I seem to be in the minority that think Voyager was an excellent show. First, let me start off by saying I’ve entered the whole Star Trek scene a bit late. I’ve only seen any episodes this year through torrenting, and after having seen all 7 seasons of Voyager, 2 of DS9 and 2 of TNG, I personally found Voyager to be by far the most impressive of the bunch.
One of the common criticisms I’ve read on my short stay as a lurker on this board is that Voyager lacks continuity. For one thing, this is only partially true, as there’s some aspects of the show that do retain continuity, such as b’Elanna’s and Paris’ relationship, the monthly contact between Star Fleet and Voyager in the later episodes, the existence of the Delta Flier, among other things. I’ve also seen complaints about the implausibility of the sheer amounts of torpedoes and shuttle crafts that Voyager expends. However, there are so many ways to account for this. It is well known that Voyager takes many excursions to nearby planets to replenish on supplies such as dilithium, so that alone generates the opportunity to re-supply on the parts necessary for shuttle crafts and torpedoes. They also acquire items through trade with other civilizations, and of course they have this nifty little thing called a replicator. In fact, the Tom mentions using replicated parts to build the Delta Flier. Though even if these explanations didn’t exist, it really shouldn’t matter because any Star Trek show requires some level of suspension of disbelief. Ever notice how secondary characters tend to be far more expendable than primary ones? Notice how most Star Trek episodes have fairy tale endings? Voyager shouldn’t be given additional criticism for flaws that every generation of Star Trek suffers from, a lot of which has to do with the constraints of television shows (equal length of each episode as ~45 minutes, for instance).
Another frequent complaint is about constant technobabble. Personally, I found the technobabble engaging, it just seems to help me immerse in the notion of 24th century space exploration. Perhaps I have some bias seeing as I’m a pure + applied science student, but there is just something refreshing about routinely hearing “plasma conduit”, “nutrino emissions”, “power matrix”, etc… instead of free-talk or laymen explanations of scientific phenomena. Moreover, the babble adds authenticity to B’Elanna’s status as an engineer, and gives us the impression that these space travellers are intellectually sophisticated, not just some space-bound renegades or something.
Though most of all, I found Voyager’s characters to be immensely appealing.
Janeway: She’s a bit too emotional for my tastes, and is a bit hypocritical about her treatment of the prime directive (though what star fleet captain isn’t?). Nonetheless, she definitely harbors a lot of interesting internal conflicts in carrying out her duty as a captain, and is an easy character to relate to because of it. I will concede she is no Picard though Sisco has nothing on her. Sisco doesn’t possess the kind of conviction you’d expect of a Star Fleet captain, and feels very secondary to the whole Bejor-Kardasia conflict. In fact, the only aspect about him I don’t find to be bland is his relationship with his son, and some of the tribulations he faces in the loss of his wife.
Neelix: I can see how many people could easily detest him, but I find there is a certain charm to his enthusiastic personality. He’s basically the epitome of a socialite being, and his overly flamboyant nature provides a nice contrast to the other characters in the show, who tend to be more solemn.
Tuvok: I have no idea how he compares to Spock, but nevertheless you have got to love his excessively logical nature. He often provides meaningful insights into the flaws of human behavior, while also providing comic relief in his contempt for “trivial” conversation, his incessant desire for solitude, and his powerful intolerance towards emotionally based behavior.
Tom Paris: There’s no question that Paris is a cliché’d “bad boy” persona, especially with the show’s over-emphasis on his simplistic tastes (Captain Proton? Come on!). Still, there is something to be said for his progression from a rebel/criminal into a more responsible man. What personality evolution do you get out of people like O’Brien, Dax, Quark, Diana Troy, etc?
B’Elanna Torres: IMO, she is leagues more interesting than Jordi LeForge. From what I’ve seen, the only remotely interesting aspect of LeForge is his visor, which is only majorly explored in one episode, while having minor recognition in a couple others (for instance, LeForge at one point mentions his superior vision allows him to detect the signs of a human lying). B’Elanna, however, has a far more developed backstory about her half Cling-On heritage, she is far more crucial to the story, and has an existent set of conflicts (being a Maquis, racial conflicts, love relationship, etc).
The Doctor: The mere fact that the Doctor is a holographic projection makes him a fascinating character. There really is no other Doctor in the series who can compete with the ethical dilemmas of holograms gaining recognition as sentient beings, having unique properties such as not needing nourishment or sleep, being able to add routines to his program to alter his personality, etc. He basically exemplifies what science fiction is all about: exploring human issues through the lives of characters subject to the reality of whatever futuristic setting they pertain to.
7 of 9: There’s no doubt the phrases “we are the borg” “you shall be assimilated”, “the collective”, “irrelevant”, “inefficient”, etc, have been painfully overused thanks to this character. However, 7 offers us the opportunity to view someone who is completely unfamiliar with what it is to be human, and view how she adapts to it. Her struggles are authentic, and we can always sympathize how she can find solace in her past behaviors as a borg seeing how irrational human behavior must seem to her. There is also no denying that 7 is an incredible actor. Virtually the entire show, she portrays this rigid personality who works tenuously, but in one episode she adopts the personality of the Doctor. Her imitations of him are so masterful, one has to wonder what kind of acting role she cannot fulfill.
