Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Star Trek: Voyager accidentally presided over the franchise’s decline

29 views
Skip to first unread message

TMC

unread,
Jun 6, 2013, 5:16:21 AM6/6/13
to
http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-presided-over-the-f,98207/

When Star Trek: Voyager premièred in January of 1995, the Star Trek
franchise was at the height of its expansion. The Next Generation’s
final season was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the 1994
Emmys, the only syndicated series to achieve such a distinction, and
that series’ cast was preparing to transition into movies. Deep Space
Nine had been launched two years earlier to critical applause. But
Voyager was not only a new Star Trek series. It was to be the flagship
for UPN, Paramount’s venture into the broadcast-network game. Luckily,
the two-hour pilot, “Caretaker,” pulled in an impressive 21.3 million
viewers.

At the time of Voyager’s planning, each of the three executive
producers was also overseeing some other arm of the Star Trek
property. Rick Berman was focused on the film Star Trek: Generations,
micromanaging every frame of footage as he had done with every other
Trek he’d been involved with. Jeri Taylor ran the final season of Star
Trek: The Next Generation, subtly transforming the science-fiction
morality play into a freewheeling family reunion. The season marks the
debut of Geordi’s mom, Data’s mom, Picard’s son, Worf’s foster
brother, Dr. Crusher’s grandmother, and the list goes on. And Michael
Piller had similar duties on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which had the
sole spotlight in the Star Trek universe for a total of three months
at the start of its third season, just as its long-term story was
heating up.

Perhaps this creative overextension accounts for Voyager’s milquetoast
introduction. When Farscape’s John Crichton slingshots across the
galaxy, he immediately finds himself in the middle of a skirmish
between aliens he can’t understand. When Battlestar Galactica sets off
for Earth, the drama of both nuclear apocalypse and various resource
crises is palpable. Even the starship Enterprise arrives in the Delta
Quadrant with maximum menace, resulting in a memorable speech about
exploration by John De Lancie’s theatrical, omnipotent Q: “It’s not
safe out here. It’s wondrous with treasures to satiate desires both
subtle and gross. But it’s not for the timid.”

The starship Voyager, on the other hand, finds itself at a big
satellite controlled by another seemingly omnipotent entity, The
Caretaker, who presents as an old human man putting on a kind of
hoedown for the crew he’s kidnapped. It turns out that his
technologically advanced society had obliterated the environment of a
planet called Ocampa, whose natives have life spans of about nine
years, so two of The Caretaker’s species stayed behind to provide for
them. Now, The Caretaker is dying, his companion has long ago moved
on, and the Ocampa run the risk of being dominated by the tribal
Kazon, unless the Voyager crew can help him. Captain Janeway makes the
decision to destroy the Caretaker array that brought Voyager to the
Delta Quadrant instead of further disrupting the balance of power in
the area. Without the array and at maximum warp, it will now take
Voyager 75 years to get back home.

The stakes are enormous, but Janeway barely has time to weigh her
decision. The right to form a labor union on Battlestar Galactica is
given more heft. Worse still, her crew doesn’t so much as wink in the
direction of rebellion, and half of the members are genuine ex-
Starfleet rebels known as the Maquis. Two episodes later, life on
Voyager is hunky dory, give or take a reference to some rebels not
fitting in. Berman was adamant about this point. In Stephen Edward
Poe’s Star Trek: Voyager: A Vision Of The Future, Berman says:
“We wanted to get the Maquis into Starfleet uniforms, with a captain
who had to pull together diverse groups of people into a functioning,
solid, effective unit. It would get pretty irritating, and cumbersome,
to have the Maquis tension in every episode.”

“Caretaker” invokes ’90s environmentalism, a superpower’s role as
world police, and two oppositional parties working together to run
that superpower as best as they can, but it’s nothing so much as a
reminder of Gene Roddenberry’s Prime Directive. Starfleet is expressly
prohibited from interfering with the progress of pre-warp societies.
The Caretaker’s species had no such guidelines and nearly wiped out a
whole species. Now, Voyager has the task of upholding Alpha Quadrant
standards in the absence of Alpha Quadrant hierarchy.

