‘MANEUVERS’ (VOY)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This ‘Voyager’ episode continues an arc that began with ‘State of Flux’ in Season 1. This episode has the return of Martha Hackett as Seska, a Bajoran Maquis that was revealed to be a Cardassian spy. 😐
In the episode, Voyager picks up a Federation probe in the Delta Quadrant. The Voyager crew wonder if Starfleet’s been looking for them. They set course for the beacon, which is in an ion cloud.
Growing suspicious, the Voyager crew are soon attacked by the Kazon Nistrim, who match their beams with Voyager’s shield harmonics. The Kazon also send a small ship to puncture Voyager’s hull.
This enables the Kazon to steal one of Voyager’s transporter technology modules, whilst they distract Tuvok’s security crew in the cargo bay. The Kazon shuttle causes a destabilized warp-field. 😐
Voyager tries to stop the Kazon escaping by locking on a tractor-beam. They soon see that the Kazon are led by Anthony De Longis as First Maje Culluch, who also appeared in the ‘State of Flux’ episode.
They also see that Seska is with him, and she has returned to her Cardassian form. Although, it’s not exactly the female Cardassian appearance I was expecting, since Cardassians usually have black hair.
I’m not really a fan of Seska’s red-haired look as a Cardassian. Wasn’t she dark-haired when she was a Bajoran? Why didn’t she keep her dark hair when she converted back to being her Cardassian self?
Seska has been helping Culluh and the Kazon Nistrim to upgrade their technology to rival Voyager and dominate the Delta Quadrant. Eventually, the Kazon are able to escape Voyager’s tractor beam.
A feedback loop created by Seska allowed the Kazon to escape freely from Voyager’s tractor beam, since that was a thing she predicted the Voyager crew and Chakotay would do, which can’t be good.
The Voyager crew plan to remove the Kazon shuttle from the ship’s hull before they can go anywhere. Janeway is determined to go after Seska and the Kazon, and Neelix asks why they should.
I like that Janeway explains the Kazon having Federation technology could cause a disruption in the balance of power within the Delta Quadrant. Neelix is soon willing to support Janeway’s endeavours.
Chakotay meanwhile sees this as a personal attack to lure Voyager into another trap for the rest of the ship’s bounty of technology for the Kazon. Very soon, he goes after Seska and the Kazon himself.
It’s interesting how Janeway reacts to Chakotay going off on his own, as she considers disciplining him once they rescue him. B’Elanna pleads for Chakotay’s case, asking Janeway to be lenient to him.
Meanwhile, with the Kazon Nistrim, Culluh attempts to unite the other Kazon sects by ‘sharing’ Voyager’s technology with them. The negotiation stages do not go as smoothly as Culluh would like.
Culluh also doesn’t like it when Seska takes matters into her own hands when helping the Kazon Nistrim, as he considers him a woman and not above his station. The Kazon seem sexist, don’t they?
Chakotay meanwhile manages to sneak onto the Kazon ship and stops the Kazon’s plan in using the transporter technology they stole. But he gets captured and is interrogated by Seska and the others.
It was interesting to see the scenes between Seska and Chakotay in this episode. Chakotay managed to wipe the computer core of his shuttle craft and Seska tries to manipulate him with her agenda. 😐
Chakotay of course resists Seska’s charms and even taunts Culluh when he’s being interrogated and tortured by him. Even Culluh’s truth serum on Chakotay doesn’t seem to work when he’s being questioned.
Thankfully, Voyager manages to find the Nistrim ship and they manage to save Chakotay. The Kazon Nistrim’s plans are ruined temporarily whilst Janeway gives Chakotay a ‘telling off’ in her ready room.
The episode ends with Voyager getting a message from Seska, who tells Chakotay that she extracted some of his DNA whilst he was her and the Kazon’s prisoner and she’s now pregnant with his child. 😐
I don’t think that’s how pregnancy works, but whatever. Overall, ‘Maneuvers’ has been a compelling episode to watch in the ‘Voyager’ series. This clearly won’t be the last that we’ll see of Seska here. 😐
‘Maneuvers’ (VOY) rating – 8/10
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