Shark Bytes

Guardian, I can understand your frustration with the writers' reluctance to assign human qualities such as vulnerability to a female captain, but take a look at Thomas' post, three below mine. Two officers out of seven are female, and the writers are trying to "prove something" and be "politically correct." Like it or not, there are still quite a few males who are threatened by women as authority figures, so the writers had to be very careful with how they handled Janeway.

As for when the show jumped, I voted for the introduction of the four Borg children. The focus was already heavy on Seven (which I've always felt was massively unfair to Roxane Dawson), but we abruptly shifted from "Seven-tries-to-rediscover-her-humanity" to "Seven-suddenly-becomes-a-mother." The show changed from Star Trek Voyager to The Borgy Bunch.

Voyager was not a terrible show but I never could understand that when they would meet up with other federation ships, why didn't they just follow them home. Their ship was low on supplies, people, and highly unequipped for dealing with pretty much everything that was thrown at them. It just seemed kinda lame to me with that.
Deep Space 9 was the worst of them all.

I never liekd star trek, untill this show. This is the only star trek i can watch, and in my opinon it never jumped the shark untill the last episode. The first 2 seasons werent as good, but starting at season 3 the quality of the episodes got much better.

I have been a big Star Trek fan. But I could only stand about half a season of this. Too politically correct. I liked the idea of a female captain & they picked the right actress. But by selecting a female chief engineer they were trying to prove something. The makeup of the crew was bad. Too forced. A black Vulcan and too much of a mixture. The only creative part of the show was the doctor. The original Star Trek had a variety of characters without seeming so contrived. An alien (not wanted by the network), a black woman officer. The writing was also far superior. This was definately a dissapointment.

Can I vote 100 time for 7of9?

They came up with some decent storylines for her, but it meant rewriting the definition of The Borg several times. And, frankly, it never overcame the fact that she was added as blatant fanservice.

I loved Voyager. They had some missteps-steps along the way such as Paris's taste for old school Americana, and Janeway's holideck trips to old England. The show jumped the shark, however when Seven and Chekotay started dating.The final episode was awful. I would have rather seen how everyone adapted to life acted out rather than yet another battle with the Borg

Within the first few episodes. The conflict between the Marquis and Starfleet just vanished, they had enough resources to use the holodeck all the time, and it became no different than TNG, only it sucked. Oh, sure, the show had some great moments and characters-the Doctor, Seven of Nine, Neelix. But after only a few episodes they completely forgot the premise and made it into a TNG retread. The villain decay of the Borg, Kazon, Hirogen, and everyone else didn't help either.

I didn't think this was a bad show, but I think it could have been done better.

The show at it's best was (I think it was called "Year of Hell") with the krenem(?).

IMO the entire show should have been like that, a trashed, dirty rundown federation star ship trying to survive in the delta quadrant. It had an awesome feel to an otherwise sterile and dull environment.

The "traveling to the 3rd world nation's of the galaxy" made the show feel somewhat dull.

I know they pulled out of that for the most part, but like someone else said, it just felt like each episode was a rinse and repeat.

My problem with the show was that they were so worried about the fact that this was the first female captain to be the lead in a Star Trek series, at least in the first few seasons. They were determined that, ultimately, Janeway could not be wrong or vulnerable because that would mean they weren't taking her seriously as a female captain. (I believe that was a mindset of the powers that be at Star Trek:Voyager.)

Don't get me wrong, there seemed to be moments of doubt for Janeway, but just seemed to be attempts to show a sensitive side that were resolved more quickly than they would have been had they not been so worried about how a female captain would be viewed.

The problem is, vulnerability and fallibilty are not male or female qualities. They are human qualities.

The thing that almost made me fall out of my seat was the first time they ordered a self-destruct. I believe it was season 2. She just ordered the self-destruct with authorization code, set the timer, andthe computer started counting down. No additional codes from the senior staff, not even her first officer Chakotay. Just gave the order. I'm sorry, male or female, no one should have that much power. As I recall, she went on to order a self destruct a total of 5 times in that one season.

