[VOY] Cynics Corner Review of "Nemesis"
David E. Sluss
C Y N I C S
O
R Star Trek: Voyager: "Nemesis"
N as reviewed by David E. Sluss
E
R copyright (c) 1997 Tiger Bay Publishing
Welcome back, gentle reader, to the Cynics Corner. First a little news,
since the Sunday morning papers [end David Brinkley tribute]. In answer to
several queries, I wish to announce that, yes, the Cynics Corner will be
turning its sights on DS9, beginning with its season premiere, which will
air (in my market) on Saturday. Now, on with the show!
Spoilers ahead!
SUMMARY: Chakotay plays a virtual reality version of Doom, in an episode
chock full of cliches, Trek and otherwise. I give some points for the
attempt to give the Vori a culture, but the effort is sabotaged by
the inept acting of the guest stars and by the "Gee, none of this really
happened" ending which we've seen so many times before. Are you _sure_
Braga didn't write this?
CYNICS CORNER RATING: 5.0
ROTTEN GUEST ACTOR OF THE WEEK: Pick one; you can't lose.
FULL MONTY OF THE WEEK: The laff line of the episode, at least for me,
occured when the Vori leader chastised one of his men, asking "Who is our
enemy?" The reply, "None but the Nemesis," was delivered in a Knights-
Who-Say-Ni voice that had me ROTFL.
PERVERTS OF THE WEEK: The Vori. "Sleep, and dream of your sisters and
mothers." Umm, okay...
SCI-FI CLICHE OF THE WEEK: The "twist ending" in which the Humans are
really the bad guys and the Ugly Aliens are the good guys. I'm sure that
most viewers had this pegged from the moment they "glimpsed" the Nemesis.
HOWARD BEALE TRIBUTE OF THE WEEK: The "We're mad as hell, and we're not
going to take it anymore!" motivational speech, laughably delivered by the
Vori leader.
BAD DIALOGUE OF THE WEEK: B'Ellana's line in the briefing room: "Let's
hope Chakotay doesn't run into these savage aggressors first." First,
people don't talk that way, and second, it telegraphs the twist ending to
the two or three people who hadn't already figured it out.
PSYCHIC OF THE WEEK: Neelix, who seems to know a lot about this conflict,
despite being about 11,000 LY away from any territory he knows. Yes, they
tried to doctor this up by having Neelix say "According to the
ambassador..." but that makes it even worse, as it suggests that Janeway,
whose first officer is missing, has made Morale Officer/Chef/Professional
Buffoon Neelix the liaison with the aliens attempting to find
Chakotay. Jeez, and we all thought the Captain _liked_ Chakotay...
STARVING PEOPLE OF THE WEEK: The Voyager crew. Three shuttles lost in
three weeks? Hope you've been stockpiling your replicator rations...
RESET BUTTON OF THE WEEK: Janeway tells us that Chakotay will be dealing
with the effects of his experience for a long time. Somehow I doubt it.
People have the ability to bounce right back from brainwashing. Why, look
at Geordi, after TNG "The Mind's Eye," or O'Brien, after DS9 "Hard Time."
No problemo.
ABSENTEE OF THE WEEK: Seven of Nine, in an act of poor timing. UPN has
been flooding the airwaves with "The reviews are in! Everyone luvs 7/9!"
Of course, anyone who was tricked into watching this week doesn't get even
a peek at this terrific new character, so what good did that promo do?
PREDATOR OF THE WEEK: Is it the Ugly Aliens, who seem not unlike a certain
Feature Creature from a decade ago? Nope, it's the Paramount accountants,
watching as the Nielsons slip-slide away and smelling blood.
NEXT WEEK: Harry gets assimilated. "But wait," says Seven, "I thought _I_
was supposed to put the implants in _you_!"
--
\\ David E. Sluss --- A.K.A. Slugenstein \ SLUGS trivia: \
\\_________email: slu...@pitt.edu_____________\____"Follow the trail"______\
// "I'm impatient with stupidity. My people / Commercial email will be /
// have learned to live without it" - Klaatu / returned to sender in bulk /
--
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