I love Star Trek Voyager! I can't help it, I loved it when it was on the air and I love rewatching the episodes over and over. Now, I am not stupid. I know the criticism of the show and most of them are valid. The writing fails in many episodes. The science is all over the place. The show literally abandoned its premise right out of the gate, specifically the whole "Maquis" thing. Even the "lost in space" thing isn't handled well since the ship has a magic reset button and is always in good shape no matter what happened the week before. And hard as it tries it just isn't as smart as its predecessors DS9 or TNG. Though it isn't Enterprise, so there's that! However, it isn't a bad show either, when it's good it's really damn good. I love the characters especially 7 and when it is good, it’s pretty damn good! So, I could either condemn it for not living up to its potential or enjoy the product we got. I choose the latter.
So with this year being the 30th anniversary of the show, I am going to try to take a look a the show for good, and for bad. I say try because the way I have been releasing these lately hasn't been so consistent so this may be the only article I do (like what I did for TNG's anniversary). So let's talk about....
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So I noted that I understand most of the complaints lodged at this show. There is one that I don't agree with and drives me nuts. This idea that Janeway is crazy. Captain Kathryn Janeway was played by Kate Mulgrew and was the first female captain in the lead of a series. And she gets a lot of hate for being mean, to quick to fight, and the one I never got--tormenting her crew. When does she do that???
However, that doesn't mean I think she's perfect either. She has flaws, in fact she has such flaws the characters on the show will call them out. And there were times when even I thought she either went to far or came off just nasty and mean, So in my eternal quest for fairness, I will discuss those times that I agree with the masses that Janeway was, well, less than perfect. And no, I am not starting with stranding her crew in the Delta Quadrant. You can certainly debate the merits of that decision, but the simple fact is, you wouldn't have had a show if she hadn't done that.
#5.Tuvix
Oh come on, you knew this was coming. Usually when the topic of how awful Janeway can be comes up, this is the first best example people cite. And it's understandable. Long story short, a transporter accident fuses Neelix and Tuvok into one person. When a remedy is found, this person (named Tuvix) refused to be separated. He has a life and wants to keep it, even if it means Tuvok and Neelix stay dead for all intends and purposes. And we know how it ends, with Janeway hauling Tuvix down and having the procedure done against his will. Granted it's clear the choice pained her, and I think in the end it was right. But the way it was done as if she were literally dragging Tuvix to be executed was a bit much. How about a conversation that changes his mind? Or just have his cell structure break down forcing him to separate?
#4.Nothing Human
This is a small one because it's just a quick scene in a fantastic episode. Long story short, an alien attaches itself to Torres. A holographic doctor can help, but the hologram is of a mass murderer. We'll ignore the silliness there (they can't just redesign him?) and just point out that Torres refuses treatment. Janeway overrides that choice and tells the doctor to proceed. That is fine and handled very well. What isn't handled si well is the scene later where Janeway visits Torres and show no sympathy at all. Even comes across mean telling her to just get over it. Of course this is Voyager so nothing comes of it, but still.
#3.Fair Haven/Spirit Folk
I hate these episodes, they were so stupid for so many reasons. Fair Haven is a holdeck town created by Tom Paris which is so real and wonderful that Janeway makes choices for it even if her crew is at risk. Ok in the first episode she falls for a character on the holodeck, which is kind of creepy but the script bends over backward to convince us it makes sense. She makes changes to the program to make the character perfect (delete the wife) and then...anyway at least wasn't so stupid she refused to shut the program down when the ship was in danger. Nah, saved that for Spirit Folk. The holodeck characters kidnap Tom and Harry and despite the fact they are in real danger, and the holodeck program can always be recreated, Janeway decides not to risk the program by shutting it down. Sure. To be fair there is more stupid in these than just Janeway. These episodes are stupid stupid stupid.
#3.Latent Image
I get the feeling someone saw the end of the last episode and thought that was how Janeway is always handled. Because a few episodes later we discover that after The Doctor suffered a major problem with his program Janeway decided to alter it without her permission or knowledge then deprive him of memories that led to the error. The worst part is what happens after this is called out by The Doctor. Janeway is so cold and even nasty basically dismissing the fact that The Doctor is a person with rights just as much as he is a computer program. Even comparing him to a replicator. Which is not only cold but contradicts her attitude in other episodes. I think this was the case of the writer needing a contrivance for the story, but the contrivance almost puts her out of character. In fact we'll see this version of Janeway (from the same writer) in the next entry....
#1.The Equinox.
Yeah, is ths really the same character? Ok so Voyager encounters the Equinox which is also lost in the Delta Quadrant. Long story short we find out that its captain, Savage, severely violated the Prime Directive to get home faster. While he defends his actions, there ship hasn’t had the luck Voyager had. Now Janeway upset is fine but here she’s incensed at what he did. So much so she is seething with rage, distracting rules and practically endangers the ship chasing after him. Ok critics you can have this one. At one point she comes close to murdering an Equinox crewmen to get info on them. When Chakotay tries to stop her she relieves him of duty! I get what the writers were going for, Janeway is getting mean while Savage is being redeemed as he realizes he was wrong after all. But the execution is bad. I said before she was almost out of character. Here, she is very out of character.
So after all that, I actually think Janeway (when written well) was a great captain. She did care for her crew, and she knew the situation she was in meant having to be a little rougher at times. She struggled with her mistakes but knew she needed to be an example for the crew. Honestly some criticism sounds like misogyny, how dare she be tough and strong! Would a make captain get these criticisms? SF Debris does a loving parody of Janeway that I have never, ever understood. I guess I just dont see what he does, but that's cool. His videos are still excellent. I will not place her in rank order with the others but I do think she's up there. Kate Mulgrew was awesome in the role and made Janeway awesome. So much so she’s been part of Star Trek Prodigy.
There are plenty more questionable choices we could discuss, from forming an alliance with the Borg to giving the Hirogen holodeck technology to altering history to get her crew home sooner to Memorial ..which really should be here honestly. Did I miss one you think is worst than these? Comment and let me know.
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