I’ll admit I’m not too fond of Harry or Chicoté, though once again the same can be said of every series. In TNG, Wes is the most vile, execrable thing to ever grace television (I exaggerate, but he truly is annoyingly juvenile, especially in the matters of love as seen in the episode “Dauphin”). Then there’s Kira, who despite having an interesting backstory that validates her personality traits, nonetheless comes off as a painfully emotional character, and Sisco who (as mentioned before) seems to have a fairly banal involvement in the story, and doesn’t possess anywhere near the same conviction or authority as Janeway or Picard do.
Oh, and just for kicks, Voyager has the best cast of minor characters. While TNG has Whoopi Goldberg (lol), and DS9 has Nog and O’Brian’s wife, Voyager has a creepy male Vulcan in Vorak, a sociopath beta-zoid, and a stuttering, awkard, but ultimately brilliant man in Barkley.
Other than that, there are some aspects of Voyager that I suspect go under-appreciated. Not to sound superficial, but there is something to be said for Voyager’s presentation and special effects. What I found particularly impressive was the atmosphere of Borg ships, and much of the same can be said for the design of the hunters, species 8472, the phage, the khazon, etc. Sure, there were a lot of generic looking alien species, many of which only had minor changes in skin color or in nose design. Though, (sounding like a broken record here) other Star Treks also suffer from this issue on occasion.
In conclusion, I can’t really understand why this series receives so much hatred. It almost makes me feel embarrassed at the nights I spent watching 5-6 episodes in a row, which I cannot say is also true of DS9, which dabbles too much with politics and sometimes feels direction-less, not to mention over-exploring what are at first intriguing character relationships (Odo and Quark constantly bickering, for instance). I’ll definitely concede that Voyager has its flaws. For example, there’s one episode where Paris goes at trans-warp speed, but the issue is never explored again, or how the Borg Civil War suddenly had no impact based on the season finale. Still, it seems to me there is far too much backlash towards a series that has consistently explored thought-provoking ethical issues, has an amazingly varied crew (black Vulcan, female commander, tol’axian, half cling-on, former borg, etc) that compliment each other well, and a respectable, consistent theme, all of which draw me to admire this show profoundly.
I apologize in advance for butchering the spelling of many names, as I am not that well versed in Star Trek culture just yet :P Also keep in mind that most of my arguments are subjectively based, so feel free to disagree with me. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing some persuasive evidence as to why this show is not well received, as it might allow me to appreciate Star Trek more fully.
One of the common criticisms I’ve read on my short stay as a lurker on this board is that Voyager lacks continuity. For one thing, this is only partially true, as there’s some aspects of the show that do retain continuity, such as b’Elanna’s and Paris’ relationship, the monthly contact between Star Fleet and Voyager in the later episodes, the existence of the Delta Flier, among other things. I’ve also seen complaints about the implausibility of the sheer amounts of torpedoes and shuttle crafts that Voyager expends. However, there are so many ways to account for this. It is well known that Voyager takes many excursions to nearby planets to replenish on supplies such as dilithium, so that alone generates the opportunity to re-supply on the parts necessary for shuttle crafts and torpedoes. They also acquire items through trade with other civilizations, and of course they have this nifty little thing called a replicator. In fact, the Tom mentions using replicated parts to build the Delta Flier. Though even if these explanations didn’t exist, it really shouldn’t matter because any Star Trek show requires some level of suspension of disbelief. Ever notice how secondary characters tend to be far more expendable than primary ones? Notice how most Star Trek episodes have fairy tale endings? Voyager shouldn’t be given additional criticism for flaws that every generation of Star Trek suffers from, a lot of which has to do with the constraints of television shows (equal length of each episode as ~45 minutes, for instance).
Another frequent complaint is about constant technobabble. Personally, I found the technobabble engaging, it just seems to help me immerse in the notion of 24th century space exploration. Perhaps I have some bias seeing as I’m a pure + applied science student, but there is just something refreshing about routinely hearing “plasma conduit”, “nutrino emissions”, “power matrix”, etc… instead of free-talk or laymen explanations of scientific phenomena. Moreover, the babble adds authenticity to B’Elanna’s status as an engineer, and gives us the impression that these space travellers are intellectually sophisticated, not just some space-bound renegades or something.
Though most of all, I found Voyager’s characters to be immensely appealing.
Janeway: She’s a bit too emotional for my tastes, and is a bit hypocritical about her treatment of the prime directive (though what star fleet captain isn’t?). Nonetheless, she definitely harbors a lot of interesting internal conflicts in carrying out her duty as a captain, and is an easy character to relate to because of it. I will concede she is no Picard though Sisco has nothing on her. Sisco doesn’t possess the kind of conviction you’d expect of a Star Fleet captain, and feels very secondary to the whole Bejor-Kardasia conflict. In fact, the only aspect about him I don’t find to be bland is his relationship with his son, and some of the tribulations he faces in the loss of his wife.