I may not have explained this very well, I haven't watch the show much in a while. I just remember my basic reactions to the show. I have to admit that I was so Star Trek obsessed I kept watching.

I also felt that they could have taken more risks. The premise seemed to suggest that they would but they chickened out. I know others have already touched on that point.

I also felt that the episodes felt like someone filmed a rough draft of a script. I later read that they often started filming with unfinished scripts. I've heard the original Star Trek did that as well, but I never felt like it was an unfinished script. The makers of the original show seemed to have a better talent for pulling that off. Perhaps they kept me so entranced, that I was able to forgve more.

There were some episodes that felt like the sole reason they were filmed was to fill an hour. I never felt that with any other Trek. DS9 came close with some early season 7 episodes, but generally, even when another Trek series had a weak episode, I at least felt they wer trying to do something good.

I think we obsessed Trekkie's (yes, I said "Trekkie" instead of "Trekker") gave the show more of a chance than we would had this been a show from a different and/or less establishde franchise. And even some of us had lost patience by the tie Enterprise came around. It was cancelled after only for seasons. But that's another show and another story. Thanks for leting me rant a bit.

Janeway's voice - so annoying! It got to the point where I would watch the episode reading the captions with the sound off. Did she suck helium between takes or just smoke eight packs a day?

My only complaint of the show is that the writers had the crew fighting impossible odds the entire episode. Then, in the last 3 minutes, they would devise a plan and save the day.

I have to vote for “Never Jumped”, not because the show wasn’t bad, but that the main reason the show sucked for me was not contained in any single episode or moment. There were good episodes, and there were bad episodes. There were moments when the show really impressed me, and parts that were absolutely cringe worthy. Just like any other show. My main problem with Voyager was that it was the most conservative science fiction show in decades. Nothing ever changed.

Oh, there was an occasional departure from the show (Kes, Neelix), the occasional addition (36 of D and the Borg kids), and maybe some minor character development (Paris and Torres), but at the end of the day, each episode was pretty much like the one before it, and would be pretty much the same as the one after it. Voyager arrives somewhere, there is a problem, Voyager solves the problem, Voyager leaves.

Occasionally, a problem would take more than one episode to solve, (the Krenim, species 8472, etc.) but you knew that everything would be back to normal sooner or later. Heck, how many times did they hit the reset button on that series? Voyager would get blown up, but not really at least twice I can think of offhand. The Krenim were an incredibly dangerous foe that had been getting hinted at for the better part of a season, and then we get a two-parter, a reset button, and the whole plotline gets wrapped up when a scientist decides to go out for a picnic. Species 8472 went from viscous, genocidal xenophobes with enough power to send the Borg packing, to a bunch of freaking humans living in a Federation starbase playing let’s pretend in just 4 episodes.

Heck, the entire premise of the show (a lone Federation ship stranded on the wrong side of the galaxy) would not even come up for a dozen episodes at a stretch. Pretty much any episode of Voyager could be turned into a TNG episode with very little effort.

I tuned in for a while and realized what the problem was when we got the “Tuvix” episode. We barely got to know the guy and then they bump him off, robbing the story of most of its emotional punch. We get to see the crew struggle with it, but the viewers at home don’t really feel it. I thought, “Wouldn’t it have been neat if they stretched out that character over three or four episodes? Then it would be traumatic for the viewers at home, as well as the crew of Voyager”. Then I realized they would never do that, since it would mean a shift away from the problem of the week format.

Two main characters die before the opening credits, and by the time the end credits roll around, the episode might as well not have happened. Think about it, Janeway is so desperate to have Voyager at the end of the episode be the same as it was at the start of the episode that she is willing to murder a man. Status Quo forever!

