Saturday, June 6, 2020

Geekatana Review: Star Trek Voyager: Season 1 - A Ship a very long way from Home

Star Trek: Voyager is an American science fiction television series created by Rick BermanMichael Piller, and Jeri Taylor. It is the fifth series in the Star Trek franchise, it served as the fourth sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. And sadly like a lot of Star Trek series I never got to watch it in full until recently it still hold fond memories of the show. It's also the first but not the last Star Trek series that has a female as the captain.


Star Trek Voyager has seven seasons under its belt and so I've decided to do a review of each of the Season as I finish them. I like to point out that I'm no hardcore Star Trek fan and my knowledge of its lore is very basic at best so forgive me if I make a mistake or two here and then. Also minor spoiler flag is up.



On their maiden mission the crew of the USS Voyager was sent into the Badlands in search of a  rebellious Maquis ship. Both ships Voyager and the Maquis ship was hit by a force that send them to the other side of the galaxy. The Maquis and the Voyager crew must work together  cause with uncharted space and the ever growing possibility of hostile alien beings in that part of the galaxy they are going to need all the help they can get. Cause it's going to take at least seventy five years at max warp speed to get back home and they need all the help they can get.


Storywise the overall plot of the Star Trek Voyager is nothing new in sci fi as a ship thats trying to find its way back home. Still it gives the concept its own Star Trek touch that makes it somewhat different and true to what  Star Trek is about. Sadly its positives is also its negative. As Star Trek series has always been an episodic approach to its series it doesn't do well in a plot that Voyager is. Some story conflicts that was introduced at one episode seem to be ignored and never touched upon in the next episodes.


Still the series Voyager does an excellent job as what Star Trek does best. In the span of the first Season alone it managed to touched issue like racism, xenophobia, sexism, disease, environmental preservation, nuclear radiation, world destruction, empathy, loyalty and trust. And that's saying something since Season 1 only has 16 episodes which is the shortest episode count of all its 7 Season run.


Character wise the show does concentrate more on just a few characters in term of character development concentrating more on the crisis the crew faces rather than individual stories. There are character development stories though although done in sparingly. Still being a series with a female captain said Captain is one of the best character the series has to offer thus far. All thanks to Kate Mulgrew fine acting. The other character are also there but barely given time to shine however like a certain starship ace pilot.   


I get that the Maquis and the Voyager crew must work together but seeing characters that are shooting each other in one episode and suddenly all friendly the next feels a little off. I get that each episode is done about days or weeks apart but a lot of story potential is lost and you feel less connected to a lot of the characters this way. Also some of the new alien races they introduced like the Kason felt poorly developed.


Visually the show has its up and down. The series as good as it is visually a lot of the props they use are recycled ones like the core reactor being the one used in the Star Trek motion picture. I guess the studio was cost cutting and didn't want to pour extra budget when they don't have to. Still a minor thing I guess when it comes to Star Trek series such as this one.


Overall Season 1 of the Star Trek Voyager has its up and down but holds well enough thanks to tight story writing and a surprisingly good female captain for the lead role. If your new to Star Trek franchise this is as good to start as any. The show isn't for everyone however but if the theme of a ship on the other side of the galaxy trying to get home is your type of story than I'd suggest giving this one a try. If you like Deep Space Nice and Star Trek the Next generation then definitely give this one a go. 






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