Weirder still, “Caretaker” is told largely from the perspective of
Starfleet wash-out Tom Paris, who starts off working at a penal colony
on Earth and winds up risking his life to save Maquis Commander
Chakotay, with whom he has bad blood. While fairly paint-by-numbers,
this redemption story isn’t unexpected. Voyager’s crew is a diverse
spread of untested sailors: In addition to Paris and Chakotay, there’s
the fresh-faced recent Academy graduate Ensign Harry Kim; the Latin
human-Klingon hybrid B’Elanna Torres; ostensibly the first Ocampa to
leave her home planet, Kes; the rogue Delta Quadrant loner Neelix; and
an unnamed holographic doctor designed for use in the case of
emergency. The most experienced officers are black Vulcan security
officer Tuvok and Captain Janeway herself. In fact, it’s the white
male crewmembers, the first officer and the human doctor, who get
killed in the Caretaker’s intervention. Which makes it all the
stranger that the first female captain of a Star Trek series is
introduced through the eyes of a straight white male.

Mixed signals abound on Voyager, but nowhere so much as the show’s
approach to feminism. With its cast of prominent female scientists who
possess rich interests and social lives, the show routinely makes the
Bechdel test a thing of the 21st century. But then there’s the way
Janeway isn’t even the star of her show’s pilot. Janeway’s an
authoritative figure, unquestionably the most stubborn of all the
stubborn Star Trek captains, but her decision-making tends to seem
reckless. When Voyager discovers super-powerful, super-dangerous Omega
particles, Starfleet requires captains to throw out the Prime
Directive and destroy them. One minute, Janeway goes on lockdown,
preparing to leave her crew to accomplish this confidential task.

The next, she’s spilling the beans to the ensign on her senior staff.
Then there’s kidnapped ex-Borg Seven of Nine (a late addition to the
cast, played by Jeri Ryan), whose dehumanized delivery is packaged in
a catsuit Emma Peel would blush at and a Borg implant that doesn’t
dare disfigure her face. The one cop to Maquis discontent is a woman
named Seska, who spends most of the second season secretly working
with the Kazon. Then, in a classic twist of Star Trek’s famous species
essentialism—the idea that its alien races were all driven by certain
unchanging psychological quirks—she turns out to be a Cardassian spy
embedded in the Maquis. Eventually, Seska claims to have stolen
Chakotay’s DNA and impregnated herself with his child, one last soap-
opera twist for the fiercely independent, baby-crazy traitor.

Speaking of species essentialism, while Seska’s Cardassian heritage
makes her out-and-out evil, Deep Space Nine’s Cardassian spy, Garak,
follows in the footsteps of The Next Generation’s Klingon Worf in
upending traditional species roles. Voyager’s sister show even makes
room for subversive Starfleet officers and heroic Ferengi,
traditionally a selfish bunch driven by greed. Voyager doesn’t have
nearly as much faith in Roddenberry’s drive for “infinite diversity in
infinite combinations.” The closest it comes is Talaxian Neelix, and
his journey from selfish to selfless rests comfortably inside Quark’s
more extreme arc back on Deep Space Nine. Even Seven of Nine, who
transcends her long history and literal hard-wiring as a member of the
fearless, culture-assimilating Borg, discovers compassion as a trait
inherent to her humanity. She’s not rebelling against Borg values.
She’s recovering her human ones.

The main reason Voyager fails to make as strong an impression as its
counterparts is its bland characters and repetitive stories. Like a
Lost knockoff that retains the flashbacks but loses the intrigue,
Voyager keeps telling the same stories about the same people, most of
whom are defined by a single characteristic. Generic Native American
Chakotay has some spiritual quest or another, often literalized
through aliens. Torres resists and then gives into her Klingon
heritage, undergoing the latest Alpha Quadrant ritual. Kim gets
kidnapped by aliens. Neelix proves himself as a Starfleet officer. Tom
Paris lusts after a woman. Voyager finds a way to get home slightly
more quickly but ultimately can’t take advantage of it because
Gilligan knocked over the radio or something. Several Wikipedia
episode synopses read like parodies (see: “Harry Kim is contacted by a
planet full of women”).

