Janeway hunts down the Equinox/White Whale.
I was expecting the ‘let’s go gungho, don’t bother communicating’ strategy of Janeway to backfire badly. After all, it’s an old Star Trek story to value diplomacy over weapons. Janeway is pretty much over the edge in this episode, between an Ahab like obsession with Captain Ransom and a newly homicidal approach to questioning prisoners. But instead it becomes another avenue for displaying the new vengeful Janeway. It makes sense that she’s angry, of course. But
The main action is pretty well handled. It’s a genuine back and forward between two evenly matched opponents. I would have preferred it if there wasn’t the distracting ‘fake doctor’ sequence, but I enjoyed the ‘Doctor without ethics’ part. But much as Janeway goes from zero to cranky without much, Captain Ransom softens far too quickly, and without enough justification. Oh, and those additional crew members are sure to never be seen again – a pity, because they have a perspective that would be interesting.
(The first officer does have a distractingly perfect radio voice though).
586 down, 151 to go.