Star Trek Voyager Retrospective/Review - Star Trek Retrospective, Part 12
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- Опубликовано: 17 июл 2024
- Star Trek Retrospective, Part 12: After Star Trek Deep Space Nine proved it could be successful alongside a new slate of Star Trek movies, Paramount quickly commissioned a fourth spin-off in Star Trek Voyager. While the show enjoyed good will from fans at the time, the legacy of Voyager these days is a little more mixed.
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00:00 Intro
00:53 Development
05:12 Casting
14:48 Production/A New Janeway
22:21 Caretaker
27:20 Season 1
29:13 Phage/Neelix
32:19 Season 2
34:13 Meld/Tuvok
37:44 Death Wish
40:30 The Thaw
42:35 Basics/The Kazon
45:23 Season 3
46:55 Before and After/Kes
48:45 Scorpion
52:47 Seven of Nine/Season 4
1:01:12 Year of Hell
1:05:22 The Hirogen/The Killing Game
1:07:51 Living Witness/The Doctor
1:10:30 Season 5
1:12:31 Timeless/Harry Kim
1:14:25 The Borg in Star Trek Voyager
1:17:01 Equinox
1:20:07 Season 6
1:20:26 Blink of an Eye
1:22:59 Season 7
1:23:41 Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres
1:25:07 Endgame/Chakotay
1:30:13 Legacy
1:31:47 Outro
#StarTrek #StarTrekVoyagerRetrospectiveReview #StarTrekRetrospective #Rowan J Coleman 
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PS - I am not saying Garrett Wang's name incorrectly. In Mandarin, Wang is pronounced as "Wong."
Great video. It exceeded expectations and was worth the wait.
Kinda bummed you didn’t talk about Jetrel, cause that’s my favorite episode from season 1.
@@harmonetheanimationaddict4419 yes that’s one of if not the best Neelix episode! I think there’s a few other standouts in S1 too tbh.
@@harmonetheanimationaddict4419 b
Controversial Opinion: There is no bad StarTrek show...like ever. Each show is consistently good I even like Enterprise, Voyager and even the new trek shows. I just like all trek
The Voyager episode that stuck most with me is the one where the Doctor's programming breaks down after he chooses to save Harry over another crew member and can't reconcile why... such a wonderful way to examine morality and guilt like only Star Trek can
Yeah its nice to see the crew takes turns in the holideck almost being a none interactive therapist as the works through his emotions. I Just hate how the episodic nature of Voyager never took that anywhere. Its just like next week that never happened and the doctor is back to his normal self. Even as a teen that never felt right to me.
But for me year of hell was particularly memorable. Robocop was my first introduction to Kurtwood Smith, as Clarence Botager. You loved to hate that guy, and when he dies, its a Hell YEAH moment. So as a teen seeing Kurtwood like this in a role where you actually feel for him, rather than all out hate him. Taught me alot about acting and actors from a audience standpoint, and that of a kid.
That was a fantastic episode as it was the sort of mental breakdown that, whilst a human can understand it, wouldn't likely have had it. Robert Piccardo was an excellent pick for the doctor.
Personally, my favorite was Course: Oblivion. I think it was one of the best episodes, not only in Voyager, but in Star Trek as a whole.
Watching the crew slowly realize they're just short lived copies of the original crew, and they are doomed to fade away was genuinely heartbreaking.
@TheMegaOne1000 I wouldn't agree it was the best in star trek, but it certainly was a great episode, with a gut wrenchingly bleak ending that was an impressive risk story wise.
That was one of the low brow episodes made for fans with learning disabilities. That might explain why you liked it so much.
I don't know why, but I always feel that Tim Russ doesn't get enough credit. Outstanding performance as Tuvok.
I think my favorite scene with him is in "Hunters", when he gets his letter from home. We see his logic go up against his very genuine feelings... and for once, he lets his feelings win.
He is actually the first true Vulcan we got to experience and get to know. Spock was not full Vulcan, TNG and DS9 had not regular Vulcans. DS9 had 2 that had significant screen time. Enterprise had one, but that was after Voyager. I think he played a great vulcan.
I think Tim Russ created the best Vulcan after Spock and Sarek. All too often, actors portray Vulcans as angry or disinterested. Spock was neither. Same for Tuvok.
@@tomhollis2685 Tim has said that he had the same problem with most actors' stiff approach to Vulcans. They wrongly equated lack of emotion with lack of facial expression or body language. But Nimoy and Lenard used lots of both. Tim says he was straight-up imitating Nimoy when he played Tuvok, in order to get the perfect balance between expressiveness and logic. Since he looks and sounds different from Nimoy, very few people picked up on it initially.
Amen. I always hope that Ensign Vorik’s character would develop more in the show.
There's that episode where the copy of Voyager and all her crew ends up dissolving... the ending of that episode is, to me, haunting.
Ah, Course Oblivion. The episode that made me question how many previous episodes were of the clones, or of the real crew.
That episode messed me up too lol
One of my favorites of Voyager even though its a follow-up of a pretty strange episode. Kind of shows the missed potential of the series, so many other episodes could also have been expanded.
I love that one such a great twist
I felt really bad for the crew that dissolved. I wanted them to somehow get rescued but the real Voyager just missed them.
Being a huge Voyager fan, this is probably the best video of the show I've seen. This was a pleasure to watch.
Indeed. Amd evem i hate it that i now know how it ended ( I absolute did not watch the last 4 episodes cause i knew it will not end like i want it ) Voyager was a good serie. For me it was the 3rd best after DS 9 and the following Series Enterprise who... clearly was too short and f.... up in the last episode cause it was to early and they turned it into a shitshow :D
Kate Mulgrew has such a distinctive voice. I can't imagine anyone else playing the Captain of Voyager.
It’s interesting how well she was able to mask it as Red in orange is the new black. Both roles expertly performed
Kathrine Hepburn in outer space
I only wish the part had been written better. She was an excellent cast for the role.
Funny enough with her voice. I've watched the show when it had been released in Germany's video rental shops. Naturally, it was a dubbed version so I got used to the synchroniser's voice. It was quite a shock to me when I first watched the English version and heard Kate's own voice. She sounded so squeaky to me, hard to describe. It took some time to getting used to it.
And yes, Kate _owned_ the character like almost all other captains. Only with Sisko's acting I've got some problems, it sometimes throws me off because it appears artificial to me. But that's only my impression…
@Other Thanks a lot! I was beginning to think I was the only one in the universe who's got this impression! ;)
I really do like the story of _In the Pale Moonlight,_ very well thought of. But to let Sisko look directly into the camera whilst doing his log entry is something you should never, ever allow as a director!
"There was a brilliant idea that would've made Voyager so much better"
"It was vetoed by Rick Berman"
Only one?
Welp, Voyager limped so DS9 could run.
