How do you rate the Voyager characters?
- Thread starter Ensign Johnson
- Start date
I did, in fact, enjoy some delicious lo-mein. :OLove:
Janeway – there’s never any doubt that she’s in command, yet she stays feminine. She’s resourceful, courageous, devoted to her crew. She does get a bit fanatical about the Prime Directive at inconvenient times, but that suits her respect for justice.
Tuvok: he teaches restraint and logic, and tries hard to understand his human crewmates yet he is learning from them. He’s a loyal friend to Janeway and doesn’t hesitate to question her motives when the need arises.
Seven: her journey to full humanity often teaches the others some surprising things about themselves. I enjoy her budding sense of humour and her continual striving to understand her crewmates and to socialise appropriately.
Icheb: I wish he’d stayed on as a regular. The crew needs more people between Harry Kim and Naomi Wildman in age.
Kim: he’s cute, and not as daft as he appears to be.
The Doctor: his bed side manner is gradually improving and it’s been entertaining to watch his character grow.
Chakotay: he’s an excellent intermediary between the crew and Janeway, and he questions her readily over her dealings with them. He’s a natural leader and the best choice on Voyager for First Officer.
Don’t Care For (hate is too strong a word)
Kes: a rather bland character who seems to rant whenever becoming impassioned about anything.
Paris: perpetually acting the maggot. He may be brave and loyal, but he’s also very irritating. But his character does begin to grow on you after several seasons.
B’Elanna: is often too much of a drama queen.
Indifferent to:
Neelix: it’s not his character or his acting – it’s the daft make-up that ruins everything. The other Talaxians look just as silly and it’s difficult to take them seriously.
Captains are born, not made, and I think Janeway is outstanding. She’s definitely an equal to Kirk and Picard. Tuvok isn’t Spock’s equal, at least not yet. We’ve seen so much of Spock, watched him die, watched him reborn, watched him grow old, and his character is well defined and rounded out.
Janeway – there’s never any doubt that she’s in command, yet she stays feminine. She’s resourceful, courageous, devoted to her crew. She does get a bit fanatical about the Prime Directive at inconvenient times, but that suits her respect for justice.
Tuvok: he teaches restraint and logic, and tries hard to understand his human crewmates yet he is learning from them. He’s a loyal friend to Janeway and doesn’t hesitate to question her motives when the need arises.
Seven: her journey to full humanity often teaches the others some surprising things about themselves. I enjoy her budding sense of humour and her continual striving to understand her crewmates and to socialise appropriately.
Icheb: I wish he’d stayed on as a regular. The crew needs more people between Harry Kim and Naomi Wildman in age.
Kim: he’s cute, and not as daft as he appears to be.
The Doctor: his bed side manner is gradually improving and it’s been entertaining to watch his character grow.
Chakotay: he’s an excellent intermediary between the crew and Janeway, and he questions her readily over her dealings with them. He’s a natural leader and the best choice on Voyager for First Officer.
Don’t Care For (hate is too strong a word)
Kes: a rather bland character who seems to rant whenever becoming impassioned about anything.
Paris: perpetually acting the maggot. He may be brave and loyal, but he’s also very irritating. But his character does begin to grow on you after several seasons.
B’Elanna: is often too much of a drama queen.
Indifferent to:
Neelix: it’s not his character or his acting – it’s the daft make-up that ruins everything. The other Talaxians look just as silly and it’s difficult to take them seriously.
Captains are born, not made, and I think Janeway is outstanding. She’s definitely an equal to Kirk and Picard. Tuvok isn’t Spock’s equal, at least not yet. We’ve seen so much of Spock, watched him die, watched him reborn, watched him grow old, and his character is well defined and rounded out.
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My ratings:
Janeway: Man, she's got a good personality for a Captain, and does some cool things, but sometimes she just acts plain stupid.
I think the Doctor is right. Janeway goes exploring every cubic milimeter of the galaxy, and then says she's trying her best to get home. I bet if she didn't go wandering into strange annomolies or fast-spinning-time-differential planets she'd get home faster.
"There's coffee in that nebula"
Tom Paris: I like this guy. He's charasmatic, he's funny, and his personality just plays out.
"Got anything else to confess, doc?"
Torres: NO,NO,NO!! She is over doing her part big time. She's acting like she is such a drama queen. She wants to genetically modify her baby.....??!?!
"P'Tahk!"
Chakotay: I'm indifferent.
"Isn't there some kind of Indian Thing where you can grow wings and fly?"
"You're too heavy"
Doctor: I like this guy too. I like the way he interacts and clashes with the other characters.
"Seven, I LOVE YOU!!"
Harry Kim: I'm half half on this one. Kim seems like the perfect guy. He does diagnostics instead of going to holodecks, he does more than his share....but it's all too perfect.
"My couch is your couch"
Janeway: Man, she's got a good personality for a Captain, and does some cool things, but sometimes she just acts plain stupid.
I think the Doctor is right. Janeway goes exploring every cubic milimeter of the galaxy, and then says she's trying her best to get home. I bet if she didn't go wandering into strange annomolies or fast-spinning-time-differential planets she'd get home faster.
"There's coffee in that nebula"
Tom Paris: I like this guy. He's charasmatic, he's funny, and his personality just plays out.
"Got anything else to confess, doc?"
Torres: NO,NO,NO!! She is over doing her part big time. She's acting like she is such a drama queen. She wants to genetically modify her baby.....??!?!
"P'Tahk!"
Chakotay: I'm indifferent.
"Isn't there some kind of Indian Thing where you can grow wings and fly?"
"You're too heavy"
Doctor: I like this guy too. I like the way he interacts and clashes with the other characters.
"Seven, I LOVE YOU!!"
Harry Kim: I'm half half on this one. Kim seems like the perfect guy. He does diagnostics instead of going to holodecks, he does more than his share....but it's all too perfect.
"My couch is your couch"
Loved:
Captain Janeway
Seven of Nine
Doctor
Tom Paris
Harry Kim
Mortimer Harren
William Telfer
Tal Celes
One (Advanced Borg Drone)
Liked:
Chakotay
B'Elanna Torres
Icheb
Indifferent:
Tuvok
Naomi
Chell
Carey
Disliked:
Neelix
Kes
Captain Janeway
Seven of Nine
Doctor
Tom Paris
Harry Kim
Mortimer Harren
William Telfer
Tal Celes
One (Advanced Borg Drone)
Liked:
Chakotay
B'Elanna Torres
Icheb
Indifferent:
Tuvok
Naomi
Chell
Carey
Disliked:
Neelix
Kes
Loved:
Janeway
Doctor
Seven
Kim (Had so much potential but wasn't given a chance.)
