Chakotay gets beaten up on here a lot. Many VOY fans say he's a bland character, 1-dimensional, boring, too much of a Boy Scout. But I like Chakotay a lot when he's in full Maquis mode. He's passionate, unpredictable, with a wild look in his eye and a willingness do anything for what he believes in - but only when he's in Maquis mode.
He's not the only one. In the episode "Warlord," Kes is taken over by an alien consciousness, and suddenly Kes is let loose from her sweet, innocent self. Ironic to say, the character here has a mind of her own and even though she's not nice to Neelix, it helps put that awkward relationship to rest shortly thereafter. I was ok with Kes prior to this, but when I saw that episode, I thought: "Man this is the Jennifer Lien I've been waiting to see!"
Tom is also way more interesting when he's rebelling and being insubordinate. The actor had a true knack for portraying that, going back to the TNG days of "The First Duty."
Could it be that some of these characters are better when they're outside the boxes the writers put them in? The examples above aren't only interesting because they're different. They're interesting because they fit better with the actors, and they show a wider range of personality. With exceptions, almost all VOY characters operate within a very narrow range for each of their personalities. When they break from that, they get an episode devoted to it because it's a very big deal and so rare to see.
Looking at other ST series, I have a hard time making similar comparisons, even though there is an abundance of examples of those characters (from TNG, DS9, etc.) getting taken over by alien entities or acting way out-of-the-box. So as usual, I have to conclude that VOY's writers were once again missing out on doing more to utilize their skilled actors who had a wide range and fairly interesting characters to work with.
Are there other characters you enjoyed more when they were acting out of the norm? (Not just because it was different, but because the characters benefited from branching out...)
He's not the only one. In the episode "Warlord," Kes is taken over by an alien consciousness, and suddenly Kes is let loose from her sweet, innocent self. Ironic to say, the character here has a mind of her own and even though she's not nice to Neelix, it helps put that awkward relationship to rest shortly thereafter. I was ok with Kes prior to this, but when I saw that episode, I thought: "Man this is the Jennifer Lien I've been waiting to see!"
Tom is also way more interesting when he's rebelling and being insubordinate. The actor had a true knack for portraying that, going back to the TNG days of "The First Duty."
Could it be that some of these characters are better when they're outside the boxes the writers put them in? The examples above aren't only interesting because they're different. They're interesting because they fit better with the actors, and they show a wider range of personality. With exceptions, almost all VOY characters operate within a very narrow range for each of their personalities. When they break from that, they get an episode devoted to it because it's a very big deal and so rare to see.
Looking at other ST series, I have a hard time making similar comparisons, even though there is an abundance of examples of those characters (from TNG, DS9, etc.) getting taken over by alien entities or acting way out-of-the-box. So as usual, I have to conclude that VOY's writers were once again missing out on doing more to utilize their skilled actors who had a wide range and fairly interesting characters to work with.
Are there other characters you enjoyed more when they were acting out of the norm? (Not just because it was different, but because the characters benefited from branching out...)
