Hello, my name is Jimmy Bob. Just recently I started to watch Voyager for the first time. Right now I'm just about to end with the Kes period, and so I thought that before I go on with Scorpion I would write this post and share first-timer's impressions of Voyager. It's a bit long, but I hope you people will find it interesting.
Voyager is my third/fourth Trek series. My two previous where ToS and TNG and I watch Voyager together with Enterprise. What separates Voyager for me personally, is that I fell in love with it the very first time when Kate Mulgrew said: "I'm Kathryn Janeway." I was sold. No other show made me feel that way. I just really wanted to watch Voyager. And after 3 seasons? I still feel that way, but there have been times when I have been less enthusiastic about the series. But right now, I'm on a roll and can't stop.
Voyager's first season:
Good God, I never realized how bad Kes's hair was in the first season.
When it comes to first season as a thematic unity that carries it's own spirit - well there was no first season. At least I didn't feel it. I feel as the first and the second season belong together. I didn't get enough feel of the character's in the first season - it was only in the end of the second season in where I started to "feel" the characters. So to me, first season without the second is unfinished. But even so, my opinion on some of the characters changed with season 2.
What Jimmy Bob think of each character after the first season?
1) Janeway - she is cute when she smiles. I like her voice. But as a character? I really don't "feel" Janeway as a character yet. I will elaborate later.
2) Chakotay - OMG!! Star Trek really is about diversity - yeah more indian's on tv shows that people actually watch. Break those stereotypes and prejudices. Pilot: he's cool. Post-pilot: animal guides
. But there's potential for awesomeness. I really want to like this guy.
3) B'elanna - to be honest, I never gave much thought for B'elanna. I guess I wasn't interested in her premise. But Roxanne was very engaging performer, and somewhere I realized that how involved I was in B'elanna stories.
4) Tuvok - I find Tuvok to be very boring.
5) Neelix - I find Neelix to be somewhat likeable. Jetrel made me really go "Wow!" over him.
6) Kim - He's sort of there - in the background.
7) Kes - I really really like Kes.
8) Doctor - I really really love Doctor.
9) Tom Paris - he's really fun.
Voyager's second season - as I said before, I feel as first and second season belong together. Somewhat, because in hindsight there are elements of third season in second season. The first and second season create this world - Vidiians, Kazon, Seska, character's and their relationships - and then Investigations happen. Investigations is a sort of 3rd season episode in 2nd season - a non-serious approach that tries to be fun after-school special.
Kazons - I liked Kazons. During the Kazon arc I was really involved in the storyline and the Kazon culture. I didn't find them to be like Klingons at all - I never managed to take Klingon's completely seriously, because they all growl and inhale more than they exhale and act like they have something stuck in their ass (the only Klingon I liked was Suzie Plakson) - but with Kazon I could connect. I'm a history major, so I immediately connected the Kazon with the early medieval kings, so I viewed them as a sort of illustration to that. I'd say it was mostly Anthony de Longis performance and the episode Alliance that sold the Kazon to me.
Seska - I loved Seska. I really really loved Seska. She was more of a character than some of the regular's. She was a real woman. She was the woman. She was the embodiment of all those powerful women in history - her relationship with Cullah, was to me a wonderful illustration of how women had to do it in male-based societies and times where woman was something that you rape at will. Agrippina is an historical Seska-like figure - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippina_the_Younger.
But Voyager writers screwed up somewhat with Seska. For example, I would have Seska actually sleep with Chakotay in Maneuvers, and I would have Chakotay kept the baby. But I felt the pain of Cullah when Seska was dead. With that kind of a woman beside you, everything is possible. Those days where now over for him. I think he really loved Seska. As did I. And I would have Chakotay be more "hurt" by Seska's death too. Which reminds me.
Seska and Chakotay - the thing I've noticed about Chakotay is that.. I don't really know how to say this brief so I try to illustrate. In States of Flux, Chakotay clearly has a bond with Seska. But after that Seska betrayal which really didn't hurt anyone, Chakotay was all "Seska bad, Seska so bad." This really annoyed me. I would have had Chakotay not really jump the "Seska bad, Seska so bad" bandwagon. So in essence this thing about Chakotay is that he has some experiences which should make him see the world more widely, but after those experiences he is happy to jump into some narrow worldview bandwagon.
