lunabee34

We're about halfway done with season five of Voyager, and my enjoyment of this show just keeps on increasing. I love all the characters so deeply. I am invested in their character development (yay for a show that's heavy on backstory and actually allowing that backstory to consistently influence character motivation rather than just serving as a deus ex machina to explain out of character behavior (as so many shows do)). Yay for a show that continually references prior episodes in a meaningful way and demonstrates that consequences of events are far-reaching and longlasting. Yay for a show that deals with depression and anxiety in a realistic way.

We just finished "Course: Oblivion," which is my very favorite kind of sci fi. The episode opens with Tom and B'Elanna's wedding, with complete and utter joy. And then slowly things begin to fall apart until we realize that these people are not the crew of our Voyager but rather the duplicates made on the Demon planet months ago. When B'Elanna dies, I could hardly contain myself watching how much losing her hurt Tom. Then the episode rachets up the angst quotient with the reveal, driving Janeway to jeopardize everyone's lives in an effort to cling to an identity she can no longer claim. But what really kills me, what really gets me in the gut even more than the fact that they all die at the end, is that their beacon is destroyed and no one even knows they ever lived. All their personal logs, their achievements, the new warp drive that could take the real Voyager home in two years--gone. Oh my heart!!!

I also loved the episode in which Janeway finally acknowledges that she's been kind of a jackass about the doctor; ever since Kes left the show, Voyager's crew has been talking out of both sides of their mouth about the doctor. Oh yes, you're a real boy, but we're going to turn you off now because you annoy us. Over and over again they'd do these things that deny his sentience, his ability to control his own destiny and it pissed me off, especially in the face of Janeway's total trust in Seven. And then, they make an episode that explores exactly what's been irritating me and let Seven be the one to tell Janeway off, no less! I love when she realizes that we don't turn people off or alter their memories when they have PTSD or anxiety or depression related to things that have happened to them. We medicate them and we give them therapy and we recognize that they may never be the same as they were before the traumatic event. I was proud of the show for stepping up to the plate and forcing Janeway to acknowledge her prejudices.

So far, I only have two real quibbles with the show.

( the trouble with quibbles )

Voyager watching continues, and I remain impressed with the consistent quality of the episodes. Is there a clunker now and again? Sure, but overall, this show delivers time after time.

I think it owes much of its success to a few key things: the true ensemble nature of the cast, the really in-depth character work, and the unflinching look at difficult and often unanswerable questions. Maybe that's my favorite thing of all. Voyager's willingness to embrace ambiguity and to subvert the expected.

( Discussion of BEFORE AND AFTER, REAL LIFE, NEMESIS, DAY OF HONOR, DISTANT ORIGIN, WORST CASE SCENARIO, and REVULSION )