People decry the Kazon as one of the least effective races
that the franchise delivered and I do think there is a sound argument in that,
however in stories like this where they inflict some genuine damage on Voyager
they do prove to be violently effective at times. The shot of the Kazon shuttle
hanging out of Voyager’s belly is an effective one, as is the scene in Basics
where a Kazon kamikaze agent blows himself up to cause the ship some serious
damage. They aren’t subtle or especially compelling, but they can have the
blunt consequences of a pipe to the head at times.
The idea of using transporter technology as a weapon is a
fantastic one, and much more should have been done with it. Beaming your
enemies out into space…why hasn’t that been tried before?
Character – Cullah is the one Kazon character that had any
kind of an impact on the show and that is mostly because the actor had that
Marc Alaimo ability to be both very charming and utterly slimy. The sexual
politics between him and Seska was really interesting too because she had a
great way of grabbing him by the balls and either massaging them or gripping
them painfully depending on whether he was doing what she wanted or not. This
could have (and should have) been taken so much further than it was but I do
admire the effort of having a season long recurring bad guy who is a thorn in
Janeway’s side. With Seska by his side he almost manages to use Voyager to
manoeuvre the Kazon enemies out in the open an assassinate them and he
successfully manages a takeover of the ship at the end of the season. In terms
of being a threat to Voyager, he (and Seska) are probably the ultimate
expression of that. ‘Listen to your woman, Cullah’ is just about the worst
thing that he can hear but that’s all he ever does because ultimately she is
the better tactician.
Seska is essentially a pantomime character (or a Scooby Doo
one that pulls its mask off in the final act) but the truth of the matter is
that in Martha Hackett’s hands she is incredible fun. She knows exactly how play
it so Seska is both completely in control and pretending to be submissive. She
has a great line in winding up the men around her with a long string and
getting them to do her bidding. She’s the ultimate Voyager villainess, not the
Borg Queen. Hackett is having fun and that makes all the difference. ‘Yes
Maje…’
Performance – I really hate what happened to Robert Beltran
on Voyager, it’s a systematic emasculation of an actor to the point where he
just doesn’t care about the character is playing or the show he is a part of.
Instead Beltran is given so little of note to do in the final four seasons that
the actor openly criticises the lack of attention his character has had and
sleepwalks his way through the second half of the series. And yet episodes like
this show just what he has to offer when he is given the opportunity. Beltran
can be cheeky and sly and a real bit of rough when he wants to be, whilst
marrying that with great sensitivity. This is one of his best episodes and as a
showcase for the potential of Chakotay it is doing some very interesting
things. For more examples of just how fascinating this character might have
been, check out State of Flux and Resolutions too. Honestly, in later years
there are episodes where he essentially turns up, delivers a few lines of
technobabble and departs. I wonder why he wasn’t challenged as a n actor.
Perhaps he looked over his shoulder at episodes like Manuvers and remembered
the good old days. The moment where he is beaten up and drugged and yet still
manages to expose Seska’s sexual manipulation to Cullah is an unusually savvy
moment for the character and Beltran seizes the chance to play it to the hilt.
Great Dialogue – ‘I find it more than a little
self-indulgent for Chakotay to assume this is all about him.’
‘Don’t flatter yourself! It was never that good!’ – poor
Chakotay is truly emasculated by the women in his life in this episode.
Production – Somebody in the production team has decide that
this show is far too ponderous for its own good and pulled in David Livingston
to direct a handful of episodes in season two and bring a bit of bite to the
show. The raiding sequence is the best action scene in Voyager to date. I love
the way we cut from the Kazon climbing from the shuttle that has stabbed its
way inside Voyager to Tuvok entering the cargo bay from above and firing his
gun. It feels almost cinematic in its approach.
Best moment – There’s a fantastic scene between Torres and
Chakotay where they discuss their previous relationships with Seksa and how
personal these developments feel. A great example of the smart characterisation
that can come with serialised storytelling.
What works so well about the climax is how it is entirely
Maquis tricks that allow Voyager to catch up with the Kazon and extract Chakotay.
It’s one of the few times where the premise of the show is allowed to have a
direct impact on an episode.
The ending is worthy of note for Janeway chewing out
Chakotay for his actions because he is setting a precedent for people to head
off on personal vendettas when they feel like it. She explains beautifully that
what he did was commendable but the way that he did it was not.
A reason to watch this episode again – Brilliant fun; an
episode that proves to be exciting, engaging and surprising. Maneuvers is where
season two all starts to click into place. The Seska storyline has been
bubbling along nicely for some time, her relationship with Chakotay a highlight
of the first season and Janeway has been attempting to deal with the Kazon and
their Klingon-esque politics. This is where the show suddenly decides to step
up and show the consequences of all that, plus throw in some dynamic action and
deliver some of that punch and promise of Caretaker. You might be told that
just because this has the Kazon in it that it is automatically bad but this a
great character show for Chakotay and one where he gets to show off his Maquis
skills, manipulate his ex-lover and to bamboozle the villains. It even ends on
an awesome soap opera cliffhanger that promises more fireworks in the future. I
love the scenes between Janeway and Torres too, which reveals a growing
affection between the two of them and exposes just how much Torres cares about
Chakotay. Seska is always welcome, and I was surprised how well her relationship
with Cullah has stood the test of time. It’s a crying shame that they got rid
of this pair in the great season three shuffle because they really brought
something unique to the show. Voyager needed to be more like this in its first
two years, but Manuvers sees the series stepping up a gear and the rest of the
season is (mostly) following this level of quality.
****1/2 out of *****
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