Paris
Tuvok
Tal Celes
Chaotica (How could anyone not love this guy?)
Danara Pel
Liked:
Kes
Seska
Icheb
Naomi Wildman
Stadi (Hot!!!)
Indifferent:
Neelix
Vorik
Carey (But killing him was unnecessary. It was like they were really saving his character just so they could kill him in season 7)
Dislike:
Torres (God awful behavior...)
Chakotay (acting was hard as a rock. I like him when he's with Janeway but most of the time dislike.)
Honorable mentions:
Larg & K'kath
Janeway
Doctor
Seven
Kim (Had so much potential but wasn't given a chance.)
Paris
Tuvok
Tal Celes
Chaotica (How could anyone not love this guy?)
Danara Pel
Liked:
Kes
Seska
Icheb
Naomi Wildman
Stadi (Hot!!!)
Indifferent:
Neelix
Vorik
Carey (But killing him was unnecessary. It was like they were really saving his character just so they could kill him in season 7)
Dislike:
Torres (God awful behavior...)
Chakotay (acting was hard as a rock. I like him when he's with Janeway but most of the time dislike.)
Honorable mentions:
Larg & K'kath
I always wonder what we're rating characters for?
I'd rate believability first, then consider how interesting their stories are, and last consider how likable they are.
The number one character is Janeway. She's the one that makes the decisions. She treads a fine line between maternal (or other) wamth and maintaining detachment. She has principles, but tries to apply them flexibly, making due consideration for personalities. She is dedicated to return. She is determined to command without being Captain Queeg. Legends about her supposed erraticism are so baseless as to make the complainants sound a little cracked. As with most Trek series, if you don't like the Captain, there's not much here. Mulgrew did an excellent job keeping the mask of command up with just enough peeks beneath. (But she did tend to just make faces in comedies.)
Neelix didn't get many stories but they were almost always excellent. The forced cheeriness to cover underlying loneliness and despair always made his interesting. He was only annoying when he was upbraiding Tuvok. It ill behooves someone so close to miserable to taunt someone for not being lively.
Tuvok was a return to old style Vulcans, perversely interested in stating the obvious to make sure no one forgets, and playing devil's advocate, just to be fair. Tuvok was very nicely played by Tim Russ, who let us see the permitted Vulcan emotions of desiccated humor, wry disdain and reverence for the accepted morality. The Tuvok goes crazy episodes were kind of repetitive but at least Russ did them well.
Seven of Nine was intrinsically interesting but well played by Jeri Ryan. About half her episodes were quite good. The other half, well, they were mostly tolerable, except a couple of wet dogs like Survival Instinct or Human Error. Even a fluffy star piece like Infinite Regress was mostly watchable because Ryan did so well, making a sow's ear into a wallet. The character could have been much, much better because you never quite knew what Seven of Nine was on deck. The proud Borg, barking like a dog, decisive, competent, but unsure how to fit into the new collective. Or the weepy, guilty helpless neurotic who got through by everyone not just wanting to screw her but wipe her nose as well. This was the schizophrenic character. Considering how few complaints there are about this, it is obvious no one who complains about Janeway's schizophrenia is really objecting to inconsistent characterization.
The Doctor is a wonderful comic creation. Although basically a fifty year old virgin who comes out of a magic bottle like Jeannie in the old sit com, simply having an exotic character who didn't want to be human was a breath of fresh air. Most serious episodes with the Doctor inevitably failed, of course, because they contradicted the hologram premise.
Those are unfortunately the good characters.
Tom Paris, as indicated by the special kind of name, is something of a Gary Stu. The only time the character ever worked was with Kim. Since they essentially had no stories together after The Chute, that's years of wasting space and time trying to make this long drink of water interesting. They couldn't do it by making him conflict with Chakotay or the Doctor or Neelix. They couldn't do it by making him hot shot pilot and medic and writer. He wasn't convincing as smart, even when the script wrote him as doing something smart. He wasn't convincing as a bad boy. He was wasn't convincing as a Romeo, even when the script paired him off with every female but Seven (and they only skipped her because he was finally paired with Torres.) He wasn't convincing as the sensitive one who saved Torres from her inner conflicts. Since Paris was a main character, this vacuum at the heart of the show severely damaged the series. I don't know if a good actor could have done anything with this nonsense, but we'll never know. The worst character.
Torres was just unbelievable, despite Roxann Dawson's amazing energy. A short little woman would have to be insane to buy into the ridiculous macho Klingon BS, but the character is supposed to be torn with shame for rejecting it, when modern Klingons are supposed to be cool? The character is incredibly creepy, most glaringly shown when she tries to engineer a blond haired blue eyed child. Ick. Second worst.
Seska was nonsense. What did this woman want? Third worst.
Chakotay had his hallucinator taken away from him early on and then Seska castrated him. The Maquis thing was ignorant twaddle from day one. There was nothing uniquely interesting about Chakotay because the captain makes the decisions and the first mate is there to take orders. Robert Beltran apparently didn't understand much about science fiction, had no useful input to help out and phoned it in a lot. Not worst, but not interesting.
Kes was apparently Jeri Taylor's wish fulfilment. Jennifer Lien was so lovely (it's the voice, if you like it it she's heavenly,) you could watch the character. But she was there to explore and do good deeds and always, always her goodness won the day. The actress made her convincingly sweet but couldn't make her interesting. It was a wise choice to dump her for Seven of Nine. Not actually a bad character, but a dead end.
As for the infamous Harry Kim, a young Asian male was only listed in the main cast as a token. I would imagine that they reneged on firing Wang because it belatedly dawned on them they wouldn't have any extra episodes opened up for the new actress. There were so few Kim episodes that he is actually a minor character. Seska was far more important in the first season when they were making efforts at a continuing storyline. If it seems otherwise it's because Wang managed to burst out, probably why the Powers That Be (and Kate Mulgrew?) disliked him. The character seems to be unpopular because he's a male ingenue (as such, technically no worse than Kes,) which is quite good acting as apparently Wang was not a male ingenue.
I'd rate believability first, then consider how interesting their stories are, and last consider how likable they are.
The number one character is Janeway. She's the one that makes the decisions. She treads a fine line between maternal (or other) wamth and maintaining detachment. She has principles, but tries to apply them flexibly, making due consideration for personalities. She is dedicated to return. She is determined to command without being Captain Queeg. Legends about her supposed erraticism are so baseless as to make the complainants sound a little cracked. As with most Trek series, if you don't like the Captain, there's not much here. Mulgrew did an excellent job keeping the mask of command up with just enough peeks beneath. (But she did tend to just make faces in comedies.)
