G. L. Dartt
A fan of Star Trek since the mid-seventies, G. L. Dartt currently
writes J/7 fan fiction, which can be found at her website: Captain's
Quarters. Any comments regarding this column can be sent
to greenoaks@ns.sympatico.ca.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of G. L. Dartt and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Alternative Quadrant.
Janeway & Seven:
Lost Opportunity?
Setting aside the concept of a Janeway and Seven romance for the moment ... because honestly, does anyone truly believe that the current production staff could portray such a relationship with any sort of style, dignity or class? ... I would like to explore the most intriguing aspect of Seven of Nine joining Star Trek: Voyager. It is the potential for her to become a true friend to the captain in a way that the other characters can not, and as a result, it would not only strengthen her character, but Janeway's as well. It is an even more appealing idea when one recognizes the natural chemistry between the actresses. Whether it was derived from the energy of having a new addition to the cast, a subconscious competitive or antagonistic dynamic between the two, or simply good acting on both parts, there is an undeniable spark between Janeway and Seven. Nor is it maternal because as any lesbian can tell you, if a mother ever acted in the flirtatious, sensual way Janeway acts with Seven, they would be in need of some serious and immediate therapy, but that's another column.
A solid friendship between these characters could be developed into an important element for the show because Janeway, unlike the other captains shown in Trek before her, does not have a true sounding board on the vessel. Everyone requires someone in their life who is not afraid of telling them the truth, regardless of how little one might wish to hear it. Kirk had Spock and McCoy, Picard had Troi and Data, Sisko had Dax, his family and eventually Kira. Janeway, in contrast, has absolutely no one, and as a result, her character has become progressively erratic and flawed as a commander. It is a disturbing trend, particularly since she is the first female captain in a lead of the series and leaves one with the impression that the ultimate motivation of this show is to convey the idea that women are unfit to command.
One of the more lasting elements to come out of the original Star Trek was the friendship forged between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Kirk was a better captain because of his ability to allow the other two men to be his friends. He was able to balance Spock's logical approach with McCoy's emotional one, and between the two, was able to apply it to his command decisions whenever he chose. His friendships also made Kirk a far more appealing character in the series. If the show had only been about Kirk, it would not have been nearly as interesting, nor do I suspect it, would have spawned the phenomena it subsequently became.
Jean Luc Picard, in contrast, while not developing the deep emotional ties that Kirk did in the original series, still had the advantage of having a formidable Chief Medical Officer, the services of a ship's counselor, and the dependability of Data. With these three viewpoints, Picard was able to maintain a line of communication which enabled him to make clear and concise decisions. Crusher was never afraid to tell him when he was going too far, Troi was able to help him with on many aspects of his command, both personally and professionally, while Data was someone he relied on to give him the unvarnished truth when required, devoid of emotional overtones. As a viewer, I always had the sense the Picard truly liked Data because of the way their scenes were written, that they were able to connect in a way that the captain just didn't with Riker.
Benjamin Sisko was joined on his command on Deep Space Nine by his old mentor in the form of a young woman. This enabled him to move from the uneven balance of mentor and pupil to become Jadzia's friend in addition to being her commanding officer. It was a unique friendship, lost ironically, in the final few seasons when they channeled Jadzia into becoming Worf's wife to the exclusion of her own individual characterization. Sisko also had the benefit of having a son and eventually, a lover/fiancé/wife in the form of Cassidy Yates, giving him an important 'Human' side to his character. As Jadzia lost her tie to Sisko, these other people picked it up, as did Kira Nerys, who established herself as a first officer of note, perhaps the best, most three-dimensional first officer of all the modern series.
Being Bajoran, and not a Starfleet officer, Kira offered Sisko a view that he could listen to without the chain of command being involved. She had her own objectives and motivations and they were always very clear to him. He knew her loyalty was based on a personal tie to him, first as the Emissary and later as her friend, not because some faceless organization stated that this is how it must be, but because of what shared experience made them. They were able to forge a working relationship that has far exceeded any other to date in the modern shows in both realism and intelligence.
