Hunters

When will Voyager get a writer to give the series a compelling villain? First we had the Kazon, a rather paltry group of gangs that offered nothing more than another version of the Klingons and nothing tangible or novel. The Vidiians were better, but very 1 dimensional in their purpose. There was a moment of story with The Doctor and Vidiian he fell in love with, but that ultimately had one episode and it was over and done. Annorax from Year of Hell in my opinion is probably the best one yet. His purpose had practical meaning, something you could get behind and understand. There was a sense of dread and the idea that Voyager may be way over their head (which they were). It was relegated to a two part episode, and that seems to be the end.

Now enter the Hirogen, a copy of Predator on a low budget. They are ... tall. They are... strong. They are... wearing masks. They... take trophies. There is nothing of value to these villains. They are not scary. They are not menacing. They are simply a vehicle that Voyager must maneuver around. They get in the way, and nothing more than that. They have nothing of value to the plot, to the story, to anything that matters, other than another villain the Voyager crew must out maneuver.

Where are the Dukhat's of this series? Where are the Duras Sisters? Where are the Khans? Everything we seem to get villain wise is just some awkward menace.

What makes this episode better than 1 star are the letters from home. I was a lot more interested in that over anything the Hirogen had to offer. There were some dark revelations and even some tie ins to DS9. If only the writers of Voyager could have written a story that would have introduced the Hirogen in a more organic way over, "We got letters from home. Happy times. Sad Times. HIROGEN!!" What if the Hirogen represented a distraction from home? What if these were say an offshoot of the Maquis that would bring the crew off balance. Nope. HIROGEN!

Watch for the letters. Skip the rest.

Voyager uses the Hirogen communication network to receive word from the alpha quadrant.

This is a fairly good episode with some good character moments.

For me the best scenes in the story reflect very differently upon certain characters as they receive information from home. Katie Mulgrew does great work in all her scenes and is supported well by the likes of Roxanne Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeil, and Robert Beltran. Seven of Nine also has some good moments during this plot thread and Jeri Ryan is great as always. The weakest aspect is how annoyingly pushy and intrusive Neelix is written, but Ethan Phillips does his best with the material.

What brings the episode down for me are the scenes involving the Hirogen. At this point they feel quite a one-note antagonist and the conflict developed throughout the episode concludes in a familiar Star Trek shaky-camera/technobabble solution. On a positive note, I do like the costume, make up and set designs associated with the Hirogen.

The Hirogen are a very cool race. They make sense. They only live to hunt for prey. Maybe, Voyager's writers are after the real-history Prussians, here ? You know, those guys who formed Germany as a country in 1871 ? They were not actually Germans. In fact, they lost their own country where modern-day Poland is, North-East of Germany. Let's nail the three most unusual traits in the Prussian spirit. It will look awesome on screen, because Prussians exist to this day: 1) It doesn't really matter to Prussians if other people (Germans) are real or not. Just swamp them in law. Once the law is perfect, the people in it become great. 2) Prussians are very much about greatness. Crucially, there is always a way to steer towards greatness. Law is just one way. The Prussian spirit breaks when it comes to the use of force. In contrast to their reputation, Prussians actually avoid force. Intimidation is important, though. 3) Prussians are 'Evolution' in human form. Survival of the fittest. That wisdom doesn't wrench a Prussian's gut. A Prussian would justify that intuition: 'Relax, just listen to me a little, then use your brain.' Let's have a Prussian race, shall we ? It will feel real as hell. I think the 10 foot giant Hirogen in VOY just need a few tiny tweaks, and viewers will hide behind their sofas. --- so, how do you become a Hirogen Hunter, then ? If this fictional race is based in reality ? I suggest the following backstory for the Hirogen: Whenever they had the choice between "Nothing" and "Hate," they chose "Hate." 10/10 times. When they have the choice between leaning back in their sofas and hunting game to death, Hirogen choose the death hunt. 10/10 times. It's an easy enough trait. And it's - scary. Because those characters exist in real life.