Why Voyager is the Best Star Trek Series.... Ever

This wasn't going to be another stupid list, but I couldn't think of a better way to organize this thing, so here we go. If your any kind of Trekkie, I imagine that you've got a favorite series. Oh course, a Trekkie is a fan of the cult classic, scifi, television show Star Trek. Now if you're not really a fan, read it anyway! Cause, dang, you might learn something or get interested. If you've never heard of Star Trek before, get out from under that rock! It's going to crush your scapula. Anyway, so I've always been a fan of the franchise. Weened on TNG, left the flock on DS9. (By the way, I'm going to be using all kinds of geeky words, phrases and acronyms in this, so if you're running the Fox, go ahead and have Wiki open in another tab.) So, Voyager was my chance to get back in the game. My mom had forced me to watch TNG for years, and while I'd always enjoyed it, Voyager was of my own accord. I took the time to watch it every week, and I made the commitment. Maybe this clouds my judgment a little bit, but it doesn't make my points any less true. I should also note that I love TOS, TNG, and DS9. This isn't to say that they're not great shows, it's just that Voyager got something oh-so-right.

1. Captain Kathyrn Janeway
Okay, this first point is a no brainer. A woman, what a novel idea! I mean, you had the Shat, baldy, blacky... The only logical continuation was lady, um, y. But, it's not just the fact that she was a woman that made Captain Janeway such a bangin' Captain. It was what Kate Mulgrew brought to the role, and how they did it. She wasn't a woman first and a captain second. She was a Captain first, a diplomat, a scientist, a disciplinarian, a teacher, a friend. She was everything that a good captain should be. She didn't need to remind you that she was a woman every five seconds, she was a great captain, and that's all that needed to be said. She was tough on her crew, but tougher on herself, and when things got down and dirty, she didn't mind getting downer and dirtier. Anything to look out for her crew, and her ship.

2. It's the Brady Bunch of Star Trek's.
This is something that I'm going to touch on later, but Voyager did things differently. Melding the Maquis and the Starfleet crews together was such a stroke of genius that it certainly did merit it's own series. Think about it. To force these two crews together, who are so diametrically opposed in every way makes for undeniable drama. This made the series about the people. And it lasted. The fact that the crew was about 1/3 Maquis, and 2/3s Starfleet had implications from the first episode to the last. How could Captain Janeway make sure that the Maquis followed the Prime Directive, how could both crews mix and work together fluidly, while having such different work ethics? These are questions that were both asked and answered on the show. And of course, this brought about the most awesome merger that I have yet to witness in a Star Trek show; Tom Paris and B'elanna Torres. I mean, c'mon, they're like the Sam and Diane of Star Trek.

3. There were no Klingons, Vulcans, Ferengis, etc.
Now, a lot of people thought this was a bad thing. Take Star Trek out of the Alpha Quadrant and thereby, out of the Star Trek universe? Preposterous! But by this time, the ol' AQ had been done to death. There was no shortage of episodes about tribbles, or Klingon wars, or vacation trips to Rygel 7 (That's a real place, look it up). You're dealing with another whole universe, where you can create whatever you want. New technologies, new species, new everything is available for interaction. And the best part is; you're still putting them up against a very old school captain, and a Starfleet crew. This takes a very stale idea, and makes it totally fresh. It's almost if you're starting the whole franchise all over.

4. No Starfleet.
Now, this goes to number three, but this is a biggie. Without Starfleet there Captain J was forced to stand in for all the admirals, other captains, committees, and bureaucracy that usually makes up the UFOP. This was a stroke of genius because there are basically no rules. There is no Prime Directive, if Janeway doesn't want it to be, and this changes the dynamic of the mission. Also, it pushed the limits of what a Starfleet vessel could do. You're working with limited resources, limited replacement supplies, and limited time. It calls on ingenuity, and quick thinking. It also lets you be more free with alien technologies, and incorporating technologies into Voyager. Who would have known that the slipstream technology (that got Voyager home), could have been so seamlessly integrated into Starfleet systems? This never would have happened in the Alpha Quadrant because there was no use for it. Warp drive, would have been warp drive, would have been warp drive. And who knows how long it would have taken for the bigwigs at Starfleet to see the use in it.

5. It was a veritable, um, what's the opposite of Sausage Fest?
Besides Captain Janeway, there where huge amounts of strong female characters on the show. I think, for me anyway, that the woman were definitely brought to the foreground in this series. They were strong, smart, and just as likely to have the answer as the men. Thinking of the women from previous series, they each had a role to play, and they were each vital to the crew, but you didn't get the idea that the ship would fall apart without them. The Enterprise would have made it just fine without Uhura, but Scotty? And Kira was strong, but was she was vital as Odo? B'elanna, Kes, Seven, and Captain Janeway were just as vital as the guys (well, maybe not Kes), but they certainly seemed just as vital to the storylines as the men. And certainly had more episodes focused squarely on them (at least, it seems to me).

So there you have it. A very objective analysis, I think. What do you think? What series do you like best and why? There are tons of varying opinions on this, but I want to hear yours. Do you think that this might convince you to give Voyager a try? It really is a splendid series, and I suggest that you catch a few episodes when they come on SpikeTV.