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Join us as we explore the 10 dumbest, silliest, and most questionable moments from Star Trek: Voyager. From infamous plot holes to baffling character decisions, this is a loving look back at the things that made us scratch our heads.
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00:00Packed with fresh ideas and the opportunity for new adventures unrestricted by the Alpha and Beta Quadrants,
00:06Janeway and the crew took the Borg by the Simulation Tubules and headed right on home.
00:11Well, almost.
00:13The journey was diverted and downright interrupted on occasion by some of the deadliest opponents and situations ever faced by
00:20a Federation starship.
00:22Yet there was still the occasional time for a fromage-based emergency or a holodeck jaunt to break the tension.
00:29Here, though, we're going to be looking at those moments, plot points, and characters that could have been avoided
00:34and likely would have shaved a few dozen light years off of the trip back to Earth.
00:38Of course, if they just shifted into high warp and aimed a line for the Alpha Quadrant,
00:43seven seasons of Janeway sipping coffee and Neelix's cooking would have become rather tedious for viewing public.
00:49So, of course, there has to be some intrigue and story to make this a truly great Star Trek show,
00:54which Voyager heartily delivered in spades, week in, and week out.
00:59But that also means there were a few times the sillier Ludacris did creep in.
01:05Prepare for story time, rapid builds, rug sweeping, and most importantly, lizards.
01:12I'm Bree from Trek Culture, and join me as we take a stumble down the path
01:16that is the dumbest things in Star Trek Voyager.
01:20One second. It's Rilic.
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03:37Number 10.
03:38Tiny Little Legs
03:40We could land the ship, announced Captain Janeway in the 37s,
03:45marking the first occasion that a starship would make planet fall,
03:48and not end up a burning hulk of twisted metal.
03:51The audience held their breath as she descended into the atmosphere
03:55and the 400-year-old mystery of Amelia Earhart.
03:59Successfully completed more times than the Enterprise-D saucer separated,
04:03USS Voyager's party trick wasn't just limited to the intrepid class,
04:07but would be the only craft during this era of the franchise that would touch down.
04:13With blue alert flashing and no need for a bulb change,
04:16the tidal vessel would descend from the stars,
04:19through the clouds, and gracefully come to rest on the surface.
04:22However, it would do so on the most inadequate set of landing gear.
04:27The nearest equivalent in current times might be standing a Boeing 747 on four bricks.
04:34But whatever way you look at it,
04:36the inertial dampeners have a lot of work to do.
04:39For one, the ship is saucer heavy,
04:42with all four landing feet aesthetically having to be located
04:45on the underside of the engineering hull.
04:48One may even expect Tom Paris to step out and stick up a prop rod for precautionary measures.
04:53Whatever way you look at them, though,
04:55they are very, very small.
04:58And just to emphasize this,
05:00nearly every shot of Voyager landed has the feet concealed somehow.
05:05In Basics and the 37s, they are hidden behind rocks or a cliff face.
05:09And in future sightings, Voyager is often seen from above,
05:13rather than highlighting the landing gear.
05:16Number 9.
05:17Salamander Babies.
05:19Classically up there among the dumbest,
05:22and therefore one that is inevitably on this list.
05:25Let's deal with it now.
05:26The concept of Threshold and the potential to hit Warp 10
05:29and be everywhere in the universe is mind-bending.
05:33Full of potential for storytelling and the epic of Voyager's return to Earth,
05:37it could have been an early turning point,
05:39even tying back to TNGs where no one has gone before.
05:42Instead, Tom Paris and Catherine Janeway mutated into lizards and did the business.
05:47There's really no other way to put it frankly, because that's just how silly it sounds.
05:53The fact that it's summarily swept under the rug and never mentioned again is a silence that speaks volumes.
06:00What may have seemed like a good idea on paper should have resulted in at least some fallout,
06:06yet there isn't even a concern for the offspring of said relationship.
06:10At least Lower Decks nodded that one of them potentially survived in Much Ado About Boimler,
06:16although they weren't faring very well.
