VOY: “Alliances”

Date: September 28, 2020

Season 2, Episode 14

Musical Accompaniment: Apparently I’m in a Bach mood

Interstellar News: Today was a day, definitely a Monday.

TL;DR: Voyager has been attacked by the Kazon, again, and a crewman is dead. Chakotay suggests a temporary alliance with the Kazon so they can make it through the DQ in one piece. Some of the Maquis crew are unhappy with how things are handled and Janeway refuses to abandon her Starfleet principles, but a talk with Tuvok about the events of The Undiscovered Country helps her to see how this could still align with Starfleet principles. Neelix heads over to meet with Pommar sect while Janeway meets with the Nistrim and Seska. Culluh makes too many demands so the alliance is off, but Seska tells him it’s his baby. Neelix is taken captive by the Kazon but escapes with a group called the Trabe, led by Mabus, who apparently used to mistreat the Kazon until the Kazon revolted. Janeway and Mabus get five of the Kazon majes to come to a conference in order to start peace talks, but it’s a trap by Mabus who just wants to kill the majes. Janeway kicks him off her ship and they bugger off.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: I’m not grateful, and I want you off my ship. Chief, beam our former guest back to his vessel.

Mabus: Captain, don’t do this. You’re going to need us.

Janeway: I don’t think so.

Mabus: The Kazon will be determined to seek revenge. How can this one ship hope to survive?

Janeway: Not by making deals with executioners. Energize.

Janeway is not holding anything back, she’s displeased and wants him to know it.

“I don’t think we can afford to keep doing business as usual.”: I never met crewman Bendera but his death is still sad. The way everyone talked about him, especially Chakotay, you knew he was a good man who was just trying to get home like everyone else. I do like that we saw a memorial and it was the first thing Janeway ordered when the dust settled. I understand Janeway’s determination to be a good captain and stick to what she knows, but she’s also in uncharted territory. Much like all of my fellow educators during this global pandemic, we’re trying to tread water in a situation that’s constantly changing. We have to adapt to a new climate, just as we did when technology started to replace paper and pen techniques.

Tuvok readily has an example of how a warring people could be, eventually, wonderful allies just like the Klingons and the Federation eventually found peace. Culluh and the Kazons are super misogynistic and that’s clearly to their disadvantage when there are smart, resourceful women like Janeway and Seska at the table. The Klingons are like that a bit, women not being able to run their own house and all, but it’s just another race like the Ferengi who treat women as “less than” in order to stay in power. I will say I totally bought Mabus’s lies and was super shocked when he was the one who set the trap, but looking back it was all laid out for me. Neelix making excuses for not knowing about how the Kazon were treated, the Trabe being broken out so easily, and even the “oh we’re just misunderstood oppressors, I was just a kid” speech. I don’t quite understand how five sects of the Kazon could get to where Voyager was so quickly if they’ve been heading toward the AQ for almost a year, but it was interesting to see the subtle differences between the sects. I was also cheering on Janeway when she kicked Mabus the fuck off her ship, but I think they could have done a better job at the negotiating table. It’s an interesting turn of events and one that I didn’t see coming. 6 scoops of strawberry ice cream for this episode.

TA Out!