Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series) Human Error (2001) User Reviews

Seven's Final Frontier: Romance

[Hughmanity · 7/10 · 5 March 2021]

I'm not sure why the writers decided to fire up a romance between Seven and Chakotay with less than 10 episodes to go in the entire series, but I suppose this was the last hurdle of her humanity and individualism to overcome.

Jeri Ryan makes this episode worth watching with her usual great acting job. Her holo-romance didn't make a lot of sense until she mentions Unimatrix Zero as the inspiration, late in the episode.

The secondary plot of getting caught in an alien firing range is almost totally unnecessary except as a "why weren't you at your post, Seven" plot device.

Good luck to Seven and Chakotay in what little series time they have left. Live Long and Pucker.

Seven of Nine's struggle for human individuality

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 10 August 2020]

Seven of Nine pushes for further individuality with a series of holodeck programs designed to research and practice social interaction.

There is a lot to admire about this episode, particularly Seven's character development and the performances of Jeri Ryan, Robert Beltran and Robert Picardo. I liked the piano metaphor during the development of Seven's social interaction skills. The link back to the Unimatrix to explain her motivation was a good idea. Also, the ending was quite unexpected and put an imaginative sci-fi spin on the outcome.

It made me contemplate numerous things such as my own personal and profession development, along with how to effectively balance the both. The nature of individuality and what defines it. Ironically, Seven seeks to break free of the mindset created by the Borg collective identity, yet she becomes obsessed with learning how to conform to the behaviours of human society. In all the episodes where The Doctor or Janeway advise her how to interact, I am waiting for her to do something wrong, argue her case on how it should be done and one of them to say "Resistance is futile".

For me this is an episode where the sum of its parts is greater than it's whole. I like all the scenes individually, but I wasn't particularly keen on an entire episode being dedicated solely to this amount of one character's development. I personally would have preferred little scenes along these themes to be placed periodically in other episodes.

Seven explores her humanity

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 25 May 2010]

When this episode started I wondered if I'd missed an episode or it had been aired out of order as Seven of Nine no longer had her Borg implants and rather than regenerating was moving into new crew quarters... of course I should have guessed it was just a holodeck program where she was trying to explore a more human life style. Unfortunately she is spending so much time there that it is impacting on her work. This is rather serious when Voyager finds itself in an alien weapon testing area with its warp drive off line. Seven is meant to be working on finding a way to locate incoming weapons before they can do further damage but instead she is spending more time having a relationship with a holographic version of Commander Chakotay. Ultimately her holodeck activities are stopped, not by the Captain but by her own Borg implants which unbeknownst to her were programmed to shut her down if she got emotionally stimulated.

I think Seven of Nine is a great character but this was not her best episode, her Borg obsession with efficiency is one of the things that make her an interesting character so seeing her act like everybody else wasn't all that exciting... I was relieved if not all that surprised when we learnt that her implants would prevent her from continuing.

A 7 of 10

[schlagzeugplayer · 7/10 · 12 September 2019]

7 of 9 is using the holodeck for "inproving her social skills" aka getting back the lovin feelin she recently expierienced in a previous episode. Because of that goal she neglects her ship duties which in this episode is life or death. Thats some horrible timing, why couldn't it have been a Harry Mudd situation or something? Anyway in the holodeck we see 7 of 9 become Jeri Ryan in a way. She is a beautiful woman, plays the piano and sort of uses holo - Chakotay as her object of tgat livin feelin I wrote earlier, they do make for an intriguing couple. All this is going on along w her own realization of oops the ship. Then in typical Borgish fashion she w the help of the good doctor wants to know how all this is occurring. Alas her own Borg implants have a fail safe to stop excessive emotions of their previous self so she is doomed to stay a neo- Borg, kind of sad really. In affect the assimilated can never totally escape the collective even if they have escaped the collective. Oh and about poor Chakotay who on the actual ship she's acted on to some degree, well hes left blowin in the wind of " what just happened ?".

Tortured Soul

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 18 September 2018]

If one thinks about the holodeck and human sexuality, it's not hard to let your imagination go wild. Seven is slowly transitioning from her Borg self and still needs to regenerate and depend on her fancy eyepiece. She is so stark in her views on what goes on, but after having a relationship with that man on that planet in a previous time, she has longings. So she begins to practice being human, including a holographic Chakotay. Her work begins to suffer and she almost gets the ship destroyed. It is sad to watch her struggle to adapt. She is gaining emotions and bringing about sadness. Very good episode, giving Jeri Ryan a chance to use her wiles.

Kind of creepy.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 8 March 2015]

This is a rather creepy but interesting episode of "Star Trek: Voyager", though my oldest daughter just felt it was creepy. When the show begins, there is a baby shower for B'Elanna and Tom. However, you soon learn that it's not real but is part of a holographic simulation in which Seven works on perfecting her interpersonal skills. In a hint at things to come, Seven gets it on with a holo Chakotay (a shade of things to come in the series). However, in getting further and further immersed in this holo world, Seven slowly comes to realize that she's neglecting her duties. By the end, she's determined to be the same old boring Seven that she was before....

This is a decent and entertaining show because you get to see Jeri Ryan greatly expand her acting skills in the show. But, the notion of her having a weird holo romance with Chakotay is a bit creepy.

