Another two parter – someone wants to be writing 40 minute episodes I think. Spilers.
There’s a bit of a pacing problem this season with the two-part episodes. As with some of the previous ones there’s a lot of setup and exposition in the first part. And a bit too much ‘tell, don’t show’. There’s a middling action sequence – at least by the standards of the show – which doesn’t do much more than distract.
That said, the story telling outside that is good. The way the setup in the first act is mirrored in the third act is well conceived and implemented. Overall I think my quip at the start of the review has a lot of truth though in terms of the structure. And there is some good emotional truth from Chakotay.
(Very) quick hits:
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Is it still ‘living off the land’ if you’re fishing in clouds?
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Nice passage of time edit with the wooden figures.
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Speaking as a manager, Chakotay needed to think a bit more about the implications of crafting his crew into chess pieces, a game in which you famously move pieces around and send them to their death.
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‘Percussive maintenance’ – one of my favourite tropes to be honest.
950 down.