Star Trek: 10 Unpopular Opinions About Voyager (According To Reddit)

When it comes to big media franchises, there's always a huge fanbase to follow it. Star Trekis one of the heavy hitters in the world of entertainment, with a long, successful history in both movies and television. The legions of fans, viewers, and naysayers have plenty of material to work with when it comes to criticism, fan theories, and opinions about characters, plot, and where the franchise should go next.

The Star Trek universe is vast, so arguments about the details tend to be organized by movies or specific shows. In the case of Voyager, there was always more controversy surrounding the show, even when it was brand new. The first female captain, the unorthodox setting, and the dark tone have been starting debates since the beginning. Today, fans can turn to Reddit when they want to share their unpopular opinion about Star Trek: Voyager.

10 Voyager is a Cheap Copy of Red Dwarf

American television shows are often accused of stealing their plots and characters from across the pond, especially when it comes to ground-breaking shows that take chances with new or daring material. Red Dwarf was a comedy that ran from 1988 to 1999 on BBC 2, based on the popular books of the same name. This might seem strange at first, but there is an eerily similar pattern between the two showsbeyond science fiction tropes like "Monster of the Week." Both shows were about a crew lost in space with a ship that constantly needed tweaking, and on top of that, a sexy female character is introduced in later seasons. Unpopular, but not entirely inaccurate.

9 "I like Neelix."

The characters of Voyager always elicit a dramatic response. Either they get a lot of love from the fans and viewers or they put them in the airlock. Neelix is one of those characters, and whether you like him or hate him, it's an unpopular opinion. Some of the dislikes for Neelix come from his status as Kes' significant other, since he's much older than she is, but that seems to discount his role in freeing her from an oppressive society and her status as an alien who has a limited life span. Others are annoyed that he seems to be conveniently tacked on at the very beginning because Voyager needs some kind of local guide-type theme character in the plot.

8 Voyager is the Best Star Trek Series

Whoa, stand back for the flame war when someone throws this one out. This is one debate in which all Star Trek fans seem to have an opinion, and it's interesting how often Voyager is brought up as a candidate, despite the controversy and even hostility that gets directed at the series. At least it gets left out of the arguments about the films.

Choosing Voyager as the best series is unpopular for a number of reasons, mainly pertaining to how it broke out of some ruts the franchise had dug for itself. The ship was estranged from the Federation and was partly helmed by rebels. Was this even a Star Trek show? If you thought the five-year mission of the Enterprise was neat, then move over for a deep space mission cranked up to 11.

7 Chakotay Was Interesting

The general consensus regarding the character of Chakotay is that he started out good but then fizzled out, only to be used as a punching bag for future villains. However, there's a healthy segment of the fan base that claims the XO got done dirty, and more than that, he's actually one of the better characters in the show. Chakotay does have a compelling backstory, not only as one of the Maquis leaders but also as an early colonist. He cant be a total loss since Seven-of-Nine saw something in him eventually.

6 "Year of Hell" Should Have Been the Whole Series

If the original Star Trek series was about a future utopia, then the later decades would naturally swing back to realism. Deep Space 9 and Voyager are often the shows credited with taking Trek to a more visceral level with higher stakes and bigger adventures, and plenty of fans think that Voyager, in particular, didn't go far enough. "Year of Hell" was an episode in two parts from season 4, and it tells the story of a badly damaged Voyager and her equally beaten crew dealing with a disgruntled Krenim played by Kurtwood Smith, who likes to play with the timeline and constantly attack them. It's some of the most brutal television out there, and some argue that realistically, the whole series should have been the same.

5 Kes is Better than Seven-Of-Nine

Not everyone thinks that a girl has to be a six-foot-tall blond in a bodysuit with the XO on her arm to be compelling. In another bit of controversy that Voyager stirred up back in the day when it comes to feminist ideals, there's a fierce debate about whether Kes should have left only be replaced by Seven-of-Nine.

A lot of fans always liked Kes, and argue that she got more interesting as she deepened her relationships with other crew members and developed her psionic powers. She left just as she was getting interesting, only to be replaced by a hot chick, who actually turned out to be an amazing character despite the stereotypes. The real unpopular opinion might be that we shouldn't have to choose between them.

4 The Marquis Resistence Was Justified

If the Federation had such a problem with the Marquis, maybe they should have paid more attention to the social and political fallout caused by the peace treaty they signed with the Cardassian Union. Viewers tend to take the side of the Federation and go along with the show's narrative of the Marquis being troublemakers, but in this case, the details reveal that the United Federation of Planets might have been careless here. If the Cardassians are supposed to be such villains, then why did the Federation award them territory where other people were living? Offering to relocate doesn't replace lives and homes, either. Of course, people would refuse to leave and fight those who tried to force them.

3 Season 1 of Voyager Is the Best One

Viewers usually point to later seasons as their favorite, when episodes like "Year of Hell" and "Scorpion" blew audiences' minds with stellar writing, tight plotlines, and high stakes. The unpopular opinion about the best season is that the first one is at the top of the list, but it's really a matter of individual taste. The first season included a lot of exposition and new characters, plus we had the novelty of political intrigue and the first female Star Trek captain, giving the first season the advantage of novelty. Most agree that the show declined in season 2 but came back in season 4.

2 Voyager Made Aliens Worse

Up until this point, with a few notable exceptions, aliens in Star Trek could be benevolent, ugly, wise, or dangerous. It's a big universe out there and the variety of faces you can see depicted on Star Trek was part of the show's charm. At least until Voyager, however.

Viewers that were paying attention noticed that the alien races from Voyager aren't exactly the best the galaxy has to offer. They range from mean tyrants to helpless victims, they're often violent or threatening, and even ugly to the point of being disgusting to look at. It's a weird trend unique to the series that nobody wants to mention except a few brave folks on Reddit.

1 Janeway Is The Best Captain

If the argument about the best series started flame wars, then back up and watch the neutron megaton blasts that the first female caption generated. It's an unpopular opinion depending on who you ask since there are plenty of dedicated Trekkers who are totally on board with Team Janeway. There are arguments that Voyager is the true heir to the dynasty that TOS started, partly because Janeway has the swagger that Kirk had but Picard seemed to lack. The most obvious argument is that Janeway was faced with a bigger challenge than any of her predecessors and succeeded in getting her crew home despite the odds.

Source: screenrant.com