No wonder the science-fiction stories are the most potent. In season
one’s “Eye Of The Needle,” Voyager finds a wormhole back to Romulan
space with a final twist so good Deep Space Nine would later
incorporate it. The next season has fun with quantum theory when
Voyager splits into two. In season three’s “Distant Origin,” an alien
stands trial on his home world for positing that his species evolved
from aliens across the galaxy. He looks like a humanoid dinosaur, and
it takes two commercial breaks to get to a regular character. Voyager
was conceived as an action-adventure Star Trek, closer to the original
series than the diplomacy-heavy sequels, and it gets close in these
science-fiction morality plays. Janeway arbitrates an assisted-suicide
debate among the Q, a war memorial causes the crew to experience
devastating flashbacks to a war they never fought, and a two-parter
traps the crew in a year of deadly attrition all because a 29th-
century time-traveler is trying to temporally resurrect his murdered
wife.

Voyager also boasts surprising self-awareness. The Prime Directive of
non-intervention is the goal from inside the ship, but Delta Quadrant
aliens tell Janeway they see the Voyager as a ship of death.
Destruction invariably follows in its wake. Another off-format
episode, “Living Witness,” sees Voyager in a museum far into the
future as a native society educates its populace about the long-since
corrupted history of the Machiavellian crew.

Nevertheless, aliens are constantly lusting after Voyager’s
technology. The Kazon steal a transporter, traders steal the ship’s
weapons, and still other aliens seek its warp plasma. What’s more,
advanced Starfleet technology is repeatedly offered for trade in spite
of the holy law. The Kazon are obsessed with the replicator, which has
created an economy of almost limited scarcity and enlightened modesty
on Earth. Some crewmembers conspire to trade a replicator for a
powerful transporter that could hasten the journey home. A species of
hunters called the Hirogen find new life in Voyager’s holographic
technology. Deep Space Nine is fearlessly upfront about the dark side
of superpower-dom, but Voyager is also constantly considering the
costs and concerns of power.

Holographic technology, in particular, is the focus of Voyager’s
science fiction, starting with the holographic Doctor. Designed as a
follow-up to The Next Generation’s sentient hologram villain,
Moriarty, the Doctor is unusually self-aware. He’s an emergency
program with poor bedside manner and the dry wit of Robert Picardo.
He’s summoned by the crew when they need him and left on when they
leave, unable to turn himself off and stuck alone in Sickbay until
someone else comes along. Then medical assistant Kes starts to help
him soften. She invites him to search for a name and encourages him to
pursue interests. At first he’s confined to Sickbay, but then he
gradually increases his mobility to the Holodeck, where he even
creates a family, and to key areas of the ship. Later, a 29th-century
mobile emitter allows him to go wherever the emitter will function, a
timeline violation that Janeway allows. Over the course of the series,
the Doctor goes from sighing software trapped in a Sartrean hell to a
heroic Renaissance man.

And he’s not alone. Voyager encounters a murderous hologram with a
prejudice against “organics,” The Doctor’s 2.0 replacement, and a
whole society of holograms consigned to a life playing The Most
Dangerous Game with the Hirogen hunters. The recreational Holodeck
programs are mostly duds, ranging from an English governess mystery to
a spitball session with John Rhys-Davies’ Leonardo Da Vinci, but it’s
easy to see why Star Trek’s famous Holodeck larks seem to take over
Voyager. Janeway may have to deal with depleting deuterium, but she
keeps the Holodeck perpetually running because those are people in
there. She even falls in love with a holographic Irish bodice-ripper
stereotype. Voyager is fascinated with, concerned by, and curious
about virtual reality in the early days of the Internet. Not that the
writing sells it, but in the wide view, Voyager’s preoccupation with
holograms is an essential part of the Spock-Data-Odo look at what it
means to be sentient, what it means to be human. In “Bride Of
Chaotica!,” a Flash Gordon-style black-and-white ’30s space serial,
Voyager even pulls off a successful trapped-in-the-Holodeck episode, a
usually eye-rolling Star Trek staple.

Halfway through the series, the Doctor takes on the Kes role toward
Seven of Nine, helping her to recover her humanity. He holds lessons
on social customs and even starts to fall for his protégé. Like
Picardo, Jeri Ryan has a way with dry, arrogant delivery, but with the
bonus of Seven’s absolute awkwardness. From that point on, Voyager
essentially ditches the ensemble focus that defines the Star Trek
sequels in favor of a classic trio, Janeway, the Doctor, and Seven.
There’s no Kirk-Spock-McCoy tension, exactly. Janeway doesn’t balance
the other two. But these core relationships are so compelling that
defanged Maquis and eager-beaver ensigns can’t compete. Ideal 24th-
century Starfleet personnel may be emotionally incapable of extended
conflict, but ex-Borg have no such discipline. Seven is intensely
antagonistic toward Janeway, and she repeatedly defies her orders in
pursuit of self-interest. But as the series heads into the home
stretch, Seven and Janeway find mutual respect. The Doctor helps Seven
pursue interests. And she even becomes a surrogate mother to ex-Borg
children who join the crew. Voyager was designed as a ship of misfits
and mercenaries grudgingly learning to work together, but it never
really feels that way until the last half of its run.

