As a long time viewer of Voyager, I’m not the first to point out that much of the series was not planned out very far. For instance, the Equinox especially bothered me (not returned to Alpha Quadrant by Caretaker, not encountering ANY of the same species) and seemed to come and go without any real significance. Below is how I think the Voyager series could’ve been much more interesting.
Pilot Episode: Initially, much would be the same. The chief engineer, CMO, and XO would be killed when pulled into the Delta Quadrant chasing the Maquis. However, upon reaching the Caretaker’s Array, the Voyager crew would discover a few bodies and a handful of Starfleet personnel (all would become background characters, except for one, Harry Kim). It would be learned from the Caretaker’s computer and their accounts that the Array was under attack by the Kazon as they were pulled in, and the Equinox crew was thus able to recover most of its personnel and use the Array to return them. However, due to the attack and the crew’s lack of understanding of the technology, the coordinates of their destination are left unknown. Not being able to properly search the Starfleet personnel, the Caretaker also pulls in Voyager. The rest proceeds (Array destroyed to prevent Kazon from stealing technology, no time to plant charges) as before, Kes and Neelix join Voyager (c’mon, every 24th-century series has an annoying character).
Voyager continues meeting new worlds, battling the Kazon, and dealing more with feisty Maquis (led by Seska). There is even a Maquis rebellion, led by Seska but thwarted by Chakotay (which he soon regrets as the Maquis crew is severely punished). There is also the issue of Kes defending the Doctor from the surviving (1 or 2) nurse(s), who resent taking orders from a hologram. Seska betrays everyone as the Kazon take the ship, stranding the Starfleet and Maquis crews so they finally learn to work together. This encompasses Season 1.
As Voyager leaves Kazon space, they begin to get indications of the presence of the Equinox (shuttle hull fragments, references, etc.). Eventually, they catch up to the Equinox (the story about it going slower doesn’t hold, since Voyager cruises at Warp 6 anyway, I think). Equinox has slowed as it is carefully mapping (and skirting) the edges of Borg space. The ships continue in a sine-cosine wave pattern for a season (increasing shortcut searching and exploration), coming to each other’s aide and rendezvousing every few months to exchange technology and personnel (even Captains), so they they’re all familiar with both ships and crews. Equinox’s CMO would be what was shown as Voyager’s in “Caretaker,” in that he dislikes Tom Paris, and they would have several aliens serving as Starfleet personnel, too (since they had no Maquis to replenish the ranks). One of the aliens would be an enlightened Kazon, adding to the complexity with Voyager’s crew, who had many bad Kazon experiences. While Equinox would frequently appear, the show would mainly follow Voyager’s exploits.
At some point, Chakotay (dissatisfied with Janeway’s punishment, Prime Directive, and constant exploration) would seize the opportunity to have the Maquis steal Equinox (transporting key Starfleet personnel to Voyager) with a few Starfleet crew forced to help operate. The Equinox would disable Voyager and disappear for several episodes, presumably gone. Then, Voyager would pick up the Equinox distress call and retake the ship, putting the Maquis in both brigs (separating leaders) and for a few more episodes, both ships would continue as before. Then, Kes evolves to a higher plane of existence (or whatever she did), launching both ships, although on slightly different trajectories. Thus, Equinox would once again be separated. Voyager would finally find it again later, although badly damaged and partially assimilated (Kes failed to send the Equinox all the way past Borg space). The remaining crew would be transferred to Voyager, with Janeway doing some suicide mission to cripple the Borg and destroying the Equinox in the process. Captain Ransom would assume command of Voyager, and somehow Chakotay would prove himself worthy of XO (otherwise Tuvok), and contact with Starfleet would eventually be established, inspiring the Pathfinder Project. In some glorious way, Ransom would return Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant midway through the last season, providing plenty of time for closure (oh, and Seven of Nine would be found somewhere along the way, too). They would even counter one last Delta Quadrant-related threat (requiring their expertise), possibly Species 8472 or an assimilated Janeway with Borg cube (unless that’s deemed too recycled).
