A first rewatch of Voyager in over 20 years has proven more enjoyable than I anticipated. In particular, the antagonists are much more I interesting than I remembered. The Vidians were underused but genuinely disturbing, the Kazon were more generic but with some interesting threads, while Species 8472 was (imo) the show's greatest contribution to ST. Coming close to them however were the Hirogen, at least the Hirogen of "Hunters" and "Prey". Sure they were a ripoff of Predator but while many ST fans would argue that its writers should be bringing us something new instead of borrowing from alternative sci-fi mythologies, a nomadic group of powerful humanoid hunters was exactly what a show like Voyager needed as a recurring villain. But the cherry on top was the physical appearance that the writers and makeup guys came up with. Simply put, when first introduced, the Hirogen looked nasty, strong, and deeply intimidating. While their armour and cranial ridges went some way in achieving that effect, it was their size that did most of the heavy lifting. The first time we see them in "Hunters", the two we meet are both over seven foot tall and they tower awesomely over Tuvok and Seven. Sure, Tony Todd in "Prey" was only six and a half feet but he was plenty big enough to intimidate. Alas, by this episode, most of them are now of average height and almost completely incapable of intimidating on the same level as before. If anything, they look like a runt sub-species of the Hirogen we previously met. Shame, because this antagonist had real potential.
Review of The Killing Game
