I slowly started a Voyager watchthrough a while ago, and it's the first time I've watched in a few years.
Most of the episodes so far were about as I remember, only when I saw Prime Factors, I couldn't believe how bad it was. I remembered liking the episode. Every line of dialog in the episode was cringe-worthy. I looked up the writing credit and the only other episode he wrote was Unforgettable. In the entire episode where wasn't a single line that seemed like natural real human speech (Originating from humans or otherwise). It wasn't a bad idea, having Voyager wind up on the receiving end of the prime directive for once, but the execution is bad even by Voyager standards.
Then, State of Flux was as good an episode as I remember, even a better one. But it strikes me this time how much of a mistake it was to have Seska escape the ship. She would have been so much more interesting sitting in the brig, subtly trying to sell the rest of the crew on her philosophy of establishing a base of power, manipulating Chakotay, maybe having a Silence of the Lambs style episode where her expertise is needed for something.
One thing I forgot or maybe didn't see it that way at the time is 'Alien Simpleness Syndrome'. This is not something unique to Trek, as shows that aren't in space have a similar problem with the human guest stars. All the aliens we meet seem like just a little dumber than the heroes at all turns. Or maybe a better word is 'Intellectually helpless'.
Aliens are presented with some unique thing that makes their customs cause a dilemma for Voyager, and they either push on it with no self awareness, or they have such weak convictions that they can't wait to be morally led by the first outsider they meet. Maybe this comes out of the feeling of the 90s that 'Our culture and belief system is the only possible best one and all those other cultures just need us to generously offer it to them'. But in 2018 it really stands out.
Most of the episodes so far were about as I remember, only when I saw Prime Factors, I couldn't believe how bad it was. I remembered liking the episode. Every line of dialog in the episode was cringe-worthy. I looked up the writing credit and the only other episode he wrote was Unforgettable. In the entire episode where wasn't a single line that seemed like natural real human speech (Originating from humans or otherwise). It wasn't a bad idea, having Voyager wind up on the receiving end of the prime directive for once, but the execution is bad even by Voyager standards.
Then, State of Flux was as good an episode as I remember, even a better one. But it strikes me this time how much of a mistake it was to have Seska escape the ship. She would have been so much more interesting sitting in the brig, subtly trying to sell the rest of the crew on her philosophy of establishing a base of power, manipulating Chakotay, maybe having a Silence of the Lambs style episode where her expertise is needed for something.
One thing I forgot or maybe didn't see it that way at the time is 'Alien Simpleness Syndrome'. This is not something unique to Trek, as shows that aren't in space have a similar problem with the human guest stars. All the aliens we meet seem like just a little dumber than the heroes at all turns. Or maybe a better word is 'Intellectually helpless'.
Aliens are presented with some unique thing that makes their customs cause a dilemma for Voyager, and they either push on it with no self awareness, or they have such weak convictions that they can't wait to be morally led by the first outsider they meet. Maybe this comes out of the feeling of the 90s that 'Our culture and belief system is the only possible best one and all those other cultures just need us to generously offer it to them'. But in 2018 it really stands out.
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