@@sothatsdevintart2562 But why couldn't Voyager at least walk?
Explain the shuttles and torpedoes. Give Voyager a top speed that made sense, and a two-person self destruct protocol. And for crying out loud, go to the costumer and ask them to stick another pip on Harry's collar.
@@oddish4352 I know it’s just a theory, and frankly I’ll be honest that I should have probably held my tongue considering I only have a basic impression of what happened behind the scenes. But the idea is that Voyager’s story wasn’t as strong as Deep Space Nine’s because it was given more attention by Berman and Co., so DS9 was kinda left in the hands of Ira Steven Behr and Co., thus allowing them to take more risks.
That’s the impression I have at least.
I really think Berman was under executive pressure for many of these things. They wanted TNG numbers, DS9 grew into a smaller, but loyal audience (probably attributed correctly or incorrectly to the serialization) . I think they were afraid of the same thing happening to VOY, especially as the tent pole show to a new network. VOY needed to be trek for everyone that could be jumped into at any point due to not being first run syndication. Unfortunately the great premise was antithetical to the reality of this type of distribution.
I absolutely loved how they made Tuvok an actual Vulcan, so much so that he felt scary when he got emotional for whatever interuption brought him to an emotional state. The actor really did a great job playing him. He was not a half Vulcan like Spock or a secret romulan like T'pol. He was a full Vulcan, and played him as such.
I loved his biting sarcasm--Vulcans could be serious AND also fun.
T'Pol was a secret Romulan? I recall hearing that an idea for a potential season five of Enterprise would have had T'Pol's father revealed to be a Romulan, but that didn't end up happening because Enterprise didn't get a fifth season. Or are you just making a joke about how T'Pol was actually quite emotional?
@@aschles503 Or maybe they think the character is the same as the Vulcan ambassador on TNG who turned out to be a Romulan spy - T'Pel?
Tpol romulan?? What?
I loved Tuvok and Tim Russ did a great job I agree one of the best vulcans.
"WE AN'T FOUND SHIT" - I had no idea that was Tim Russ! LMAO..Love this channel!
Chakotay was a personal hero for me and he helped me bond with my native American grandmother.
Most boring character except maybe Kim.
A stereotype that was created with the help of a known fraud helped you bond?Well,sometimes the ends justify the means
@@NashmanNash I am aware of the fraud. But the character allowed me an in with my grandmother. She was initially very racist against me and my mother for being too white. But thanks to our mutual love of Voyager, and interest in the character of Chakotay, I was able to pivot that into an interest in her heritage (and by extension my own). She grew as a person and I gained a closer relationship to her.
Boy this comment has aged incredibly poorly. Chakotay good. Beltran Bad.
@@woogha Right. How dare he not think and believe exactly like everyone else in his business?
I like how Rick Berman is the functional equivalent to Michael Eisner in Defunctland episodes. "It's 1995, and Rick Berman is up to his shit again."
Things like shows being episodic is better. No one cares about Netflix garbage intended to be binged.
You can have continuity without making everything a single book extended over eight movies doing nothing more than wasting your time rather than being succinct entertainment.
And no, someone caring about something and someone doing something with their brain turned off are not synonymous before I'm sure you try to argue about numbers of people using Netflix or other streaming services and watching their shows.
There's a reason every Sci-fi show that did overarching story lines were always considered lesser.
To the point that either those shows are mostly ignored now outside of a tiny fan base or they killed the series that tried to go that way like Stargate.
@@KristopherCharlesBoth have their place, neither is better not worse.
Multi part episodes like Scorpion or one-off episodes like Thrawn can both be brilliant.
But having a consistent narrative or theme that flows throughout the season that isn’t inherently constrained to a single episode run times and actually lets you explore more complex ideas and story’s is a good thing.
Do they need to be 7-8 episode long story arcs no, but usually 1-3 part episodes are consistently some of the best episodes of any genre put to TV.
That said even longer form season arcs can work just fine so long as you have a strong writing team.
@@KristopherCharlesI totally agree. If a show has an arc, it needs a couple of single-minded visionary writers and better turn out as good as Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones. Otherwise, it's just background noise with sputtering nothing plotlines and recurring nobody characters.
Episodic series SHOULD be easier to write, but we haven't even gotten that level of writing talent in the last 15 years for Trek.
Yesterworld has the same relationship with eisner lol..
My favorite episode from Voyager is the episode where the Doctor has to choose between which patient to save, and he goes through an existential crisis as he's never faced a moral dilemma of that sort. It's warming to see Janeway stay by his side trying to help him cope.
Hoping for "we ain't found shit," I was not disappointed.
I had to stop watching for a couple of minutes to recover. Spaceballs is such a wonderfully daft movie.
@@Majere613 “I’ve been acting for 35 years. 135 credits on IMDB. I was on a long running series. You might remember it, Star Trek. But all I’m known for is combing the desert and saying “We ain’t found shit”.”
I had no idea that was Tim Russ in that scene! I'd always thought it was Michael Winslow from Police Academy.
@@RichO1701e He was the radar guy: Sir, we've been jammed.
Strawberry, I hate strawberry... only 1 man could do that... Lonestar
Lol, I didn't even had to look this up & the last time I saw Spaceballs was at least 15 years ago or so :-)
I didn’t know that was Tim Russ! Haha
I personally think Jerry Goldsmiths theme for Voyager as his ultimate best work.
Jerry Goldsmith won an Emmy Award for that theme.
Jerry Goldsmith and his theme, Bob Picardo as the holographic doctor (his _second_ time, shortly after China Beach), and the unknown Delta Quadrant~
Checkout the theme for Season 4 of Babylon 5 - not Jerry but you won't be disappointed.
Ilia's Theme and the Main Suite from First Contact are also sublime
The whole Voyager intro the music and the extraordinary visuals are a masterpiece. I think it won some awards. Every little bit of how the visuals change with the music and show a montage of environments in its sojourn, along with the heavy bass elements in the theme, it’s just breathtaking. By far best intro of any Trek. I love that The Orville’s intro very much a tribute to this show, as The Orville is the truest Trek since Voyager.
Cant believe u never touched on the episode where the duplicate voyager crew dissolved into nothing MOMENTS before they were going to reach there real counterparts. After all that struggle and suffering and to still fail being so close, the amount of emptiness and heart ache i felt for them was astounding.
Truly ONE OF THE BEST episodes in the series.
If not for a good story the emptiness u felt after watching it would be MORE then enough to be a memorable episode.
yes such a good episodes, at first you think there is something wrong with the real voyager only to learn it's their duplicates struggling and it's still so very sad.
Also I LOVED how they actually did a follow up and let us know what happened to the duplicates even if it wasn't a happy ending.
I can't remember but I think the duplicates even were further along the route 'home' than the real voyager, but I could be wrong.
