Re: If you were the creator of VOY, what would you have done different
There are a lot of good ideas coming through in here, actually. In my previous post, I mentioned just what I'd do to the ship and crew as a whole, but I've given more thought to the specific cast.
To begin, in the pilot, Janeway wouldn't have been the Captain but the Chief Science Officer - we've seen that Janeway had a love of the sciences, so it seems an appropriate place for her. But when the Caretaker pulls them to the Delta Quadrant, the Captain and first officer would be killed. This leaves Janeway the highest ranking officer, and thus, makes her the Captain. She'd be pressed into the role of captain without having prepared for it.
Chakotay would have been a bit darker, and possibily a bit older, mid-to-late forties, maybe. He was a Commander in Starfleet before he joined the Maquis, so with the Voyager the intact ship and Janeway having taken command (because he is a wanted criminal, so she's not going to turn Federation property over to him to do with as he pleases), he's somewhat bitter - she hasn't had the training to be captain, she hasn't been in charge of anything larger than a science team!
B'Elanna would have been basically unchanged. She hates her Klingon half for making her different among her human companions during her childhood, but that same Klingon side has come to hate the human side for its weakness. It might have been an opportunity to play with the idea of certain psychological disorders, like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder - both sides of B'Elanna hate the other.
Likewise, Tom would be about the same, having the same back story. The only real difference I might give him is that he'd be bisexual - he's established as a womanizer and a flirt on the show, the only difference is that he'd have no problems with doing the same with men that he does with women.
Harry would be forced to grow up, no question. A major plot for him would be his needing to prove why this freshly graduated Ensign is a member of the senior staff - like I said before, the other crewmen, from both Maquis and Starfleet would resent him being there. And on top of that... I think I'd have him come to realize he's gay, since his home life kinda lends itself to a 'repressed homosexuality' story - he's the only child of an older couple, so he's felt a lot of pressure to marry and continue the family line. So he's repressed his feelings for what he thinks his parents want - him to marry a nice girl and have some kids. Whether or not his parents actually feel that way, I don't know. But Tom would be the one to coax him out of trying to make his parents happy at the expense of his own happiness, and maybe things between the two would develop into a relationship.
Tuvok would be more of a counselor and mentor to the crew - he's over a century old, and would have spent a great deal of time around the more emotional species, so he'd have great experience understanding what makes them tick. He'd also often be called in as a mediator amongst the crew disputes - they'd be at each other's thraots, so he'd have to try and keep them working together instead of killing each other.
I'd really emphasize that the crew starts out treating the Doctor as little more than a tool - even after he begins developing towards independence and sentience, they'd still casually turn him off just because he's bothering them and when his program malfunctions, they'd be willing to delete some of the interests he's developed from his memory, citing that they need the storage space those files are taking up. Much like in the series, it'd be Kes pushing for him to develop beyond just his program, and she'd work among the crew to get them to see him as a thinking and living being, not just a tool.
Speaking of Kes, like I said before, I'd keep her on board following the arrival of Seven, but I would drop the idea of her species only living nine years - it's an interesting idea, but it's more restraining for the character and isn't viable for a humanoid species, IMO. I like the idea that was suggested above, about how Kes would be a medical prodigy and outgrow the Doctor's medical skill, leading to the Doctor being deactivated for a while - I think Kes would feel guilty about replacing her one-time mentor, and keep him running.
Again, I think Neelix's purpose was really finished following the third season - he was the crew's guide through unfamiliar space, but they'd journeyed past the area of space he traveled in. That's why I think that, if they had to cut a character following the third season, it would have been better to have killed Neelix during the fight with the Borg and Species 8472 - it'd give Kes something big to deal with, since the Borg are responsible for the death of someone very close to her and here's this representative of them, now living on the ship. At first, Kes would lash out at her, but then come to realize how much of a victim Seven really was.
And I think Kes would have been a better teacher of humanity than the Doctor for Seven - the Doctor introduced her to his interests. Kes, I think would push for Seven to develop her own interests not just mimic the interests of others, which would have given Seven something that was all her own. Also, lose the catsuits - some nice civilian clothes like Kes's would have worked, or having Janeway come to grant her an honorary commission, perhaps.
One of the things I'd really want, though, is to bring the ship home about in the early to middle of the final season - while they were gone the Federation went to war - people that the crew left behind died in it. There would also be family of deceased crewmen who are pissed - why didn't their loved one survive while these others did? And, due to the idea of a more put upon Voyager, the crew would have had to made difficult choices just to survive, perhaps being forced to pirate technology and resources. Because of these things, I would expect that there would be trials and hearings on what they've done. The crew had been lost, presumed dead, for the better part of seven years - family and friends have moved on, so it would, I think, have been far better to show the homecoming and reactions than to end on the return.
