As I said at the start, the debut of Star Trek: Voyager marked the moment at which televised Star Trek stopped being appointment television for me. Some of this was Trek weariness - after seven seasons of TNG, I (and I suspect many other viewers) had just plain had enough Star Trek for a while, and there were still new episodes every week. I had even stopped watching Deep Space 9, a good show that I recognized as good, simply because of Trek weariness.
This put several strikes against Voyager for me before it even started. I did sit down to watch the pilot, and a few of the Season One episodes that followed. But none of the characters grabbed me. The storytelling was stale, second-hand TNG plots with a weaker cast. I didn't even make it halfway through the season before I stopped watching altogether. And save for a brief spurt of DS9 viewing after Worf's introduction, and of course catching the movies on DVD, that was pretty much it for Star Trek and me.
Taken out of the context of Trek weariness, Voyager really isn't that bad. But the flaws I saw in the 1990's are still evident, and those flaws could end up being a terminal drag on the series as it goes along. I don't know if I'll find that to be the case or not - I'm already well past the point at which I stopped watching then, so with the exception of the Amelia Earhart episode, every Voyager episode is now all-new to me. Which is one reason why these reviews are coming so much faster than the TNG and DS9 ones, even though the shows are, on average, worse.
Characters
My biggest memory of Voyager when I sat down to watch was of the characters. The biggest single reason I stopped watching so early on was that there wasn't a single human character in the show who interested me. I didn't care what happened to any of them, and so I stopped watching.
On this viewing, that impression was initially reinforced. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Kes (Jennifer Lien) work immediately, seeming to have a personality range lacking in the other characters. Their scenes together are particularly strong, and their friendship is the most believable character relationship on the show. This would be fine... if the Doctor and Kes were the show's main characters. But in the first season, at least, both characters are decidedly in the supporting cast. They register as strongly as they do because the two actors make the most out of anything they're given. But when (in many episodes) they are given one or two scenes for the whole show, there's only so much impact they can make.
And it takes several episodes before any of the other characters start to work. Kate Mulgrew is very good as Janeway. As I said in my Caretaker review, the series had a lucky escape when it lost Genevieve Bujold - and the Bujold scenes presented on the DVD as extras reinforce that opinion. But for close to half the season, Mulgrew is fighting an uphill battle against character writing that varies between being uneven and being actively hostile to viewers embracing her character. The series' second episode has her stubbornly digging her heels in with regard to the Maquis crew members, effectively making them second class citizens aboard the ship. The third has her all but endorsing genocide because, if she and Tom interfere, they "don't know what the consequences might be." Plus, she blows two perfectly good chances to leave Harry Kim to his death (once with Chakotay as a bonus!), and she keeps insisting on recovering him.
Thankfully, the character writing catches up with the actress, at least a little, by the midseason. Prime Factors is the key episode in this - The first episode in which Janeway really works as a character, in a way that complements the actress' performance. It seems to be a turning point, as from that point on, Janeway mostly does work as a character - at least well enough for Mulgrew's performance (which starts out good and gets progressively better) to carry the captain over the bumps.
Chakotay and Harry Kim are lost causes, both dull and charisma-free. Chakotay's characterization pretty much begins and ends with his facial tattoo, while Harry Kim doesn't even have that going for him. Why both characters aren't removed from the series at the earliest opportunity - let alone why both characters are retained while Kes, a character who actually works, is removed - is entirely beyond my comprehension.
Other regulars show promise. Roxann Biggs-Dawson's B'Elanna is a character with a lot of potential. Every time she's put in the spotlight, the results are good. I'm sure it's no accident that Prime Factors and Faces are the two best episodes of the season, and both focus heavily on B'Elanna. Tim Russ' Tuvok is also strong, although his line deliveries occasionally fall on the wrong side of the line between Vulcan and robotic. Tom Paris shows potential early on, even if he lacks the edge that his backstory begs for the character to have. Despite a generally solid performance by Robert Duncan McNeill, however, Tom becomes steadily blander as the season progresses.
Neelix
Neelix was foreseen as the show's breakout character. This is fairly well-known by this time. Neelix wasn't the series' breakout character, and in fact seems to be the personification of Voyager's shortcomings in the eyes of many fans. "The Jar-Jar Binks of Star Trek" sums up the majority view within fandom toward him.
