*Warning: RANT*
After watching TNG and DS9, I have started to watch Voyager. At the moment, I am only about half way through season 3. Admittedly, the script is adept for the most part, but it comes with one major issue: when it comes to opportunities of returning to the alpha quadrant, practically the entire crew acts out of stupidity! Whether the script seems implausible, or the characters are being their self righteous, arrogant selves, It would be a miracle if they progressed more than 20 light years towards their destination. I would have these things this fly, but after this happening 6 times, It's become nothing less than infuriating.
First off, there is the obvious Caretaker incident. Her decision was a clear violation of the prime directive, in addition to the fact that it stranded voyager in the delta quadrant. Most importantly, her decision wasn't even moral! The Caretaker was dying of natural causes, and the Okampa would have supplies for 5 years. That's 5 years for the Okampa to solve their own problems, learn how to make their own technology to thrive. In addition, Janeway doesn't even help the Okampa with their lack of resources later in the show. What angers me most though, is that in this clear violation of the prime directive, Janeway still sometimes refuses to actually help other species under the prime directive. Overall, this episode was a result of sloppy script making a contrived conclusion to the episode, in addition to a contrived way to start the premise of the entire show.
The second incident comes from The Eye Of The Needle. (The crew encounter a wormhole that leads to the alpha quadrant near a Romulan science vessel, though it leads 20 years in the past). Cryogenic stasis people! It exists! It would not have interfered with the timeline if they beamed the crew to the Romulan science vessel, and put the crew in Cyrogenic stasis on an uncharted planet in an undetectable location for 20 years, and then they could then go back to Earth! I know this is a little specific for the script to pick up on, but the point is, being sent to the proper location 20 years ago is a MINOR obstacle.
Prime Factors (Risan-like society that can travel 40K light years with space folding) is obviously another one, though the script was not as bad this time around. If Janeway had accepted to take the technology in the first place, the issues of interfacing the space folding device with federation systems would have had time to have been worked out. This wasn't and issue with the script as much as it was with Janeway's character. It was nothing short of her self righteousness and arrogance that made the "space folding" technique impossible.
Threshold (Paris is able to reach warp 10 on a shuttle) adds to this list in addition to being a ridiculous episode. I know this has no relevance to my main point, but Paris occupied all the area in the universe, and the crew reacts by celebrating like he navigated through a f*cking asteroid field! I'm not going to even begin at what measures this episode takes to undermine the potency of being able to travel at infinite velocity! I digress, the crew makes it seem like stopping the shuttle at any point in space is an easy matter, and this is proved when Paris does it himself near the end of the episode when he mates with Janeway. Furthermore, they can be reverted back to their original state easily with a proton beam (traveling at infinite velocity apparently makes you evolve (Not going to even question that one....)) . Now, here is a simple solution to getting back to Earth: Take voyager, or if they can't do this send a shuttle with an automated route back in forth several times, at warp 10. I know this sounds ridiculous, but all they had to do was leave a note on the desired vessel and say, "Hey! We're from voyager! Long story. If you are reading this, we most likely evolved to a reptilian state! Use a proton beam to revert us back!" Done. Problem solved. It sounds ridiculous in the script, but relative to the rest of this episode, this would not have been much of a stretch.
In False Profits (Ferengi exploit pre-warp civilization) The crew has a golden ticket home. As the crew is traveling to the wormhole, the implausibility and stupidity of the script and characters becomes apparent. First of all, how the hell is it possible for two unarmed Ferengi to incapacitate an armed Starfleet security officer!? Throw this guy out of the airlock; you have to be the most incompetent officer to allow that to happen! Second of all, why the F*CK did voyager chase after the escaping Ferengi!? The Ferengi obviously wouldn't be able to exploit the society again, and regardless, Tuvok was right in the first place. How the Ferengi exploited the culture have no relevance to Voyager's path (Janeway's excuse was obviously bull, If you watched the TNG episode this is based on, the two Ferengi stay in the wormholes destination their own will while Geordi Warned them to come back). They should have let them go, and just headed on into the Wormhole, as they knew that the wormhole was going to collapse. Only two people would be stranded, and I think star trek has a saying for this.... "THE NEEDS OF THE MANY OUTWEIGH THE NEEDS OF THE FEW" ... "ESPECIALLY WHEN THE FEW ARE FERENGI!"
Finally, Death Wish and The Q and the Grey (first two Q episodes). I loved these episodes, because they involved Q. But Long story short, at the end of each episode, A BEING THAT F*CKING BORDERED OMNIPOTENCE WAS GRATEFUL TO THE CREW OF VOYAGER. Did Janeway feel presumptuous asking Q to snap his f*cking fingers to send them home?!?!?!?
I know my "fixes" are a little impractical for a star trek script, but what I'm trying to say is, the fact that they are still in the Delta quadrant by season three is incredibly contrived! On the episodes where they are offered a way home, their obstacles in their way are negligible, and the script implausibly makes the characters act in a way contrary to their personality.
