Posted by where'sSaavik?:
DS9 had the weakest premise out there, but ended up having some of the best execution the franchise ever had. A space station at a wormhole could have become a dull alien of the week thing very easily. Instead it became a complex study in three dimensional characters, their ambitions, their trials, their demons.
VOY had the strongest premise and the weakest execution. Two crews with diametrically opposed philosophies stranded on the far side of the galaxy forced to work together to survive could have seriously rocked. Instead the internal conflict was paid lip service to and we got seven years worth of alien-of-the-week type fare. The ship kept moving forward, but the storytelling never did.
I thought DS9 had a better premise than Voyager because it didn't contain flaws and problems in it's initial concepts. Certain elements of Voyager's premise were interesting, but it was the mixing of the elements and the conflicting nature of the concept that hurt the overall premise.
The creators are constantly criticized for getting rid of the conflict between the Maquis and Starfleet. I think what the producers did was more realistic. It may have cut the drama and dramatic conflict between the two groups, but what the producers did was more believable. Let's not forget, there were several episodes in the early seasons of Voyager that DID contain stories of conflict between these two groups. If two conflicting groups were 70,000 light years away from home, their petty conflict would take a back seat to trying to get home. Just like in times of major war, two opposing sides will put away their "disagreements" and conscentrate on solving the more presssing conflict. I would agree that a few more episodes of this conflict would have been better, but not the entire series. Combining the conflict between the Maquis and Starfleet with the concept of being 70,00 light years away makes a faulty premise because one cancels out the other--the pressing need to get home destroys the Maquis/Starfleet concept. The fault is in Voyager's premise.
Which brings up the second fault I find with the Voyager premise: being 70,000 light years away. Many of the storytelling problems Voyager had can be linked to this outlandish number. If Voyager had been, say, 7 light years away, then story problems like: stopping and conversating with every alien-of-the-week; stopping and exploring when your 70,000 light years away; stopping to enter drag races; etc., would make MORE SENSE. Also, stories about conflicts between the Maquis and Starfleet would then work and make sense because 7 light years or being 7 years from home, wouldn't be that great of time and distance. The two concepts in the premise wouldn't necessariIy cancel each other out and both could work in the same premise. I feel Voyager's premise was weak to begin with.
The next problem of the premise also deals with the 70,00 light years away. From the beginning Voyager could only work if the producers had worked out in the initial premise to make Voyager a generational series, meaning, this 70,000 years away from home was unworkable within the contraints of TREK, the initial Voyager premise, common sense and what the producers were willing to do with the series. There was no way we were going to get a rotating group of actors, to represent each generation as we watch Voyager work it's way home. A generational show was the only BELIEVABLE option for Voyager and since it was never feeible for the creators to do it, it was not a good premise to use in the beginning. Hence, once again, Voyager had a weak premise. Also, the problem of being 70,000 light years away makes getting home in seven years silly and contrived. Look at Voyagers' finale if you have any doubt. Just about any solution would have been a questionable solution. The only solution would be making Voyager a generational series.
Another problem of this premise is that it boxed the producers in from making changes to improve it. It created it's own limitations. Being so far from home made it difficult for the producers to make it better. No matter what new storyline or concept that was created, at the end of the day the ship has to leave that situation and head back home. It leaves the very drama it creates. And when Voyager returns to that storyline, aliens race, drama, concept, it makes no sense because you are on your way home--how can you keep running into the same storyline, alien race, drama, plot you left behind 10-20 episodes ago? Another one of Voyager's storytelling problems, BIG storytelling problems. Unlike DS9, which premise allowed for changes, growth, and improvements in direction--the Dominion War, dealing with Star Fleet or the FEDERATION (Section 31)--Voyager could not and when it attempted to do so it was contrived or the producers couldn't make it work. Example. Bringing the ship home earlier (which was debated and rejected by Braga and Berman) or the silly communication with Star Fleet (Barcley) storyline. The fault was the premise. No doubt about--at least to me. The premise may SOUND interesting, but it was a mess of an idea to begin with.