Course Oblivion, one of my favourite episodes
Course Oblivion is also the writers complaining about the episodic nature of voyager that they were stuck in.
I so appreciated your commentary on "Equinox" specifically. I have heard many commentators use this episode to argue that Janeway was a bad character because of how brutal she gets and how far she goes to bring Ransom and his crew to justice, but I see it as a very fitting reaction. As captain of Voyager, Janeway has balanced for 5 years the responsibility of following Starfleet principles against the well being of her crew. When she encounters Ransom, a captain who made the hard decision that she everyday dreaded making herself, she lashes out. I see it as a very flawed and human response, not at all at odds with what we knew about her as a character, and I think the show was stronger for it. Many of these same Trek commentators praise Sisko for being nuanced and well written when he lashes out at Eddington and poisons a planet, or is complicit in the death of a Romulan Senator, yet disparage Janeway for similar actions.
Janeway absolutely rivals Sisko for my favorite lead in the franchise. Picard is objectively better at his job, but I also think that leads to him being kind of... boring sometimes. He's great, and Patrick Stewart is utterly untouchable as an actor, but he never feels human and flawed like Janeway and Sisko do. They make mistakes, they have their own unique vices, shortcomings, and blind spots that make it far more apparent how difficult their job is and how hard they work to stay on top of it all.
I'd be pretty pissed too if a fellow Starfleet captain was using intellect beings to power their warp core,stole the only tech to keep a problem they created away from the ship,oh and left them for dead. Yeah I think Janeway was restrained in her response.
I like Voyager a lot and Janeway got a lot of flack but DS9
"In the Pale Moonlight" at the end when Sisko says "computer erase that entire personal log" is my favorite ST moment ever.
~misogyny~
@@Mia199603 nowadays we would not have flawed female characters like Janeway. Janeway would know everything and be able to do anything. Oh, that’s Seven of Nine….
The doctor is my favorite character and everytime I rewatch this series even tho I know it's coming I laugh my ass off when he leans down and yells "WAKE UP LIEUTENATE!" And captain proton would be my number 1 holodeck program next to Dixon hill!
His elocution is in a class of its own, I think it’s what makes his character so unique just like Kathryn’s voice
I think you are really hitting your stride with these retrospect. I know you want to work in the entertainment industry. I think you would have a great career in making documentaries.
I’m already excited for the Insurrection review.👍
rowan with everything you've learnt from these retrospectives i'd say you'd make an excellent sci-fi writer/director/producer
This is pretty much a documentary.
They are so damn good, I get so excited when I see a new one has dropped. Keep up the great work Rowan!
He IS in the entertainment and he DOES have a great career making documentaries 😉
"Blink of an Eye" is not only one of the best Voyager episodes. It's one of the best hours of television. It's an intriguing premise that doesn't need splashy action to make it work. And it appeals to the historian in me to watch the entire history of civilization on a planet.
It was also the first ep of Voyager I saw, forever shattering any “‘ Voyager’ as the red- haired stepchild of ST”ideas I’d heard.. I mean are you serious?
It's the perfect episode to show to somebody who has never seen ST, I showed it to my then girlfriend & she watched TNG, DS9 & VOY after that.
31 days is also a good starter IMO.
@@Whitespliff er your missing the most important series and the best...captian kirk? 🤔🤷♂️
@@philfitnesspt6139 I know it's blasphemy to say but I never liked TOS, my 1st trek was TNG & I really liked the optimistic view of the future there. After that TOS just looked old or dated.
I have the same with old movies, there are some really good ones out there but I simply can't get into them for some reason.
I also never like Shatner as an actor until I saw him in Boston Legal, maybe with my 'new' appreciation for him I should give TOS another chance.
Eye of the Needle is also exceptional.
Voyager Theme Song is THE BEST theme song of any Star Trek. And that's coming from someone who grew up on Star Trek the original series. It truly is majestic.
Captain Janeway and Seven-of-Nine are possibly my top two favorite characters in the francise, thanks to the acting talents of Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan. The scenes involving the two where Janeway serves as a mentor, counselor and compass for Seven were thoroughly convincing despite tensions backstage. Just goes to further prove how bad an actor I would make, I can barely control my mouth when my emotions get going, my facial expressions say whatever is on my mind.
the mother daughter icon relationshop between them.
Oh my, from the first second I hated Janeway's acting and voice. I stopped watching Voyager because of her. I recently rewatched the Voyager pilot and my goodness I cringed at every second she was talking, I don't know maybe I'm the only one that thinks she's the worst actress ever having a leading role.
Kate was a great actress of course I loved the robot in the first Lost in Space series as well 😂
@@ThaGamingMisfit Yes, you are the only one.
I don't recall where I read this, but there was an interview where someone connected to the creation of voyager said that the reason Tom Paris exists (instead of Lacarno) is that Lacarno was an original creation of the writer of that particular TNG episode, meaning they would have to pay that writer royalties for every episode of Voyager Lacarno appeared in...This is absolutely true as far as writers guild rules go and is totally in line with how star trek producers behaved throughout the 90s. Lacarno was not "irredeemable" he was just expensive.
Nick Lacarno was never all that interesting in the first place, and I find it pretty lame that they took Wesley Crushers douchey academy buddy, filed the serial numbers off him, and stuck him in Voyager. Would rather have seen more of Wesley himself, or some new character entirely.
Right, Paris is basically a ripoff of Lacarno.
I'm so glad somebody brought this up
I don't know if it's the case in the original, but in the german dubbing some character names are pronounced differently on DS9 compared to TNG. I often thought they did that for the same reason.
Paris' rougher edges brought life to the show. That space was left open by the Maquis being criminally under used.
"But Rick Berman decided" = every single thing I disliked about Voyager's run. Still, this video is a reminder that there are many excellent episodes and some phenomenal characters in that show.
Rick was the closet thing to Roddenbery. Just look at what ST is today. Having been one of the pioneers of ST, I no longer have any interest in watching the shows.
Berman made some bad decisions. Braga did as well. (He's largely the reason I find Enterprise unwatchable -- that goes triple for the finale.)
Overall, I agree with Rowan, the road is a bit rocky, but worth the trip. Janeway is tied with Picard for my favorite Trek captain. They're great for completely different reasons, but they share one unyielding belief that they must protect their crew (sometimes from themselves).
@@krane15 i think Rod Roddenberry is the closest thing to Gene. He is on board with all of it.
That's why most fans love the chant "fuck Rick Berman"
Could be worse. It could’ve been Kurtzman
"A catsuit? That sounds provocative"
-Sir Stewart here jealous he didn't get to rock a catsuit as Locutus of Borg
Hilarious
Jeri Taylor: Voyager won't have any Romulans, Klingons, Ferengi, or Cardassians in it.