Then we come to Kathryn Janeway. In the beginning, it was established that Tuvok was an old acquaintance, someone who had served with her for some time. Indeed, that was why she chased the Maquis into the Badlands to begin with, not necessarily to capture the outlaws but to retrieve her security chief and close personal friend. There were scenes in those early episodes that showed this to great effect. In one episode, when the ship is being twisted out of shape and Janeway is lying unconscious on a sofa in Sandrines, Tuvok carefully places his hand next to her head. Everyone else is standing around, waiting for the inevitable, but his last intent is to be near his captain and his friend. It was a lovely, subtle moment, the kind that Trek is known for and which Voyager does so rarely, particularly in the later seasons. It conveyed a friendship between the two characters that did not need further explanation in the form of wooden dialogue, forced situations or overacting ... as Harry and Tom's 'friendship' appears to require in so many episodes.
But as the seasons passed, such displays of the captain's friendship with Tuvok were tossed aside. It was as if the creators of the show decided that Janeway did not require emotional ties at all, that showing her in any kind of honest relationship with another, be it friendship, romance, or family, would make her appear 'weak'. Unfortunately, this view has created exactly the image that they may have been attempting to prevent. By isolating Janeway, by putting her in a position of not being 'Human', of constantly portraying her as not trusting or believing in anyone else, it has instead made Janeway appear more brittle and distant, constantly on the verge of breaking down at any given moment. It does not make a captain look 'strong' when he or she is unable to admit to weakness or reach out for help ... instead, it makes him or her look quite unstable, a little inept and not the sort that anyone would want to swear loyalty to.
A captain is weak when she hides away in her quarters for two months, refusing to come out. However, had the character been portrayed as showing a command face to the crew every day, doing her job no matter what, then retreating to her quarters at the end of the shift to weep on the shoulder of a good, trusted friend, it would have shown real vulnerability and courage in the face of unbearable circumstances. A captain is weak when she threatens an officer with death when he doesn't accede to her wishes, but had she been shown struggling desperately to defeat her obsession by talking it out with a good friend, and having that friend able to reach her with logic, kindness and trust, then that would have shown intelligence and good leadership in both characters. A captain is weak when she loses enough emotional stability to 'fall in love' with a hologram, whereas showing her having a bit of a fling in a holoprogram and laughing at the absurdity of such futility later with her good friend that she does love dearly, would show her loneliness in a way that would have touched a cord with everyone.
Of course, it's understood that she would not show this vulnerable side to just anyone, but to refuse to have her acknowledge it at all with a trusted friend, to keep her cut off emotionally from the rest of the characters lessens her greatly. Of all the captains portrayed in Trek, because of the very nature of the situation she is in, Janeway is the one who most needs a confidante, be it a lover or just a true, honest friend who will stand by her. Yet she is the one denied it, not because of opportunity, but because of a refusal to take advantage of such an opportunity.
Seven's character makes her perfect for filling the role of such a friend. Technically, Seven is not part of the command structure and exists on the fringes of the society which has developed on the ship. As Borg, she is an 'outsider' even to Humanity, able to comment on it much as Data and Spock did, providing a unique viewpoint to the captain, devoid of any ulterior motivation. This would allow Janeway to look at her own motivations and intentions, showing her where she might be going wrong as well as assuring her when she is acting correctly. The captain would come to understand what 'being Human' is really all about, just as the viewer does through the 'outsider's eyes'. As someone who has no real reason to be loyal to Janeway beyond a personal bond, the captain could rely on Seven to be completely honest with her where others are stymied by rank or their regulated roles on the ship. It is ironic that people object to Seven's challenging of Janeway on occasion, claiming that it undermines the captain's ability to command. In truth, Seven is the only one who can question Janeway, other than possibly Neelix. There is no reason for Seven to obey any of the rules and regulations of Starfleet other than an honest and sincere attempt to honor Janeway personally. If she's fighting with her, it's because she thinks Janeway's gone too far on a personal level, setting aside the rank so that Janeway can't hide behind it.
