Is it me or was the the Delta Quadrant just boring compared to the Alpha Quadrant? It seemed like the alien civilizations were dull and less developed compared to the alien civilizations in the Alpha Quadrant. I would take the Klingons over the Kazon, any day for example. There was far less interesting political intrigue in the Delta Quadrant too.
Was the Delta Quadrant Just Boring Compared to the Alpha Quadrant?
- Thread starter The Overlord
- Start date
Well as a huge DS9 fan, sure, I'll agree with that statement in general.
But really... Star Trek: Voyager isn't a terrific example of the Delta Quadrant's machinations even if, of course, it is the only example we'll ever have. Voyager was moving through it in a particular direction for its entire seven-year run, unlike DS9 where it's firmly planted or even the Enterprise(s) where they can more consistently encounter the same race.
The Kazon definitely ain't got nothin' on the Klingons, though.
But really... Star Trek: Voyager isn't a terrific example of the Delta Quadrant's machinations even if, of course, it is the only example we'll ever have. Voyager was moving through it in a particular direction for its entire seven-year run, unlike DS9 where it's firmly planted or even the Enterprise(s) where they can more consistently encounter the same race.
The Kazon definitely ain't got nothin' on the Klingons, though.
The Alpha Quadrant was fleshed out by four preceding shows: TOS, TAS, TNG, and DS9. Voyager only had the one, and much of the quadrant was already spoken for by the Borg. There were some really interesting races there, like those dinosaurs who evolved on Earth but settled elsewhere.
The Kazon were terrible, but Voyager had some great aliens too.
The circumstances didn't lend themselves to a lot of recurring races. Since Voyager was apparently going at a steady pace to get home, they couldn't spend as long developing alien races. The fact we got 2 years of the Kazon was a bit implausible, given how much ground Voyager would have covered. It didn't help that they were one of the worst Trek enemies of all time either.
Aside from the Kazon though, I disagree that the races were dull. And the fact they weren't as well developed was just a matter of the fact Voyager was not hanging around in the same general area like the other shows. Many of the more prominent enemies of Voyager only got a few episodes (aside from the Kazon). To compare any of the enemies of Voyager to a race such as the Klingons, whose history has been sorted out over the past 40 years, is a bit unfair.
That said, how many races could compare to the Klingons anyway? They're just badass.
The circumstances didn't lend themselves to a lot of recurring races. Since Voyager was apparently going at a steady pace to get home, they couldn't spend as long developing alien races. The fact we got 2 years of the Kazon was a bit implausible, given how much ground Voyager would have covered. It didn't help that they were one of the worst Trek enemies of all time either.
Aside from the Kazon though, I disagree that the races were dull. And the fact they weren't as well developed was just a matter of the fact Voyager was not hanging around in the same general area like the other shows. Many of the more prominent enemies of Voyager only got a few episodes (aside from the Kazon). To compare any of the enemies of Voyager to a race such as the Klingons, whose history has been sorted out over the past 40 years, is a bit unfair.
That said, how many races could compare to the Klingons anyway? They're just badass.
What civilizations were interesting in the Delta Quadrant, besides the Borg?
Here's the problem though, the show ruined any sort of tension early on by dropping the Maquis/Federation tensions and undermining any drama from the crew having to survive in the middle of nowhere when they still had power for the Holodeck and could go on silly adventures whenever they wanted too. So really having underdeveloped alien civilizations who usually provided no tension didn't help with the lack drama.
There were too many aliens who seemed to wanted to take over the ship, for no explained reason. Like aliens from Waking Moments. They are all asleep and entering people's dreams, why do they need Voyager?
I thought the Vidiians were a good early enemy. Much more interesting than the Kazon. They weren't attacking the crew for no reason. They were a desperate race trying to find organs. They had some good episodes, and many moments where they were more than just generic villians.
The Krenim were also a good enemy. They weren't taking over the ship for no reason. They merely wanted to remove Voyager from intefering with their grand scheme of restoring the timeline to what it was. Considering they only got a few episodes, they were great.
Then we have species 8472. They weren't randomly attacking the ship. Voyager got in the middle of the Borg/8472 war and sided with the Borg. It was reasonable that they got attacked. Then in Prey, species 8472 was mostly trying to get home and avoid the Hirogen.
I wasn't sold on the Hirogen though. I've never liked a generic race that can be defined by one driving force (which is why I can't stand the Ferengi), and they just attacked Voyager for the sake of it.
Aside from that, there weren't too many recurring aliens in Voyager. Some of the one off aliens of the week were great (Counterpoint was a great episode with a good enemy who was an interesting character without the need for defining the race too narrowly or adding goofy prosthetics), while others weren't (space dinosaurs). But overall I don't think any of the one off aliens were any worse than say TNG.
Boring and dull? Not at all!
The undevelopment or whatever of the quadrant was what made that part of the galaxy unique. Personally I find the Delta uadrant and the scenario there a good complement and contrast to the daily adventures in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Each of those quadrants seem to have their own structure, culture and so on.
Which is exactly what I like.
The undevelopment or whatever of the quadrant was what made that part of the galaxy unique. Personally I find the Delta uadrant and the scenario there a good complement and contrast to the daily adventures in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Each of those quadrants seem to have their own structure, culture and so on.
Which is exactly what I like.
We know even less about the Gamma quadrant. The Dominion craps all over everyone weaker which means everyone, that's about it.