After watching TNG and DS9, I have started to watch Voyager. At the moment, I am only about half way through season 3. Admittedly, the script is adept for the most part, but it comes with one major issue: when it comes to opportunities of returning to the alpha quadrant, practically the entire crew acts out of stupidity! Whether the script seems implausible, or the characters are being their self righteous, arrogant selves, It would be a miracle if they progressed more than 20 light years towards their destination. I would have these things this fly, but after this happening 6 times, It's become nothing less than infuriating.
First off, there is the obvious Caretaker incident. Her decision was a clear violation of the prime directive, in addition to the fact that it stranded voyager in the delta quadrant. Most importantly, her decision wasn't even moral! The Caretaker was dying of natural causes, and the Okampa would have supplies for 5 years. That's 5 years for the Okampa to solve their own problems, learn how to make their own technology to thrive. In addition, Janeway doesn't even help the Okampa with their lack of resources later in the show. What angers me most though, is that in this clear violation of the prime directive, Janeway still sometimes refuses to actually help other species under the prime directive. Overall, this episode was a result of sloppy script making a contrived conclusion to the episode, in addition to a contrived way to start the premise of the entire show.
The second incident comes from The Eye Of The Needle. (The crew encounter a wormhole that leads to the alpha quadrant near a Romulan science vessel, though it leads 20 years in the past). Cryogenic stasis people! It exists! It would not have interfered with the timeline if they beamed the crew to the Romulan science vessel, and put the crew in Cyrogenic stasis on an uncharted planet in an undetectable location for 20 years, and then they could then go back to Earth! I know this is a little specific for the script to pick up on, but the point is, being sent to the proper location 20 years ago is a MINOR obstacle.
Prime Factors (Risan-like society that can travel 40K light years with space folding) is obviously another one, though the script was not as bad this time around. If Janeway had accepted to take the technology in the first place, the issues of interfacing the space folding device with federation systems would have had time to have been worked out. This wasn't and issue with the script as much as it was with Janeway's character. It was nothing short of her self righteousness and arrogance that made the "space folding" technique impossible.
Threshold (Paris is able to reach warp 10 on a shuttle) adds to this list in addition to being a ridiculous episode. I know this has no relevance to my main point, but Paris occupied all the area in the universe, and the crew reacts by celebrating like he navigated through a f*cking asteroid field! I'm not going to even begin at what measures this episode takes to undermine the potency of being able to travel at infinite velocity! I digress, the crew makes it seem like stopping the shuttle at any point in space is an easy matter, and this is proved when Paris does it himself near the end of the episode when he mates with Janeway. Furthermore, they can be reverted back to their original state easily with a proton beam (traveling at infinite velocity apparently makes you evolve (Not going to even question that one....)) . Now, here is a simple solution to getting back to Earth: Take voyager, or if they can't do this send a shuttle with an automated route back in forth several times, at warp 10. I know this sounds ridiculous, but all they had to do was leave a note on the desired vessel and say, "Hey! We're from voyager! Long story. If you are reading this, we most likely evolved to a reptilian state! Use a proton beam to revert us back!" Done. Problem solved. It sounds ridiculous in the script, but relative to the rest of this episode, this would not have been much of a stretch.
In False Profits (Ferengi exploit pre-warp civilization) The crew has a golden ticket home. As the crew is traveling to the wormhole, the implausibility and stupidity of the script and characters becomes apparent. First of all, how the hell is it possible for two unarmed Ferengi to incapacitate an armed Starfleet security officer!? Throw this guy out of the airlock; you have to be the most incompetent officer to allow that to happen! Second of all, why the F*CK did voyager chase after the escaping Ferengi!? The Ferengi obviously wouldn't be able to exploit the society again, and regardless, Tuvok was right in the first place. How the Ferengi exploited the culture have no relevance to Voyager's path (Janeway's excuse was obviously bull, If you watched the TNG episode this is based on, the two Ferengi stay in the wormholes destination their own will while Geordi Warned them to come back). They should have let them go, and just headed on into the Wormhole, as they knew that the wormhole was going to collapse. Only two people would be stranded, and I think star trek has a saying for this.... "THE NEEDS OF THE MANY OUTWEIGH THE NEEDS OF THE FEW" ... "ESPECIALLY WHEN THE FEW ARE FERENGI!"
Finally, Death Wish and The Q and the Grey (first two Q episodes). I loved these episodes, because they involved Q. But Long story short, at the end of each episode, A BEING THAT F*CKING BORDERED OMNIPOTENCE WAS GRATEFUL TO THE CREW OF VOYAGER. Did Janeway feel presumptuous asking Q to snap his f*cking fingers to send them home?!?!?!?
I know my "fixes" are a little impractical for a star trek script, but what I'm trying to say is, the fact that they are still in the Delta quadrant by season three is incredibly contrived! On the episodes where they are offered a way home, their obstacles in their way are negligible, and the script implausibly makes the characters act in a way contrary to their personality.
The only thing redeeming about that episode is Chakotay's expression when he sees the lizard kids, almost like Paris beat him to the prize 
)
