphone to Barbados and find the powers-that-be: the formula was ignored!

  For Jason's full review, where he awards it an astounded 5/5, click here.

• Secondly, Michael Hinman of SyFy World has uploaded his review of 'Body and Soul'. He was also very positive about the episode, finding only one flaw.

  Pon Farr time

  The only bad part about this episode is that we had to suffer through Tuvok's suffering once again. Man, doesn't that guy ever get a good night's sleep?
  One good thing did come from all this. We FINALLY got to see Tuvok going through Pon Farr. With it being seven years on Voyager, he had to go through it sometime. Getting aroused once every seven years would make me want to throw anything on its back ... photonic insurgent or not.
  I do have to give my hats off to the writers. When the holodeck shut down with Tuvok being more sexually frustrated than ever, I thought he was going to go crazy and wreak havoc on the ship. Instead, we got to see him whine. The whine was not predictable ... wreaking havoc would've been. I'm glad we were able to see the former rather than the latter.

  ROFLMAO!!

  I just can't stop saying how much I liked this episode. Every single joke (and inside joke) was excellent. Like when Seven is eating the cheesecake and she said she avoided foods like that to keep her "figure." The Doctor usually plays a great comedic (and serious when he needs to be) role on the ship. Transposing that personality to Seven was just way too much fun to pass up.

  Again, for the full review of the episode, which is rated 95/100, click here.

• Finally, in the third (and least positive) review for the day, we have Rob Adams (Quinn) of Section 31 who rated it 7/10.

  Well...the story. Its basically about the Doctor using Seven's body to steal information and to learn what it is to be alive. Along with other things, he also tries to convince the aliens that photonics aren't as bad as the aliens think that they are. He accomplishes this by saving the alien captain.

  That's it...a very trite story. It could've gone a few other ways (Was anyone else kind of scared when Seven/Doctor spoke with Jaryn?), but I think that it went the right one.

  So, what was good about this episode? A lot of things. The opening scenes with Doc in Seven's body were excellent. If you closed your eyes, you would think that it was Picardo with a female voice. Kudos to Jeri Ryan there.

  Even Seven-haters had to enjoy this episode...

  To read the full review, click here and visit Section 31.

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