# What was the real problem with "Star Trek Voyager"? Acting or writing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380 "2011-06-05T07:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/101 "2011-06-08T01:56:06Z")
The whole concept had a problem as well: Gilligan’s Island Syndrome. The moment they are off the island the show is pretty much over. So as long as they get renewed Gilligan has to keep screwing up the rescue efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/102 "2011-06-08T02:03:13Z")
I’ve watched a couple of “Voyager” episodes this week, and you know, I honestly can’t tell you what is wrong with the series. It is so close to entertaining, but never…quite…gets there. I don’t like Kate Mulgrew’s acting (she always looks like she’s _ACTING!_, I didn’t like Neelix or Ces, Harry Kim was kind of useless, and the afore-mentioned Indian hippy-dippy bullshit from Chakotay was hard to take. Other than that, I quite liked it. Hmm, that’s a fair list of dislikes. Maybe it’s more obvious than I thought. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/103 "2011-06-08T02:20:43Z")
Yes, VGR (like the other incarnations of ST) fell prey to the Weird Alien Forehead of the Week syndrome far too often, but also gave us the truly weird (CGI-generated) alien race, Species 8472: [Species 8472 | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Species_8472). I liked them a lot. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/104 "2011-06-08T02:20:53Z")
Also, regardless of what she looked like, Kes was three years old when they joined the crew. Makes Neelix not merely annoying, but pervy. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/105 "2011-06-08T02:27:19Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Also, regardless of what she looked like, Kes was three years old when they joined the crew. Makes Neelix not merely annoying, but pervy. That’s not really fair - her species only lived until nine years old. She was a mature Ocampan when she was with Neelix. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/106 "2011-06-08T02:49:02Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s not really fair - her species only lived until nine years old. She was a mature Ocampan when she was with Neelix. Yeah, but it was a great reason to hate on Neelix. Dating a three year old … 😉 (Yes, I know the premise of creating that species, accelerated maturation, no longevity, really really ALIEN to think that way… But it was never explored in any way to make it interesting. Again a failure of the creators. Come up with half of a cool idea and leave it out there blowing in the wind [til she came back all powerful and weird in that later ep which wasn’t very well done either] wasting potentially good stories) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/107 "2011-06-08T03:27:24Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Agreed. Funny thing is that I never noticed this on DS9’s original run. I noticed Dax, of course, but not Kira. It’s only after I came back to the series as an adult that I noticed how very, very much more attractive Kira was. And the Intendant, of course. The thing with Dax was she was too obviously “stereotypical hot chick”, which is unfortunately a look that had never really appealed to me. > [@Icerigger](#): > > That’s **Colonel** Kira to you! I really thought she looked her best in the last season with the longer hair and the Starfleet uniform. Ah, I was unaware of her promotion. For the same reason I missed the last five seasons of Voyager, I missed the last three of DS9. > [@Merijeek](#): > > She was certainly the most stacked, that’s for sure. You mean 7 of 9, right? I never noticed Nana Visitor being especially stacked. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/108 "2011-06-08T03:34:03Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > The thing with Dax was she was too obviously “stereotypical hot chick”, which is unfortunately a look that had never really appealed to me. > Ah, I was unaware of her promotion. For the same reason I missed the last five seasons of Voyager, I missed the last three of DS9. > You mean 7 of 9, right? I never noticed Nana Visitor being especially stacked. They were HUGE… for a Bajoran. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/109 "2011-06-08T06:31:17Z")
I actually kinda enjoyed Neelix at times. He was an interesting departure from the usuel aliens and the sameness of the crew. And you have to admire the guy for all the hours spent in make-up. Of course I’d hate the guy as much as anyone else if I were trapped on a ship with him for years. At least my TV has an “off” button. And as far as Beltran’s comments are concerned: Bad writing or not, if it were up to me he’d never work in the industry again. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/110 "2011-06-08T14:16:42Z")
I, too, kinda liked Neelix. I didn’t find him all that annoying usually. > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > …Ah, I was unaware of her promotion… I missed the last three [seasons] of DS9… Oh, man, you’ve GOT to watch them! Some of the finest ST ever. The Dominion War arc has some very, very good episodes. If you want me to suggest just a manageable half-dozen or so, PM me. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/111 "2011-06-08T14:42:07Z")
> [@astro](#): > > They were HUGE… for a Bajoran. For being real (or at least real-seeming) they were huge. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/112 "2011-06-08T14:54:12Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > For being real (or at least real-seeming) they were huge. > > -Joe [Old thread that seems to fit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=140811) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/113 "2011-06-08T15:06:11Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > [Old thread that seems to fit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=140811) Proof, as if we needed it, that virtually every possible question about ST has already been asked and discussed - at length! - on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/114 "2011-06-08T16:27:49Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > I was thinking… > > Tasha Yar > Jadzia Dax (which was kind of a cheat because of the Dax thing, but may as well give it to them) > Pulaski (where I was wrong) > Kirk > > Those were my incorrect four. > > -Joe I’d not consider Jadzia’s death any sort of cheat. Ezri was clearly not identical to Dax. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/115 "2011-06-08T16:33:04Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’d not consider Jadzia’s death any sort of cheat. Ezri was clearly not identical to Dax. I did say “kind of”. Either way, I think it’s a bit of a cheat. Much like The Doctor’s regeneration. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/116 "2011-06-08T18:01:05Z")
> [@astro](#): > > They were HUGE… for a Bajoran. If those were huge for a Bajoran what were Leeta’s? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/117 "2011-06-08T18:06:40Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > If those were huge for a Bajoran what were Leeta’s? To boldly jiggle. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/118 "2011-06-08T18:30:06Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > If those were huge for a Bajoran what were Leeta’s? Delectable. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/119 "2011-06-08T19:20:10Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > \ > > And as far as Beltran’s comments are concerned: Bad writing or not, if it were up to me he’d never work in the industry again. Totally agreed. He was on a major network series - that’s one of the highest levels of achievement of the acting world, and somehow that’s not _good_ enough for him? Looking at his IMDB page, he didn’t exactly blow the world up after “Voyager,” either. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380/120 "2011-06-08T19:25:21Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Oh, man, you’ve GOT to watch them! Some of the finest ST ever. The Dominion War arc has some very, very good episodes. If you want me to suggest just a manageable half-dozen or so, PM me. Yeah, I’ve been meaning to rent or buy the DVDs … one of these days. I’ve always regretted missing those seasons, largely because I got all the build-up to the Dominion War, without getting to see how it came out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-real-problem-with-star-trek-voyager-acting-or-writing/584380.md?page=7)