Rewatching Voyager

[Sophie74656]

Lineage is a great episode. One of my favorites. Everything is coming to a head for B'Elanna. It's a nice resolution to her arc and in some ways, it was a Tom and B'Elanna episode.

I wish the writers would have gone to that much depth and taken that much time with Tom and his journey by dealing with everything that has happened to him in his past but I suppose he is a 'move on' kind of person. Oh well.

I enjoy Shattered. The right way to do a 'clip' show. This episode is revisited in Beyer's book "A Pocket full of Lies'. I read that book in one day!

Prophecy. Tom has to be taught how to fight like a Klingon? The guy who used to use the Klingon Martial Arts program for recreation? The father of the Kuvmagh came from a noble house...wouldn't coming from a long line of Starfleet officers and having a father as an Admiral count as noble?

The original story was about Klingons in the DQ but it was supposed to happen early in the series. It was also supposed to be a two-parter. They two groups would met up, spend time together...B'Elanna would fall in love with the Klingon engineer but the episode would end by B'Elanna having to choose whether or not to shoot the engineer or Chakotay or Tom (the writer's hadn't decided on which one at that point). I have no idea how the issue was to be resolved. Over the years it got pushed back because they had the Klingons on DS9, then they had the Ferengi in Season 2 and didn't want too many Alpha Quadrant aliens in the DQ...then it became canon that Tom and B'Elanna were together and she wasn't going to fall in love with a Klingon engineer...what we were left with was Voyager meeting Klingons in the Delta Quadrant being all that was left of the original story.

Repentance was ok...and The Void was Night part Two...with more void dwelling aliens but it did seem to swing Janeway back around to being a 'real' Starfleet Captain again making rational logical decisions.

Where did you hear about that idea? That actually sounds interesting. Would she be attracted to a Klingon with all of her klingon issues? Obviously it would have ended with her shooting the Klingon, she couldn't very well have killed a main character.

Did Tom use the klingon martial arts program regularly, or just that one time with B'Elanna?

 

[stardream]

I heard it on a podcast with Larry Nemecek. He was one of the original writers of the story. It would have taken place in the first or second season before the writers went so deep with the Klingon issues. I know it was touched on in Faces but was there anything else before Day of Honor?

 

[Sophie74656]

I heard it on a podcast with Larry Nemecek. He was one of the original writers of the story. It would have taken place in the first or second season before the writers went so deep with the Klingon issues. I know it was touched on in Faces but was there anything else before Day of Honor?

what's that podcast that sounds interesting

 

[stardream]

what's that podcast that sounds interesting

http://www.trekmate.org.uk/the-delta-quadrant-7x14-prophecy/

 

[Sophie74656]

http://www.trekmate.org.uk/the-delta-quadrant-7x14-prophecy/

Awesome!!

 

[tomalak301]

Workforce

I listen to a Voyager podcast every week and the hosts of this podcast are not fans of this episode. That always surprises me because I thought this episode was well liked. Watching these two episodes tonight, I can see why they might be turned off from it. It's not really Star Trek, and it feels a little more soap opera than Sci Fi.

With that being said, there is one reason why I love this episode. As we get to the end of the series, this episode allowed the crew to get "home", in a sense. We got to see the crew settle down, have a life, and leave Voyager behind. If there was one thing I wish we had more of it was seeing this crew's life before Voyager. I've started to wonder what a Maquis prequel series would be like with Chakotay as lead. I would love to see Tom have that estranged relationship with his father. I would love to see Janeway and Mark together before the ship gets lost. We got quite a bit of backstory, but Workforce allowed our characters to live a home life. I enjoyed the relationship between Jaffen and Janeway, even though I admit Jaffen is a little boring. I enjoyed the Irony of Tom Paris working in a Bar when you know in Non Sequiter he would be in bars alright, but it would be getting drunk. I liked seeing Seven as efficancy manager because that's basically her character trait, being efficient. I also liked seeing the Doctor have the ECH again and actually be successful at it.

Watching these episodes at such a brisk pace, for a show that became the Janeway, Doctor, and Seven show, B'Elanna really is having an amazing season. She starred in the seasons best episode to this point (Lineage), she became pregnant adding to the overall relationship of her and Tom as a married couple, and now we get to see her remembering the life she almost lost. That scene in her quarters with Neelix was probably my favorite scene of both episodes, and it really shows how positive a character like Neelix was. Like I always say, when you put Neelix in a serious situation, the character is really really great. It's when he's being obnoxious and annoying that people are turned off by.

Overall, Workforce are two terrific episodes of Voyager. It may not be star trekky or sci fi, but it's a well written story of what life could be like if the crew had the opportunity to live their lives outside of the ship. It's also a good reminder at the end that yes the series is close to coming to an end. Captain Janeway is back in command and ordering Tom to resume course back to the Alpha Quadrant. With 8 episodes to go, we're in the home stretch, even though if I had done season 7, I would have had them be home by now but that will be why I'm not a fan of Endgame when that episode comes. Until then, I would offer anyone to give Workforce another chance and view it from a TV drama perspective. You might get a better appreciation for it.

 

[Catarina]

I really enjoyed Workforce. I'll admit I didn't like Janeway at first but then I was limiting her through the filter to which I already perceive her. the point was she wasn't suppose to be Captain Janeway.

