How would you change the show?

[DarKush]

The whole point of her being on there was to appeal to the 18-35yo male demographic.

The fact that Jeri Ryan is an amazing actor was icing on the cake.

While I don't disagree with either of your points, I would also throw in that they wanted to take advantage of the popularity of the Borg as well. Having her Borg transformation go slower keeps a recognizable Borg on the show each week, and it would've fit more with seeing her reconnection to humanity in a visual way, paraphrasing what RDM once said about it.

 

[Mina Wolf]

But after a year or so on that isolated rock, he'll be so bored that he'll go out and start looking for his best friends.

You really think so?

 

[GotNoRice]

I could probably compile a list of things to nitpick about, but really the biggest thing I wish was done differently is the ending.

The show spent 7 years setting the stage for what would happen when they get home. Yet instead of getting any resolution whatsoever to any of those questions, the show literally ends instantly once they get home.

Would the EMH remain as a respected crew member and friend or would he simply be deactivated/replaced? We even had a Star Trek episode where they tried to introduce some sort of "all of the old EMH programs have become slaves" narrative, yet we never get to see what happens to the Voyager EMH.

A bunch of the crew are former members of the Maquis. Would they be able to retain the same ranks they were given on Voyager? Would they face any prosecution due to their former roles in the Maquis? This isn't just some side plot, it was one of the main plots on the show and we did not get any resolution whatsoever.

There are countless more examples.

I would have liked to see Voyager get home maybe 1-3 episodes before the series ended. Have the last few episodes take place in the Alpha quadrant. Maybe the Borg followed them home and then they have to work with Starfleet to stop them. Or maybe an episode like "Family" which came right after "Best of Both Worlds" on TNG. Really any ending would be better than what we got. The show was about the crew, not the Delta quadrant. In it's current incarnation it feels like reading a book with the last few pages torn out.

Past Voyager, the only followup we got was the very tiny Janeway cameo in Nemesis. I guess PICARD finally furthers the story of at least some former Voyager crew, but I have not made it past the first episode yet. After I saw a commercial for PICARD that had 7 of 9 running around with guns in her hands like Neo from the Matrix, I lost most of my motivation to continue watching. I'm seriously worried that it will have the "Star Wars effect", where the new content is so absolutely terrible that it actually ruins my desire to ever re-watch the older content.

 

[Rey]

I'll see if I can just list ones that haven't already been posted.

• Periodically introduce new characters from the Delta quadrant who are recruited as crewmembers (Voyager can't just request crew transfers from Starfleet Headquarters after losing people!). We get some new friends and get to explore the inverse of the Voyager crew's situation (willingly leaving home forever for some far off region).
• Throw in a Romulan crewman. It wouldn't take much contriving to have Telek R'Mor (that one astrophysicist guy they made contact with) join the team.
  • This ties in to the idea of the ship Voyager getting revamped and added to as the series progresses. The ship that makes it home is not the one that got stranded out there. I want to see them violate the Treaty of Algernon and try to build a cloak. The Romulans can't get mad about it when they're 70,000 ly away (though I'm sure they'd try).
• Do something better with Kes. Why not have her decide to stay with that Ocampa space station to get help developing her abilities and benefit from their life-extending tech? She could make a few reappearances after she's learned to astral project or something.
  
• Have Samantha Wildeman as a reoccurring character. She could be a lower decks-type character that could get us out of the constant senior crew viewpoint.
  
• Have Chakotay be interesting. He was a respected and principled Starfleet officer who defected to the Marquis, surely there's some potential there. I like the dynamic of him holding back Warcrimes Aunty Janeway when she wants to go a little too far. Also, hire indigenous cultural consultants who AREN'T white scam artists! Please!
  
• Let Harry Kim be gay. He almost exclusively develops crushes on women that he thinks are unobtainable or uninterested and he seems so miserable when most of them try to show interest back. Very relatable gay vibes. I'd rather not hook him up with Tom though, Harry deserves better.
  
• Either dump the Kazon, or revamp them a bit. I could go for a Kazon sect that is trying to reform the worse aspects of their society. They would probably be hated by most other Kazon sects and would be good candidates for an alliance with Voyager.
  
• More random Delta quadrant cultures in general. I want to see more Planets of the Week, nomadic spacefarers, and big dumb interstellar empires with silly laws to run up against. Less Borg though.
• We can throw in a one or two more cameos of Alpha/Beta quadrant species, though preferably in self-contained one off episodes. There are any number of reasons why familiar species could be out there in small numbers.
  
• Delete the weird, hetero Q episodes.
  
• More dumb "oh god oh no we are trapped in the holodeck with the safeties off" episodes, but not in Fake Ireland.
  
• More mundane interpersonal drama and found family bonding! I don't know if this is a hot take or not, but Voyager is at it's best when it's developing interpersonal relationships between the characters. The EMH and Kes' bonding, Harry and B'elanna's early friendship, those are legitimately my favorite parts of Voyager.
  