06:19The, we fixed them, ending, which again avoids any explanation of how the captain and helmsman are returned to human
06:26form,
06:27is an insult to the intelligence of the audience.
06:30That even involved reattaching Tom's tongue, which must have just been lying around the ship somewhere.
06:36The only time there's been a quicker mop-up was Scotty transporting the Tribbles to the Klingons.
06:42Number 8. Space Friends
06:44Pages of space have been given over to the speedy way in which the Maquis and Starfleet crews blend together
06:50before the caretaker's rocky remains have even cooled.
06:53Promoted as an opportunity for conflict and character development,
06:57Voyager's melding of two factions offered a new spark to the franchise
07:00that was set up in the later days of TNG and the second season of DS9.
07:06Yet, it failed to pay off in any respect.
07:09The nearest fans got to seeing this conflict in action
07:12was Torres and Carrie clashing over who would become Chief Engineer.
07:16As the elephant in the room, the duality of the crew would play out in a holodeck for worst-case
07:22scenario,
07:22but otherwise be firmly left at the roadside.
07:26It was backroom discussions that led to the removal of the friction between the crews of Janeway and Chakotay,
07:31yet to ditch such a fundamental element of the show and something intrinsic to its concept
07:37still leaves fans baffled today.
07:40Revisiting this controversially abandoned plot point only reignited the fires three seasons later.
07:46Yes, it made sense for the two crews to work together and put aside their differences,
07:50yet barely a line is given to exploring how it was all put to bed before the closing credits of
07:56Caretaker.
07:57That decision may actually have been the real worst-case scenario,
08:01depriving the show of more character depth and exploration,
08:05as opposed to checking out the next gaseous space anomaly.
08:08Number seven, please state the nature of the medical kerfluffle.
08:13Before futures end, the Doctor is a character that is evidently quite difficult to manage.
08:19Confined to either sickbay or the holodecks,
08:21the level of opportunities for the digital MD are, to a point, limited.
08:26Even he asks to be included more as part of the crew,
08:29and treated with more respect than a light switch,
08:32resulting in his ability to deactivate his own program.
08:35Yet, his early appearances just fail to find that spark that a mobile emitter immediately does.
08:42This limitation means characters either need to go to him,
08:45or communicate via a monitor, reducing Picardo's range in the series.
08:50Something that was most certainly addressed.
08:52It was a time where the series was still finding its feet, however,
08:56and it's as though the crew are just humoring him.
08:59The Doctor was given time off, yes, actual time off, in projections,
09:03which goes horribly wrong,
09:06and he was sent to tackle Anglo-Saxon history in Heroes and Demons,
09:10which also goes horribly wrong.
09:12Yet, those first seasons also tend to dumb down the character instead of building and exploring.
09:17The two worst examples of this show up in Parallax,
09:21where his sickbay projectors play around with his stature,
09:23turning what should have been an evolving character into a comedy turn.
09:27And secondly, there's also the time where his image is projected into space
09:31during the Kazon battle in Basics Part 1.
09:33Again, offering that comedy turn moment.
09:36It displays alarming ineptitude of the Voyager crew
09:39at the most crucial time of the series up to that point.
09:43Not only does it dumb down a high-tension moment,
09:46but it also makes viewers wonder if there's really no hope for the crew at this pivotal time.
09:51Number 6.
09:52Oh yes, the shuttles.
09:55How can any list of dumb Voyager things be complete
09:58without the mention of a shuttle bay larger than the TARDIS?
10:01Voyager's Rolodex of shuttles is a muddled mess of inconsistency that did two things.
10:07It highlighted the difficulty in keeping canon as canon for the sake of a story,
10:11and also that the Star Trek universe was becoming such a large animal
10:15that at times it wrote itself into a corner that it just couldn't get out of.
10:20Hence, the Voyager shuttle conspiracy.
10:23If one was destroyed in an episode,
10:25you could guarantee that four more identical ones would be available two weeks later.
10:29The Delta Flyer was introduced as a super shuttle to curb some of this overuse,
10:34although its revered status caused its own issues as has been explored in previous entries.
10:40There were shuttles that did survive multiple encounters.