It's easy to see why. Neelix is irritating. He's selfish and self-centered. He's arrogant. He's a ready source of comedy relief, most of which isn't actually funny. He dresses himself in attire that makes the Sixth Doctor's coat look subdued. As an individual, he's loathsome, lacking even that core of charm and dignity that made Quark likable in spite of himself. I think SfDebris probably sums up Neelix best: "He's a ¤¤¤¤head."
On the other hand, there's one thing Neelix isn't: He isn't bland. You hardly notice whether or not Harry Kim or Chakotay is on screen since neither character registers. Neelix definitely registers. He's a flamboyant character, and he's actually fairly consistent in terms of writing and acting. Ethan Phillips invests a lot into Neelix, and on the rare occasions that an episode allows him to play complex emotions (Phage, Jetrel), Phillips proves well up to the task.
The problem is the same problem I tend to have with Lwaxana Troi, only amplified: Neelix is largely a comedy relief character, written to be obnoxious. He's obnoxious so... Success! The problem with such characters is that it's not much fun to spend time with obnoxious people, and most of the writers just aren't good enough to carry off the balance without simply making Neelix's presence as unpleasant for the viewers as for the characters surrounding him.
Jetrel shows that Neelix can work, if the writers pare back on the forced comedy and show some of the complex emotions and character background behind Neelix's aggressive false cheer. But most of the rest of the season leaves me anything but confident that this will happen, at least not with any regularity.
Lack of Ambition
Though the hit-and-miss characterization is certainly the series' biggest problem, its second-biggest is the lack of any real storytelling ambition. This is a show that deliberately removes its characters from the established Trek universe and takes them to an uncharted region of space, an area where anything could exist and anything could happen. And what do we get? The same old stories, told the same old way.
Most of these episodes could be TNG episodes, and would require only the most minor of rewrites to do it. There's no sense of any great political or economic powers within the Delta Quadrant. Just a bunch of isolated planets, all having the same old problems that Picard and his crew dealt with on a weekly basis. There's just no real difference in the way the stories are approached.
This put several strikes against Voyager for me before it even started. I did sit down to watch the pilot, and a few of the Season One episodes that followed. But none of the characters grabbed me. The storytelling was stale, second-hand TNG plots with a weaker cast. I didn't even make it halfway through the season before I stopped watching altogether. And save for a brief spurt of DS9 viewing after Worf's introduction, and of course catching the movies on DVD, that was pretty much it for Star Trek and me.
Taken out of the context of Trek weariness, Voyager really isn't that bad. But the flaws I saw in the 1990's are still evident, and those flaws could end up being a terminal drag on the series as it goes along. I don't know if I'll find that to be the case or not - I'm already well past the point at which I stopped watching then, so with the exception of the Amelia Earhart episode, every Voyager episode is now all-new to me. Which is one reason why these reviews are coming so much faster than the TNG and DS9 ones, even though the shows are, on average, worse.
Characters
My biggest memory of Voyager when I sat down to watch was of the characters. The biggest single reason I stopped watching so early on was that there wasn't a single human character in the show who interested me. I didn't care what happened to any of them, and so I stopped watching.
On this viewing, that impression was initially reinforced. The Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Kes (Jennifer Lien) work immediately, seeming to have a personality range lacking in the other characters. Their scenes together are particularly strong, and their friendship is the most believable character relationship on the show. This would be fine... if the Doctor and Kes were the show's main characters. But in the first season, at least, both characters are decidedly in the supporting cast. They register as strongly as they do because the two actors make the most out of anything they're given. But when (in many episodes) they are given one or two scenes for the whole show, there's only so much impact they can make.
And it takes several episodes before any of the other characters start to work. Kate Mulgrew is very good as Janeway. As I said in my Caretaker review, the series had a lucky escape when it lost Genevieve Bujold - and the Bujold scenes presented on the DVD as extras reinforce that opinion. But for close to half the season, Mulgrew is fighting an uphill battle against character writing that varies between being uneven and being actively hostile to viewers embracing her character. The series' second episode has her stubbornly digging her heels in with regard to the Maquis crew members, effectively making them second class citizens aboard the ship. The third has her all but endorsing genocide because, if she and Tom interfere, they "don't know what the consequences might be." Plus, she blows two perfectly good chances to leave Harry Kim to his death (once with Chakotay as a bonus!), and she keeps insisting on recovering him.
