Equinox

[Angry Fanboy]

I can't help thinking Equinox felt a bit underwhelming all things considered. Voyager encountering another Starfleet ship in the Delta Quadrant feels like it could have been a much larger event and it seemed a bit businesses as usual - 'yeah turns out there's been another Starfleet ship out here all along...'

I'd have liked the Equinox to have been a stronger ship than Voyager - really raised the stakes in terms of Voyager being at a disadvantage taking it on in battle.

Maybe even dropped some hints during the run in to actually encountering this other ship like Blood Fever and Unity did leading up to Scorpion - some rumours here, finding a combadge there, detecting some Starfleet transmissions in the far distance etc.

 

[STEPhon IT]

My understanding from my brother, the episode was a sh*t drop to dispel Trek fans' ideas of how VOY should've handle the show in following its OWN premise by not using holodecks, taking some chances besides fighting Uber enemy vessels every week and finding alternatives to preserve energy to survive. In that episode, there's this crew of losers who had to do the most unethical things so the GOAT can ride on her high horse and once again making Chakotay the greatest SIMP in Star Trek history.

This was another episode which didn't require 2 parts to tell its tale, but heck at least we discovered the rogue Captain secretly had the hots for Seven of Nine. YAWN. This was another blown opportunity to present a different POV from a crew who was lost in the Delta Quadrant and gaining some knowledge and clues to what's ahead for the GOAT and her ship. Set it up as a preview of a mysterious race or phenomena the alternate crew faced or witnessed things that happened. Or have this Starfleet crew have a different perspective of being lost where they don't want to go home, and they like it in the Delta Quadrant and make GOAT Janeway see that some disappointments can be a blessing. Some Starfleet officers dream to going so far out into space to see and discover the mysteries of the galaxy where they could share their knowledge to whoever wished to know and learn.

The episode wasn't a bit underwhelming, it was VERY underwhelming and pathetic.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Ironically, it was a 2nd chance to get back to the original premise of the show, which was almost immediately dropped the first time and this time: the joys, challenges and intrigue that could come from blending 2 radically different crews. They had potential with blending the Maquis & Starfleet, then squandered that. Here again, they sweep it under the rug with no lasting story arc whatsoever.

The idea never even seemed to occur to the writers, making the 2-parter an unexpected reunion of compatriots that, at the same time, was also forgettable and totally inconsequential. About as important & consequential as running into Amelia Earhart.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Cynically, this was the showrunners' shot to kill off Chakotay and have that noob Captain become GOAT Janeway's new 1st officer, a simple SIMP replacement.

 

[Summer Solstice]

I can't help thinking Equinox felt a bit underwhelming all things considered. Voyager encountering another Starfleet ship in the Delta Quadrant feels like it could have been a much larger event and it seemed a bit businesses as usual - 'yeah turns out there's been another Starfleet ship out here all along...'

I'd have liked the Equinox to have been a stronger ship than Voyager - really raised the stakes in terms of Voyager being at a disadvantage taking it on in battle.

Maybe even dropped some hints during the run in to actually encountering this other ship like Blood Fever and Unity did leading up to Scorpion - some rumours here, finding a combadge there, detecting some Starfleet transmissions in the far distance etc.

I would have liked that too. Especially before 'Course: Oblivion' as watching we might have thought the rumours, combadges, transmissions were from the silver blood Voyager.

Possibly the explanation in universe is that Voyager skipped almost 10 years of the journey in Timeless and 20,000 light years in Dark Frontier so they weren't in the same area of space as the Equinox for very long. I'd really like to know how long the Equinox was in the Delta Quadrant. I think the wormhole the Equinox used from Krowtonan space must have taken them to pretty close to where they met Voyager.

Ironically, it was a 2nd chance to get back to the original premise of the show, which was almost immediately dropped the first time and this time: the joys, challenges and intrigue that could come from blending 2 radically different crews. They had potential with blending the Maquis & Starfleet, then squandered that. Here again, they sweep it under the rug with no lasting story arc whatsoever.

The idea never even seemed to occur to the writers, making the 2-parter an unexpected reunion of compatriots that, at the same time, was also forgettable and totally inconsequential. About as important & consequential as running into Amelia Earhart.

It would have been great to see Marla Gilmore and Noah Lessing again after the episode focussed on them so much.

 

[Akiraprise]

I can't help thinking Equinox felt a bit underwhelming all things considered. Voyager encountering another Starfleet ship in the Delta Quadrant feels like it could have been a much larger event and it seemed a bit businesses as usual - 'yeah turns out there's been another Starfleet ship out here all along...'

I'd have liked the Equinox to have been a stronger ship than Voyager - really raised the stakes in terms of Voyager being at a disadvantage taking it on in battle.

Maybe even dropped some hints during the run in to actually encountering this other ship like Blood Fever and Unity did leading up to Scorpion - some rumours here, finding a combadge there, detecting some Starfleet transmissions in the far distance etc.

I'd have liked Equinox to be an Ambassador class ship. Larger, more powerful, quadruple the crew size of Voyager, but shown as having taken substantial damage over the years compelling them to use the aliens as fuel to get home. But I can't argue with any of the points you brought up. There should have been some buildup and foreshadowing throughout the season prior to them finally meeting.