10:43Ex-Astra Scientia indicates at least 10 were definitely lost,
10:47with a further seven probably lost.
10:50As noted, the second Delta Flyer was constructed overnight,
10:53so there's no reason that the same couldn't be said for Voyager,
10:57although it is doubtful they had a vehicle replicator akin to that aboard the USS Protostar.
11:03The official technical guide even suggests that the ship would only carry two regular shuttles,
11:08so fans might assume that there are a ton and a half of spare parts just sitting around somewhere.
11:14After all, Voyager does carry a spare warp core, just in case.
11:19Number 5. Ranking Paris and Kim
11:21The blatant choice for anything to do with rank here would be forever Ensign Harry Kim.
11:27Yet, the progress of Tom Paris makes even less sense when examined.
11:31Once convicted criminal Tom Paris joins the Starfleet crew,
11:35he's officially given the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade,
11:38immediately stepping above Harry.
11:41Disgraced in 30 days, Tom is demoted to Ensign, but only until Unimatrix Zero,
11:46receiving a return to his Junior Grade Lieutenant status at that episode.
11:50This again shelves Harry Kim,
11:52so much so that even the former Ensign notes that he's still missing that additional pip.
11:58Your time will come, Harry.
11:59So why would this be dumb?
12:02Well, because from a crew morale perspective,
12:04this crushes anyone who's made Starfleet their career in the ranks or the enlisted ensemble.
12:11If there's a real line behind all of this, it's that crime does in fact pay.
12:16It makes it even more understandable how both character and actor Garrett Wong
12:21were disappointed with the development of Harry Kim.
12:23This led to some difficult times for the actor, who felt tragically underused.
12:29Tom's contribution to the ship is no more or less important than Kim's,
12:32who has faced his own series of trials across the breadth of the show.
12:37I mean, clearly, surviving an attack by Species 8472 is just an everyday occurrence.
12:42Maybe he should have mutinied and been bumped up to a full lieutenant.
12:46By the finale, it is resolved to some degree.
12:49However, the choice to award him command of the USS Rhode Island, America's smallest state,
12:55feels like another jab.
12:57Number four, blind to danger.
13:01A point more associated with the show's early and formative seasons,
13:05Voyager had a tendency to stop off a great deal and check out every planet and space anomaly that popped
13:12up.
13:12Time and again, only the second episode almost screams how this is a bad thing
13:17as the ship's involvement with one planet leads to a catastrophic event.
13:21The Cloud tells you everything you need to know about the story from the title.
13:25In fact, Janeway's choice to take a diversion to grab some coffee may be one of the worst things that
13:31she does.
13:32Well, maybe aside from allying with the Borg.
13:35If viewers step back a bit from the show,
13:37it becomes increasingly apparent that Janeway and co.
13:40are some of the worst meddlers in Starfleet history.
13:43They are trying to get home and do so on occasion by trying to find new technologies,
13:48but it's almost as if they can't help themselves.
13:51Heading into the third season, they're still prepared to take extreme risks,
13:56such as plugging into an alien computer to tackle a clown in The Thaw,
14:00or, controversial mention, even later transporting refugees through dangerous territories in Counterpoint.
14:07Turning back for more Kazon interactions seems like a picnic in comparison.
14:12Dropping into orbit and getting involved becomes almost as easy as pulling off the freeway
14:17for a coffee and comfort stop at Bucky's or Wawa, or Stratford services if you're across the pond.
14:23Except that instead of getting an overpriced blueberry muffin,
14:26they end up embroiled in planetary affairs, and then wonder how it all went wrong.
14:31It's almost fortunate that they only spent seven years on this journey home.
14:36Number three, going back for baby.
14:39Seska's reappearance in Basics Part 1 shook the crew with the news that
14:44she was now a mother, and the father was potentially Chakotay.
14:48The final episode of Season 2 aired, the story works as a starship heist,
14:52with or without the family element.
14:55Fans knew in their hearts that Chakotay was very unlikely to be the father,
14:58and even in the episode itself, the crew note just how improbable this is.