Still, Voyager’s ratings declined in tandem with its four-year project
to defang the Borg, and its final two seasons underperformed Deep
Space Nine at its lowest. After the new Star Trek standard of seven
seasons, Voyager ended with a whimper. When the series began, Star
Trek was bigger than ever, and Voyager explicitly tried to get back to
basics instead of pushing ahead. In its wake came the George W. Bush
era’s Enterprise—set before the original series and captained by a
Southern, straight white male—and now J.J. Abrams’ original-series
movies—action-adventure romps without much in the way of an explorer’s
curiosity or science fiction’s moral dilemmas. Voyager may have
presided over the property’s decline, such as it was, but looking
back, Voyager eventually found what it was looking for: not just plot
resolution, but also a character study about strong personalities
longing for a place they can call home.

Ian J. Ball

unread,
Jun 6, 2013, 9:10:50 AM6/6/13
to
In article
<c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:

> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-presided-over-th
> e-f,98207/
>
> When Star Trek: Voyager premi�red in January of 1995, the Star Trek
> franchise was at the height of its expansion.

"Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!

--
"Surf-crazed aliens... Of course." - Amber, "Alien Surf Girls",
Episode #1.1, "Wipeout".
Wait a minute... "Of course"?! "*Of course*"?!! Did I miss a step here??!!

Martin Phipps

unread,
Jun 6, 2013, 9:52:20 AM6/6/13
to
On Jun 6, 9:10 pm, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball-NO_S...@mac.invalid> wrote:
> In article
> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e-ad18-26a5fc9f0...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
>
>  TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-preside...
> > e-f,98207/
>
> > When Star Trek: Voyager premi red in January of 1995, the Star Trek
> > franchise was at the height of its expansion.
>
> "Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!

"Deliberately" then?

Martin

EGK

unread,
Jun 6, 2013, 10:28:37 AM6/6/13
to
On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
<ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:

>In article
><c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-presided-over-th
>> e-f,98207/
>>
>> When Star Trek: Voyager premi�red in January of 1995, the Star Trek
>> franchise was at the height of its expansion.
>
>"Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!

Not to minimize Voyager's faults but The Paramount Network had a lot to do
with the decline. A good share of the country couldn't even get it at
various times during Voyager's run. I remember watching the show and the
local cable here lost access to the channel in the final season. I never
did get to see how they finally made it home till years later.

Your Name

unread,
Jun 6, 2013, 5:19:10 PM6/6/13
to
In article <p071r8hk3p48ve6l0...@4ax.com>, EGK
Paramount's biggest fault was putting Beavis & Butthead in charge.

dx...@albury.nospam.net.au

unread,
Jun 8, 2013, 11:18:49 AM6/8/13
to
EGK wrote:
> On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
>
>> In article
>> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
>> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-presided-over-th
>>> e-f,98207/
>>>
>>> When Star Trek: Voyager premièred in January of 1995, the Star Trek
>>> franchise was at the height of its expansion.
>>
>> "Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!
>
> Not to minimize Voyager's faults but The Paramount Network had a lot to do
> with the decline. A good share of the country couldn't even get it at
> various times during Voyager's run. I remember watching the show and the
> local cable here lost access to the channel in the final season. I never
> did get to see how they finally made it home till years later.

I know they made it home, but have no idea how or when or why!!

Daniel


anim8rFSK

unread,
Jun 8, 2013, 11:56:40 AM6/8/13
to
In article <wXHst.64192$vh.4...@newsfe20.iad>,
"Dani...@teranews.com" <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:

> EGK wrote:
> > On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
> > <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >> In article
> >> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> >> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-presided-ove
> >>> r-th
> >>> e-f,98207/
> >>>
> >>> When Star Trek: Voyager premi�red in January of 1995, the Star Trek
> >>> franchise was at the height of its expansion.
> >>
> >> "Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!
> >
> > Not to minimize Voyager's faults but The Paramount Network had a lot to do
> > with the decline. A good share of the country couldn't even get it at
> > various times during Voyager's run. I remember watching the show and the
> > local cable here lost access to the channel in the final season. I never
> > did get to see how they finally made it home till years later.
>
> I know they made it home, but have no idea how or when or why!!
>
> Daniel

Well, Janeway murdered everyone in the universe to save an alternate
copy of her lesbian crush, and we never did see what happened when they
got home.

