Missed Oppertunities in Voyager

[F. King Daniel]

What episodes and stories didn't they do that they really should have? I did a thread like this for Enterprise a few years ago (I really wanted to see Enterprise try and rescue the "real" Kobayashi Maru) and I think Voyager could use one.

I'd have loved to see an evil Mirror Voyager, along the lines of the one teased in "Living Witness". It would be a bit goofy and comic-book-y, but Janeway and crew vs. Evil Janeway and crew would have been fantastic fun.

A "Trial of Captain Janeway" episode - she's made several dubious decisions over the years, and a long-distance trial done using the Midas Array (like the Doctor's hearing) would have been very interesting. It would have been a great oppertunity to see how the people of Earth were reacting to Voyager - I assume their trip home would have been huge news, Janeway's choices would have polarized the people of the Federation like they have TBBS.

It would have been intersting to come across another Federation-type alliance in the DQ, too.


Anyone else?

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Missed opportunities?

Why, J/C, naturally.

 

[froot]

I feel like I'm in a repeating time loop - I swear I've seen this thread before, and before, and before

*scan for anomalies*

But, heck, what can I say, I'm on board for Mirror!Voyager vs. Normal Voyager. Sounds awesome. And I like comic books, so bring it on!

The trial idea? Eh, not as excited. Why does everyone think she, as opposed to anyone else ever in Star Trek, always needs to go on trial or jail or get fifty lashes? I can think of a couple dubious decisions, i.e., Equinox, but my goodness. She's the Federation's Marco Polo. I can't believe they'd do more than give her a good slap on the wrist in the end.

When Kirk goes cowboy, he's a hero and legend. Janeway goes cowboy, well, send that lady to jail!

My missed opportunities would be: J/C , and not having more arced storylines like Seasons 2 and 4 and the ones with the Pathfinder array. I am fine with VOY's self-contained episodes overall, but I think that it worked really well keeping some arcs going in the background. The homecoming episodes would have been cooler and more climactic, as well, if they were arced. I think most people expected an arc when Season 7 started, adding to the disappointment of the ending.

I don't want VOY = BSG though. More VOY = Firefly.

I feel that Firefly worked a little that way, too, and that's one of the reasons I am fond of that show.

EDIT: Oh my goodness, can I add something? I wanted them to uncover a cool secret map/ancient tech or something over the course of the show. But that would have been a pretty huge Halo/Mass Effect/BSG rip-off. Still, sigh.

 

[BillJ]

Voyager itself is one hell of a big missed opportunity.

A story that should've written itself was killed by mismanagement.

 

[JarodRussell]

The finale could have been about another Caretaker.

The Year of Hell thing should have been expanded over the entire show, not just confined to two episodes.

 

[froot]

Voyager itself is one hell of a big missed opportunity.

A story that should've written itself was killed by mismanagement.

Yep, definitely a time loop...

I swear folks come crawling out of the woodwork when thread titles like this pop up. Where are you guys the rest of the time? Why... why even come in to this forum? It never makes sense.

The dead horse is dead.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

The mirror universe would have been interesting . . . But I think like a two episode spread of that would have caused too many heartattacks, IMO anyways Kate was FAR too hot in Living Witness. Seeing the actual real Janeway would have been . . . . *sigh*

And J/C, I'm still going that Admiral Janeway was coming from the future to the past to kind of stop that. Because she knew that once they were home her younger self would look at Chakotay with the big goo-goo eyes she used on him far too many times and say "I love you." Or maybe that is just the fanfic author/romantic coming out. But still . . .

 

[RyuRoots]

When Kirk goes cowboy, he's a hero and legend. Janeway goes cowboy, well, send that lady to jail!

When Kirk starts murdering and torturing people, and refuses to incarcerate psychotic killers, then we'll send him to jail. But that's a rant for another thread entirely.

I agree that Year of Hell should've been an actual year and shouldn't have ended in a reset.

I also think that Endgame should've tied into the show's roots, brought back the female Caretaker alien. The finales for both TNG and DS9 brought full circle things that started in the very beginning - the progress of humanity and Q's judgement in TNG's case and Sisko's role as the Emissary and a Starfleet officer in DS9.

