A couple years ago I made a point to rewatch every Star Trek series to date (not yet touching Discovery, since it's both ongoing and on a subscription site I've not yet ventured into). Of them all, I was (and really, still am) least familiar with Voyager. I should've counted as I watched, but I'd previously seen maybe 10-20 episodes, compared maybe 10-20 episodes total that I *hadn't* previously seen of TNG & DS9 combined.
Despite that lack of knowledge, I entered my rewatch with a presupposition that I wouldn't like Voyager. And I couldn't even tell you why; I just remember not caring for it based on what little I had previously watched or knew of the series. I was mistaken.
What are Voyager's weaknesses?
What leaps out at me the most is that once Seven joins the cast, it somewhat seems to become The Janeway & Seven Show, featuring The Doctor, and sometimes other crew members might show up, too. Exaggeration, yes, but not entirely. Not to say there wasn't good material as such, but other characters definitely took a back seat by comparison.
There's also the common accusation that Seven was introduced as "Barbie Borg" to boost ratings. That's not unfair; it's unfortunate that the character was cheapened in that way. Although, at least the writers didn't treat Seven the same way the costumers did.
Another issue with VOY: When the writers aim for sentimentality, it becomes saccharine to the point of falling apart in your hands. Exhibit A, S7E12 "Lineage": I'm not convinced the script wasn't stolen from a soap opera filming nearby. Easily the single worst episode of the series. S5E23 "11:59" isn't much better. I certainly don't want narrative bereft of sentiment, but there has to be a balance. And too often, VOY came down heavily on one side, to its detriment.
And one more thing: There's not a whole lot of follow-through in VOY. Sure, characters mention things that happened in previous episodes, and character arcs progress over the course of the series, and there are recurring villains. But I'm talking about plot points that come back to haunt the crew further in the series, actions that bear consequences 2-3 years later. It just doesn't happen here. Much like the series finale, where the ramifications of everything therein aren't even broached. Granted, maybe there just wasn't enough time to do everything that could/should have been written in, but it's a detraction nonetheless.
To that point--Voyager as a series felt very episodic. If Deep Space 9 was one long thread, The Next Generation was multiple threads woven together. That's a sharp contrast with the original series, which was something new every week. In terms of narrative development, VOY feels a bit like a link between TOS and TNG.
Less specifically, there's one more broader complaint of VOY I understand, but which I don't carry for reasons I'll get into. I could understand a person looking at the episodes & judging them to be too ridiculous for their own good, falling short of the legacy of previous series. Holodeck episodes. Antagonists that defy suspension of disbelief. Crew members stranded in time/in space/in their own minds hold the key to saving the day. Episodes focusing on a single cast member's activities/development w/ no bearing on the larger narrative. Time travel. Family episodes. Etc.
But--& this is a really, really big but--those episode plots that are just too ridiculous to work? That lack of follow-through & narrative connection? Those moments of overly sentimental tripe? The focused attention on 1-2 cast members, putting the ensemble in the back seat?
Here's the thing: All those faults & issues of VOY we dislike?
TNG did it. So did DS9. Holodeck episodes, plots that defy suspension of disbelief, one person saves the day, mundane activities, time travel, family; missed connections, sentimentality, focus on 1-2 crew members. All of it. Who can forget the time Beverly Crusher fell in love with a ghost? Or the Seven-esque jumpsuit that Troi wore for 4 seasons? The time Lwaxana & Alexander had a fun day in the Holodeck with Dustin Diamond's kaleidoscopic head in a bubble? The DS9 crew playing baseball? The day Data learned to dance. All the episodes that focused on Miles O'Brien & his family, even as the Alpha Quadrant was at war. The DS9 crew pulling a heist on a holographic casino, or Odo confessing his love to Nerys. Worf in the Old West. Data & Yar having sex. TNG S7E19, "Genesis." The alien parasites at the end of TNG S1 who seemed poised for a comeback but never showed up again.