What did Jimmy Bob think of the character's after second season?
1) Janeway - there is no Janeway. It's like the script and the actress portray two different Janeway's. That thing with that 19th century romance novel - that didn't feel like the Janeway that Kate Mulgrew did. It felt not real. The animal guide Janeway didn't feel Kate Mulgrew's Janeway. It felt fake, forced. Janeway's supposed to be a scientist - that doesn't feel right too. The only thing's I felt Mulgrew adopted from the script into her Janeway:
a)Janeway likes crazy stuff - the cutest smile she does, when space anomalies happen all around her.
b)Janeway is an overworker - she puts her goals before her (and before others) - she would rather torture herself and Chakotay by being so focused on escaping the planet rather than spending all those four months having wild sex beyond imagination.
c)She works hard to maintain authority, authority doesn't come naturally to her. As long as you accept her authority, everything is going to be fine. Question that - you'll get punished. If you regret - you will get hugged and pampered, she will tuck you in and you'll get an extra cake. If you don't - then you have made enemies for life. You have to love her, or else - you know, Janeway is kinda like the christian God in that way.
In second season, there was a moment where I felt what Mulgrew's Janeway was about - in Parturition: "Deal with it!" and a wave of hand. That to me felt real.
2) Chakotay - by the end of second season Chakotay... I really don't know. In the beginning I visioned Chakotay as - B'elanna's dreams in Persistence of Vision and that punch in Learning Curve - something like that. He seemed to have an edge and passion beneath that calm exterior. That edge just comes and goes now. And see Chakotay&Seska.
3) B'Elanna - it was in second season where I discovered how much I loved B'Elanna, Roxanne and episodes focusing on her. I really enjoyed Prototype and Dreadnought because of her.
4) Doctor – Doctor is one of the few character's I'm most engaged in. I root for him. And it's about somewhere after Projections that I realize that the Doctor&Kes match is one of the better matches in the series.
5) Kes - I like Kes, and I like it when they give her something to do. I enjoyed Cold Fire because of the Kes scenes. But there was a slight disappointment in the end, that they didn't gave her that much to do and there really is just one more season of her. Also Kes&Neelix - it's fake, feels forced, doesn't work. They should have given her more scenes with Tom Paris.
6) Neelix - I hate Neelix
.
7) Tom Paris - he's likeable. Easy going and easy to watch. There was a moment where I thought I had a deeper understanding of him, but Investigations ruined that. And so he was just that - easy going and easy to watch.
8) Harry Kim - during the time when I thought I understood Tom Paris on a deeper level - slightly rejected by everyone - I really appreciated that Harry Kim wanted to be his friend. I thought there might be something in Harry too - they really became friends just because Paris said "Hi!" to Kim. But then - Tom became just an easy going and easy to watch guy and Harry just a friend to easy going and easy to watch guy. They were all part of the family, and they were friends in a friendly environment, rather than friends in an hostile environment (like in the beginning). Kim is also a shy awkard rookie most of the time, but in Resolutions he showed some backbone when he defied Tuvok.
9) Tuvok - and this is where second season surprised me. A character I found to be boring in season 1 suddenly became my favorite character. Whenever I see Tuvok, I now see a raging sociopath beneath that Vulcan exterior. Well not really - I see a lot of things. I guess that's the thing with Vulcans - at first you see nothing but after a while you see a whole range of emotions and personality quirks. I think Tim Russ deserves credit here. Those emotions and personality quirks I see in Tuvok can't be just my imagination.