Thankfully, the character writing catches up with the actress, at least a little, by the midseason. Prime Factors is the key episode in this - The first episode in which Janeway really works as a character, in a way that complements the actress' performance. It seems to be a turning point, as from that point on, Janeway mostly does work as a character - at least well enough for Mulgrew's performance (which starts out good and gets progressively better) to carry the captain over the bumps.
Chakotay and Harry Kim are lost causes, both dull and charisma-free. Chakotay's characterization pretty much begins and ends with his facial tattoo, while Harry Kim doesn't even have that going for him. Why both characters aren't removed from the series at the earliest opportunity - let alone why both characters are retained while Kes, a character who actually works, is removed - is entirely beyond my comprehension.
Other regulars show promise. Roxann Biggs-Dawson's B'Elanna is a character with a lot of potential. Every time she's put in the spotlight, the results are good. I'm sure it's no accident that Prime Factors and Faces are the two best episodes of the season, and both focus heavily on B'Elanna. Tim Russ' Tuvok is also strong, although his line deliveries occasionally fall on the wrong side of the line between Vulcan and robotic. Tom Paris shows potential early on, even if he lacks the edge that his backstory begs for the character to have. Despite a generally solid performance by Robert Duncan McNeill, however, Tom becomes steadily blander as the season progresses.
Neelix
Neelix was foreseen as the show's breakout character. This is fairly well-known by this time. Neelix wasn't the series' breakout character, and in fact seems to be the personification of Voyager's shortcomings in the eyes of many fans. "The Jar-Jar Binks of Star Trek" sums up the majority view within fandom toward him.
It's easy to see why. Neelix is irritating. He's selfish and self-centered. He's arrogant. He's a ready source of comedy relief, most of which isn't actually funny. He dresses himself in attire that makes the Sixth Doctor's coat look subdued. As an individual, he's loathsome, lacking even that core of charm and dignity that made Quark likable in spite of himself. I think SfDebris probably sums up Neelix best: "He's a ¤¤¤¤head."
On the other hand, there's one thing Neelix isn't: He isn't bland. You hardly notice whether or not Harry Kim or Chakotay is on screen since neither character registers. Neelix definitely registers. He's a flamboyant character, and he's actually fairly consistent in terms of writing and acting. Ethan Phillips invests a lot into Neelix, and on the rare occasions that an episode allows him to play complex emotions (Phage, Jetrel), Phillips proves well up to the task.
The problem is the same problem I tend to have with Lwaxana Troi, only amplified: Neelix is largely a comedy relief character, written to be obnoxious. He's obnoxious so... Success! The problem with such characters is that it's not much fun to spend time with obnoxious people, and most of the writers just aren't good enough to carry off the balance without simply making Neelix's presence as unpleasant for the viewers as for the characters surrounding him.
Jetrel shows that Neelix can work, if the writers pare back on the forced comedy and show some of the complex emotions and character background behind Neelix's aggressive false cheer. But most of the rest of the season leaves me anything but confident that this will happen, at least not with any regularity.
Lack of Ambition
Though the hit-and-miss characterization is certainly the series' biggest problem, its second-biggest is the lack of any real storytelling ambition. This is a show that deliberately removes its characters from the established Trek universe and takes them to an uncharted region of space, an area where anything could exist and anything could happen. And what do we get? The same old stories, told the same old way.
Most of these episodes could be TNG episodes, and would require only the most minor of rewrites to do it. There's no sense of any great political or economic powers within the Delta Quadrant. Just a bunch of isolated planets, all having the same old problems that Picard and his crew dealt with on a weekly basis. There's just no real difference in the way the stories are approached.
Admittedly, Faces sees Janeway recovering her surviving crewmembers and warping out without helping the other captives. But the sense I have is that this is the writers overlooking the other captives, rather than Janeway behaving with brutal pragmatism given the ship's situation. The latter might have been interesting, and I'd be the first to applaud it if a scene was inserted addressing it. But it's not. It's just a plothole. One I would encourage the writers to pick up and run with... But I doubt very much that's going to happen.
