Voyager Gamma Quadrant

[Anwar]

I think going back early in season 6 would have worked. It gives two seasons(4 and 5) to flesh out 7 and we get some good Delta Quadrant stories that would not work in the Alpha Quadrant like Year of Hell and Equinox to name just two. I feel the writing was more tired in season 6 and 7. They needed a change imo. I still enjoyed the show but in hindsight it could have used a push in slightly different direction.

Equinox itself should've been something that happened in Season 1 or 2, not Season 6. Year of Hell maybe in Season 3, for half the season (the whole season really is just too damn long).

In fact, Voyager's whole premise and set-up doesn't lend itself to the usual 22 episode season model. It should've had a 10 or 13 episode thing, easier to keep the arcs and writing tighter. And the cast should've been smaller too, the Primary Cast should've been Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, The Doctor and maybe Paris. Everyone else would in the Secondary Recurring cast who didn't need to be in every episode.

I would have liked them to get home with maybe six episodes to go then had a couple 'homecoming/readjusting' episodes before they're called to use their DQ intel to fight off the Borg or something. Or could have done the full circle thing like TNG and DS9 and had some third Caretaker involved.

The 8472 aliens would've been a good series long plot point, with it being the Equinox crew who started the mess and then the Borg make it worse later. But then it ultimately would be revealed that the Female Caretaker was really behind everything including the Equinox crew contacting the 8472 aliens. She's the final villain that has to be beaten in the end.

 

[catshadowsi8]

The 8472 aliens would've been a good series long plot point, with it being the Equinox crew who started the mess and then the Borg make it worse later. But then it ultimately would be revealed that the Female Caretaker was really behind everything including the Equinox crew contacting the 8472 aliens. She's the final villain that has to be beaten in the end.

I'm not sure I agree totally with your first few ideas. I believe we need Seska, and the exploration of foreign space to flesh out the characters before Year of Hell. Then you can make it last a full season. Even with the characters separated, we still feel their connection to each other. We also see the huge change in them when circumstances become dire.

I'd also add B'Elanna to the core cast. I don't really want one token Maquis on board. That's just me though.

However, this part I quoted I'm totally in agreement with. Imo they squandered species 8472. Putting them on the Equinox might have worked to start the war though I love Scorpion too much to change it. I'd still have the Borg start it, but make species 8472 a prime threat throughout the rest of the series as well as the aliens on Equinox. The smaller creatures could be explained as females of species 8472. They kind of looked like they might be.

Then bring on a Caretaker at the end. No Borg, no time travel, no Admiral Janeway, no contrived plot points. If we didn't send them home earlier, I would have loved this idea.

 

[Catarina]

imagine me joking because I'm not serious here. plot device: banjo man caretaker has a twin. That'll confuse them.

 

[catshadowsi8]

imagine me joking because I'm not serious here. plot device: banjo man caretaker has a twin. That'll confuse them.

Lol a temporal rift sends them back to the beginning and we start all over.

 

[Catarina]

Lol a temporal rift sends them back to the beginning and we start all over.

Oh, god that reminds me of the days when if you died in a game you had to start over because there wasn't a save point or you were shy of the save point.

 

[catshadowsi8]

Oh, god that reminds me of the days when if you died in a game you had to start over because there wasn't a save point or you were shy of the save point.

There was a Wolverine game like that. My kids played. Sent you back to the beginning all the time. Annoyed the heck out of me. Only one TV so...

 

[Sophie74656]

Lol a temporal rift sends them back to the beginning and we start all over.

When endgame was airing for the first time I remember reading that they were seriously thinking about something like that....having them end up further back in thr delta quadrant

 

[Sophie74656]

There was a Wolverine game like that. My kids played. Sent you back to the beginning all the time. Annoyed the heck out of me. Only one TV so...

That was pretty much every game back in the day. My brother and i would spend hours playing Sonic because there was no way to save

 

[Farscape One]

imagine me joking because I'm not serious here. plot device: banjo man caretaker has a twin. That'll confuse them.

Or instead of a twin, new Banjo Man Caretaker is played by Steve Martin.

And the finale is called "STARSHIPS, SHUTTLES, AND '36 FORDS".

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I don't think it would have been as interesting. Then it would really be just TNG all over again. And would they even all stay on the ship? If they got home after 3 years what happens to the former Maquis?

VOY could've delved into the hard work of reconstruction, with the Starfleet crew having to decide whether they would remain onboard or take posting to be close to their families once more. The Maquis on the other hand could become more interesting having to deal with the annihilation of their movement, many of their home colonies, and the fact that they are pretty much all that's left, how would that (and their time spent on a Starfleet ship) affect them? There would be a lot of scope for what they could do once they got back home, though it would mean disrupting the status quo and changing things up.

 

[Anwar]

I'm not sure I agree totally with your first few ideas. I believe we need Seska, and the exploration of foreign space to flesh out the characters before Year of Hell.

The whole "Always on the move" thing kind of hindered stuff too. They should've been in the same general area of space and have the Kazon and Vidiians and co all co-exist rather than be separate species encountered one at a time.

Then you can make it last a full season. Even with the characters separated, we still feel their connection to each other. We also see the huge change in them when circumstances become dire.

I still think 13 episode seasons would've worked out better, easier to write and control things than 22.

However, this part I quoted I'm totally in agreement with. Imo they squandered species 8472. Putting them on the Equinox might have worked to start the war though I love Scorpion too much to change it. I'd still have the Borg start it, but make species 8472 a prime threat throughout the rest of the series as well as the aliens on Equinox. The smaller creatures could be explained as females of species 8472. They kind of looked like they might be.

To keep the 8472 aliens around, I'd have depowered them a bit. Their ships wouldn't have shields so a single phaser shot would be enough to destroy them. Their strength comes from being immune to assimilation and their offensive power, with their lack of defensive power countering that just enough.

Then bring on a Caretaker at the end. No Borg, no time travel, no Admiral Janeway, no contrived plot points. If we didn't send them home earlier, I would have loved this idea.

They really should've gone home halfway through the series, maybe with an artificial wormhole they created or Q creates for them. But he leaves the Wormhole there so once things are settled at home they go back to the DQ to deal with the 8472 threat once and for all, and we find out the Female Caretaker was behind everything. They kill her, and then the 8472 leave our Universe and never come back. Q then wipes the knowledge of the 8472 from the Borg's memory to keep them from trying to go after the 8472 aliens again, sends Voyager home permanently and destroys his wormhole.