VOY: “Maneuvers” and “Resistance”

Date: September 26, 2020

Season 2, Episodes 11 and 12

Musical Accompaniment: 70’s classic rock instrumentals playlist I found on YouTube

Interstellar News: Today has been a roller coaster of emotions and I’m not honestly sure how I feel right now. I did get four blankets washed and the husband used his wood chipper to help out some elderly neighbors for about five hours today, so there’s that.

“Maneuvers” in TL;DR: Seska is helping the Kazon-Nistrim attack Voyager and use Federation technology, she hopes to get the Kazon united and secure her power base. Chakotay, feeling responsible for Seska, commandeers a shuttlecraft and goes after Seska and the Kazon. He destroys the transmitter, wipes the shuttlecraft computer, but is then captured and interrogated. Three other Kazon sect leaders join Seska and the Nistrim but Janeway catches up to them and beams all four majes over. Tuvok explains that they want Chakotay and their technology and they’ll beam the majes right back over. Once everyone is back where they belong, Chakotay is disciplined by Janeway and then gets a message from Seska that she stole his DNA and impregnated herself with it.

Favorite Quote:

Torres: But he’s a very proud man. And he’s been embarrassed by Seska.

Janeway: What Seska did, she did to all of us. Frankly, I find it more than a little self-indulgent of Chakotay to assume this is all about him.

Janeway is absolutely right, as usual.

“You know one thing I especially liked? The little mole on her stomach. I guess you’ve seen it.”: As soon as the Kazon attacked Voyager and counteracted their every move, I knew it was Seska. The problem with going by the book is that people can use it to their advantage and Seska has the added benefit of having Cardassian, Maquis, and Starfleet experience under her belt. Torres sticks up for Chakotay, possibly out of the unrequited love and more likely out of her respect for him as her former captain, but it’s Janeway that’s stuck because how’s she going to discipline him out in the DQ. Chakotay plays it as brilliantly as he can, sneaking up on the Kazon ship and then trying to get Culluh to doubt Seska, but in the end he still tried to play the lone ranger. At the end when Seska announced she was pregnant, my shocked face was quite shocked and my gasp was quite audible. I did not see that coming. 5 filled donuts, each with a different fruit filling, for this episode. It does not deserve custard.

“Resistance” in TL;DR: Neelix is in a market with Janeway, Tuvok, and Torres. He goes to complete the purchase when the Mokra attack; Tuvok and Torres are taken into custody and Janeway is saved by a man named Caylem. Tuvok is interrogated and physically abused, Caylem thinks Janeway is his daughter, and Neelix makes it back to the ship with the super important thing that makes the warp core warp again. Janeway (channeling Kira from “The Homecoming”) and Caylem break into the prison, free Tvok and Torres, but then Caylem is shot after stabbing Augris. They all get back to Voyager and Janeway looks at the necklace Caylem gave to her.

Favorite Quote:

Kim: If we’re going to reduce our power demands even further, we’re going to have to drop the shields.

Chakotay: I don’t want to leave the ship defenseless this close to a hostile planet.

Kim: All other systems are already offline. Life support is at minimal. You asked for options? That’s our last one.

Chakotay: All right, power down the shields.

Kim channeling his inner Torres when he doesn’t pull punches when it comes to the truth.

“She forgives you. We both do.”: What a wonderful episode. As much as I love Worf and the Klingons, it’s refreshing to have a Klingon who isn’t so “I’m a warrior and my honor is more important than anything else”. Torres does a great job wanting to punch her way out but also listening to Tuvok when he commands it. Tuvok is by far my favorite Vulcan because he is able to deliver everything with such formality and precision, while also giving good eyebrow and boiling the important things down for the rest of his crew mates. With Janeway it’s not quite like “Second Skin“, but it’s more to do with Caylem’s mental state. You can tell he’s not all there but then he has flashes of brilliance, like when he distracts the guard or knocks the other guard over the head. Janeway gives up on trying to convince him she’s not his daughter because she sees he needs compassion and he’s her only shot so far. Her attention to detail, like when she noticed her contact was wearing military boots, to her focus on getting to the rest of her crew is what makes her the captain. She is tenacious and kind and reminds me a lot of me. I rarely lose focus when I’m engrossed in a task, I try my best to be kind, I am my best when I’m the boss lady, and I love to geek out over science. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to find out that Caylem’s wife and daughter have been dead this whole time, but it’s also bittersweet because he killed the bad guy in front of others and died with the absolution he so desperately wanted and needed.

I’m knocking a point off because there was no EMH in this episode and he’s just too delightful to not have at least one line. I also don’t understand why Janeway trusted Darod again when it’s likely he was the one who set them up. Otherwise just a fabulous episode that earns itself 9 kittens with a rainbow of crocheted mittens.

TA Out!