 

[tomalak301]

I really enjoyed Workforce. I'll admit I didn't like Janeway at first but then I was limiting her through the filter to which I already perceive her. the point was she wasn't suppose to be Captain Janeway.

Yeah. In this episode we got to know Katheryn Janeway, not Captain Janeway. That's basically why I enjoyed both episodes.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

You might get a better appreciation for it.

Highly unlikely. I already appreciate it as much as all the other VOY episodes. Which means 120%.
I'm not sure I understand this "non sci-fi" or "non sci-fi enough" thing. In sci-fi anything goes - why would this be less of science fiction than, say, HOPE AND FEAR or LATENT IMAGE?
Also, why do people write (tell?) reviews about things they hate? (Sorry, I don't know the English word "podcast" ... no idea what it might be.) Mind-boggling. Really, I can hardly imagine anything more boring than Picard and especially Archer but the idea of going on TNG and ENT fora just to tell people how much I think those shows suck would never enter my mind.
On the plus side, as you yourself put it, B'Elanna has a lot more to do this season than during the previous seasons. My impression is that this is true of all the other characters as well. This season is pretty reminiscent of the earlier seasons with Seska, Q, Joe Carey, etc. I've always had the impression that the producers of the show felt the Seven of Nine character had really reached its limits and although they continued to use her - exhaust her practically - as far as possible in this season too, they had basically run out of ideas for her and thought it would be a good idea to bring people back from the first three seasons. This is one of the reasons I really like this last season. Like I think you and I agreed earlier, there was a bump in the road in the second half of season 6 but then season 7 made up for that with very good stories.
To me, WORKFORCE is a real gem. And as usual, who else could put it in words better than Captain Kathryn Janeway? "It may not have been real, Chakotay, but it felt like home. If you hadn't come after me, I never would've known that I had another life."

 

[tomalak301]

A podcast is an audio radio show you can download or stream. In terms of Sci fi, it's a complaint I hear a lot. In fact there was another episode I loved that people complained wasn't Star Trek enough, 11:59. Star Trek means different things to different people.

 

[Catarina]

If I had any problem with 11:59, it was that it was another network episode following that buzzword Y2Kbug. It was getting old. On it's own it was a decent episode.

 

[locutus101]

I really enjoyed Workforce. I'll admit I didn't like Janeway at first but then I was limiting her through the filter to which I already perceive her. the point was she wasn't suppose to be Captain Janeway.

She was supposed to hate it given the brainwashing she was subjected to.

 

[Catarina]

She was supposed to hate it given the brainwashing she was subjected to.

Yes, I know. The dislike was how 'silly' she seemed to be acting. however, I can see it was intentional on Mulgrew's part to reveal what Kathryn could be like as just Kathryn. We all wear masks from time to time. some of us are one way at work and another at home. So would she.
if you, like Janeway, were at your job around the clock for survival and leadership to a group of people who depended on that for their own survival and mutual goal, very few people would get to see you any other way unless you allow it. If I'm making any sense. Until Workforce, I thought we did see Kathryn but no, not really because even with Chakotay there was a part of her that never could let go of her command self.

 

[locutus101]

Yes, I know. The dislike was how 'silly' she seemed to be acting. however, I can see it was intentional on Mulgrew's part to reveal what Kathryn could be like as just Kathryn. We all wear masks from time to time. some of us are one way at work and another at home. So would she.
if you, like Janeway, were at your job around the clock for survival and leadership to a group of people who depended on that for their own survival and mutual goal, very few people would get to see you any other way unless you allow it. If I'm making any sense. Until Workforce, I thought we did see Kathryn but no, not really because even with Chakotay there was a part of her that never could let go of her command self.

She didn't seem as bossy as usual but she still was imposing, What with her collecting useless pieces of mechanical devices.

 

[stardream]

I liked Workforce but always wondered why they separated Tom and B'Elanna. With all that medical tech surely they would have discovered he was the baby's father...why not keep them together? And the idea of someone who is so multiskilled like Tom working in a bar during a labor shortage? I don't care what the Quality Control officer thought...THAT was inefficient. That bit of it frustrated me so much that I wrote a fanfiction about it. Got some pretty good reviews.

However the rest of it I really liked. Janeway's story, Tuvok's fight against mind control...not one of my favorites but had more plus points than negative.

 

[locutus101]

I liked Workforce but always wondered why they separated Tom and B'Elanna. With all that medical tech surely they would have discovered he was the baby's father...why not keep them together? And the idea of someone who is so multiskilled like Tom working in a bar during a labor shortage? I don't care what the Quality Control officer thought...THAT was inefficient. That bit of it frustrated me so much that I wrote a fanfiction about it. Got some pretty good reviews.

However the rest of it I really liked. Janeway's story, Tuvok's fight against mind control...not one of my favorites but had more plus points than negative.

Actually, Seven is the one who fired him.

 

[Catarina]

I assumed they separated them to assure no memory engrams would be triggered by togetherness. *shrug*

 

[stardream]

Actually, Seven is the one who fired him.

I know. That was her title in the episode (or something similar).

 

[Sophie74656]

I always really loved how Tom and B'Elanna still found each other

 

[stardream]

It just seemed so...contrived to me. We want Tom and B'Elanna to find each other again so let's separate them for no discernable reason. After all the time they spent on it, we didn't even get a payoff with their reunion...although the final scene together was nice.

Don't get me wrong. I like the episode overall. This part just bugged me.