Kes. Just...Kes. I loved Lien as her, and I think she was a good character, but the only good episodes she has are Cold Fire, Before and After, and The Gift before she leaves the show forever. Yes, forever. She never came back after The Gift. Nope. No sir.

While I like Seven, I think that the show suffered at times due to her overuse, Torres in particular.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones that pop out at the moment.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I think at the end of S6, Voyager should have faced off against a big bad (which would have most likely been the Borg yet again) that stood in the way of getting home. End on a cliffhanger and then in S7 have the first two episodes the conclusion to it, and with the crew getting home.

Then for S7, focus on the officers and crew back on Earth:
- Janeway facing up against some of her more questionable decisions
- Chakotay on trial for his actions in the Maquis
- Tuvok teaching at the Academy
- Paris facing off against his father
- Torres making peace with her parents
- Kim (ideas please)
- The Doctor and Lewis Zimmerman
- Seven taken away by Starfleet Intelligence
- Neelix (ideas please)
- Icheb entering the Academy
- The Wildman family reunion

Then at the end of the season, have the crew pull back together to save Earth from an enemy that followed them back to the Alpha Quadrant. At least that way, the characters could have gotten some resolution, rather than being left hanging.

Just a thought.
Bry

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Kes. Just...Kes. I loved Lien as her, and I think she was a good character, but the only good episodes she has are Cold Fire, Before and After, and The Gift before she leaves the show forever. Yes, forever. She never came back after The Gift. Nope. No sir.

So true. Loved Kes. She was so innocent to life in space, so full of wonder and kindness. She had incredible power but not a mean bone in her body. They get rid of her and bring onboard someone more cold and robotic than Data (IMHO).

While I like Seven, I think that the show suffered at times due to her overuse, Torres in particular.

I totally lost interest when Seven came onboard, but then I'm not in the target demographic. All the other characters, except for Janeway and the Doctor could have been written out after she came onboard.

Just a couple other thoughts,
Bry

 

[froot]

Kes. Just...Kes. I loved Lien as her, and I think she was a good character, but the only good episodes she has are Cold Fire, Before and After, and The Gift before she leaves the show forever. Yes, forever. She never came back after The Gift. Nope. No sir.

No, no she did not. Ever. I'm pretty sure she watched over the ship as a kind spirit or something, but she never came back. If anyone thinks they saw an episode where she came back at some point, it was probably a dream.

When Kirk starts murdering and torturing people, and refuses to incarcerate psychotic killers, then we'll send him to jail. But that's a rant for another thread entirely.

Don't worry, there's been about 4935834 of those threads, too. And... oh, no... that pesky old Tuvix just surfaced. We could debate this, but neither side will back down, ever, and it's the same old same old anyway.

We should make some "greatest hits" threads with the titles "Why Do You Guys Like Voyager Anyway," "Janeway's Worst Decisions," "Why Did X Happen This Way," "All Tuvix All the Time," "Endgame!" "WHY WAS JANEWAY ADMIRAL OVER PICARD" and then sticky them. And I can argue with myself on each of these for 87 pages, giving every predictable response in the book, and then lock 'em after I start repeating myself. And when anyone wants to start one of these "greatest hits," we can just refer them to the top of the page.

 

[JarodRussell]

Well at least Janeway got

Spoiler: treated with respect

killed off

in the novels.

 

[TiberiusMaximus]

^Um, that spoiler didn't work. Thanks for trying though.
Wasted opportunities...hmm...lots and lots.

-8472 should have been a threat for more than an episode and a half
-Kim...hmm...oh, I just got an awesome idea. When the 8472 infected him, instead of being 'normal' after it should have had some kind of lasting effect like...I don't know, random telepathic outbursts or healing or something. Anything to make him more interesting.
-The Cooperative Borg and the Civil War could have been handled better and revisited more, like Voyager coming across more Borg rebels or something. Not just a two episode mention or whatever like 8472 got.
-More Hirogen, learning more about them would be cool
-more about Suspiria and her freaky Ocampa experiments
-more about Kes after she left instead of that abomination of an Episode I Will Not Name

There's more, but that's all I can think of.

