There seems to be a lot of interest in discussing this couple, elsewhere, in other threads. So ... let's have it: what do you good people have to say about Paris & Torres, being together?
Tom & B'Elana
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When I watched Voyager during it's original airing my first thought about Tom Paris was 'Isn't he the same actor from that Next Generation episode?' Why is he playing a different character? As the story went on I became more confused. Why did they change things? Found out about all that later, as did most fans. I didn't care for Tom at first, thought he was a Riker wannabe and I HATE those womanizing characters because they are boring to me. I was glad when they decided to go a different way with him although I think they could have made him a bit more edgier and kept him that way for a little longer.
When I first saw B'Elanna I liked the idea of a half Klingon character. I liked how she would go back and forth from anger to reason. Seeing her as a Maquis made sense for some reason. I got the faint impression that she and Harry were going to be a 'thing' judging from their first scene and that was a legitimate 'ship' for a short time. There are some very old fanfictions still out there that explored that but it was around the time of Faces that the T/P started. I honestly do not remember any 'shipper wars' when it came to Tom, Kes, and Neelix. They might have existed, I just didn't see them. There were scenes of Tom and B'Elanna in Dreadnought and Threshold that just fueled the fire. Swarm made it more than just wishful thinking.
There was a lot of anger about B'Elanna's dream about Chakotay over on Television Without Pity. Ouch. What's funny is it had nothing to do with any 'ship'. I don't know if TPTB read that or not and decided to drop it because of fan reaction but most of it had to do with being upset over the trope of a capable woman like B'Elanna secretly harboring a crush on some man. Why did it always have to come back to that? I came to the conclusion that wasn't what her dream was about at all so I never got into that.
For myself the first time I watched I was focused on the whole Janeway/Chakotay thing and just thought of Tom and B'Elanna as the cute beta couple. I liked them but that was about it. I didn't rewatch Voyager again for years but not because of any dislike on my part, I was just into other things. (Lost, Doctor Who etc) Re-watched it last year and suddenly I decided I really liked them. Starting off with friendship and the slow boil to being a couple. Ups and downs of a relationship. Lack of communication, her struggle with her heritage, his adolescent behavior (they never really went into this on the show but in my headcanon, I think Tom never really had a childhood so when he was finally free of those restraints he started making up for lost time. I've seen it happen in real life. People who were raised in a strict environment find themselves free of all that and either go crazy or get silly). They both eventually 'grew up'.
It's one of the few Star Trek pairings that got a happy ending for which I am glad.
If you read the books the drama they experience is unreal! At the moment they are in a good place, though...hope they stay that way for a while.
When I first saw B'Elanna I liked the idea of a half Klingon character. I liked how she would go back and forth from anger to reason. Seeing her as a Maquis made sense for some reason. I got the faint impression that she and Harry were going to be a 'thing' judging from their first scene and that was a legitimate 'ship' for a short time. There are some very old fanfictions still out there that explored that but it was around the time of Faces that the T/P started. I honestly do not remember any 'shipper wars' when it came to Tom, Kes, and Neelix. They might have existed, I just didn't see them. There were scenes of Tom and B'Elanna in Dreadnought and Threshold that just fueled the fire. Swarm made it more than just wishful thinking.
There was a lot of anger about B'Elanna's dream about Chakotay over on Television Without Pity. Ouch. What's funny is it had nothing to do with any 'ship'. I don't know if TPTB read that or not and decided to drop it because of fan reaction but most of it had to do with being upset over the trope of a capable woman like B'Elanna secretly harboring a crush on some man. Why did it always have to come back to that? I came to the conclusion that wasn't what her dream was about at all so I never got into that.
For myself the first time I watched I was focused on the whole Janeway/Chakotay thing and just thought of Tom and B'Elanna as the cute beta couple. I liked them but that was about it. I didn't rewatch Voyager again for years but not because of any dislike on my part, I was just into other things. (Lost, Doctor Who etc) Re-watched it last year and suddenly I decided I really liked them. Starting off with friendship and the slow boil to being a couple. Ups and downs of a relationship. Lack of communication, her struggle with her heritage, his adolescent behavior (they never really went into this on the show but in my headcanon, I think Tom never really had a childhood so when he was finally free of those restraints he started making up for lost time. I've seen it happen in real life. People who were raised in a strict environment find themselves free of all that and either go crazy or get silly). They both eventually 'grew up'.
It's one of the few Star Trek pairings that got a happy ending for which I am glad.
If you read the books the drama they experience is unreal! At the moment they are in a good place, though...hope they stay that way for a while.
I'm a big fan. I love both characters and loved the way their relationship developed
I think they were one of the most realistic Star Trek couples in general.
It took them a lot of time to get together, they had lots of arguments and B'Elanna even thought about breaking up with hin once. Nevertheless they stayed together and I think that makes it so realistic. I haven't seen a couple in my life that either doesn't argue once in a while or breaks up just after having a minor argument - as it's often showed in TV.
