VOYAGER'S ROMANCES - An Analysis
Note: For the purposes of this analysis, as I am a straight man, I have decided to focus (for starters) on opposite-sex pairings among Voyager's ten primary crew members. If you have any thoughts, either on these pairings or other potential ones, be they featuring ancilliary crew, aliens of the week, artificial lifeforms of any sort, same-sex pairings, polyamory, aromantisism, or anything else involving consenting adults... I would be delighted to read them. And, I might add additional thoughts on assorted romances at a later date.
Prospective Couple Ratings:
Because romances are often called "ships", I have given a nautical theme to my scoring.
Diamond Dreamboat - A romance for the ages
Golden Galleon - A delightful pairing
Silver Schooner - Strong potential for lasting love
Teak Trawler - Definite glimmers of romantic potential
Rusty Rowboat - An uninspired pairing, but not totally hopeless.
Leaky Liferaft - A pairing with no reason to exist
Rotted Wreckage - A catastrophe
Janeway/Chakotay: This is the VOY shipper's Romeo and Juliet, two wonderfully matched people who couldn't be together because of tragic circumstance. These two sparkle with chemistry through seven seasons of the show, but none more strongly early on, and they make "Resolutions" a fun exploration of what could have been, and even should have been. When the episode ends, you're glad the family's back together... but a part of your heart breaks nonetheless.
Rating: Diamond Dreamboat
Janeway/Paris: This one is problematic for a lot of reasons. Maybe the age difference can be sidestepped... but Janeway was mentored by Tom's dad, which is an issue. So are their very different personalities; the principled Janeway and the pragmatic Tom clashed in "Time and Again" and "Thirty Days". Yes, Tom's actions in "Threshold" suggest a crush on his part. But it's not enough.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Janeway/Tuvok: This one was firmly locked out by Kate Mulgrew's insistence that Janeway didn't fraternize and Tim Russ's firm policy that Tuvok did not cheat on his beloved. I admire both of these. But, in an alternate universe where these rules were different, I see a potential power couple here. Tuvok's century of life experience gives him a strong personality, and he can counterbalance Janeway well. And, Janeway respects Tuvok's adherence to logic, and understands the powerful love that shines through the cracks.
Rating: Silver Schooner
Janeway/Neelix: The only thing this dubious coupling has to recommend it is that Janeway arguably could have rolled with it, since Neelix was not Starfleet. That gives it the second-lowest rating instead of the lowest. Maybe if we'd gotten the multilayered Neelix we could have had, instead of the oaf he quickly turned into, this one would have worked better.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Janeway/Kim: If you think that Lorraine Baines and Marty McFly in "Back to the Future" were a cute couple, this is the ship for you. Enough said.
Rating: Rotted Wreckage
Janeway/EMH: This one's not as bad as you would think, and it's better than many of the alternatives. Despite wearing a uniform, the EMH is not technically Starfleet, and he has served as Janeway's confidant on occasion. And, she doesn't mind getting jiggy with a hologram. Still, I don't see this one as particularly strong. It reaches the third rating mainly becase it's better than J/N or J/P.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Torres/Chakotay: There were glimmers of this one in "Persistance of Vision", and I saw real potential in it. Chakotay's soft-spoken, stabilizing influence could have helped B'Elanna deal with her temper, especially if she had been allowed to really exhibit it. See "Extreme Risk" for an example of this. If Tom had not come along, I could totally see these two going the distance.
Rating: Silver Schooner
Torres/Paris: While J/C is my personal sentimental favorite, this pairing is still a worthy flagship for Voyager. Tom's devil may care exterior coexists with a core of deep, powerful decency and humanity. He is the moon to Belanna's sun, the poet to her warrior, and they are two halves of an amazingly solid whole.