Voyager: Ends up having Romulans, Klingons, Ferengi, and Cardassians in it
Hilariously ironic. Of course some of those episodes were good and in some of those episodes they didn't have Romulans until that episode were Voyager encounters the "Harry Kim" wormhole which turned out to be a time portal and that one where the Doctor uses the Hirogen module to transfer himself to the Prometheus.
As someone who works in a large hospital, the episode where Neelix loses his lungs and has to be confined to that machine, kept on life support until his death was obviously an analogy to an Intensive Care Unit, and made me incredibly upset. Facing his death and unable to do anything about is incredibly terrifying and really hit home for me.
For your crimes against humanity in last 2 years - you will get yours…
Of the 24th century trek, TNG was the most important, DS9 was the best, and VOY was the comfiest.
Seriously, watching Voyager is like coming home, even many years later.
Spot on.
Watching Voyager is like eating my favourite comfort food? There’s always an episode or three that I could pick after a crap day and watch, knowing it makes me feel better. Spot on (also love TNG and DS9 of course!)
Voyager was maybe the only real "trek". They had a 70 year odyssey (with a couple of shortcuts) home. The Enterprise always flew back to Federation space for restocking. Voyager had to rely on the resources they had and the ones they could acquire on their way. Like the real expeditions of Magellan, da Gama or Cook.
And DS9 was the best because the idea was stolen from Babylon 5 which is probably the best sci-fi show that exists.
Watch The Orville. It’s the truest Trek since Voyager even though it’s not in the Trek universe. It’s by far my favorite show ever.
100% I use that exact description all the time, it's a comfort food show
DS9 may be my favourite, but I rewatch Voyager the most.
For the Borg intro in voyage that struck me was when Voyager get buzzed by the fleet of Borg cubes who were clearly so focused they just ignore the ship.
One of them did slow down and briefly scan them.
The most recent time my friends and I watched through this show, we started a 'Harry Kim Gets Blueballed' counter, and I think it rivals 'O'brien Must Suffer' in its frequency and consistency.
Someone should smack that producer who came up with the "somebody gotta be duh ensign" stupidity. Hard.
I was waiting for this episode! Watching it in 360p makes it feel like watching an episode of Voyager.
480p would be more accurate (720x480) -but I hear you! ;")
@@NextWorldVR Only if you are watching on DVD. :)
Why did that 360p comment make me LOL? 😅
In lockdown last year, I watched _TNG_ for the first time in 30 years. Then _DS9_ for the first time ever.
Impressed, I pressed on with _Voyager_ - a show I'd avoided for 20+ years because of it's bad early episodes & bland '90s UPN look.
Those bad eps are still there but as the seasons progressed, I was shocked - _shocked_ - to discover how good _Voyager_ is.
Playing like an updated, spiritual successor to _TOS_ & dark, complex dry run of _BSG,_ it's an amazing show. To my surprise, _Voyager_ became my favorite series of the franchise.
The fifth (overall) ST series does have some of the best episodes of the whole 'TrekVerse' as well as of the series. But it also has some of the worst (e.g. Equinox; Threshold), and combined with the fact that it aired on a small (now-defunct) broadcast network...
@A dudes thoughts A smaller ship; conveniently, the only other Federation ship that was pulled into the Delta Quadrant~
@A dudes thoughts Agreed. Equinox, as Rowan also said, is eaily one of the best episodes of the entire series. The moral dillemma they face, and how well they actually manage to write the Equinox crew, its a highlight of the show. Can't hate that.. lol..
Welcome to the few, but faithful fans who love Voyager, and has it as our #1 of Star Trek series
I'm really a TNG man, but I think Voyager is just wonderful - in many ways an improvement on TNG. The _only_ thing I think truly really lets down Voyager is the ending. If there had been a really great, meaningful and sentimental ending, with lots of time to show each of the characters truly getting back to earth and how life continued for them, it would have elevated the entire series. I'm still crossing my fingers that the Voyager Documentary will maybe do something like this - they do have the budget now.
My favorite Star Trek show :) I often used to watch re-run of it with my grandfather when I was a kid and every time I watch today, I have this warm feeling as if Iwas watching with him again
"Eye of the needle" is one of the best stand alone episodes in the entire star trek universe. Voyager could be fun but was never good at being too serious. "Eye of the needle" is the exception. If you watch a single Voyager episode watch this one.
I STILL wanna know if the Romulan Empire has these messages
It is a great episode, with a stupid ending. [spoilers] They give all their messages to a Romulan who died before Voyager was launched, and decided to take a chance that the man left a will. Why not ASK HIM to make a will, or to give a copy to friends etc? And why tell him to wait 20 years to deliver the file to Starfleet - tell him to deliver it NOW! There are many ways it could have been encrypted so it was only readable at the right time. Also weird that the writers never CONCLUDED this story by telling us if the messages were delivered.
The level of enjoyment watching Voyager each week far outweighed the negatives most of us could plainly see. A show well done. One of the best if not the best in the Trek set of shows.
Year of hell is my favourite Star Trek story of every series and film. That two-parter is just fantastic in every way. The story, the characters and the commentary.
It's a shame we didn't get the more expanded version that was originally planned.
it is one of the best VOY episodes. When I get to it on a rewatch, it always gives me mixed feelings of excitement for an excellent two parter, and sadness for the true potential this show had but failed to live up to. The entire show should have been more like this episode. It could have been an absolutely stunning new incarnation of star trek, instead of mostly being "just" a decent continuation of the TNG formula.
"Inner light" for pure emotion is hard to beat but the character arcs from "Year of hell" are exceptional.
Year of hell is like watching an alternative universe version of Voyager where they actually let the writers use the premise.
@@japzone yeah, it would have been a season-long arc.
Torres’ arc takes small steps that look redundant. But each episode has its own special piece of her journey in dealing with dual race background. Her struggle exists because neither culture really embraces her and views her as the other. It is THE reason she joined the macquis. She finally belonged somewhere. To the klingons, she is human. To the humans, she is klingon. I LOVED her story arc given that I have dealt with similar things. It isnt as obvious to those who are more homogenous. Other than that, I loved your retrospective. It definitely hit the best points…and criticisms.
Yet no one realizes the fact that making mixed raced children causes these identity issues and now promoting race mixing is common in all media.
Tuvix is a brilliant episode. It's one of the most interesting philosophical quandaries ever presented on TV. Memes have a way of sucking the meaning out of anything they touch, suggesting to the viewer that - because it's a meme - the subject is worthy of ridicule. Tuvix is an incredible episode of Star Trek. Unironically classic. I have no idea why the community breezes past the question of personhood as if it's a joke.
They could have used the Riker/Riker method to duplicate Tuvix, _and_ to deduplicate Tuvok and Neelix in one beam. Therefore, we'd have had three.
