Wow! (Star Trek - Voyager)

Member Name: zOOm

Product:	Star Trek - Voyager
Date:	24/06/01 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: DIfferent ship, interesting characters, Delta Quadrant

Disadvantages: None really

As a definite fan of "Star Trek - The Next Generation" I had to watch Voyager. "Deep Space Nine" was initially a bit of a disappointment for me and I was happy to see that "Voyager" was the work of the same people that created STTNG.

The journey begins when, while on the chase for a Maquis ship (rebels that are fighting with the Federation), the Voyager and the Maquis ship are brought to the Delta quadrant by The Caretaker (this also happens to be the name of the very first episode). There they discover a race called Ocampa (not sure of the spelling) and Curzon warriors that remind of the Klingons (well, they seem to just want to kill everybody).

The female captain (first time ever in Star Trek), Kathryn Janeway, makes a deal with the Maquis and they join forces. Chakotay, the leader of the Maquis (an American Red Indian) becomes the ship's First Officer. B'lana Torres (a half-Klingon, half-Human woman) becomes the Chief Engineer.

Even at maximum speed the journey would take more than 70 years, and ofcourse you cannot sustain maximum speed for that long. Hence, they set a course for the Alpha Quadrant and decide to explore Delta quadrant as they go along.

I found captain Janeway not as decisive or strong as Picard and did not really like her style at first, but then I got used to it and I guess she really got her style sorted out towards the later episodes. I like Torres (I guess I just like Klingons in general, in STTNG my favourite character was Worf), but the biggest difference between STTNG and Voyager is the EMH.

The EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram) is a holographic doctor which is designed to be used only in the rare circumstances where there is no doctor on board. Of course this situtaion is extended to 70 years for Voyager. In the first episodes he is confined to the sick bay, but later on they build and also find devices that let him go anywhere he wishes. The EMH was also us
ed in the Start Trek movie "First Contact" which I thought was really clever.

They are also blessed (in the 4th season I think) with the presence of a Borg on board. During one episode where the Borg are on the verge of becoming extinct (one of the best episodes of the series), a Borg is stranded on Voyager. With the doctor's help she is being returned to her human self and I really like the fact that they didn't do this in 1 single episode. She comes to be known as "7 of 9" which was her Borg designation.

"Voyager" itself is an Intrepid Class starship which means it is not as big as the Enterprise and it can land on planets.

All the characters in the show are interesting (Lieutenant Kim, Tuwak the Vulcan, Chakotay, the Doctor, Neelix the "staff morale officer", etc).

I thought I wouldn't enjoy this as much as STTNG but I did and now I am curious to see the ending (apparently it has ended in America - just waiting to see it here).

Summary: