'Renaissance Man' Review Round-Up

The last ever regular episode of Star Trek: Voyager has now been reviewed by several well-known sites on the internet. While most enjoyed the episode, heads were scratched over whether it really deserved to be the penultimate episode of the seven year space odyssey.

• Jim Wright at Delta Blues had his review of 'Renaissance Man' up in (possibly) record time. Jim had some reservations about the episode, but found it to be highly entertaining.

  I had fun watching it, and I laughed out loud several times. It may not be the penultimate episode I'd have preferred, but it was entertaining, and that's never a bad thing. There's not a whole lot to say about this episode. It was fast paced, well written, well acted, and the Matrix moments were most unexpected. The only real shame is that Janeway didn't institute the No Opera rule a few months ago.

  In the full analysis here at Delta Blues, the episode is awarded a solid four stars out of five.

• TrekWeb's O. Deus summarised the episode as "A 'perfectly functional' episode that pretty much ties up the Doctor's development and offers a somewhat decent adventure plot to boot. And it's always fun to see the Doctor take Tuvok down a notch or two." His full analysis can be found here at TrekWeb.

• Over at Get Critical! Michelle Erica Green was disappointed by the episode, that she felt had far-reaching consequences for the way the audience sees the Doctor.

  And so, in a single hour, Voyager eradicates all its painstaking work to make viewers take the Doctor seriously as an individual. The writers use him as gratuitous comic relief the way they use Seven of Nine as gratuitous titillation. 'Renaissance Man' is the EMH's 'Human Error,' though it's lighter in tone and therefore more enjoyable to watch; with Bob Picardo to make us laugh, as the writers seem to believe, who needs drama, originality or genuine emotion in the series' second-to-last episode ever? Even as Enterprise hype begins to flood the media, whoever's in charge of the franchise is doing his damndest to make sure no one misses Voyager.

  The full breakdown of the episode can be found by following this link.

• Section 31's Rob Adams awarded the episode 10 out of ten, praising the quality of acting. "For years, the acting was almost like filler in between action sequences. But not this year. Another kudos to Ken Biller." More comments can be found in the full review at Section 31.

• Monkee award the episode 8 out of ten, calling it "solid, entertaining episode, with a few flaws."

  I loved the look on Janeway's face when she told the aliens to release the Doctor, because she was 'the more valuable hostage,' and they said, "Actually, you're not." Ha! All joking aside, though, the Doctor and Janeway's professional disagreement was interesting, too. She ordered him not to comply with the alien's demands, and he refused, with potentially devastating results. Voyager needs that warp core, or their journey's over. She's the Captain, and it's her call to make, but the Janeway lover in me finds it hard to condemn the Doctor for his actions.

  The full analysis can be found here at Monkee's Reviews.

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  Find more episode info in the Episode Guide.