Obviously, I’m in the minority. I liked “Voyager.” The first season or two were kinda weak, and I was glad they got rid of that annoying Kes, but there were some really good episodes once the two factions on the ship put aside their differences and began acting like a crew. The episode about the year of darkness was especially good.
I never liked “Deep Space 9” until the last couple of seasons when they finally got it off that space station and into space battling the Dominion.
“Enterprise” was OK but that long story arc they did in the second season in response to 9/11 just killed it for me. Every ST series had a few humorous episodes thrown in to lighten up the mood. After Earth was partially destroyed and they centered everything on responding to that it made it a little difficult to go for laughs every few weeks, although they tried a couple of times.
Of all the Star Trek series, the opening credits of the first 3 merely told about traveling through the galaxy. Voyager was the 1st series to actually show traveling through the galaxy.
If the Enterprise hadn’t violated the Prime Directive, Sarjenka’s people would have died, and so would the people on the planet where Worf’s adopted brother had taken up residence. There are times when you have to say, “Damn the Prime Directive; I’m doing what’s right.” Janeway could have brought her crew home immediately, and then the rest of them would have had to live with the betrayal of the Ocampa for the rest of their lives.
Just pointing out, if they had never been swept into the Delta quadrant, the Ocampa would not have been saved but no one in Starfleet would know. Is it really Starfleet’s job to save everyone? Especially if they don’t have enough knowledge to make an informed decision? Or enough weapons to enforce it?
I guess this is a timely question for the times we live in. Who should the US save? How much do we owe oppressed peoples?
Voyager left other peoples of the DQ to be oppressed. They also left a lot of destruction in their wake. (see Living Witness)
Plus, the governing body of the Federation must surely have anticipated situations like that, when they wrote the Prime Directive. And they wrote it anyway. Presumably, they had reason to think that not having a Prime Directive (or equivalently, having it but ignoring it whenever you felt like it) was worse than having it.
“Difficult times do not call for extreme measures. But by the same token,” and [Riker] leaned forward, arms on the table, fingers interlaced tightly, […] for the Federation response to be simply that of passive observation…"
“The Prime Directive…” began Jellico.
“The Prime Directive, Admiral, last time I checked, did not first appear on the wall of Starfleet Headquarters in flaming letters accompanied by a sepulchral voice intoning, ‘Thou Shalt Not Butt In,’” Riker said flatly. "It’s a guide for day-to-day interaction with developing races so that we don’t have umpty-ump Starfleet officers running around and playing by their own rules. But this is not day-to-day, Admiral. And we’re not talking about playing god. We’re talking about showing compassion for fellow living beings.
“The Prime Directive was created by men and women, no better or worse than any of us, and I respectfully submit that if our hands are so completely tied by it that we sit around impotently, then we have to seriously reconsider what the hell it is we’re all about.”
“I once knew a man,” Spock said quietly, “who would have agreed with you.”
