A
Tribute to Voyager
The show that could have been so great
After
seven years, Star Trek Voyager has ended. The show that kept us thrilled for so
many years and also was the reason that this site became a reality has finally reached the end,
missed by many loyal fans.
But
was Voyager a great SF-series, the best SF-series ever or was it a big
dissapointment, the weakest of the Star Trek series? Well, it depends on how you
look at it. So this will be a very personal review.
As I see it, Voyager had the potential to be the best Star Trek series ever, maybe the best SF-series ever. It had the best characters and the best background story. It also had the best actors ever in a Star Trek series. The idea of a Starfleet ship which by accident is transported to the other side of the galaxy was excellent. The fact that the ship had a crew of Starfleet personal and former Maquis members was also a good idea which a lot of interesting stories and intrigues could be built around.
There
were also the main characters. Captain Janeway, the first female main character
in Star Trek, an effective, tough captain with a heart of gold. Chakotay, the
former Maquis commander, a sympathetic Native American with a great sense
for justice and fair play. Tom Paris, the Starfleet outcast who got the chance to
get his life and career in order and took it, a character with a lot of humor (I
just love his comments from time to time). B’Elanna Torres, the gifted
hot-tempered engineer who left Starfleet Academy to join the Maquis but ended up
being a loyal, creative Starfleet engineer. Tuvok, the calm and effective Vulcan
officer, a tower of strenght in difficult situations. The Doctor, a hologram who
developed to be more and more human as the series continued. Harry Kim, the
young and unexperienced ensign, a nice and friendly character. Neelix, the
Talaxian cook, a funny, friendly character who joined the crew in the Delta
Quadrant.
And
there was Kes. The beautiful, intelligent, nice, friendly and brave Ocampa who
also joined the crew in the Delta Quadrant. Well, everybody who visits this site
surely knows who the webmaster's main favorite is.
I
still remember the first time I saw the pilot episode “Caretaker”. I was a
Star Trek-The Next Generation fan since a couple of years and I also liked Deep
Space Nine, even if I found the characters and stories there a little dull,
comparing to TNG. But “Caretaker” turned me into a Voyager fan immediately.
This episode was so good! The characters were introduced in a very good way
and the story was just so much better than everything else I’ve seen. I just
couldn’t wait for a chance to see the next episode.
And
Voyager kept it’s promise. For the coming three seasons, the series came up
with a lot of good and exciting episodes. Of course, there were some not so good
episodes, like “Threshold” but most of the time Voyager continued to be
exciting with a lot of great inter-acting between the main characters. (And I
must admit that this was the first series I’ve ever seen where I actually
liked all the main characters.)
But
then things started to go wrong. It started in the beginning of Season Four when
Kes was “deleted” because the producers wanted a new character, most
of all a“sexy babe” in
the series. It was not only the fact that my favorite character was “deleted”,
it was the brutal firing of the excellent actress Jennifer Lien that made me
angry and also made me lose interest.
If they really had to add a new character, then they should have kept all the original main characters!
After
that, the series developed in a way that not only made me dissapointed but also
a lot of other fans. The series became more focused on the new character Seven Of Nine and her
search for humanity which meant that all
the other characters, except for Captain Janeway and the Doctor was shoved aside and
became nothing more than extras. The introduction of such characters as Naomi Wildman, the
Equinox crew, Icheb and the Borg kids only turned things worse.
It
didn’t end there. The humiliation of Kes in the horrible episode “Fury” (which
actually made me stop watching Voyager for good), the unnecessary death of Lt.
Carey who was a good character and had deserved better, the Seven-Chakotay story, which
some fans enjoyed but most of the fans didn't , most notably the "J/C:ers", the shows most loyal fans, the way they “deleted”
Neelix in the end of the last season and the confusing end episode “Endgame”
with the feeling of “Is that all there is?” have actually made most of the
fans, including myself very dissapointed with Voyager and Star Trek as a concept.
( A
tip to the producers: If you want to keep the fans, don’t insult them!)
That’s
really sad. Because Voyager as a concept was great. The series had so much
potential and could have been much better than it was. And it must be some
credit to Voyager that even the most dissapointed fans stayed on until the end
because of the affection for the characters and the show itself. If the
greatness of a series is measured by the loyalty of the fans, then Voyager is
the greatest series ever.
But
Voyager isn’t gone. It will live in our hearts and memories. It will continue
to exist in books and fanfiction, maybe with better stories than the
“official” series.
Keep
flying Voyager! Fly to a better universe!
