I am a Voyager fan at heart I realize now

[Voth commando1]

Okay so on Netflix today I started watching the Visitor-supposedly one of DS9 best. I barely got 20 minute into it before I just couldn't stand the boredom any longer. So I rewatched Voyager relativity-and didn't lose a moment of appreciation for it.

I am not opposed to serious drama, or glorious on screen battles, or the mystical I just can't seem to appreciate the supposed best thing since the Iliad that DS9 fans say that is.

Voyager had a warmness, and sincerity to it even in its poorer episodes and even in bad ones I can still be engaged in the material-in the Visitor its twenty five minutes of talking man that was horrible.

So in everyone's kindly estimation am I right, wrong? Do I have terrible taste as I'm sure DS9 fans would say?

What say you?

 

[RagazzaMatta]

I'm a DS9 fan as well, but for whatever reason I prefer VOY too. It feels like hanging out with family.

That, or the telepathic pitcher plant is making us think that

 

[2takesfrakes]

TNG is the totality of my STAR TREK Universe. Nothing even comes close - except VOY. To me, it's like "The Further Adventures Of ..." so to speak. A continuation of the saga that TNG embodies so well and the reason for its intense popularity, during its initial run. I like DS9 because of Jadzia Dax, mainly. She's got pizzazz ... and razzamatazz. ENT is really good in its 3rd Season. Before that and afterwards, it's pretty much just OK. But VOY is True Blue ...

My favourite characters are Chakotay, Torres, Kes, Tuvok & Paris. The rest are pretty good, too, especially The Good Captain. She did her best to advance Federation causes - lost in space, though they were - with a doubtful crew. And whilst I would've preferred it that VOY show their desperate struggle to survive in greater detail and sharper focus, I see the wisdom of keeping the series upbeat. Because if hope is lost, then so is any chance of their getting home. It was the right decision, keeping that tonality and the show's really quite charming, as a result. I'm a fan of it ...

 

[Triskelion]

I'm pretty sure the best thing since the Iliad is Die Hard.

 

[Catarina]

I'm a DS9 fan as well, but for whatever reason I prefer VOY too. It feels like hanging out with family.

That, or the telepathic pitcher plant is making us think that

Yes, or the hypno-toad from Futurama tells us what to like when the ratings are low for its network.


OP> I've tried and tried to get into Ds9. I mean- the more Trek the merrier, right? I can't put my foot on it. The characters and setting maybe? Perhaps the Cardassians as they are not a species I enjoy observing nor Ferengi (Quark aside). Personally I cannot tolerate Sisko but enjoy Avery Brooks in other roles. There's just nothing that compels me to sit through it.

 

[stardream]

I LOVE DS9 but the thing is it's difficult for me to sit down and watch just one episode from the later seasons. They are all so interconnected. I wind up doing a whole rewatch. With Voyager I can take my pick of any random episode and watch it without thinking I should watch the next one...and the next one, and the next one and sometimes I just don't have time for that!

 

[Sophie74656]

It's all a matter of opinion of course. I think each series had it's own special charm but nothing ever found a place in my heart like Voyger has. I greatly enjoy TNG and DS9 also, but Voyager is my heart and my home. I remember recently being in a bad emotional place and I watched the Vegas convention panel of the Voyager actors and it was like coming home to family I hadn't seen in a long time.

I think both TNG and DS9 had very good episodes, but I think Voyager had GREAT episodes.

 

[The Lonely Man]

I actually believe DS9 to be the best of the Trek shows, Captain Picard is my favourite, and I believe, best character from all the Trek shows.

Yet strangely Voyager remains my favourite show from all the Trek shows for reasons I've never quite been able to figure out.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

You don't have poor taste at all. Everyone has their own favorite Trek and their own unique reasons for feeling that way. My sister adores Voyager but doesn't give a hoot about any of the other series. I've basically always been a TOS guy, but each series has its own appeal and everyone resonates with each show differently.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I've given all the shows a chance but I still like Voyager the most. TOS is in second place. I didn't care for the others at all.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

As regards me, it's not just that there's no other Star Trek show like VOY but there's no other show like it at all.
I am watching the series for the 36th time (!), last night I saw EYE OF THE NEEDLE and although I know line by line now what they are going to say I was rooting for them to make it home through that wormhole as if I had been watching the episode for the first time.
Same with any other episodes. No matter what the plot is, I am as excited as ever to see what happens - and I love my characters as much as I did on the first viewing. This includes all the ten main characters.
There are so many things that captivate you when watching VOY. The family feeling, Janeway's whole personality, everyone else's personality, everyone's sense of humour, the fact that they are on a ship lost in space, all that superb interaction among the characters ... you name it.
I am watching DS9 for the third time and although I'm OK with that show now, it just isn't capable of making its way to my heart. For a long time I thought the reason for this was that I kept comparing it to VOY but then I realized I wasn't doing that any more and it still doesn't come anywhere near VOY. What is the heart and soul of VOY - all those things I've just listed above + I could give you a long list of a thousand items - is completely missing from DS9.
As for THE VISITOR, I still like it although I think DS9 has a lot better episodes than that (e.g. the two-parter when we meet the Dominion for the first time - the name of the episode/s/ escapes me now).

But DS9 is like heaven compared with other Star Trek shows. Picard is simply unbearable to watch - my God the boredom you have to endure - and of course, even TNG is tolerable compared to ENT, which is a failure in my eyes from the first minute on (I gave it up in the middle of Season 2).
I don't know TOS but it has never particularly appealed to me. I love the new feature films though ... and Captain Kirk's (Chris Pine's) blue eyes ...