Third season: *sigh* There are some very good individual episodes that in fact are the best that Voyager has had to offer so far. And some of those episodes really grow the characters – even if just in viewers eyes – into greatness. Before and After was really Kes's crowning moment of awesomeness – and also Jennifer Lien's. It was just in Before and After, in where I started to see that what a performer Lien really is. Pity that Lien pretty much ended her career around that time – though even now Lien is younger than Mulgrew was when she started to play Janeway. There's also an ongoing Paris and B'Elanna romance that started in the beginning (in Swarm) and I really like it. And some episodes even actually create a living breathing universe out of DQ. But as a whole – season 3 sucks. There is no theme. I'm not talking about arc's here. I'm talking about the theme. No direction. It's so...random. There's no sense of true epicness in season 3.
1) Janeway – as I understand Sacred Ground was a season 2 episode? It was also the episode where Janeway felt wrong. Mulgrew has a different Janeway, and that Janeway was more... I don't really know, but in season 3 Janeway pretty much felt right most of the time. To be honest, Janeway is not the first captain whom I can't get the exact feel of that what is she/he all about as a character. The first captain like that for me was Picard– for example Picard's love for Shakespeare, Meville and other literary classics just felt not real for me. In fact, I pretty much don't know who Picard is. But with Picard I didn't care that much either, because I was actually taking notes on leadership – that was what Stewart was good about – portraying a believable and effective leader with idealistic worldview.
So if I was to characterize Janeway,hmm... a cute quirky woman, who overworks at the expense of everyone, doesn't create authority naturally but fights to create it, loves absurd situations, doesn't back down ever. That's about it. Also, I love the season 3 hairstyle.
2) Chakotay – Chakotay had some fun this season: a little action in Future's End, a little fun with the borg girl in Unity, a little leadership moment in B&A, a little sexy rebel stuff in Worst Case and a little meaningful speech in Distant Origin. That's about it. As a character he pretty much doesn't exist. But I will try to characterize him.... hmm. I noticed that in Worst Case and in B&A, when he takes control, he acts or leads in the same way. So there is a leader in him. And that leader is quite tough. But why is that leader part so absent most of the time? That I don't know yet.
3) Tuvok – Tuvok is now one of my favorite character's, but not the most favorite anymore. I also enjoyed the Tuvok-Neelix relationship.
4) Kes – the actor get's some fun in Warlord, but the character really shows her promise in B&A. Sad really, they just completed a character and then they write her out, while some character's haven't even gotten out of basic traits phase. She just about came the Kes in season 3 – whenever I look Kes now in earlier episodes, I see Kes of B&A – such a pity. At least she got to see Earth, that's quite a lot for one Ocampa. I hated the catsuit but I loved the new hair.
5) Doctor – after three seasons I've come to a conclusion that the Doctor is the real Maquis in Voyager. Think about it – everyone else abides to status quo, but it's the Doctor who sees (mostly just because he has to) things from a different perspective. It was the doctor who protested against Tuvix's murder for example. He provides the other view. Though most of the time, he is just a comic relief, but a comic relief that actually works, unlike Neelix.
6) Neelix – I don't hate him anymore. For one thing, that awful Kes&Neelix thing was put out of it's misery. Secondly – Fair Trade. Thirdly – I like the Tuvok&Neelix banter. But he is still... the end of Worst Case - that was just too much like them old tv show endings where someone does someting stupid and then everyone laughs and someone says: "Here we go again."
7) Tom Paris – Tom is the same Tom he has been ever since Investigations. Easy going and easy to watch character. Now he flirts with a klingon girl. The relationship works but that's all there is to the character. He is fun, and when the script requires, also noble.
8) B'Elanna – B'Elanna flirts. I'm sorry but there just isn't that much going on with the character. That sort of scared fragile B'Elanna of season 1&2 was gone most of the time, only to appear for awhile in Displaced.
9) Kim - There was something about Kim in the first seasons. Something – and this something was in Chute too. Chute was a very good episode for Kim, it tested the friendship between him and Tom – a friendship that didn't feel significant anymore when Tom suddenly became so accepted overnight. Other than that? Garret Wang's facial features are attractive but his character isn't. I'm tired of this shy awkard rookie.
Conclusion: I love Voyager. I loved it from the first moment. Why? Honestly, I don't know. But I'm on a roll, and I can't wait to finish this and go on with Scorpion. I've heard some good things about it
.