Early episodes establish a lack of ship's power. But other than a throwaway line here and there, and a (bad) running joke involving Janeway's inability to get a decent cup of coffee, nothing is done with this. It's a plot point that rears its head when the writers can't come up with any other basis for a story.
In a 16 episode season, two episodes center around attempts to get back home (and we all know how that's going to turn out). Three episodes center around time/space anomalies. Three more center around incorporeal life forms. Mix in a dull murder mystery, and the lack of storytelling ambition is just staggering. It's not that the stories are bad - quite honestly, Season One of Voyager has a far better hit rate than Season One of TNG. But it's bland. This is fast food Star Trek. It's usually entertaining while watching it, moreso than I had expected. But it doesn't satisfy. Even Season One of TNG had a few episodes that transcended the silliness, whereas this one merely has a few that are above-average.
Season Two Wishlist
So where would I like to see the show go next? Well, mainly I'd like to see some of the ambition that's been absent so far. If Season One has succeeded at anything, it's at least managed to establish the basic situation. Voyager has a long road home, through entirely unfamiliar territory. The ship has made enemies of at least two races so far: The Kazon and the Vidiians. Thus far, Voyager has been conveniently more powerful than either of these other races. It would be interesting to see them facing a force they couldn't simply outshoot, when all other options fail.
The writers could make a virtue of what, to date, have been storytelling failures. We've seen too many episodes involving noncorporeal beings. Maybe there are an unusual number of noncorporeal life forms in the Delta Quadrant. Perhaps Voyager will need to deal with some kind of alliance of these beings in order to get home, or even continue on its journey home.
Also, we've seen two occasions in which Voyager has had hopes of getting home and failed to make any progress. The next time such a hope presents itself, why not let them make some progress? It's obviously not going to take 70 years for the ship to get back to Federation space. Why not let them have a triumph, in which they shave - say - ten years off the journey? This would have the added benefit of bringing them into a region of space that would be as alien to Neelix as it is to them, truly putting them in unfamiliar territory. This has to happen eventually anyway, as they should already be pushing the outer edge of space with which Neelix is familiar.
The other main area the series needs to focus on is characterization. The Doctor and Kes work, particularly when together. B'Elanna works. Janeway works intermittently, and Kate Mulgrew's performance carries the character over the rough patches. Basically, the female cast is very strong. But with the exception of the Doctor, the male cast is quite weak. Tom Paris and Tuvok are adequately characterized, but neither really has much depth at this point. I'd like to see them given more texture, and I'd particularly like to see a bit of a dark side to Tom. His backstory demands such a dark side, but he's been portrayed as practically a boy scout. Let's break away from that a bit.
Harry Kim's a lost cause, but the show could do something with Chakotay if the writers really wanted to. The idea of the two crews having to integrate is an interesting one, and I'd like to see more conflict between the Maquis crew members and the Starfleet ones. Chakotay could be a liaison between the two. Or - more interesting - maybe Chakotay could find resentment toward him by his former crew members, who see him as selling out to Starfleet by taking orders from Janeway? Basically, use Chakotay's Maquis backstory to bring him into conflict: With his former crew members, with Janeway, or - better still - with both. The potential is there, but right now he's almost as empty a character as Harry Kim!
In Conclusion
Voyager has surprised me by being genuinely watchable, even entertaining. But there are a lot of problems evident, even at this early point in the series. All of them are potentially fixable. With a bit of work and some serious revamping, this could be a good series.
Sadly, I have no confidence that any of the work the series desperately needs is going to be done. So my last hope is the forlorn, "Good enough" hope. If it's going to remain a shallow, mediocre television series, I at least hope it remains entertaining. It's been a good enough time filler so far, at least most of the time. If it remains so, then it at least will (barely) exceed my wretched expectations for it.
Next: Season Two
Review Index
Early episodes establish a lack of ship's power. But other than a throwaway line here and there, and a (bad) running joke involving Janeway's inability to get a decent cup of coffee, nothing is done with this. It's a plot point that rears its head when the writers can't come up with any other basis for a story.