Rating: Golden Galleon
Torres/Tuvok: I don't really remember many interactions between these two. When they were together, I saw little chemistry, and no reason for these two to be anything but colleagues.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Torres/Neelix: Surprisingly, this one... it could have worked. B'Elanna's childhood had some difficult moments, and she had to deal with angst regularly. And, I could see morale master Neelix standing ready to comfort her with a lame dad joke and a plate of banana pancakes.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Torres/Kim: It's interesting that my least favorite VOY character proved the easiest to match, but I could also see a potential romance between these two young crew members. They show a fondness for each other early on, and they only score this low as a pairing because Chakotay was better choice, and Tom better still.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Torres/EMH: The interplay between these two during B'Elanna's pregnancy (especially "Lineage") makes them seen not quite hopeless as a couple... but nothing to write home to mother about.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Seven/Chakotay: I can't justify giving this one the lowest rating; it's not as bad as stinkers like Janeway/Harry. But that's like saying a sawdust omlette isn't as bad as a broken glass one. You don't want to eat either. Besides, there are better options for both these characters.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Seven/Paris: This is a hard one to figure out, because by the time Seven showed up on the show, the Tom and B'Elanna ship had set sail in a big way. But, these two seem to have had mostly friendly interactions; Tom even took Seven to Captain Proton with him on occasion. Had something happened to B'Elanna, I think that Tom might have taken an interest in Seven, though his inherent decency might have stopped him from acting on it, at least for a few years. They're an intriguing possibility, but with significant barriers.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Seven/Tuvok: Even though both of these characters have a certain disdain for the human condition (most notably those pesky emotions), Seven's arc is one of rediscovering hers, while Tuvok is comfortable with experiencing his but not being controlled by them. They are on non-intersecting and non-parallel courses, and there's no point in them trying to meet.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Seven/Neelix: Neelix is already under audience scrutiny for possibly capitalizing on his romantic partner's youthful vulnerability. Whether that is the case with Ocampa is debatable (more about that when we get to Kes). But with Seven, it would have been quite real. Let's not go there.
Rating: Rotted Wreckage
Seven/Kim: In an early Seven episode, we see a potential relationship with these two. Harry pulls the plug because he knows he would be exploiting her, and this is the right thing to do. However, we see in "Waking Moments" that his feelings remain. Had he chosen to pursue a relationship with her later in her evolution, when she had gained the life experience she needed to sustain a relationship, I think it could have worked.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Seven/EMH: This one has one very strong truth in its favor: since both individuals were evolving toward humanity, a romance between them would have not exploited either of the two. And the Doctor's feelings for her, despite being the product of a bunch of 1's and 0's crazily rearranging themselves, seemed quite real. This one might have some inherent barriers, but I still see it as Seven's strongest potential relationship.
Rating: Silver Schooner
A Note on Kes: Many, myself included, have stated that it would have been best from the viewer's perspective for Kes not to have any romance on the ship. While I stand by this, it is strictly because I understand that most viewers cannot see past the elephant-sized two-candled birthday cake in the room. However, we know from "Blood Fever" and "Revulsion" that Tom Paris and Harry Kim are both men who most assuredly do not exploit vulnerable individuals. Therefore, the fact that both of them were married to Ocampa characters in "Before and After" indicates to me that they were both entirely satisfied that Kes and Linnis were mature adults capable of making rational decisions. Therefore, all potential Kes pairings will be presented in that light, without accusation of wrongdoing.
Kes/Paris: My instinct was to put this one below B'Elanna/Paris, as I don't know that it's quite as good, but it's just better than the other Silver Schooners are. In "Before and After", Tom sold this one in a big way, when he described the life they had together. It was tragic in its brevity, but there was beauty and wonder in it as well. Loving a woman who could only return his love for a brief season was a decision and a sacrifice that Tom made, and it's clear that he never regretted it. And let's face it: for all its imperfections, that episode handled character development far better than the actual series. Including a worthy flagship romance.
Rating: Golden Galleon
Kes/Tuvok: Although he does mentor her in the use of her psychic abilities, the crazy difference in their age is a bridge too far. The only thing stopping this from being the show's most disturbing prospective pairing is the existence of Janeway/Kim.
Rating: Rotted Wreckage
Kes/Neelix: People have accused Neelix of being an exploiter and even a pedophile for his involvement with Kes. The latter accusation is patently false, and the former is uncertain because we don't know how the relationship began. However, it was clear that both of them had genuine feelings for each other. Neelix's relentless jealousy, however, seriously lowers this one's score. Kes probably deserved better.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Kes/Kim: Aside from a great portmonteau name ("Kiss"), I didn't see many sparks flying between these two. However, they're both really nice, likable people, and they're early in their life journey. If things had been different, I could have seen these two developing a very natural, sweet, organic relationship. They only fall shy of Silver Schooner status because there was no hint of romance between them.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Kes/EMH: Because the EMH is series of medical procedures held together by a few personality algorithms, he has no life experiences, so he and Kes are on a surprisingly similar starting level. Had Kes remained onboard as the Doctor evolved closer to sentience, who knows what would have happened?
