In my opinion, Voyager had the best series premiere of any of the treks.
- Thread starter Moonglum
- Start date
I like Caretaker, but I don't enjoy the "C'mon y'all and have a sit and eat some cookies!" scenes.
The issue with Kazon being all crazy for water even though they have starships is quite stupid.
The rest is pretty good.
The issue with Kazon being all crazy for water even though they have starships is quite stupid.
The rest is pretty good.
I couldn't disagree more. Personally, I find Emissary to be the best Berman-era pilot...and also the one most like a full, satisfying film. If it were somehow just a one-off TV movie, I'd still be happy with it.
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It's an entertaining romp to be sure. Some frustrating plotholes regarding the Caretaker's frankly moronic plans, but a great introduction to the characters.
To me DS9's pilot has a much more gripping opening (though, hard to top a depiction of Wolf 359), and ultimately does a better job of laying the groundwork for what the series as a whole will be about, while "Caretaker" raises a lot of stuff that's interesting at the time but ultimately of little importance to the overall series (not saying that's TPTB's fault). "Emissary" also has the benefit that I've seen far fewer people question the logic behind some of the plot details than I have for "Caretaker".
Loved the introductions to the characters as well as the main stories (of course there is a lot of exposition but there I thought it was pretty well done) in "Emissary", thought "Encounter at Farpoint" introduced most characters pretty well, thought "Caretaker" did OK introduction to some of the characters but really didn't introduce most of them well enough, really didn't justify enough Janeway's main decision to protect the Ocampa at cost of being stranded, or really also to have the crews teamup, felt more like just they had to.
My three favorite Star Trek pilots (in production order) are "The Cage", "Emissary", and "Remembrance". Right underneath them is "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Those are all the ones I give a 10 out of 10. After that is "Caretaker", which I give a 9.
So, "Caretaker" isn't my favorite Star Trek pilot but it is safely in my upper-half and I still rate it pretty high.
So, "Caretaker" isn't my favorite Star Trek pilot but it is safely in my upper-half and I still rate it pretty high.
"Caretaker" is an awesome vehicle for launching Voyager. And to this day, it offered something not seen since "Where No Man Has Gone Before" --complete isolation from the Federation and Starfleet. The crews had nothing to fall back on except what they brought with them. And they knew it.
Its entertainment value as a pilot is purely subjective, of course, but I recall being riveted by it and looking forward to more. It looked gorgeous and felt fresh.
Its entertainment value as a pilot is purely subjective, of course, but I recall being riveted by it and looking forward to more. It looked gorgeous and felt fresh.
Voyager is my second favorite after TNG. TNG is neck-and-neck with TOS in terms of Roddenberry's message, but I find the cast of the latter series more appealing. Unfortunately, DS9 - in quite a few ways - is the Anti-Trek; the true Trek elements are few and far between. No, I am not going to circle around this tent once again; anyone who cares about my opinion is free to dig into my post history over in the DS9 forum. I enjoy episodes from the series on their own merits (i.e., divorced from the broader franchise), but not as "Star Trek time".
Back to Voyager! Yes...it was all about exploration and diplomacy, despite the occasional spectacle designed to appeal to UPN viewers. Also, it features what I consider to be the best depiction of a Vulcan. One point against it was how it watered down The Borg (but that would have likely happened in any other series). If you can get through some of the cheesier moments (including later-season Janeway quips/one-liners) and the (eventual) greater focus on Doctor/Seven almost to the exclusion of other characters, there is plenty of decent entertainment to be had.
Back to Voyager! Yes...it was all about exploration and diplomacy, despite the occasional spectacle designed to appeal to UPN viewers. Also, it features what I consider to be the best depiction of a Vulcan. One point against it was how it watered down The Borg (but that would have likely happened in any other series). If you can get through some of the cheesier moments (including later-season Janeway quips/one-liners) and the (eventual) greater focus on Doctor/Seven almost to the exclusion of other characters, there is plenty of decent entertainment to be had.
Even on first viewing I knew the Doctor was going to be the breakout character and fan favorite.
honestly, it probably had the best *PREMISE*
two disparate groups, stuck together with no clear command structure, differing goals and ideologies, stuck on the other side of the galaxy, decades from home, with limited supplies and resources and no allies, having to somehow work together, while keeping themselves alive, supplied, and motivated?
That sounds like a fantastic set up for a sci fi show. It didn't even need to be Trek.
Every aspect of that premise was wasted.
Some good standalone Trek stories, but as a unit, the biggest waste of the Berman Era.
two disparate groups, stuck together with no clear command structure, differing goals and ideologies, stuck on the other side of the galaxy, decades from home, with limited supplies and resources and no allies, having to somehow work together, while keeping themselves alive, supplied, and motivated?
That sounds like a fantastic set up for a sci fi show. It didn't even need to be Trek.
Every aspect of that premise was wasted.
Some good standalone Trek stories, but as a unit, the biggest waste of the Berman Era.
Looking back, I find the premier episode of every Star Trek series to be weak when compared to the better episodes that followed. Now don't get me wrong, I like Voyager... but perhaps it may seem like a better premier than the others because the series, as a whole, really didn't get substantially better after that, IMHO.
I don't really see it, at least not for myself. In my head I'm comparing the premieres to each other, not to what followed, with the possible exception of whether what followed carried through on plot points raised by the premiere, but that should be incidental to how the premiere stands on its own.
