Why Voyager Sucks

Why does Voyager Suck? Let me count the ways . . .

1. Unlikeable characters. The Powers that Be were sick of the conflict-free crew shtick from TNG, so they tried create grounds for contention between characters. They only succeeded in making some of the crew very unlikeable. Watching early Neelix was like listening to nails scratching slate, and Tuvok was written as petty and inept. Paris in Season 2 was a real jerk, and Janeway most of the time is not someone I would want to serve with (or be in the same room with).

2. Inconsistent tech - do the transwarp and quantum slipstream work or not? Is the holodeck on the same power as the rest of the ship or not? (Why you couldn't divert holodeck power to the rest of the ship in the first place is really beyond me, unless Torres isn't all she's cracked up to be).

3. Whole episodes carried by weak actors, like Garrett "I'm lost" Wang and Robert "sleepwalking" Beltran, as well as some really bad guest actors.

4. Inconsistancy and vagueness with regard to Chakotay's tribal identity. I thought because it was Star Trek that the writers would try to do an authentic job. Boy, was I wrong.

5. Bad, derivative, clichéd writing. Hey guys, you're burnt out - step aside and let some fresh blood do the writing.

6. Bad science.

7. Ignoring initial premises, like Maquis crewmembers not fitting in with Starfleet, lack of support, limited photon torpedoes, replicators rationed, Kes' short lifespan and consequent rapid development, etc.

8. Awful aliens - Kazon, Malon, Hirogen, foreheads of the week. Either their culture makes no sense, or they're so by the books they don't even get a name. How about ALIEN aliens, since we're here in the Delta quadrant. Not just black hats and white hats. Had my fill of those back in TNG.

9. Brannon Braga, chief hack.

10. Lack of ethical principles. Is this really ST anymore? No one seems to understand the prime directive. Janeway's morals change from week to week. Hey, B5 had some immoral and even evil characters, and Sheridan gets pretty shady after his death, but at least they were consistent AND there was a sense of greater moral truth, in spite of human corruption.

11. Holodeck tech makes no sense - how can Doc leave the ship when his medical databanks are in the ship's computer? How the hell do you "download" a computer program into a holomatrix anyway? And if you do download it, wouldn't you have a backup automatically, (albeit with a seperate memory of events past the download)?

12. Vulcan-bashing, etc. The Klingon-bashing is (somewhat) understandable because of Torres' mixed feelings about her Klingon heritage, but insulting Tuvok on account of his race (this happened a *lot* in the first three seasons) seems really over the line.

13. Triskadekaphobia. Hah, hah, just fooling. The final reason is: they ruined the Borg!

Return to Berli's Star Trek Shack for humor, essays and fiction.