Neelix didn't get many stories but they were almost always excellent. The forced cheeriness to cover underlying loneliness and despair always made his interesting. He was only annoying when he was upbraiding Tuvok. It ill behooves someone so close to miserable to taunt someone for not being lively.
Tuvok was a return to old style Vulcans, perversely interested in stating the obvious to make sure no one forgets, and playing devil's advocate, just to be fair. Tuvok was very nicely played by Tim Russ, who let us see the permitted Vulcan emotions of desiccated humor, wry disdain and reverence for the accepted morality. The Tuvok goes crazy episodes were kind of repetitive but at least Russ did them well.
Seven of Nine was intrinsically interesting but well played by Jeri Ryan. About half her episodes were quite good. The other half, well, they were mostly tolerable, except a couple of wet dogs like Survival Instinct or Human Error. Even a fluffy star piece like Infinite Regress was mostly watchable because Ryan did so well, making a sow's ear into a wallet. The character could have been much, much better because you never quite knew what Seven of Nine was on deck. The proud Borg, barking like a dog, decisive, competent, but unsure how to fit into the new collective. Or the weepy, guilty helpless neurotic who got through by everyone not just wanting to screw her but wipe her nose as well. This was the schizophrenic character. Considering how few complaints there are about this, it is obvious no one who complains about Janeway's schizophrenia is really objecting to inconsistent characterization.
The Doctor is a wonderful comic creation. Although basically a fifty year old virgin who comes out of a magic bottle like Jeannie in the old sit com, simply having an exotic character who didn't want to be human was a breath of fresh air. Most serious episodes with the Doctor inevitably failed, of course, because they contradicted the hologram premise.
Those are unfortunately the good characters.
Tom Paris, as indicated by the special kind of name, is something of a Gary Stu. The only time the character ever worked was with Kim. Since they essentially had no stories together after The Chute, that's years of wasting space and time trying to make this long drink of water interesting. They couldn't do it by making him conflict with Chakotay or the Doctor or Neelix. They couldn't do it by making him hot shot pilot and medic and writer. He wasn't convincing as smart, even when the script wrote him as doing something smart. He wasn't convincing as a bad boy. He was wasn't convincing as a Romeo, even when the script paired him off with every female but Seven (and they only skipped her because he was finally paired with Torres.) He wasn't convincing as the sensitive one who saved Torres from her inner conflicts. Since Paris was a main character, this vacuum at the heart of the show severely damaged the series. I don't know if a good actor could have done anything with this nonsense, but we'll never know. The worst character.
Torres was just unbelievable, despite Roxann Dawson's amazing energy. A short little woman would have to be insane to buy into the ridiculous macho Klingon BS, but the character is supposed to be torn with shame for rejecting it, when modern Klingons are supposed to be cool? The character is incredibly creepy, most glaringly shown when she tries to engineer a blond haired blue eyed child. Ick. Second worst.
Seska was nonsense. What did this woman want? Third worst.
Chakotay had his hallucinator taken away from him early on and then Seska castrated him. The Maquis thing was ignorant twaddle from day one. There was nothing uniquely interesting about Chakotay because the captain makes the decisions and the first mate is there to take orders. Robert Beltran apparently didn't understand much about science fiction, had no useful input to help out and phoned it in a lot. Not worst, but not interesting.
Kes was apparently Jeri Taylor's wish fulfilment. Jennifer Lien was so lovely (it's the voice, if you like it it she's heavenly,) you could watch the character. But she was there to explore and do good deeds and always, always her goodness won the day. The actress made her convincingly sweet but couldn't make her interesting. It was a wise choice to dump her for Seven of Nine. Not actually a bad character, but a dead end.
As for the infamous Harry Kim, a young Asian male was only listed in the main cast as a token. I would imagine that they reneged on firing Wang because it belatedly dawned on them they wouldn't have any extra episodes opened up for the new actress. There were so few Kim episodes that he is actually a minor character. Seska was far more important in the first season when they were making efforts at a continuing storyline. If it seems otherwise it's because Wang managed to burst out, probably why the Powers That Be (and Kate Mulgrew?) disliked him. The character seems to be unpopular because he's a male ingenue (as such, technically no worse than Kes,) which is quite good acting as apparently Wang was not a male ingenue.
DUH! There's no doubt about #1!
Janeway! - She's the reason I kept watching Voyager. I saw her in one episode (can't even remember which one that was) and she fascinated me. I can't explain why, it's everything about her. She's just plain awesome!
The Doctor - He can be really funny. And on the other hand he can be serious. I just like him.
B'Elanna - I've always liked her. There are some episodes where she kind of annoys me, but for the most part she didn't bother me too much.
Tuvok - Well, I don't know how I feel about him...he can be rather annoying with his logic and stuff, but he'd give his life for Janeway so I can't hate him.
The others are okay...Neelix has more annoying screen time than any other character. Chakotay...I liked him at first, but then he lost his Marquis touch more and more and become rather dull. Seven...
. Tom is okay, but never did anything that really impressed me or anything.
Janeway! - She's the reason I kept watching Voyager. I saw her in one episode (can't even remember which one that was) and she fascinated me. I can't explain why, it's everything about her. She's just plain awesome!
The Doctor - He can be really funny. And on the other hand he can be serious. I just like him.
B'Elanna - I've always liked her. There are some episodes where she kind of annoys me, but for the most part she didn't bother me too much.
Tuvok - Well, I don't know how I feel about him...he can be rather annoying with his logic and stuff, but he'd give his life for Janeway so I can't hate him.
The others are okay...Neelix has more annoying screen time than any other character. Chakotay...I liked him at first, but then he lost his Marquis touch more and more and become rather dull. Seven...
. Tom is okay, but never did anything that really impressed me or anything.
1. Kes
A fantastic character. Beautiful, nice, smart and friendly but also strong-willed, determined and brave. A contrast and a compliment to more common action-characters like Torres and Janeway. With her will to learn and explore she personifies the spirit of Star Trek.
2. Janeway
Simply a great captain, doesn't matter if she's male or female. I like the way she seem to care for her crewmembers and is ready to sacrifice herself for each one of them.. She can also make mistakes and stand for them.
3. Chakotay
Great character who could have been the best first officer ever if the writers hadn' screwed that up. I like the fact that he did stand up and fight for what he believed was right, even leaving Starfleet because of that. I also like that he's an American Indian but I do find it sad that they screwed up his background story by making him member of a "Hollywood Tribe".
4. Paris
I like his manners, his funny jokes and his care-free attitude.
5. Torres
Very good character. I like the background story about a misfit who suddenly ended up in the right place. I also like her smartness, temper and the fact that behind the tough attitude there is a person with compassion.
6. Tuvok
A great Vulcan. I like his logic, cool appearance and that he also is something of a contrast to Janeway and Chakotay in manners and so. I also like the fact that he can be funny sometimes with his sarcastic remarks without actually trying to be funny.
7. The Doctor
I just love his sarcasm, funny comments and verall manners. OK, I do think that a holographic doctor is a bit over the top but who cares when The Doctor is as good and interesting as he is.
8. Neelix
I find him likeable with a very good background story. The fact that he's been able to keep his mood up and constantly tries to cheer everyone else up despite his own tragic background is admirable. Not to mention that he's brave and tough when necessary.
9. Kim
A likeable but weak character. Sometimes good as Paris's sidekick but rather bland most of the time. He's actually better in many of the Voyager books where his computer skill and knowledge is more visible.
10. Seven
Interesting character with an interesting background story but the over-exponation of the character, the marketing of "sexy Seven" and the catsuit makes her lose a few points. (Plus the fact that they dumped Kes to make room for her.
)
11. Naomi Wildman
I have nothing against her actually but I can't see any reason to give her so much screen time except for being the "token child" in the story, just like Alexander in TNG.
A fantastic character. Beautiful, nice, smart and friendly but also strong-willed, determined and brave. A contrast and a compliment to more common action-characters like Torres and Janeway. With her will to learn and explore she personifies the spirit of Star Trek.
2. Janeway
Simply a great captain, doesn't matter if she's male or female. I like the way she seem to care for her crewmembers and is ready to sacrifice herself for each one of them.. She can also make mistakes and stand for them.
3. Chakotay
Great character who could have been the best first officer ever if the writers hadn' screwed that up. I like the fact that he did stand up and fight for what he believed was right, even leaving Starfleet because of that. I also like that he's an American Indian but I do find it sad that they screwed up his background story by making him member of a "Hollywood Tribe".
4. Paris
I like his manners, his funny jokes and his care-free attitude.
5. Torres
Very good character. I like the background story about a misfit who suddenly ended up in the right place. I also like her smartness, temper and the fact that behind the tough attitude there is a person with compassion.
6. Tuvok
A great Vulcan. I like his logic, cool appearance and that he also is something of a contrast to Janeway and Chakotay in manners and so. I also like the fact that he can be funny sometimes with his sarcastic remarks without actually trying to be funny.
7. The Doctor
I just love his sarcasm, funny comments and verall manners. OK, I do think that a holographic doctor is a bit over the top but who cares when The Doctor is as good and interesting as he is.
8. Neelix
I find him likeable with a very good background story. The fact that he's been able to keep his mood up and constantly tries to cheer everyone else up despite his own tragic background is admirable. Not to mention that he's brave and tough when necessary.
9. Kim
A likeable but weak character. Sometimes good as Paris's sidekick but rather bland most of the time. He's actually better in many of the Voyager books where his computer skill and knowledge is more visible.
10. Seven
Interesting character with an interesting background story but the over-exponation of the character, the marketing of "sexy Seven" and the catsuit makes her lose a few points. (Plus the fact that they dumped Kes to make room for her.
)11. Naomi Wildman
I have nothing against her actually but I can't see any reason to give her so much screen time except for being the "token child" in the story, just like Alexander in TNG.
I can`t say, that I LOVE one of the characters, but I can say, that I very like the whole crew more than the other ST crews.
My favs are (without order)
Torres- fascinating character; always fighting with her different parts. Klingon and human; and she`s beautiful
Chakotay (I`ve to quote Sarita
)
he’s an excellent intermediary between the crew and Janeway, and he questions her readily over her dealings with them. He’s a natural leader and the best choice on Voyager for First Officer.
And he`s very handsome and masculine.
Janeway
Most of the time a very impressive captain, but (to quote Sarita again) she does get a bit fanatical about the Prime Directive at inconvenient times.
I also very like the Doctor and Seven- great characters.
My favs are (without order)
Torres- fascinating character; always fighting with her different parts. Klingon and human; and she`s beautiful
Chakotay (I`ve to quote Sarita
)he’s an excellent intermediary between the crew and Janeway, and he questions her readily over her dealings with them. He’s a natural leader and the best choice on Voyager for First Officer.
And he`s very handsome and masculine.
Janeway
Most of the time a very impressive captain, but (to quote Sarita again) she does get a bit fanatical about the Prime Directive at inconvenient times.
I also very like the Doctor and Seven- great characters.
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The characters in Voyager are the principal reason why I put the show on par with TNG and DS9. I think most of them are lovable and a bit campy — perfect for a show that was certainly sillier (in a good way) than TNG or DS9.
I especially like:
• B'Elanna Torres: probably my favorite
• Chakotay (he became quite charmingly humorous as his role diminished)
• Paris and Kim: their running jokes and lack of development were funny. I liked how poor Kim stayed forever an ensign — as well as his constant excitement over the prospects of getting home.
• Of course Janeway had a great presence, seemed to throw herself into the role, and definitely put her "stamp" on the show
• Tuvok — *by far* my favorite Vulcan
• Seven and The Doc. I put them together because eventually most episodes revolved around them. Fortunately they're both great in their roles, but I disliked Seven's outfit: it seemed completely counterintuitive for her character to wear something so non utilitarian
• Even Neelix provided some good times. I actually liked him better as the show progressed and became — curiously enough — *more* innocent and less jaded.
• I actually very much liked (most) of the children in Voyager. Naomi, Mezotti, and Icheb I thought did very well — especially compared to kids in TNG. I thought Naomi especially acquitted herself quite well.
• The only character I didn't care for was Kes. That may be because I associate her with some of the earlier seasons' poor episodes, as well with my least-favorite aliens: the Kazon.
I especially like:
• B'Elanna Torres: probably my favorite
• Chakotay (he became quite charmingly humorous as his role diminished)
• Paris and Kim: their running jokes and lack of development were funny. I liked how poor Kim stayed forever an ensign — as well as his constant excitement over the prospects of getting home.
• Of course Janeway had a great presence, seemed to throw herself into the role, and definitely put her "stamp" on the show
• Tuvok — *by far* my favorite Vulcan
• Seven and The Doc. I put them together because eventually most episodes revolved around them. Fortunately they're both great in their roles, but I disliked Seven's outfit: it seemed completely counterintuitive for her character to wear something so non utilitarian
• Even Neelix provided some good times. I actually liked him better as the show progressed and became — curiously enough — *more* innocent and less jaded.
• I actually very much liked (most) of the children in Voyager. Naomi, Mezotti, and Icheb I thought did very well — especially compared to kids in TNG. I thought Naomi especially acquitted herself quite well.
• The only character I didn't care for was Kes. That may be because I associate her with some of the earlier seasons' poor episodes, as well with my least-favorite aliens: the Kazon.
One character I really liked but didn't but into my ranking was Ensign Vorik. I know he's not really a popular or important character, but I've always found him interesting. I wish they had developed him into a recurring character - he's in a few episodes leading up to Blood Fever, but then he all but disappears.
Yes, I know he's awkward and wooden, but that is what makes him interesting. Tuvok is too cool and smooth, and I find that a little boring (just because a character is Vulcan doesn't mean he can't have personality). It's like Vorik is trying to be a perfect Vulcan but somehow misses the mark. For example, on a few occasions he's shown screwing something up in engineering and getting on B'elanna's nerves. Although obviously intelligent, be seemed young and flawed (and perhaps lonely?), and I would have liked for the series to have explored that.
Yes, I know he's awkward and wooden, but that is what makes him interesting. Tuvok is too cool and smooth, and I find that a little boring (just because a character is Vulcan doesn't mean he can't have personality). It's like Vorik is trying to be a perfect Vulcan but somehow misses the mark. For example, on a few occasions he's shown screwing something up in engineering and getting on B'elanna's nerves. Although obviously intelligent, be seemed young and flawed (and perhaps lonely?), and I would have liked for the series to have explored that.
1. The Doctor - One of the most well-developed characters in Trek.
2. Tuvok - A great character that was sadly underused. He's sarcastic side was very enjoyable. "Shall I flog them as well?"
3. Kes - Another great character that was woefully cast to the wayside. I would have rather kept her on the show than begin Seven on.
4. Torres - A good character with decent development. Though it did bother me how often they used her as the stereotypical "tough/bad girl."
5. Paris - Also a good character with decent development. The only thing keeping from being higher on the list is the fact that he did often rub me the wrong way. He was often times too damn smug.
6. Seven - She brought some much needed conflict onto the show and was very nice to look at. But it really annoys me how her character basically pushed all the others into the shadows.
7. Janeway - Mulgrew did an amazing job with what she was given, but that material was far too inconsistent. In one episode she would be a caring, loving mother figure who would do anything for a crew she viewed as a family. In the next episode she'd be a balls-to-wall, gung-ho mega bitch, often times for no reason. Also, it's been said already, but this woman's morals desperately needed to be questioned by someone.
8. Chakotay - He was a good character, until Seska died. After that he was nothing but a block of wood.
9. Kim - Poor Harry. The only thing keeping him from being my least favorite is that he shared a show with my least favorite character in all of Trek, not just VOY.
10. Neelix - I f***ing HATE this character. He was so damn sickenly sweet that I felt I needed an insulin shot almost every time he was onscreen.
2. Tuvok - A great character that was sadly underused. He's sarcastic side was very enjoyable. "Shall I flog them as well?"
3. Kes - Another great character that was woefully cast to the wayside. I would have rather kept her on the show than begin Seven on.
4. Torres - A good character with decent development. Though it did bother me how often they used her as the stereotypical "tough/bad girl."
5. Paris - Also a good character with decent development. The only thing keeping from being higher on the list is the fact that he did often rub me the wrong way. He was often times too damn smug.
6. Seven - She brought some much needed conflict onto the show and was very nice to look at. But it really annoys me how her character basically pushed all the others into the shadows.
7. Janeway - Mulgrew did an amazing job with what she was given, but that material was far too inconsistent. In one episode she would be a caring, loving mother figure who would do anything for a crew she viewed as a family. In the next episode she'd be a balls-to-wall, gung-ho mega bitch, often times for no reason. Also, it's been said already, but this woman's morals desperately needed to be questioned by someone.
8. Chakotay - He was a good character, until Seska died. After that he was nothing but a block of wood.
9. Kim - Poor Harry. The only thing keeping him from being my least favorite is that he shared a show with my least favorite character in all of Trek, not just VOY.
10. Neelix - I f***ing HATE this character. He was so damn sickenly sweet that I felt I needed an insulin shot almost every time he was onscreen.
I have to say that all VOY characters, for the most part, had lots of potential (except for Neelix, who was a bad concept from the start, and Kim, who was an uninteresting concept from the start) but were hurt by the inconsistent writing and the writers apparently just not caring enough to put serious character development above 'whatever we need to make them do in this week's plot'.
All in all, the characters I liked the most were Lon Suder and Lindsay Ballard, but out of the main characters, from the best to the worst, I'd rank them something like this:
1st place:
EMH - Trek writers always found it the easiest to write for non-human, outsider characters, so it's not a surprise that the best developed character on the show was the sentient hologram; and in addition, Robert Picardo was great in the role. The only thing I dislike about him is that, in the last couple of seasons, he started to be overplayed as a comic character. Before that, I would have perhaps put him in my top 10 Trek characters (which I am afraid to say probably doesn't include any VOY characters).
2nd place shared:
Tuvok - Tim Russ was excellent and I always enjoyed the stories that focused on Tuvok, which included some of my favorite episodes of the show (Meld). The problem was that he was underused because the writers just couldn't think of much for him to do outside of those 'a Vulcan loses it' episodes.
Seven - Again, the Trek writers find it the easiest to write for the 'outsider learning to be human'. Despite the silliness of the catsuits, she turned out to be a very interesting character who brought the much needed conflict and different perspective in seasons 4 and 5. On the strength of those seasons (and episodes like "Prey") I might have given her shared 1st place and considered her one of Trek's top 15 characters, but as the show went on, I found that she was not just overused but her characterization became a bit too lazy - they were overdoing the Borg catchphrases and all, which became annoying especially since Seven would be "learning how to be human" in one episode and then acting ultra-Borg in the next. It didn't help that the portrayal of her attempts at individuality and romance was so awfully generic and boring in "Unimatrix Zero" and the end of season 7 with the unconvincing romance with Chakotay. It made you wish she had stayed Borg, if becoming "human" meant becoming duller and actually losing any personality she had had. Something went wrong there with the writing. If you're going to portray human individuality, maybe it's not the best idea to portray your character's dream place as the most generic, dull landscape possible where, ironically, people who want to be 'individuals' walk around all sharing the same dream. Or have your character's "romance" in the shape of dull, bland Hollywood 'romantic' scenes (complete with corny lines and the generic 'romantic' music) with a character she shared no chemistry with.
Janeway - Mulgrew gave her a lot of presence, charm and authority, but the writing for the character was too inconsistent, and I never felt that it gave her the depth that a main character should have. I never felt I really knew her, her background, her soul, her motivations, like I knew Picard or Sisko. It's as if there is a great character lurking there somewhere, who could have emerged only if someone cared to actually envision a character arc for her and follow through with the serious and consistent exploration of her motives and decisions throughout the show...
Tom Paris - I thought I was going to find him annoying, but he turned out to be one of the few characters with some actual development on the show, his relationship with Torres was well done, and I often found him likable simply by virtue of being the one character who acted like a real human being would, rather than spouting some dubious ethics or other. (A good example of that is "Nothing Human", one of my least favorite episode, where he is pretty much the only character whose behavior makes sense and that you don't want to slap for being an idiot, since he has the simple human reaction "I just want B'Elanna to live".) OTOH, the funny one-liners, car obsession etc. were a bit too much at times. He became one of the victims of the unfortunate turn in the last couple of seasons, when the show seemed to become more similar to a sitcom than to a drama.
B'Elanna Torres - In the first few seasons, I would have put her far below Paris and Janeway. I never cared much for the concept of the character. I tend to like many angry, feisty female characters, but it's a big difference if someone has a good reason to be angry and traumatized (like Kira) rather than just hating their origin. I disliked the way they made her constantly pissed off and explained it by her being half-Klingon (and it was especially grating and silly in "Faces", with its implication that B'Elanna's human side would be a complete wuss, and only her Klingon side was tough and angry). The reason I now rank her character higher is that she was another character who actually grew and developed, and that she was eventually portrayed as someone who was traumatized by her family circumstances (her father leaving) rather than just an example that mixed race children have to have an identity crisis and self-loathing, or that biology determines one's character, the things that I always found problematic about the character. In that way, I should perhaps rank her higher than Janeway, since she actually had her flaws portrayed and dealt with and had an actual character arc.
Kes - I'm not a big fan of super-sweet cutesy characters, but she had potential, what with the telepathic abilities and all, and while her relationship with Neelix was awful and unconvincing, and the Paris thing was just meh, her friendships with EMH was one of the best relationships on the show. If they had kept her, she could have made a great trio with EMH and Seven, maybe mentoring both of them.
Now it gets a lot more negative than positive:
Neelix - in the first few seasons, he was my least favorite character on the show and perhaps in Trek in general. Annoying, stupid, ineffectual as the comic relief, silly rather than funny, and the only thing less believable than his 'romance' with Kes was his position on the ship, and unfortunately, unlike the former, the latter never went away... The saving grace, however, were his centric episodes, which were, amazingly, all great and gave him a lot more depth, focusing on his background and the traumas and tragedy he masked with his outward cheerfulness. He was a great character whenever an episode focused on him, and completely unbearable in every other episode.
Kim - there isn't much to say about him, he just never went anywhere, never had any kind of development, remained the same as he was at the start. He might have been somewhat likable, but too dull and rather useless. The only reason I might not rank him the lowest is that his character never had any particular potential to begin with, unlike...
Chakotay - looking at the character description, he could have been such a great character, but he turned out to be such a disappointment. They botched everything about him - he wasn't convincing as a Maquis leader, he was dull and pointless as an XO, his spirituality came off as superfluous and a lot of nonsense, he got completely pacified and pushed into the background too soon, he was rarely allowed to voice any sort of disagreement with Janeway and was made to fold quickly even when he did, e barely had anything to do in later seasons except to sit on the bridge with a smug grin and smile at Janeway's quips, Beltran obviously lost any interest and his acting was wooden... He could have been this stoic, strong, spiritual outlaw leader with his own ethics code who presented a different perspective to Janeway's Starfleet principles, but it was all botched on the show and he became nothing more than a tall, good-looking block of wood.
All in all, the characters I liked the most were Lon Suder and Lindsay Ballard, but out of the main characters, from the best to the worst, I'd rank them something like this:
1st place:
EMH - Trek writers always found it the easiest to write for non-human, outsider characters, so it's not a surprise that the best developed character on the show was the sentient hologram; and in addition, Robert Picardo was great in the role. The only thing I dislike about him is that, in the last couple of seasons, he started to be overplayed as a comic character. Before that, I would have perhaps put him in my top 10 Trek characters (which I am afraid to say probably doesn't include any VOY characters).
2nd place shared:
Tuvok - Tim Russ was excellent and I always enjoyed the stories that focused on Tuvok, which included some of my favorite episodes of the show (Meld). The problem was that he was underused because the writers just couldn't think of much for him to do outside of those 'a Vulcan loses it' episodes.
Seven - Again, the Trek writers find it the easiest to write for the 'outsider learning to be human'. Despite the silliness of the catsuits, she turned out to be a very interesting character who brought the much needed conflict and different perspective in seasons 4 and 5. On the strength of those seasons (and episodes like "Prey") I might have given her shared 1st place and considered her one of Trek's top 15 characters, but as the show went on, I found that she was not just overused but her characterization became a bit too lazy - they were overdoing the Borg catchphrases and all, which became annoying especially since Seven would be "learning how to be human" in one episode and then acting ultra-Borg in the next. It didn't help that the portrayal of her attempts at individuality and romance was so awfully generic and boring in "Unimatrix Zero" and the end of season 7 with the unconvincing romance with Chakotay. It made you wish she had stayed Borg, if becoming "human" meant becoming duller and actually losing any personality she had had. Something went wrong there with the writing. If you're going to portray human individuality, maybe it's not the best idea to portray your character's dream place as the most generic, dull landscape possible where, ironically, people who want to be 'individuals' walk around all sharing the same dream. Or have your character's "romance" in the shape of dull, bland Hollywood 'romantic' scenes (complete with corny lines and the generic 'romantic' music) with a character she shared no chemistry with.
Janeway - Mulgrew gave her a lot of presence, charm and authority, but the writing for the character was too inconsistent, and I never felt that it gave her the depth that a main character should have. I never felt I really knew her, her background, her soul, her motivations, like I knew Picard or Sisko. It's as if there is a great character lurking there somewhere, who could have emerged only if someone cared to actually envision a character arc for her and follow through with the serious and consistent exploration of her motives and decisions throughout the show...
Tom Paris - I thought I was going to find him annoying, but he turned out to be one of the few characters with some actual development on the show, his relationship with Torres was well done, and I often found him likable simply by virtue of being the one character who acted like a real human being would, rather than spouting some dubious ethics or other. (A good example of that is "Nothing Human", one of my least favorite episode, where he is pretty much the only character whose behavior makes sense and that you don't want to slap for being an idiot, since he has the simple human reaction "I just want B'Elanna to live".) OTOH, the funny one-liners, car obsession etc. were a bit too much at times. He became one of the victims of the unfortunate turn in the last couple of seasons, when the show seemed to become more similar to a sitcom than to a drama.
