Via Signifying Nothing comes a question from One Fine Jay, as to why Star Trek: Voyager: “Why is it that Trek fans absolutely, positively, demonizingly hate Voyager? ”
Like Chris at SigNoth, I am not so sure that Voyager is hated, as much as it is considered a dissappointment. For me, I got bored with the show somewhere around the third or fourth season and drifted away, watching very little of it after that.
Mostly the show struck me as Gilligan’s Island in space: each week we knew that the crew wouldn’t get off the island, so the false drama created by the possibility of getting home was known to be phony from the get-go. Further, early one the show didn’t even feel like they were making any progress. I mean, gee whiz, how long does it take to get our of Kazon space?
There were numerous other premise problems: 1) part of the appeal of watching a new Trek show is that it is Trek with an established universe and all that to play in. Well, with Voyager you couldn’t play with it, as the show was set in the wrong part of the galaxy. 2) The whole Maquis thing was lame from the get-go, and wasn’t sustainable over the course of a series (indeed, they eventually seem to forget about it). For Goodness’ sake, these people were criminals, and yet their leader is made to be First Officer.
Of course, forget all that: the Gilligan’s Island in Space description strikes me as a sufficient explanation in and of itself.
June 11th, 2024 at 9:21 pm
Hmmm… Well as I think you know, Voyager is my favorite Trek series. I actually think it has some of the best Trek acting. I mean, I think Kate Mulgrew was awesome for her part. I also liked the fact that the show was unpredictable in part. There were new races, planets, etc every show. I also liked many of the two part episodes with the Borg. They raised alot of issues about self-determination and other issues.
I think the criminals thing with the Maquis goes to the point that in extreme situations, sometimes tough decisions must be made. Ie Voyager needed the Maquis to run the ship and the Maquis needed Voyager to get home. Also, I think that Voyager dealt very effectively with some questions of ethics and morals in ways that other series have not.