Shark Bytes

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.

Voyager jumped the shark when it became "The Seven of Nine and Frieds Hour". But the sheer laziness of the writing got me from the getgo. Two of the irritants are listed. Inconsistancies in the scripts and the crew compliment. Kes warns Janeway all about the Krenim, who they'll run into in 6 months. But then Kes propels Voyager 9500 light years. Still they run into the Krenim and Janeway takes them on despite Kes' warnings.

And the crew compliment jumped around so ridiculously. In the Earhart episode they had 152 people on board. Despite the deaths mentioned in Alliances, the ones we saw in Basics and other episodes along the way, the crew compliment was recently 150. That despite it being 127 during the Species 8472 episode (when the doctor examines Chakotay he states '2 down 125 to go".

I would think people whose livlihood depended on the show would have been more careful

NEVER JUMPED, The Last Spinoff good

Where to begin.

1. JTS with the introduction of 7 of 9. By the end of the series, there was enough "Borg/36 of DD" episodes to be one entire season!! I always knew when the writers had nothing significant to write about--because it was "let's trounce out the BORG again!!!" BARF!!!

2. When Chakotay, who basically wanted to throw said Borg's Bubble Butt out the nearest air-lock on multiple occassions, decided to date her. Yeah--right.

3. In Janeway's defence: When producer/writer Jeri Taylor left at the end of season three (when Kes was also evolved off the show), Janeway became a conflicted character because the head-writers had no idea how to write for a woman commander: all we had to go off of was Kirk, Picard & Sisko. Mulgrew could only work with what she was given.

4. JTS when they didn't put the command team in to a relationship. Hello? Opportunity to break new ground. You're 10,000 light years or whatever from home--a hologram, a lover makes not.

5. Did I mention the cat-suit wearing abomination known as Seven of Nine. And did you ever notice that most shows Jeri Ryan have been on she came in to after established. Bah!!!

having voyager beat the borg 10000000 times should be an option on the list

The takeover of the show by the 7 of 9 character was the jts moment for me. If, as others have said, she simply joined the crew it would have made for some great opportunities. But since she and "all things Borg" took over the show, it ruined it.

And I too found Janeway's character increasingly annoying as the show progressed. Whether it was intentional on the part of the writers or not is irrelevant. Annoying is annoying.

For those who are critical of Janeway (the character - not the overacting of Mulgrew), have you considered that the writers might have intended for her to be flawed and inconsistent? I always thought so. Many leaders are blinded by their own ego and sense of self-righteousness.

It's kind of unfair to compare this show to TNG or DS9. It's different, but I like it for what it is. It's the story of a loose collection of people from diverse backgrounds trying to work together to get home.

The first three seasons were sound. I was a bit sad to see Kes leave, but 7 of 9 brought a lot of life to the show. At the same time unfortunately the Borg became less and less of a threat each subsequent encounter.

The show only annoyed me about Voyager was when Janeway, on occasion, would act like a total bitch. Case in point, in the episode "Night" the crew is passing through a dark void, and Janeway spends the free time they have locked up in her quarters blaming herself for no reason, and wants nothing to do with anybody. The minute Chakotay walks in to talk to her, she bites his head off.

Nonetheless, Voyager was an enjoyable show. Maybe not on the level of what TNG was but it's still good.

Voyager was one of the few shows to jump from sucky stupid to okay to good with the addition of hot lady Borg, Seven of Nine.

There was some real tension and drama with her, and even when they did really stupid plots later, like the Borg kids and a romance between her and Chakotay, an actor so stiff he could be called a wooden Indian without it being a racial slur.

Overall, the show suffered from the infantilization of all the Star Trek series after the original series: there were no adult conflicts or romantic relationships. When they did try to do romance storylines, they looked like how an eleven year old would imagine romance would work. Contrast that with the painfully realistic relationships in Battlestar Galactica, the political intrigues within the fleet, and the ambiguities of fighting an enemy who is ultimately of their own making.

This show JTS when they put Chakotay and Seven of Nine together. What the hell were these people on??? Everyone expected the two main officers to get together and it would have made a nice ending, but they screwed us over and I couldn't bring myself to watch such absurd storylines.
Seven of Nine was a waste of time. After she joined the cast it became the Seven and Friends Varity Hour! It started to annoy me how every single episode revolved over some spandex wearing robot!!!
Gross.
Another little thing that bugged me...
Who the hell cared about that Naomi child. My gawd.
I truly liked this show but some things obviously irritated me...

To Tomahawk: It's called a Universal Translator. There's two or three episodes where they mention it and they still do encounter some species they can't communicate with right off.

Between TOS and TNG for me so I'll give it 3rd of five on my list. The biggest problem I had with it is that they seemed to have an infinite amount of resources. One episode they'll complain about not having enough of something and in the next (even if they don't get it in that episode) they won't mention it at all. They also seem to be able to make any number of repairs within a few days (between episodes). To the point like it looks like the ship never took damage.
7 of 9 doesn't always have to be in skin tight outfits. grumble-grumble-stupidcostumedesigners-grumble
They also need to learn the difference between "upload" and "download". A point which I don't hesitate to mention every episode (because they always say 'download' in every episode).