11 REASONS WHY I HATE STAR TREK: VOYAGER #11

11. Finally, the series finale views like it was ghost directed by William Shatner. After seven years of ignoring lessons well learned while working on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, producer Rick Bermen and writer Brannon Braga decided the time was ripe to implement those fourteen years of experience smashed into twelve when conceptualizing Voyager's big finale. There is a slight problem with this. Seven years of lazy writing and decisions cannot be fixed overnight without firing the entire writing team, and brining in fresh talent. Watching the final episode, Endgame, brings to mind the series finales of the preceding Star Trek titles, though not in a good way. Endgame comes across as though C and D list writers decided to plagiarize previous episodes in the franchise, namely All Good Things. . ., which concluded The Next Generation's television run, and What You Leave Behind, the bittersweet send off to Deep Space Nine.

All Good Things . . . was a fantastic story spanning three time periods in Picard's life: the present, taking command of the Enterprise D, and Picard as an old man. Picard is cast as the underdog in each of these time periods. The current time setting has his crew supporting him, but only tentatively. The past Picard's crew are unsure of their new captain, and go so far as to openly doubt him. In the future sequences Picard is cast as a crazy old man worthy of pity and succeeds in accomplishing his goals by trading upon the benevolent indulgence of those who formerly called him their captain. We also have Q in the episode, once again challenging Picard to save humanity while doubting the captain's intellect along the way. This provides us with a nice full circle scenario as we were first introduced to Q in Encounter at Farpoint, the original episode of The Next Generation. A wonderful story, great characters, and the proper amount of conflict combined with the overall Star Trek feel. All Good Things . . . was perfectly executed.

With Deep Space Nine, we see the epic conclusions to The Dominion War and the centuries long struggle between the Bajoran Prophets and the Pah Wraiths in the masterfully rendered What You Leave Behind. We see our heroes triumph, and the villains fall. We see noble sacrifices, we witness evil turn upon evil, and nothing is left the same when all is said and done. The episode is filled with drama, action, and passion, all to leave you wanting more while knowing this is it. You will only make the mistake once of watching What You Leave Behind without a box of Kleenex within reach. The level of emotion as the characters say farewell to each other is as heart rending as the final episode of M*A*S*H and the final three episodes of Babylon 5. I doubt there are many television shows with such a strong conclusion.

At this point, Star Trek is proving it cannot fail to please when wrapping up a series. And then Voyager comes along.

I have a near perfect image of Rick Berman and Brannon Braga in my mind, talking to each other as the conclusion of Voyager's seventh season approaches. What to do? How to end the series to ensure Voyager's final episode will be remembered for years to come? Naturally, they discuss what made All Good Things . . . and What You Leave Behind such excellent viewing. From there it is a logical conclusion to plagiarize from themselves. Steal a bit from The Next Generation and grab some from Deep Space Nine, throw in a bit of original thinking, and Voyager's final episode, Endgame, is born.

Like with All Good Things . . ., Endgame deals in time travel. The episode starts thirty-two years after Voyager returned to Federation space, having been gone only twenty-three years rather than seventy-five. Janeway is an admiral because apparently the new Starfleet (post Captain Kirk) looks for officers with the ability to fail with upward momentum--the best way to explain why Picard was never promoted to admiral.

Janeway is plagued with guilt. We learn her decisions in the Delta Quadrant resulted in the deaths of Chakotay and Seven of Nine, who had a clumsily written romance late in season seven (it reeks of after thought.) Tuvok has succumbed to insanity, and the rest of the crew has aged under the ministrations of bad makeup, though they fail to develop as people. Older Janeway cannot live with the guilt anymore. She decides a bit of time travel is in order to set things right, proving once and for all she is not command material. These events are tragic (if you care about the characters), but not a reason to alter the past. Starfleet personnel and the Maquis adoptees knew the risks. And what about all the other members of her crew who died along the way? Why not go back in time to the point they encountered The Caretaker? Or better yet, why not go back in time to the moment before they entered The Bad Lands, and curtail the events leading to Voyager being tossed into the Delta Quadrant? I smell a plot hole. Point being, she could have saved many more lives than those three. Janeway is a bit cold hearted and selfish if you ask me.

As expected, Older Janeway meets up with Old Janeway, who is still aimlessly cruising the Delta Quadrant. They argue for no other reason than to increase the drama. Seriously, of the two, Older Janeway has the better notions. However, she wins the arguments by repeatedly stating, "I know because I was once you." I can except that argument once. After the second time, well I stopped paying attention to their spats since the resolution is predetermined.

Old and Older Janeway form their plan, and this is where Berman and Braga decided a touch of Deep Space Nine was necessary. No one who has watched What You Leave Behind can forget the bittersweet conclusion, and that is what they wanted with Voyager. How to accomplish this? By forcing Older Janeway to sacrifice her life. The problem with her death is in the timing. Older Janeway takes one for the team while the bridge of Voyager fills with cheers, smiles, and back slapping as the ship returns to Earth. There is one exception. Old Janeway! Yes, Old Janeway is mourning Older Janeway's death, and thereby the only person on the bridge who is moping around (not to mention isn't this a bit self indulgent? To mourn herself?) The music and closeups on Janeway's face tells us we are supposed to be sad, but that is made difficult if you never liked Janeway to begin with. Not to mention the joyful crew celebrating the achievement of their goal pretty much neutralizes the pity party.

On a lesser note, The Doctor finally picks a name after seven tedious years of debate. He settles on Joe. That's right! Joe! Why? Because the hologram got married to a flesh and blood woman (a sign marriage equality is honored by the Federation? We can hope.), and decided to take her grandfather's name. (I suppose in the future people have fetishes for their grandparents.) No other explanation is given. For all we know, Grandpa Joe made his living ripping the ears off of Ferengi, and selling the bloody lobes as fertility charms. Joe! What a let down!

I cheer every time I finish watching Endgame for one reason, and one reason only. It means I don't have to watch Star Trek: Voyager again for a damn long time.

Watching Voyager is painful. I'm talking more painful than watching a little person ride Captain Kirk like a horse. Plato's Stepchildren is perhaps the worst episode in The Original Series, but every one involved can blame the drug culture of the 1960s when pressed for an explanation (this also works for the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland--the original park in Anaheim, California). Voyager does not have that excuse. In fact, it is guilty of regressing in the expectations of television viewers. The continuous storyline was finally taking shape in the weekly shows, gradually leaving behind the episodic format--though more than a fair share of these type of shows still exist. We had watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5, and Deep Space Nine, all of which required a continuous story arc for their success. Even elements of Seinfeld and Friends relied upon building on previous episodes. The days when the Reset Button was pressed at the end of the episode were thankfully dwindling as television began evolving into something more sophisticated, culminating with (what a surprise!) J. J. Abrams' Lost.

Yes, Voyager aired before Lost, but that is not an argument for demanding forgiveness in not keeping up with the more sophisticated tastes and trends of the viewing audience, particularly when this new sophistication was helped along by the producers of Star Trek through the seven year run of Deep Space Nine. As was previously mentioned in this blog series, the producers returned to the format of 1980s television in that the most entertaining segment of any given episode was the opening credits. That is what you have in Voyager. Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote numerous Star Trek scores, beginning with Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture, wrote a beautiful piece of music. The shots of Voyager flying through space, navigating around asteroids and planetary bodies is breathtaking. But that is all Voyager can hope to be. A lovely score, and gorgeous special effects. In all else it fails miserably.

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Related Links:

Kirk Ridden Like a Horse
Voyager Theme


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