How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seasons?

[indolover]

All of the captains in the 24th century era had a romantic relationship. Picard had Vash, Lt. Cmdr. Darren, and Anij. Sisko had the scientist's twin, Jennifer (well in the pilot at least) and Kassidy. So how come Janeway got no action, when in a sense she needed more action?

I guess a CO has to remain distant from the crew, but Janeway was the CO of a vessel thousands of light-years from Federation space. Human nature alone means things would have been lonely.

 

[borg_curious]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

All of the captains in the 24th century era had a romantic relationship. Picard had Vash, Lt. Cmdr. Darren, and Anij. Sisko had the scientist's twin, Jennifer (well in the pilot at least) and Kassidy. So how come Janeway got no action, when in a sense she needed more action?

I guess a CO has to remain distant from the crew, but Janeway was the CO of a vessel thousands of light-years from Federation space. Human nature alone means things would have been lonely.

I used to think Janeway & Chakotay would get together, but Seven of Nine put an end to that.

 

[ChadHydro]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

She got some hankey pankey with that Irish dude in Fair Haven

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

Tom made babies with the woman. She joked afterward that she probably raped him, and Tom doesn't deserve an honorable mention ?

She'd rather play with a monkey when that indian is the last man on the planet they're exiled to and she didn't like that bloke till she vivisected his personality into exactly what she thought she deserved and then she was too guilty over mindwashing him to do anything on top of him therafter.

I read fanfiction once where they tapped Amelia Airheart as her lover.

You must remember that she spent the first four years in a committed monogamous relationship to a guy who was courting and marrying some other broad 70 thousand lightyears away.

 

[Udat]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

Or maybe Janeway didn`t have a high sex drive?

 

[tvih]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

Personally I'd guess that more happened at the planet with Chakotay than what was shown towards the end of their stay. But whether it did or not... seven years isn't unbelievably long by any means. The only lasting affair could've been with Chakotay, but it's clear they wanted to keep things professional due to the situation the ship was in. Also for a big part of the series she held on to the hope of getting home to her husband. Random flings with whatever aliens they ran across would therefore not be her top priority.

Or long story short... not everyone has a one-track mind.

 

[kathrynjaneway]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

^^ Actually it wasn't her husband but her fiancé.

Yeah, I also think that there was supposed to have been more between them on "New Earth". That whole "angry warrior" stuff and so on...he confessed his love to her. But after they were cured they couldn't keep the relationship alive, or at least that's what Janeway thought. TPTB were going to go with a J/C romance in season 4, but Mulgrew didn't want that.

There were the casual flirts with aliens or holograms, i.g. Michael Sullivan, Jaffen (from Work Force), Kashyk...but she never could pursue those relationships any further as those guys either would have had to become members of her crew (Jaffen) and that would have been breaking protocol again, or they betrayed her (Kashyk) or they were just a hologram!!!

In my opinion, Chakotay would have been the logical choice. He is next in command and not some ensign or crewman, he is her best friend and TPTB gave us so much that might just as well have lead to a romance between them. Season 5 is a good example, but of course there was something going on in every episode...just remember some season 5 episodes. First, there was Timeless...their dinner on their "last night" in the DQ. There were so many hints, sparks flying around...then The Fight came along. A very stupid episode, but the scene between Janeway and Chakotay in Sickbay where she's touching him the whole time... I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd been told there actually was a J/C romance. For me, it would have made sense because so many things were pointing in that direction.

 

[tvih]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

Ah yes, fiancé. I didn't think they were married, so don't know why I used the word husband... well, anyway.

I think a large part of why Janeway and Chakotay didn't pursue a romantic relationship any further was that, aside from probably being inappropriate for the Captain to be involved with a member of her crew like that as far as Starfleet code of conduct goes, they might've thought it could be harmful for their command authority. Even if at the same time they didn't stop their crew from pursuing relationships with each other.

As it was said in... well, probably season one, Janeway thought that she'll have to keep up appearances so to speak, for her crew's sake. Meaning keeping a certain distance even while being close to them. This would apply to Chakotay as well, since the crew would certainly take notice if something more personal/serious was taking place between them.

 

[Elias Vaughn]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

With the stress of being in charge of the community you got stranded in the Delta Quadrant on top of how much coffee she tended to slug? I'm surprised she even occasionally flirted.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

I don't remember seeing the photo of Mark, or hear Kathryn speak of Mark after season 2's "Resolutions" until she received her "dear John" letter in season 4. Not that I think there was anything going on between Janeway & Chakotay after they left "New Earth", but a thousand denials by Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran will never convince me something didn't happen between their respective characters on that planet.

