Don't get me wrong, but I actually like Captain Janeway, for the most part. But of all of the members of the crew who seems to consistently put lives in danger, Janeway is usually at fault. And in this episode, she does it again.
While I admire Janeway's desire to be compassionate and helpful, she too often neglects to keep her guard up. She fails to understand that as the captain, the lives of everyone else on that ship, are in her hands. That was one thing that I always loved about Kirk and Picard. The safety of their crew members was almost always paramount.
Janeway forgets a basic rule when dealing with desperate people: give them a handout, and they'll come back for more. Also, desperate people are always dangerous. And, of course, her inability to take precautionary steps indirectly puts Torres and Paris in danger.
What saves this episode from another "Janeway catastrophe" is Torres still coming to terms with her Klingon heritage, as well as her time spent with Tom Paris, and also Seven of Nine beginning to interact and take her place among the crew.
I will say that I agee with Kate Mulgrew's issues with Jeri Ryan's character being a sexualized character. What exactly is the point of putting her in the super-tight silver suit? No other crew members are/have been required to wear something like that. It also doesn't belong in Star Trek unless it's an alien who's trying to purposely seduce someone. Some adolescent member of the Voyager writing team obviously convinced everyone else to go the superficial route. It simply doesn't work at all. And seeing her walking among everyone else, she stands out, and not in a good way. Obviously, Jeri Ryan is a very attractive woman with all of the attributes to boot, but this was not the right place to showcase them.
Along with other reviewers my biggest issue with this episode is how Janeway got completely played and taken advantage of in allowing the aliens to get exactly what they wanted, and at great expense. As I stated above: Neither Kirk or Picard would have allowed that. Neither would Sisko.