QUOTE=Father Huxmas;11381644]
Well, she did have contempt for Chakotay in her heart of hearts, didn't she?
She paid little attention to his opinions and I think he understood his role was more decorative than official. I'm even tempted to defend Beltran form accusations of "
phoning in his performances" after the arrival of Seven and make the suggestion that Beltran is actually a brilliant actor who - with immense subtlety - successfully portrayed a man slowly accepting that he had no meaningful influence on Janeway.
Any takers for that interpretation?
The problem here though is her treatment of Tuvok. This is someone whose opinion she does take on board and she clearly has a level of respect for him that is not forthcoming for any of the others. Yet she also (in her fit of marble losing lunacy) starts frothing at the mouth when he also questions her actions.
Barking![/QUOTE]
I think your take on Beltran's telling, but not overt, portrayal of a command officer who has lost any primacy in the influence of significant decisions is right on target. Chakotay essentially became a place holder and not much more. Additionally, despite the tide of folks that characterize his performance as wooden, lifeless, etc. he is indeed quite a fine actor, in whatever medium he appears, probably most significantly on the stage.
Tuvok, is indeed a different story, in Janeway's estimation. I would wager to say that she felt compelled to have him out of the picture, temporarily at least, because she deemed him to be a greater threat to effectively carrying out her implacably convicted course, probably because he could make a compelling case that would sway the crew to the point that orders wouldn't be complied with and even perhaps instigating a common sentiment that she, in fact, needed to be put into the hoosgow. What is the consequence per Starfleet, of putting a senior officer in the brig, even for a brief period, without valid justification? I guess however such an action might mark her record, she felt it was well worth it to get things done.
Tuvok should have been mostly dead to her after Prime Factors.
As Janeway said at the time, mind you very early in the journey, she needed him and no, not in the way that was revealed in Living Witness.
I always thought that Captain Janeway may have been partially insane. She is my most disliked character in Star Trek primarily due to her constant hypocrisy. One event that really bothered me was in "Year of Hell", when the Doctor tries to relieve her of duty and she threatens to delete his program. She of course disobeys his order (which really she can't do). She pretends to believe in the ideals and regulations of Star Fleet, but she only practices this when she feels like it. If the mood strikes her, she disregards everything and makes up her own rules. She is furious with anyone who disagrees with her or challenges her, even if they are legally entitled to do so. I find it difficult to watch at times.
I don't concur with the idea of impaired mental health (I'll conveniently step around Night) or hormones or any such claptrap. I think she did as plausible and consistent a job in an unprecedented situation, in balancing Starfleet precepts, the imperative to still discover as much as possible about this terra incognita, and to strive too get her people home, intact and within their lifetimes. I certainly won't deny that liberties were taken, and not just once or twice. But both in the degree of their severity and as an indication of a supposed imbalance on Janeway's part, the crucial aspect of their nature is overstated by many fans.
Especially, as to the latter, I don't think that the writers' intent was to suggest and develop a theme of a continuing and evolving loss of Janeway's ability to judge reality effectively. I honestly believe that the thought process in showing her inconsistencies was strictly as a means to drive more suspenseful action being able to be depicted in an episode than would be possible if she always strictly played things by the book, as was more frequently the case early on. I don't know how prevalently the opinion is held, but I definitely have heard and read fans' comments about the relative general dullness of the first couple of seasons.
So, again I'm inclined to disagree that Janeway's leadership, principles, and demeanor were anything less than crucial in getting Voyager as far and quickly as she did and that the ultimate appropriateness of the decisions that she made would merit or result in any discipline applied when they did get home, the political difficulties in doing so aside. She was made an admiral after all, although I'll leave to others to make the argument that promotion was, in fact, a de facto sanction placed on her.
But again, I think that the inconsistencies and lapses are a simple means to more effectively drive action and conflict on the writers' part, which unfortunately, from my perspective, capriciously redounded to Janeway's detriment in the eyes of a number of viewers.
