Are We All Too Harsh On The Kazon?

[Voth commando1]

I don't mind them in particular.

They are basically a bunch of competing tribes and were previously enslaved and inhabit one of the more dangerous and overall less developed(in terms of civilizations and tech) areas of the DQ.

 

[garakvsneelix]

As said the first two years of Voyager's journey probably wasn't in a straight line through that region of space. A lot of weaving, back tracking, and jumping between star systems in the name of exploration and replenishment of resources.

Yeah, of course, that's the logical reason, but I have some problems with it on a narrative basis. When it should be the "unique selling point" of VOY (compared to TNG), that they boldly go where noone has gone before not by moving away from earth but by flying home, it was a bit "untoward", that this concept didn't work out well in the first seasons. Later, and especially since season 4, I really believed them, that I watch a show about a crew that tries to find a way home, but in the first two seasons...? Not that much...

 

[Shaka Zulu]

The Voth weren't villains. They wanted to be left alone, with their mythology intact. And they were also vastly more powerful than Voyager. There could be no "civil war" because the information was retracted, and the population was fed bullshit, just like us.

Why wasn't the culture in "The Blink of an Eye" revisited? They were progressing a thousand times faster than normal space. That would have been interesting. And so on and so on. TNG never rehashed old stories, why would you expect Voyager to? Were you disappointed because the proto-Romulan society or the "Binars" on TNG was never mentioned again? I'm not.

I think the only place Voyager screwed the pooch was not bringing "Caretaker" full circle, because they had the opportunity to do so when the ydecided to write Kes off the show. She should have left the ship to rejoin her people with her rediscovered powers. She could have reawakened those abilities in her people, and freed them from their dependency on the Caretaker. Then they could have used their abilities to undo the damage the Caretaker caused to their planet, restoring the Ocampan society, and bringing the whole thing full circle. The return of Kes should have been positive, instead of what it was.

You nailed it.

 

[Go-Captain]

I didn't like the Kazon much. I think if they had showed more diversity in how they live, got their backstory out sooner about being self freed slaves using stolen ships things could have been a lot more interesting. Also, the no water concept needs a lot of work because there is no way they are going to lack water when they have interstellar ships which can go to the nearest system to tap an ice asteroid.

If they wanted a lack of water story they could have had it so the Kazon have more people than their ships can carry so they tended to stay put once they debark, and the ship goes off to get another load of people. Water could have been expensive in the Caretaker system because it had been cleared out centuries ago in the inner system, and they have to use sub-impulse ships to harvest ice from the Oort cloud, or wait for rare warp ships to make water runs. The Caretaker system Kazon could have been poorer than some sects but better off than some due to a combination of salvaging the ships of the Caretaker's victims and helping those who survive in exchange for technologies and resources. They could still be the bad guys of the pilot episodes but would have more complex motivation.

There could also be a part where Voyager's crew thinks they arrived in a pre-warp civilization and think it's the Kazon who are victims of the Caretaker. Then later it turns out they are victims but of a different situation, and it's the Occampa getting the worst of it.

Off topic, but also make it explicit the Ocampa having one child in their life is something the Caretaker did to control their population to make them more manageable and he never had the chance to reverse it. Perhaps normally they would have a litter of three or more depending on the circumstances.

 

[MrPointy]

I think the Kazon would have been better if the Trabe were around more, and there were some examples of non-gang Kazon.

I actually think the Suliban were a better executed Kazon.

 

[jmidnight_99]

When I learned more about the creation of the Kazon, I wasn't a fan of them being drawn from LA street gangs of the '90s, or that they were later considered unworthy even of Borg assimilation. Perhaps that was a sop or admission of how they fizzled as villains but I didn't care for that based on the real-world inspiration, as if saying the Kazon, who were inspired by gangs populated primarily by young black Americans were not worthy or had nothing of value or could add to the Borg Collective.

I never heard about the Gang/Kazon analog so I Googled it. Interesting.

If it's any help, all of it is based on some real-world inspiration. It would be impossible to relate to any of it otherwise. The Romulan society was based on the Roman empire, Kirk kissing Uhura was drawn from the civil rights unrest of the times. Spock wants to go back in time to retrieve humpback whaes. They pop a female captain and a black Vulcan on Voyager. Every member of the main cast on every show is a different race/species/gender/color. All of it reflects the real-world, or real-world issues.

What does "sop" mean?

I don't think young Americans, black, white or hispanic who choose to join hostile, violent, murderous drug gangs are worthy, nor do think that they have anything to offer society... so I miss your point on that one. That's why the Kazon were so bad... they were nothing but violent and hostile thugs, and had no worth or purpose.