B'Elanna Torres - In the first few seasons, I would have put her far below Paris and Janeway. I never cared much for the concept of the character. I tend to like many angry, feisty female characters, but it's a big difference if someone has a good reason to be angry and traumatized (like Kira) rather than just hating their origin. I disliked the way they made her constantly pissed off and explained it by her being half-Klingon (and it was especially grating and silly in "Faces", with its implication that B'Elanna's human side would be a complete wuss, and only her Klingon side was tough and angry). The reason I now rank her character higher is that she was another character who actually grew and developed, and that she was eventually portrayed as someone who was traumatized by her family circumstances (her father leaving) rather than just an example that mixed race children have to have an identity crisis and self-loathing, or that biology determines one's character, the things that I always found problematic about the character. In that way, I should perhaps rank her higher than Janeway, since she actually had her flaws portrayed and dealt with and had an actual character arc.
Kes - I'm not a big fan of super-sweet cutesy characters, but she had potential, what with the telepathic abilities and all, and while her relationship with Neelix was awful and unconvincing, and the Paris thing was just meh, her friendships with EMH was one of the best relationships on the show. If they had kept her, she could have made a great trio with EMH and Seven, maybe mentoring both of them.
Now it gets a lot more negative than positive:
Neelix - in the first few seasons, he was my least favorite character on the show and perhaps in Trek in general. Annoying, stupid, ineffectual as the comic relief, silly rather than funny, and the only thing less believable than his 'romance' with Kes was his position on the ship, and unfortunately, unlike the former, the latter never went away... The saving grace, however, were his centric episodes, which were, amazingly, all great and gave him a lot more depth, focusing on his background and the traumas and tragedy he masked with his outward cheerfulness. He was a great character whenever an episode focused on him, and completely unbearable in every other episode.
Kim - there isn't much to say about him, he just never went anywhere, never had any kind of development, remained the same as he was at the start. He might have been somewhat likable, but too dull and rather useless. The only reason I might not rank him the lowest is that his character never had any particular potential to begin with, unlike...
Chakotay - looking at the character description, he could have been such a great character, but he turned out to be such a disappointment. They botched everything about him - he wasn't convincing as a Maquis leader, he was dull and pointless as an XO, his spirituality came off as superfluous and a lot of nonsense, he got completely pacified and pushed into the background too soon, he was rarely allowed to voice any sort of disagreement with Janeway and was made to fold quickly even when he did, e barely had anything to do in later seasons except to sit on the bridge with a smug grin and smile at Janeway's quips, Beltran obviously lost any interest and his acting was wooden... He could have been this stoic, strong, spiritual outlaw leader with his own ethics code who presented a different perspective to Janeway's Starfleet principles, but it was all botched on the show and he became nothing more than a tall, good-looking block of wood.
Favorite Characters:
Kes
B'Elanna
Paris
The Doctor
Tuvok
Least Favorite Characters:
Harry Kim (Other than Timeless which was fantastic)
Chakotay (I tried to like him, but he ended up not doing much for me)
Neelix
As for how they stack up against my favorite characters in Star Trek, unfortunately they don't.
Kes
B'Elanna
Paris
The Doctor
Tuvok
Least Favorite Characters:
Harry Kim (Other than Timeless which was fantastic)
Chakotay (I tried to like him, but he ended up not doing much for me)
Neelix
As for how they stack up against my favorite characters in Star Trek, unfortunately they don't.
Despite her "cheescake" appearance, Seven did turn out to be an interesting character. When I first saw a picture of her, I though, oh Jesus, here come the boobs-in-residence, but she was much more than her sexy exterior. I too hate her relationship with Chakotay - there was no chemistry there, and it felt anticlimactic and forced.
Love:
Kathryn Janeway
The Doctor
Tom Paris
Tuvok
Seven of Nine
B'Elanna Torres
Indifferent:
Kes
Neelix
Hate:
Chakotay
Harry Kim
Kathryn Janeway
The Doctor
Tom Paris
Tuvok
Seven of Nine
B'Elanna Torres
Indifferent:
Kes
Neelix
Hate:
Chakotay
Harry Kim
Rated in order of preference
Seven of Nine
My all time favorite Star Trek character and my favorite example of a character who has to discover their humanity- her backstory in "Dark Frontier" gave me goosebumps and I really felt the tragedy.
The conflict of Seven with Janeway was also a refreshing change since up to the point, except for the odd disagreement with Chakotay, no one really seemed to challenge Janeway. "Prey" was a fantastic example of this and one of her favorite lines is my username on this site.
I also thought Jeri Ryan was a superb actress who completely suited her role, I find it hard to imagine an actress who would have done a better job.
B'Ellana Torres
Along with Seven and Neelix, B'Ellana had the most interesting backstory among the characters in Voyager. By the end of the series and after shows like "Faces", "Barge of the Dead" and "Lineage", I felt we really had a decent handle on the character (by Voyager standards). It helps that she was played by a great actress and got some really great stories.
Kes
After I saw season 1 of Voyager, it was a 2 years before I bega season 2 and I had actually completely forgotten who Kes was. I was honestly sitting there going "who the hell is that?", but by "The Gift", I was actually upset she was leaving.
Her character really came into her own throughout her 3 seasons, and by the time "Before and After" and "Scorpion" rolled around, I was enjoying her presence quite a lot.
And as with Neelix, I began to appreciate how unique her character was - not only in her lifespan - but due to her being a civilian aboard a starship learning how to become a doctor.
I also found Lien's acting improved a lot. I would have loved to have seen Kes and Seven together but alas...
The Doctor
If the show had ended at the end of season 4 or 5, the Doctor would probably been third, but I found him to be a real pain in season 6 and 7 especially with episodes like "Virtuoso" and "Author, Author" where he really began to sound like a broken record.
Overall I did like the Doctor, the concept for his character was genius (even if it did bring up a few sentience issues) and allowed a lot of really unique story ideas that were among Voyager's best.
Neelix
As I mentioned before, I began to really appreciate the idea of Kes and Neelix, two civilians brought aboard Voyager trying to do what they can.
I also grew to like Neelix more with each Neelix-centric episode. Instead of just seeing him as being annoying or whatever, I began to understand his character. He's found a family and wants to be useful, in many ways I found Neelix to be the most "human" character aboard Voyager.
Oh and his episodes! "Jetrel", "Mortal Coil", "Once Upon A Time", just absolute trek classics in my opinion.
Now it starts to get difficult....
Tuvok
Pretty funny at times but overall, I really find it difficult to say much about Tuvok. He never did anything wrong for me, but he never really amazed me.
