In the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of Voyager, Seven and Janeway scheme to take back the ship from the Hirogen. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.Â
Trigger Warning: For discussion of Nazis/Nazism and anti-semitism.
Well, this was a fun two-parter, and I was pleased that a few things were addressed by the script for the second half. At the end of all of this, the Hirogen are still pretty cruel. (Which is why I wasn’t surprised that one of them found Nazi ideology appealing.) Their decision to pursue a new way to hunt is based more on efficiency and legacy than on morality.
But the Voyager crew (Janeway included) were never going to convince the Hirogen that their obsession with hunting prey was immoral. In that sense, it’s why the Nazi invocation is apt: the specific form of white supremacy that Nazis supported was something they believed deeply and truly. The supremacy we see here is still present in the Hirogen, but… well, I don’t know what kind of future they’ll have.
That’s only hinted at in “The Killing Game, Part II,” largely because the focus of this episode is on the resistance. Now, that is certainly interesting, especially because it was so cool watching the two storylines play out aside one another. Those trapped unknowingly in the Holodeck were fighting a war against Nazi occupation; outside, Seven, Janeway, Harry, and the Doctor were fighting a war against Hirogen domination. It was a treat seeing those not under the influence of the neural transmitters try to blend in with the World War II world, too! That was a decision each character had to deal with in their own way. Seven mostly refused to play along. (I LOVED THAT SHE REFUSED TO SING.) Janeway, however, did her best to wave away any concerns that Chakotay had. And it worked! Like, he barely questioned her when she took him to the Klingon caves.
Thus, I felt the wind under the sails of this story disappeared once the neural links were destroyed. I didn’t appreciate how cool it was to see the dual story play out until one of them was gone. Though I think part of my problem comes from the simple lack of time for the final act. The Hirogen officer who is courted by Nazism (whose name I didn’t catch) could have been given more development here. For a second, I thought we were getting it, too, especially when that one Nazi officer began to explain the basis for his beliefs. (Which finally included a very clear reference to the anti-semitism that is implicit in Nazism. I wouldn’t say it’s enough, but at least it wasn’t totally ignored.) How would the Hirogens deal with a world where their supremacy was acted out through holograms? Without actual physical bodies to oppress and destroy, would their ideology crumble? Part of me thinks that’s why that one officer executed his leader; he feared the loss of power that would come through the power fantasy of the Holodecks. Hunting would become a fantasy, wouldn’t it? And that probably frightened him beyond comprehension.
That’s mostly conjecture on my part, though, and it’s something I wish had been explored more in the text. Still, “The Killing Game” was a competent and, at times, thrilling little adventure. CAN WE ACKNOWLEDGE HOW COOL IT WAS TO WATCH JANEWAY SHOOT SOMEONE OUT OF A FUCKING BUILDING THOUGH. Awesome, glad we can do that.
The video for “The Killing Game, Part II” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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