I'm currently watching ST:TNG episodes having finished Voyager, and I'm already on Season 3 of TNG. Having seen both series back to back, I have to stand up for Janeway and say that she is perhaps THE BEST Captain of all the series, and I say this having LOVED Picard and Archer! As I'm watching TNG, I'm completely stupefied as to how Picard ever made it to be a Captain when he appears to have little to absolutely no knowledge about all things related to engineering, science, and even basic piloting at times. In fact, at times, he can be hot tempered and have a complete lack of patience. He is also just as stubborn and strong willed as Janeway, yet she always used her knowledge and skills to get out of situations, and in most situations, she directly contributed to finding solutions. Leading by example is what I would call it whereas Picard seems to sit there and wait for everyone to give fix things and give him ideas. Granted, I'm only on season three of TNG, but so far, I've seen little evidence that leads me to believe that Janeway is as bad of a Captain as some forums, voyager haters and even general opinions make her out to be. So far, she appears to be the one Captain from all the Star Trek series that was most qualified for the job having a wide variety of skills and a broad base of knowledge. No other Captain was nearly as knowledgeable in engineering and science. I say this having LOVED Picard for the entire series. He and Data are my favorite TNG characters. Now that I've compared Voy and TNG side by side and have also seen Enterprise and some original Trek episodes, I don't understand why people are so harsh in their judgment of Janeway. IMHO, she's the best Captain of them all. Yes, she put herself at risk more by going on many away missions and doing things herself when that was needed, but Picard in First Contact was just as involved. I think that Janeway was just one who would not ask someone to do what she wouldn't do herself and therefore she did do it herself whenever she could. It probably also was her broader knowledge than other captains that made her get involved because she didn't need others to tell her what was happening. She could figure it out on her own. Also, Archer and Kirk went on many away missions. It was not just Janeway who disregarded the whole Captain must stay on the ship and be safe concept. One last thought about away missions - when Picard goes on one when the discover the Iconain civilization, he comes back and tells Riker that he can see why Riker wants to keep all the away missions to himself (because they are more interesting than sitting on the bridge), which come across as if Picard NEVER went on an away mission previously. It's as if hee had no experience before being a captain other than being a captain. So how the heck did he get to be a captain? That's a pretty series flaw. Yet people dislike Janeway? At least you never wondered how she got to be a Captain. It's clear she worked her way up and learned quite a bit along the way. Even Riker was more knowledgeable than Picard. Okay, I've shared my 2 cents in defense of Janeway. I really needed to get that out of my system.
Picard was a bureaucrat, Janeway would flog herself and her crew just to make an alien happy, Archer was confused due to poor script writing, not even his own fault, Sisko was a station captain or whatever so he does not apply by the same rules...Kirk was and is the only TRUE Star Trek Captain, he actually looked like he cared for his crew and put their needs over anyone elses...
Kirk would not have allowed his crew to stay abandoned in the Delta Quadarant for all those years, he would of made it back home, thats what I am talking about.
You can't blame that on Janeway when it was nothing more than a crappy plot device and everyone knows it. If you can blame the problems with some characters on crappy writing (Archer), I retain the right to blame Voyager getting stranded on a horrible plot device. The writers could have just as easily allowed the Caretake to setup a self-destruct, and they should have, but they wanted to set up reasoning for characters to dislike Janeway in future episodes and as a long term issue the character faces as well as the idiot assumption by the writers that guilt would be a stronger driving force for her to get them home than if she didn't feel guilty. I believe that was a horrible maneuver on the part of the writers and creators of Voyager. Janeway as a character would have worked just as hard to get them home without the motivation of guilt. Idiot plot device.
I don't think it's Janeway's competence or intelligence that's questioned so much as her extremely erratic(and sometimes ethically questionable) decision-making. That said, I would take her over the bumbling, in- over- his head Archer and the aloof, pompous, hypocritical Captain Picard any day. But Kirk and Sisko are the best of the regular captains IMHO.
I did love Sisko. I never could get into DS9 as much but I watched it for a season or two. He was truly awesome. I loved Avery Brooks. He's awesome!
You do realize that was intended as playful banter? We know that Picard had a background in archeology and commanded the USS Stargazer for a twenty-plus year exploration mission prior to TNG. We know from TNG that he is a fairly decent strategist and that he created the 'Picard Maneuver' to save his crew from a (at the time) unknown assailant. Plus we've seen that Picard is also a capable diplomat, something that would come in handy. People have a hard time with Janeway because she often comes across a schizophrenic. Let's not forget the fact that she had no problem rewriting the history of billions to save a single person.
Janeway doesn't need defending as Captain, she is awesome. If you don't see it.. well go play knock-on-your-ass with Archer. Oh and Picard was also awesome and was a far better captain than Riker ever would have been, a man of deep thought and considered actions. Janeway was more like Kirk, a very quick and lateral thinker given to inspiration and immediate actions. They had different styles for sure and THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT otherwise Trek would be dead dull if they'd all been alpha male captains.
Picard was the helmsman on Stargazer. He displayed his piloting ability in Booby Trap, and in the episode In Theory, Picard insists on piloting a shuttle on his own a safe distance ahead of the Enterprise, to guide them through a dangerous area. What better example of a captain refusing to ask the crew to do something he wouldn't do himself?
No man could survive that, i'd call her the ships bike but if she was a bike her tires would be flat and burnt to the rim from never stopping, not once...
You mean like how Kirk nearly did in "City on the Edge of Forever"? And in the original draft (which folks here keep saying was better) he WAS willing to do so.
None of the other captains ever locked themselves in their quarters to sulk for an extended period while the crew was having the worst problems they had faced. And no, I don't care that technically the "Year of Hell" never happened, because it still proved that she is the sort of person who would do that. I really only clicked on this thread in the hopes that the title meant that her courtmartial trial was going on in here.
And if any of those other Captains HAD done those things, you'd be A-Okay with it and praise them for their "humanity".
There is a great big assumption there--that they would have been able to use the array to get home. The caretaker said it took too much effort and energy for him to do it in his condition, so who says that Voyager's crew could have done it without his help? All she really did was keep the array out of the hands of the Kazon, because the odds were against their being able to successfully send themselves home.
Ummmm, wait a minute. She didn't sulk in "Year of Hell," she sulked in "Night," and only when there was nothing to do for day after boring day. So they weren't having the "worst problems" while she was in her quarters. In fact, as soon as they had problems, she came to help with all guns firing! That's the sort of person she is.