Voyager Always Had The Best Premise Of Any Star Trek Show

Star Trek: Voyager premiered 30 years ago with a unique premise that's still among the best of any Star Trek show. The Starship Enterprise's original mission—in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation—was to explore strange new worlds. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was entrusted with guarding the Bajoran wormhole, ultimately protecting the Alpha Quadrant from the Gamma Quadrant's invading Dominion forces. While the TNG cast moved on to movies and DS9 set the stage for its Dominion War, Star Trek: Voyager promised an interesting twist on the familiar Star Trek formula.

Star Trek: Voyager's premiere episode, "Caretaker", opened at the by-then-familiar locale of Deep Space Nine, where Captain Kathryn Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) USS Voyager launched its inaugural mission to retrieve Commander Chakotay's (Robert Beltran) Maquis raider from the nearby Badlands. Both ships were flung across 70,000 lightyears to the Delta Quadrant, an as-yet-unseen corner of Star Trek's galaxy. After Janeway destroyed the Caretaker's array that brought them both there in order to save the Ocampa, the USS Voyager's combined Starfleet and Maquis crew would have to survive the 75-year journey back home.

Star Trek: Voyager’s Secret Weapon Was The Show’s Unique Mission

Voyager's Homeward Journey Focused On What Worked And Abandoned What Didn't

Star Trek: Voyager's secret weapon was the well-defined (and deceptively simple) mission to get back home. Star Trek: Voyager didn't have to struggle for purpose in its earlier seasons, because storylines that didn't work, like Voyager's early Kazon arc, could be forgotten as the USS Voyager continued its homeward journey. More compelling encounters, like the USS Voyager's inevitable run-ins with the Borg, could be extended into longer arcs. Being the United Federation of Planets' lone representative in the Delta Quadrant redefined classic Star Trek moral quandaries, earning Janeway a place among the best Star Trek captains by fiercely protecting her crew.

A unique mission allowed Star Trek: Voyager to remix proven Star Trek formulas, because Janeway's Starfleet crew and Chakotay's Maquis crew had to navigate an unexplored part of space while figuring out how to work together. Voyager's Delta Quadrant setting took Star Trek back to Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) Enterprise exploring an unknown final frontier in Star Trek: The Original Series. With a half-Maquis crew, Voyager could technically honor Gene Roddenberry's vision of "no interpersonal conflict" among Starfleet officers, while maintaining the friction between characters that elevated Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's storytelling.

Voyager Always Had The Best Premise Of Any Star Trek Show

The Delta Quadrant Expanded Star Trek's Known Galaxy

More than any other Star Trek show, Star Trek: Voyager's premise created a central tenet to build Voyager stories around. Unlike the open-ended voyages of the Starship Enterprise, the USS Voyager's weekly adventures presented new possibilities to cut the trip short or prolong the journey. Star Trek: Voyager's conundrums would typically add to or subtract from the initial 75-year estimate. Star Trek: Voyager's new aliens also helped make the Delta Quadrant an exciting setting. Audiences already knew what to expect from Romulans and Klingons, but Vidiians and Hirogen were unknown to Voyager's viewers and characters alike.

Star Trek: Voyager's premise expanded the Star Trek universe in ways that other Star Trek shows hadn't. The addition of Seven of Nine in season 4 revisited the Borg as iconic Star Trek villains, building on what Star Trek: The Next Generation had only begun to dive into. Star Trek: Voyager's other breakout character, the Doctor, redefined Star Trek holograms as capable of evolving, akin to a new species. The USS Voyager's ultimate goal to get home meant Voyager pushed Star Trek technology even further than DS9's Dominion War had, introducing the quantum slipstream drive and merging Borg technology with Starfleet designs.

Star Trek: Voyager's influence on modern Star Trek can't be understated.

Star Trek: Voyager's influence on modern Star Trek can't be understated. Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine was a major player in Star Trek: Picard, with the potential to headline her own new Star Trek series as Captain of the USS Enterprise-G. Star Trek: Prodigy is a spiritual sequel to Voyager that returns to the Delta Quadrant and advances storylines for Janeway, Chakotay, and Robert Picardo's Doctor—who will also appear in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

 

Why Voyager’s Finale Ended With Janeway’s Ship Getting Home

Star Trek: Voyager Was Always A Salute "To The Journey"

Star Trek: Voyager's finale ended with Captain Janeway's ship finally reaching Earth, answering the question that Voyager's premiere asked with a resounding 'yes.' The USS Voyager's harrowing 75-year journey was reduced to a mere 7 years, following the precedent set by TNG and DS9 for the length of contemporary Star Trek series. As amazing as it would have been to see the aftermath of Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant, the destination was never supposed to be as important as the journey of Janeway's Intrepid-class starship. Voyager's homecoming immediately fulfilled the premise, so the show was over.

"I think it's safe to say that no one on this crew has been more obsessed with getting home than I have, but when I think about everything we've been through together, maybe it's not the destination that matters. Maybe it's the journey. And if that journey takes a little longer so we can do something we all believe in, I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with."

- Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), in Star Trek: Voyager "Endgame"

Impressively, Star Trek: Voyager's premise held up for the show's entire seven-year run. Whether Captain Janeway would actually safely see her crew home—and abide by Federation values while doing so—was never actually guaranteed while Star Trek: Voyager was airing. The option for Voyager's crew to settle in the Delta Quadrant was always a possibility, especially when staring down the seemingly impossible task of crossing Borg space unscathed at the end of Star Trek: Voyager's third season. Unlike other Star Trek shows' open-ended concepts, Star Trek: Voyager's premise could keep asking its central question: would they get home?