All the things we give VOY grief for, TNG & DS9--rightfully hailed as the best of Star Trek--did the same things. "Not as much, though," you say. "Maybe even more," I say.
It became a lot easier to like Voyager when I realized I didn't have a specific reason to dislike it.
That said, without a doubt VOY is still not nearly as good as TNG or DS9. And I can't entirely place my finger on why. The cast are all quite good, there's no faulting them. Writers & crew on the shows didn't necessarily change much from one series to the next. So what gives? For as good as VOY was, for the surprising number of episodes that I'd rank right alongside the very best of TNG & DS9, somehow it's not as convincing as its predecessors. It's not as endearing, it doesn't strike the same chords, it isn't remembered as fondly. Why is that?
The best answer I can give--personal opinion--is that VOY never found its voice.
Consider TNG. Classic sci-fi tropes like exploration, space battles, phasers, alien encounters were grounded w/ a strong ensemble cast depicting a highly organized crew who were also close friends. For all the tropes that TNG borrowed, explored, or created, it also delved into heavy topics of ethics and philosophy, further broaching questions of honor, integrity, duty, responsibility, freedom, science, grief, love, power, life & death, existence, & the nature of humanity. Consider DS9. Largely one connected narrative with individual threads woven in, featuring a disparate cast of characters who were both friends & antagonists, family & enemy, yet who worked well and closely. If DS9 didn't probe big questions like TNG did, it's only because it had A Story To Tell. At their worst, TNG & DS9 were silly & fun sci-fi romps. At their best, they were Very Serious Shows, expertly crafted narratives that made one think.
So what of VOY?
Strong cast, with characters in a definite hierarchy who nevertheless interacted more like family than crewmates or friends. Plenty of sci-fi tropes, but only in service to the narrative. A story to tell, but not the focus per se. Hints at bigger questions, but rarely probed deeply. VOY as a series had things to say and do, but it never quite seemed to truly say or do the things it really wanted to. Before it could, it was time to move on to the next episode.
One of the things that struck me about VOY was how the ship faced multiple threats as it traversed across the Delta Quadrant. Antagonists that they faced in one season didn't necessarily show up in the next because, hey, they'd moved beyond that region of space. As I think about it, it's almost as though that narrative thrust was woven into the very construction of the series. Constantly moving from one thing to the next, never really giving time to develop anything in particular. From one week to the next, we might have gotten an episodes full of tropes, or action, or VERY SERIOUS THINGS, or silliness, or sentimentality, or mundane goings-on - never in any particular order, never really connected to one another, all at random.
Again, VOY's weaknesses are nothing that aren't found in TNG & DS9. But even as the type of plot varied sometimes in those series from one week to the next, there was largely a distinct unity of vision to them that kept the whole together despite its varied parts. For all the things that VOY shares in common with its predecessors, a unity of vision within the series wasn't one of them.
Maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe VOY is easier to get into for some people than DS9 or TNG. But only if you've never seen any other Star Trek series can you watch VOY without bearing the legacy of its precursors in mind.
It may sound like I'm trashing VOY here, but that's not my intention. This is me trying to reason my way through the "why" of liking it less. 1-2 genuinely bad episodes, sure. But VOY had many more episodes that were absolutely stellar. And for all its faults and weaknesses, the average episode, and certainly VOY as a whole, was actually quite good.
There was a time near the start of my rewatch where I said aloud, "I haven't gotten to the point where I figured out why I dislike it, but I'm sure I'll get there."
...but I guess I never did. There are reasons I like it *less,* but I can honestly no longer say I dislike VOY. Nor can I give any reason why I ever did.
People love VOY more than any other series? Okay, great. People hate VOY more than any other series? Seems a bit much, but okay. All I know is, I began with mixed expectations, & they were exceeded.
Deep Space 9 is the best Star Trek series; The Next Generation arguably had the most impact. Voyager may not get or deserve the same amount of recognition, but it definitely deserves more respect than it gets. After decades of groundbreaking sci-fi, Voyager was a Star Trek series that was Just Enough. And that's okay.
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