'Nemesis'

Stardate: Unknown
Written By: Kenneth Biller
Directed By: Alexander Singer
Rating: **** (out of 5)

�Nemesis� is a very interesting episode for Chakotay, a character who unfortunately doesn�t get much material and this episode is summed up at the end with this line spoken by Chakotay, �I wish it was easier to stop hating, than it is to hate.�

And throughout �Nemesis� you see how Chakotay slowly blends in with the Vori culture.  He starts using their vocabulary and thinking like them.  He becomes a defender, and the Vori respect how he is acting despite being an alien to them.

The Vori look human, but speak in a different way, often making it hard to understand what they are saying.  The Kraden on the other hand look like Nausicanns from TNG, and I believe they speak similar too.  But by the end of the episode the evil looking Kraden seem to be the kind-at-heart species while the other is the benevolent one.

�Nemesis� never says who the real enemy is, both species claim the atrocities are committed by the other and there is evidence of both.  The Vori captured Chakotay and used him in the simulation to train him, to hate the Kraden.  The Kraden, in the battle at the end, seemed not much different from the Kraden shown throughout the episode, except of course one of them is Tuvok in that scene.

I admittedly didn�t understand whether Tuvok was wearing a mask or something, or whether Chakotay thought that anyone other than the Vori where the enemy.

What also is interesting, how Chakotays views change from the beginning, to the end of the episode.  In the beginning he tells Rafin a lot about how he�s never liked killing, and looks at war from both sides, the perspective of the enemy and from the victims.  But at the ends he�s grown to hate the Kraden so much he can�t even look one in the face without wanting to kill them.

I was surprised when the Kraden ambassador beamed aboard Voyager, and I was surprised to hear the Vori weren�t the good guys, well, under this situation anyway.  When the Kraden Ambassador at the end was talking to Chakotay I can well understand why he felt resentment towards him.  I myself felt resentment towards his character because of the influence by the Vori, making the Kraden out to be evil.

I couldn�t believe that Janeway considered risking the lives of other crewmen to rescue Chakotay.  It seemed very un-Starfleet of her.  Something like what Tuvok proposed would�ve been the logical choice for Janeway herself to consider first, as captain.

Another aspect of �Nemesis� I enjoyed was the actual war, using guns, rather than phasers is different for Star Trek and made the episode nicely different.  I also enjoyed the beauty shots of Voyager and the planet, they where very nice.

I thoroughly enjoyed �Nemesis�, it had a great story, with a wonderful twist.  Some parts about the plot aren�t made very clear, but I still really enjoyed it, one of my personal favorites, and the best Chakotay episode so far.