I absolutely loved the Tuvix episode, the moral dilemma is profound and devastating. When I watched it I was mouth open for the last scenes and crying with astonishment and horror. I never understood the ridicule it garnered and I'm glad I watched it without knowing anything about it, it was fresh to me and I completely fell into it. I (kinda) do agree with Janeway's decision in the end and the doctor's refusal to carry it out but I confess I wouldn't know what to do if I was in that situation and it practically traumatised me to watch Janeway kill Tuvix. I agree, it is a brilliant episode.
Ethan Phillips also plays a judge in Better Call Saul, and as soon as I'd immediately recognized his voice I could NOT un-hear Neelix :D
And Charles McGill was that terrifying clown in Voyager!
There something special about Voyager for me, like TNG and DS9 always felt grand and told amazing stories, Voyager felt like a family, a road trip, a united stuggle.
Imagine having three actually good, real Star Trek series running in parallel. For me as a teenager this was formative - it instilled so much optimism for the future and interest in technology in me. I wish there was something similar nowadays, it is sorely needed for the next generation.
One thing that annoyed me about the Hirogen was that in the first episodes they cast actors over 7 foot tall, they dropped the ball later and they just cast actors of average to tall height. They Lost a lot of their menace in the process.
They also used camera angles to make them look a lot bigger than they were compared to other crew members, something which somewhat worked in the first episode, but in repeat viewing looks pretty weird and is probably something they couldn't keep up with in the show's budget and time schedule.
The Maquis got done dirty by Berman, they had legitimate reasons to mistrust and hate the federation, and Voyager makes them out to be scheming hot heads that just hadn’t seen the light of the unerring holy federation. The Sisko v Eddington storylines worked so well because both were men of ideals who had ventured into a moral grey area to prove themselves right. On Voyager it always seemed that the Maquis were wrong and had to be shown the light by the federation officers.
perhaps they couldn't think of a good way to keep that moral tension going while still having a functional, episodic starship.
I agree that the entire issue was quickly swept under the rug & ignored. later, when they returned to the idea, it's just "We're here and need to survive; fall in line"
would've been nice to expand on the B-plot of the maquis finding out their movement has ended without them once the ship starts getting news from starfleet.
Thank you! This is one of the things about Voyager that is most frustrating. Like Starfleet command owed Chakotay and crew formal apologies after that whole Dominion war business. At the very least I would have settled for a personal arc from Janeway where she comes to terms with the fact that Starfleet is not always the perfect shining beacon of rightness that it aspires to be, they effed up with the Cardassian treaty and screwed the Maquis over. It could have tied in nicely with her becoming a bit disillusioned with Starfleet, something that is touched on in Equinox, but then (of course) never explored further.
They HAD to come to a quick understanding or else they would have not made it very far. Ya can't run a starship that way. They would have realistically killed each other off otherwise and Nelix would have had him one fancy spaceship.
Frankly the whole idea of bringing the Maquis to Voyager simply doesn't work. The Maquis conflict revolves around a border dispute. A conflict that is completely irrelevant once they get stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70.000 lightyears away from the source of the conflict as nothing they do can possibly impact the fight back home.
Yeah I always felt that the Maquis got screwed. Even in DS9 the federation was fucking them over and was one of the reasons I kinda hate Cisco. ST showrunners have some very odd views on ethics and morals sometimes. Like letting the changelings off the hook for multiple genocides and mass murder DS9, or declaring peaceful trade relations w/ another culture is more important than if that culture openly practices slavery and rape in Enterprise. The Maquis is just another example.
God, Rick Berman really is the worst.
Great video once again Rowan!
rick berman is like the george lucas of star trek* *the 1999 2000s uninspired lucas* i have my complaints with enterprise, but knowing rick did more one off episodic approach is pretty disappointing.
You can’t escape noticing that all of the truly disturbing bizarre sex fixated episodes, the ones that just leave you needing a few showers, like Threshold or TNG’s incredibly icky Sub Rosa, all come from the disturbed pen of Brendon Braga. To the point you have to start wondering about the skeletons in Braga’s closet? And maybe somebody should ask a few questions?
Berman has company, roddenberry was just as sexist as rick berman. Berman was under a lot of pressure from above to keep star trek episodic by nature.
He treated women like shit, but at the same time stood up to the studio by standing behind the casting of avery brooks and kate mulgrew.
@@claytonberg721 Huh
Plinkett expressed it the best I think
Tinkor tenor doctory spy, in the blink of an eye and scorpion - those three episodes are unforgettable !
Voyager was like fanfic. Written by fans who were really familiar with Trek lore. Sometimes it was pandery, sometimes it was corny, but when it was good, it was amazing.
If Voyager is fanfic, what is post Voyager Star Trek?
@@gb7418Amateurish dreck.
What about warp 10?
@@criticality2056 That episode should be deleted.
Kate Mulgrew was the perfect casting for that role. Absolutely nobody else could have done as good a job as she did.
It's such an overused trope to say about fictional characters that remains in public imagination.
Arnold as the Terminator, Hamill as Luke, Anderson as MacGyver etc.
I mean, no, there are others who could have done a terrific job, but she solidified herself as Janeway and put all her heart and soul into the character. Like Brooks and Stewart before her, it’s about the commitment and depth brought by the actor.
@Barnaby Wentworth Bujold is a good actress but just wasn't a fit for TV at the time. At all. She was the definition of an interior performer. That's great if you have a Panavision camera pushed in to fill the screen with your face, so that audiences can read every tiny emotion in your eyes. But it looks dull when you are shot on video and are in medium and wide shots nearly all of the time. Broader and bigger works better on TV to help convey emotion. Mulgrew was a bit hammy and mannered but she owned her screen space and that was vital. Bujold also was accustomed to shooting at a feature film pace, where you're lucky to shoot a page or two a day and have tons of time to play with ideas and do different takes. On TV, you have to shoot several pages a day. Kate was a soap opera veteran who could shoot anything at any speed. She was a no-brainer.
@Barnaby Wentworth Berman made some incredibly bad decisions (that pathetic, idiotic, universally derided "someone gotta be da ensign" thing was his doing). But I saw some footage of Geneviève Bujold as Janeway. She took a few weak swings and grounded out to short. Kate Mulgrew stepped into the batter's box, swung at the first pitch, and knocked it into the upper deck.
@Barnaby Wentworth Maybe, but the other actors were making like it was real. Only Bujold seemed to be phoning it in.
dude I LOVE MELD. Such an incredible episode. Tim Russ and Brad Dourif absolutely bring it every minute on screen.
Suder's arch is awesome and heartbreaking.
You know, it wasn't until 2006 that I realised Suder was Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky, despite growing up with the Childs Play films...but his casting as a psychopath with no reason nor remorse made so much more sense then
He was great as the doctor in the Deadwood series also.
"There's coffee in that nebula!" lol Voyager is my favourite of the Star Trek series, then DS9, and TOS. I've heard good things about Picard series, so I'll have to watch that.