Rating: Teak Trawler
Note: For the purposes of this analysis, as I am a straight man, I have decided to focus (for starters) on opposite-sex pairings among Voyager's ten primary crew members. If you have any thoughts, either on these pairings or other potential ones, be they featuring ancilliary crew, aliens of the week, artificial lifeforms of any sort, same-sex pairings, polyamory, aromantisism, or anything else involving consenting adults... I would be delighted to read them. And, I might add additional thoughts on assorted romances at a later date.
Prospective Couple Ratings:
Because romances are often called "ships", I have given a nautical theme to my scoring.
Diamond Dreamboat - A romance for the ages
Golden Galleon - A delightful pairing
Silver Schooner - Strong potential for lasting love
Teak Trawler - Definite glimmers of romantic potential
Rusty Rowboat - An uninspired pairing, but not totally hopeless.
Leaky Liferaft - A pairing with no reason to exist
Rotted Wreckage - A catastrophe
Janeway/Chakotay: This is the VOY shipper's Romeo and Juliet, two wonderfully matched people who couldn't be together because of tragic circumstance. These two sparkle with chemistry through seven seasons of the show, but none more strongly early on, and they make "Resolutions" a fun exploration of what could have been, and even should have been. When the episode ends, you're glad the family's back together... but a part of your heart breaks nonetheless.
Rating: Diamond Dreamboat
Janeway/Paris: This one is problematic for a lot of reasons. Maybe the age difference can be sidestepped... but Janeway was mentored by Tom's dad, which is an issue. So are their very different personalities; the principled Janeway and the pragmatic Tom clashed in "Time and Again" and "Thirty Days". Yes, Tom's actions in "Threshold" suggest a crush on his part. But it's not enough.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Janeway/Tuvok: This one was firmly locked out by Kate Mulgrew's insistence that Janeway didn't fraternize and Tim Russ's firm policy that Tuvok did not cheat on his beloved. I admire both of these. But, in an alternate universe where these rules were different, I see a potential power couple here. Tuvok's century of life experience gives him a strong personality, and he can counterbalance Janeway well. And, Janeway respects Tuvok's adherence to logic, and understands the powerful love that shines through the cracks.
Rating: Silver Schooner
Janeway/Neelix: The only thing this dubious coupling has to recommend it is that Janeway arguably could have rolled with it, since Neelix was not Starfleet. That gives it the second-lowest rating instead of the lowest. Maybe if we'd gotten the multilayered Neelix we could have had, instead of the oaf he quickly turned into, this one would have worked better.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Janeway/Kim: If you think that Lorraine Baines and Marty McFly in "Back to the Future" were a cute couple, this is the ship for you. Enough said.
Rating: Rotted Wreckage
Janeway/EMH: This one's not as bad as you would think, and it's better than many of the alternatives. Despite wearing a uniform, the EMH is not technically Starfleet, and he has served as Janeway's confidant on occasion. And, she doesn't mind getting jiggy with a hologram. Still, I don't see this one as particularly strong. It reaches the third rating mainly becase it's better than J/N or J/P.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Torres/Chakotay: There were glimmers of this one in "Persistance of Vision", and I saw real potential in it. Chakotay's soft-spoken, stabilizing influence could have helped B'Elanna deal with her temper, especially if she had been allowed to really exhibit it. See "Extreme Risk" for an example of this. If Tom had not come along, I could totally see these two going the distance.
Rating: Silver Schooner
Torres/Paris: While J/C is my personal sentimental favorite, this pairing is still a worthy flagship for Voyager. Tom's devil may care exterior coexists with a core of deep, powerful decency and humanity. He is the moon to Belanna's sun, the poet to her warrior, and they are two halves of an amazingly solid whole.
