Dark Frontier

This Story: Season 5 Episodes 15 & 16 (production codes 211 & 212)
VOY Overall: Episodes 109 & 110
Trek Overall: Story 535, Episodes 565 & 566
Airdate: 17 Feb 1999
Written by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
Directed by Cliff Bole (Part I) & Terry Windell (Part II)

Notes

• This originally aired as a single double length episode – it didn’t transmit as two. However, for syndication it is aired in two episodes. On the DVD, it is in its original single episode format.  I count it as two for the marathon for episode count purposes. It was apparently originally scripted as a two parter before being filmed.
• Running fired torpedo count: 49 (7 this episode).  This contradicts the hard limit set in “The Cloud” of 38.
• More crew complement discrepancies. The Borg say there’s 143 people on Voyager.  This contradicts just two episodes ago when they said it was 152.
• The Borg Queen here is played by Susanna Thompson.  She takes over the role from Alice Krige, who originated the role in “First Contact“.  Thompson would also play the Borg Queen in “Unimatrix Zero (Parts I & II)”.  Thompson was one of the women who auditioned for the character in First Contact as well.
• Thompson has played other characters in Star Trek.  She was also the Romulan Varel in TNG’s “The Next Phase“, Jaya in TNG’s “Frame of Mind“, and Lenara Kahn in DS9’s “Rejoined“. I also know her well as Moira Queen from several episodes of the CW series “Arrow“.
• Some plot points were intentionally left open/hanging – the idea being the audience could discuss those amongst themselves (was Seven a plant on Voyager, the face of Anika’s parents)
• The outfit that Susanna Thompson wore was the same one worn by Alice Krige in First Contact, but with some minor alterations.
• The final episode of Star Trek directed by Cliff Bole.  In all, he directed 25 episodes of TNG, 7 of DS9, and 10 of Voyager.
• A review I read of this episode said that after this episode had Janeway & Seven be more like Picard & Data in their relationship together.  I can see that.
• The only time we ever see a Borg probe.
• Voyager loses a shuttle this episode – the 10th overall.  How many do they have?
• Seven’s outfit changes from blue to purple this episode.  This is apparently a real world issue, due to stories of the blue outfit being a problem against blue screen backdrops.
• Numerous references to the events from the episode “The Raven” are made here.
• Seven’s human parents appear in this episode, however, they had to be recast from prior appearances as the previous actors were unavailable.
• Sending a message through Seven’s cranial iuterplexing beacon is brought up here – the same kind of thing future Harry Kim used in the episode “Timeless“.
• It is said there were 129,000 lifeforms (presumably Borg drones) on the Borg cube that assimilates the Hansen family. Don’t believe we had been given that level of information on a cube before.
• While the species is not named, the Borg Queen said she was originally from “Species 125”.
• Borg Species 6961 is defined as “Ktarian”.
• Borg Species 5618 is defined as “Human”.
• The Queen’s plan to assimilate humans that she lays out near the end of the episode reminds me somewhat of the plan used in Star Trek Picard’s third season involving hidden transporter code to assimilate the younger officers.

Links