If Chakotay was able to do the solitude ritual in his quarters as he did at the end, what was the point of having to take a shuttle away from Voyager? You would think a shuttle would be a valuable asset for a starship so far away from home.
15 Reviews
It's an average Star Trek voyager episode
brianjohnson-2004315 February 2021
It might even be an above average Chakoate episode and an above average episode from the first couple seasons. But that doesn't make it a fabulous voyager episode IMO.
Probably the most memorable thing about this episode is that Aron Eisenberg from DS9 guest stars, and does a great job playing a young Kazon alien. It's a 7/10 which is about where I rank an average episode of a show like Voyager.
Probably the most memorable thing about this episode is that Aron Eisenberg from DS9 guest stars, and does a great job playing a young Kazon alien. It's a 7/10 which is about where I rank an average episode of a show like Voyager.
The Kazon are discount Klingons
winstonsmith_8425 April 2020
A pretty basic episode that centres around an annoying child Kazon and Chakotay. The Kazon are an uninteresting new race which has nothing other than primitive territorial instincts and warrior culture, which seems like knockoff Klingons... and it's painful to bear with a full episode with these messy haired trailer trash of the galaxy. While Chakotay's character is developed further with his honour to almost a fault, he was unable to be used in this episode effectively as the conflict was so basic and generic. The only question I suppose this episode was supposed to resolve was whether an injustice needs to occur in order to receive a status symbol... but it's not a very interesting concept and was poorly executed.
Ugh!
ybemad30 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Netflix (yes the now dreaded Netflix) recently added all episodes of Voyager to the streaming line up, so I'm taking advantage. I really, REALLY want to like this show but it so pales in comparison to TNG. Maybe comparing the show to TNG isn't a fair thing to do but I can't help it. After a dozen or so episodes I've seen time and time again how logic defies the writing in this show, and continuity is disregarded though the premise of the show demands it (their new and continuing mission is to get back home; done far better by Battle Star Galactica). It really bugs me how knowing they are stranded ALONE in an unknown part of space where no allies, and no standing treaties exist...they take NO precautions! I think this is just crappy writing (they make Janeway look so incompetent). This episode is an example of that. ***SPOILERS FOLLOW*** Why the heck is Chakotay left alone in a shuttle craft!!? Then at the end of the episode without any discussion as to how it came about, he is seen performing the ritual that seemingly lead him out there to begin with...IN HIS QUARTERS!!!!?
8/18/11 UPDATE
I stuck with it, and am glad I did. I am now well into season 5. The show gets WAAY better if you give it a chance. Here in Season 5 they're still making dumb tactical mistakes but you groan look past them and then get caught up by the stories. Although I still HAVE NO idea why shuttles and ship seats don't have seat belts in the well advanced Star Trek Universe. Countless crew have been injured and lost due to injuries sustained by being knocked around during an attack or rough landing. Just sayin'
8/18/11 UPDATE
I stuck with it, and am glad I did. I am now well into season 5. The show gets WAAY better if you give it a chance. Here in Season 5 they're still making dumb tactical mistakes but you groan look past them and then get caught up by the stories. Although I still HAVE NO idea why shuttles and ship seats don't have seat belts in the well advanced Star Trek Universe. Countless crew have been injured and lost due to injuries sustained by being knocked around during an attack or rough landing. Just sayin'
Growing up the Kazon way
Tweekums30 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
While off in a shuttle performing a private ceremony Chakotay is ambushed by a Kazon ship. It isn't a large ship, just a shuttle sized craft that is piloted by Kar, a child who wants to kill or be killed in battle as a right of passage that will earn him his name. When Chakotay defeats him them beams him out of his exploding shuttle Kar is not happy, not because he was defeated but because he wasn't allowed to die as his culture dictates a defeated warrior should be. It isn't long before the main Kazon ship arrives and Chakotay is shocked to learn that Kar is going to be killed as a lesson to other Kazon children. When an opportunity to escape occurs the two of them flee on Chakotay's shuttle they don't get far however and they end up being marooned on a moon which is covered in booby traps as the Kazon use it as a training ground. Voyager searches for Chakotay and traces him to the moon and the captain and Tuvok beam down. While there the Kazon turn up and it looks like there will be trouble until an intervention from Neelix leads to a temporary truce to find their people. As the rescue party approaches Chakotay comes up with a drastic solution to Kar's problem... although as it turns out Kar has an alternative solution.
This was a fairly average episode although it did give us some more insight into Kazon culture and is notable for starring Aron Eisenberg, best known for playing Nog in Deep Space Nine, as Kar. Although only a small part of the episode the best scene was the one where Neelix told the Kazon why they were going to help them rather than attack.