Neelix: I can see how many people could easily detest him, but I find there is a certain charm to his enthusiastic personality. He’s basically the epitome of a socialite being, and his overly flamboyant nature provides a nice contrast to the other characters in the show, who tend to be more solemn.
Tuvok: I have no idea how he compares to Spock, but nevertheless you have got to love his excessively logical nature. He often provides meaningful insights into the flaws of human behavior, while also providing comic relief in his contempt for “trivial” conversation, his incessant desire for solitude, and his powerful intolerance towards emotionally based behavior.
Tom Paris: There’s no question that Paris is a cliché’d “bad boy” persona, especially with the show’s over-emphasis on his simplistic tastes (Captain Proton? Come on!). Still, there is something to be said for his progression from a rebel/criminal into a more responsible man. What personality evolution do you get out of people like O’Brien, Dax, Quark, Diana Troy, etc?
B’Elanna Torres: IMO, she is leagues more interesting than Jordi LeForge. From what I’ve seen, the only remotely interesting aspect of LeForge is his visor, which is only majorly explored in one episode, while having minor recognition in a couple others (for instance, LeForge at one point mentions his superior vision allows him to detect the signs of a human lying). B’Elanna, however, has a far more developed backstory about her half Cling-On heritage, she is far more crucial to the story, and has an existent set of conflicts (being a Maquis, racial conflicts, love relationship, etc).
The Doctor: The mere fact that the Doctor is a holographic projection makes him a fascinating character. There really is no other Doctor in the series who can compete with the ethical dilemmas of holograms gaining recognition as sentient beings, having unique properties such as not needing nourishment or sleep, being able to add routines to his program to alter his personality, etc. He basically exemplifies what science fiction is all about: exploring human issues through the lives of characters subject to the reality of whatever futuristic setting they pertain to.
7 of 9: There’s no doubt the phrases “we are the borg” “you shall be assimilated”, “the collective”, “irrelevant”, “inefficient”, etc, have been painfully overused thanks to this character. However, 7 offers us the opportunity to view someone who is completely unfamiliar with what it is to be human, and view how she adapts to it. Her struggles are authentic, and we can always sympathize how she can find solace in her past behaviors as a borg seeing how irrational human behavior must seem to her. There is also no denying that 7 is an incredible actor. Virtually the entire show, she portrays this rigid personality who works tenuously, but in one episode she adopts the personality of the Doctor. Her imitations of him are so masterful, one has to wonder what kind of acting role she cannot fulfill.
I’ll admit I’m not too fond of Harry or Chicoté, though once again the same can be said of every series. In TNG, Wes is the most vile, execrable thing to ever grace television (I exaggerate, but he truly is annoyingly juvenile, especially in the matters of love as seen in the episode “Dauphin”). Then there’s Kira, who despite having an interesting backstory that validates her personality traits, nonetheless comes off as a painfully emotional character, and Sisco who (as mentioned before) seems to have a fairly banal involvement in the story, and doesn’t possess anywhere near the same conviction or authority as Janeway or Picard do.
Oh, and just for kicks, Voyager has the best cast of minor characters. While TNG has Whoopi Goldberg (lol), and DS9 has Nog and O’Brian’s wife, Voyager has a creepy male Vulcan in Vorak, a sociopath beta-zoid, and a stuttering, awkard, but ultimately brilliant man in Barkley.
Other than that, there are some aspects of Voyager that I suspect go under-appreciated. Not to sound superficial, but there is something to be said for Voyager’s presentation and special effects. What I found particularly impressive was the atmosphere of Borg ships, and much of the same can be said for the design of the hunters, species 8472, the phage, the khazon, etc. Sure, there were a lot of generic looking alien species, many of which only had minor changes in skin color or in nose design. Though, (sounding like a broken record here) other Star Treks also suffer from this issue on occasion.
In conclusion, I can’t really understand why this series receives so much hatred. It almost makes me feel embarrassed at the nights I spent watching 5-6 episodes in a row, which I cannot say is also true of DS9, which dabbles too much with politics and sometimes feels direction-less, not to mention over-exploring what are at first intriguing character relationships (Odo and Quark constantly bickering, for instance). I’ll definitely concede that Voyager has its flaws. For example, there’s one episode where Paris goes at trans-warp speed, but the issue is never explored again, or how the Borg Civil War suddenly had no impact based on the season finale. Still, it seems to me there is far too much backlash towards a series that has consistently explored thought-provoking ethical issues, has an amazingly varied crew (black Vulcan, female commander, tol’axian, half cling-on, former borg, etc) that compliment each other well, and a respectable, consistent theme, all of which draw me to admire this show profoundly.
I apologize in advance for butchering the spelling of many names, as I am not that well versed in Star Trek culture just yet :P Also keep in mind that most of my arguments are subjectively based, so feel free to disagree with me. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing some persuasive evidence as to why this show is not well received, as it might allow me to appreciate Star Trek more fully.
I must be in the minority that loves Chakotay and finds him to be my favorite. He was the reason I watched the show every week. 
But then again, that's just me. 
That doesn't make it entertaining, though.
For me he was the main reason to watch all of the seasons of Voyager too.