--
Dano's just a troll.

dx...@albury.nospam.net.au

unread,
Jun 8, 2013, 11:50:41 PM6/8/13
to
But I seem to recall mention, somewhere, of an Admiral Janeway (or some
such). That's why I figured she/they made it home. One would figure she
wouldn't get promoted if she "Janeway murdered everyone in the universe
.... "

Am I mis-remembering or just plain wrong??

Daniel

Your Name

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 12:28:21 AM6/9/13
to
In article <sYSst.20787$6_4...@newsfe31.iad>, "Dani...@teranews.com"
<dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
> anim8rFSK wrote:
> > In article <wXHst.64192$vh.4...@newsfe20.iad>,
> > "Dani...@teranews.com" <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
> >> EGK wrote:
> >>> On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
> >>> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> In article
> >>>> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> >>>> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-
> >>>>> presided-over-the-f,98207/
> >>>>>
> >>>>> When Star Trek: Voyager premi�red in January of 1995, the Star Trek
> >>>>> franchise was at the height of its expansion.
> >>>>
> >>>> "Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!
> >>>
> >>> Not to minimize Voyager's faults but The Paramount Network had a lot to do
> >>> with the decline. A good share of the country couldn't even get it at
> >>> various times during Voyager's run. I remember watching the show and
> >>> the local cable here lost access to the channel in the final season. I
> >>> never did get to see how they finally made it home till years later.
> >>
> >> I know they made it home, but have no idea how or when or why!!
> >
> > Well, Janeway murdered everyone in the universe to save an alternate
> > copy of her lesbian crush, and we never did see what happened when they
> > got home.
>
> But I seem to recall mention, somewhere, of an Admiral Janeway (or some
> such). That's why I figured she/they made it home. One would figure she
> wouldn't get promoted if she "Janeway murdered everyone in the universe
> .... "
>
> Am I mis-remembering or just plain wrong??

Nope. She was promoted. Plus her father was Vice Admiral Janeway ... so
there's actually at least two Admiral Janeways in the Star Trek universe.
:-)

anim8rFSK

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 1:51:18 AM6/9/13
to
In article
<YourName-090...@203-118-187-254.dsl.dyn.ihug.co.nz>,
Your...@YourISP.com (Your Name) wrote:

> In article <sYSst.20787$6_4...@newsfe31.iad>, "Dani...@teranews.com"
> <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
> > anim8rFSK wrote:
> > > In article <wXHst.64192$vh.4...@newsfe20.iad>,
> > > "Dani...@teranews.com" <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
> > >> EGK wrote:
> > >>> On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
> > >>> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>>> In article
> > >>>> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> > >>>> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-
> > >>>>> presided-over-the-f,98207/
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> When Star Trek: Voyager premièred in January of 1995, the Star Trek
> > >>>>> franchise was at the height of its expansion.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> "Accidentally"?! There's nothing "accidental" about it!!!
> > >>>
> > >>> Not to minimize Voyager's faults but The Paramount Network had a lot to
> > >>> do
> > >>> with the decline. A good share of the country couldn't even get it at
> > >>> various times during Voyager's run. I remember watching the show and
> > >>> the local cable here lost access to the channel in the final season. I
> > >>> never did get to see how they finally made it home till years later.
> > >>
> > >> I know they made it home, but have no idea how or when or why!!
> > >
> > > Well, Janeway murdered everyone in the universe to save an alternate
> > > copy of her lesbian crush, and we never did see what happened when they
> > > got home.
> >
> > But I seem to recall mention, somewhere, of an Admiral Janeway (or some
> > such). That's why I figured she/they made it home. One would figure she
> > wouldn't get promoted if she "Janeway murdered everyone in the universe
> > .... "

She got promoted before she murdered everyone in the universe.

