YMMV / Star Trek Voyager S 7 E 20 Natural Law

• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • As reviled as Chakotay/Seven is, this episode could have laid some groundwork for it, so that it doesn't just HAPPEN in the series finale, considering the two are trapped on a planet for a good chunk of the episode. Instead, nothing is even remotely explored on the subject.
  • The situation in the episode is ripe for a nuanced and intelligent exploration of the Prime Directive, even suggesting there's enough material for a two-parter! After all, here we have two cultures separated by outside interference, and by removing that separation through necessity, Voyager has simultaneously restored the natural development of the world and altered that status quo. The more technologically-advanced natives aren't immediately jumping to hurt the less-so, but they do have an eye on their resources while hoping to study them and give them access to education and medical treatment for humanitarian reasons; fertile ground to look at the potential unintended consequences of even comparatively benign colonialism and deconstructing the White Man's Burden, both important aspects of the Prime Directive that are often glossed over in favor of simplistic and dogmatic "rules are the rules" thinking. Chakotay, a Native American, is even an important focal point character in the episode, adding real world resonance to all of the above! Instead, the Ledosians are barely-characterized, and the less-technologically-advanced natives aren't even consulted about their fates before Voyager decides to high-handedly leave and restore the status quo with only a perfunctory discussion on the subject.