I'm sorry, I don't know this 5th Season episode name: The last moment of this episode, when the Doctor takes a group picture of the bridge crew with his camera- It's a small moment, but I think really compelling- it shows the Voyager crew as a close family. It makes me like, and root for them even more.
Yes. I don’t get that feeling from TNG. VOY characters are tangible. I feel like I could walk onto the set and mingle awhile.
Q and Janeway in Deathwish: "Say, is this a ship of the Valkyries or have you Human women finally done away with your men altogether?” “That's a toughie, but that's why they made you captain, isn't it? To handle the real tough ones? My, my. Now I guess we get to find out whether the pants really fit.” Did anyone ever tell you you're angry when you're beautiful?" May I assume that you're the Q that I've heard so much about?" "Have you heard about little me? Oh, do tell. Has Jean-Luc been whispering about me behind my back?" ...you introduced us to the Borg, thank you very much. But one thing you have never been is a liar." "I think you've uncovered my one redeeming virtue. Am I blushing?"
Moments like this are my favourites, as it reminds me that they never quite forgot the character's backstories. It's tempting to think VOY basically settled into being generic-Trek, so little moments like this feel super important.
The all-time moment for me is in "Timeless" where Garrett Wang acts his socks off, rather unexpectedly but brilliantly, in two admittedly key scenes. The first being when he's despondent and the EMH has to snap him out of it, and the other - which is one single word, that of "YES!!!!!!!", is so incredibly well done. It's "little" in terms of 24th century human beings often being so stoic, and here's an episode - from season 5, no less - that dares show a little humanity. It would have been easy to stick to the usual 24th century shtick, but they didn't. It's technically little and yet it's very big. Especially in a show where they don't show such emotion in so many episodes where it'd be perfectly human to do so. As with Ronald D Moore's idea of VOY being more and more dystopia, and episodes like "Worst Case Scenario", it's these one off scenes that show the potential of what VOY could have been. And yet VOY still tries to take the TOS approach in terms of no arcs, just recurring villains, music that sometimes mimics TOS' style (e.g. "Scorpion"), and just tries to be a "90s revamp of TOS's style" whereas TNG became its own style (after a year of mimicking TOS at times) as much as DS9 had.
1) As far as "arcs" go- I have a busy life, and Voyager is perfect for a quick hour of escapism. I don't feel like getting immersed in some ongoing story. A lot of viewers are the same. That's why Voyager probably does so well on Netflix. Voyager is perfect for a quick, "modern Trek" fix. 2) TOS music is Iconic & Exciting. How many series get a complete Soundtrack Set like the La-La Land Records' Box? Anytime "Berman Trek" stretched beyond the bland sonic wallpaper that epitomised 90's Trek was a good thing! 3) Just by the nature of Voyager being a "shipboard show" by the same TNG Producers & Writers, there was going to be similarities. Besides, one can argue DS9 was just a blend of the arguably superior Babylon 5 and TNG. I respect your opinion, but I find so many criticisms of Voyager soooo incredibly weak! It's like DS9 fans have a need to elevate that show, by putting down other shows.
Here in Australia, Voyager is one of three star trek shows on constant re-run/rotation on network TV, the others being TOS and TNG, and I often asked myself why this is... why don't they ever screen Deep Space Nine? The only answer I can come up with is that the nature of DS9's story arcs makes it less attractive to syndication, as when you're 'stripping' a show five nights a week, you want it to be as accessible to as wide an audience as possible, and any show where if a viewer misses out an episode, they might potentially lose the arc threads and therefore stop watching... I figure this is the reason because I've noticed other popular but very arc-heavy shows are never rerun either, but afternoon TV is full of episodic classic TV... but DS9 feels conspicuous for being the only Star Trek show the network doesn't syndicate. Even the more dedicated Sci Fi channel over here avoids it, whereas Voyager has got a seemingly infinite shelf life in re-runs. Whatever praise DS9 gets, ironically it's the least visible and hardest to find Star Trek on TV. The three other Trek shows mentioned have been screening on rotation day in day out on Aussie TV for at least a decade now, but DS9 (and, to be fair, Enterprise too ) has never been seen after it's original run in the 1990s. Voyager's episodic nature, it seems, is actually a strength.
It was during the orignal run of DS9 in Germany when it was shown at stupid times, overlapping with local advertisements and other such things. DS9 was Star Trek's stepmother and treated as such. Now there is another re-run on another channel that constantly shows Trek. They even show all seasons without quitting it after season 3 or so. But Voyager and TNG had more re-runs, at least it feels that way to me.
There's definitely something about episodic TV that seems to make it more attractive to network TV for re-runs. I think the assumption is that it's easier for casual viewers to dip into and out of, and therefore, probably rates better (in so much as TV reruns used as slot fillers get good ratings at all ). If the anecdotal evidence is any indication to me, it feels like Voyager has got a very long life and a much bigger presence as an example of Star Trek to any new viewers tuning in. DS9 is a great show, but is never seen. It feels neglected and forgotten, and, I suspect, it's arc-stories are the reason. Which is ironic in an era where arc plots are so celebrated!
Maybe that's why I like Law & Order SVU. On the other hand: German TV showed one of the newer seasons in a mixed/confusing sequence. Rollings was pregnant and became even less pregnant. Obviously they showed the episodes backwards.... It doesn't make sense. You can't do that with DS9, especially not in the seasons 6 and 7.....
I also wonder if some of the appreciation DS9 got more recently is BECAUSE it is so hard to find. Those who saw it while airing haven't seen it since, or very sporadically, and they find it better simply by being difficult to find. Absence makes the heart grow fonder...
Yeah, I remember it being said (possibly by Gene Roddenberry himself) back in TNG's early days that one of the reasons they originally flip-flopped on serialization and decided to deliberately do one-off stand alone stories in 1987 was because they knew the networks stripping shows five nights a week for re-runs prefer a show that can (almost) be shown in any order, or pre-empted, whereas serialized TV requires the commitment to screening something consistently so viewers won't lose track and switch off. I think DS9 and VOY's relative post-life indicates the wisdom of that.
Agreed. It's become one of those TV shows that is so obscure to find, despite being part of one of the most well known TV and movie franchises in the world, that people who do track it down feel like they've gotten themselves a hidden gem. Rarity creates uniqueness.
Back on-topic: The end of "Timeless" when Harry is sitting in the mess hall and Janeway hands him the PADD.
It used to infuriated me back in the day when TNG would get pre-empted on a station it was shown on because some football game had ran overtime.
Another "Relativity" gem: "Seven of Nine to Seven of Nine." Mulgrew in response makes this expression with her face that slays me.
Season 5, Counterpoint. Janeway has just walked Kashyk with an armed guard back to his quarters. As she tries to say goodnight, Kashyk starts flirting with her, suggesting she join him for a nightcap by saying he'd been looking forward to "trying her replicator." Janeway looks at him strangely, before she informed him, sorry, but she had taken his "replicator off line." If that wasn't enough, then there was the look she shot at the smiling ensign who just heard Mama Janeway deliver the sweetest smackdown as he stood guard outside Kashyk's door, "As you were!"