How to resolve 6 Voyager Inconsistencies in 85 seconds

[Farscape One]

Ideally, a mutiny should happen at the same time the Kazon launch that attack during "Basics" and the mutineers were working with the Kazon towards this.

Once they've helped them, the Kazon execute nearly all the Mutineers because they figure "Once a traitor, always a traitor" and just dump the regular crew on that planet.

Thus, it's all neatly wrapped up that the Mutineers were all killed and those who survived saw what happened and decided it wasn't worth not working together anymore. Thus that plotline can be safely terminated.

The Kazon are not that smart. They would have just either killed them all or left them all on the planet like they did.

Actually, I'm surprised some of the crew weren't pissed enough with Janeway in "BASICS" that they would have gone on their own or tried to get rid of the senior officers. Because the decision to go for what they thought was Chakotay's son put them in an even worse position than ever before.

 

[Oddish]

If they wanted to dispose of a few mutineers, the scenario described in "Basics" would have worked, and a pretext for the death of the mutineers could have been created. However, Planet 37's would have also been an acceptable method.

 

[Richard Baker]

The Kazon were designed after urban street gangs. Not much strategy, more opportunistic reactive groups in conflict with each other and led by the strongest.
I never cared much for them, like TNG intro to the Ferengi they were protagonists whivh sounded nice on paper but never worked well on screen IMO.

 

[Oddish]

The Kazon were designed after urban street gangs. Not much strategy, more opportunistic reactive groups in conflict with each other and led by the strongest.
I never cared much for them, like TNG intro to the Ferengi they were protagonists whivh sounded nice on paper but never worked well on screen IMO.

The Kazon had a lot wrong with them. But sadly, I don't think they could have been fixed with seconds of dialogue, like the problems I resolved earlier.

 

[Lynx]

The Kazon had a lot wrong with them. But sadly, I don't think they could have been fixed with seconds of dialogue, like the problems I resolved earlier.

I actually like the Kazon and don't understand the cirticizm.

They were interesting and good enemies and the pair of Culluh and Seska were great villains, actually among my all-time favorite villains of Star Trek.

The scenario with those sects fighting one another was actually realistic and has happened in our "Gray Universe" too when colonial empires have fallen or dictators being overthrown but instead of liberty and democracy there have been infighting between rival groups for power.

Iraq is a good exampöe of that, instead of freedom and democracy ander Saddam Hussein was overthrown, there were fighting between different warlords.

 

[fireproof78]

The Kazon had a lot wrong with them. But sadly, I don't think they could have been fixed with seconds of dialogue, like the problems I resolved earlier.

Yeah. I remember being excited for them. But, they needed some more flesh on the different tribes. Also, the whole Seska Cullah child thing just was creepy.

 

[Oddish]

The episode with Aron Eisenberg showed that they could have actually taken the Kazon somewhere.

 

[johnnybear]

The Kazon, that stony protuberance on their heads, was it part of their cranium or was it a helmet or head covering of some kind? I'm thinking it was like the Klingon ridges but never been too sure to be honest.
JB

 

[Richard Baker]

I never could figure out if those dried pig's ears mixed in with their hair were part of them, their hair or a decoration. Every Kazon had it, despite which gang/sect/whatever or where they were located.

 

[Oddish]

The Kazon, that stony protuberance on their heads, was it part of their cranium or was it a helmet or head covering of some kind? I'm thinking it was like the Klingon ridges but never been too sure to be honest.

Looks like something similar to Klingon brow ridges to me.

 

[johnnybear]

That or a stone adornment for their heads? Heavy enough to make them keep upright and proud perhaps?
JB

 

[Farscape One]

That or a stone adornment for their heads? Heavy enough to make them keep upright and proud perhaps?
JB

(singing)
Big hair keep on flowin'
Proud Maje keep on burnin'...

 

[FoxMcTasche]

Why don't we try the inconsistencies of the entire franchise - from TOS to the recent Paramount Plus offerings and save this discussion for the General Trek Discussion thread?

I literally watched elogium twice in succession to try and get my head around the constant inconsistencies in the different speeds quoted by the different officers. Chakotay says the alien fish pig looking things are travelling around 3000 KM/second so to catch up they increase voyagers speed to 6000 KM/seconds then after all the drama with mac daddy flirty fish pig Paris then says 300 KPH from the impulse engines should be enough to get away…. You could go faster than that in a bloody VW

 

[Anwar]

The Kazon are not that smart. They would have just either killed them all or left them all on the planet like they did.