I liked how Tom and B'Elanna had their cute shipping episodes at the beginning, but soon were the couple and we didn't need a reminder that they were together, every second episode. Everyone knew they were together and stayed together, because their relationship matured as they moved together and their relationship became everyday life.
It felt realistic when they eventually married and had a baby, because they knew each other for long enough and had enough ups and downs to know that they can handle all kinds of situations together. Like a real couple.
I'm a fan.
It took them a lot of time to get together, they had lots of arguments and B'Elanna even thought about breaking up with hin once. Nevertheless they stayed together and I think that makes it so realistic. I haven't seen a couple in my life that either doesn't argue once in a while or breaks up just after having a minor argument - as it's often showed in TV.
I liked how Tom and B'Elanna had their cute shipping episodes at the beginning, but soon were the couple and we didn't need a reminder that they were together, every second episode. Everyone knew they were together and stayed together, because their relationship matured as they moved together and their relationship became everyday life.
It felt realistic when they eventually married and had a baby, because they knew each other for long enough and had enough ups and downs to know that they can handle all kinds of situations together. Like a real couple.
I'm a fan.
They are by far my favourite couple in any series (although Janeway and Chakotay could have been that if they had ever become a couple). Personally, I think that throughout the series it's Tom who goes through the biggest character development from being the womanizer with five girlfriends in TIME AND AGAIN through falling in love with B'Elanna and wooing her for nearly three years to becoming a husband and a father in ENDGAME.
Both characters have an interesting past fraught with unresolved conflicts and there's already a certain kind of dynamic between them anyway, to the drama of which their past events add a lot. I've always thought of them as two people who have the same intensity of emotions even though one of them is human and the other one is half human only. B'Elanna's Klingon heritage - or the lack of - is as much a burden on her as Tom's strict upbringing on him, consequently both of them have problems with their parents and when any aspect of this resurfaces, the other one is always there to comfort his/her partner understanding the problem completely, since they struggle with similar things.
In short, the most interesting dynamic between a man and a woman I've ever seen on film.
Some of the wallpapers I've made with them actually tell their story:
(There's a lot more to come with them ...)
Both characters have an interesting past fraught with unresolved conflicts and there's already a certain kind of dynamic between them anyway, to the drama of which their past events add a lot. I've always thought of them as two people who have the same intensity of emotions even though one of them is human and the other one is half human only. B'Elanna's Klingon heritage - or the lack of - is as much a burden on her as Tom's strict upbringing on him, consequently both of them have problems with their parents and when any aspect of this resurfaces, the other one is always there to comfort his/her partner understanding the problem completely, since they struggle with similar things.
In short, the most interesting dynamic between a man and a woman I've ever seen on film.
Some of the wallpapers I've made with them actually tell their story:
(There's a lot more to come with them ...)
I think I identify with B'Elanna because sometimes I feel like I don't fit in or feel like an outsider. So I liked her character.
I felt like they were good together because he's the one who wasn't afraid or unwilling to stand up to her and encourage her to embrace both parts of her heritage. Even though an early episode has her fantasizing about Chakotay, that never really went anywhere and I feel like he became a surrogate father to her. Harry was like best friend/little brother and I think he was a bit uncomfortable with her temper sometimes. Remember in Displaced when she's telling him about her argument with Tom and he's kind of wincing
.
A funny observation I noticed about Tom and B'Elanna's relationship. Did anyone ever notice that some of the major milestones of their relationship involved either being trapped underground (Faces and Blood Fever) or in a shuttle about to explode (Day of Honor and Drive)?
I felt like they were good together because he's the one who wasn't afraid or unwilling to stand up to her and encourage her to embrace both parts of her heritage. Even though an early episode has her fantasizing about Chakotay, that never really went anywhere and I feel like he became a surrogate father to her. Harry was like best friend/little brother and I think he was a bit uncomfortable with her temper sometimes. Remember in Displaced when she's telling him about her argument with Tom and he's kind of wincing
.A funny observation I noticed about Tom and B'Elanna's relationship. Did anyone ever notice that some of the major milestones of their relationship involved either being trapped underground (Faces and Blood Fever) or in a shuttle about to explode (Day of Honor and Drive)?
In DISTANT SHORES there's a short story about that. TALENT NIGHT is the title.
I've got that on my Kindle. I'll have to go read it again.
They are my favourite Trek couple. Now, Trek never really manages to do romance properly and the other couples are frequently over-looked/rushed [Troi/Riker, T'Pol/Trip] whereas Paris/Torres feels quite real. They wed, have a kid, argue, love etc. I can relate to aspects of their relationship unlike the others. DS9 is my favourite Trek, and Odo/Kira is wonderful...but it is a bit...'Hollywood'...and a bit awkward at times. As much as VOY's writers seem to...'forget' about Torres/Paris for a bit, ultimately I think the relationship feels more natural and 'real'.