> > Am I mis-remembering or just plain wrong??
>
> Nope. She was promoted. Plus her father was Vice Admiral Janeway ... so
> there's actually at least two Admiral Janeways in the Star Trek universe.
> :-)

But none of that happened.

The finale starts with the crew of Voyager having been home for years.
Janeway's an Admiral, but as batshit crazy as ever. She's been
obsessing over 7of9 not making it back, and steals a ship and goes back
in time (Starfleet tries to kill her to stop her) and wipes out her
entire timeline, murdering everyone everywhere, and sets up a new
timeline where 7of9 makes it (but others dies, but they don't matter
'cause they're not her lesbian crush). The episode ends with the
alternate Voyager spotting Earth (and vice versa) and ... that's the end
of it. We never seen them arrive home. We never find out what happens
to anybody. We don't see Captain Janeway tried and imprisoned (and
hopefully executed) for her crimes.

Mulgrew does have a cameo as Admiral Janeway in the worst of the real
Trek films, Nemesis, so apparently incompetence and murder is rewarded.

dx...@albury.nospam.net.au

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 2:22:39 AM6/9/13
to
anim8rFSK wrote:
> In article
> <YourName-090...@203-118-187-254.dsl.dyn.ihug.co.nz>,
> Your...@YourISP.com (Your Name) wrote:
>
>> In article <sYSst.20787$6_4...@newsfe31.iad>, "Dani...@teranews.com"
>> <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
>>> anim8rFSK wrote:
>>>> In article <wXHst.64192$vh.4...@newsfe20.iad>,
>>>> "Dani...@teranews.com" <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
>>>>> EGK wrote:
>>>>>> On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
>>>>>> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In article
>>>>>>> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
>>>>>>> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-
>>>>>>>> presided-over-the-f,98207/
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> When Star Trek: Voyager premi�red in January of 1995, the Star Trek
Thanks for that .... I've never seen the first Ep, where the Caretaker
zaps them into the Delta quadrant, so I suppose it's only fair that I've
never seen the final episode/s.

Now that you mention it, it might have been in Nemesis that I heard the
Admiral Janeway mention!

Tks

Daniel

anim8rFSK

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 6:49:59 AM6/9/13
to
In article <UaVst.34111$YL3....@newsfe25.iad>,
"Dani...@teranews.com" <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:

> anim8rFSK wrote:
> > In article
> > <YourName-090...@203-118-187-254.dsl.dyn.ihug.co.nz>,
> > Your...@YourISP.com (Your Name) wrote:
> >
> >> In article <sYSst.20787$6_4...@newsfe31.iad>, "Dani...@teranews.com"
> >> <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
> >>> anim8rFSK wrote:
> >>>> In article <wXHst.64192$vh.4...@newsfe20.iad>,
> >>>> "Dani...@teranews.com" <dx...@albury.nospam.net.au> wrote:
> >>>>> EGK wrote:
> >>>>>> On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:10:50 -0700, "Ian J. Ball"
> >>>>>> <ijball-...@mac.invalid> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> In article
> >>>>>>> <c6355497-ffba-4f1e...@k8g2000pbd.googlegroups.com>,
> >>>>>>> TMC <tmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> http://www.avclub.com/articles/star-trek-voyager-accidentally-
> >>>>>>>> presided-over-the-f,98207/
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> When Star Trek: Voyager premièred in January of 1995, the Star Trek
Welcome :)

Professor Bubba

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 7:29:29 AM6/9/13
to
In article <anim8rfsk-8E591...@news.easynews.com>,
anim8rFSK <anim...@cox.net> wrote:

> The finale starts with the crew of Voyager having been home for years.
> Janeway's an Admiral, but as batshit crazy as ever. She's been
> obsessing over 7of9 not making it back, and steals a ship and goes back
> in time (Starfleet tries to kill her to stop her) and wipes out her
> entire timeline, murdering everyone everywhere, and sets up a new
> timeline where 7of9 makes it (but others dies, but they don't matter
> 'cause they're not her lesbian crush). The episode ends with the
> alternate Voyager spotting Earth (and vice versa) and ... that's the end
> of it. We never seen them arrive home. We never find out what happens
> to anybody. We don't see Captain Janeway tried and imprisoned (and
> hopefully executed) for her crimes.

I'm probably going to be sorry I asked this ... but how come the newer
Star Trek films are set in an alternate timeline (which presumes that
the original still exists somewhere) while whatever Janeway did in
Voyager reset history entirely?

