Voyager Flashback: Warlord

Kes was a young character on Star Trek: Voyager, and played by a young actress. Still, it's easy to forget just how young Jennifer Lien was during her three years as a series regular -- she was 20 years old when Voyager began. The show increasingly took advantage of her acting maturity and skill, perhaps never more so than in season three's "Warlord."

The rebellious former dictator of an alien world uses technology to invade Kes' mind and take over her body. Soon, "Kes" is ruling with an iron fist and attacking her enemies with Ocampan mental abilities. But inside, the real Kes is fighting back, as the Voyager crew plans her rescue.

I'll be direct: pretty much the only good thing about this episode is Jennifer Lien's performance. But she's really good, enough to make it reasonably enjoyable to watch. As the power-mad Tieran, she has arch, over-the-top fun as she swaggers around. She plausibly intimidates people far more physically imposing than her, dropping her voice half an octave into raspy gravel. She has a great scene with Tim Russ, poking at Tuvok's suppressed emotions. She has another good "internal" scene with "the real Tieran," surrealistically filmed with Dutch angles in multiple sets. She has fun yelling and flirting (though the episode wimps out on showing a same-sex kiss one moment, while suggesting a "throuple" a few scenes later).

But all of that plays against the backdrop of a bad Game of Thrones episode plucked from the middle of a season we haven't watched. The political landscape the planet Ilari is boring, as are all of its characters. There's no reason to care who comes out on top of their struggle to rule, but the episode seems actually more interested in all of that than it is in saving Kes. Yet despite the time and space given to all these politics, the episode doesn't have anything interesting to say about authoritarianism or rebellion.

There's also a weird subplot disassociated from everything else, about Neelix creating a Talaxian resort holoprogram and rolling with the punches as Kim, Paris, and Torres fill it up with cultural cliches and titillation. (But it's equal opportunity, at least. The Speedo on B'Elanna's holo-beefcake seems shocking for 90s broadcast television.) Even people with foot fetishes get their due (I guess?) as we for some reason get multiple shots of Neelix's super-gross feet.

In the course of the episode, Kes-as-posesssed-by-Tieran actually breaks up with Neelix. It's a wild scene. "Kes" actually makes several valid points about how obsessive Neelix can be and how he inserts himself into every aspect of her life... except that it more accurately describes a version of Neelix we really haven't seen in at least half a season. (In fact, the Neelix in this scene is actually quite understanding and supportive.) Weirder still, at least by memory, this ends up being the actual breakup of Neelix and Kes. Despite the circumstances here, I believe the two characters are officially not a couple going forward.

Other observations:

• Voyager alien design plays a lot with not only makeup but hair as well. I don't know that the "salad/turtle heads" here are very effective, but the six nostrils these aliens have are a lot of fun -- particularly when Kes/Tieran uses her mind powers to send blood gushing out of all of them.

• There's a briefing scene in the middle of this episode with really weird camera choices. A slightly fish-eyed lens, with uncharacteristically tight close-ups, looks rather awkward. (Especially for Neelix.)
  

• There's a character named "Demmas," whose name at least one time sounds a lot like "dumbass."

I'm here for some Jennifer Lien grandstanding, so I'll give "Warlord" a B-. But I'd understand a weaker reaction from others. If her part of the episode doesn't entertain you, there's really nothing else here.