Tom Paris
I'm in two minds over Tom Paris, sometimes I find myself liking him and sometimes I find him to be a major douchebag.
I love him in episodes where he is really human and we can identify with him, someone mentioned "Nothing Human" and that's one example, "Lineage" is another one. I also liked how he behaved with B'Ellana before their relationship began, like in "Blood Fever".
On the other hand, I found him to be extremely grating and annoying when he is being used as a filler character. The endless smartass remarks and abortive attempts at humor got tired quickly. And I felt he wasn't a particularly good boyfriend and was actually cheering on B'Ellana when she decided to break it off with him in "Drive".
Overall he's a very mixed bag, I don't hate him but I don't particularly like him.
Janeway
I enjoy watching Captain Janeway but was she even a character? I mean, I don't understand her whatsoever and really have no handle on what she is actually like.
As is common with all the characters from Janeway onwards, the writers did a bad job of showing us what her life was actually like aboard Voyager beyond working. Sure she was a workaholic but I didn't really see much else to her personality,.
She was much too inconsistent and I didn't feel any real emotion ever coming from her partly for that reason.
I really feel that establishing a Janeway-Chakotay relationship would have been the key to making her seem more human and would have allowed be to be able to identify with her.
Harry Kim
Boring, underwritten, underdeveloped, underacted.
He wasn't human as far as I can ascertain. He basically developed no relationships with anyone beyond Tom and beyond practicing his clarinet, I have no idea what he even does or thinks or what motivates him. Garret Wang was also a poor actor and never felt any of his attempts at expressing emotion ever rang true, they were usually just laughable.
Nonetheless, I didn't find him difficult to watch, he was harmless enough.
Chakotay
I really struggle to find any feelings I have about the character. He was used so little in the last half of the show, memories of him are fuzzy. I also found many of his episodes lacking, including "Tattoo" and "Initiations" which bored me to tears.
He really needed to be more an equal to Janeway and I wish their decisions had been made together more often, Chakotay's greatest moment was probably in Scorpion when he defied Janeway.
I probably don't dislike him as much as Riker though.
Seven of Nine
My all time favorite Star Trek character and my favorite example of a character who has to discover their humanity- her backstory in "Dark Frontier" gave me goosebumps and I really felt the tragedy.
The conflict of Seven with Janeway was also a refreshing change since up to the point, except for the odd disagreement with Chakotay, no one really seemed to challenge Janeway. "Prey" was a fantastic example of this and one of her favorite lines is my username on this site.
I also thought Jeri Ryan was a superb actress who completely suited her role, I find it hard to imagine an actress who would have done a better job.
B'Ellana Torres
Along with Seven and Neelix, B'Ellana had the most interesting backstory among the characters in Voyager. By the end of the series and after shows like "Faces", "Barge of the Dead" and "Lineage", I felt we really had a decent handle on the character (by Voyager standards). It helps that she was played by a great actress and got some really great stories.
Kes
After I saw season 1 of Voyager, it was a 2 years before I bega season 2 and I had actually completely forgotten who Kes was. I was honestly sitting there going "who the hell is that?", but by "The Gift", I was actually upset she was leaving.
Her character really came into her own throughout her 3 seasons, and by the time "Before and After" and "Scorpion" rolled around, I was enjoying her presence quite a lot.
And as with Neelix, I began to appreciate how unique her character was - not only in her lifespan - but due to her being a civilian aboard a starship learning how to become a doctor.
I also found Lien's acting improved a lot. I would have loved to have seen Kes and Seven together but alas...
The Doctor
If the show had ended at the end of season 4 or 5, the Doctor would probably been third, but I found him to be a real pain in season 6 and 7 especially with episodes like "Virtuoso" and "Author, Author" where he really began to sound like a broken record.
Overall I did like the Doctor, the concept for his character was genius (even if it did bring up a few sentience issues) and allowed a lot of really unique story ideas that were among Voyager's best.
Neelix
As I mentioned before, I began to really appreciate the idea of Kes and Neelix, two civilians brought aboard Voyager trying to do what they can.
I also grew to like Neelix more with each Neelix-centric episode. Instead of just seeing him as being annoying or whatever, I began to understand his character. He's found a family and wants to be useful, in many ways I found Neelix to be the most "human" character aboard Voyager.
Oh and his episodes! "Jetrel", "Mortal Coil", "Once Upon A Time", just absolute trek classics in my opinion.
Now it starts to get difficult....
Tuvok
Pretty funny at times but overall, I really find it difficult to say much about Tuvok. He never did anything wrong for me, but he never really amazed me.
Tom Paris
I'm in two minds over Tom Paris, sometimes I find myself liking him and sometimes I find him to be a major douchebag.
I love him in episodes where he is really human and we can identify with him, someone mentioned "Nothing Human" and that's one example, "Lineage" is another one. I also liked how he behaved with B'Ellana before their relationship began, like in "Blood Fever".
On the other hand, I found him to be extremely grating and annoying when he is being used as a filler character. The endless smartass remarks and abortive attempts at humor got tired quickly. And I felt he wasn't a particularly good boyfriend and was actually cheering on B'Ellana when she decided to break it off with him in "Drive".
Overall he's a very mixed bag, I don't hate him but I don't particularly like him.
Janeway
I enjoy watching Captain Janeway but was she even a character? I mean, I don't understand her whatsoever and really have no handle on what she is actually like.
As is common with all the characters from Janeway onwards, the writers did a bad job of showing us what her life was actually like aboard Voyager beyond working. Sure she was a workaholic but I didn't really see much else to her personality,.
She was much too inconsistent and I didn't feel any real emotion ever coming from her partly for that reason.
I really feel that establishing a Janeway-Chakotay relationship would have been the key to making her seem more human and would have allowed be to be able to identify with her.
Harry Kim
Boring, underwritten, underdeveloped, underacted.
He wasn't human as far as I can ascertain. He basically developed no relationships with anyone beyond Tom and beyond practicing his clarinet, I have no idea what he even does or thinks or what motivates him. Garret Wang was also a poor actor and never felt any of his attempts at expressing emotion ever rang true, they were usually just laughable.
Nonetheless, I didn't find him difficult to watch, he was harmless enough.
Chakotay
I really struggle to find any feelings I have about the character. He was used so little in the last half of the show, memories of him are fuzzy. I also found many of his episodes lacking, including "Tattoo" and "Initiations" which bored me to tears.
He really needed to be more an equal to Janeway and I wish their decisions had been made together more often, Chakotay's greatest moment was probably in Scorpion when he defied Janeway.
I probably don't dislike him as much as Riker though.
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