Jimmy Bob has now ended his rant. Thank you for reading.
Voyager is my third/fourth Trek series. My two previous where ToS and TNG and I watch Voyager together with Enterprise. What separates Voyager for me personally, is that I fell in love with it the very first time when Kate Mulgrew said: "I'm Kathryn Janeway." I was sold. No other show made me feel that way. I just really wanted to watch Voyager. And after 3 seasons? I still feel that way, but there have been times when I have been less enthusiastic about the series. But right now, I'm on a roll and can't stop.
Voyager's first season:
Good God, I never realized how bad Kes's hair was in the first season.
When it comes to first season as a thematic unity that carries it's own spirit - well there was no first season. At least I didn't feel it. I feel as the first and the second season belong together. I didn't get enough feel of the character's in the first season - it was only in the end of the second season in where I started to "feel" the characters. So to me, first season without the second is unfinished. But even so, my opinion on some of the characters changed with season 2.
What Jimmy Bob think of each character after the first season?
1) Janeway - she is cute when she smiles. I like her voice. But as a character? I really don't "feel" Janeway as a character yet. I will elaborate later.
2) Chakotay - OMG!! Star Trek really is about diversity - yeah more indian's on tv shows that people actually watch. Break those stereotypes and prejudices. Pilot: he's cool. Post-pilot: animal guides
. But there's potential for awesomeness. I really want to like this guy.3) B'elanna - to be honest, I never gave much thought for B'elanna. I guess I wasn't interested in her premise. But Roxanne was very engaging performer, and somewhere I realized that how involved I was in B'elanna stories.
4) Tuvok - I find Tuvok to be very boring.
5) Neelix - I find Neelix to be somewhat likeable. Jetrel made me really go "Wow!" over him.
6) Kim - He's sort of there - in the background.
7) Kes - I really really like Kes.
8) Doctor - I really really love Doctor.
9) Tom Paris - he's really fun.
Voyager's second season - as I said before, I feel as first and second season belong together. Somewhat, because in hindsight there are elements of third season in second season. The first and second season create this world - Vidiians, Kazon, Seska, character's and their relationships - and then Investigations happen. Investigations is a sort of 3rd season episode in 2nd season - a non-serious approach that tries to be fun after-school special.
Kazons - I liked Kazons. During the Kazon arc I was really involved in the storyline and the Kazon culture. I didn't find them to be like Klingons at all - I never managed to take Klingon's completely seriously, because they all growl and inhale more than they exhale and act like they have something stuck in their ass (the only Klingon I liked was Suzie Plakson) - but with Kazon I could connect. I'm a history major, so I immediately connected the Kazon with the early medieval kings, so I viewed them as a sort of illustration to that. I'd say it was mostly Anthony de Longis performance and the episode Alliance that sold the Kazon to me.
Seska - I loved Seska. I really really loved Seska. She was more of a character than some of the regular's. She was a real woman. She was the woman. She was the embodiment of all those powerful women in history - her relationship with Cullah, was to me a wonderful illustration of how women had to do it in male-based societies and times where woman was something that you rape at will. Agrippina is an historical Seska-like figure - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippina_the_Younger.
But Voyager writers screwed up somewhat with Seska. For example, I would have Seska actually sleep with Chakotay in Maneuvers, and I would have Chakotay kept the baby. But I felt the pain of Cullah when Seska was dead. With that kind of a woman beside you, everything is possible. Those days where now over for him. I think he really loved Seska. As did I. And I would have Chakotay be more "hurt" by Seska's death too. Which reminds me.
Seska and Chakotay - the thing I've noticed about Chakotay is that.. I don't really know how to say this brief so I try to illustrate. In States of Flux, Chakotay clearly has a bond with Seska. But after that Seska betrayal which really didn't hurt anyone, Chakotay was all "Seska bad, Seska so bad." This really annoyed me. I would have had Chakotay not really jump the "Seska bad, Seska so bad" bandwagon. So in essence this thing about Chakotay is that he has some experiences which should make him see the world more widely, but after those experiences he is happy to jump into some narrow worldview bandwagon.
