Voyager

I've watched small chunks of Voyager before, but I don't think I ever truly understood the core plot: a Federation starship and a Maquis fighter are transported to a different quadrant of the galaxy, only to be stranded there, forced to work together if either group has any chance to get home. It provides the ideal framework for some truly classic Trek storytelling ‒ every week another planet, another alien race, another novel experience ‒ without stepping on the toes of the original series at all. It also neatly sidesteps any continuity errors, removing the show's plot entirely from any of the Marquis/Dominion/Cardassian affairs going on elsewhere (and ensuring that cameos are limited-to-impossible, outside of the first episode).

What's more, it puts us in (yet another) novel scenario within which we can analyse and test the philosophies and ethics at the heart of the Trek universe. Voyager is no deep-space exploration craft; it isn't a new Enterprise. They're a military ship, never intended for long-term travel away from Federation space, and the various refueling, restocking, and repairing opportunities that proximity allows. This gives us classic Trek with a twist: the crew are very vulnerable. Everything from fuel scarcity to weapon stocks to food rationing mean that there's a rough-around-the-edges feel to their adventures. Again, this is reminiscent of the original series (in a positive way), but manages to have that feel whilst still giving us a distinctly "modern" interpretation of Starfleet and the galaxy, one that doesn't step on any Picard-sized toes.

That said, it isn't all praise. Whilst the crew are astonishingly quick to slot into their roles ‒ creating a far slicker and smoother first season that either TNG or DS9 managed ‒ and Captain Janeway is an immediately impressive, nuanced character ‒ another sharp contrast with the other contemporary Starfleet Captains 😅 ‒ not all of the cast were dealt the same hands. Tom Paris, in particular, is a great idea, but I can see becoming very annoying. Similarly, I really enjoyed Kess and Neelix at first, but their inclusion did begin to feel a bit lost around the midpoint of the season. I'm hoping that, as Kess settles into a position within the medical team, they can become solid secondary characters. Elsewhere, I really don't need B'Elanna to be "Worf, but a woman, so amp up the emotional irrationality", nor does every Chakotay plot need to revolve around native American culture (in the broadest strokes possible). I like that they are exploring these aspects, and B'Elanna's episode where she is literally split into human and Klingon forms is a highlight, but I just hope that we get a bit more nuance in the long run.

Still, it's a promising start and has rapidly slotted in as an absolute favourite. The explorations of holographic humanity alone are worth delving much deeper into (the Doctor has become a firm star of the show, in my books), and in episodes like their contact with a time-dilated Romulan, the whole premise shines very strongly. I have high hopes for season two!

Voyager continues to seriously impress. The core plot and crew remain superb (albeit with the same rough edges), but this season allowed for some much heavier hitting episodes. I'm happy to see that we continue to poke and prod the questions around holographic life, and continue to flesh out various of the races in the Delta quadrant.

In particular, I feel like the Vidiian are becoming some of the most interesting enemies/aliens. I did not expect one to feature in a romantic context with our holographic Doctor, but it was a sweet episode; this was swiftly followed up with an actual boarding and total annihilation of the crew at their hands, which really drove home both their humanity and the threat they pose. It was nicely done, and both were excellent episodes.

Several other characters also got some very welcome solo moments. I feel like this season had a particular focus on Tuvok, Janeway, and Chakotay, all of whom featured in outstanding episodes. Tuvok, in particular, has had some fascinating outings, with both his meld to a sociopath (and subsequent redemption arc) and the transporter accident that results in him being physically merged with Neelix ranking as some of the finest Trek plotlines ever. The latter was particularly harrowing and did not hold back, letting the ramifications of the ultimate enforced death of Tuvix really sink in.

Similarly, Janeway's more subtle episodes ‒ one where she is stranded on an alien planet and assumes the role of a grieving man's daughter, and another where her and Chakotay seem to be permanently stuck on a planet, quarantined for their own safety ‒ allow the Captain to show of her more caring side and display a lot more nuance.

It isn't all top-notch TV, but even when it falters, the end result is very forgiving. Take the fact that even the other side of the galaxy, in unchartered space, we manage to get not one but two episodes helping to fill in parts of Earth's own history, with the rescue of Amelia Earhart (a thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi romp) and confirmation that Chakotay's own tribe has an ancient connection with a Delta-quadrant race (which stops short enough of Ancient Aliens conspiracy nonsense to fall on the right side of that racist line... just). Or Tom Paris' turn as a double-agent, which is forced, predictable, and achieves little, but also gives him a neat little background arc and tidies up some of the dangling threads from season one.

In fact, the second season does a generally solid job of tidying things up. Kess' potentially overpowered psychic abilities seem largely forgotten; things with Seska are coming to a useful head; B'Elanna seems to have all of the dull "Klingon/human" dualism written away and is now just an interesting, nuanced character; and we even get a few answers to potential "shortcuts" that the crew might take. Paris attempts to go faster than Warp 10, with some frankly bizarre results (not the best episode, and does leave the tech open to future use, but closes the door enough for now); and we get a Q appearance... two of them, in fact! The Q episode is a lot better, fleshing out the Q as a whole, whilst also neatly shutting down the question of whether they can use their god-like powers to help Voyager (yes, but they won't, not yet).

The show still hasn't quite hit the true heights of The Next Generation. Nor has it fully embraced the long-form storytelling of Deep Space Nine. But in treading a middle ground, it may not be truly exceptional, but it is exceptionally consistent, and in that sense, successfully steps out of the shadows of both its counterparts to forge its own, equally intriguing path.

In some ways, season three felt like it slipped a little. Particularly in the mid-season, its padded out by a sequence of relatively mid episodes; not awful, but neither are they memorable. At times, it also felt particularly predictable. Characters would make the same comments from episode to episode (e.g. a cold open with a new species, a quick back and forth with Janeway, then the moment they hang up, Paris turns and says some variation of "they seem pleasant"), plotlines seemed to get replicated or mildly remixed, and nothing particularly interesting was happening.

And even when they did decide to develop characters a little, it was often done in a jarring way. Take Kess and Neelix breaking up, which is handled off-screen between episodes, with no real repercussions. A year ago these two were planning to have kids! This is a particularly bizarre example because, a few episodes later, we have the genuinely fascinating "Kess ages backwards after a future experiment goes wrong" plot line. Is it taken too far, seeing her literally return to the womb? Yes, that was weird 😂 But it's a cool idea, gives us an alt history episode that explores several character's relationships, and has genuine repercussions (aside from her sudden, extremely 90s new haircut), which could have easily included "Kess sees what life is like without Neelix and gets intrigued", leading to them breaking up in a more meaningful way. Ah well...

Despite this dip in general quality, the season ends on an absolute high. Whilst I think it's a genuine shame that we appear to have left the Vidiian behind, weaving the Borg into Voyager is done really well, and I'm intrigued where this goes next. I am a little concerned about the obvious power-creep of this new, psychic race, but I also feel like the Borg war will be short lived, and perhaps helps explain why they aren't as prevalent in the other shows.