Is Voyager Heavily Underrated?

[Janeway_74656]

I will concede that the first few seasons had terrible writing in some episodes (looking at you, Threshold, the episode that must not be named). In my personal opinion, Voyager is by far the best Trek series and it holds up to this day. If it isn't the best, we can at least agree that it is probably the most underrated Trek series. The video below proves that it isn't "boring":

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[Refuge]

Hi Janeway_74656. Yes Voyager most certainly holds up otherwise I wouldn't have become hooked only two or three years ago. I 'travel' these boards on the Trek forum yet it is only when I come to the Voyager forum do I feel a sense of home like the re-runs of TOS give me but actually with more of what is family.

 

[chris of nine]

As I’ve been bouncing through the Treks, it’s the only series that seems like it could be playing today. I am in the second half, though, where the better writing is.....

 

[Lance]

It's certainly underrated.

It isn't perfect. But it is underrated.

 

[cosmic mouse]

I 'travel' these boards on the Trek forum yet it is only when I come to the Voyager forum do I feel a sense of home like the re-runs of TOS give me but actually with more of what is family.

I completely agree. the characters in VOY are fantastic, and seem like old friends, especially when one takes a break and then revisits the series after a period of time. Of the other Trek series (save DS9 which I havent seen yet) only TOS has also had that effect on me regarding the characters .


So, yeah, I feel VOY is underrated, or aspects of it are anyway, at least by other fans of Trek.

 

[USS Firefly]

I don 't think Voyager was underrated.

Personally I found it dissapointing, especially that they used the reset button every episode and the ship was in perfect shape.

And it is my number 4 show after DS9, TNG and TOS. I don't count DISC because they have so far only one season.

 

[Sophie74656]

I think Voyager is very underrated. It has some of the best characters, the best character development, and interesting compelling stories. Voyager often gets heavily criticized for certain things but TNG and DS9 did those same things and everybody loves it.

 

[HugeLobes]

Pretty sure you're mostly going to get people agreeing on a Voyager message board...

I think it depends who you're talking about. Among Trek fans, I'd say VOY is pretty fairly rated. One thing I've noticed on here is lots of people offering ways to fix VOY but very few saying they actually dislike it. I'm not a fan, but I wouldn't really say it was bad. Just kinda middling as a TV show and not as strong as good TNG or DS9. Felt a bit more like a sitcom.

Outside of Trek fandom, I'd say DS9 is the most underrated show.

 

[Tracy Trek]

What gets me is I have seen statements online where someone will say, "Look at Battlestar Galactica (the newer version), this is what Voyager should have been". I liked Voyager despite it's faults. I didn't want it to be like another show.

 

[Jayson1]

I think it's underrated but I wouldn't say, heavily underrated. That label goes to "DS9." It's more or less a solid show until the last couple of years then you have 2 of the worst seasons in Trek history. I think the characters are more underrated though than the actual show. These characters could have been the best of all the shows, except TOS because nobody will ever knock off Kirk,Spock and McCoy. I still list them 2nd of all the shows if your going top to bottom behind "DS9" but even then "DS9" had the benefit of reacurring characters who felt like series regulars. Plus better writing that could maybe enhance characters that might not work with lesser writing like Bashir,Jadzia and Quark would be a trainwreck like most Ferengi characters without the DS9, writers.

Jason

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I can't say for certain yet if Voyager as a whole is or isn't underrated. I failed to stick it out during the original run (I don't really even remember what parts I did or didn't see, though I definitely saw plenty of Seven and I remember enjoying the Hirogem stuff, but I also didn't necessarily see every episode leading up to that). I am currently working on a (re)watch, concurrently with rewatching TNG, but especially with VOY it is slow going because (halfway through season 2) I pretty much still feel like I'm waiting for the show to start and the characters to gel.

So based on my experience all I can say is: if VOY truly is 'heavily underrated', then the parts I haven't seen yet had better be absolutely mind-blowing, because what I have seen isn't getting them anywhere close.

 

[Farscape One]

I would say VOYAGER is rated fairly, overall. There are some aspects that might have been underrated, but definitely not heavily underrated.

The heavily underrated prize goes to DS9, though it looks like it's getting a lot more love in recent years by more people.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think it's accurately rated. It gets its fair share of credit and fair criticism for its problems.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Underrated or not, I get the feeling that Voyager fans are more affected by an inferiority complex.

 

[Mage]

Well, yes and no. There is much to be found in this series that is very good. It has some great episodes, some good performances and some very stunning visuals.

It also had horrible continuity, some horrid writing not just in the early seasons (which have some of the best episodes btw) but mostly right after season 6 began. They didn't know what to do with half of the characters most of the time.

It's not underrated. It's just not always very good.

 

[HugeLobes]

Well, yes and no. There is much to be found in this series that is very good. It has some great episodes, some good performances and some very stunning visuals.

It also had horrible continuity, some horrid writing not just in the early seasons (which have some of the best episodes btw) but mostly right after season 6 began. They didn't know what to do with half of the characters most of the time.

Exactly. This got even worse when 7 of 9 was added and they started relying on the Borg so much

 

[Mage]

Exactly. This got even worse when 7 of 9 was added and they started relying on the Borg so much

I agree and disagree. Jeri Ryan gave some amazing performances as 7of9. But she also never lied about the fact she was added because of boobsandbutts. She knew this, from the get-go. Her acting in the episode with the vinculum, where she played a child and Ferengi and Klingon.... forgot the name of the episode. Pretty good performance thought! But the writing was again based on something dealing with the Borg, which Voyager relied on way too much.

 

[HugeLobes]

I agree and disagree. Jeri Ryan gave some amazing performances as 7of9. But she also never lied about the fact she was added because of boobsandbutts.

Yeah, nothing against Jeri Ryan. Her performance was fine.

VOY's handling of the Borg always annoyed me. They just followed the lame First Contact version. To be fair, I'm pretty sure they were fighting cancellation at a few points, so adding in more of an enemy people loved (even if they'd become pretty dull at that point) was probably something they felt they had to do.

 

[jaime]

I can't say for certain yet if Voyager as a whole is or isn't underrated. I failed to stick it out during the original run (I don't really even remember what parts I did or didn't see, though I definitely saw plenty of Seven and I remember enjoying the Hirogem stuff, but I also didn't necessarily see every episode leading up to that). I am currently working on a (re)watch, concurrently with rewatching TNG, but especially with VOY it is slow going because (halfway through season 2) I pretty much still feel like I'm waiting for the show to start and the characters to gel.

So based on my experience all I can say is: if VOY truly is 'heavily underrated', then the parts I haven't seen yet had better be absolutely mind-blowing, because what I have seen isn't getting them anywhere close.

I drifted off like you, but my rewatch made me reevaluate it. It is much much better than its rep...and objectively, when I really think about it, may be better in many ways than TNG in certain areas. It has some real hard SF concepts, and some really strong characters and character interactions that are allowed to develop in ways the TNG crew wasn’t.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

may be better in many ways than TNG in certain areas. It has some real hard SF concepts

Clearly, Voyager was a better production. I also think that there are strong characteristics of anthology series like Twilight Zone, which though at odds with the series' premise, are nonetheless engaging.