Indeed, it is Chakotay's challenging of Janeway that is most damaging to her aura of command. By accepting the role of first officer, he has sworn an oath of professional loyalty to her that he is shown as being unable to uphold. Unlike Seven who questions the captain in private, Chakotay frequently challenges Janeway publicly, in front of junior officers as his reversing of her orders in Scorpion, staging a mini-mutiny in Night, and refusing to obey her commands in One Small Step, indicates. His choices of how to challenge her also come at the worst possible moments, as happened in Equinox II and Scorpion II, surprising her, and leaving her with few options in an already volatile situation. It's not that he defies her, which is part of a first officer's duty at times, it's how, when, and where he defies her that makes him so questionable, both as a friend and a first officer. He backs down when he most needs to be strong, in the one-on-one conference room scenes (Scorpion & Equinox) or in her quarters (Night), but will then cut the legs out from under her in front of the rest of the crew. It's almost as if Chakotay (or rather, the show) needs to publicly humiliate Janeway to show that she is making an error in judgment rather than have him, or anyone else, be a true friend who can be relied on to get through to her when others can't.
Of course, this might not necessarily be surprising considering that the character of Chakotay had changed loyalties more times than Janeway has changed hairstyles, first abandoning his people's way for Starfleet, then turning his back on Starfleet for the Maquis, then switching to a Starfleet uniform and dragging his Maquis crew along with him whether they liked it or not. Granted, this is undoubtedly due more to poor continuity and short-sighted writing on the part of the show's creators than any attempt to deliberately make him look like an 'oath breaker' by nature, but given the opportunity, Chakotay would turn on Janeway as completely as he has betrayed all the other promises and vows that he has sworn in the past, despite the sincerity he probably felt at the time of his taking them. He is ultimately, untrustworthy with her, the only consistent trait the show has had him display in the past three seasons, and that makes him useless to Janeway as a friend.
Tuvok, in contrast, has also lost his ability to be a true friend to Janeway over the years. Too many times he has stood by and let Chakotay undermine the captain, or worse, aided him in it. Then, after Equinox II, when he refused to stand up to Janeway beyond a meek little objection to handing over a Federation starship to an alien force, he no longer looks strong enough to be the sort of friend Janeway requires. The show has also tried hard to establish that being in the chain of command prevents anyone from being able to reach Janeway, possibly because of her Starfleet command conditioning and a history of growing up with a Starfleet Admiral as a father, thus precluding the Vulcan's ability to make her listen when she most needs to.
So, again we are left with Seven, who exists in a sort of limbo when it comes to the chain of command. Sometimes she can order people around, sometimes they order her around, and in both cases, one is always left with the impression that she accepts both, only because of her desire to remain on Voyager, a situation which could alter at any time. Indeed, the incidents where she could have left, The Gift, Hope and Fear, Think Tank and The Voyager Conspiracy, it was always Janeway who brought her back. Why? Because Seven's loyalty is personal unto Janeway, not professional to Starfleet or the ship and it would be to Janeway's benefit to rely on that, not just for Seven's sake, but for her own.
Of course, with only a year left to go in the series, and such current insanity where 'romance' is presented as the captain falling in love with a walking vibrator, one is left with the sense that perhaps it is too late. This series could have exploited the natural chemistry between the two actresses, building a solid relationship that might have transcended the show as Kirk, Spock and McCoy's relationship did, yet at this point, they seem to have completely overlooked it.
Something that is, I'm afraid, characteristic of the show and may forever be Voyager's legacy in the annals of Star Trek lore. Voyager could have been the greatest series in Trek ... but ultimately, it may be looked back on as the worst, and simply because of the variety of missed or bungled opportunities just like this one.
The End