This was a fairly average episode although it did give us some more insight into Kazon culture and is notable for starring Aron Eisenberg, best known for playing Nog in Deep Space Nine, as Kar. Although only a small part of the episode the best scene was the one where Neelix told the Kazon why they were going to help them rather than attack.
Has it's moments
snoozejonc30 June 2022
Chakotay has a difficult encounter with the Kazon.
I think this is a fairly enjoyable episode.
The key to getting into this story is being able to accept that it is Aaron Eisenberg in the lead role and not let the DS9 connection distract you. It's easier said than done, given the distinctiveness of his voice, but he plays this character very well.
At this point Chakotay needed a big episode and the writers portray him full of the great peaceful Star Trek morality, which is admirable, albeit unlike a Marquis terrorist/freedom-fighter. I also enjoyed the fact that Tom Paris and Neelix both made more of a contribution.
Eisenberg and Robert Beltram do their best with the dialogue, which is not particularly strong. Ethan Phillips and Robert Duncan-McNeil have some nice moments.
The best aspects for me are some of the depictions of characters needing to conform within highly a pressured and violence-driven society. This is I guess where the writers are alluding to gang cultures. The Kazon feel like they are substitutes for the Klingons at times, but if you try to take this out of your head in (like Nog) the characters are good in their own right. It also has a pretty strong ending.
It's a 6.5/10 for me but I round upwards.
I think this is a fairly enjoyable episode.
The key to getting into this story is being able to accept that it is Aaron Eisenberg in the lead role and not let the DS9 connection distract you. It's easier said than done, given the distinctiveness of his voice, but he plays this character very well.
At this point Chakotay needed a big episode and the writers portray him full of the great peaceful Star Trek morality, which is admirable, albeit unlike a Marquis terrorist/freedom-fighter. I also enjoyed the fact that Tom Paris and Neelix both made more of a contribution.
Eisenberg and Robert Beltram do their best with the dialogue, which is not particularly strong. Ethan Phillips and Robert Duncan-McNeil have some nice moments.
The best aspects for me are some of the depictions of characters needing to conform within highly a pressured and violence-driven society. This is I guess where the writers are alluding to gang cultures. The Kazon feel like they are substitutes for the Klingons at times, but if you try to take this out of your head in (like Nog) the characters are good in their own right. It also has a pretty strong ending.
It's a 6.5/10 for me but I round upwards.
Like sand in the wind
makiefer-8712818 March 2024
I like the Kazon. They are bit backward, wild and even predictable. They are like sand in humanoid form. Not a lot. That's exactly what I like about them. ST Voyager could instead have gone for far advanced races with big brains, Thor (Marvel) like worlds, and shape shifting space ships. The CGI would have been there. Voyager didn't. Instead, we get several different Kazon sects that each need to make do with alliances. Love it. Those alliances later lead to plots of backstabbing, kidnapping and extortion. To me, all that feels so real, but not unpaid-bills-real. The exact kind of 'real' I want to see, at the far end of our galaxy. Starfleet's Voyager did not get tossed into a far advanced, big-brain, high-tech part of the galaxy - but into literal sand: the Kazon.
Oh, those annoying Kazon....
planktonrules6 February 2015
In the last couple months, I have gone nuts with the "Star Trek" shows. I just finished re-watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as well as "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" and now I am working on "Star Trek: Voyager". One huge difference I notice is that unlike the first two shows, "Voyager" does not have interesting or well written enemies other than the Vidiians in the early part of the show. Later, with the inclusion of the Borg, things improved immensely. But the Kazon just seem stupid--like Klingons...really, really, REALLY stupid ones at that. They are hyper-aggressive but never in an intelligent or calculating manner and they seem way too dumb to have ever built starships. And all they know how to do is fight and grumble--even when it makes absolutely no sense at all. Because of this, I was NOT in love with this Kazon episode.
The show begins with Chakotay out on a runabout for no clear reason. He is supposedly there to do some American-Indian mumbo-jumbo and when the Kazon show up, for some inexplicable reason Voyager doesn't notice and Chakotay doesn't alert them. However, instead of just blowing him up, they send a child in another ship to blow up the runabout. But, Chakotay is sneaky in his tactics (possibly because he's NOT a child) and blows up the Kazon attacker's ship. But, being a Federation good guy, he beams his would-be killer onto the runabout. Instead of thanking him, the little guy grumbles and demands he be killed! Later, when Chakotay's runabout is captured by the Kazon mothership, the Kazon are NOT happy that Chakotay spared the boy and give Chakotay a knife---telling him to kill the boy. Not surprisingly, Chakotay won't and...well, you should probably just see the rest yourself.
