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FYI: This is categorized as movies but I know it's about TV. Think of reading this as watching the movie in my brain.

1. Background

I am no stranger to the hokier sides of science fiction; I grew up reading serials called Dinosaur Wars, Firefish, and The Adventures of Kristopher. There’s only so much “hoke” one can take, though. It took me about five seasons of Star Trek: Voyager (“Voyager” from here onwards) to lethally overdose on Hoke-ium. While in the past I gleefully devoured entire series worth of Star Trek-- In the order of The Original Series, then The Next Generation, then The Next Generation again, then Deep Space Nine, and Deep Space Nine again, and then Voyager-- I felt dread before watching episodes of Voyager instead of excitement.

Voyager is sort of the black sheep of the “middle run” of Star Trek, when Gene Roddenberry (With all his morals) was still alive, but just barely. It's the least liked, and lowest rated of these three middle series. Fans tend to agree with me on this much at least. But here's my dark woke opinion: At best it's a fun, hokey adventure. At worst it’s racist, capitalist, imperialist propaganda. To understand my feelings on it, compare it to its two direct predecessors...

The Next Generation was the first of these three middle-run series, and it's considered by oldheads to be the best. Contrasting genuine storytelling marvels, there were some very hokey episodes. Above all it was mired in Roddenberry’s “traditional values,” and an insecurity with the format which would only be developed with time. Trial-by-fire style, across hundreds of episodes (The writers in this franchise were seriously worked to the bone).

Deep Space Nine perfected the Trek format, and simultaneously pushed the boundaries of just how antiestablishment a Starfleet captain could be. DS9 takes place on the edge of civilization. Its realms are subterfuge and treachery. If you want to know about the show’s political leanings, consider the top-billed cast including gay aliens, transgender worm people, a ridiculously stupid race of Capitalist Aliens, and, (my favorite), a revolutionary terrorist.

While Deep Space Nine was a (sometimes) boundary-pushing, challenging, anti-establishment opératique, Voyager backslid dramatically. Back to Trek’s tired tropes and missions. A monster-of-the-week show about Spatial Anomalies and little green aliens. Call me nostalgic for DS9’s gay subterfuge, but this series is obviously missing the writing sauce. It’s a centrist, politically tepid, “play-it-straight” type of story. Whatever it is, it certainly isn’t challenging. Star Trek has always been at the cutting age of social issues, even at its very inception. On the starship Voyager the white man makes the rules, the rules are always followed, the bad guys always go to jail, and terrorists are always the bad guys.

2. Critique

Captain Janeway reminds me of your mom’s friend who runs McDonalds like it's the navy. Even at the edge of the galaxy, she is obsessed with the rules. This trait is like the backbone of the entire series. 100,000 light-years away from Starfleet jurisdiction, and Janeway still can’t shut off the mouthpiece for Starfleet authority. Often she's more like a cop than a scientist. What's worse is that she's always proved right.

Speaking of capitalist propaganda in the Delta Quadrant, Star Trek: Voyager is faced with virtually infinite space. So what do the writers fill it with? Weird rip-off Klingons who might be racist caricatures and who really envy Starfleet’s technology. Everyone in the Delta Quadrant is some poor native scamp who wants to take the Great Powerful Starfleet’s technology by force. Meanwhile, Captain Janeway sends her crew on a constant quest for resources and meddling. Imagine futuristic conquistadors riding in on a big silver ship for plundering, putting fear and envy into the hearts of the simple natives. A trope that has been tired since, like, the 16th century. Wasn’t Star Trek supposed to be progressive?

There exists a superficial empathy for the people of this New New World, but it’s paper thin. You can see it in how Captain Janeway zealously overpronounces Chakotay’s Native American name (Which she calls an “Indian” name). This gets into some of the behind-the-scenes problems with the show, including the FAKE Native American consultant on payroll. Yes, you read that right, a FAKE Native American. And this show was made in the 1990s, not the 1890s. So all of Chakotay’s Mystical Scenes are written like: “Wow I am so happy that my Native Spirit Animal is the All-Powerful Wolf” and Janeway comes in all Native-Curious like “Thats so admirable and strong of you ChaKoTay, now what do you think MY Native Spirit Animal is?” And then Chakotay gives her a Magical Native Spirit Animal and this whole exchange is treated like a totally spiritual and #Deep experience instead of just some piddling racist slop and its fucking crazy. This show drives me fucking crazy.

And "fucking crazy" doesn't even begin to cover this show’s weird pervert relationship with blonde women. The characters of Kes and Seven of Nine make me so upset. It's insane that ANYONE could greenlight a hot adult blonde alien who is 2 years old in the body of an adult. And then pseudo-killing her off only to replace her with a different hot blonde woman who is also developmentally a child. And asking her to relearn everything about the world in a western culture she was FORCED into. And then setting her up to be the Hot Girl who has to constantly fight off the advances of men while also being Virtuous and Virginal. AND on top of all of that, giving her the most ridiculously tight fighting outfit that you could get away with on network TV. There has been no fucking progress from when all the female Starfleet officers had to wear Female Outfits in the 60s. Roddenberry is in his grave jacking off.

Voyager, as a whole, is tainted by the culture it was made in. Contemporary western values are pasted uncritically onto a story set in the “perfect future” (Doesn't seem so perfect to me). Of course, as a product, Star Trek: Voyager had to sell; it mimicked the consumer-friendly elements of popular sci-fi in the 90s. Many of the episodes, with their 90s CGI and shallow storylines, remind me of the Star Wars Prequels. If you didn’t know, that is the most insulting thing that Star Trek could ever be compared to. This is not usually a franchise about little green aliens.

3. Cessions

My critique doesn’t hold up to scrutiny when looking at some of the better episodes (There is at least one terrorist who isn't thrown into jail). While many characters are just there for funsies and banter, they work serviceably most of the time. I actually liked Kes and Seven of Nine a lot as characters, but in the “they deserved better” way. Overall, I would say that my deep criticisms of this show are a function of a sordid relationship with it. Some of this show I like a lot! Other parts of it I absolutely loathe! Across 170 episodes (Isn’t it crazy that a show this disliked by fans could get 170 episodes???), the writers managed to sneak in a few great ones. Even some challenging ones...

For example, the comic relief character is revealed to be a genocide survivor (And this isn't offensive, surprisingly). The episode “Night” has a great switch-up when it's revealed the scary antagonists are actually victims. Brad Dourif guest stars in an early season as a genuinely complex victim of violence (Brad Dourif could make even Strange New Worlds watchable). Some episodes about the Borg explore ideas of assimilation and diaspora which I found interesting. There’s also a great two part episode with the crux of empathizing with the authoritarian commander of a time travelling colonial empire. The show has its moments.

But, more often than not, Captain Janeway goes around blowing up little green aliens in the name of her foreign masters. Foreign masters who are silent, but the battle rages on. The war has been over for years, yet Voyager clings to its “morals.” Although none of this is meant to be taken seriously (except when it is), I really do miss when Star Trek was socially conscious.

Lo, capitalist hegemony comes to uncharted waters, and it can’t seem to stop blowing up little green aliens. In comes the White Man and all they ever do is blow up little green aliens. Even a lifetime away from her jurisdiction, Voyager will still blow up a thousand little green aliens. For science.