• Keep Threshold and make no attempts to turn it into a better episode. You can't improve upon perfection.

 

[Lynx]

You really think so?

Yes, I do!

 

[dupersuper]

I'd rather not hook him up with Tom though, Harry deserves better.

Better than expert pilot/medic/commando/engineer/historian/pool hustler/holonovel author Tom Paris?

 

[Mina Wolf]

Yes, I do!

Then i believe you!

 

[Lynx]

I've said on other threads that I wish Shelby had been the captain and that Ro had been on the series as well. But keeping the characters and basic premise that we got, here are some of my thoughts:

-Maquis would not be putting on Starfleet uniforms at the end of "Caretaker". It would take a season, two, or more before they put on the uniforms, and even then, it might be piecemeal and not all just one uniform decision.
-More interpersonal conflict, between Starfleet and Maquis, but also within both sides too.
-No Neelix or Kes. I'm fine with them having Delta Quadrant denizens on board, I just found Neelix very annoying as a character and Kes was sort of bland. If I kept Neelix I would've played up more his more unsavory side.
-Make the Viidians and not the Kazon the main villains in the early seasons.
-Give the series a more desperate air, where it's a more of a struggle to find resources. And we see the ship dinged up more, for longer time.
-Make Species 8472 the next major series big bads, taking out the Borg completely, or almost completely. Also, do more with the Swarm, Voth, and Vaadwaur.
-No Borg overload and no Borg children onboard.
-Keep Seska around longer, perhaps recurring or as a prisoner on Voyager.
-Have Seven of Nine's physical transformation be slower. As she reclaims her humanity we see the physical changes so we get sexpot Seven more toward the end of the series than at the end of "Scorpion Part 1".
-Like the idea I saw of a DS9/VOY crossover, so I'm pilfering that one. It would've been neat to see the crews interact and to see Voyager have to deal with the Dominion.
-I wouldn't have minded a flashback episode or two about the original Voyager crew. If I recall, the mission against the Maquis was the first for the vessel, but it didn't have to be. There could've been room there to have it where Voyager has been around for a while. I think it could've been a nice change of pace and let viewers see what the original crew was like and perhaps to see how Janeway's command style had changed. That could've also been a sneak way to do a TNG/DS9/VOY crossover as well.

Now, why should Kes stay in that isolated underground society when she wanted explore space.
They should have given her more exciting episodes where her wits and courage would have saved the day.

 

[Tracy Trek]

Janeway always hoped to get home earlier, but if they were realistically looking at a seventy year journey, then there needed to be more young people on board who could train to take over eventually. If it did take seventy years, it couldn't all fall on Icheb, Naomi and eventually Miral.

So, in that vein, there should not have been that cop-out that Seska's baby was really Cullah's son. He should have been Chakotay's like it seemed from the start and he would have to raise him after Seska's death. The Borg children should have remained onboard, even the baby. One of my favorite fanfictions called Fostering has the baby adopted by Marla Gilmore

Another young person who could have come on board and this ties in to the quote below about recruiting DQ natives. What if the young man that Doc tries to help in Critical Care does not die and decides to come on board and train as a medical assistant for the Doctor. It could be a mentor/protege relationship for the EMH and the boy.

Periodically introduce new characters from the Delta quadrant who are recruited as crewmembers (Voyager can't just request crew transfers from Starfleet Headquarters after losing people!). We get some new friends and get to explore the inverse of the Voyager crew's situation (willingly leaving home forever for some far off region).

Kes stays on board and becomes a mentor for Seven. We get to see her live out her lifespan or a way is found to extend it.

Seven wears normal clothing.

A way is found to use the slipstream or transwarp safely. It takes most of the final season (Endgame is ignored) and the last few episodes show the homecoming. The reunions, how things are resolved for everyone.

Now my last one is just a character I would have liked to see on Voyager. It doesn't really change anything. What if Simon Tarses had to leave Starfleet after the scandel in the TNG episode The Drumhead and he eventually ends up in the Maquis. He could be another medical helper for the Dr.

 

[Oddish]

Seven wears normal clothing.

A way is found to use the slipstream or transwarp safely. It takes most of the final season (Endgame is ignored) and the last few episodes show the homecoming. The reunions, how things are resolved for everyone.

Now my last one is just a character I would have liked to see on Voyager. It doesn't really change anything. What if Simon Tarses had to leave Starfleet after the scandel in the TNG episode The Drumhead and he eventually ends up in the Maquis. He could be another medical helper for the Dr.

Agreed about Seven. I appreciate a nice body, but this is Star Trek, not the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Love the idea of the slipstream drive. Have all of S7 be like S3 of Enterprise, with the crew ironing out the kinks a bit at a time. Then in the penultimate episode, Voyager takes her last ride, and delivers her crew home. Allow one more episode for denouement. And since they've dumped the C/7 mismatch, there's time for some J/C instead.

