S2 E26 & S3 E01: Basics, Parts I and II

It's not like I didn't watch these episodes back to back, so it isn't really worth keeping up the pretense of reviewing them one by one.

Voyager receives a Kazon distress signal, suggesting that Seska has fallen out of Cullah's graces upon the birth of "Chakotay's" child. Chakotay doesn't want the ship to run into an obvious trap on his account, but Janeway and his spirit dad give him cause to reconsider. Along the way, they pick up a wounded Kazon soldier who tells them that Seska is dead, and he was injured trying to escape. He grudgingly agrees to help them mount a rescue of the baby. It turns out to be a trap, and the Kazon soldier blows himself up in order to cripple Voyager. Two key things happen: Paris escapes on a shuttle to go get help from the Talaxians, and Lon Suder (the guy who is in confinement for murdering someone, but is trying to mend his ways now) is set free. The rest of the crew are stranded on a barren planet with only primitive humanoids for company.

I didn't get into this during the Meld discussion, since I knew I'd need it here: One of the most powerful scenes from Lord of the Rings, for me, occurs in the first movie, when the fellowship is making its way through Moria, and Frodo suggests just killing the wretched Gollum. Gandalf has this to say on the matter:

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."

The significance of that line didn't sink in when I read the books in my sophomore year of high school. I enjoyed them, but only read them once, and never read that line while knowing the final outcome. Without Gollum's interference, Frodo would have put the ring on in Mount Doom and walked away. Sam could not have bitten off Frodo's finger. It was the pity that stopped Bilbo from killing Gollum in The Hobbit that ultimately saved Middle-Earth. Even better, it isn't truly a redemption for Gollum; it is after all his unrelenting greed that drives him to single-mindedly fight for the ring, at the cost of his own life. I think it is even more powerful and less heavy-handed that way.

We get that here, and this episode's going to coast to a 5/5 on the power of the Lon Suder stuff alone. As much as I still think that putting him off at the nearest uninhabited world would still have been the best course of action, his role here is fantastic. Like Gollum, his reprieve is ultimately what saves the ship. But also like Gollum, he is successful because he is still a brutally capable killer. His scenes in part one, where he's trying to contribute to the ship despite his incarceration, show a man who is trying to atone, but still can't control his anger. It's not clear he'd ever be trusted enough by Janeway to make food for the ship. While he's hiding from the Kazon, and working with the Doctor, he's clearly struggling with himself over the killing he'll have to do. And when, at the end, he arrives in engineering, and slaughters the ten or so Kazon there, his fate is sealed. This character arc is perfect. I'm a bit sad that he dies, but if that prevents the writers from abusing the character later on, it is all worth it.

Anything else that I have to say about the episode is just nitpicking, really. It's a bit annoying that Voyager is lured into yet another trap, but at least it is Seska, who has already established that she's quite capable of crafting excellent Voyager-lures. Also, I like the Kazon, and we get some good action in this episode as a result. The revelation that the child is actually Cardassian/Kazon is awfully convenient, but I sure am glad we aren't going to have to keep the kid around as a result. Seska's death is pretty anti-climactic, but not every villain death needs to be over the top, and I feel that the Seska stuff has pretty much run its course.

It is a shame that the crew-stranded-on-the-planet part is pretty irrelevant to the overall plot, but this episode works better as a season finale/opener than the last ones, so if they needed some filler to make it happen, I'm all for it. Plus, it's not bad, it's nice to see the tech savvy Voyager crew roughing it. Neelix's scene where he is telling Hogan to collect the humanoid bones they find for use as weapons is good: I like that despite his bubbliness, Neelix is ever the pragmatist, and completely unfazed by Hogan's squeamishness. I wish they hadn't just used Hogan as a redshirt in the beginning of part two though, he was really shaping up nicely as a background Maquis crewman who has adjusted enough to get along, but still had his reservations about Janeway's choices. In a way, he could have been the bridge between the two crews that Chakotay hasn't been shaping up to be.

Fun notes: The Doctor is phenomenal in his scheming to retake the ship. He manipulates Seska better than any other member of the crew has managed. Also, it's good to know that pointy ears grant archery ability: on the planet, Tuvok fashions a bow out of materials he has found there, and proves that he has elven accuracy on a couple occasions. Finally, this is the second time that Tom arrives in a shuttle to save the day, only to have his thunder stolen by someone else (this time, Suder).

Watchability: 5/5

Bottom Line: Like I said before, this episode buys the 5 on the strength of the Lon Suder parts. The rest thankfully doesn't get in the way, and is a fitting send-off for the Kazon.