6x09 "The Voyager Conspiracy" - Seven of Nine's attempt to download data into her brain causes her to develop increasingly paranoid conspiracy theories regarding Voyager's presence in the Delta Quadrant. This episode isn't bad, it seems to go by pretty fast and the crew is fairly quick to determine that Seven's theories are mostly bunk. But it feels flat, not as dramatic as it should or could be. Seven's lengthy speeches describing her theories grow tiresome.
6x10 "Pathfinder" - Lt. Barclay disobeys orders to utilize an experimental Federation technology to contact Voyager. Fun episode. It's nice to see Barclay and Troi again, and the scene where they finally talk to the Voyager crew is well done and emotional. It's a big moment for the series, and it doesn't falter.
6x11 "Fair Haven" - Janeway falls in love with a holographic Irish bartender. Yawn.
6x12 "Blink of an Eye" - Voyager becomes trapped in orbit of a planet where minutes passing aboard the ship are equal to years down below. I liked this episode, even though the structure of jumping from timeframe to timeframe doesn't really allow the show to explore any one of them in particular. It's an idea that probably could be expanded into a two-parter, but also doesn't feel important enough for that.
6x13 "Virtuoso" - The Doctor becomes a celebrity on a world which has never before heard music, and contemplates leaving the ship. Another fun showcase for the Doctor. Robert Picardo is clearly having fun, and gets to show off more of his singing skills. In the end, though, this episode takes the obvious route. Still, there are some really great scenes in this one as the Doctor's fame grows to epic proportions.
6x14 "Memorial" - After returning from an away mission, Chakotay, Neelix, Paris and Kim suffer horrific memories of fighting in an alien war. This one reminded me of "Nemesis," but with much better technical execution. The alien battle sequences are pretty well directed, much more energetic than the dull combat in "Nemesis." The dilemma as to whether or not the memorial device should be shut down is also a pretty interesting one.
6x15 "Tsunkatse" - Seven of Nine joins the WWE and fights the Rock. In space. Some good performances from DS9 mainstays Jeffrey Combs and JG Hertzler. Now, I do have to say, that I enjoy the Rock as an actor. He may never win any Oscars, but he's got presence and good comedic timing. His role here is too small to really be of note, but it is fun to see. Overall, though, there's nothing particularly great about this episode. It's an obvious marketing nod for Paramount, which at the time was making a big stink about wrestling on UPN.
6x16 "Collective" - Paris, Chakotay and Neelix are captured by a group of Borg children. Meh. Even Borg, I feel like the crew shouldn't have this much trouble defeating a group of kids. There are some cool special effects at work in this one, especially the Delta Flyer's battle against the cube. The concept of having more Borg children aboard the ship is an interesting one, too, though I'm not really a fan of the actors they got.
6x17 "Spirit Folk" - The holographic characters of Fair Haven begin to suspect something is wrong when they observe the Voyager crew interacting with the holodeck computer. Reminding me a lot of TNG's Moriarty episodes only way more annoying, this is another one of Voyager's failed attempts at comedy. As usual, the best stuff comes from the Doctor. I don't know why the writers are so spot-on with him, but can rarely ever manage to do the same with the other characters.
6x18 "Ashes to Ashes" - A crewmember killed years before returns to Voyager, having been resurrected and genetically altered by a species that procreates by salvaging the dead. Intriguing premise, but somehow it seems rushed at the end. Interestingly, as Ensign Ballard becomes more human, physically, her performance becomes less so. She's more animated and energetic as an alien than in her human form, which is a nice touch.
6x19 "Child's Play" - Voyager locates Icheb's parents, but Seven is reluctant to let him go. I was excited to see Mark Sheppard's name in the credits for this one, but the role isn't anything that allows him to have any fun. It's a pretty interesting episode, especially the revelations regarding Icheb's origins, but the performances don't reflect the interesting ideas in the script.
6x20 "Good Shepherd" - Janeway takes three under-performing crewmen on a dangerous away mission. This episode wants to be "Lower Decks," but features none of the emotional weight of that episode. Janeway spends much of the episode running roughshod over these annoying crewmen, even belittling them in some kind of reverse-psychology attempt to expand their horizons... or something. This episode is just too lame, though there are some nice special effects at the climax.
6x21 "Live Fast and Prosper" - Alien con men pose as Janeway and Tuvok and begin ripping off people across the sector. What should be a fast-paced, funny episode is just lame. The guest actors are terrible, most of the humor falls flat, and only the special effects are a saving grace. What a waste of a fun premise, too.
6x22 "Muse" - Harry Kim and Torres crash-land on a primitive world where a poet uses their story to impress his audience. A very 'Star Trek' message of peace in this one, but the whole 'Delta Flyer crashes/is dangerously damaged' has grown really, really stale. Some interesting use of stage actors and some very old-school looking mask props.
6x23 "Fury" - Kes returns to Voyager and travels back through time in order to ambush the crew and give them over to the Vidiians. There are some really great effects in this episode, and Tuvok's premonitions are cool. But god, what a shockingly insulting way to send off the Kes character. And then the fact that it becomes part of the timeline! Janeway and Tuvok would have known from season one what was going to happen years later, but she "almost forgot!" Guhh.