Those are my thoughts, anyway. There are some similarities to BSG. Any comments or critiques are welcome.
Pilot Episode: Initially, much would be the same. The chief engineer, CMO, and XO would be killed when pulled into the Delta Quadrant chasing the Maquis. However, upon reaching the Caretaker’s Array, the Voyager crew would discover a few bodies and a handful of Starfleet personnel (all would become background characters, except for one, Harry Kim). It would be learned from the Caretaker’s computer and their accounts that the Array was under attack by the Kazon as they were pulled in, and the Equinox crew was thus able to recover most of its personnel and use the Array to return them. However, due to the attack and the crew’s lack of understanding of the technology, the coordinates of their destination are left unknown. Not being able to properly search the Starfleet personnel, the Caretaker also pulls in Voyager. The rest proceeds (Array destroyed to prevent Kazon from stealing technology, no time to plant charges) as before, Kes and Neelix join Voyager (c’mon, every 24th-century series has an annoying character).
Voyager continues meeting new worlds, battling the Kazon, and dealing more with feisty Maquis (led by Seska). There is even a Maquis rebellion, led by Seska but thwarted by Chakotay (which he soon regrets as the Maquis crew is severely punished). There is also the issue of Kes defending the Doctor from the surviving (1 or 2) nurse(s), who resent taking orders from a hologram. Seska betrays everyone as the Kazon take the ship, stranding the Starfleet and Maquis crews so they finally learn to work together. This encompasses Season 1.
As Voyager leaves Kazon space, they begin to get indications of the presence of the Equinox (shuttle hull fragments, references, etc.). Eventually, they catch up to the Equinox (the story about it going slower doesn’t hold, since Voyager cruises at Warp 6 anyway, I think). Equinox has slowed as it is carefully mapping (and skirting) the edges of Borg space. The ships continue in a sine-cosine wave pattern for a season (increasing shortcut searching and exploration), coming to each other’s aide and rendezvousing every few months to exchange technology and personnel (even Captains), so they they’re all familiar with both ships and crews. Equinox’s CMO would be what was shown as Voyager’s in “Caretaker,” in that he dislikes Tom Paris, and they would have several aliens serving as Starfleet personnel, too (since they had no Maquis to replenish the ranks). One of the aliens would be an enlightened Kazon, adding to the complexity with Voyager’s crew, who had many bad Kazon experiences. While Equinox would frequently appear, the show would mainly follow Voyager’s exploits.
At some point, Chakotay (dissatisfied with Janeway’s punishment, Prime Directive, and constant exploration) would seize the opportunity to have the Maquis steal Equinox (transporting key Starfleet personnel to Voyager) with a few Starfleet crew forced to help operate. The Equinox would disable Voyager and disappear for several episodes, presumably gone. Then, Voyager would pick up the Equinox distress call and retake the ship, putting the Maquis in both brigs (separating leaders) and for a few more episodes, both ships would continue as before. Then, Kes evolves to a higher plane of existence (or whatever she did), launching both ships, although on slightly different trajectories. Thus, Equinox would once again be separated. Voyager would finally find it again later, although badly damaged and partially assimilated (Kes failed to send the Equinox all the way past Borg space). The remaining crew would be transferred to Voyager, with Janeway doing some suicide mission to cripple the Borg and destroying the Equinox in the process. Captain Ransom would assume command of Voyager, and somehow Chakotay would prove himself worthy of XO (otherwise Tuvok), and contact with Starfleet would eventually be established, inspiring the Pathfinder Project. In some glorious way, Ransom would return Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant midway through the last season, providing plenty of time for closure (oh, and Seven of Nine would be found somewhere along the way, too). They would even counter one last Delta Quadrant-related threat (requiring their expertise), possibly Species 8472 or an assimilated Janeway with Borg cube (unless that’s deemed too recycled).
Those are my thoughts, anyway. There are some similarities to BSG. Any comments or critiques are welcome.
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