Good things about Picard? Which diabolical genius told you this?
Adding to what made the decision to pair Seven with Chakotay bizarre: their very first major interaction together way back in Scorpion was him to attempting to FLUSH HER OUT INTO SPACE.
The first potential pairing was Kim, but they definitely weren't going to give him that. They wouldn't even promote him lol!
I hate them together. They had no chemistry and he was old enough to be her father. Harry would have been the best choice out of the avaliable characters
Or maybe Seven just shouldnt have been paired off at all with anyone on Voyager. I mean, by the time the show ends she's got a total of what, maybe 10 years actual life experience. There's no way she's ready for an adult relationship, she doesnt have the emotional maturity.
@@antbojo Talk about stupidity... even the "someone gotta be the ensign" was BS. TNG had a commissioned ensign in the main cast for 12 episodes (Wes). DS9 had one for three (Ezri). If Harry had been promoted after 2 years, that would have been 50 or so.
And at the very last scene of picard they hint at another romantic involvement for seven that comes out of nowhere. It may work or not but when it comes to this character the writers keep forgetting that these things need a setup.
Once again smashed it out the park, still can’t wrap my head around the work that must go into these.
I'm completely onboard with the relationship of Seven & the Doctor. 20 years later there's still time!
Honestly they had so much chemistry and they forced the chakotay 7 relationship which made no sense.
@@nata3467 It's mind-boggling that someone actually greenlit that... farce. Even more so that the showrunners decided to introduce it **in the series finale.**
I'm getting peeved just thinking about it lol
Kneelix and Tuvok's interactions were some of the funniest moments in Star Trek. If nothing else, Kneelix had to be kept on, just to see how much he annoyed Tuvok and Tuvok's dry sarcasm and one liners thrown towards Kneelix, when they crossed each other's path.
The doctor was a class, amazingly talented actor - my favorite was him on the holodeck leading the Klingons. Or how about when him and another modern version of holo-doctor trying to re-take the ship? Super hilarious! 🤣 How about when Everyone is at sleep on the Voyager and they don't know it they are dreaming? Tuvok is dreaming that he ended up on the bridge without any pants on. 😄
The first scene with Neelix meeting Tuvok and hugging him..did it for me. I knew these two would be the Odo and Quark for Voyager. Like the pair on DS9 the laughs at Tuvok putting up with Neelix are one-liner heaven...
And called him “Mr Vulcan” every time made me chuckle
I've been made aware the video freezes at 38 minutes. The video was perfectly fine before so something has gone wrong. Trying to sort it out.
yes, quite weird. I watched it all the way through when you first put it up and had no problems. Seems to freeze no matter what resolution you try.
Reported to youtube
It was probably Janeway traveling back in time to prevent you from getting the views you deserve.
Okay I just saw this sorry for the other comment.
@@swishfish8858 yeah cuz that b**** thinks she can violate the temporal prime directive whenever it makes her feel better. Why doesn't she go back and save her first officer ..and her chief medical officer XD
I rewatched Voyager with my family a few years ago and we really enjoyed it. What's interesting is that my wife is autistic and so is my son, and this time round it became much more apparent how Seven of Nine's character struggling with social norms is a parallel for people with ASD. Anyway it was great to experience this show and her character again through this different older lens.
Respect to Genevieve Bujold for graciously stepping aside to make way for Kate Mulgrew to bring Capt. Janeway to life
Well, there was no Kate Mulgrew to step in at the time. But she was wise to realize early on that she was ill-suited for the role.
@@oddish4352 That's what "they always say" I wonder if its that simple. They make her out to be weak and not willing to commit to grueling schedules but I wonder if there's more to it. Seems like a lot of the time when you hear the same simple answer over and over, it turns out not to be quite true
@@seeingeyegod Every TV show has its behind the scenes issues. And the fact that Ms. Bujold has said little that I know of suggests that either (a) the accepted version of events is true, or (b) she doesn't want to talk about it. And shooting for TV is a brutal business, so the story is plausible.
Neelix never bothered me, he could be annoying sometimes but IMO he got better when Kes left.
This and the Delta Fliers podcast are doing a great job at scratching my Voyager itch. Having Garrett and Robert breaking down each episode and mixing in their own behind the scenes knowledge is a lot of fun, but they admittedly are just going off their memory most of the time instead of researching anything. Your videos are really good at breaking down the more big picture technical production knowledge, which I enjoy.
It'll be interesting to see what the "To The Journey" documentary does with its interviews.
What?? That podcast sounds amazing. I didn't know that was a thing
Best. Trek. Docuseries. Ever!!! I'm kinda sad that you're gradually catching up to current, and this series will inevitably end.
I was fortunate enough to stumble across this series a few weeks ago. I was able to binge on these with much satisfaction.
Well, now that we're apparently in a new Star Trek renaissance (and waiting to see Strange New Worlds,) I don't think Mr. Coleman will be short of material for some time!
@@Mad-Bassist well, yeah, but who wants to listen about STD or Pukeard..?
The Blink of an Eye is one of my favorite Star Trek episodes of all time across all iterations of the franchise. There are no enemies to fight, just a great science fiction concept. Fantastic storytelling.
Voyager suffered from creative block at times, especially in the case of the aliens they met. Too often the aliens could have been from Indianapolis or Denver or any American city, with forehead prostheses. This was the DELTA QUADRANT, for Pete's sake! You could find more cultural diversity in London or New York neighborhoods. I realize there are budgetary constraints but there should have been much more variation in the type of aliens they met. I love the idea of humans "lost in space" so I loved the series overall. I just wanted a little bit more.
Thanks for the retrospective! Well done!
Also, the Intrepid class is an absolute beauty, and a very nicely designed (tactical-wise) vessel.
Garrett Wang recently said on his podcast that he was never 'in the crosshairs' to be fired and he doesn't know where that rumor came from. Though he admits to having some tardiness and discipline issues on set.
I’ll argue all day, Voyager is an amazing premise utterly gutted by Rick Berman’s mandate that it had to be ready for syndication. I feel like if Voyager had been made nowadays and allowed to actually have long plot lines it would have been much better received.
Thing is Voyager was well received at the time and had consistent ratings throughout its run to warrant it reaching seven seasons. And its remained popular in recent years on streaming.
The first 2 seasons (1995; 1995-1996) seemed to follow the arc established at the start. However, from Season 3 onwards (coinciding with the departure of Michael Piller as the showrunner) the long arc was ditched and its episodes became purely self-contained, evidently at the behest of Rick Berman, thus resulting in repeating TNG (1:15). Talk sbout _suit interference_ !
@@matthewburns3471 I should clarify that I don't mean to imply Voyager is/was received terribly. Just that I think Voyager is uniquely suited to take advantage of long-form storytelling which is very popular nowadays.