What did Jimmy Bob think of the character's after second season?
1) Janeway - there is no Janeway. It's like the script and the actress portray two different Janeway's. That thing with that 19th century romance novel - that didn't feel like the Janeway that Kate Mulgrew did. It felt not real. The animal guide Janeway didn't feel Kate Mulgrew's Janeway. It felt fake, forced. Janeway's supposed to be a scientist - that doesn't feel right too. The only thing's I felt Mulgrew adopted from the script into her Janeway:
a)Janeway likes crazy stuff - the cutest smile she does, when space anomalies happen all around her.
b)Janeway is an overworker - she puts her goals before her (and before others) - she would rather torture herself and Chakotay by being so focused on escaping the planet rather than spending all those four months having wild sex beyond imagination.
c)She works hard to maintain authority, authority doesn't come naturally to her. As long as you accept her authority, everything is going to be fine. Question that - you'll get punished. If you regret - you will get hugged and pampered, she will tuck you in and you'll get an extra cake. If you don't - then you have made enemies for life. You have to love her, or else - you know, Janeway is kinda like the christian God in that way.
In second season, there was a moment where I felt what Mulgrew's Janeway was about - in Parturition: "Deal with it!" and a wave of hand. That to me felt real.
2) Chakotay - by the end of second season Chakotay... I really don't know. In the beginning I visioned Chakotay as - B'elanna's dreams in Persistence of Vision and that punch in Learning Curve - something like that. He seemed to have an edge and passion beneath that calm exterior. That edge just comes and goes now. And see Chakotay&Seska.
3) B'Elanna - it was in second season where I discovered how much I loved B'Elanna, Roxanne and episodes focusing on her. I really enjoyed Prototype and Dreadnought because of her.
4) Doctor – Doctor is one of the few character's I'm most engaged in. I root for him. And it's about somewhere after Projections that I realize that the Doctor&Kes match is one of the better matches in the series.
5) Kes - I like Kes, and I like it when they give her something to do. I enjoyed Cold Fire because of the Kes scenes. But there was a slight disappointment in the end, that they didn't gave her that much to do and there really is just one more season of her. Also Kes&Neelix - it's fake, feels forced, doesn't work. They should have given her more scenes with Tom Paris.
6) Neelix - I hate Neelix
. 7) Tom Paris - he's likeable. Easy going and easy to watch. There was a moment where I thought I had a deeper understanding of him, but Investigations ruined that. And so he was just that - easy going and easy to watch.
8) Harry Kim - during the time when I thought I understood Tom Paris on a deeper level - slightly rejected by everyone - I really appreciated that Harry Kim wanted to be his friend. I thought there might be something in Harry too - they really became friends just because Paris said "Hi!" to Kim. But then - Tom became just an easy going and easy to watch guy and Harry just a friend to easy going and easy to watch guy. They were all part of the family, and they were friends in a friendly environment, rather than friends in an hostile environment (like in the beginning). Kim is also a shy awkard rookie most of the time, but in Resolutions he showed some backbone when he defied Tuvok.
9) Tuvok - and this is where second season surprised me. A character I found to be boring in season 1 suddenly became my favorite character. Whenever I see Tuvok, I now see a raging sociopath beneath that Vulcan exterior. Well not really - I see a lot of things. I guess that's the thing with Vulcans - at first you see nothing but after a while you see a whole range of emotions and personality quirks. I think Tim Russ deserves credit here. Those emotions and personality quirks I see in Tuvok can't be just my imagination.
Third season: *sigh* There are some very good individual episodes that in fact are the best that Voyager has had to offer so far. And some of those episodes really grow the characters – even if just in viewers eyes – into greatness. Before and After was really Kes's crowning moment of awesomeness – and also Jennifer Lien's. It was just in Before and After, in where I started to see that what a performer Lien really is. Pity that Lien pretty much ended her career around that time – though even now Lien is younger than Mulgrew was when she started to play Janeway. There's also an ongoing Paris and B'Elanna romance that started in the beginning (in Swarm) and I really like it. And some episodes even actually create a living breathing universe out of DQ. But as a whole – season 3 sucks. There is no theme. I'm not talking about arc's here. I'm talking about the theme. No direction. It's so...random. There's no sense of true epicness in season 3.