Actually, I'm surprised some of the crew weren't pissed enough with Janeway in "BASICS" that they would have gone on their own or tried to get rid of the senior officers. Because the decision to go for what they thought was Chakotay's son put them in an even worse position than ever before.

I'm just offering a potential solution to terminate the Mutineer plot in one fell swoop so they could move onto another plot.

As for the second thing, that sounds more like the Maquis wanting to rebel against Chakotay more than Janeway.

 

[Farscape One]

But Janeway, being the captain, was the one who led them to that.

 

[Oddish]

It's because Janeway has cult leader level allegiance from the rest of the crew. Consider...
"State of Flux". Seska recognizes that Janeway is leading the crew to destruction, and is frustrated that no one else gets this.
"Alliances". Several other crew members recognize what Seska figured out a year earlier... but Janeway makes an inspiring statement so it's all Ok now.
The 37's. The crew have the option of leaving Voyager's suicide mission to settle down in a safe place. None of them do. Not one. Not even the Maquis.
Resolutions: Janeway orders the crew to leave her behind for their own safety. They don't do it. Not even Tuvok is really committed; note that he neither puts on a red uniform nor fills out the command structure (chooses a first officer, for instance).
Scorpion: No one chucks Janeway out the airlock when she suggests allying with the frickin' BORG!

Let's face it. If she had told them to do a nude swan dive into a giant boiling pot of clam chowder, most of them would have probably started stripping then and there.

 

[Lynx]

Yeah. I remember being excited for them. But, they needed some more flesh on the different tribes. Also, the whole Seska Cullah child thing just was creepy.

Seska and Culluh were two of the best villains Star Trek ever had.
I enjoyed every episode with them!

 

[fireproof78]

Seska and Culluh were two of the best villains Star Trek ever had.
I enjoyed every episode with them!

Creepy is usually a good villain trait.

 

[Oddish]

Seska is, in "State of Flux" anyway, the epitome of the pragmatic approach: the outcome driven way of doing things. If giving the Kazon a replicator will facilitate getting Voyager home, then give them a replicator already.

Janeway, by contrast, is an example of the idealistic approach. Starfleet has principals, and we will uphold said principles even if it kills us all. Which would have been fine if she'd been like that every episode.

 

[Dee1891]

HOW TO FIX HALF A DOZEN VOYAGER INCONSISTENCIES IN 85 SECONDS OF DIALOGUE

It should be noted that this topic is limited strictly to "band-aid" solutions, or inconsistencies that could be easily and painlessly cleared up. It doesn't solve all of Voyager's issues, or it's worst. Note also that I do enjoy Voyager. I consider it a good show despite its weaknesses. I am simply frustrated that the writers didn't address issues that could have been dealt with so easily.

Dialogue in plaintext is from the script, as seen at Chakoteya.net. Dialogue in boldface was written by me. It took me 84.9 seconds to rattle it all off, in my best approximation of the actors' cadences. Your results may vary.

Glitch #1: More than 38 Torpedoes

It's stated early on in the series that Voyager has only 38 photon torpedoes, and "no way to replace them once they're gone". It scrupulously respects this limit for the first four seasons, firing only about 35 photons in the first four seasons. However, they completely ignore said limit in the last three seasons, and with no explanation whatsoever. By the end of the series, about 90 torpedoes have been fired.


Glitch #2: Unlimited Shuttles

Being a shuttlecraft on Voyager is like wearing a red shirt in the Original Series; the things regularly crash on planets or explode or disappear into wormholes... and yet Voyager somehow always seems to have more of them. Watching shuttles leave the ship is like watching clowns in a circus, climbing out of a mini-car. To top it all off, in "Alice", Chakotay tells Tom that Voyager has a "full complement of shuttles" onboard... despite the fact that she's lost more than a dozen at that point!


Glitch #3: Harry's Rank

Harry Kim was a model officer who had a reputation for not breaking the rules, and who (in Janeway's words) had exceeded all of her expectations. Given Janeway's willingness to dole out field commissions and promotions, he should have been sporting JG's pips in three years at most, and full LT's insignia in six. Keeping him at ensign is not Voyager's most hated decision, but it seems to be among the most universally hated: nearly all commentators have denounced it, and expressed contempt for the writers responsible. And, there is no rational argument defending it.


