There are several secondary cast members that I feel were under utilized. For example: (1) Barclay. Barclay was an outstanding character and I wish he had been incorporated into more episodes of Voyager. The possibilities for his character are endless. (2) Q. While I did not like the chemistry between Janeway and Q, I think Q could have been used in other ways. For example, He could have had a relationship with Seven. Q could have also shown up with other TNG characters (in addition to Riker) including Picard. (3) Vorik. I though Vorik had incredible potential. I loved the character and I wish he had been written in as a full time cast member. I never fully understood why B'lanna treated him so poorly, he should have been a respected member of the crew. It would have been interesting to see the show develop a friendship between Vorik and Tuvak...or perhaps a mentor/mentee relationship between the two of them.
I agree with you on Vorik, a great character who should have been used more. I'm less certain about Barclay, much more of him could easily have been too much. The socially awkward geek (probably somewhere on the autism spectrum) who nonetheless manages to save the ship and crew on more than one occasion was good for a few stories more certainly, but in some ways he's the Wesley of Voyager. Granted that Wesley's precocious and his lack of maturity is simply due to his youth, a temporary condition, but the storylines for Barclay could all too easily start resembling Wesley's... I can't stand Q, the only time I found him tolerable was when he was temporarily mortal. So the less of him, the better.
Suder should not have been killed off. A great character, portrayed by an excellent actor. I would have loved to have seen him in more stories. It would also have been interesting to see a sort of 'day in the life' of the Maquis crew, maybe even bring back the trainees from "LEARNING CURVE", particularly Dalby. (We saw Chell again, at least.) Would have been nice to see how well they adapted to Starfleet rules after that episode.
I would have liked to see more of Samantha Wildman. Also wish they would have kept Mezoti, which would have allowed more air time for Naomi as well.
I wish they'd kept Seska onboard as a recurring foil to the Starfleet do-gooders. Likewise have more appearances and development for the likes of Ensigns Vorik and Wildman, Lieutenants Ayala and Carey, Crewmen Celes, Chell, Gerron, Gilmore and Lessing.
Definitely Carey. Good character who could have been used in more episodes. I would also have liked to see Dalby, Henley, Chell and Gerron in some more episodes. They were good and interesting characters. They are showing up in some of the Voyager books where they contribute a lot. Tal Celes too, maybe because Zoe Mclellan is a good actres and I like her as Jennifer Coates in JAG and Brody in NCIS New Orleans too. Not to mention the character who should have become a main cgaracter of the show in seasons 4-6: Flotter!
I agree with Vorik but I think Barcalay was in the exact right amount of episodes and Q was in 2 too many. They should have made much more use of the secondary cast in general, but the ones who were Voyager crew members.
I agree that Carey should have been used more also. Excellent character. I also really liked the story arc with him, that he didn't agree with the captain's decision (regarding chief engineer promotion), yet he handled it, accepted it, even saw its wisdom. I love Star Fleet!
I'm not sure I could handle Flotter in most of the series in those seasons. That was kind of a stupid episode anyway. I too would have liked to see the Learning Curve cadets in more episodes, especially Dalby. He would have been a good foil for Chakotay.
To be honest, my obvious fascinating with Flotter is actually more a show of my twisted humor than being a die-harted fan of the character. In fact, I'd actually forgotten Flotter totally until someone reminded me of him in a poll one or two years ago. Then the twisted side of me took over and I decided to make Flotter my favorite character in seasons 4-7! I agree about Dalby, Henley, Chell and Gerron. Fortunately they are prominent in some of the Voyager books.
The Flotter doll should have appeared more. Speaking of Flotter, I wonder if the makers of The Shape of Water were fans of Flotter....? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/mediaviewer/rm487412480
The remaining crew of USS Equinox were doomed to spend the rest of the series unseen. Think we could have had some fun with them.
I saw the thread title and thought "wasn't that all of them?" But to add to those already mentioned, I thought Hogan was a particularly wasteful death. Love that actor! They could have really done things with that character, and it's just tossed aside for one "suspenseful" scene of "why not wander into this ominous and pitch dark cavern with a pile of bones in front of it?" It also might have been nice to do something with Lyndsey Ballard before she was introduced rising from the grave, the best friend of everyone on the crew, never before seen or mentioned...
We've never seen much of the Delaney sisters. They are twins. It would have been nice to explore their differences. And they weren't mentioned often in the relaunch novels either, except in some alternative universe stories.
Truthfully I think the main cast was plentiful enough and background characters remain so because that is life.
I liked Joe Carey, it's a shame they forgot he existed. Q and Barclay weren't secondary cast members, they were guest stars. It would have been nice, seeing as it was such a small crew, if we'd gotten to know a few of them a bit better.
Barclay already has more Voyager than TNG episodes. A lot of the people mentioned were guest stars, like Chell, Sudor, etc. I've always like Vorik, Carey, and Hogan. Will there ever be a thread titled "Characters that were utilized just right" ??? I might just start one!