Isolated on a shuttle in Kazon space, Chakotay comes under attack by a young Kazon man looking to prove his name in battle. The two come to understand one another more over a gradual exchange of cultural ideals. Meanwhile, Voyager looks for its missing first officer.
In only a handful of appearances in season one, the Kazon were already looking like a fairly weak adversary for the Voyager crew. But it's this episode that really cements their reputation as "B-grade Klingons." We learn how they look to prove themselves in battle at a young age, and how they'd rather die than live and be shunned for failure. Their rival sects vying for power start to sound a lot like the rival Houses of the Klingon Empire who squabble for control of the government. We see the inside of one of their ships... and it's a bunch of Klingon style harsh lighting through metal grates.
As for the "B-grade" part? Chakotay easily bests one of their "fighters" in a shuttlecraft. They're so stupid that they don't even take Chakotay's tricorder from him when they capture him. Tom Paris, commanding Voyager for the first time (so far as we know), is able to extract information from them without even really trying. Neelix is able to effectively taunt them. An Away Team is able to escape one of their force fields in moments. And a visual cherry on top of it it all: their planet looks exactly like the most recognizable Star Trek planet ever. (More location filming at Vasquez Rocks, with no apparent attempt to hide it.)
One bright spot to the episode is guest star Aron Eisenberg as the young Kazon. Still, it's hard for any Deep Space Nine fan to watch and not just see Nog. The production reportedly turned to Eisenberg only after trying to cast other young actors in the role and not finding anyone they thought could do the job. Yes, his Kazon makeup is quite different. This character does bluster where Nog cowers, and Eisenberg gives a more physical performance. But the two also aren't that different; this episode landed early in Deep Space Nine's third season, at a point when Nog was still a young troublemaker who hadn't announced his intentions to join Starfleet. And Eisenberg's voice is unmistakably the same.
But yes, it is a story particularly suited for Chakotay, as the writers hoped for. He of all characters is a good messenger for a gentler way to "be a man." For once, the phony Native American sentiments written for him don't clang too hard; his speech about territory and not owning land is reasonably effective. (Though I don't buy the reverence he expresses for the Federation uniform. He was a dedicated Maquis only months ago.)
Other observations:
- The writers continue to dig a hole for Neelix, who whines more about being left out, and believes it when Janeway straight up lies about the quality of his cooking. (Knowing what Janeway thinks of Neelix is another strike against the Kazon, when she specifically asks that Neelix be on the bridge if they come around. We know what she really thinks of his capabilities, so how worried can she be about the Kazon?)
- There's a lot of unusual camera work in the episode, and not all of it effective. During the opening battle sequence, Chakotay gets the upper hand with a loop-the-loop maneuver; I think the upside-down camera (in space) is a rather unnecessary flourish. And throughout, there are quite a lot of arch, upward angles. (Perhaps to de-emphasize the height difference between Robert Beltran and Aron Eisenberg?)
The scenes here between Beltran and Eisenberg are fairly good, but it's impossible for this episode to escape the shadow of the damage it's doing to the Kazon as a credible or interesting adversary. I give "Initiations" a C+.
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