JANEWAY: It's all right. You can say it. On top of all that, I got a Dear John letter. It wasn't really a surprise. I guess I didn't really expect him to wait for me considering the circumstances. It made me realize that I was using him as a safety net, you know, as a way to avoid becoming involved with someone else.
CHAKOTAY: You don't have that safety net anymore.
JANEWAY: That's right. Then again, my life is far from uneventful here in the Delta quadrant. It's not like I would have had a chance to pursue a relationship even if I had realized I was alone.
CHAKOTAY: You're hardly alone, and to my way of thinking, there's still plenty of time.
JANEWAY: Plenty of time.

Unfortunately for the J/Cers among us, TPTB didn't pursue that relationship further and Kate actively pushed back from any romantic relationship for her character.

Mores the pity.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

I think the problem was that the writers didn't want to pursue those types of stories. Why, I don't know. The only time they tried was with Paris and Torres, and, IMO, they always seemed to let that storyline atrophy, then rush through it with one episode, then let it atrophy again. Not to mention the fact that they didn't get married until the final season.

I'm not going to mention the whole Seven/Chakotay debacle.

The same thing happened on Enterprise. Archer never had a love interest, aside from some hankey pankey with Captain Hernandez. Nobody got a serious romantic relationship, except for Trip/T'Pol. That storyline had so much potential, but it was clear the writers never really wanted to pursue it. It always seemed like they were only doing it because they had to.

 

[Noss]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

there was always seven but trek fans werent ready for it

 

[RyuRoots]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

there was always seven but trek fans werent ready for it

I honestly think it could have been interesting, especially considering that her relationship with Janeway was unique; she more than anyone else tried to help her recover what she could have been if she hadn't been assimilated, and Seven was someone who would have a hard time seeing the difference between close friendship and love. Even if it didn't result in a romance, I think it's something that could have been worth exploring, personally.

And...just a side note regarding the opening post, I REALLY wouldn't put Anij on that list. She was just another forgettable romance of the week story that unfortunately plagues every Trek.

 

[Kai Winn]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

All of the captains in the 24th century era had a romantic relationship. Picard had Vash, Lt. Cmdr. Darren, and Anij. Sisko had the scientist's twin, Jennifer (well in the pilot at least) and Kassidy. So how come Janeway got no action, when in a sense she needed more action?

I guess a CO has to remain distant from the crew, but Janeway was the CO of a vessel thousands of light-years from Federation space. Human nature alone means things would have been lonely.

the shows are watched by people of the 20th century. for them, if a man and a woman do the same, it is not the same.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

the shows are watched by people of the 20th century. for them, if a man and a woman do the same, it is not the same.

Which I suspect was Kate's thesis all along. It was even Janeway's thesis in season 1's "Prime Factors".

JANEWAY: We prefer permanence. The reward of relationships that endure and grow deeper with the passing of time.

If you rule out people on the ship, because of fraternization issues, and you rule out aliens of the week due to "lack of enduring relationships" issues, then you're pretty much stuck with Klingon Romance novels after B'Elanna is finished with them, or holodeck programs.

Drats!

 

[Guy Gardener]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

Have you ever bought porn from a second hand book shop?

As far using other peoples novels goes, it all becomes a game and the ships computer is keeping score about who does what how well, that some one can win an award for being the ships greatest lover, hell, at the christmas part they they can show split screen reactions as the same holocharacters react to different RL fornicators.

 

[EJA]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

The writers actually poked fun at the idea of a J/C relationship in the episode "Muse".

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

I loved that scene in "Muse" when faux Janeway kisses faux Chakotay, and B'Elanna looks SHOCKED!

TORRES: Because when you think that you are surrounded by enemies, when you're up against the Borg, or, or Species 8472, the last thing on your mind is romance.

This from the woman making out with Tom Paris on an engineering console in "Scientific Method". Granted, she was under an "alien influence" at the time. ;-)

 

[DevilEyes]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

I loved that scene in "Muse" when faux Janeway kisses faux Chakotay, and B'Elanna looks SHOCKED!

TORRES: Because when you think that you are surrounded by enemies, when you're up against the Borg, or, or Species 8472, the last thing on your mind is romance.

This from the woman making out with Tom Paris on an engineering console in "Scientific Method". Granted, she was under an "alien influence" at the time. ;-)

Besides being a bit ironic coming from her, 'Elanna's reasoning becomes less convincing if you watch the show on a regular basis and see that the crew hasn't exactly spent that much time going against super-enemies like the Borg or the species 8472, and has spent quite a lot of time entertaining wacky alien ambassadors, participating in local sport events, or fooling around on a holodeck.

 

[Kai Winn]

Re: How come Janeway never had a serious love interest - in SEVEN seas

janeway was a professional committed to her crew. that she could function as a sensual woman when relieved of this duty she proved in workforce, btw, a great episode. i also liked her in 11:59. actually, i liked her in any episode.