Well, today, with streaming services, long plot-arcs make more sense than they did, back then. I remember, i wasnt watching DS9 at the time, just because of its long plot-arcs and switching alliances. And for Voyager switching alliances (and enemies) was pretty much a neccessity anyways, since it kept traveling in the same direction. Which makes the long arcs "Voyager" does have, borderline unbelievable. Like: How did Seska and the Kazons keep up with Voyager for so long, f.e.?
The problem with Voyagers premise is that any long arcs would have had to be mostly, if not exclusively, internal to the ship. But in the actual show, they tend to be more focused on the external.
@@matthewburns3471
Agreed
A group of Vidiians should’ve been loitering around the edges of Borg Space, snatching up “spare parts”
My wife and I got around to watching Voyager a couple years ago, after already loving TOS, TNG and DS9. In fact, we started watching it immediately after finishing our first run through DS9. We actually followed an episode guide and avoided episodes which were consistently rated the worst in the series, provided they didn't include moments which would cause continuity confusion later. We ended up liking the show, but far less than TNG or DS9. There are a lot of weak or even "bad" episodes in VOY, but the good ones mostly make up for it and I can easily see us rewatching it sometime in the future. The Doctor might be my absolute favorite doctor in all of Trek, and Seven of Nine is a fantastically written and acted character. As you've more or less stated, Paris, Torres, Kim and Chakotay all have decent moments and episodes where the characters shine, but they all feel like missed opportunities. Well, maybe Kim doesn't have any decent moments. Seriously, what a flatline of a character. I feel bad for Garrett Wang. Chakotay is boring 99% of the time and the forced relationship with Seven was almost cringe inducing.
92 minutes well spent, a really good tour of the series and a conclusion I can't help but agree with
I like to call this iteration “The Odyssey, but in space.”
Spelling mistake and all?
Ah yes, the tale of the worst sailor ever.
Best Star Trek show hands down, I actually cry like a baby every time I rewatch it. Such a family they've created on that starship its amazing
Mulgrew had her own lesser "Dr King moment". She didn't initially care for Star Trek or Scifi, she was just an actress doing her job. It was at a convention, a young girl approached her and told her what an inspiration she was. It was in that moment that she felt the importance of her role and "I'm going to apply myself and learn these science terms. I'm going to know the difference between a phase converter and pulse converter, etc".
I only remember reading this from a TV Guide article around 25 years ago
The guys from the tachyon planet need to be revisited. By the end of the episode they had pretty advance tech... At some point they must surely have tried to engage with the outside galaxy. Presuming there was no way to slow down time on their world you would imagine those who opted to leave and venture out into the stars would never see their families or even the world they knew again. People who chose to stay on the planet living their lives 'in the blink of an eye' could continue research & development, and those in space reach out to neighbouring worlds. They must surely be one of the most advanced races to have ever existed in Trek
What if a plot twist arises, and they are the race with highly advanced tech that created the DMA in Discovery?
Once again you continue the lord's work, Rowan. Great work, as always! Can't wait for your take on Enterprise!
Is this a Christian Star Trek documentary?
Voyager gives me the best memories growing up. It would always come on at 10pm so it was the last thing, my brother and i would see for years before bed.
voyager is such double edged sword, so much good ideas, actors and moments, yet so many goofy decisions and half backed writing. still, I liked it. not as much as tng and ds9, but I liked it but at the same time thought I wish they would have managed to pull off something bigger with it.
When Seven of Nine joined the Voyager crew I was a young boy who just hit puberty. It was an awkward and confusing time for me, with all those new and unfamiliar sensations hitting my youthful body and me often unable to cope with them successfully. When I first saw Seven of Nine in her humanized form in her exoskeleton suite standing straight holding her head up high her facial expression controlled projecting confidence, my hole body was rushed with a new and overwhelming sensation, a feeling I never experienced before. Today I know what that feeling was: Kinship. While she projected strength to the others I knew she must have felt just like I when put in unfamiliar surroundings and situations, of wich there were so many at the time. As she grew more confident in her role as a member of society and discovered all the aspects of being a human in the series, I did so parallelly in my life. She became a role model. She and her story helped me relief a lot of the stress of puberty and the anxiety that came with it. She was my insperation for when i felt alone and unloved. The character of Seven of nine - and the actress of course, talented Jeri Ryan - became a supportive companion throughout my adolescence.
How do you know that this documentary hits it right on the money? When you wanna rewatch the entire series for the 80th time. Thanks…. I will never get to shows I haven’t started yet because this clown keeps giving me reasons to go back to the best of the best in Trek. I’m trying to have progress in my life here!!!
ST Voyager is my favourite ST series, probably my favourite series ever.
Great retrospective.
with the exception of a few single episodes in 7 seasons, its still one of my favorite ST series and we would not have "Voyager Elite Force" without it. Edit: I always sympathized with Kate's views (not the anger towards Ryan), Kate did a fantastic job with her character.
I love Spaceballs, and particularly love the "combing the desert" scene. I had no idea that was Tim Russ!
This was an excellent retro! Makes me want to binge Voyager again!
Jeri Ryan is indeed an excellent actress, and it showed in Voyager. Seeing her later in Leverage shows more of just how good she really is.
She is underated for sure
She is super talented and absolutely stunning .
Funny thing about the bridge sets is that, based on star dates, Voyager actually starts *before* Generations.
*THANK YOU!* I've been waiting for this video! *VOYAGER* is my favorite Trek series! I know it has its flaws but i just love the cast! *Janeway* will always be *MY* captain!
Kate Mulgrew's portrayal of Janeway is one of favorite female ST characters. She was strong in ways that made her a good captain and feminine in ways that made her a very likeable person.
Kira > Janeway
I still think Linda Hamilton would have been better. If she can be feminine while killing robots from the future, she could do it while captaining a starship.
She's what I imagine Commander Shelby became after a couple of stints as first officer and a little more seasoning on how to deal with/command a crew.
Oh! I love Neelix, he's so funny and the way he winds Tuvok up is priceless 😅
I chuckled every time he called him “Mr Vulcan”…
He was like the new puppy trying to make friends with the old crotchety dog on the porch who has no time for this young rambunctious thing…
@lindaw2502 The pair complement each other, don't there, I still watch Voyager each time it airs
What an outstanding, researched and erudite review. Thank you for a marvellous review of a magnificent series!
"Year of Hell" is amazing for many reasons. Not the least of which is the unintentional comedy of Red (Orange Is The New Black) squaring off against Red (That 70s Show)
Another whopper retrospective. 70 000 stars
Yes, but being realistic and in comparison to the great expeditions on earth, the whole trip should have been like the Year of Hell. BSG did it a lot better. Vanishing resources, emergency repairs and when they reached their destination, the ship fell apart.
