BWAHAHAHA! You're talking about Voyager, right?
Sorry. I love Voyager as a guilty pleasure and I was even part of a Voyager heavy online forum during it's run. But that doesn't stop me from ripping on it. Showrunners knowing where to take anything in the show - except that Voyager would get home (and probably run into the Borg on the way) - is beyond my capacity to comprehend.
I have a big soft spot for Voyager myself. It was the first Trek show I saw when it was still running new episodes whereas the others were all in reruns (or had just gone off the air in DS9's case). I don't personally hold any of the writers on a pedestal just because they worked on one of my favorite shows. They've all done some good stories and they've all done some crappy stories. Ira Behr did a lot for DS9
and he gave us the craptastic
Captain's Holiday from TNG. And let us not forget such classic DS9 episodes such as
Profit and Lace and
Let He Who is Without Sin. I actually applaud Berman and Braga for finally realizing there was a problem and handing the reigns of Enterprise over to some new people for the second half of its run. I also know the network played a large part in it. They allocate the budget the show is given and if they don't want to spend the money then that puts a stop to any potential stories they can tell.
Year of Hell was supposed to be a full season until UPN made them trim it down to a simple two-parter.
I'm also not saying that the show should have been devoid of any conflict on the ship. That was the whole point of the Maquis being on board in the first place (early TNG is a great example of what happens when you leave the writers with absolutely nothing to work with). It just doesn't work when the writers completely forget they're even there until a random episode thrusts them into the spotlight. As far as B'Elanna goes she had the right to have character growth herself just as much as Worf had to get over being torn between two cultures on TNG, but I myself hold the senior staff to a level of accountability and professionalism. Being stranded in the Delta Quadrant means Janeway can't just call up Starfleet Command for a replacement--I get that--but no captain would take as much crap from a senior officer on their ship and not punish them for it. Well, not that the Starfleet crew was any better sometimes. Just look at Tuvok being a huge jerk in
Learning Curve. Thankfully they started up her relationship with Tom that gave them much needed character development and one of my favorite VOY episodes:
Barge of the Dead.
Finally if we're going over inconsistencies then just watch any episode that centers heavily on Janeway. One episode she's reading the Prime Directive like it's the infallible gospel of Starfleet and just two or three episodes later she has no problem breaking every violation in the book so long as it gets her what she wants. She won't trade weapons technology with other races because it's against the PD. That's great. Torturing a member of Ransom's crew with threats of death if he doesn't speak up? Not so great. She says the crew is her family who she would do anything for as any captain would. Later the ship gets stuck in a void and she pouts in her quarters without speaking to anyone for
weeks leaving Chakotay to do everything. Kate Mulgrew herself said she believed Janeway suffered from an undiagnosed mental disorder such as Bipolar to explain the inconsistent writing. I almost wish they had said she was suffering from Bipolar or depression. The weight of getting her crew home after seven long years and all of the people they've lost weighing heavily on her shoulders. The depression setting in as she stares out the window at nothingness knowing she can't show any sign of these lingering doubts in front of the crew. The sight of the void makes her wonder if she has failed the whole crew or even worse, broken her promise of getting them home. It would perfectly explain why she jumps at the chance for a promotion upon their return to Earth where she gets a comfortable desk job at Starfleet Command instead of keeping up command of a ship. Sadly we don't get that; only odd continuity and sometimes very poor writing so they can hit the Status Quo.
For someone else let's looks at Tom who has most of his episodes deal with how hotheaded and rebellious he is. He learns a lesson by the end and the whole thing is recycled for a future episode only with a different premise. Seven seasons of TNG showed how much Data could exceed his status as an artificial lifeform by showing him win his rights (TWICE!) as an individual, taking command of a ship, saving the
Enterprise god knows how many times, and finally got emotions without going insane or killing anyone. Yet when we get to the Doctor's story in VOY no one in Starfleet ever considers doing the same for him. By the time of
Author, Author where he's in a hearing going over his own individual rights he has saved his creator's life, saved the lives of his crew multiple times from alien ailments, become a celebrity for his singing, written stories, taken up several hobbies of his own choosing, learned to dream, become a backup command officer, and no doubt had his reports added to Starfleet's medical database. Not a single person brings up Data at this hearing to help the Doc's case
. It's like Starfleet forgot that Data ever existed. That or the writers did which wouldn't surprise since they forgot about their own characters.
If someone wants technical inconsistencies then look no further at
Voyager's compliment of shuttles or how it fluctuates in how much they can use the replicator or how the ship can fix itself from week to week. For that matter they should have run out of torpedoes in the second or third season.
