'Initiations'

Stardate: 49005.3
Written By: Kenneth Biller
Directed By: Winrich Kolbe
Rating: ***1/2 (out of 5)

Overall �Initiations� is a good episode, but why do the Kazon have to be portrayed as being so stupid.  Well, they are smart, even here we see indications of intelligence, but they do some really stupid things.

I�ll give you an example, why did the Kazon give Chakotay the weapon with so many people especially the Maje, right there within easy reach of a kill?  That�s totally stupid!  But then they are smart enough to trap the Away Team later, planning for that officer to �deceive� them.  Of course the Maje forgot to get the Away Team to drop their weapons. 

So we know they have the ability to be smart.  Unfortunately I can�t tell if it�s the writers who are stupid or if this is the way the Kazon are meant to be.

The story has potential though, a Kazon being influenced by a Starfleet officer�s peaceful resolutions.  Chakotay doesn�t once think about the Prime Directive though.  He may well be influencing the Ogla sect a great deal.  What if Kar becomes the ruthless leader of the Ogla at some stage?

It was obvious that Kar would turn on Razik, but it was still good he got his revenge.  I�m not sure that killing the Razik would earn Kar�s Ogla name though.  Sure if the Razik was hated but we got no indications of this.

The story goes along well anyhow and I enjoyed it.  The premise is great, and the friendship that grows between Chakotay and Kar is interesting, especially when Kar goes to kill Chakotay and doesn�t.  Kar is played well by DS9�s Aaron Eisenberg (Nog) even although his character is similar to Nog in their determinations.

It�s always interesting to see how �rough and tough� aliens are changed by humanization.  They always seem to doubt human beliefs and later on find them useful.

The Training area didn�t seem like a huge threat to me.  Except when Chakotay is fired on when they first land on the planet, nothing convinces me that the planet is all that dangerous.  Well, as a training area I guess it�d do great, but the planet was meant to be a major obstacle for the Away Team and Chakotay.

I liked seeing Neelix using his insights on the Kazon to strike a deal with them.  I also enjoyed, in a funny kind of way, the scene where Neelix is angry about being left out of tactical simulations on the Holodeck.  I mean, imagine him doing army rolls and firing at enemies . . . it�s just not Neelix.

I enjoyed how Kar thought Starfleet officers don�t really earn their uniforms like the Ogla do.  When Chakotay says �Starfleet officers must study hard and Starfleet they prepares us�, he never mentions he was a Maquis, and they are more similar than Kar thinks.

I would like a follow-up to the Kar/Ogla issue in the future.  It would be interesting to see what happens to Kar and the Olga sect after these events.

In ending, an episode with a good premise and is actually done well, with some interesting discussions, but The Kazon�s stupidity (like giving Chakotay the disrupter) alters the plot of the story too much, the Kazon are too dumb to take seriously.