The Gift

This Story: Season 4 Episode 2 (production code 170)
VOY Overall: Episode 70
Trek Overall: Story 498, Episode 526
Airdate: 10 Sep 1997
Written by Joe Menosky (and Bryan Fuller, uncredited)
Directed by Anson Williams

Notes

• Running fired torpedo count: 23 / Confirmed crew deaths since pilot: 13 (crew of 141 – departure of Kes).
• The final episode for Jennifer Lien as Kes as a regular cast member.  She would appear only once more in the sixth season episode “Fury“.
• This episode was originally supposed to be the fifth of the season, but got bumped up to second, apparently due to Jennifer Lien’s schedule at the time.
• The second of four Voyager episodes directed by Anson Williams (Happy Days’ Potsie Weber).
• One of only three episodes of the entire run of Voyager that had the full cast from all seven years of the series in it at once.  The other two are “Scorpion, Part II” and “Fury“.
• The last time we see Jeri Ryan in full Borg outfit for quite awhile.
• Footage of atoms was a re-use of a visual effect for the episode “Cold Fire“.
• There are a few references back to the events of the episode “Unity” here.
• A fourth shuttle from Voyager is lost here after three being lost in “Initiations“, “Partruition“, & “Unity“. Those three were destroyed, this one was just given to Kes and is presumed lost or destroyed, as the next time Kes shows up, we do not see said shuttle.
• Deep Space Four gets a shoutout here.

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