[VOY] "Nemesis": The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[Ashley Edward Miller]

WARNING: Spoilers lurk below. Proceed with caution.

[spoilers]

[VOY] "Nemesis": The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Written by: Kenneth Biller
Directed by: Alexander Singer

A literate, surprising and occasionally moving hour of television. Not
quite on the level of the first two episodes of the season, but a definite
improvement over "Day of Honor". If nothing else, "Nemesis" demonstrates
that the creators of Voyager have finally started to allow themselves the
freedom to experiment with the narrative form.

The Good:

"Nemesis" is a show with a lot to recommend it. There's Robert Beltran's
solid acting turn, a nicely structured plot with some genuine twists and a
lot of attractive location shots, among other things. But what really
makes this episode stand proud and apart is its use of dialogue.

Ah, dialogue -- the heart and soul of television storytelling. Done well,
the viewer (almost) never knows it's there; exposition rolls off the
tongues of the characters and the cadence of the language propels each
scene to its logical conclusion. Done badly, it elicits hoots and howls
of contempt from the audience. Most weeks -- on any show you care to name
-- the audience gets a little of both.

So let's be honest and admit that television is a tough medium to write
for; even Quentin Tarantino couldn't be expected to be brilliant every
week for an entire season. That television dialogue *can* be brilliant on
occasion is not in dispute, but it is certainly rare. With "Nemesis",
writer Ken Biller manages to capture that rare moment and deliver dialogue
of astonishing quality and dramatic import. Not only does Biller use
dialogue to move his story forward effectively, he uses dialogue to reveal
the story. In many ways, the dialogue becomes the story.

So what is the story about? At first glance, it seems to be a standard
action-adventure premise: Chakotay becomes involved in a brutal alien
war, and gradually comes to sympathize with one of the sides. As the
story progresses, it develops a second layer: Chakotay's assimilation
into an alien culture via being circumstantially forced to adopt their
point-of-view. Finally, it becomes something altogether different:
Chakotay is brainwashed to hate another species by the intense application
of technologically advanced propoganda.

The surface level adventure story is diverting enough. Alex Singer is
adept at staging shoot-'em-ups, and Robert Beltran certainly has the right
presence to pull off the role of action hero. Chakotay's assimilation is
also deftly handled; the major plot events leave no questions as to why
the Voyager's intrepid First Officer takes up arms against the snarling,
slobbering beast that threatens his new friends. (Particularly effective
is Chakotay's relationship with the little girl, and his struggle to
shield her from her brother's "death"). Where the story shines, however,
is in its handling of the more subversive core story -- and it is here
that the quality of the dialogue is a key to success.

The reason that words are so important to this episode is because they
literally reveal Chakotay's state of mind. His "friends" use language in
a very distinctive way, and as their idiom creeps into his pattern of
thinking, we can see (and hear) his sympathies develop. So insidious is
the use of language here that it has an effect on the audience as well.
As we learn to casually "translate" the alien tongue, we become more
involved with the people who speak it.

The effect reminds me of Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange" or Heinlein's "The
Moon is A Harsh Mistress"; both excellent books which build successful,
believable worlds almost entirely through language. As in "Nemesis", the
early-goings are difficult, but we soon find ourselves wrapped up in the
characters and their circumstances. Why? Because the writers
unconsciously teach us to *think* like those characters. Instant empathy
is the result, and the storyteller is free to manipulate us any way he
chooses. In a sense, then, the audience members are just as much the
victims of brainwashing as Chakotay.

The Voyager rescue attempt drives this point home. Who didn't yell at the
television set when the supposed "bad guys" appeared on the Voyager
transporter pad? Who didn't think that Captain Janeway had devolved into
the much-maligned Captain Gullible of seasons past? I sure did. When
Tuvok approached Chakotay on the planet's surface, I had the same reaction
Chakotay did. I refused to believe anything other than that the crew had
been duped by Ambassador Treen.
When the truth was ultimately revealed, I was as shocked as Chakotay.
Heck, I still wasn't sure how much I believed Treen even when the credits
rolled.

Overall, the story was well-written and well-directed. The planetside
material was expansive and wonderful. Structurally, it reminded me of one
of those TOS episodes where someone (usually Kirk) was stuck on some
planet somewhere and we didn't hear much from or about the Enterprise.
Pretty much the same deal here, except Chakotay was initially quite
concerned about the whereabouts of his ship. As for the ship-board stuff
itself, which was minimal, the story was reasonably well-handled. Paris'
insistence on leading the rescue mission rang true, as did Tuvok's
argument against him. Janeway didn't have a lot to do, but she
demonstrated the requisite concern for her First Officer's safety and
resolution to do something about it.

Smaller notes: the acting all around was respectable, and the production
values were characteristically high. Especially neat was the air attack
on the alien village. The ships were cool and the visuals were perfectly
credible. A tip of the hat to the entire technical crew in general this
week.

The Bad:

"Nemesis" was solid at worst. Perhaps the only moment that stood out as
"bad" was Chakotay's too-obvious concluding observation on the nature of
hate. For a show that succeeded so marvelously on the strength of its
dialogue and the use of language, the lack of subtlety here is especially
disappointing.

The Ugly:

The "beasts". Do these guys cry out for a good orthodontist, or is it just me?

My Score:

A standout episode for Voyager, but "Nemesis" lacks the sense of scope or
intense emotional impact required of a true classic. For once, funny
head-pieces were eschewed in the "development" of an alien race, Ken
Biller choosing instead to focus on little things like language and
culture. Also notable for perpetrating not one but TWO unfriendly
mind-screws on the poor, unsuspecting audience. An admirable, intelligent
effort all around.

NEMESIS: ***1/2 (out of four)

"Close your glimpses, little one, and dream of your gloried brother."
-- Chakotay, deeper into it than he can possibly know.

NEXT WEEK:

It's the Doctor and B'ellana versus a holographic HAL 9000 in the Brawl
for It All...plus, Harry gets laid!

©1997 Ashley Edward Miller. All rights reserved, and most of the lefts too.