How many of you would have preferred Voyager with Chakotay Captain.

[Geekyfanboy]

I've always find it interesting that so many folks don't like Janeway as captain. I felt she was a great blend of  a "take charge" and "make the hard choices" attitude, while really caring about her crew. I felt she came across as seeing the big picture and making good decisions. I thought she was very clever and displayed a commanding presence. I also felt that Kate Mulgrew played the part very well. I had no problem liking her or believing her in the role.

Maybe  it wouldn't be bad having a dorm mother as the captain, especially so far from home.

I knew you would be a good addition to the forums  :) <------ Huge Voyager fan.

[Tyler]

Thanks, Kenny. I am as well. Voyager often gets cited as the weakest series, but I really enjoyed it. I think it had more mind-opening storylines in some ways than the other series. Deep concepts were presented in many episodes.  Voyager sometimes reminded me of the Twilight Zone in terms of the weird situations that would often be presented. I think some folks missed the familiar territory of the Federation, but I felt the Delta quadrant setting freed up the writers to explore some very new and interesting concepts.

And I liked all the characters ... especially when Seven came aboard.

[alanp]

Thanks, Kenny. I am as well. Voyager often gets cited as the weakest series, but I really enjoyed it. I think it had more mind-opening storylines in some ways than the other series. Deep concepts were presented in many episodes.  Voyager sometimes reminded me of the Twilight Zone in terms of the weird situations that would often be presented. I think some folks missed the familiar territory of the Federation, but I felt the Delta quadrant setting freed up the writers to explore some very new and interesting concepts.

And I liked all the characters ... especially when Seven came aboard.

I agree with a lot of that but the show did have problems.  First, the villans wern't very impressive until the Borg and the Q episodes.  The Kazon and the Vidiians just weren't as impressive as the Borg, Klingons or the Jem'Hadar.  However in those early seasons they did have episodes, hated by fans, but that I defend as some of the best Trek they've ever done.  Like the 37s, and the dinosaur episode and future's end.

Next, in contrast to TNG and DS9 there is less character growth.  The ones that stand out to me are the ones who grew over that seven years.  Tom Paris, the Doctor, Torres, and Nelix came a long way through the journey.  Other characters were the same from beginning to end.  The character growth was one of the things that made DS9 work so well.  They all ended up miles from where they started.

And I know Braga liked time travel episodes and Roddenberry tried to avoid them so when Braga got control he did a lot.  And I think most of them were really good episodes.

And of all the series to do the hollodeck malfunction episodes, Voyager did them really badly.

Also, I know this is explosive and that we will have to agree to disagree, but sometimes I felt like Braga went to far with stuff like Mortal Coil.  Having someone die and brought back to see there is no afterlife is going to step on a few toes.  Watching it made me uneasy.

To me, Voyager at it's best is about Tom, his buddy Harry, his love, B'Elanna and stories about the three of them.  As well as the Doctor, a computer program, 7 the Borg, and all the neat things they can do.  The stories, I agree that the Twilight Zone style stuff was the better stuff.

[Tyler]

You make good points. The first seasons, like TNG and DS9, floundered a bit for sure as the show found its way. Kes was never a favorite of mine. And there were some horrendous Voyager episodes. I remember swearing off the series during the initial run after "Threshold."  I didn't get reacquainted with the later seasons until after Seven came onboard and the Borg episodes became a staple.

There was less character growth on Voyager than on DS9 certainly in which the central character took on a whole new life at the series' end. I'm not sure I agree there was less character development, however, than on TNG. Other than everyone on the ship feeling a fondness for each other, I never felt there was much character growth during the TV run of Next Generation.

[Ktrek]

I'm not sure I agree there was less character development, however, than on TNG. Other than everyone on the ship feeling a fondness for each other, I never felt there was much character growth during the TV run of Next Generation.

I'm not sure I totally agree with you here Tyler. Data's character grew tremendously and so did Worf's. Over the course of the series these two characters transformed into better beings than they were when the series started. I'm not sure we can say there was a lot of character development for the rest of the cast but those two grew a lot.

Kevin