Equinox I & II
comments? pforooghi@compusmart.ab.ca
Hi all.
Equinox.
I felt compelled to add my two cents on the show, as
the rest of you already
have I am sure. Please bare with me, and respond to anything I say here if you
wish.
Okay, I went into this episode somewhat biased, as I had read all of your
comments on the show in various mailing lists and newsgroups. I wasn't sure how
I'd feel, but after having watchedit twice already, I am still left with this
very strange feeling of
confusion.
The reason? Where were the real Janeway and Chakotay? Before
everyone says that Janeway was very nutty and irrational, and that she was
out of character because of her rather cruel and callous actions, I would
say that she wasn't out of character because of this. I feel that her
attitude and subsequent actions were very justified, given how Ransom and
his crew had betrayed her, and given the horrific things they were doing
to those aliens. She had every right to want to stop them, and to feel
somewhat vengeful, as well as to feel righteous indignation at their
atrocities. Also, lets not forget that vengeance often times blinds us to
logic, and that is what happened here with Janeway. Nothing out of the
ordinary here, she is after all, very human, and in this episode, we merely
got to see the darker, more unseemly side of our beloved captain. Again,
this wasn't what I objected to, as most of you already have.
What astonished me, not to mention my mom, who was watching with me, was
how Janeway had apparently forgotten all about Seven. Not once did she
mention her, think of her, or worry about her plight on the Equinox. It
was as if Seven didn't mean anything to her, as if she didn't care about
her at all. Now I ask you, is this the Janeway we all know and love?
Certainly not! For god's sake, Janeway has walked through fire to save
Seven in the past, so why did she not give her a second thought here, only
focusing on getting revenge on Ransom?! Very bizarre indeed. Also, who was
that masked man who looked like Chakotay? Not only did he blatantly
disregard Janeway's orders and betray her (and the look on Janeway's face
after that incident was priceless! She looked so hurt, betrayed, and
completely shattered. We again saw this expression later in the conference
scene, when Chakotay was giving all the orders, and Janeway was quietly
standing on the sideline- that was classic! I've never seen such a
dejected expression on her face), but he acted as if he didn't like her,
trust her, or respect her. And worse, as if he wanted to take over her job
entirely. I was very surprised that he didn't stage a mutiny, given how
acrimonious he was with her throughout the show.
The only character who was true blue was our beloved, stalwart Seven, ever
loyal and faithful to both Janeway and Voyager, even to the death, if need
be. She was the only saving grace of the show, as she did not once stray
from who she has become. Our buddy Chakotay, who always seems to think
that Seven will betray the Captain, should take a hard look in the mirror
if he wants to see the real traitor. He really needs to take a page from
Seven's book when it comes to loyalty.
Overall, despite the fact that I thought this episode was very exciting,
poignant, and intelligent, I found the characterizations very confounding.
Which is why I wouldn't give this episode more than 2 comm badges.
Cheers!
Pooneh