Story: Alliances
Written By: Jeri Taylor
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Year: 1996
After a particularly harsh attack from the Kazon and the death of a crewmember, some of the old tensions between the Federation and Maquis members of the crew return. While Janeway has tried to run the ship with completely Federation ways, some of the Maquis are beginning to think they just don’t work in this region of space. Some suggest just handing their tech to the Kazon in order to be let alone. Chakotay suggests that some compromises should be made. I feel that should have been happening since the beginning, they need to compromise not only in hiring a few token Maquis members for officer status, but some of their ways should have been adopted, so that both crews could struggle equally with the new ways, instead of Janeway forcing the Maquis to follow her way or the highway.
Anyhow, Chakotay suggests an alliance with the Kazon, and when Tuvok concurs, she decides to make a go of it. While she attempts to make an alliance with Seska and Culluh, while Neelix goes to meet some Kazon he knows who is in good standing with his leader. Neither plan goes well. Culluh just insults Janeway and ridicules her for being a woman and Neelix gets thrown in jail for no reason given other than the script said he had to meet a Trabe.
Neelix and the Trabe escape! Who knows where that came from but they do, and Neelix helps arrange a meeting with the Trabe and Janeway. They decide it would be really beneficial to make an alliance with each other and try to get all the factions of the Kazon for peace as well. Sounds like a good plan in theory…but the Trabe and Kazon are bitter old rivals, so the Kazon (who were once treated like animals by the Trabe) are immediately suspicious. Their suspicions turn out to be well founded when this Trabe leader has a Godfather Part III inspired raid on this meeting to wipe out all the faction leaders of the Kazon.
Turns out no one in this freaking Delta Quadrant are gonna be helpful to Voyager. They are on their own, and now they are even more vulnerable. Janeway gives a pretty cheesy preachy speech at the end that basically boils down to “I was right and you were wrong bitches!” It is a really pathetic display.
There was a minor unresolved storyline in which one of the former Maquis attempt to contact Seska, clearly a small mini-arc involving some descent begins here. We’ll see where it leads. Oh and another interesting note here, Seska says something to Culluh about her carrying his baby, so perhaps Chakotay is NOT the father. The plot thickens.
I thought it was good that the politics of the Delta Quadrant were finally laid out a bit. Compared to what was found in the Gamma Quadrant (politics that make sense in the Dominion, bad for the Federation as they may be at least it was clear writing) the Delta Quadrant seems like just a grab-bag of whatever will fit the plot this week. At least things look a little clearer in the picture now…dumb as they may be.
NEXT TIME: Evolution Does Not Work This Way
Written By: Jeri Taylor
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Year: 1996
After a particularly harsh attack from the Kazon and the death of a crewmember, some of the old tensions between the Federation and Maquis members of the crew return. While Janeway has tried to run the ship with completely Federation ways, some of the Maquis are beginning to think they just don’t work in this region of space. Some suggest just handing their tech to the Kazon in order to be let alone. Chakotay suggests that some compromises should be made. I feel that should have been happening since the beginning, they need to compromise not only in hiring a few token Maquis members for officer status, but some of their ways should have been adopted, so that both crews could struggle equally with the new ways, instead of Janeway forcing the Maquis to follow her way or the highway.
Neelix and the Trabe escape! Who knows where that came from but they do, and Neelix helps arrange a meeting with the Trabe and Janeway. They decide it would be really beneficial to make an alliance with each other and try to get all the factions of the Kazon for peace as well. Sounds like a good plan in theory…but the Trabe and Kazon are bitter old rivals, so the Kazon (who were once treated like animals by the Trabe) are immediately suspicious. Their suspicions turn out to be well founded when this Trabe leader has a Godfather Part III inspired raid on this meeting to wipe out all the faction leaders of the Kazon.
Turns out no one in this freaking Delta Quadrant are gonna be helpful to Voyager. They are on their own, and now they are even more vulnerable. Janeway gives a pretty cheesy preachy speech at the end that basically boils down to “I was right and you were wrong bitches!” It is a really pathetic display.
There was a minor unresolved storyline in which one of the former Maquis attempt to contact Seska, clearly a small mini-arc involving some descent begins here. We’ll see where it leads. Oh and another interesting note here, Seska says something to Culluh about her carrying his baby, so perhaps Chakotay is NOT the father. The plot thickens.
I thought it was good that the politics of the Delta Quadrant were finally laid out a bit. Compared to what was found in the Gamma Quadrant (politics that make sense in the Dominion, bad for the Federation as they may be at least it was clear writing) the Delta Quadrant seems like just a grab-bag of whatever will fit the plot this week. At least things look a little clearer in the picture now…dumb as they may be.
NEXT TIME: Evolution Does Not Work This Way