Alliances

It's clear that voyager was highly erratic when it came to quality. For me the early episodes are frequently just plain bad. Kate Mulgrew is still doing her B rate Katherine Hepburn acting, more than a minute with Nelix is too much, the Kazon look ridiculous even for the Star Trek universe. As a matter of fact, the entire entire story arc regarding the Kazon Is a good example of how bad Voyager could be. This mediocre episode is an example of that.

There were occasional good episodes early on, like the previous one- Prototype. And as the series evolved, things got better in many ways.

I think the best way to rewatch Voyager is a chronologic list of its "greatest hits".

Janeway was ridiculously intolerable in this episode especially the end. Was realistic only in the sense that idiots like her exist. These "rules" are always put out by politicians and desk jockeys who never have to deal with the real world.

As Voyager negotiates it's way through Kazon territory, Janeway seeks an alliance.

This is an enjoyable episode with a good concept and performances.

The story works well for the premise of the show. It is logical that given their situation the crew would possibly need to consider this type of strategy and it is something that feels unique to Voyager. Whether or not some of the decisions made by Janeway are plausibly written is, to say the least - debatable.

Supporting characters like Tuvok, Chakotay, B'Elanna, and Neelix have some decent moments, but outside of Janeway the best scenes for me involve Seska and Culluh.

Visually it pretty good, with some strong action moments, such as the opening sequence and another that comes late on during a good plot reveal.

All performances are strong, with the standouts being Katie Mulgrew, Anthony De Longis, and Martha Hackett.

I do get tired of Janeway's speechmaking and her unbridled loyalty to her roots. She lectures her crew like an old lady English teacher (I am an English teacher, so don't get your hackles up). The crew wants to try something new, a bit of negotiation instead of a violent solution. So what happens when they try? The forces at work are shown to be untrustworthy, so give up any hope of doing something other than force. Still, it was very interesting and really a bit accurate.

I don't like the Kazon story arc at all. Would be best if they didn't return after Caretaker.

I'm rewatching all episodes, now that I'm older, and I don't have to wait a week for the next one to air. And I remember the previous episode with Kazons. Where Chakotay is in his shuttle, shields are holding, he warns the Kazon ship multiple times, and then takes it out with only ONE phaser hit.

They are impressed by the Federation's scanners, they don't have teleporters, they don't have replicators. But now all of a sudden 1) Voyager almost gets destroyed, 2) the crew is in fear of Kazons.

Would have been best if they wanted to form an alliance because the Kazons keep bugging them, not that they will get destroyed.

And if we go with they will get destroyed and they NEED to make an alliance than the end of this episode doesn't make sense either.