#TBT Star Trek: Voyager Review

First watched in: 2016

Voyager is considered by many to be the weakest of the Star Treks. I had this perception going in and was a little nervous, afraid it would unfunny, boring, and a waste of time. However, I didn’t think it was awful or deserving of the criticism it continues to receive. The concept may be a little overused as far as sci-fi concepts go (a ship thrown to the other end of the galaxy and they have to get back home), but I think it was overall well-handled and realistic, if you can call anything about Star Trek realistic. The second half is stronger than the first half, definitely. I’ll give you that. If you are a new watcher, push through the first few seasons. You will be able to see a marked difference, particularly through a new addition to the cast.

Speaking of the cast, it was a very diverse cast, both in terms of actors and the species and characters they portrayed. I got to see answers to questions I never knew I had, like what happens to a hologram that’s left on all the time or what happened to Native American tribes in this future or what happens when a Borg stays out of the collective for a long time. They also delved more into Klingon and Vulcan lore; the Vulcan in particular was enjoyable since I haven’t seen TOS and therefore, Spock.

Of course I appreciate Janeway as the first prominent female captain. Though women have had strong roles on the other Trek shows, there weren’t any female captains that stayed for more than a couple episodes. She was a very strong leader, up there with Picard and Sisko, having to make tough decisions no one ever had to make before.

It’s a different show because there are always several layers to the story going on at once. Voyager needs to get back to the Alpha Quadrant; that’s the main goal. There’s several stories that deal with this idea, whether they’re looking for more fuel or debating whether they should even go back or just settle down somewhere. But then there are also main character-centric episodes that give many of them well-developed arcs. My only complaint with this, going back to my DS9 review, is there are very few secondary or recurring characters, and fewer who get whole episodes dedicated to them.

The Voyager theme is my favorite of the Star Trek opening themes. Something about it just evokes a journey, heroism, and strength, something the crew had much of. That’s why I liked this show better than I thought I would. It is a complete story, showing a journey, literally and figuratively. It’s not as bad as mainstream nerd culture would make it out to be.

Would I watch again? Probably