Obveeus

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 7:57:00 AM6/9/13
to

"anim8rFSK" <anim...@cox.net> wrote:
> The finale starts with the crew of Voyager having been home for years.
> Janeway's an Admiral, but as batshit crazy as ever. She's been
> obsessing over 7of9 not making it back, and steals a ship and goes back
> in time (Starfleet tries to kill her to stop her) and wipes out her
> entire timeline, murdering everyone everywhere, and sets up a new
> timeline where 7of9 makes it (but others dies, but they don't matter
> 'cause they're not her lesbian crush). The episode ends with the
> alternate Voyager spotting Earth (and vice versa) and ... that's the end
> of it. We never seen them arrive home. We never find out what happens
> to anybody. We don't see Captain Janeway tried and imprisoned (and
> hopefully executed) for her crimes.


She was put in prison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nryWkAaWjKg#t=44s


anim8rFSK

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 11:12:55 AM6/9/13
to
In article <kp1q9k$gn7$1...@dont-email.me>, "Obveeus" <Obv...@aol.com>
wrote:
Well, that's good, but is the crime of genocide to promote lesbian love
really best punished by a stint in an all woman's prison?

anim8rFSK

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 11:16:45 AM6/9/13
to
In article <090620130729298273%bu...@nowhere.edu.invalid>,
That's actually an excellent question. Voyager always acted like they
were resetting the existing timeline, and not just shifting to an
alternate reality like TNG usually did. Certainly the authorities
thought Janeway was trying to kill them all, hence them trying to kill
her first; if you thought the result was going to just be 'escape to
someplace else and we'll never see her again' you think you'd let her go.

TOS made a distinction between shunting between universes in current
time and going back in time and wiping out history.

Crap Trek and Orci just got it wrong.

Obveeus

unread,
Jun 9, 2013, 11:48:46 AM6/9/13
to
It certainly seems like a misguided punishment if 7 of 9 isn't sent there
for our viewing pleasure as well.


~consul

unread,
Jun 20, 2013, 9:12:00 PM6/20/13
to
tis on this 6/9/2013 2:22 AM, wrote Dani...@teranews.com thus to say:
> anim8rFSK wrote:
>> Mulgrew does have a cameo as Admiral Janeway in the worst of the real
>> Trek films, Nemesis, so apparently incompetence and murder is rewarded.
> Thanks for that .... I've never seen the first Ep, where the Caretaker zaps them into the Delta quadrant, so I suppose it's only fair that I've never seen the final episode/s.

I forget, that Caretaker satellite, it was the same that was ued in TNG that had that probe which zapped into Picard's head the memories of a lifetime on an alien planet? Or was it the same satellite station that zapped Lt Barclay's mind so he would figure out a way to transport the ship to ... some other quadrant? I thought it was the same prop, but was there any thread of continuity to them?
--
"... respect, all good works are not done by only good folk. For here, at the end of all things, we shall do what needs to be done."
--till next time, consul -x- <<poetry.dolphins-cove.com>>

~consul

unread,
Jun 20, 2013, 9:13:00 PM6/20/13
to
'tis on this 6/9/2013 7:29 AM, wrote Professor Bubba thus to say:
> I'm probably going to be sorry I asked this ... but how come the newer
> Star Trek films are set in an alternate timeline (which presumes that
> the original still exists somewhere) while whatever Janeway did in
> Voyager reset history entirely?

Because Time Warner doesn't get that other timeline's subscription channel.

David Johnston

unread,
Jun 20, 2013, 9:45:58 PM6/20/13
to
We actually have no way of knowing that the universe where Voyager took
20 years to make it back doesn't still exist. But it is true that Star
Trek has a huge number of different ways to travel through time each
with different rules.

Quadibloc

unread,
May 9, 2019, 4:23:28 PM5/9/19
to
On Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 11:51:18 PM UTC-6, anim8rFSK wrote:
> steals a ship and goes back
> in time (Starfleet tries to kill her to stop her) and wipes out her
> entire timeline, murdering everyone everywhere, and sets up a new
> timeline where 7of9 makes it (but others dies, but they don't matter
> 'cause they're not her lesbian crush).

But in Star Trek, they don't think that going back in time actually kills
everybody in the old timeline. Presumably, they still live on, but they just
become harder for time travellers to find.

John Savard
0 new messages