I like 'Star Trek: Voyager'. There, I've said it and I'm not ashamed to admit that truth despite how a number of my fellow Trek fans feel. The premise sees the Starfleet crew of the USS Voyager investigating the disappearance of a Maquis ship in the perilous area of space known as the Badlands when they are pulled seventy-five light years away into the Delta Quadrant by an alien entity. After destroying the Maquis ship to save both crews from a warlike alien race, the Starfleet and Maquis are left merging into one group on-board Voyager with Starfleet Captain Janeway (the first female captain to lead a 'Star Trek' show) in command and Maquis Commander Chakotay as her First Officer. As they traverse through space, interacting with various alien species on the way, the main objective of the Voyager crew is to return home to Federation space.
Although the characters didn't develop quite as much as they could have, the main cast of the show all portrayed their characters well (even Ethan Phillips who played the often annoying Neelix!), growing into their roles as they progress through the seven years that 'Voyager' aired for. In particular, the younger characters of the show did 'grow up' the most. The jaded, delinquent Tom Paris (played by Robert Duncan McNeill) developed into a loyal and strong-natured officer without sacrificing his devil-may-care attitude so integral to the character, Seven (played by Jeri Ryan) grew from robotic drone who relied on her looks to sell her character to a more rounded, human character while the moody half-Klingon B'Elanna Torres (with Roxann Dawson in the role) eased off with her temperamental tantrums to show there was more to her than anger. And, of course, there has to be a mention of Robert Picardo's excellent depiction of the holographic Doctor whose journey into becoming more human was probably more touching than that portrayed by Data from 'The Next Generation'.
Many of the stories covered by 'Voyager' were engaging, exciting and, sometimes, even thought-provoking. It was probably most true to Gene Roddenberry's concept of 'going where no-one has gone before' since the crew really were stuck in an undiscovered area of space, alone with no back-up and only each other to rely upon. There was contact with different species (as well as one very familiar race) that were a pleasant change from the usual faces of the Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians. When you compare 'Voyager' to 'The Next Generation', which had many dire episodes in its initial season, it's clear that the former does fare well, finding its feet quicker. And at least the child characters on 'Voyager' don't leave you wanting to drown them in the way Wesley Crusher did.
There were a few sticking points that could have been handled differently such as seeing what the possible results would be if the crew had suffered from resource shortages and if a few crew members had problems integrating and accepting their situation. That said, this show is meant to be far lighter than 'Battlestar Galactica', which does deal with such issues, and this stance works for 'Voyager' and the more enlightened ideals that are meant to be held in Roddenberry's future. Also, what were they thinking when they paired Chakotay and Seven together? Probably the same thing they were thinking when they devised the hideous romancing of Troi and Worf in TNG!
It may not be perfect but 'Voyager' deserves to be acknowledged as another great addition to the Trek-verse.
Although the characters didn't develop quite as much as they could have, the main cast of the show all portrayed their characters well (even Ethan Phillips who played the often annoying Neelix!), growing into their roles as they progress through the seven years that 'Voyager' aired for. In particular, the younger characters of the show did 'grow up' the most. The jaded, delinquent Tom Paris (played by Robert Duncan McNeill) developed into a loyal and strong-natured officer without sacrificing his devil-may-care attitude so integral to the character, Seven (played by Jeri Ryan) grew from robotic drone who relied on her looks to sell her character to a more rounded, human character while the moody half-Klingon B'Elanna Torres (with Roxann Dawson in the role) eased off with her temperamental tantrums to show there was more to her than anger. And, of course, there has to be a mention of Robert Picardo's excellent depiction of the holographic Doctor whose journey into becoming more human was probably more touching than that portrayed by Data from 'The Next Generation'.
Many of the stories covered by 'Voyager' were engaging, exciting and, sometimes, even thought-provoking. It was probably most true to Gene Roddenberry's concept of 'going where no-one has gone before' since the crew really were stuck in an undiscovered area of space, alone with no back-up and only each other to rely upon. There was contact with different species (as well as one very familiar race) that were a pleasant change from the usual faces of the Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians. When you compare 'Voyager' to 'The Next Generation', which had many dire episodes in its initial season, it's clear that the former does fare well, finding its feet quicker. And at least the child characters on 'Voyager' don't leave you wanting to drown them in the way Wesley Crusher did.
There were a few sticking points that could have been handled differently such as seeing what the possible results would be if the crew had suffered from resource shortages and if a few crew members had problems integrating and accepting their situation. That said, this show is meant to be far lighter than 'Battlestar Galactica', which does deal with such issues, and this stance works for 'Voyager' and the more enlightened ideals that are meant to be held in Roddenberry's future. Also, what were they thinking when they paired Chakotay and Seven together? Probably the same thing they were thinking when they devised the hideous romancing of Troi and Worf in TNG!
It may not be perfect but 'Voyager' deserves to be acknowledged as another great addition to the Trek-verse.