2015-01-25

See also BLOG - Retrospective on this blog! 

Happy 20th Anniversary Star Trek: VOYAGER!

It's been that long already, 20 years, we're getting old! Voyager is the fourth series baring the name Star Trek, it's certainly not the best one IMO but it does have some really great episodes in it's seven seasons.

Voyager started on January 16, 1995, it was during Star Trek Deep Space Nine's third season, After The Next Generation ended, the creators wanted another series on a starship. It was a good choice having them roaming in the delta quadrant so they could mean new species, new kinds of stories. They also could (imo should) have made Voyager darker, grittier, but sadly that was not the case. The episodes of the first two seasons rarely are above average. Few episodes of course do, like Phage, Eye of the Needle, Jetrel, The 37's, Non Sequitur, Deadlock and some more of course but overall fairly mediocre, again, IMO!

Voyager began somewhat becoming more interesting during it's third season with Future's End as the best episodes of the season, and the first part of Scorpion. Season three, for me, made Voyager more watchable, but still it was too clean, too neat. That's what I liked about season 5 episode Equinox, another Starfleet crew who were stranded in the Delta Quadrant and perhaps we would not like to see a series of this ship on a weekly basis, because a lot of what was happening on that ship were uneasy to watch to say the least, but it would have been nice if we had seen a bit more of that over the course of the seven season run on Voyager.

With the introduction of Seven of Nine I have to say, for me, it became a better series. Not only is and was Jeri Ryan a stunning woman, she also is a hell of an actress. I never really cared much for the character Kes, I certainly did not hate her but she just was not as interesting as a character to me. Seven however became a multi layered character over the rest of the series. Season 4 is probably my favourite Voyager season with episodes like The Raven, The Year of Hell, Message in a Bottle, Hunters, Prey, Living Witness, One and Hope and Fear.

My favourite episodes of season 5 are Timeless, Infinite Regress, Think Tank, Reletivity and Equinox. Not as strong as the fourth season but for me superior over the first three seasons. With the start of season 6, I remember being quite impressed, it started out to be the best season of the entire series. Among the first 12 episodes are Equinox Part 2, Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy, Dragon's Teeth, One Small Step and Pathfinder, Blink of an eye. Especially One Small Step and Pathfinder are probably my favourite Voyager episodes.

After that season six quickly became a mediocre season with some really awful episodes. Episodes like Fair haven, Virtuoso, Spirit Folk, Ashes to Ashes, Live Fast and Prosper are mediocre at best. Really disappointed by the second part of season six which could have been it's best IMO. What I do like about season 6, besides those episodes, are the guestspots of Marina Sirtis as  Deanna Troi.

The last season did fare a little better as a whole, than season six, for me, but only just above average, which is a shame, could have been so much better. The season finale was also not how I wanted to see it end but like everything, that's a matter of taste. This the big difference between TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Where The Next Generation and Voyager obviously ran out of good stories in the last two seasons, Deep Space Nine became stronger and stronger during seasons 4, 5, 6 & 7.

Currently I am re-watching Voyager, watching season two, and I have to say, most episodes are mediocre. I find I really have trouble staying focussed while watching it. Also re-watching DS9 at the moment, also in the middle of season two. With DS9 I have no trouble watching, in fact, I really can't wait to watch the next episode, that for me is the difference between the two. That doesn't mean Star Trek Voyager is all bad, it has some very good episodes, some very good storytelling, but it happens not often enough during a season, only 5 to 10 episodes per season is not enough. But as I said a few times already, it's an opinion, mine.

Pictures: TrekCore.com