In a 16 episode season, two episodes center around attempts to get back home (and we all know how that's going to turn out). Three episodes center around time/space anomalies. Three more center around incorporeal life forms. Mix in a dull murder mystery, and the lack of storytelling ambition is just staggering. It's not that the stories are bad - quite honestly, Season One of Voyager has a far better hit rate than Season One of TNG. But it's bland. This is fast food Star Trek. It's usually entertaining while watching it, moreso than I had expected. But it doesn't satisfy. Even Season One of TNG had a few episodes that transcended the silliness, whereas this one merely has a few that are above-average.
Season Two Wishlist
So where would I like to see the show go next? Well, mainly I'd like to see some of the ambition that's been absent so far. If Season One has succeeded at anything, it's at least managed to establish the basic situation. Voyager has a long road home, through entirely unfamiliar territory. The ship has made enemies of at least two races so far: The Kazon and the Vidiians. Thus far, Voyager has been conveniently more powerful than either of these other races. It would be interesting to see them facing a force they couldn't simply outshoot, when all other options fail.
The writers could make a virtue of what, to date, have been storytelling failures. We've seen too many episodes involving noncorporeal beings. Maybe there are an unusual number of noncorporeal life forms in the Delta Quadrant. Perhaps Voyager will need to deal with some kind of alliance of these beings in order to get home, or even continue on its journey home.
Also, we've seen two occasions in which Voyager has had hopes of getting home and failed to make any progress. The next time such a hope presents itself, why not let them make some progress? It's obviously not going to take 70 years for the ship to get back to Federation space. Why not let them have a triumph, in which they shave - say - ten years off the journey? This would have the added benefit of bringing them into a region of space that would be as alien to Neelix as it is to them, truly putting them in unfamiliar territory. This has to happen eventually anyway, as they should already be pushing the outer edge of space with which Neelix is familiar.
The other main area the series needs to focus on is characterization. The Doctor and Kes work, particularly when together. B'Elanna works. Janeway works intermittently, and Kate Mulgrew's performance carries the character over the rough patches. Basically, the female cast is very strong. But with the exception of the Doctor, the male cast is quite weak. Tom Paris and Tuvok are adequately characterized, but neither really has much depth at this point. I'd like to see them given more texture, and I'd particularly like to see a bit of a dark side to Tom. His backstory demands such a dark side, but he's been portrayed as practically a boy scout. Let's break away from that a bit.
Harry Kim's a lost cause, but the show could do something with Chakotay if the writers really wanted to. The idea of the two crews having to integrate is an interesting one, and I'd like to see more conflict between the Maquis crew members and the Starfleet ones. Chakotay could be a liaison between the two. Or - more interesting - maybe Chakotay could find resentment toward him by his former crew members, who see him as selling out to Starfleet by taking orders from Janeway? Basically, use Chakotay's Maquis backstory to bring him into conflict: With his former crew members, with Janeway, or - better still - with both. The potential is there, but right now he's almost as empty a character as Harry Kim!
In Conclusion
Voyager has surprised me by being genuinely watchable, even entertaining. But there are a lot of problems evident, even at this early point in the series. All of them are potentially fixable. With a bit of work and some serious revamping, this could be a good series.
Sadly, I have no confidence that any of the work the series desperately needs is going to be done. So my last hope is the forlorn, "Good enough" hope. If it's going to remain a shallow, mediocre television series, I at least hope it remains entertaining. It's been a good enough time filler so far, at least most of the time. If it remains so, then it at least will (barely) exceed my wretched expectations for it.
Next: Season Two
Review Index
It gets better, slowly and painfully at times, but it does get better.
ReplyDeleteAfter a particularly uneventful evening I was reading a review of a science fiction show that had a nice table for ratings and fan reviews. So, I kind of thought that it might be a good idea to do one for this site. It won't be as detailed, but hopefully it won't be an eyesore.
ReplyDeleteBest VOY Season One Episode(s):
Prime Factors (9)
Worst VOY Season One Epsiode(s):
The Cloud (2)
Total Score:
98 Points given to 16 episodes
Average Score:
6.12
Thanks, Dennis! It's interesting to see how the review scores average out, series by series. I'm somehow not surprised that TOS' superb first season came out just a bit ahead of the other first seasons, while TNG's mostly dire first year came out well behind the rest of the pack. :)
ReplyDelete