And really the point is they can't hang around doing mercy missions like in TOS and TNG, they have to get the hell through every area as quick as they can.
And really the point is they can't hang around doing mercy missions like in TOS and TNG, they have to get the hell through every area as quick as they can.
It's not that it was boring, it's that it was more of the same.
Yeah, I actually kind of liked them. They were pretty legitimately frightening.
Not really - they were a plot device that allowed the writers to shake up Voyager like they should have been doing through the entire series, but contain it to 2 episodes. Pretty weak stuff. I'm never a fan of anything where the reset button is pushed so massively as in this episode.
Don't get me started on this. They were introduced as a bunch of malicious mother fuckers that even the Borg couldn't assimilate and they considered us an infestation. 2 episodes later, they're completely declawed, defanged, and agreeing to a truce with the Voyager. Why would you even introduce a species this hard core and then have them turn into a pack of weak tits? Oh wait, that's right - Star Trek loves to wreck all of its good villains.
Agreed.
VOY's constrained premise meant that they weren't going to have aliens that were as well-defined as the one from TOS/TNG/DS9. If the premise had been different and they stayed in one area of space for the entire show (like how Farscape never left the Uncharted Territories) then recurring aliens make more sense.
It didn't really help that the audience kept flip-flopping on the issue, saying "We want recurring aliens" and then complaining when aliens keep showing up.
It didn't really help that the audience kept flip-flopping on the issue, saying "We want recurring aliens" and then complaining when aliens keep showing up.
I've actually never understood why the reset button..... well, pushes people's buttons. I think in this case it was a good way to explore stuff that they clearly couldn't do within the confines of continuity, such as actual BATTLE DAMAGE, as well as one of the best Voyager scenes - ramming Voyager into the timeship. I understand that it ultimately means nothing matters, and people see it as a cop out to kill people, but I personally see that as the appeal. I get excited when I realize that they're free to do whatever they want.
As for the Krenim themselves, since we only really dealt with one vessel, when I say Krenim I basically refer to Annorax. He was a guy who made a huge mistake, and has suffered for hundreds of years trying to correct it, motivated by the loss of his wife, and his homeworld. And his crew were a bunch of people growing more disillusioned with his obsessive need to restore one particular planet, rather than just drones.
For an enemy that basically only covered a double episode, I maintain that the Krenim were a good enemy, thanks to a great double episode.
That last episode where they were going to infiltrate Starfleet was pretty weak, I'll give you that. But they were set up nicely in Scorpion as the race that the Borg couldn't assimilate, and they put the effort into making species 8472 something distinctive, and not just a guy in a suit with a genital forehead. And they weren't too bad in Prey (although not exactly good either).
Can we at least agree that they were good for Scorpion? I'll admit that their potential got wasted after that.
The reset button is bad because when you watch a show, you like to see characters grow and change and learn from their experiences or suffer for their mistakes or revel in their victories. The reset button takes all of this away and makes them undynamic characters in an undynamic universe where shit just happens to them and it doesn't really matter anyway.
As for 8472, they were really good in Scorpion and I wish they could have continued being good. It was the first time I really felt like Voyager might be on to something.
As for 8472, they were really good in Scorpion and I wish they could have continued being good. It was the first time I really felt like Voyager might be on to something.
I totally get that. Sometimes it sucks to know that your characters have done something fantastic, but they'll never know it. But for me it usually doesn't take much away from the episodes. You get to see characters deal with situations that you couldn't normally do, and even though the impact on your character is reset, we learn more about the character. It can show extremes. We know what it took to push Janeway to sacrifice herself to save her crew (and the fate of several species). That's something you can't normally show (unless you are legitimately killing off a main character). I like that, even though that year of hell ended up being erased.
And also, this is Voyager in this case. It's not like we're losing huge character development here.
^I agree with BVD on this one. It's like saying that "Yesterday's Enterprise" is a lousy episode because it hits the reset button. As he said, it's a chance to see the crew really pushed the their limits. If we got something like Picard's "Let's ensure that history never forgets the name...Enterprise" speech without the reset button, it would have to be the end of the show.
And I think that Voyager had some great aliens: the Vidiians are probably the best concept, the Hirogen and 8472 at least look cool, and are great concepts as well, with a few duds along the way (Kazons, vampire women, Talaxians). The idea of the Ocampa, a species that only lives 9 years, had real potential that wasn't really recognized.
So I'd say it wasn't that the Delta Quadrant itself was boring--it was that the show, for whatever reason, didn't tap into its full potential. IMHO, of course.
And I think that Voyager had some great aliens: the Vidiians are probably the best concept, the Hirogen and 8472 at least look cool, and are great concepts as well, with a few duds along the way (Kazons, vampire women, Talaxians). The idea of the Ocampa, a species that only lives 9 years, had real potential that wasn't really recognized.
So I'd say it wasn't that the Delta Quadrant itself was boring--it was that the show, for whatever reason, didn't tap into its full potential. IMHO, of course.
This.
Because of the nature of Voyager's journey -- namely that it was constantly moving away from whatever it encountered the week before -- the arcs of recurring drama needed to come from within the crew, not from outside as had typically been the case in Trek. Use your 'alien of the week' to provide one-off stories, and maybe occasionally have a race like the Borg that can plausibly encounter Voyager over a period of time. But otherwise, build your arcs from within the ship.
Unfortunately, the writers were either unwilling or unable to go that direction. And the show suffered greatly as a result.