1) Janeway – as I understand Sacred Ground was a season 2 episode? It was also the episode where Janeway felt wrong. Mulgrew has a different Janeway, and that Janeway was more... I don't really know, but in season 3 Janeway pretty much felt right most of the time. To be honest, Janeway is not the first captain whom I can't get the exact feel of that what is she/he all about as a character. The first captain like that for me was Picard– for example Picard's love for Shakespeare, Meville and other literary classics just felt not real for me. In fact, I pretty much don't know who Picard is. But with Picard I didn't care that much either, because I was actually taking notes on leadership – that was what Stewart was good about – portraying a believable and effective leader with idealistic worldview.
So if I was to characterize Janeway,hmm... a cute quirky woman, who overworks at the expense of everyone, doesn't create authority naturally but fights to create it, loves absurd situations, doesn't back down ever. That's about it. Also, I love the season 3 hairstyle.
2) Chakotay – Chakotay had some fun this season: a little action in Future's End, a little fun with the borg girl in Unity, a little leadership moment in B&A, a little sexy rebel stuff in Worst Case and a little meaningful speech in Distant Origin. That's about it. As a character he pretty much doesn't exist. But I will try to characterize him.... hmm. I noticed that in Worst Case and in B&A, when he takes control, he acts or leads in the same way. So there is a leader in him. And that leader is quite tough. But why is that leader part so absent most of the time? That I don't know yet.
3) Tuvok – Tuvok is now one of my favorite character's, but not the most favorite anymore. I also enjoyed the Tuvok-Neelix relationship.
4) Kes – the actor get's some fun in Warlord, but the character really shows her promise in B&A. Sad really, they just completed a character and then they write her out, while some character's haven't even gotten out of basic traits phase. She just about came the Kes in season 3 – whenever I look Kes now in earlier episodes, I see Kes of B&A – such a pity. At least she got to see Earth, that's quite a lot for one Ocampa. I hated the catsuit but I loved the new hair.
5) Doctor – after three seasons I've come to a conclusion that the Doctor is the real Maquis in Voyager. Think about it – everyone else abides to status quo, but it's the Doctor who sees (mostly just because he has to) things from a different perspective. It was the doctor who protested against Tuvix's murder for example. He provides the other view. Though most of the time, he is just a comic relief, but a comic relief that actually works, unlike Neelix.
6) Neelix – I don't hate him anymore. For one thing, that awful Kes&Neelix thing was put out of it's misery. Secondly – Fair Trade. Thirdly – I like the Tuvok&Neelix banter. But he is still... the end of Worst Case - that was just too much like them old tv show endings where someone does someting stupid and then everyone laughs and someone says: "Here we go again."
7) Tom Paris – Tom is the same Tom he has been ever since Investigations. Easy going and easy to watch character. Now he flirts with a klingon girl. The relationship works but that's all there is to the character. He is fun, and when the script requires, also noble.
8) B'Elanna – B'Elanna flirts. I'm sorry but there just isn't that much going on with the character. That sort of scared fragile B'Elanna of season 1&2 was gone most of the time, only to appear for awhile in Displaced.
9) Kim - There was something about Kim in the first seasons. Something – and this something was in Chute too. Chute was a very good episode for Kim, it tested the friendship between him and Tom – a friendship that didn't feel significant anymore when Tom suddenly became so accepted overnight. Other than that? Garret Wang's facial features are attractive but his character isn't. I'm tired of this shy awkard rookie.
Conclusion: I love Voyager. I loved it from the first moment. Why? Honestly, I don't know. But I'm on a roll, and I can't wait to finish this and go on with Scorpion. I've heard some good things about it
. Jimmy Bob has now ended his rant. Thank you for reading.
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), thanks a lot for sharing your opinions with us.
. 
He's absolutely adorable and everything and loved his spirit guide quests!
Jimmy Bob doesn't have that bias and he can see it.