I also really like StarGate SG-1 and Atlantis, they are both pretty entertaining shows and the family feeling is there to a certain extent. Of course, I am like Seven in THE GIFT when Janeway tells her that she can have some of the unity she requires right here on Voyager and Seven says it's insufficient. Although StarGate series do have that family feeling to a certain extent, it is insufficient compared to VOY. And I would consider those two series my second and third favourite shows after VOY.

So yes, bottom line is there's nothing like Voyager. It is interesting that it took you (OP) such a long time to realize ... but maybe like Voyager you have also found your way home at last.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Voyager does have a warmth to it. I'm appreciating this show more, all the time. I watched "Tattoo," recently and I thought, "this is a very strong episode! I'm surprised that the fans don't make more of it than they do." It's episodes like this that only cement my fondness for the Voyager series.

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

I think the premise of VOYAGER is just compelling. They're a crew of underdogs, alone, and wanting to get home. You root for them.

There's an episode where the Doctor takes a photo of the crew- and you can really feel the sense of family. This was a good show.

 

[Sophie74656]

I have gained a new level of love for Voyager very recently. I am currently rewatching the show from the beginning (something I haven't done in years) with someone who has not seen any of it.

 

[Krena]

The thing that I always loved about Voyager is that the characters behaved like real people and not like "characters" with their typical canned lines and responses.

For example, B'elanna's reaction in Before and After when the Doctor is explaining to the crew what's going on with Kes. At some point he brags about how brilliant he is, and she instantly rolls her eyes and gives this annoyed sigh, like, "Gimme a break already!" Yes, technically, that is B'elanna having a "B'elanna moment," but she is also acting like every sassy coworker, friend or other person that you've encountered, which is what makes her reaction so human.

Same thing in Latent Image, except with Janeway. In that last scene when the Doctor keeps coming up with these "insights", Janeway acts and sounds exactly like someone who's been spending hours hearing him go on and on and on. She's yawning, has an attitude when she answers him and sounds like she's two seconds away from disabling his program.

I know that on paper this doesn't sound like much ("Oh, BFD. B'elanna rolled her eyes. Janeway sounded bored.") But these little nuanced reactions are what separated Voyager from the other STs and why people feel there was a warmth to the show. I always believed that one of the main goals of VOY after the third season or so was to depict what life on board a Starship would be like with real people on board and not just the typical stock characters. In that regard, I think it succeeded.

 

[Tracy Trek]

For example, B'elanna's reaction in Before and After when the Doctor is explaining to the crew what's going on with Kes. At some point he brags about how brilliant he is, and she instantly rolls her eyes and gives this annoyed sigh, like, "Gimme a break already!"

This makes me think of another one. In Renaissance Man, when they've rescued him and are trying to get all that extra data out of his program before it overloads and possibly decompiles his program. His making his hilarious "deathbed" confessions. At one point, his image disappears. Janeway asks, "Is he..."? Torres says in sort of a bored sounding voice, "No, I've got him". Then the cherry on the top at the end, from Tom, "Is there anything else you would like to confess"? If you only knew, Tommy Boy.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

I love TOS, TNG, like DS9 and tolerate ENT, but VOY will always hold a special place in my heart. Not only do I feel the significant "family interactions" in this show more than any other, but I relate to Janeway much more because she was only a few years older than myself when I started watching.

I remember going to visit a friend/fellow Trekkie after a particularly trying day at work. As I plopped onto the couch I bemoaned "How does Janeway do it? Being responsible for 150 other lives, 70,000 light years from home, running out of supplies and constantly being attacked by unknown aliens?"

After a dramatic sigh I added, "Of course, being fictional doesn't hurt."

Is it perfect?

Heck no... did you see Janeway and Chakotay riding off into the sunset in "Endgame"? Yeah... that would be "NO".

But she did the supposed impossible, which we've come to expect from our Star Trek Captains.

SPOILER!!!!!!

She got her crew home.

 

[cgervasi]

Voyager had a warmness, and sincerity to it even in its poorer episodes and even in bad ones I can still be engaged in the material

I wanted to feel this way about Voyager, starting when I read about it before the first episode. I wanted to feel the peril of their being alone and the wonder of being the first people from the AQ to explore a distant region. I imagined it being like in TNG Where No Man Has Gone Before if they had decided to explore parts of that distant Galaxy alone while having the Kosinski, the Traveler, and the Enterprise engineering staff study further how they got there before attempting it again to get home. If they were stranded for a months or years, they might have to trade for supplies. Senior officers who didn't sign up for an extended mission beyond communications range would start to wonder if it makes sense to run the ship like a Starfleet following only the captain's orders or if they should have some kind of vote. In the case of Voyager, you add the Maquis. It should be a recipe for a feeling of characters who are totally alone and not sure what they're doing. Instead, they started numbering the episodes 8xx, as if they were Season 8 of TNG, which had just ended, and to me the show felt like TNG. The characters said aloud that they were alone with limited supplies, but I never felt it. They kept seeing the same aliens, and I felt like they should explain whether they made a tactical choice to say in the same area. If they're just heading home, I imagine the region of space controlled by the Kazon or other small powers would not take months of travel time in fast ship to traverse.

When the reimagined BSG came out, that did for me what I imagined Voyager would do. I didn't need Voyager to be as dark as BSG, but I wanted to feel like the characters were actually in the situation described in the premise of the show.

 

[stardream]

Tom, "Is there anything else you would like to confess"? If you only knew, Tommy Boy.

I always thought that deep down Tom realized what had happened, but just didn't want to think about it.

 

[Sophie74656]

I always thought that deep down Tom realized what had happened, but just didn't want to think about it.

That would be funny. Hey doc, remember that time we kissed? HAHA