The only reason you might want to see this one is that Aron Eisenberg plays the boy, Kar. Eisenberg ALSO was playing Nog on "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" at this same time and it's interesting to see him playing a different sort of character--one far dumber and less sympathetic. Overall, this episode is a bit tiresome...as are the Kazon shows in general. The sooner the show focuses on more interesting enemies, the better.
The show begins with Chakotay out on a runabout for no clear reason. He is supposedly there to do some American-Indian mumbo-jumbo and when the Kazon show up, for some inexplicable reason Voyager doesn't notice and Chakotay doesn't alert them. However, instead of just blowing him up, they send a child in another ship to blow up the runabout. But, Chakotay is sneaky in his tactics (possibly because he's NOT a child) and blows up the Kazon attacker's ship. But, being a Federation good guy, he beams his would-be killer onto the runabout. Instead of thanking him, the little guy grumbles and demands he be killed! Later, when Chakotay's runabout is captured by the Kazon mothership, the Kazon are NOT happy that Chakotay spared the boy and give Chakotay a knife---telling him to kill the boy. Not surprisingly, Chakotay won't and...well, you should probably just see the rest yourself.
The only reason you might want to see this one is that Aron Eisenberg plays the boy, Kar. Eisenberg ALSO was playing Nog on "Star Trek: Deep Space 9" at this same time and it's interesting to see him playing a different sort of character--one far dumber and less sympathetic. Overall, this episode is a bit tiresome...as are the Kazon shows in general. The sooner the show focuses on more interesting enemies, the better.
Space dad moments with Chakotay
thevacinstaller2 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode is not a complete waste but it certainly makes an attempt to make the Kaizon a wholly unlikable and uninteresting primitive tribal species. I need some nuance and development to really pull me into this story and we have a severe lack of that. The Kaizon seem like space pirates that operate by a code of killing/conquering to prove your worth and gain your name. That plot element could certainly work well in a star trek story but they desperately need to have a softer side flushed out ---- something we can find endearing or compelling to latch onto. As it stands right now they are space pirate jerks who murder to advance in society and they have no apparent redeeming qualities.
There a few memorable Chakotay 'dad wisdom' lines:
"You would rather die in your sleep as a wrinkled old man?...." ..... "That's about right...."
or this beauty of a line
"A man does not own anything but the courage and loyalty within his heart..." I gave a righteous air fist bump at that line.
Not even Chakotay being a space dad could elevate this one past a 5 sadly.
There a few memorable Chakotay 'dad wisdom' lines:
"You would rather die in your sleep as a wrinkled old man?...." ..... "That's about right...."
or this beauty of a line
"A man does not own anything but the courage and loyalty within his heart..." I gave a righteous air fist bump at that line.
Not even Chakotay being a space dad could elevate this one past a 5 sadly.
Snotnose Alien
Hitchcoc13 August 2018
In order to fulfill his rite of manhood, a young Cason goes after Chikotay's shuttlecraft, dragging him into all kinds of complications. The kid is a tiresome and hardly mature representative of his people. Failing to overcome Chikotay makes him a pariah to his peers. He can't advance to Eagle Scout and may be executed. Bummer. Chikotay tries to be gentle (at the risk of his life from this little twerp). As is usually the communications devices on the ship shut down. I don't know. The whole flow of this thing and those ding dong aliens isn't much fun. They keep harping on "that darned technology." And, of course, Netflix (I mean Neelix) gets in the face of the Cason. Put up the next one.
Trying too hard to make the Kazon relevant
GreyHunter12 December 2019
Honestly, for a species to make an interesting enemy, that species needs to present *some* real threat. It's been many years since I originally watched the series, and I do seem to recall they gained some muscle in terms of the threat they represent, but when the history and nature of the Kazon culture's evolution (hinted at several times in this episode and episodes past) are far more intriguing than the danger they represent as the "designated bad guys", you're not using them well.
In any event, this episode suffers from a few inexplicable moments. Why, for instance, is Chakotay several light years away in his quest for solitude? If he had been on Earth, it's unlikely he'd find greater solitude than a hundred kilometers from others, so the demands of the ritual wouldn't seem to be an issue if he just went, oh, let's say, a thousand kilometers from Voyager, i.e. practically under Voyager's shadow.
