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Stewing up a new season

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 For the beginning of the seventh season of Star Trek: Voyager, the editor
 of The Alternative Quadrant asked that we each do a piece about
 Voyager's upcoming last season.

 [Me:  Did anyone else do one?]

 [Editor:  *shrug*  Dunno.]

 The more I thought about it, mulling over seasons past and what the near
 future might bring, even going so far as to consider the new series, the
 more I got PISSED!  I mean, I was damned mad!

 Voyager has been a monumental waste.  The actors have been wasted.
 Special effects and a cool idea (of the show itself) have been wasted.
 Star Trek has been wasted.  The fans' time, expectations and
 loyalty have all been not only wasted but screwed.  We've been had.  We've
 been buggered by the smirking producers of Voyager who know we'll take six
 years of crap and come back for more.

 This goes far beyond a simple bemoaning of the death of subtext, or the
 lack of any well done relationship.  Except for brilliant moments
 over the past half decade, the series has been dull and repetitive,
 with no story arcs to follow or even a coherent theme for a fan to hang
 her hat on.

 The theme, in case you've forgotten is:  Getting Home.  Oh sure, they're
 making their way home, but has there been much tension about that the last
 few years?  When was the last time there was a scene that really made you
 feel how far away they still are?  Do we still feel how much they miss
 their family and friends and the opportunity to take time off from
 Voyager's 24/7 schedule?  Last weekend I finally saw Future's End part II.
 At the end of the episode Janeway, when given the opportunity, appeals to
 Braxton to keep them where (Earth) they are but return them to the
 proper when.  He of course says no and Janeway's shoulders slump
 and her head drops in resignation.  It's a poignant moment and a sharp
 reminder that They're Trying To Get Home.

 Instead, we've become invested in Life In The Delta Quadrant.  We get
 "character" episodes that "focus" on them, one after the other (rather
 than in groups or pairs or even crews - remember the Maquis?)  Do we learn
 much about them?  No.  Do they have an adventure that we go along with?
 Sure.  But does it mean anything?  This is Trek.  There should be messages
 oozing down our television screens every week.  Do these character
 episodes make us think about the human condition, or do they merely give
 us brief moments of subtextual glances, big explosions and sfx?

 We focus now on what's going to happen to whom.  Everyone's hot to hear
 who kisses who in the second part of the cliffhanger Unimatrix Zero - or
 even if someone kisses someone else, or maybe thinks about it so we
 can have an angsty moment.  Fans are dividing up screen time for their own
 fan fiction ends.  Isn't it a shame how far the Star Trek fan has fallen?

 What happened to discussions about What It All Means?

 The other day I had lunch with the friend I interviewed for
 Janeway...Naked...In a Tub (yes, she's real).  After a while we got onto
 season seven spoilers, of which I had all the new stuff.  It took only a
 few minutes for her to heave an angry sigh and say, "Wasn't it nice not to
 hear this all summer?"  The overblown melodrama had already gotten to her
 and the season hasn't started yet.

 You know what makes me the most angry?  Get this...I still can't wait for
 the next episode!

 Yeah, I know, I know.  Bitch moan and complain.  Why do I bother to watch
 if I'm so mad?  Well, there's Janeway.  I simply cannot get enough of her.
 Heck with the writing or even the amount of subtext.  I just want to see
 her commanding presence, hear her talk, watch her walk.  *happy sigh*
 (Don't worry, my wife understands.)

 There's also the vaguely science fictional stories.  I don't get cable, so
 Farscape, Lexx or reruns of Battlestar Galactica aren't an option.

 Um...what else?  I like the big explosions (undoubtedly NOT for the same
 reasons guys like them) and laughing at the creative new Forehead Of The
 Week.  There's the morbid fascination I have, watching Robbie McNeill's
 (Paris) tongue as he talks.  (Don't ask.)

 But again, these are only little things.  I guess I was spoiled, growing
 up in the era of Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon and Dorothy Fontana
 scripts.  But I've ranted about that here before so I won't go there
 again.

 My prediction for season seven?  More of the same...or maybe...less.  Less
 subtext cause the suits caught on and they don't like it.  Less Janeway
 (which really fries my butt), from what I've heard.  Less time to really
 do anything meaningful, so I don't think they'll try.

 They'll get home in the last episode or two, because getting there earlier
 will strain the Voyager production machine into a meltdown.

 The worst part is, I can't imagine a Star Trek phoenix rising from the
 ashes in series five.


 [Addendum:  after watching Unimatrix Zero II and Imperfection]

 Well my goodness.  These episodes weren't nearly as bad as I'd feared.  Of
 course, season six started out pretty well, too, then they gave us Alice.
 *shiver*  So I won't get all excited about a good season to end the series
 with - yet.  But I will admit I'm enjoying season seven after the first
 two weeks.