547. The Killing Game, Part IIFORMULA: Patterns of Force + Our Man Bashir + Hippocratic Oath
WHY WE LIKE IT: Seven in a black cat suit.
WHY WE DON'T: Just a lot of noise.
REVIEW: Though there's something to be said about the way Janeway thinks on her feet and manipulates the various "holographic" characters in Part II of The Killing Game, the episode otherwise falls quite short of the first one's promise. It's just a lot of running around and shooting, shooting, shooting, and more shooting. The various simulations (in fact, there are only two running) never significantly interact to create the kind of cool/fun nonsense Part I dished out.
When the characters wake up, there's some attempt to give them stuff to do, but things like B'Elanna's holographic pregnancy (and Dawson's own), well used in Part I, seem wasted here. There's some humor to the proceedings, but it clashes with such scenes as the evil Nazi captain's extended speech about racial purity. I know they're trying to present the ideology here, but did we need to linger on it that long? It somehow convinces a Hirogen to shoot his leader, but the entire sequence seems unnecessary. The Killing Game isn't ABOUT racial purity or Nazism. And despite the gratuitous death of Karr, the Hirogen still embrace his vision later.
None of the humor really pops, in fact, whether it's Neelix trying to pacify the Klingons, or Tom's American slang. It all falls flat amidst the empty violence. Only Janeway comes up aces, manipulating both the "holographic" crew and the Hirogen, as well as defeating the one hunting her with guile and cunning. And of course she signs a treaty with the hunters...
It's surprising there's so much padding in this thing, considering they have to tell us about the climax in a log. Yes, somehow, with the ship heavily damaged and the crew sporting multiple injuries, the fighting "comes to a standstill" against more than 80 armored Hirogen hunters and four of their ships. For some reason, the latter are quite willing to parlay with their prey (which has never been done) and accept the holographic technology as a gift EVEN THOUGH they don't share Karr's ideas. So Voyager really had their asses over a barrel! I guess! Lazy writing across the board.
LESSON: It doesn't matter who the father is so long as you can say "Computer, delete pregnancy".
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-Low: If Part I had a lot of goofy fun, Part II misses the mark by light-years. This time, we're not so willing to suspend our disbelief.
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