15:04It all feels too obviously like a trap, with the conclusion seeing that Kazon manipulation
15:10coming to fruition through no surprise to anyone.
15:13It's a rare, and some might say out-of-character instance,
15:17of the Voyager crew acting really, really dumb,
15:21especially given their history with the Kazon,
15:23and two full years of experiences in the Delta Quadrant.
15:27So let's reflect back to Threshold,
15:30where the captain and Tom had a full litter of salamander children,
15:34who they left and never spoke of again,
15:36which makes you wonder if they have to have drunk the ship dry of its Romulan ale stash.
15:42Yet, they still go back, even after the multitude of events
15:46involving the Kazon alone during the second season.
15:49Adding into this episode a chance to see those wonderful landing legs once more,
15:54and it's a double bubble of dumb in less than an hour.
15:58Number 2. Bendy Wendy Spacey Wasey
16:01Among four episodes held back from the first season,
16:05Twisted echoes a trope from some of DS9's initial years,
16:08in that this episode as a whole doesn't need to happen,
16:12and doesn't ultimately affect anything.
16:15One of several space anomaly stories that littered the 1995 batch,
16:19Twisted's conclusion has the crew resolve their reality-bending predicament
16:23by doing precisely, and no more or less, than nothing.
16:27It is perhaps less of a cringeworthy moment than taking a block of maturing milk to a medical facility,
16:33but yet, there still seems very little point.
16:36Overkilling it on the technobabble,
16:38and racing around the ship attempting to get from one location to another,
16:42no one stops to take a moment to think about precisely what is happening,
16:46leaving the show to descend into a mineshaft of its own spatial distorted craziness.
16:51Twisted is, in a way, a prime example of where Voyager's first season didn't work out,
16:57and shouts at its falterings.
16:59The concepts were there, but when it came to satisfying resolutions
17:03that explained what happened and made viewers return,
17:06it did miss the mark.
17:08Instead, fans got a twist that was, in fact, an untwist,
17:12and the reset button was firmly punched.
17:14This complaint could even be leveled at the final two minutes of Endgame,
17:18where it's another example of Voyager's ability to rug-sweep important moments
17:23and hope that the audience just doesn't notice.
17:26Drinks all around it, Sandrine's.
17:28Now, let's take a left at the next Galactic Roundabout,
17:31because after all, what's the next worst thing that could possibly happen?
17:35Number one.
17:37Once Upon a Flutter.
17:38Aside from a nice Easter egg on Soji's Lunchbox and Picard,
17:42this creation has no place on Voyager.
17:44At this later stage of the series,
17:46to pull out an episode that rivals the insanity of Threshold
17:49must have been quite a challenge to accomplish.
17:53Framing a Porgorn's Teletubbies adventure
17:55against the more serious backdrop of a missing parent,
17:58the fifth season's Once Upon a Time
18:00offered a parallel story that truly took any nuance or seriousness
18:05away from Ensign Wildman's potential peril.
18:08Originally an Alice in Wonderland concept,
18:10its narrative was ripped apart and rewritten,
18:13giving rise to the ever-blue flutter.
18:16Instead of spending quality time with Naomi,
18:19the crew allow her to bury herself away in the fantasy of the holodeck
18:22and with the two worst role models possible.
18:26Neelix's strains at becoming a parent
18:28only feel undermined further by the inclusion of the holodeck,
18:32which hauntingly reminds viewers of Barclay's predicaments
18:35back in TNG's Hollow Pursuits.
18:37But there's also another side to this episode,
18:40in that making the flutter doll,
18:42it was hoped that fans would demand for one to be made
18:45and the merchandising money would flood in.
18:47The demand obviously did not come.
18:50Flutter is one of those points, like the chef in Enterprise,
18:53that viewers didn't need to see to understand.
18:56Bringing the character to life was an infuriating cash grab
18:59that Star Trek's powers that be should have stepped away from
19:03and respected the intelligence of its audiences,
19:06which makes it really dumb.
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19:24And those were 10 of the dumbest things in Star Trek Voyager.
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19:54and don't forget to live long and prosper.
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