Do you know any fan who was truly satisfied
with how Star Trek:
Voyager ultimately turned out? Many share my point of view that
much of the seventh season was tossed at its fans by a creative
staff that didn't want to be bothered any more; continuity was
disregarded countless times and longtime character arcs were
either interrupted, dramatically altered, or went unresolved. The
finale itself left viewers with more questions than answers. It
was as though they forgot that the true point of the series was
not just getting the crew back to Federation space, but finding
out what would actually become of them. You had the Maquis, two
former Borg, the remaining Equinox crewmen, a reformed Tom Paris
married to a member of the Maquis, with a fully sentient hologram
for a godfather to his child. What would become of any of them
once they arrived? That's what we really wanted to find out;
arriving was only a means to an end, not the end.
After careful consideration, I believe I've come up with a fair
solution. This alternative serves to appease all sides without
any great compromise to continnity; while at the same time leaves
sufficient time to answer the question we've all been asking
ourselves since that final fadeout: "What happens to everybody?"
However, before I can present this series "bugfix," it might be a
good idea to point out where things went a bit awry during the
final year and a half of Star Trek: Voyager...
The deviation from continuity actually began in the middle of
season six. No doubt fans of the Doctor noticed. He'd already
reached such a level of sentience and acceptance with the crew
that even Janeway took heed as he imparted romantic advice in
Fair Haven. His fully evolved sensibilities were
reaffirmed in Blink of an Eye, in which the Doctor managed
to forge a relationship with a woman and help raise her son
during an extended - and unexpected - away mission. For the
latter episode, he carried on this domestic existence undetected.
That's some accomplishment for an artificial intelligence.
Then, things changed. The Doctor appeared to suffer an
evolutionary setback in Virtuoso. Suddenly, arrogance and
short-sightedness, which appeared to serve as defense mechanisms
in the earlier seasons, returned as unabashed egotism. It was in
this episode where he sought to justify his desire to leave the
medical field over a few quick words of praise (and allow the
ship to carry on without a skilled physician) with this excuse:
"If Harry Kim met an alien woman on an away mission, fell in love
and decided to spend the rest of his life with her, raise a
family instead of continuing on this journey, you wouldn't stand
in his way"
It's just so hard to believe that no one stood up during a story
conference and said: "But Harry Kim fell in love with an alien
just last year, and the captain did intervene." It was
just so sloppy. In a Starlog interview (January 2001),
Robert Picardo mentioned his personal opinion of the episode and
how unlikely it was for the character to pursue this. Despite
this, Picardo put his all into the role and turned out one of his
finest performances as Doc (the prologue for Virtuoso
being among my favorite scenes). The man is an absolute trouper.
Another poor excuse written for the Doctor turned up one year
later in Flesh and Blood. In a scene where he represented
renegade holograms who had been reprogrammed by the Hirogen, he
objected to Janeway's recommendation to alter the holograms so
that they no longer exhibited violent tendencies. Why would any
physician object to the equivalent of treating a behavioral
disorder?
Perhaps one of the worst aberrations occurred by series end.
Despite having learned for the umpteenth time that the crew were
his true family and he was no longer judged by what he was made
of, the writers suddenly added a new word to the Doctor's
vocabulary: Organics. It wasn't enough that his egotism screamed
that he thought himself better than everybody else. Now, he was
using a word long established on the series as a slur and making
statements which were all-encompassing generalizations about
thousands upon thousands of carbon-based species (I guess these
late writers didn't watch Bride of Chaotica! and the
subspace photonic ignoramuses therein, either). A backward
sensibility and lack of respect for diversity from a superior
intelligence, ingrained with Starfleet sensibilities? As the very
least, it was blasphemous to hardcore fans. Even among the
general Voyager fanbase, there were cringes and squirms as
expressed on message boards throughout cyberspace at the time.
Virtuoso also had the curious distinction of containing
the only scenes in which Seven of Nine revealed that she may have
possessed stronger feelings for the Doctor than anyone could have
anticipated. Unfortunately, from then on, their rapport grew
erratic. Sometimes, they got along (incidental shot of them
sitting together in a movie theatre at the end of
Repression and observing Fantome together in Void).
