Star Trek Voyager: What Might Have Been

There are lots of people who dislike Star Trek Voyager. Some cite the characters, others the “stranded and trying to get home” concept. Even fans of the show, such as myself, concede it has flaws. The Borg lost some of their fearsome edge. The ship had critically limited resources, but still managed to blithely lose nearly twenty shuttlecraft. Neelix survived multiple near-death situations. But what I’m here to talk about today is something a little different – namely, how the show’s episodic focus wasted a great chance to tell a longer and more complex story.

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Star Trek: Starship Sensors

I started writing this as part of my series on Star Trek continuity, but when it took on a life of its own I decided to separate it out.

Few technologies have suffered so much for the sake of the plot as the internal sensors of a starship. Even the same starship in the same series might have radically different performance from episode to episode, depending on how difficult it needs to be to find the latest alien intruders.

The Star Trek Spin-Off Showcase

“Not long ago, the Fox Network approached the producers of The Simpsons with a simple request: 35 new shows to fill a few holes in their programming lineup.”

“Keep at least one eye open because his best friends, the Simpsons, just might pop in to wish him luck.”

With all the new Star Trek content that’s been commissioned lately, it’s hard not to feel like we’re living in the world parodied by The Simpsons season 8 episode, “The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase”. Assuming I can keep on top of it all, let’s see what kind of things I might be blogging about in 2020.

Voyager’s Worst Holodeck Programs

Ever since its introduction in Encounter at Farpoint, the Star Trek writers have loved the holodeck. Within its confines, the crew could visit any time or place they liked – which pretty much meant a setting on 19^th or 20^th century Earth.

Although TNG had its fair share of bad holodeck programs, in this article we’re going to purely focus on Voyager. Despite being short on power to the point of having to ration replicator use, Voyager was magically able to run the holodeck as much as it wanted – apparently because it used a power source that was incompatible with the rest of the ship (except when it wasn’t). Thanks to that, we got a selection of holodeck programs and episodes that ranged from the barely tolerable to the downright cringeworthy. So, without further ado – and in no particular order – let’s explore the seven worst Voyager holodeck programs.

Star Trek Continuity Issues Part IV: Voyager and miscellaneous

Parts one, two and three.

Voyager

First contact with the Borg

For years, it seemed as if humanity’s first contact with the Borg happened in 2365, when Q flung the Enterprise across the galaxy to give them a taste of the horrors that awaited. Even though it was implied that the Borg were the perpetrators behind the destruction of Federation and Romulan colonies way back in TNG season one, this was the first time the Federation found out anything at all about this new adversary.

Flash forward to Voyager season four, however, and we learn that Seven of Nine’s parents, the Hansens, had set out for the Delta Quadrant in search of the Borg as early as 2353. What gives?

Star Trek Continuity Issues Part III: DS9

Parts one and two.

DS9

The Trill: TNG vs DS9

TNG episode The Host introduces the Trill, a conjoined species of humanoid host and vermiform symbiont. In this single episode, a number of facts were established about the Trill:

– The host’s personality is completely subsumed by the symbiont.

– The transporter is deadly to symbionts.

– The average Starfleet officer and Federation member doesn’t know that the symbiont exists and is a sentient being living inside a humanoid host.

– Symbionts can survive for limited times inside humans.

When DS9 started, Jadzia Dax – a joined Trill – was introduced as a regular character. Not only was her physical appearance different to that of the TNG Trills, but various other aspects of her species had been altered.

Star Trek Continuity Issues Part II: TNG

Part one is here.

Charge it to my account

One of the key features of the enlightened 24^th century is that the Federation no longer uses money – this comes up as a key plot point on a few occasions in TNG and DS9. But in Encounter at Farpoint, we see Crusher purchasing some fabric from Farpoint Station, with instructions to the vendor to “charge it to my account”. This line was written before it was definitively established that Federation had no money, but can we make sense of it in-universe?