Well Janeway always showed favoritism towards Tom Paris. I'm sure the fact that his daddy was an Admiral she was fond of had absolutely nothing to do with it either.
Considering the bubble Voyager is stuck in, assumed dead 70 thousand light years away, kathryn doesn't get any quidproquo for agreeing to abide to a greasy system that doesn't acknowledge her.... But there's the other thing: Janeway was "Captain" Owen Paris' Science Officer for quite some time. Even if she wasn't having an affair with Owen, she probably still thinks of any Paris as an extension of Owen and therefore family.
Ok...I love the show but let's be serious. Favorite episode is "Barge of the Dead" for me due to it's amazeballs concept and top-notch acting. Runners up are "Before and After", "Dark Frontier" and well, you can see the rest in my top 30 favorite episodes video on youtube linked in my sig
Ryn... I aim to please. Speaking of which... here's a little J/7 that everyone can love. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpCHjSF-k94 Everyone, even Mulgrew/Ryan! [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpCHjSF-k94[/yt]
The thing about Voyager is, if you take the top 40 or 50 episodes, and ignore the rest exist, you've got a damn good show. My favorite 10 episodes (No particular order): Scorpion Blink of an Eye Child's Play Counterpoint Death Wish Deadlock Year of Hell Course: Oblivion Bride of Chaotica Timeless