 

[Angry Fanboy]

I'd have liked Equinox to be an Ambassador class ship. Larger, more powerful, quadruple the crew size of Voyager, but shown as having taken substantial damage over the years compelling them to use the aliens as fuel to get home. But I can't argue with any of the points you brought up. There should have been some buildup and foreshadowing throughout the season prior to them finally meeting.

Absolutely. Voyager being the larger, stronger ship and Janeway being the 'senior' captain was a bit meh - shake things up a bit and have Ransom be the senior officer, have the Equinox beaten up and maybe short-staffed but still the stronger vessel so Voyager engaging it was a very risky proposition.

And certainly tease the encounter a few episodes out - nothing Earth shattering but rumours from an alien race that a similar vessel passed this way a few months earlier, or a race who had clearly been traded Starfleet technology that means another Federation ship must be operating in the Delta Quadrant.

I'm a bit ambivalent to the Equinox having been abducted by the Caretaker just like Voyager too - never encountering the Borg. I think I'd have had them get there by some other means.

 

[valkyrie013]

So you want a battlestar Pegasus moment in Voyager?

 

[Akiraprise]

A Pegasus type arc would have been cool. But alas that was never going to happen because the suits wanted stand alone episodes mostly. If VOY was made today we'd have full season arcs with recurring characters because the premise almost forces them to do such a thing.

 

[Farscape One]

The biggest problem of "EQUINOX" was that nothing from it was followed on from that point

You had 5 crewmen from that ship staying on Voyager, two of which we spent a fair amount of time getting to know. And certainly when Starfleet was in regular contact with them, they had to know about that incident and those crew still on board.

Another thing was Janeway and Chakotay... everything was back to normal directly afterward. That was a great moment, him standing up to her like that. I thought to myself, "Finally! You got your balls back." Alas, that only a brief moment.

One thing that I'm not sure anyone else has mentioned... I found it unrealistic that Tuvok was willing to just go along. In part 2, he could see how obsessed she became, and with Chakotay already relieved and her threatening him with the same, it had to be clear even to her long time friend that she lost perspective.

"EQUINOX" was a great idea... just not utilized as well as it could have.

Ronald D. Moore took the lessons of what not to do here and applied it the Pegasus arc on BSG very, very well.

 

[Guy Gardener]

My understanding from my brother, the episode was a sh*t drop to dispel Trek fans' ideas of how VOY should've handle the show in following its OWN premise by not using holodecks, taking some chances besides fighting Uber enemy vessels every week and finding alternatives to preserve energy to survive. In that episode, there's this crew of losers who had to do the most unethical things so the GOAT can ride on her high horse and once again making Chakotay the greatest SIMP in Star Trek history.

This was another episode which didn't require 2 parts to tell its tale, but heck at least we discovered the rogue Captain secretly had the hots for Seven of Nine. YAWN. This was another blown opportunity to present a different POV from a crew who was lost in the Delta Quadrant and gaining some knowledge and clues to what's ahead for the GOAT and her ship. Set it up as a preview of a mysterious race or phenomena the alternate crew faced or witnessed things that happened. Or have this Starfleet crew have a different perspective of being lost where they don't want to go home, and they like it in the Delta Quadrant and make GOAT Janeway see that some disappointments can be a blessing. Some Starfleet officers dream to going so far out into space to see and discover the mysteries of the galaxy where they could share their knowledge to whoever wished to know and learn.

The episode wasn't a bit underwhelming, it was VERY underwhelming and pathetic.

Have you seen BSG?

What did you think of Pegasus?

 

[Oddish]

"EQUINOX" was a great idea... just not utilized as well as it could have.

So... basically, like the show as a whole.

 

[Farscape One]

Precisely.

 

[Oddish]

So many episodes were like that.

 

[Takeru]

Absolutely. Voyager being the larger, stronger ship and Janeway being the 'senior' captain was a bit meh - shake things up a bit and have Ransom be the senior officer, have the Equinox beaten up and maybe short-staffed but still the stronger vessel so Voyager engaging it was a very risky proposition.

The Equinox being significantly smaller and weaker than Voyager was the primary justification for the crew becoming so desperate that they started murdering aliens for fuel. That entire part of the story goes out of the window if they have the stronger ship and presumably more resources.

 

[Summer Solstice]

I'm a bit ambivalent to the Equinox having been abducted by the Caretaker just like Voyager too - never encountering the Borg. I think I'd have had them get there by some other means.

An interesting idea. I'd never considered that before. If they started from somewhere else, it would make more sense that they didn't encounter the Borg or anyone else that Voyager met.

The biggest problem of "EQUINOX" was that nothing from it was followed on from that point

You had 5 crewmen from that ship staying on Voyager, two of which we spent a fair amount of time getting to know. And certainly when Starfleet was in regular contact with them, they had to know about that incident and those crew still on board.

An episode about that would have been better than some of the episodes we got where they were in contact with the Alpha Quadrant.

Another thing was Janeway and Chakotay... everything was back to normal directly afterward. That was a great moment, him standing up to her like that. I thought to myself, "Finally! You got your balls back." Alas, that only a brief moment.

One thing that I'm not sure anyone else has mentioned... I found it unrealistic that Tuvok was willing to just go along. In part 2, he could see how obsessed she became, and with Chakotay already relieved and her threatening him with the same, it had to be clear even to her long time friend that she lost perspective.

Totally agree. There needed to be an Equinox part 3 with some fall out from all that.