I just started watching Voyager on DVD. Unfortunately, I agree with many of the criticisms that have been posted on this site. Many of the plots demonstrated an alarming absence of novelty and creativity. The writiers appear to have settled for making minor deviations to plots that were utilised in TNG. The language, diction and expressions used by many of the characters, in my view, are anachronistic when you consider the time era. More attention could have been given to this.

I disagree, however, with the criticisms of 7 of 9 to the extent that they focus on the fact that she was sexy and wore spandex. Star Trek TOG, even though it aired so many years ago, had many episodes with scantily clad women. In other words there is a precedent for the use of "sexiness" in the star trek series.

JLP

I've been a faithful ST fan and have dutifully watched all of the series. Before it aired I looked forward to Voyager because of the interesting possibilities. Thought it might bring the show back to some of the original ST concepts--out in space with no back-up, possibly no end to the journey, new species, having to improvise, etc. I was also happy to hear that there would be a female captain; I know, I know, many of you out there can't stand the idea, and it is still tough to pull off in our society.


Loved Kate Mulgrew; have watched her since she became a heroine in Ryan's Hope. The problem for Janeway was the inconsistent writing, character definition, and plot lines. Once the show decided to add Seven, Janeway's character was almost unrecognizable at times--what a shame, and a terrible mess.

Making Seven the center of the show for four years was a poor decision, to say the least. Look, folks, let's admit it, they added her character in order to have a well-built women walk around in a catsuit. Posters of her abound in those dorm rooms. Not my idea of ST. Perhaps if they'd made her more peripheral the show could have maintained a few more plots. And, really, pairing off Seven with Chakotay in just a few moments at the end of the series was one of the worst decisions made in ANY of the series--what a joke! She'd been flirting with the Doctor for years. Chakotay and Janeway had chemistry in the beginning, but they dropped it, and much of Chakotay's role, after year 3.

I loved the Tom Paris/Harry Kim friendship/wacky fun. ST has a history of creating strong male friendships--loved DS9's Doctor/Chief Engineer work.

Kess was a poorly defined character from the beginning, as was Neelix. IMHO Neelix's character improved once Kess left. He got to do more than whine and complain about Kess hanging out with other guys.

Harry Kim was great when the story lines were good; loved the back in time to rescue the ship episode. And yes, it's hard to understand why they couldn't given him a higher rank than Ensign--he really was part of the senior staff, went to the meetings, etc. The Doctor was inconsistent, and the show centered around him too much as well. Occasionally, though, his character did carry an episode.

I just wish that before the show aired the producers had a) more clearly defined their vision, b) figured out who the characters were and made them somewhat 3-dimensional, c) developed a long-term story arcs.

Loved the ship, always love Majel Barrett (sp?), and loved the initial idea.

Although I resisted watching Enterprise after Voyager went off the air, eventually I forced myself to watch it in reruns and found some of it palatable. Unfortunately the flaws in Voyager were magnified in that show.

All that said, still love ST, TNG, DS9 and Voyager, and I like Enterprise. TNG and DS9 have become my favorites over the years, but nothing will ever tarnish my deep affection for all things Star Trek!

I love the show, but it wasn't without its problems (little mistakes like Tom entering the bridge covered with holographic grease after working on his holographic Camaro in the holodeck). The writers did get a little obsessed with Seven of nine plot lines, but I found her and the doctor to be the most interesting and amusing characters on the show. The doctor was hilariously obnoxious and really evolved nicely throughout the series. Like the doctor, Seven's lack of tact and social skills made her fun to watch as well. Most of the other characters were also interesting and likable (with the exception of Chokotay, who could have easily been replaced with an inflatable doll without anyone noticing). I personally liked Janeway - somehow she manages to be a commanding presence without coming across as a total bitch. She is my second favorite captain (behind Picard, of course). The other three I consider to be complete boobs - a hot-head who should have been given a chastity belt as standard issue, an over-enunciating yawner with no sense of humor, and a star ship captain whose acting skills were the only things lower than his lousy ethics. Anyway, overall I though Voyager was the bomb! Sorry the series ended, and wish another good one would be created.