Someone Else's War

"Resistance" Plot Summary:

Janeway, Neelix, Torres and Tuvok are in disguise on a planet, negotiating to trade for a vital engine component. They are discovered and attacked, but Neelix beams back to the ship with the material before he's caught. While Torres and Tuvok are imprisoned, Janeway is recued by Caylem, who believes that she's his daughter - a member of the resistance.

Janeway awakens in Caylem's home and asks for his help in getting her people out of prison. She realizes quickly that there's no point in denying to be his daughter, and asks a lot of questions, discovering that his wife is in prison as well and he's been writing her letters for years. With his help, she arranges a meeting with a member of the resistance, but the man who comes to meet them is wearing the boots of a soldier. Caylem distracts the guards, and they flee.

Pretending to be a prostitute, Janeway breaks into the prison, where Tuvok is being tortured and Torres has been trying unsuccessfully to break out. She lowers the prison shields just as Voyager finds a way to penetrate the planetary defense net and beam a rescue team down. Janeway and Caylem are caught by the security officer with whom Chakotay has been trying unsuccessfully to negotiate. He announces that Caylem's wife was murdered by his men years before, and that his daughter actually died during an attempt to break into the prison.

Caylem attacks the officer, killing him just before he is shot by a guard who is in turn killed in the melee. Janeway pretends to be the old man's daughter as he dies, telling him that her mother is safe. Chakotay is relieved to have her back safely on the ship, but she's sorrowful.

Analysis:

A wonderful episode with a gripping script and terrific directing, "Resistance" is the best Janeway story so far this season. I love getting to see her separated from her crew, like in "Time and Again"; then we find out what she's like when she doesn't have to play the captain all the time. Interestingly, she's not much different than the captain in the good episodes: she's resourceful, she's compassionate, she's not afraid to get her own hands dirty. Curious that her first instinct was not to try to contact the ship, but to rescue her people.

I didn't like her playing a hooker - that's so typical, that the writers would have her resort to using her sexuality that way - I guess I had sort of hoped that by the 24th century that wasn't still going to be considered a staple of feminine behavior, all over the galaxy. Kirk used charm with women, but he was generally the aggressor, not a whore; I can't think of an instance where he had to touch someone he didn't want. And Picard's prudishness with aliens was legendary.

This was a great episode for both women, actually - I liked Torres as well as Janeway, hanging tough in jail, debating strategy with Tuvok when he was willing to accept torture as inevitable and she wanted to try to fight even if it was hopeless. Chakotay seemed overly cautious once he realized the aliens weren't going to help him - why not come out guns blazing? But it was enlightening to see him in command during a crisis. Not a bad job, and I liked the way he treated Kim the way Janeway would have.