And Simon, yes. I SO wanted to find out what happened to him. He could be brought on as a crewman, and later mustanged up to ensign. That way, the nonsensical "someone's gotta be an ensign" trope would be fulfilled, allowing Harry to get his much-deserved hollow pip.

Great ideas.

 

[Tracy Trek]

And Simon, yes. I SO wanted to find out what happened to him. He could be brought on as a crewman, and later mustanged up to ensign. That way, the nonsensical "someone's gotta be an ensign" trope would be fulfilled, allowing Harry to get his much-deserved hollow pip.

I think some of the novels have some further adventures for Simon but the novels are not real canon. But in my idea above, the actual show never really gives us a follow-up on what happened to Simon after it was found out he lied on his admission form about being part Romulan.

 

[Oddish]

There are multiple versions. There's a stub in a book about him getting expelled from Starfleet... maybe he wound up sweeping floors at the same dead end job crap-hole diner that Nick Lacarno wound up washing dishes at...

Other version (was it in STO or another video game?) is happier. He was suspended 6 months for his actions and shipped back to Earth. Took the opportunity to attend the academy's medical school. By the timeline of the game, he's a doctor and a lieutenant in Starfleet.

 

[Oddish]

Check this out. One 20-second episode start that solves two of Voyager's dumbest inconsistencies...

Ext. shot of Voyager, flying at warp.

Int. shot of ready room. Senior officers are being briefed.

JANEWAY: "Lieutenant Torres. What's the status of the equipment we traded for from the Zillerians?"

TORRES: "The plasma injectors are running at peak efficiency. We're having some power matrix compatibility issues with the industrial replicator, but I should have it up and running in a few hours."

JANEWAY: "Good. I want you to focus on producing more photon torpedoes. If the Kazon or Vidiians show up again, I want to be ready."

CHAKOTAY: "We may also want to produce some more shuttles. We've lost quite a few of them in the last couple of years."

JANEWAY: "Agreed. Make shuttle fabrication your second priority."

TORRES: "Aye, captain."

Comm beeps, and the threat of the week emerges, causing everyone to get summoned to the bridge.

 

[tomalak301]

Here are some things I wanted to see with Voyager

1. More Vidiians. I wish they would have focused more on the Vidiians than the Kazon because they were a lot more interesting. Lifesigns should have been an early season 2 episode and they could have brought back Pel a few more times after that.
2. Promote Harry Kim after Timeless. Then in a few episodes time you get a demotion for Tom and a Promotion for Kim. I mean Kim saved the crew, just in the future. That should mean something
3. Put 7 in a uniform or something more professional.
4. Doctor and 7 in a relationship, not Chakotay and 7
5. Bring the crew home with three episodes left of the series so we can see the aftermath
6. More 8472, leading to them and Voyager and the Allies from Unimatrix 0 launching an all out War to end the Borg once and for all, then 8472 brings Voyager home through Fluidic Space and introduces themselves to the real Starfleet command, leading to an alliance that connects the Alpha and the Delta Quadrents together.

 

[Oddish]

I second Tomalak.

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

My main change would be a six year mission in the DQ, with extensive ongoing attrition, ending in a year of them readjusting (of failing to readjust) to life in paradise in the AQ. At least one suicide once they got back.

Tuvix would be retained. I'd have the EMH not merely refuse the procedure, but permanently destroy the ship's transporters to prevent the procedure (add a time limit before it became unable to reverse it). Next episode, Janeway puts EMH on trial for mutiny and ends by resetting him (make it an episode on capital punishment and hologram rights). This has the consequence of polarizing the crew, ultimately leading to a full-blown mutiny. Janeway is imprisoned in the brig for six months and several of her most trusted officers get locked in their quarters. When the Borg are ultimately encountered, Janeway makes a deal to regain command if she agrees to a court-martial upon returning home. Chakotay rises to more of a co-captain role, with more friction with Janeway.

 

[Oddish]

Better than that endless reset button pressing... had Voyager happened during this wave of serialized Trek, I could see storylines like that unfolding.

 

[tomalak301]

Why couldn't they just clone tuvix? If Tuvix was a transporter accident, than I think the Ethics of cloning Tuvix might slightly change, and then you can have Neelix and Tuvok and Tuvix together. I'm sure the Doctor would have agreed to do that.

 

[Oddish]

I'm not sure that what happened with Riker could be routinely replicated. If I remember right, it occured due to an atmospheric fluke of some sort.

 

[Dukhat]

I would have immediately jettisoned the whole 'find a way back to Earth' stuff by the end of the first season. The audience already knows that they won't get back home until the end of the series (and any episode that focuses on some miracle way to get back will inevitably fail), so it's not any kind of a dramatic tension point. I would have had the crew ultimately decide to stay in the area of space they're currently occupying and try to make a new home there. They could possibly try to form a pseudo-Federation of their own with the local alien races. That way we could have gotten to know a handful of races better than just the planets-of-the-week that the show ultimately devolved into.