Rating: Golden Galleon
Torres/Tuvok: I don't really remember many interactions between these two. When they were together, I saw little chemistry, and no reason for these two to be anything but colleagues.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Torres/Neelix: Surprisingly, this one... it could have worked. B'Elanna's childhood had some difficult moments, and she had to deal with angst regularly. And, I could see morale master Neelix standing ready to comfort her with a lame dad joke and a plate of banana pancakes.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Torres/Kim: It's interesting that my least favorite VOY character proved the easiest to match, but I could also see a potential romance between these two young crew members. They show a fondness for each other early on, and they only score this low as a pairing because Chakotay was better choice, and Tom better still.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Torres/EMH: The interplay between these two during B'Elanna's pregnancy (especially "Lineage") makes them seen not quite hopeless as a couple... but nothing to write home to mother about.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Seven/Chakotay: I can't justify giving this one the lowest rating; it's not as bad as stinkers like Janeway/Harry. But that's like saying a sawdust omlette isn't as bad as a broken glass one. You don't want to eat either. Besides, there are better options for both these characters.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Seven/Paris: This is a hard one to figure out, because by the time Seven showed up on the show, the Tom and B'Elanna ship had set sail in a big way. But, these two seem to have had mostly friendly interactions; Tom even took Seven to Captain Proton with him on occasion. Had something happened to B'Elanna, I think that Tom might have taken an interest in Seven, though his inherent decency might have stopped him from acting on it, at least for a few years. They're an intriguing possibility, but with significant barriers.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Seven/Tuvok: Even though both of these characters have a certain disdain for the human condition (most notably those pesky emotions), Seven's arc is one of rediscovering hers, while Tuvok is comfortable with experiencing his but not being controlled by them. They are on non-intersecting and non-parallel courses, and there's no point in them trying to meet.
Rating: Leaky Liferaft
Seven/Neelix: Neelix is already under audience scrutiny for possibly capitalizing on his romantic partner's youthful vulnerability. Whether that is the case with Ocampa is debatable (more about that when we get to Kes). But with Seven, it would have been quite real. Let's not go there.
Rating: Rotted Wreckage
Seven/Kim: In an early Seven episode, we see a potential relationship with these two. Harry pulls the plug because he knows he would be exploiting her, and this is the right thing to do. However, we see in "Waking Moments" that his feelings remain. Had he chosen to pursue a relationship with her later in her evolution, when she had gained the life experience she needed to sustain a relationship, I think it could have worked.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Seven/EMH: This one has one very strong truth in its favor: since both individuals were evolving toward humanity, a romance between them would have not exploited either of the two. And the Doctor's feelings for her, despite being the product of a bunch of 1's and 0's crazily rearranging themselves, seemed quite real. This one might have some inherent barriers, but I still see it as Seven's strongest potential relationship.
Rating: Silver Schooner
A Note on Kes: Many, myself included, have stated that it would have been best from the viewer's perspective for Kes not to have any romance on the ship. While I stand by this, it is strictly because I understand that most viewers cannot see past the elephant-sized two-candled birthday cake in the room. However, we know from "Blood Fever" and "Revulsion" that Tom Paris and Harry Kim are both men who most assuredly do not exploit vulnerable individuals. Therefore, the fact that both of them were married to Ocampa characters in "Before and After" indicates to me that they were both entirely satisfied that Kes and Linnis were mature adults capable of making rational decisions. Therefore, all potential Kes pairings will be presented in that light, without accusation of wrongdoing.
Kes/Paris: My instinct was to put this one below B'Elanna/Paris, as I don't know that it's quite as good, but it's just better than the other Silver Schooners are. In "Before and After", Tom sold this one in a big way, when he described the life they had together. It was tragic in its brevity, but there was beauty and wonder in it as well. Loving a woman who could only return his love for a brief season was a decision and a sacrifice that Tom made, and it's clear that he never regretted it. And let's face it: for all its imperfections, that episode handled character development far better than the actual series. Including a worthy flagship romance.
Rating: Golden Galleon
Kes/Tuvok: Although he does mentor her in the use of her psychic abilities, the crazy difference in their age is a bridge too far. The only thing stopping this from being the show's most disturbing prospective pairing is the existence of Janeway/Kim.
Rating: Rotted Wreckage
Kes/Neelix: People have accused Neelix of being an exploiter and even a pedophile for his involvement with Kes. The latter accusation is patently false, and the former is uncertain because we don't know how the relationship began. However, it was clear that both of them had genuine feelings for each other. Neelix's relentless jealousy, however, seriously lowers this one's score. Kes probably deserved better.
Rating: Rusty Rowboat
Kes/Kim: Aside from a great portmonteau name ("Kiss"), I didn't see many sparks flying between these two. However, they're both really nice, likable people, and they're early in their life journey. If things had been different, I could have seen these two developing a very natural, sweet, organic relationship. They only fall shy of Silver Schooner status because there was no hint of romance between them.
Rating: Teak Trawler
Kes/EMH: Because the EMH is series of medical procedures held together by a few personality algorithms, he has no life experiences, so he and Kes are on a surprisingly similar starting level. Had Kes remained onboard as the Doctor evolved closer to sentience, who knows what would have happened?
Rating: Teak Trawler
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