Blogging Voyager: Caretaker (1x01/02)

After watching the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager, all I can say is.. WOW! I'm excited to watch this!

I already knew the basic premise, with the crew of the Voyager trying to get home from the Delta Quadrant, but it was nice to finally see the first episode all the way through. A very impressive pilot, with great graphics, some very interesting characters, and even a ship that I'll say is pretty darn cool.

My thoughts on...
THE SHIP
Everyone knows that the ships are a vital part of Star Trek. They're famous for having big guns, great speed, and sleek designs. I'm not crazy about the Voyager's design, but it looks good on the inside. It has a different feel than the other ships (Like the Enterprise D and E, and even the original NCC-1701 and the rest of Kirk's ships) and it has a feel of somewhere between the "D" and the NX-01 (from ENT). It's pretty typical, with a Sick Bay, Transporter Room, bridge, and all that. I like the effect of the warp nacelles rising up every time the ship goes to warp; very sleek. Can't wait to see more!

THE VISUAL EFFECTS
Wow, for a '90's show, I'm impressed! Sure, the ships blew up the way ships always blow up (it seems they've been using the same effect since TWOK) but it doesn't make it any less spectacular. I wish they would have elaborated on passing through the anomaly in the Badlands that sent both ships into the Delta Quadrant, but at least it looked cool.
The sets for the Caretaker array and the Ocampa planet were awesome! I hope I will see more beautiful scenery in the future of this show.

THE PLOT
At first, I was a little skeptical about how good this show could be. Ship gets thrown thousands of light-years from home, crew has to find a way back, yadda yadda yadda... But now I'm a little more hopeful. The addition of the (former?) Maquis crewmembers into the ship, along with all the tensions that come with that, will be interesting for subplots.
For this episode, specifically, the story of the Caretaker kept me guessing and was actually rather heartbreaking at the end. The Ocampa story line seemed a little overused for Star Trek but nice anyways. Wonderful writing at the end with Janeway finally making the tough decision of destroying the array to spare the Ocampa while sacrificing the few over the many. Again, typically Star Trek, but that's why we love it.

THE CREW
Well, more like "the motely crew", but an interesting bunch nonetheless. Let's take a look at who's who on the U.S.S. Voyager...
- Capt. Kathryn Janeway :: Hurrah, a female captain! Call me a feminist, but I loved seeing a tough chick in the captain's chair. She's not as rock-solid "I'M THE CAPTAIN" like the other main captains in Star Trek but she knows what she's doing. She's a great leader who cares deeply for her crew. And 75 years from Earth.. Well, she'll have to give them all the encouragement she can.
- Cmdr. Chakotay :: My first thought was, "Does this guy have a first name?" There wasn't much for Chakotay concerning character development in this pilot, but I'm confident I'll see more later in the series. I want to see how this ex-Maquis does as Janeway's XO, considering his issues with Tom Paris... among other Starfleet.
- Lt. Tuvok :: HURRAH!!! A VULCAN!! I love this Chief of Security already. Seems like he's been in Starfleet quite a while, so I'm interested to find out more about him. Similar to the Archer-T'Pol relationship, he seems to provide an invaluble counsel to Janeway. Let's see more of the Vulcan!
- Lt. Tom Paris :: He's cocky, he's a smart-aleck, he's a jerk.. But he's adorable and a great character. I love seeing crewmembers that maybe aren't the nicest people but are the best at what they're doing and, when push comes to shove, get the job done. Paris is that guy.
- Lt. B'elanna Torres :: She's a Maquis and half-Klingon. Like Chakotay, not much was revealed about her, but I'll be interested to see where they go with Torres as a character.
- Ensign Harry Kim :: He's a young, innocent Ensign who just went through hell on his first mission. Looks like the chief of Ops is going to have to grow up fast! He's got good character, judging by his interactions with the crew (specifically Paris & Janeway), but I wouldn't be surprised by anything with Kim. Anything could happen.
- Neelix :: A little weird, a little creepy, but all-around an adorable character. Every series has had a crewmember to break up the monotony, give us all a little laugh, and Neelix is that character. I just hope he doesn't turn out to be an annoying pest by the end of the season.
- Kes :: I fail to see why she's on the ship, other than her relationship (right?) with Neelix. But I suppose I'll have to wait to see what she contributes!

All in all, I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series. This was off to a very good start. I'm excited to see where they go with the crew of the Voyager... Let's set a course for "Episode 2"!