I have finished watching Star Trek Next Generation and Deep Space 9 following a friend’s recommendation. I enjoyed both shows and started watching the other one, Star Trek Voyager.
So far, I’m not finding it as enjoyable as the other two. I want to try to see it through the eyes of someone who enjoys the show, maybe it will also help me understand why it feels different somehow.
Some of the criticisms definitely make sense. Parts of the premise are barely utilized. Some characters barely change at all. The finale makes a complete joke of one of the major threats in the setting. Janeway somehow manages to challenge Sisko for being the most liberal about Starfleet principles while simultaneously being a hardass when others do it. Neelix has screen time. (No offense to Ethan Phillips who did a wonderful job portraying him; the character just happens to be intensely annoying.)
I’m not going to list “the first episodes/seasons suck in comparison” as a downside; that’s a fairly common Trek ailment. People need time to nail those shows down.
On the plus side, it does make for a good space cozy and it takes the Trek ethos way more seriously than some newer shows. Some of the ideas it comes up with are genuinely cool. It has some of the better holodeck episodes. The Doctor is a better vehicle for exploring the rights of artificial sentiences than Data (The Measure of a Man notwithstanding). Seven of Nine was added as a mobile pair of tits and somehow ended up massively upgrading the show in terms of character development.
I’d say that out of the TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT quartet it’s definitely the second weakest but it’s not a bad show overall.