Star Trek: Voyagerpremiered 30 years ago with a unique premise that’s still among the best ofanyStar Trekshow. The Starship Enterprise’s original mission—in bothStar Trek: The Original SeriesandStar Trek: The Next Generation—was to explore strange new worlds.Star Trek: Deep Space Ninewas entrusted with guarding the Bajoran wormhole, ultimately protecting the Alpha Quadrant from the Gamma Quadrant’s invading Dominion forces. While theTNGcast moved on to movies andDS9set the stage for its Dominion War,Star Trek: Voyagerpromised an interesting twist on the familiarStar Trekformula.
Star Trek: Voyager’s premiere episode, “Caretaker”, opened at the by-then-familiar locale of Deep Space Nine, whereCaptain 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 ofStar 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: Voyagerdidn’t have to struggle for purpose in its earlier seasons, becausestorylines that didn’t work, likeVoyager’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 classicStar Trekmoral quandaries, earning Janeway a place among thebestStar Trekcaptainsby fiercely protecting her crew.
Star Trek: Voyager’s 20 Best Episodes Ranked
Star Trek: Voyager’s 20 best episodes bring out the best in Captain Kathryn Janeway, Seven of Nine, and the USS Voyager in the far-off Delta Quadrant.
A unique mission allowedStar Trek: Voyagerto remix provenStar Trekformulas, becauseJaneway’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 tookStar Trekback to Captain James T. Kirk’s (William Shatner) Enterprise exploring an unknown final frontier inStar Trek: The Original Series. With a half-Maquis crew,Voyagercould technically honor Gene Roddenberry’s vision of"no interpersonal conflict" among Starfleet officers, while maintaining the friction between characters that elevatedStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s storytelling.
The Delta Quadrant Expanded Star Trek’s Known Galaxy
More than any otherStar Trekshow,Star Trek: Voyager’s premise created a central tenet to buildVoyagerstories 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 aliensalso helped make the Delta Quadrant an exciting setting. Audiences already knew what to expect from Romulans and Klingons, but Vidiians and Hirogen were unknown toVoyager’s viewers and characters alike.
Star Trek: Voyager Finally Gets The Movie Fans Always Wanted
Backers of Star Trek: Voyager’s retrospective documentary, To The Journey, got to experience the movie on the big screen with special guests.
Star Trek: Voyager’s premise expanded theStar Trekuniverse in ways that otherStar Trekshows hadn’t. The addition of Seven of Nine in season 4 revisited the Borg asiconicStar Trekvillains, building on whatStar Trek: The Next Generationhad only begun to dive into.Star Trek: Voyager’s other breakout character, the Doctor, redefinedStar Trekholograms as capable of evolving, akin to a new species. The USS Voyager’s ultimate goal to get home meantVoyagerpushedStar Trektechnology even further thanDS9’s Dominion War had, introducing the quantum slipstream drive and merging Borg technology with Starfleet designs.
Star Trek: Voyager’s influence on modernStar Trekcan’t be understated.
Star Trek: Voyager’s influence on modernStar Trekcan’t be understated. Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine was a major player inStar Trek: Picard,with the potential to headline her own newStar Trekseriesas Captain of the USS Enterprise-G.Star Trek: Prodigyis a spiritual sequel toVoyagerthat returns to the Delta Quadrant and advances storylines for Janeway, Chakotay, and Robert Picardo’s Doctor—who will also appear inStar 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 finaleended with Captain Janeway’s ship finally reaching Earth, answering the question thatVoyager’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 byTNGandDS9for the length of contemporaryStar Trekseries. 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 guaranteedwhileStar Trek: Voyagerwas airing. The option forVoyager’s crew to settle in the Delta Quadrantwas always a possibility, especially when staring down the seemingly impossible task of crossing Borg space unscathed at the end ofStar Trek: Voyager’s third season. Unlike otherStar Trekshows' open-ended concepts,Star Trek: Voyager’s premise could keep asking its central question: would they get home?
