“Star Trek: Voyager Is Good, Actually” by Renegade Cut

[Michael]

I know, I know, this board almost always reacts allergic to YouTube videos being posted (“Who cares about the opinion of some basement-dwelling manchild?” and all that), but this video essay about Voyager is actually pretty nice and very well made, I think. (Plus, it features a special appearance of the Trek BBS at one point.)

It's practically an elaborate love letter to the show and its characters, so don't expect a deep deconstruction of it or anything like that. That's not to say that they aren't going into some of the criticisms about the show, but it's always from a perspective of someone who clearly loves it and the characters and has put a lot of thought into why they think so. The video really manages to encapsulate why each of the characters is so lovable and why some of Voyager's episodes deserve to rank among the best of the franchise.

I'm in the middle of a rewatch of the whole show with my wife (who's a first-time watcher), so all the references from the video are pretty fresh in my memory. I wholeheartedly agree with the assessment that the first half of the show (the first three seasons, but especially seasons one and two) has a charm and quality that was lost in the second half. Voyager is getting so much shit from fans – and some of it rightly so – but they got so much stuff right that I seldom see someone give it credit for.

So again, if you don't like watching YouTube videos with someone talking about Star Trek, just don't watch this. Fine? Fine.

To everyone else, enjoy:

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[Danja]

It's good to hear from a FAN on YT. There's usually so much negativity on there towards Trek (NuTrek in particular).

 

[Xhiandra]

On rewatch, it struck me that VOY was better than I remembered... until I got to late S6 and S7.
Still some good episodes in those seasons, but it felt like a slog at times.

The middle seasons (4+5, maybe 3 as well) are probably the strongest, but S1/2 had a lot of episodes with nice premises. The execution wasn't always there, but I like that it tried to be high-concept SF most of the time. I guess that's the "charm" you refer to.

Didn't watch the whole video, but I do agree with him that Caretaker is one of the better first episodes. I think only TOS (both "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" are both very strong episodes) and maybe PIC had better first episodes (Emissary is hugely overrated).

On the other hand, the characters were never a strong point for me:

(from worst to best)
- I hate Neelix more than most.
- I don't like Paris, Chakotay and Torres. I'm not sure why, though.
- Janeway can largely be summed up as "I like coffee and protecting my crew! I'm undecided about the prime directive. really depends on day of the week (I might have a disassociative disorder)."
- Harry Kim is the essence of blandness. Not bad, but not good either. He's like a lesser Geordi. Though he's one of the characters that improves towards the end. His occasional quips about getting a promotion and the couple of "future Harry Kims" finally give some colour to the character. Still, it's not much.
- Kes is fine, excluding "Fury" (episode that doesn't make sense).
- 7 is fine, has some interesting plotlines. Not fond of the way she speaks. At first, it's quirky, but after season and season, it gets old. She also uses more repetitive patterns than others, rarely resorting to synonyms or alternate phrasings. A character as intelligent as 7 would've learned passively to communicate more seamlessly (she eventually did by the time of Picard).
- The Doctor is entertaining. Gets annoying by S6/7, though, as his ego balloons to the size of a small galaxy.
- I like Tuvok. Best character, as far as I'm concerned. A more subtle take on Vulcans than the usual fare. I like his quiet snark towards Neelix and Paris

 

[NCC-73515]

I agree with most of his points. Never understood the hate XD

 

[Michael]

It's good to hear from a FAN on YT. There's usually so much negativity on there towards Trek (NuTrek in particular).

Yes, it's always refreshing in this day and age to just have someone elaborate on why they think something is good. Leon Thomas/Renegade Cut strikes an interesting balance of talking about something he's passionate about but at the same time also being able to criticize it because he's passionate about it. He accepts Voyager as what it is – warts and all – not what it might have been or should have been.

I like Tuvok. Best character, as far as I'm concerned. A more subtle take on Vulcans than the usual fare. I like his quiet snark towards Neelix and Paris

I'm more or less the opposite of you as I really like all of the characters, even if I think some are weaker than others. On Tuvok though we are in complete agreement. Tuvok is an awesome character, maybe even my favorite.

I agree with most of his points. Never understood the hate XD

I can understand some of the disappointment aimed at Voyager by some viewers, but the degree to which some are deriding it is just ridiculous. Before Enterprise aired Voyager seemed to be the red-headed stepchild of the franchise, especially on this board. And I get it, as a Niner I would never favor it over the other shows. But it's just as he's describing it in the video: the good aspects of Voyager simply outweigh the bad ones.

 

[Tosk]

I personally believe most people don't hate Voyager at all. It's just that they don't like it. This being the internet, everything's gotta be best or worst.

I may be wrong about that, but I can say for sure that it is how I feel about the show. I definitely like some of it, but less than what I don't like.

 

[NCC-73515]

VOY had 35 excellent episodes, 53 good ones, 58 average ones, 20 lame ones, and 2 bad ones (IMO).

 

[PatB1974]

The thing that made Voyager SO much better for me upon rewatch, was watching it on Netflix with no commercials. U.P.N. commercials were so numerous, and lengthy that I often forgot what I was watching while channel surfing.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

My position when it was on was "Well, it's still better than most of the crap on television".

It delivered some likable characters and a lot of strong episodes. It's just hard not to imagine what more it could be if the producers weren't so satisfied with being an unambitious rehash and riding out TNG's laurels.

 

[Charles Phipps]

VOY's bad rep I believe comes from the behind the scenes chaos that leaked out. The fact is that UPN wanted TNG 2.0, some writers didn't want to write anything but TNG, other writers were desperate to break out of the mold, and it was a miserable experience for half the cast who nevertheless displayed great professionalism.

 

[Oddish]

Finally, Chakotay and Harry get some much needed love. I know that all Treks save possibly DS9 had some characters who were brushed off. These two weren't the most egregious examples (Travis who?) but they were among them. I know that under the circumstances a Janeway/Chakotay romance wasn't feasible, but I still say that was too bad. And Harry just couldn't catch a break, between Geordi-level romantic failure and Janeway's stinginess with rank pips, it's amazing he didn't have a persecution complex by show's end.