Nelix was always one of my favorites. I really liked how they wrapped up his story line. I never understood why so many people hated him back then. I didn't care for his relationship with Kes though. I will admit he got much much better once they were no longer together.
yeah, he was written so poorly in that weird relationship with a 2 year old woman thing. The jealous, insecure, overbearing boyfriend trope was just awful.
Yeah agreed an Nelix/Kes. As with a lot of Voyager, I feel like I can see what they were going for, maybe what might have been with some better writing. Nelix is a confident and worldly man who is attractive to the much younger, pretty woman who wants to get out from her sheltered upbringing and see the universe. Kes is very physically attractive and Nelix is not, which would make him insecure in the relationship.
There COULD have been interesting stories told about that dynamic, but they never managed to ever sell them as a real couple, the actors never had chemistry. They always came off as good friends, and then everyone now and then Nelix gets jealous and you're like: "oh right! They sleep together! I totally forgot."
Jar-Jar Binks of Star Trek? OMG...
I hated him initially. I agree he got to be likable later when he was a kind and avuncular person, but to start with I just thought he was someone you would never introduce to your kids.
It's interesting that all the initial character notes describe who the character is, except for the Captain, her notes only describe what she looks like.
oh this is wonderful. thank you so much for giving us 1.5 hours of fresh perspective on Voyager. As a longtime fan I loved it!
I think there could be a whole section on Voyager's own commentary on Star Trek and itself. "Muse" had B'elanna trapped on a the planet of the week with a writer, and she fed him Voyager stories to write as plays, which led to metacommentary about those episodes. Captain Proton was a send-up of "20th Century science fiction," and how limited budgets made every planet look the same, etc. That sort of thing happened way more in Voyager than any of the other series.
It's like some of the folks involved in the series had been working on Star Trek so long at that point that Star Trek was the only thing they really had to write about when writing more Star Trek. Some folks who started on early TNG were still involved in Voyager at the end, nearly 15 years later. I think any production team would get a bit of "franchise fatigue" without some fresh blood after all that time.
*chef's kiss* 🤌
Seriously, if you've never watched Robert Picardo as "The Cowboy" in Inner Space, treat yourself. If you thought his daydreams about the photonic cannon had a lot of bravado, you haven't seen anything yet.
Robert Picardo playing Martin Short impersonating "The Cowboy" is a master class in acting!
@@RichO1701e yea but I still have nightmares about his body morphing panic attack when he gets found out lol
@@fen4554 reminds me of the Poly Juice scene from Harry Potter 2 😂
I watched Inner Space less than a month ago, as it was a childhood favourite. It just blew my mind because I didn’t realise it was Robert Picardo in The Cowboy role. I just scrubbed through to his scenes on Netflix now, he is unrecognisable until it is pointed out and then he is instantly recognisable. Could there be a more different performance to The Doctor?
Now I wish they'd actually developed the photonic cannon. That gun sounded seriously bad-a**.
Thanks for putting this together, it was quite a trip down memory lane as I watched this whole series growing up. I only just discovered this channel and am happy I did!
The Doctor's arc might be my favorite thing about Voyager, and that's because of how his continued presence changes the crew's attitude towards him.
Prejudice against certain types of people is commonly portrayed as someone simply being an asshole, which *is* the case alot of times, but here we see what happens when genuinely open-minded and compassionate people learn to overcome their pre-conceived notions about someone based on *what* he is, simply by being around the person and letting themselves get to know him.
Like in real life, the changing of attitudes toward certain types of people *does* come with complicated obstacles, but they are ones the crew are willing to tackle head-on because they want to do right by their friend, and that's the kind of attitude that leads to real positive change for marginalized groups.
This is exemplified when The Doctor loses his shit after having his memories restored of a traumatic experience, instead of removing the memories again to get Doc back to work, Janeway tries to help him by being there for him, the same way she'd help a flesh-and-blood crew member. Instead of repairing a faulty piece of equipment, she's helping a person that she feels responsible for.
Also I feel like The Rock guest starring on this show as an alien isn't mentioned nearly enough nowadays lol.
I just finished watching all 7 seasons and I had more very moving Voyager episodes bring me to tears (like the last episode with Neelix😢) than any other ST series. For that reason I think it’s a great series
Excellent retrospective. I never caught the voyager bug but I actually liked watching this more than watching the actual show haha
I second that
Exactly! Same here!
Same. I largely dislike the show. There's some good, bust mostly bad. Which is a shame, because I really like Mulgrew as Janeway and Picardo as the Doctor.
I finally watched the whole series back in 2012. When I try to think of anything about it, I can’t recall really anything.
I found the show to be such a mixed bag, definitely the weakest of Trek up to this point, episode for episode. However, that said, a good 30-40% of the show is truly great material and quintessential Star Trek.
Everyone's been calling out their favorite and least favorite characters so I'll do that here too:
Favorites:
The Doctor
Paris / Kim
7 of 9
Least Favorites:
Janeway/Chakotay
Sorry all you Mulgrew fans, I just never could get into her character and Chakotay is written terribly.
The doctor fits the Spock/Data/Odo archetype very well in a unique way and has the best character arc. Similar to 7, great development and interactions. I always loved the friendly bond between Paris and Kim and thought their friendship was the strongest relationship in the show. Of course it's been a good 15 years since I actually watched it so, take all of this with a grain of salt!
Oh and personally I ate up every borg episode, can't get enough of that!
"Blink of an Eye" blew my mind and hit me in the heart so hard I had to immediately watch it again just for that experience.
The work you put into these is phenomenal, and you've found an excellent balance between _the show's story_ and _the story of the show._ 🖖🍍
I remember "the thaw" genuinely scaring the shit out of me when I first saw it as a kid
Your retrospectives as a lifelong Trek obsessed human have brought me so much joy. So many nuggets of info I never knew. A friend of mine who hasn’t ever watched any Trek is now watching one series/movie at a time and from there watching your corresponding review. You’re doing the lords “Roddenberrys” work 🖖🏻
A very good retrospective that echoed the mixed feelings I have about Voyager. Great premise, great cast, occasionally great stories but it never lives up to its potential. The two core concepts of a warring crew (maquis vs fed) and dwindling resources are ideas that you can see Ronald Moore took with him into the BSG reboot. Too often Voyager leaned on the "reset button" to bring things back to a status quo. The "year of hell" encapsulated Voyager in a nutshell - a great story that gets reset to back to square one at the end for no lasting consequences.
Me and my wife have the same problems with Voyager. Whenever there are episodes that start promising, they almost always turn out disappointing by the end.
BSG was very much Moore dunking all over Voyager, showing them how good the show could have been had Rick Berman not been fighting tooth and nail against serialized storytelling between bouts of treating Terry Farrell badly.
It's so great to go down memory lane as Voyager is one of my favorite Star Trek's. Amazing retrospective!