Xyga wrote:No serioulsy each ST show has its ups and downs, even TNG has its fat share of crappy episodes, we should be way past idolization now IMO.
each star trek definitely has its ups and downs (there are
absolutely quite a few bad episodes of TNG - even the better, later seasons aren't exempt from a few stinkers), but using that to reduce how fucking egregiously bad voyager is - at least at the start of its first two seasons - feels ridiculous. voyager has only had one episode that i would call genuinely worthwhile and good so far, and that was
projections, which stars one of the only competent actors and interesting characters on the entire show, robert picardo/the holo doc. it's also unsurprisingly written and directed by people who had done other quality ST episodes before voyager. braga very much seems like one of the show's better writers and also did
emanations, which was pretty solid despite its heavy use of kim.
there's a lot deathly wrong with voyager almost immediately. the sets are (much) cheaper, they hardly ever write and balance a b-plot into episodes, half of the cast is irredeemably poor quality and pulled from people willing to act for much much less than sister shows, even the model for the ship is a smaller scale. chakotay's actor (who routinely complained about hating the show, and was far from the only cast member who complained) never puts any effort into his role and his
native american consultant was debunked as a fraud in 1984 (yet they still idiotically picked him up). paris and kim are both totally unlikable, blank, and cannot act - they remind me of the
lower decks episode cast on TNG. they have less idea of who janeway is than they did who picard is at the start of tng, and her character seems outright bipolar about decisions to adhere to her principles or not. neelix and kes' relationship (who i actually think are both decent characters on their own and at their best) is also one of the weirdest, most uncomfortable, most awkward things i've ever seen on television. the age gap between the actors (20 years - philips is literally twice as old as lien for about as long as she appears on the show) is strange enough, but the girl's character is literally fucking two years old, which the holo-doc even reminds her of when she can't make relationship decisions! everyone treats her like this weird object and paris fighting with neelix over who gets to fuck the baby is ugly as hell.
this interview with
ron moore that i found - who admittedly isn't star trek's strongest writer, but one of the better ones and one with his screwed on pretty right - really tears into the show and goes over so, so many of its problems. TNG's cast had absolutely electric synergy and reportedly all love each other as best friends behind the set, ds9 had probably the strongest writing staff and some of the strongest direction in the series (avery brooks was apparently difficult to work with but kept everyone really in-line and was very respected), voyager has like... fucking, i don't know. i've read tim russ was the only actor who actually consistently enjoyed working on the show and kept everyone from getting into fights, and i've also read that garrett wang apparently constantly got really emotional (and was hilariously despised by rick berman - who is frankly a piece of shit, but c'mon,
this is funny). its pilot also absolutely sucks. encounter at farpoint had problems but set a great tone for tng, emissary is the greatest star trek pilot of all-time and sold me on a show i hated as a kid, but caretaker has... the dude from the boxart for phalanx fucking everybody over to establish a premise they never, ever fully commit to?
i was told voyager was bad and went in with genuine optimism that maybe people - particularly my friend who hated it - were wrong, but i hate it nearly more than she does. it is borderline unwatchable television at times, and some episodes (without hyperbole - more than half) feel like actual suffering to get through. i get flashbacks to watching the netflix marvel shows because i had friends around to watch those with and am reminded of how completely insufferable that experience frequently was. i'm sticking it out in hopes that the show starts pulling together, but i know with the upcoming debut of seven of nine the show dips into weird titty fanservice territory that apparently drove mulgrew crazy. this show is a really, really serious mess and unless some genuine magic happens i think comparing it to any previous star trek is ridiculous. even if it pulls together, it's still heavily marred by the incredible corporate cynicism of not renewing TNG for another season because it cost too much and being the shitty b-team they assembled to continue milking the franchise. it, enterprise (which i can't judge yet, i hear it has some good eps), and the last tng movie are a huge part of what not only made the series unprofitable but killed the respect of one of the most arduously dedicated fanbases out there.