Additionally, Chakotay seems bizarrely naive, if not downright stupid. For a man so insistent on cultural distinctions and beliefs, he seems absolutely determined to treat a 13 year old Kazon as if the kid were just some unruly human kid. It makes no sense that he assumes that Kar would show gratitude or, y'know, wouldn't blow his brains out. He's entirely too cavalier in his treatment of this very real danger. I get he doesn't want to kill a kid. That's his cultural prerogative. But playing the danger the kid represents so nonchalantly is ludicrously stupid.
Incidentally, I couldn't hear anyone but Nog every time Kar spoke. I kept expecting him to start jabbering about gold-press latinum every time he opened his mouth. It was a little distracting.
In any event, this episode suffers from a few inexplicable moments. Why, for instance, is Chakotay several light years away in his quest for solitude? If he had been on Earth, it's unlikely he'd find greater solitude than a hundred kilometers from others, so the demands of the ritual wouldn't seem to be an issue if he just went, oh, let's say, a thousand kilometers from Voyager, i.e. practically under Voyager's shadow.
Additionally, Chakotay seems bizarrely naive, if not downright stupid. For a man so insistent on cultural distinctions and beliefs, he seems absolutely determined to treat a 13 year old Kazon as if the kid were just some unruly human kid. It makes no sense that he assumes that Kar would show gratitude or, y'know, wouldn't blow his brains out. He's entirely too cavalier in his treatment of this very real danger. I get he doesn't want to kill a kid. That's his cultural prerogative. But playing the danger the kid represents so nonchalantly is ludicrously stupid.
Incidentally, I couldn't hear anyone but Nog every time Kar spoke. I kept expecting him to start jabbering about gold-press latinum every time he opened his mouth. It was a little distracting.
Kazon = Delta quadrant Klingons
tomsly-4001511 December 2023
Well, when you thought you are done with Klingons and their stupid warrior codex, we will meet the Kazon in the Delta quadrant that look like some hippie Klingons and also follow some weird warrior and honor codex. One might think, that civilizations that can travel between stars have evolved beyond some warrior cultures. Who today is eager to fight wars and prove himself in battles? Wars are fought to conquer resources, territories, destroy threats or to show the power of a state or a dictator. There are no knights anymore, no Samurai or anything alike. And we are far from traveling through space, yet we don't send our children into wars as a rite of passage.
What is this obsession in Star Trek with honor and fighting?
In this episode we see Nog dressed as a Kazon child. To prove himself and earn his name he is sent to destroy Chakotay's shuttle but fails. And in Kazon culture this is something bad, and Nog has disgraced himself and the rest of the episode is all about whining how bad this is for him and that he wants to die and Chakotay is a dick, because he didn't let him kill him to earn his name. This whole honor in killing others thing gets old. Obviously writers in the 1990s could not imagine cultures that are different than what we had on earth during the middle ages.
What is this obsession in Star Trek with honor and fighting?
In this episode we see Nog dressed as a Kazon child. To prove himself and earn his name he is sent to destroy Chakotay's shuttle but fails. And in Kazon culture this is something bad, and Nog has disgraced himself and the rest of the episode is all about whining how bad this is for him and that he wants to die and Chakotay is a dick, because he didn't let him kill him to earn his name. This whole honor in killing others thing gets old. Obviously writers in the 1990s could not imagine cultures that are different than what we had on earth during the middle ages.
Initiations
Prismark1010 March 2024
The producers of Voyager envisaged the Kaizons as a race with a street gang mentality. Initiation rituals and learning to kill from a young age to earn your badges.
However Initiations is a flawed and a rather dull story.
It opens with Chakotay on a shuttlecraft to perform a native Indian ritual ceremony for his father. Only to be attacked by a young Kaizon called Kar (Aron Eisenberg.) If he kills Chakotay he will earn his warrior status with his people.
Only Kar fails. Chakotay destroys his ship and saves Kar's life. He now stands in disgrace with his Kaizon elders. They arrive and take both Kar and Chakotay away.
Now Captain Janeway has to figure out what has happened to her first officer and go on a rescue mission. Voyager finds signs of debri but it is of Kar's destroyed ship.
All this could had been avoided if Chakotay had just done his ritual in his quarters or the holodeck.
The Kaizons have been described as warmed up Klingons but more dull. It is hard to disagree with this notion.
However Initiations is a flawed and a rather dull story.
It opens with Chakotay on a shuttlecraft to perform a native Indian ritual ceremony for his father. Only to be attacked by a young Kaizon called Kar (Aron Eisenberg.) If he kills Chakotay he will earn his warrior status with his people.
