...but in Steve's edit, it was missing Piller's opinions about Voyager...methinks he liked it too much, lol.

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"Unless we learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] we will die together as fools." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

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I can honestly pray that I don’t elicit too much criticism or anger, but I just don't understand your attitude toward Voyager. One of the things that made TNG great was Data, and how he yearned for something he could never have, humanity, but he actually obtained humanities most unique and wonderful characteristics. The EMH was much the same, but he never wanted to be human, just wanted to be something more then a medical slave, and he obtained that through many internal conflicts with his own nature going up against the crews. The same with Paris. A sarcastic convict who was just happy to be out of prison and away from his father, developed so much from his experiences that he became a husband and father.

Okay, you can pretty much go over every character from Trek, main and secondary, and dissect how they grew, as that has a lot to do with how great Trek is. Voyager had its problems, sure, like any of the Treks, but don’t believe it lacked in any of the basic ideals that made Trek so popular. Exploration of space and what humanity is, diversity, morals, ethics, love… Please go on.

TNG was my first love, and I disturbingly mean that. DS9 was fun, great drama, a different take. But Voyager was a good friend, who at least to me, reminded me how important home is. I don’t think Voyager was better then the others, but I do take exception to how awful some think it is compared to other Treks. Again, I’m not being confrontational, just questioning.

Sure, the Maquis Starfleet arc was resolved too quickly. Kes was weak; Neelix Chakotay and Kim were still trying to find time by the end. 7 was over done as were the Borg. The writing seemed tired at times, only reflecting the actual writers who wrote themselves into a box.

But the one thing I will always love about Voyager, I.E., one of its characters, was Captain Kathryn Janeway. Now that right there is enough for a fight, but I don’t want one. One of the things I’ve noticed that was very hated about Voyager was Janeway. Maybe it was Mulgrew herself, or how she wore the uniform, but Janeway was one of the best characters in Trek to me. Self righteous, arrogant, and even a bit of a God complex, but she was ethical, moral, and was the strength that kept that crew together on course for home. She always held firm to her Starfleet training, even when it called for violating some of the most important edicts she learned, and she always remained true to the uniform and if Trek was real, and I’ll admit something that many wouldn’t that I wish it was, she would be admired by many and at the very least respected. She was daring like Kirk (Scientific Method), ethical like Picard (Latent Image), strong like Sisko (Macrocosm) and cautious like Archer, (The Omega Directive). Hey, I'm sure there are better examples, but those are just a vague few that if read into them the way I believe then you can hopefully see what I mean… Or at least tell me my opinion is crap and that I don’t know Trek like any of you do.

Sorry to be so defensive there, but I’ve read some of the catfights on these boards and don’t think my delicate Republican psyche can take it right now.

Frasier on Bebe: “She's rather hard to get hold of these days.”
Niles: “Oh really. I thought one just drew a pentagram on the floor and chanted "I summon thee" three times.”

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"I loved the finale, I thought it was full of the kinds of story that I love to tell. But there were many, many things in between that I found remote."

Piller is being very generous with his criticism. As for 7of9 being the bringer of conflict, that's all well and good, but if a character/plot device is overused to the exclusion and the detriment of other character's development, then the show's mission and promise becomes a very wasted one indeed.

A friend of mine compared the end of Voyager to a long, uneventful bus ride. People got on - people got off - but save for a 'holo-doc' who somehow become 'sentient' with absolutely no rhyme nor reason attached therein and a Borg drone who argued alot with Captain Janeway, I can point to no other dramatic or narrative merits to the whole 7 years. The Voyager bus did indeed come home to Earth Grand Central Terminal. And instead of having a wonderful dramatic coda or deep retrospective, we're treated to Janeway muttering, "We're home."

UPN/Paramount and the producers opted for the cheap, sensationalist end full of Borg battles, time travel and bad old age make-up. TNG ended with a philosophical reflection on Picard's life and the very meaning of time, DS9 treated us to the mother of all space battles that actually meant something to whole races of people and most of all to DS9's crew - with Voyager, the bus just ran outta gas. Hitched a ride on a Borg ship and sputtered on home - limp and lifeless.

Just sad.


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Laren Ro

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It's the redundant department of redundancy!

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-James

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