However, at a time when the crew became more accepting of the
Doctor, Seven of Nine was found to be distancing herself from
him, even to the point of attributing an emotional experience as
a technological enhancement and deactivating him to escape
sickbay in Imperfection. She even flippantly offered to
disable his vocal processor in Body and Soul. Suddenly
someone who had always regarded the Doctor as a colleague and
advocated his right to be treated like anyone else was perceiving
him as the lowest common denominator. I was actually very
surprised to see her testify on his behalf in Author,
Author. One might theorize that these changes in Seven's
perception of the Doctor were the result of her step towards
humanity with Axum in Unimatrix Zero. More likely, it was
the writers' lack of attention to the characters' history and
their camaraderie rather than the evolution of Seven of Nine's
social preferences.
That she took an interest in Chakotay was ludicrous. Their
relationship was barely cordial at the best of times, and it had
already been established two years earlier in Someone to Watch
Over Me that there were no suitors on the ship to Seven of
Nine's liking. The pairing in Human Error - even as a
holodeck fantasy - not only disrupted character continuity, it
also served to alienate the majority of fans, who not only waited
for the Doctor-Seven relationship to culminate after two years,
but for Chakotay and Janeway to do so after about six. It was an
entirely artificial arrangement. Being that the nature of Star
Trek is unique in that it owes much of its direct success to its
fan base, this was a very poor decision. True motivation is
speculative, and best left for another time.
I share the disappointment of many faithful fans over a moment
which was so long in coming and so callously presented. It was
observed that "the moment was made light in an inane comic scene
that ruined any dramatic potential the confession might have
had." Whomever scripted the deathbed confession sequence in
Renaissance Man neither knew the Doctor nor made any
attempt to research the studio archives. If they ever saw
Lifesigns, there certainly was no evidence of it.
Endgame itself held its own enigma: the Seven and Chakotay
relationship actually seeing fruition. Seven was far out of
established character, behaving at times like some blushing
schoolgirl. As already mentioned, the finale as a whole barely
resolved the series' longstanding storylines. It left us hanging,
without any indication of anything to follow to do the characters
or fans justice.
It's my guess that somewhere during the sixth season, a decision
was made not to bring Seven and the Doctor together romantically
In a way, I can understand. Unrequited love has always been
romanticized as the truest form. If a potential mate were to be
found, it would have had to have been someone off the crew
manifest. I believe this was Axum's original purpose, and not
just as a catalyst to awaken Seven's humanity. Here was a
pre-existing love interest for Seven, aimed to restore what
afready existed, presumably a love that was meant to be.
Why do I believe there were long range plans for Axum? Axum vowed
he'd look for her. One doesn't write a character saying that with
no intention of following through. It's just not done in
professional storytelling. Second, Seven's reason for pursuing
social trysts on the holodeck in Human Error was to
recapture what she had with Axum in Unimatrix Zero. Why
wasn't a hologram of Axum utilized? One of Chakotay made no
sense.
Based on proper character continuity and what I call The Axum
Factor, I believe I've come up with a more suitable means to
get the crew back home and a resolution to the Doctor-Seven arc.
I'm not going to presume what plans Paramount has - if any - for
the characters following their return, so I'm not going to
venture beyond where the series itself left them.
First of all, get rid of Virtuoso. Falling for fandom
would have worked in season two or three maybe, but the Doctor
had more sense than this; developing a friendlier disposition
should not be synonymous with increased gullibility (that goes
double for Flesh and Blood). Also, keep us wondering about
Seven.
Repression held such promise, until they allowed Tuvok in
the brig with his combadge and the zonked Maquis held a 5-minute
coup. Make this a two-parter, and generate the uprising more
believably; have Chakotay visit Tuvok and receive the
post-hypnotic suggestion in person.
Either remove Body and Soul or Human Error. Seven's
past emotional moments (such as in Drone or Infinite
Regress) would have disproved the cortical node issue in the
latter; the Doctor would have blown the thing apart during his
cavorting about in the former. Also, Body and Soul should
have been a key moment in which Seven would have been aware of
the Doctor's feelings for her. I'd say that if you keep that
episode, she knows. It's whether she reveals her hand or not
that's debatable. However, if we keep Body and Soul, then
they win the argument that the Doctor is a person in Author,
Author on the grounds that his residing in Seven of Nine
proves that he is a conscious entity However, it is apparent that
Paramount didn't want Seven to know that the Doctor loved her,
nor did they want mention of a trial in Voyager's database
regarding Data's sentience from Star Trek: The Next
Generation. The precedent set in The Measure of a Man
along with that account from Body and Soul would have won
the Doctor's case too easily So let's toss out Body and
Soul, make Axum the holocharacter in Human Error, and
eliminate the cortical node as a plot complication. Something
more convincing would have to deter Seven of Nine from her social
pursuits, perhaps holodiction. In this version of Human
Error, the Doctor would teach her how to pace her
recreational pursuits, concealing his dismay over her passing him
up as always.
