Yeah, when you think about it, VOY really should've had at least as many recurring characters as DS9 did. We should've gotten to know a TON of people from the lower decks who popped up on a regular basis instead of just the small smattering we got. But VOY continually shied away from the repercussions of its premise.It seriously made no sense that by Y7 of Voyager's journey, the crew weren't dodging toddlers and preschoolers in the hall. There was one marriage. One. And two children born, one of them a preexisting condition and the other right at the very end.
Yes, I could see Janeway choosing the celibate life, because of the "Lessons" we learned about captains and romance. But 140 others, many of them women who were effectively giving up their chance at motherhood (yes, Voyager got home after 7 years, but they were expecting 70, and while i think Federation longevity tech has pushed menopause back a decade or two, biological clocks do run out)... it just further pushes the notion that the Voyager "family" was nine main characters and 130 or so nobodies, about as much a part of the family as the toaster on your kitchen counter.
Yeah, that's a weird one. At this point I feel like it's SO incompatible with the rest of ST canon that there's no point in revisiting or explaining it. But then again, DSC has established Spock's previously unknown adopted sister and SNW hasMcCoy's line about Spock's planet being conquered.
revisited Sybok after 30+ years,