This episode could have been outstanding if it had followed its originally exciting direction. Instead, in my opinion, the plot took a turn in the wrong direction and thereby lost its actual charm.
When Voyager is threatened by an armada of bounty hunters and there seems to be no way out, a stranger appears on the ship out of thin air and offers to help Janeway. As it turns out, he is part of a group of highly intelligent aliens whose mission is to solve complex and seemingly hopeless problems of alien civilizations, planets or spaceship crews. You could describe them as futuristic nerds who are no longer satisfied with just solving crossword puzzles and wordles and playing Kal-toh or Tongo with the best of the best. They seek great challenges - planetary catastrophes, intergalactic conflicts, civilizations on the brink of annihilation - in order to expand their intellect and hone their skills by solving virtually unsolvable cases. However, this group is far from acting out of altruistic motives or out of pure charity. Each time they demand an individual, unique reward as a price for their willingness to help. Here, they demand that Seven joins their think tank because the stranger has recognized her potential. She would be a worthy addition to their motley crew.
This setup could have made for an exciting and interesting episode. However, we learn that the stranger himself hired the bounty hunters under a false identity to capture Voyager. Basically, what we have here is a mafia organization that first threatens its victims with violence and then blackmails them with protection money in order to ensure their well-being. In the end, Janeway teams up with the bounty hunters to work together against this crime syndicate.
It would have been much more interesting if this think tank had actually been what it claimed to be: a bunch of nerds who, out of an arrogant fascination with puzzles and paradoxes, helped people out of trouble in order to boost their own egos. Seven and Janeway, together with the crew, should have found a way out of the predicament themselves instead. They would have proven that their team cohesion, their individual skills and their experience as a Starfleet crew would not let them down and that they can win this "game" too. In the end, the stranger could have appeared again on the ship to pay his respects to Janeway and Seven with the cliffhanger that one day they will need his help and their think tank will then be ready to negotiate a price again - only to disappear into nothingness again.
But as it is, it's just a story about an arrogant mafia organization that blackmails alien species and has now been taught a lesson.
When Voyager is threatened by an armada of bounty hunters and there seems to be no way out, a stranger appears on the ship out of thin air and offers to help Janeway. As it turns out, he is part of a group of highly intelligent aliens whose mission is to solve complex and seemingly hopeless problems of alien civilizations, planets or spaceship crews. You could describe them as futuristic nerds who are no longer satisfied with just solving crossword puzzles and wordles and playing Kal-toh or Tongo with the best of the best. They seek great challenges - planetary catastrophes, intergalactic conflicts, civilizations on the brink of annihilation - in order to expand their intellect and hone their skills by solving virtually unsolvable cases. However, this group is far from acting out of altruistic motives or out of pure charity. Each time they demand an individual, unique reward as a price for their willingness to help. Here, they demand that Seven joins their think tank because the stranger has recognized her potential. She would be a worthy addition to their motley crew.
This setup could have made for an exciting and interesting episode. However, we learn that the stranger himself hired the bounty hunters under a false identity to capture Voyager. Basically, what we have here is a mafia organization that first threatens its victims with violence and then blackmails them with protection money in order to ensure their well-being. In the end, Janeway teams up with the bounty hunters to work together against this crime syndicate.
It would have been much more interesting if this think tank had actually been what it claimed to be: a bunch of nerds who, out of an arrogant fascination with puzzles and paradoxes, helped people out of trouble in order to boost their own egos. Seven and Janeway, together with the crew, should have found a way out of the predicament themselves instead. They would have proven that their team cohesion, their individual skills and their experience as a Starfleet crew would not let them down and that they can win this "game" too. In the end, the stranger could have appeared again on the ship to pay his respects to Janeway and Seven with the cliffhanger that one day they will need his help and their think tank will then be ready to negotiate a price again - only to disappear into nothingness again.
But as it is, it's just a story about an arrogant mafia organization that blackmails alien species and has now been taught a lesson.