Voyager's Lady in Red

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 15 October 2013]

I have always thought that despite The Doctor's arrogant, pompous and inflated personality he also has a streak of Kindness and professionalism. His pomposity is the side he manages to exude to the Crew, but when it comes down to One-On-One, he has always kept Doctor- Patient Confidentiality in Highest Regard, even if it is not a Medical "Secret".

So when Seven-of-Nine (And I will not add 'Sixty' this time) goes off on her own and starts her personal study of Intimacy with her fantasy Chakotay, The Doc keeps her secret.

When this episode starts out, we actually are fooled into thinking that Seven really had her Huge Borg Implants removed, and is donning a Starfleet Uniform (Which she looks great in) and is interacting with The Crew, becoming more Hooman than we have ever seen, even to the point of getting Crew Quarters and installing a Baby Grand Piano.

Unfortunately, it's a house of cards, just like her paranoid delusions in "The Voyager Conspiracy", but it is a house of cards that is the result of her Cortical Array breaking down, just like when she downloaded too much Data into her Brain.

And Janeway as well as The Doctor actually encourage her do go on these explorations, but it is just that her timing is off by a few nanoseconds, when she should be trying to figure out a dangerous Anomaly she is playing Chopin Chopsticks with Chakotay while eating Roast Chicken and teaching him the proper way to slice Carrots.

Meanwhile, huge explosions are randomly showing up all around Voyager, they have accidentally strayed in to a Live Fire Testing ground for Alien Smart Bombs.

And in the midst of this, Seven breaks Down. The Doc sees exactly what she is up to, and not one word of this leaks out of his Program.

It seems that The Borg have built in a self destruct for any Drone that becomes too much of an Individual, it's part of her main Cortical Node.

So we have to have a tacit Pause at the Coda, to be continued at some time before the Series ends. Her Holo-Chakotay was simply an experimental choice, but we see that Chakotay might really have a true interest and attraction to her. I've always agreed with this, even more than Tom and B'Elanna. Because if feels natural.

The main thing is that Seven has gone beyond her need for being nursed through these steps toward individuality by The Doctor, she instigated this all by herself.

Neelix advises Seven that her carpet should match her drapes

[tomsly-40015 · 6/10 · 9 February 2024]

Even though I think Seven is very good as a character, this episode is a little creepy. It's certainly understandable that Seven wants to discover her human and feminine side after experiencing the bleak and joyless life of a Borg drone for years. But the fact that she then throws herself at a Chakotay hologram and styles herself as a vamp in a red dress with flowing hair is a little over the top. And all these more or less subtle sexual innuendos like cutting carrots together... the writers of the episode got their blood pumping a little too much.

Of all the awkward moments, the scene in which Chakotay tries to convince Seven to play the piano with passion rather than technical precision is a compelling lesson in human emotions. Definitely a huge step up from her suggestion of hanging a picturesque painting of a star chart in her quarters instead of an everyday star chart.

But who would have thought that the Borg would be such spoilsports and not only begrudge their drones any form of emotional and physical pleasure but would also equip them with an anti-love fail safe device that would immediately fuse their circuits if there were signs of too much erotic lust. And instead of seeking treatment from the doctor, Seven would rather choose a life in which efficiency and perfection are the focus again and she is no longer distracted by unnecessary feelings.

Seven of One, so to speak. That's it for drapes and carpets, I guess.

Beautiful Episode

[TheWriterReviews · 10/10 · 3 June 2022]

A fine sentiment to the greatness of how writers can bring a character to life and make them relatable to the viewer. In this episode we see Seven of Nine learning to express romantic love with Commander Chakotay in holographic form. Since the start of her journey on Voyager, Chakotay has always been an asset to her, assisting her with moral quandaries and individuality, especially since he personally broke her from the Borg Collective. I always thought this pairing would be a great idea and thankfully, the writers felt the same. In "Human Error" we see Seven growing into her femininity and individual quirks that make her the great character she was. With the encouragement of holographic Chakotay, Seven learns to play the piano freely, learns to be intimately in love and finally seems to have a "personal life". All this seems grand until two setbacks are hurdled her way. With the first, it eventually comes out that Seven has been late to her shifts on Voyager due to spending time on the holodeck and she even gets in trouble with Captain Janeway. In the second, we see that a Borg implant will severely harm Seven if she begins to express emotional feelings and love. Blaming herself, Seven stops running the holodeck program and gives up her hope of falling in love. However, unbeknownst to her, the real Chakotay is shown to have interest in her, and the episode ends with some hope for an eventual romance between the two.

Who knew chopping carrots could be so sexy?

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 20 February 2023]

This is a sweet episode ---- There is something therapeutic about watching S09 give in to her human fragilities and not only does she give in --- she goes all in on the experience.

To be fair, there is something 'off' with the perfect interactions with Chakotay. I must admit that I have never thought cutting vegetables could be so sexual --- but they proved me wrong here ---- the sexual tension is off the charts.

The piano playing scene suits the character of SO9. Classy, Refined. Now, I have managed to not succumb to my biological weakness in over 3 seasons with S09 but I have to say that Jeri Ryan is so gorgeous in this episode it makes me want to cry.

Passion can be addicting. You would be hard pressed to not find someone who has given in to passion and more then a handful get to obsession levels ----- Some even review nearly every episode of star trek on IMDB and it's just plain weird.

I also appreciate that a previous experience (Unimatrix) has a lasting impact upon SO9's character. Voyager is kind of a weird serialized/episodic hybrid but I do find it compelling and engaging when they enrich previous episodes by adding to them later on.

Some good laughs and overall very sweet.