The Gift
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 10 September 1997
- ON
- UPN
- STARDATE
- 51008
- DIRECTED BY
- Anson Williams
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 170
WRITTEN BYWritten by Joe Menosky
With Voyager still crawling with Borg technology, a newly severed drone fights to rejoin the Collective, while Kes discovers that her growing mental powers may be more than the ship can hold.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
Voyager is still recovering from its alliance with the Borg, and the drone Seven of Nine, cut off from the Collective, is in sickbay. As the Doctor removes her implants, she demands to be returned to the Borg and rejects her former human identity, Annika Hansen. Janeway is just as determined that Seven deserves the chance to become an individual, and when Seven tries to signal the Collective, Kes stops her with her mind. But Kes's telepathic abilities, heightened since her contact with Species 8472, are growing beyond her control and begin to threaten the very structure of the ship. Unable to contain them, Kes chooses to leave Voyager in a shuttle. As she transforms into a being beyond physical form, she uses her power to hurl the ship clear of Borg space and nearly ten thousand light years closer to home. Seven, now looking far more human, reluctantly begins her new life aboard.
- 01Jennifer Lien's last appearance as a series regular. Kes returns only once more, as a guest in the season six episode “Fury”.
- 02Bryan Fuller pitched the idea of Kes evolving into pure energy, but under scheduling pressure Joe Menosky wrote the final draft and is the credited writer.
- 03Tarik Ergin's Ayala speaks for the first time, guarding Seven in the brig.