Only Kar fails. Chakotay destroys his ship and saves Kar's life. He now stands in disgrace with his Kaizon elders. They arrive and take both Kar and Chakotay away.
Now Captain Janeway has to figure out what has happened to her first officer and go on a rescue mission. Voyager finds signs of debri but it is of Kar's destroyed ship.
All this could had been avoided if Chakotay had just done his ritual in his quarters or the holodeck.
The Kaizons have been described as warmed up Klingons but more dull. It is hard to disagree with this notion.
Klingons with a bad hair day
deronboyd10 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Delta Quadrant's version on the Klingons, the Kazons, return to the line-up from Season One, and they're just as ill tempered and poorly coiffed as always. 70,000 light years away, and it seems the Klingon's sensibilities are intergalactic. But apparently not their barbers.
The episode focuses on Chakotay, ably performed by Robert Beltran, one of the more talented members of the cast. The episode begins to flush out the sensibilities of the Kazon, or attempts to, that which they seem to be. And we begin to see more development of Chakotay, who is one of the more intriguing characters of the series, thanks largely in part to Beltran's talented performance, and Chakotay's Native American spirituality. This is juxtaposed upon the alien beliefs he encounters and interacts with as a potential victim of their manhood rituals.
This episode tries to examine the Kazon deeper thru the tribulations of one of their young warriors attempting to "make a name for himself" (a little heavy handed with THAT plot device!), but it's very difficult to see them as anything original, and simply a regurgitation of Klingons; a 2 dimensional shadow of sacred Klingon honor or the convoluted politics of deception they enjoy playing on themselves as well as other species. Once we've seen it flushed out to the level The Next Generation accomplished through the character of Worf and his development, Kazon culture just seems like a copy cat version, a cheap knock off. Yawn.
Also making a guest appearance is Aron Eisenberg, who portrayed the often irritating young Ferengi Nog in Star Trek Deep Space Nine. "Nog's" annoying staccato delivery isn't as welcome to the Delta Quadrant. While some Trek fans may welcome his guest appearance, I personally found it difficult to see him rise above anything but the annoying Nog.
Every drama needs conflict, and there's plenty of conflicting values and action, which does set the tone early in the episode, as well as some decent a shuttlecraft space battle sequences, but the pace of the episode starts to drag as they examine each other's culture's "values". Yeah, I get it. We're different. Only you're the same as the Klingons....
Vasquez Rocks makes an appearance, which any true Trek fan does admittedly enjoy, if not simply for the amusement of seeing Star Trek's most famous "alien landscape".
The ending brought an unexpected and a welcome twist, and after winding our way to it, left us with a mediocre and at some times entertaining episode, but not an awful one.
The episode focuses on Chakotay, ably performed by Robert Beltran, one of the more talented members of the cast. The episode begins to flush out the sensibilities of the Kazon, or attempts to, that which they seem to be. And we begin to see more development of Chakotay, who is one of the more intriguing characters of the series, thanks largely in part to Beltran's talented performance, and Chakotay's Native American spirituality. This is juxtaposed upon the alien beliefs he encounters and interacts with as a potential victim of their manhood rituals.
This episode tries to examine the Kazon deeper thru the tribulations of one of their young warriors attempting to "make a name for himself" (a little heavy handed with THAT plot device!), but it's very difficult to see them as anything original, and simply a regurgitation of Klingons; a 2 dimensional shadow of sacred Klingon honor or the convoluted politics of deception they enjoy playing on themselves as well as other species. Once we've seen it flushed out to the level The Next Generation accomplished through the character of Worf and his development, Kazon culture just seems like a copy cat version, a cheap knock off. Yawn.
Also making a guest appearance is Aron Eisenberg, who portrayed the often irritating young Ferengi Nog in Star Trek Deep Space Nine. "Nog's" annoying staccato delivery isn't as welcome to the Delta Quadrant. While some Trek fans may welcome his guest appearance, I personally found it difficult to see him rise above anything but the annoying Nog.
Every drama needs conflict, and there's plenty of conflicting values and action, which does set the tone early in the episode, as well as some decent a shuttlecraft space battle sequences, but the pace of the episode starts to drag as they examine each other's culture's "values". Yeah, I get it. We're different. Only you're the same as the Klingons....
Vasquez Rocks makes an appearance, which any true Trek fan does admittedly enjoy, if not simply for the amusement of seeing Star Trek's most famous "alien landscape".
The ending brought an unexpected and a welcome twist, and after winding our way to it, left us with a mediocre and at some times entertaining episode, but not an awful one.
If Klingons were Cavemen
barrymuch17 March 2020
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