The fourth season of Voyager ultimately retreats back to the comfort and safety offered by familiarity, but there are moments when it looks like the show might finally be ready to take flight. The fourth season is a weird synthesis of generic Star Trek and something unique, reflecting the fusion of organic and mechanical that defines the Borg Collective. The fourth season of Voyager is caught between mediocrity and brilliance, between being a perfectly serviceable mid-tier Star Trek show and being something a little more ambitious. In some ways, this is the central tension of the fourth season, one reflected in the addition of Seven of Nine and the focus on Borg culture. They just fill up the season order adding very little beyond a familiar Star Trek beat sheet. Stories like Scientific Method, Random Thoughts, Waking Moments, Unforgettable and Demon fail to make a lasting impression.
More than that, there are quite a few disposable and dull episodes, stories quickly forgotten after the end credits. While there are arguably fewer truly terrible episodes than in the earlier seasons, there are a couple of true stinkers like Retrospect or Vis á Vis. However, there is also an unevenness to the season. More than that, there is a lot of really fun storytelling as well, with lighter episodes like Concerning Flight and Message in a Bottle. There are also truly great standalone episodes like Nemesis, Prey, and Living Witness. Scorpion, Part I and Scorpion, Part II are spectacular television, while Year of Hell, Part I and Year of Hell, Part II offer a glimpse of the show that Voyager could have been while also developing some of the series’ core themes. As such, it also has some of the franchise’s best episodes. The fourth season of Voyager has some of the show’s best episodes. Somehow, this feels entirely appropriate. In the grand scheme of things, that places the best season of Star Trek: Voyager around the franchise median.
It is also weaker than the first two seasons of Star Trek or the final two seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise. By any measure, the fourth is probably weaker than at least four seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and four seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Of course, that is arguably damning with faint praise. The fourth season is probably the show’s best season.
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