Next, the confession sequence in Renaissance Man. Why not
direct the final confession to B'Elanna for the punchline? We can
delve into season five for something we can connect with. Perhaps
he's discreetly spammed the crew a photo of her with her foot
stuck in a plasma injector (one of Paris' ideas in Nothing
Human. Tom would have been implicated and caught the brunt of
her wrath). With B'Elanna's hands at the controls during that
sequence, it certainly becomes a life or death matter in more
ways than one.
At last, we come to Endgame itself. Here's the way I would
have handled part I. There would be no derivative of Timeless
here; it would all occur in Voyager's present:
The episode opens with what appears to be a holodeck session with
Seven of Nine in her more human appearance. But Axum morphs into
the Borg version we saw of him in Unimatrix Zero. Seven
abruptly awakens in her alcove, regeneration incomplete. Cut to
the existing sequence of Tom and B'Elanna waking up for her false
labor. Leave out Tuvok's illness; it was only fuel to motivate
Admiral Janeway We still have the anomaly and the passing Borg,
but a couple of the cubes peel off and give chase. At a station
on the bridge, Seven impulsively suggests they fly behind a
planetoid, at which time she will generate a singularity They
duck into Fluidic Space undetected due to the nebula interfering
with Borg sensors. The ship comes face to face with a Borg
sphere. Janeway's first impulse is offense/defense, but Seven
assures her it is all right. They are hailed by Borg Axum, who is
in command of the sphere. Was the dream a subconscious message
with coordinates for the rendezvous?
Axum and Seven reunite again as promised, and it is decided that
she will leave Voyager to join him. The Doctor confronts Axum
alone over that decision. He realizes that Seven's loved Axum all
along, before she came to Voyager. Also, he finds Axum a fine
choice and worth losing her to. There is a touching moment where
Seven says goodbye to Doc; perhaps with a show of affection (as
in the end of Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy) for someone who
guided her in the ways of humanity.
The plan is similar to the existing Endgame: call on
fellow renegade vessels to engage and distract the Borg, while
the sphere accompanies Voyager through the transwarp conduit back
to the Alpha Quadrant. Instead of the Batmobile armor to protect
Voyager during the battle and ride, the sphere will either
contain them, or extend its multiphasic shielding to protect both
ships. Both vessels will arrive at the other end, the conduit
being destroyed from within and no longer accessible by the Borg.
The same meet and greet with Admiral Paris. (Don't know why
Barclay was by his side. Are they close personal friends now? Did
Reg end up with Pete's job at Pathfinder after Pete doubted him
twice over two critical issues? Or was this another careless
element thrown in?)
This leaves part II for character wrap-ups. Where does the Doctor
end up? Does he head a medical team to de-Borg the crew of the
sphere? Do the sphere and Axum serve to help the Federation
better understand Borg technology and prepare them for future
encounters? Are the former Maquis implicated, and does Janeway
help Chakotay and his group escape in another mellow farewell? Or
is working on a starship counted as time served and the
vigilantes assigned community service? And what of the Doctor,
whose life begins anew as an honorary member of Admiral Paris'
family? How far does he go in advocating Holographic Rights? We
really should have known all this by the end of those two hours,
particularly if announcements as to a reunion miniseries or
future film were not immediately forthcoming.
There you have my resolution to end the series. No doubt, most
Voyager fans have their own personal versions of Endgame
they wished had happened. Writing groups have even gotten
together - for better or worse - to rewrite the final year
episode by episode, some venturing beyond the established and
making up their own next chapter. The rest of us are left with
speculation until the alleged post-"Endgame" novels come out in
2003. Traditionally, Trek novels have never been taken in as part
of series continuity. But maybe these will, and therefore help to
turn a new page in the lives of these characters, and show us
what will happen next.
