[VOY] Jammer's Review: "Nemesis"
Jamahl Epsicokhan
Warning: This review contains significant spoilers for the episode
"Nemesis." If you haven't seen the show yet, beware.
Nutshell: A reliable if derivative Trekkian theme, and pretty strong in
execution.
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Star Trek: Voyager -- "Nemesis"
Airdate: 9/24/97 (USA)
Written by Kenneth Biller
Directed by Alexander Singer
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Rating out of 4: ***
"I wish it were as easy to stop hating as it was to start." -- Chakotay
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During a survey mission, Chakotay's shuttle is shot down over a planet
locked in warfare. He is discovered by a group of Vori soldiers, and in
order to survive long enough to contact Voyager, Chakotay must travel
through the landscapes in the middle of their war. Before long, Chakotay
finds himself fighting on their side to survive.
But, further, Chakotay gets to know these soldiers and begins to sympathize
with their plight. The Vori speak of the horrors of their enemy, the brutal
Kradin, which they simply call the "nemesis." They have come to hate their
enemy. They call their nemesis "beasts" and look forward to any battle
where they can gain vengeance on their cruel adversaries.
Chakotay, the Federation type whose existence defines him to nonviolent
intentions and a duty to try to understand people rather than hating them,
finds his Starfleet values challenged by a situation of extremes. He's
trapped in a forest environment with only these soldiers as a possible way
home. The vegetation is thick; at any turn there could be a Kradin ambush
of machine-gun fire.
"Nemesis" makes use of a fairly derivative Trekkian theme: The indictment
of such ugly things as hate, violence, and killing. But this is probably
among Trek's most reliable morals--one of the underlying values that,
ideologically, makes Trek what it is. Despite a somewhat sluggish first two
acts, "Nemesis's" approach to the issue is as relevant as any, and benefits
from some fairly strong execution.
While the Shuttle Crash [TM] is, naturally, an absurdly laughable clichČ
used to launch the episode (it's the third shuttle to be lost in as many
episodes), I'm forgiving it this time--for at least the situation it
creates for Chakotay is the basis for some good drama. (Besides, at this
point, after at least a dozen lost shuttles, I'm just assuming that the
Voyager crew has come up with a way of building new ones out of raw
materials.)
There's also the Vori speaking style. It's quite different, using metaphors
and bizarrely constructed phrases to describe the mundane. The Vori say
things like "the soon after" instead of "later," or "nullified," instead of
"killed." The writers must've felt this dialog delivery would give the
script an insightful dramatic edge. I can't say I was particularly
impressed by it, but nor did it hurt any of the scenes. It was pretty much
neutral for me, but I will give Kenneth Biller an A for effort in trying to
be different in a sophisticated way.
The episode's guest characters prove reasonably good, and the story
supplies them with enough depth to give them three dimensions. For some of
them, we learn about their families, their losses, the atrocities of the
enemy as they've experienced first-hand. The show gives them a reasonable
amount of depth, such that we can understand what they've been through.
Chakotay finds himself absorbed into this plight, and before long he picks
up a weapon and is fighting the Vori's fight. At one point, Chakotay is
separated from the rest of his unit, and finds his way into a Vori village
which has suffered its own losses in the war. A young girl in the village
speaks highly of her older brother, who is also a soldier. The fate of the
brother does not seem promising.
The show's most striking touch of wartime atrocity is the Kradin's
desecration of the dead Vori. The Vori's beliefs require that the dead be
turned on their faces, so they can see the "path to the way after." The
Kradin have a hateful practice of tying captured soldiers to the ground
face-up, and letting them die in the sun. This was a pretty realistic
demonstration of cruelty, and therefore quite vivid.
Through all of this is Chakotay, who slowly but surely finds himself coming
to hate these Kradin "beasts." The road of emotional torment that Chakotay
travels from beginning to the end of the episode is a rather dark one. It
begins first with his early sentiments to the Vori ("Killing is one of the
worst things I've had to do"), and his acknowledgment that exaggeration
often makes an enemy easier to hate. The episode ends on the other side of
the spectrum, with Chakotay blindly firing a machine gun into the trees,
hoping to hit any enemy he can. (When told to hold his fire, he shouts,
"Not until I've nullified all of you!").
Chakotay's transformation into a Kradin-hater is understandable, if
unfortunate. To think anyone from the Federation is, by definition, devoid
of any possibility of hate or prejudice is naÔve. Back in DS9's second
season episode, "The Collaborator," Odo said to Kira that even the best of
people can be capable of terrible things given a difficult situation.
"Nemesis" proves that with uncontested force.
On the surface, the story deliberately makes the Kradin look like ugly
humanoid creatures, while making the Vori appear completely human. The
reasons are obvious, albeit quite manipulative: The story tries to get us
to side with the Vori immediately, while seeing the Kradin as vile, evil
creatures. It's a sneaky approach, but, if you think about it, supports the
story's grim argument: We're more likely to sympathize with people we feel
are similar to us, and hate those who are different.
There's a twist ending to "Nemesis," however, that proves exactly how
misguided that argument is. As Voyager searches for Chakotay and works with
the planet's government, they deal with the only side willing to help--the
Kradin. And, what's sure to strike people as "implausible" or "weak," it
turns out that Chakotay's entire experience in serving in battle alongside
the Vori is a simulated ruse of unreality designed to make him a more
efficient killer. The revelation that the Vori have been "training"
Chakotay to hate the Kradin--using mind control equipment and a host of
other conjured stimuli--is a chilling and devious prospect. As "Nemesis"
demonstrates, hate can certainly be an effective motivator in training
one's soldiers to fight with such dedication, conviction, and fierceness.
I'll admit that it was a bit frustrating to learn that all the characters I
had met in the course of the hour weren't real, and that everything
Chakotay had done was part of an elaborate setup. And the denouement--in
which Tuvok infiltrates the Vori battle site as an undercover Kradin and
tells Chakotay what has happened--is a bit confusing in its portrayal and
brings up some unresolved logistic problems.
But in the end it really doesn't matter, because the ends justify the
means. The real key to this episode is how a culture transformed Chakotay
into a man who hated with a passion he had never before known. The final
scene is crucial to the episode's success; here a Kradin ambassador comes
to greet Chakotay, who has been safely rescued and transported back to
Voyager. But Chakotay can't look him in the eye, can't say a word. He can
only walk away, muddled in confused hatred. Beltran's subtle performance is
a true highlight.
This finale makes the episode work better than it might have without it.
With this scene, we see that the Vori have *taught*--not simply
forced--Chakotay to fear and despise the Kradin, for even after such
mind-controlling agents have been removed and the situation has been
explained from all points of view, Chakotay's feelings of animosity still
prevail.
"Nemesis" takes awhile to get where it's going, and some of the plot
manipulations tread on the edge of questionable logic. But in the end the
episode makes some strong statements. It all may be a bit heavy-handed, but
it works.
--
Next week: Harry introduces Seven of Nine to sexuality ... or maybe it's
the other way around.
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This review Copyright (c) 1997 by Jamahl Epsicokhan, all rights reserved by
the author, including the right to reproduce with the intent of
unauthorized distribution, electronic or otherwise. This review is an
original work of fair criticism and remains the property of the author.
Star Trek: Hypertext --
http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~epsicokh/trek
Jamahl Epsicokhan -- epsi...@uiuc.edu
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