Capt. Janeway and Seven of Nine are at it again _ this time they can't see eye to eye as the crew finds a potential route home. ```Hope and Fear,' the title, tells the tale,'' Kate Mulgrew says of the ``Voyager'' fourth-season finale, which airs May 20. ``I represent hope, and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) represents fear. ``It looks as if we've found a way home and everyone is terribly excited, except Seven. She feels naturally wary because she is not yet fully humanized, and she's still such a solitary creature. ``Janeway and Seven are sort of pitted against each other again,'' Mulgrew says. ``Janeway tries to show her the way of humanity, which is ever-hopeful and positive. As you can probably guess, we don't get home, because we have to come back for another season or two.'' Mulgrew, relaxing in a director's chair just off the set during a break from shooting ``Hope and Fear,'' deems the ``Year of Hell'' two-parter and ``Scientific Method'' as personal season-four highlights. She also notes that both ``Trek'' fans and the media consider ``Voyager'' _ as evidenced by positive reviews and increased ratings _ a vastly improved show. ``I've only seen about one whole episode, so it's very hard for me to judge,'' she says. ``To me, the work has not changed. ``As an actress, I've developed Janeway. When the writers are galvanized, they speak with a new voice, which is also my voice,'' she says. ``There's a greater naturalness to Janeway now,'' she adds. ``She's infinitely more relaxed, and that allows me a much greater spectrum of creative possibilities.'' A good many of Mulgrew's scenes this season _ some have said too many found her sparring with Seven in a mother-daughter, mentor-student fashion. Fortunately, the exchanges between Mulgrew and Ryan crackled with energy. Is that convincing acting, solid writing or a natural competitiveness between the actors? Perhaps it's a combination of elements? ``It's probably the writing more than anything,'' Mulgrew responds. ``For some reason, they like to write for the two of us. I think that if they wrote on that level for me with any of the other characters, the same crackling would happen.'' With ``Hope and Fear'' finished, Mulgrew begins a seven-week summer hiatus that she intends to spend with her two young sons and her boyfriend, veteran ``Trek'' director Winrich Kolbe. Contemplating her return to the set for the fifth season of ``Voyager,'' Mulgrew already knows what she'd like to see for both the show and Janeway. ``I'd like Janeway to resolve her relationship with Chakotay (Robert Beltran), so both of them can go on with other relationships,'' she says. ``I'd like to see Torres (Roxann Dawson) galvanize Engineering once again. I just want to see more of the family dynamic among our characters on `Voyager.' ``I'd like to see a restored balance, a restored equanimity and happiness.''
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