Star Trek: Voyager: Difference between revisions

The show was a frustrating mix of genuinely good entertainment and "safe" old [[Star Trek]] stand-bys. Part of this was a predominance with episodes of the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad]] between Seven-Of-Nine and The Doctor. The lackluster response to ''Voyager'' was actually a serious consideration to hold off on further [[Star Trek]] series ([[Executive Meddling|which was demanded anyway]]). But it was also the near-magical power of the technology in this series that made them decide upon a less-evolved [[Prequel]] series in ''[[Enterprise]]''.

''Voyager'' is known throughout ''Trek'' fandom as a series that featured an episode so ''incredibly'' sub-par that both the fans ''and the producers'' unofficially struck it from canon after it aired (unless you count an offhand comment in a later episode...which ''[[Canon Discontinuity|officially]]'' strikes it from canon).

* [[God Guise]]: "False Profits", "Muse" (subverted in that the crew inspire a [[Fan Fiction|play]] as opposed to a religion).

* [[Grand Finale]]: "Endgame"

* [[Identical Grandson|Identical Granddaughter]]: "11:59", or identical great-great-great... well, you get the idea. The ancestral love interest bears a strong resemblance to Janeway's former love, as well.

* [[The Infinite]]: "Threshold" where Tom Paris designs and builds an engine to go [[Memetic Mutation|To Infinity And Beyond]]!! As a [[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy|drive the infinite turns out to be improbable]] though.

** [[Discontinuity Nod]]: ...and later on Paris notes that he's never traveled in transwarp. To explicitly say in the show that it isn't considered canon.

** "Deuterium? You can get that anywhere!" is mentioned in one episode, seasons after the "running out of deuterium" stuff.

* [[Character Development]]: Limited to Seven, the Doctor, Kes, and a tiny smattering for Neelix and B'Elanna. Everyone else ended the show with pretty much the [[Static Character|personality they came in with]].

** Tom Paris started out an angry ex con with a chip on his shoulder and ended the series settled, reliable, and a hero being nurse, ace pilot, shuttle designer and a father with B'Elanna. Though his playfulness and older brother type relationship with Harry were persistent throughout the series.

* [[Death Is Cheap]]: The entire crew was offed twice. Every major character died at least once. The Harry Kim that made it home ''isn't even the original Harry Kim!''

** To clarify, an anomaly of the week duplicated the ship. Which leads to an even more disturbing alternative - the only "originals" who made it home were Harry, Naomi Wildman, and Seven of Nine. The crew never figured out which of the twin Voyagers was the original ship (if either one was). Harry and Naomi were the only two from the "other" ship who survived, while Seven joined the crew long after this incident.

** This is frequently contrasted with how Sisko was treated in ''Deep Space Nine''. He wasn't "the black Captain" the way Janeway was "the female Captain", he was just [[The Captain]].

** Some early interviews and show-related material indicate that the Janeway character was ''intensely'' examined, specifically to prevent Janeway from becoming nothing more than an ultra-feminist caricature; at the same time, a balance had to be found so that Janeway could maintain her femininity while in command. Hence, Janeway prefers being addressed as 'Captain' over 'sir' or 'ma'am' (which acknowledges that she ''is'' in command, but avoids gender politics entirely).

* [[Determinator]]: Played with throughout the series, not in terms of an individual continuing despite horrific injuries, but with Janeway's let's-get-home-at-all-costs philosophy, which is switched on and off [[Depending on the Writer|depending on whether it was raining]] the day the writers started on each script. See "Year of Hell" comparing the first timeline change, and consider how they could have ended up in that situation, to the last scene and the "Thanks, we'll go around" attitude.

** Also bear in mind this must be a regular bridge conversation. "How long until we get home?" "At current speeds 70 years." "Excellent we'll contin... Oh Shiny" Having just spotted a random celestial phenomena out the window.

** Also, it was impossible to communicate with Species 8472 before they started taking on human form, and afterwards we never saw them in their tripedal, purple-skinned, cross-pupilled [[Eyes of Gold]] form again.

* [[Humans Are Morons]]: The episode "Virtuoso" introducedus to the Qomar, a [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|Rubber Forehead Alien]] species highly dedicated to mathematics and sciences and far more advanced than the Federation, which the Qomar looks down upon in contempt. When the Doctor provides medical treatment for one of them, the Qomarian sarcastically asks if the process involves bloodletting. Even in an idealized future where humanity has overcome a good number of its flaws to become one of the most dominant space-fairing races, we're still finding aliens who think we're dumb and primitive.

** Tuvok also marks the beginning of a ''wider'' aversion to this trope when it comes to Vulcans; apparently the writers realized that a sunny, arid planet would favor people with a lot of melanin (Well, [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|melanin with some forehead wrinkles]]). After Tuvok's debut, ''every'' Vulcan depicted on screen was at least "bronzed" in appearance.

* [[Hypochondria]]: A characteristic of Harry's [[Expy]] in "Author, Author".

* [[Longest Pregnancy Ever]]: Ensign Wildman - already pregnant in the pilot episode, gives birth mid-Season 2.

** The Doctor comments on this in the episode "Fury", mentioning that members of Ensign Wildman's husband's species have a gestation that is twice as long as that of a human.

*** When Naomi's born, The Doctor mentions that her teeth will begin appearing within a month. Given this relatively accelerated growth rate, it is not unreasonable to assume that she may age at a naturally slightly accelerated rate.

** [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in the episode "Drone", a 29th-century Borg drone goes from tissue sample to fetus to full-grown adult in a day.

** The EMH aboard the USS Equinox had his "[[Morality Chip|ethical subroutines]]" removed. It shows.

* [[Mortality Ensues]]: Q does it to q at one point; it's also a result of suppressing Seven's Borg nanotech.

** "Deadlock" gives us this gem:

{{quote|'''Janeway:''' "We're Starfleet officers, Harry. [[Lampshade Hanging|Weird is part of the job.]]"}}

* [[Plausible Deniability]]: Eugenics Wars? What are they?

** It probably doesn't help that the Eugenics Wars were supposedly occurring ''at the same time the series aired in real life''.

* [[Prim and Proper Bun]]:

** [http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/File:Kathryn_Janeway,_2371.jpg Captain Janeway] had this style for most of the first season. which was known as [[Fan Nickname|The Bun of Steel]]

* [[Two Roads Before You]]

* [[Understatement]]: In "Scientific Method," Janeway decides to fly ''Voyager'' between two stars, hoping to destroy the ships of some aliens who have been experimenting on the crew in the process, despite Tuvok's warning that the odds of their survival are "one in twenty, at best." Tuvok tells her that it's a far more reckless course of action than he's come to expect from her. After they manage to get away, Janeway comments to Tuvok that she never knew he thought of her as "reckless." Tuvok says that it was a poor choice of words: "It was clearly an understatement."

* [[Unit Confusion]]

* [[Un Paused]]: The Doctor, when Seven switches him off in the middle of a sentence.

=== The Adventures of Captain Proton! ===

'''Kim:''' Cliffhangers!

'''Paris:''' The lost art of hyperbole. }}

** [[Hilarity Ensues]] when Tom tries to put ''Seven of Nine'' in this role. She goes [[Off the Rails]] quickly.

* [[Deliberately Monochrome]]