 

[Anwar]

One major missed opportunity was in the pilot, it would've scored more brownie points with the audience:

- Have the Caretaker's own natural power, booster by the Array, be what brought VOY to the Ocampan world.

That way, when he dies so does any chance of them going home the same way. Thus, the Array is never an option and there's no stupid "They could've gone home at the start!" whining.

And for anyone who says they should've used the 8472 more, that was never going to happen because of how expensive they and their ships were. That was why the Borg/8472 conflict was never taken up again, or the 8472 were never used as a major threat outside of a few episodes, and why they were removed from the series permanently.

As for the Borg Civil War, the audience never would have accepted one lone ship having such a big impact on the rest of the Galaxy. No matter how well-written (or how other shows managed to do this).

And YoH wasn't made into a full year because they'd never be able to fix up the damages or recover, and anyone who missed that story would be "WTF?" and stop watching as a result.

 

[RyuRoots]

When Kirk starts murdering and torturing people, and refuses to incarcerate psychotic killers, then we'll send him to jail. But that's a rant for another thread entirely.

Don't worry, there's been about 4935834 of those threads, too. And... oh, no... that pesky old Tuvix just surfaced. We could debate this, but neither side will back down, ever, and it's the same old same old anyway.

We should make some "greatest hits" threads with the titles "Why Do You Guys Like Voyager Anyway," "Janeway's Worst Decisions," "Why Did X Happen This Way," "All Tuvix All the Time," "Endgame!" "WHY WAS JANEWAY ADMIRAL OVER PICARD" and then sticky them. And I can argue with myself on each of these for 87 pages, giving every predictable response in the book, and then lock 'em after I start repeating myself. And when anyone wants to start one of these "greatest hits," we can just refer them to the top of the page.

You're the one that started it with the "When Janeway does the same thing, she gets in trouble!" bit. If you don't want to hear a reply, don't bring it up.

And YoH wasn't made into a full year because they'd never be able to fix up the damages or recover, and anyone who missed that story would be "WTF?" and stop watching as a result.

First off, why the hell not? Even if they had a rough run of things, they could've found a safe harbor eventually. Secondly (and I very rarely think this is true), I think you're underestimating the average viewer. It's not certainly as accessible as most episodes, but if the Dominion War or ENT's Expanse arc didn't put off every single casual viewer they ever had, then I think VOY could have survived a Year of Hell arc.

 

[Shatnertage]

More Tuvok.

 

[Anwar]

The Xindi arc STILL gets criticized to this day, so there goes that argument. And in VOY's case, they already tried having a recurring enemy in the form of the Kazon and the audience reacted negatively. Based on what happened before, having the Krenim show up for even one season would've received a similar reaction of "They should've left them behind in 3 episodes!" and then just complained further when the show gave a justification of "Their space is large" or "The Warp Drive was damaged in the first battle".

 

[RyuRoots]

The Xindi arc STILL gets criticized to this day, so there goes that argument.

No, dude. You're changing your argument. You said everyone would stop watching, not "it'll be criticized". I never said it wouldn't be, I just said that I think the show could last through it. And on that note, ENT lasted through the Xindi arc despite criticism.

And in VOY's case, they already tried having a recurring enemy in the form of the Kazon and the audience reacted negatively. Based on what happened before, having the Krenim show up for even one season would've received a similar reaction of "They should've left them behind in 3 episodes!" and then just complained further when the show gave a justification of "Their space is large" or "The Warp Drive was damaged in the first battle".

Or maybe...the audience didn't have a problem with a recurring enemy, they had a problem with the Kazon specifically. I know that's MY beef. Just because one execution fails doesn't mean the entire concept is bad.

 

[Shatnertage]

These sorts of threads get surprisingly contentious. Why?

 

[HoneyBLilly]

These sorts of threads get surprisingly contentious. Why?

Everyone has an opinion.


Or . . .


Everyone's a critic.