Oh and the 'worst day of her life' [Torres] episode is, to me, Trek's most romantic.
Also, as I frequently post, I love Torres. For me, she is a vehicle for mental health issues in Trek and it pleases me to watch her actually find someone who loves her and can help her with various issues [feeling alone, feeling perpetually different, depression etc].
Oh and the 'worst day of her life' [Torres] episode is, to me, Trek's most romantic.
Also, as I frequently post, I love Torres. For me, she is a vehicle for mental health issues in Trek and it pleases me to watch her actually find someone who loves her and can help her with various issues [feeling alone, feeling perpetually different, depression etc].
Floating around in space and loosing oxygen in Day of Honor.
But yes, their major relationship milestones usually take place when there happens something terrible meanwhile. Often they're close to death. They just need this little kick in their arses to do something about their relationship.
Cute though.
I'm not for and not against it either. I never thought they would end up, I saw it just as another of Tom's failed attempts to hook up with someone but it worked OK, I guess.
The only criticizm I have is that Tom was more funny and entertaining before the relatioship started.
The only criticizm I have is that Tom was more funny and entertaining before the relatioship started.
You sure you're not just biased because it was after Kes left?
Well, yes. But they had to escape from a shuttle about to explode.
No, not when it comes to those characters.You sure you're not just biased because it was after Kes left?
I do think the series lost a lot with Kes and that all characters except for Seven, Janeway and The Doctor were shoved in the background. OK, I think Tom was better in the early seasons but neither he nor B'Elanna ended up in the same shadow as Tuvok and Chakotay.
My favorite Trek couple of all time.
As far as Trek pairings go, they're pretty middle of the road for me. Not Kira/Odo who worked well together, but not quite season 4 Tucker/T'Pol level where I skip their scenes together to this day.
Considering the many things Voyager dropped the ball on, they did a decent enough job of this pairing, I think.
Considering the many things Voyager dropped the ball on, they did a decent enough job of this pairing, I think.
Tom was the sort of character you could stick in any scene when you needed a third person and make it work. Robbie McNeil even said something to that effect but I can't remember where I read that.
When Seven joined the show unfortunately B'Elanna the Engineer was shoved to the side but they didn't 'bury' her.
Roxann Dawson was just so beautiful and charming, it's kind of hard even seeing her as a Klingon, half, or full-blown. I've always hated that rubber head on her, it's so hideous. Which one? Any one ... I don't care. I hate them all. Though, and I really do hate having to admit this, but she and Robert McNeil didn't really have the kind of chemistry one might've expected.
Their sparring was cute, kind of, but outside of that, the spark left. It's NOT their fault, many famous, Real Life celebrity couples do a movie and their interactions don't work. It falls flat for some reason ... it's unbelievable, that can even happen. Having said that, it came down to Vorik or Tom Paris ... it's almost like she didn't have any choice but to choose Tom. It's either that\, or go the Janeway route, which I don't see working for her.
But having Paris & Torres being played by directors of some of the shows probably helped them out more than any of us can know. I'm confident that's why they were very interested and enthusiastic about their roles and playing them together. And honestly, having Tom as the ship's stud ... TOM? No ... I like him and all that, but I'm glad that McNeil understood the value of getting him into a relationship. It sold better than the other way and had Chakotay been just a few years younger, he should've been the ship's stud. But, despite the inevitability of it, I'm glad Tom & B'Elanna got together. You can't help but love her and he did make every effort to keep her happy.
Their sparring was cute, kind of, but outside of that, the spark left. It's NOT their fault, many famous, Real Life celebrity couples do a movie and their interactions don't work. It falls flat for some reason ... it's unbelievable, that can even happen. Having said that, it came down to Vorik or Tom Paris ... it's almost like she didn't have any choice but to choose Tom. It's either that\, or go the Janeway route, which I don't see working for her.
But having Paris & Torres being played by directors of some of the shows probably helped them out more than any of us can know. I'm confident that's why they were very interested and enthusiastic about their roles and playing them together. And honestly, having Tom as the ship's stud ... TOM? No ... I like him and all that, but I'm glad that McNeil understood the value of getting him into a relationship. It sold better than the other way and had Chakotay been just a few years younger, he should've been the ship's stud. But, despite the inevitability of it, I'm glad Tom & B'Elanna got together. You can't help but love her and he did make every effort to keep her happy.
I'm the opposite. I kinda prefer Roxann with the forehead. Not that she wasn't good looking anyway, but maybe I'm weird...
I've never really shipped on Trek before Trip/T'Pol on ENT, but I do remember rooting for Paris and Torres when VOY was on. It helps that they, with the EHM and 7of9, are my favourite characters on VOY. I also think they complimented each other.
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