EPISODE: "Night"


CHAKOTAY (continuing log): "We're using power cells to stockpile deuterium. The new industrial replicator that we were able to trade for is functioning well. I have directed Lieutenant Torres to assign top priority to replenishing our nearly depleted supply of torpedoes. I have also assigned Harry Kim to overseeing the new shuttle construction team. This additional responsibility has come with a long overdue promotion."


[Briefing room]


TORRES: "This won't be much of a briefing. There's nothing new to report."


CHAKOTAY: "Humor me."


TORRES: "All right, let's see. Warp core's at peak efficiency, just like last week, and the week before that. And my engineering staff is going stir crazy."


CHAKOTAY: "Thanks. Lieutenant Kim?"



KIM: "We have two Class II shuttles ready for service now, and a third should be finished by the end of the week."



CHAKOTAY: "Outstanding work." (to Tuvok) "Anything new on sensors?"




Glitch #4: Voyager is now a Shipyard


At the start of the journey, it was a problem for Captain Janeway to even ask the replicators to produce a cup of joe. That is to say, it can't produce eight ounces of an organic suspension that is 94% water (which the ship presumably recycles rather than creates). But by the start of Year 5, the crew was able to build a 21-meter long shuttlecraft capable of reaching warp 7, pretty much from scratch. A ship, I might add, vastly superior to what the shipyards at Starfleet itself typically produced. Imagine if your high school, which previously couldn't even put out a decent school lunch in your freshman year, suddenly started knocking out brand-new school buses in its automotive shop by the time you graduated... and it did this with a zero-dollar budget increase.


EPISODE: "Extreme Risk"


JANEWAY: "I'm impressed, but how quickly can it be built?"


PARIS: "The new industrial replicator's already been preset to produce the necessary alloys, and programming the design elements should be a piece of cake. If we worked around the clock..."




Glitch #5: Voyager's Top Speed


It's stated that Voyager has a top "sustainable" speed of Warp 9.975, or about 5000c. If she could sustain such a velocity, her trip home would only require 14 years, instead of the stated 70. A vehicle's cruising speed should not be so small a percentage of its maximum... if a typical car can hit 120 mph, it should be able to cruise at around 60 indefinitely, as long as it refuels on the fly. Strangely, however, the ship is often seen dawdling along at warp 6, which is 392c. At this speed, she would need 175 years to cover 70,000 light years.


EPISODE: "Caretaker"


STADI: "That's our ship. That's Voyager." (show ship) "Interpid class. Fifteen decks, crew complement of 141."


PARIS: "Those look like retractable nacelles."



STADI: "That's right. With its variable geometry warp field, Voyager has a standard cruise velocity of warp eight. Most ships only cruise at warp six."



PARIS: "Top speed?"



STADI: "It can sustain warp 9.75 for up to twelve hours. And bioneural circuitry."




Glitch #6: Voyager's Self-Destruct


We see in several episodes that it's possible for any person, including Captain Janeway, to fall under alien influence and become mentally unstable ("Scientific Method" is an example). Ergo, it's highly dangerous for one person to be able to set off the ship's self-destruct sequence (destroying billions of credits worth of Starfleet property and possibly over a hundred crew) alone. All other ships require at least two people to authorize the sequence, and some even require three.


Because Tuvok is dead in "Deadlock" and Chakotay is gone in "Dreadnought", I have decided to allow either of Janeway's main subordinates to provide the second authorization. No changes were deemed necessary for aborting the sequence. It's a reasonable assumption that while blasting Voyager to space dust should require two command-level people to agree, saving it should only need one.



EPISODE: Deadlock


JANEWAY: "Harry, you have five minutes. Get the baby." (Harry tries to protest) "Move it, ensign! That's an order!" (Harry scampers) "Computer, initiate the self-destruct sequence. Authorization Janeway pi one one zero."


COMPUTER: "Acknowledged. Additional command authorization required."



CHAKOTAY: "Computer, confirm self-destruct. Authorization Chakotay gamma three four seven."



COMPUTER: "Self-destruct sequence initiated. Indicate time interval."


JANEWAY: "Set for five minutes and mute voice warnings. Enable."



EPISODE: Dreadnought


JANEWAY: "Computer, initiate the self-destruct sequence. Authorization Janeway pi one one zero."


COMPUTER: "Acknowledged. Additional command authorization required."



TUVOK: "Computer, confirm self-destruct. Authorization Tuvok zeta six four two."



COMPUTER: "Self-destruct sequence initiated. Indicate time interval."


JANEWAY: "Set for twenty minutes. Enable."


Any thoughts from you on what I might have missed?

How do you solve the inconsistencies of the other Trek shows and movies?