Star Trek: Voyager
Original Air Dates
January 16, 1995 – May 23, 2001
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| Don’t let the innocent face fool you. Captain Janeway could put a Gorn in its place. |
The Captain
Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)
The first and only female Captain within the five series. Intense presence of command. She does not play. Think Katharine Hepburn. Knows how to be sociable, but always in the context that she’s the Alpha. Petite in build, but would have absolutely no reservation in trying to clock a seven foot Klingon if called for. Wants, and knows how, to build people up. Considering her circumstances, she is always resolute and has levels of determination perhaps more intense than any other of the Trek Captains. And she likes her coffee. A lot.
Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)
The first and only female Captain within the five series. Intense presence of command. She does not play. Think Katharine Hepburn. Knows how to be sociable, but always in the context that she’s the Alpha. Petite in build, but would have absolutely no reservation in trying to clock a seven foot Klingon if called for. Wants, and knows how, to build people up. Considering her circumstances, she is always resolute and has levels of determination perhaps more intense than any other of the Trek Captains. And she likes her coffee. A lot.
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Top row, left to right: Kim, The Doctor, Tuvok, Neelix. Bottom row, left to right: 7 of 9, Chakotay, Janeway, Paris, Torres. |
Primary Characters
First Officer Chakotay(Robert Beltran) – The Spencer Tracy to Janeway’s Hepburn. Calm and focused. And one of the rare Hollywood characters where the Native American lineage is portrayed with honor and completely absent of cliché.
Tactical Officer Tuvok(Tim Russ) – Vulcan. Very intense. Sheds light on much about the Vulcan culture.
Helmsman Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) – Baby-faced rogue with a heart of gold.
Chief Engineer B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) – Half Latina and half Klingon. You don’t want to mess with her or the warp core.
Check out this video for an intended romantic interlude with 7 of 9. The pressure got to him. I can think of a couple things he did wrong.
Chief Medical Officer/”The Doctor” (Robert Picardo) – He does not have an actual name because he’s an Artificially Intelligent hologram. Provides much comedic relief but also some of the most touching moments of the series.
Neelix (Ethan Phillips) – The only alien main character. Looks clownish and does provide laughs here and there. However, his being non-human is an excellent catalyst at times for reminding everyone else what being a good human is all about.
7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan) – Human, turned Borg, rediscovering what it means to be human again. Most commonly known for her curves, but the character provides some of the most intense and dramatic situations for analyzing and evaluating what it means to be human on a day to day functional level.
Neelix (Ethan Phillips) – The only alien main character. Looks clownish and does provide laughs here and there. However, his being non-human is an excellent catalyst at times for reminding everyone else what being a good human is all about.
7 of 9 (Jeri Ryan) – Human, turned Borg, rediscovering what it means to be human again. Most commonly known for her curves, but the character provides some of the most intense and dramatic situations for analyzing and evaluating what it means to be human on a day to day functional level.
Main Story Line
In the time line of the Trek universe, Voyager is the last to take place. While the USS Voyager is pursuing a Maquis ship (Maquis are either freedom fighters or terrorists, depending on with whom you speak), both end up being transported 75,000 light years to a completely unexplored quadrant of the galaxy. Even at maximum warp, it would take a ship 75 years to return home. The Maquis join with the Starfleet crew while trying to find an expedient method to return to Earth, encountering much drama and danger (internally and externally) along the way.
Alphas
1. Ideologically, VOY is almost the embodiment of what Gene Roddenberry set out to create: a truly multi-cultural crew, where white/male/European isn’t all pervasive. Female Captain, Native American First Officer, African-American Security Officer, Latina Chief Engineer, Asian Operations Officer. Yes, there’s Tom Paris, but he’s only a piece of the puzzle, not the border that creates the framework.
2. I would like to say VOY has some of the best writing in the Trek franchise, but that’s not really it. It would be more apt to say it has some of the best story telling. After quite a few episodes, I wasn’t so much left with the feeling of “Whoa!” or “That was intense!” (although that doeshappen), it was more a feeling of “That was done really, really well.”
3. Since action takes place in a different quadrant of the galaxy, there’s a certain freshness to the series, where old standard fallbacks aren’t relied upon for story and plot.
4. If you’re left-brain dominant or an introvert, you get a double-shot of awesomeness with both Tuvok and 7 of 9 on board.
Deltas
1) The character Kes (Jennifer Lien) who was on the show for the first three seasons never really seemed to fit in. The character just seemed a bit too “hippy” for the Trek realm. Trading her out for 7 of 9 was a smart move.
2) The ship? I just kept thinking “spoon.”
3) Over the last couple of seasons, the show succumbed to the same pitfall that TNG and DS9 fell into: overuse of the holodeck. Towards the end of the run of the show, it seemed as if the writers were running out of fresh ideas, and even some of the actors seemed a bit worn down.
4) From all that I’ve read, the ending of the series had mixed reviews. Not to give any spoilers away, I wasn’t too pleased with it myself.
5) There’s a race of bad guys called the Kazon. I would consider them the most ill-conceived villains in the Trek realm. Best classified as wannabe Klingons that look too much like those little plastic troll dolls that have been left out in the sun to melt.
1) The character Kes (Jennifer Lien) who was on the show for the first three seasons never really seemed to fit in. The character just seemed a bit too “hippy” for the Trek realm. Trading her out for 7 of 9 was a smart move.
2) The ship? I just kept thinking “spoon.”
3) Over the last couple of seasons, the show succumbed to the same pitfall that TNG and DS9 fell into: overuse of the holodeck. Towards the end of the run of the show, it seemed as if the writers were running out of fresh ideas, and even some of the actors seemed a bit worn down.
4) From all that I’ve read, the ending of the series had mixed reviews. Not to give any spoilers away, I wasn’t too pleased with it myself.
5) There’s a race of bad guys called the Kazon. I would consider them the most ill-conceived villains in the Trek realm. Best classified as wannabe Klingons that look too much like those little plastic troll dolls that have been left out in the sun to melt.
Who should watch Voyager?
If you don’t have much time (ie: plan on taking a year or two to get through one series) and are intent on a multi-cultural cast with strong Alpha Female characters, VOY might be a good place to start.
If you don’t have much time (ie: plan on taking a year or two to get through one series) and are intent on a multi-cultural cast with strong Alpha Female characters, VOY might be a good place to start.
However, if you intend on watching all five series, I’d recommend minimally watching TNG and DS9 before VOY for continuity of story line.
Next on the launch pad?
I would like to write that TFR:DS9 will be posted next Thursday, but am being called into the Neutral Zone and am not sure what connectivity will be. The only way for you to know will be to check back. In the meantime, explore other awesomeness on Action A Go Go or revisit some earlier TFR posts:
Trek for Rookies: Overview
Trek for Rookies: Enterprise
Trek for Rookies Supplemental: How To Cope With The Enterprise Theme Song
Stephen Sumner is the science fiction columnist for Action A Go Go. He’s proficient in the art of Klingon swearing and is currently attempting the Vulcan process of Kolinar, the purging of all emotion. His two other favorite sci-fi series are Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VierLights or on the Tumblr machine at http://vierlights.tumblr.com/
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