Reboot Voyager: A Hypothetical.

[Meushell]

really really commit to the idea of a 70+ year journey home. no teasing with fake wormholes and 'will voyager make it home?' plots. no 'we shaved 2 years off our journey' endings.

In terms of what would change plotwise? For starters I'd have a lot more ships pulled through by the Caretaker array. Voyager ends up teaming up with a bunch of other survivors - Cardassian, Maquis, a small Federation science vessel (maybe the Equinox, maybe somethign else), some traders (maybe Ferengi if we feel brave), and maybe even a Dominion ship or two. Molly Hagan has said she kicked herself later for turning down coming back as Eris for "The Search" because she went to another audition, and I really liked her in "The Jem'Hadar" so I would vote for her, or for Kilana from "The Ship" as that was done in one of the Myriad Universe novellas. Or original characters - I really like the Vorta and would have been happy to see more of them.

I like both of these ideas, especially together. Episodes could focus on different ships, so as the show goes, we really see through the perspective of everyone.

Neelix could be from another ship that was taken, but only from, say 20 years away. He tags along because his home, while closer, also happens to be in the same general direction. After the 20 years though, he finally gets home, but...no one is waiting for him. Everyone he knew died years ago. He's thinking that Voyager is his real home. What does he do?

This has an effect on others. He was gone "only" 20 years. What will they find after 70? When they come across that next planet that welcomes all who want to stay, many seriously consider it, and some do stay.

Kes could be a good great to show the passage of time. About each season is the next generation. Maybe the last few seasons, they last longer, since they are mostly not Ocampa by this point. Kes, herself, dies of old age by the end of season 1 or the start of season 2. She leaves behind a husband (Neelix? Someone else?) who, while he gets to watch his next generations born, he also outlives them. His child. His grandchildren. He ends up leaving the ship because he just can't take it anymore.

Harry. Green from the beginning. Moved higher in rank as the show goes on, eventually becoming captain. (He seemed to be heading in that direction, except the show kept resetting him.) He ended up married. I sort of like the future idea where he ended up with Kes' kid. Maybe with a grandkid instead though. Agreeing with FakeGeekGirl's thought, Kim is gay, so with a grandson or even great grandson...because it took him that long to move on. He spent all that time pining for Leo, hoping. Maybe it was out of guilt because he was on Voyager because he put his career first. Leo was willing to wait, but that was because it was only supposed to be a post for a few years. It's not big focus on the character, but just quietly in the background as he focuses on his career. Then we see him learn to balance career and family. Finally, he retires as captain. (I think people would have to after a time to keep sane. That, and he would be in his 90's by the end.) He is still important as a crew member, but he finally has the time to focus on his family. When they finally get home, we finally meet Leo. Of course, Leo moved on as well, and they introduce their families.

As for everyone else, I think you all about covered it.

The other ships...

A Dominion ship would be interesting. Instead of kids, they'd clone the next generation. The Jem'Hadar start wanting their memories transferred too. Loyalty to the Founders fade over time. With limited resources, the Vorta can't just kill off the non-loyal ones and make new ones. The Vorta themselves begin to question everything. Is it even worth going home? The Founders would probably just wipe away the new experiences and start fresh. In the end, after decades of working with the other ships, they settle down on their own planet.

The Ferengi ship. Lots of conflict at first with everyone else. Others look down at them as the tagalong, and they aren't entirely honest all the time. However, they prove to be very useful in negotiations, getting supplies, etc. Their own ship gets destroyed early on because it was simply not made for battle. They end up on Voyager until they buy a new ship.

[FakeGeekGirl]

I love the idea about the Dominion crew deciding to stay behind. I think the journey would make them realize they really didn't have much to go home too. I think that would only happen with the multi decade journey home - it would take years for the Founder's programming to break down.

[Arkle]

This has been on my mind for awhile, but it always bugs me when people talk about the Maquis as if they were made up of people who always hated the Federation and Starfleet. It's not like that at all, or at least not entirely. Specifically, it was the treaty with the Cardassians (that, IMHO, Chuck is right when he suggested in the Best of Both Worlds Part 2 video, wouldn't have been signed as was if Starfleet wasn't still reeling from Wolf 359). Sure, some were civilians, maybe even civilians who didn't care for the Federation that much, but then you had others who were Starfleet through and through, they just felt that the Federation had failed to live up to its ideals; not so much " I quit the Federation" as "The Federation quit me."

So, if I were doing this reboot, I would not make it so clear cut as Starfleet vs. Maquis tensions. That's too neat. The split in the Voyager they'd have to overcome would be one of the Spirit of the Federation's laws versus the Letter, with Janeway representing the Letter (following the Prime Directive beyond reason, the way Picard did in episodes like Pen Pals), and Chakotay representing the Spirit (think Kirk in "For The World Is Hollow..."). Sort of like what they tried and failed to do with the Equinox two-parter where the conflict wasn't an organizational one but a conflcit of personalities.

Assuming the Ocampa were more fleshed out and worth wanting to defend, the fracture comes when Janeway wants to just use the Caretaker tech to get home, and Maquis people who had no love for Starfleet to start with and thus no affinity for the PD like Torres, Dalby (one of the one-off Maquis from Learning Curve), Suder, etc. siding with Janeway. Chakotay, on the other hand, argues for the position that, considering the help the Ocampa provided in helping them get their kidnapped people back, it would be immoral to abandon them to the mercies of the Kazon should the Kazon figure out to work the Caretaker's technology, and young idealists like Harry Kim and true believers in Federation principles like Carey and (maybe) Vorik would side with him. And of course, you'd have an X Factor in someone like Tom Paris who's issues are more with his father's ideas of what a Starfleet officer should be rather than with Starfleet itself, but also have some degree of loyalty to Janeway for getting him out of prison. And of course the EMH would want nothing to do with any of this nunfuckery.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'd think the EMH would feel compassion toward the Occampa and want to help them, unless programmed to adhere to the Prime Directive. Though maybe be conflicted because of the risk to the health of the crew...

[Admiral X]

I actually did a write-up on this topic years ago. There are a few changes to that I'd make, in part from ideas Chuck has suggested. For instance, I love the idea of Janeway starting out as the inexperienced first officer and being thrust into command due to the death of the original captain. Kim would essentially be the same way, as it never made sense to me for an ensign fresh out of the academy to have always been the senior-most operations officer. Instead, he'd simply be the senior-most surviving operations officer, and thus probably promoted at least a rank or two soon after their stranding accordingly. But at least to start with, both he and what was left of the operations staff would have issues with the fact that he's essentially still that fresh out of the academy ensign, even if fate has given him an extra pip on his collar.

Chakotay I have mixed ideas for. Part of me would love to straight-up make him Lakota, if nothing else because that culture is most familiar to me after the German/Scandinavian culture that makes up most of the state I call home. But that might just make him a Gary Stu. Going off of his facial tattoo, the other idea would be for him to be Maori. I'm kind of torn there, because while there are plenty of Natives in media (however accurate their portrayal), usually these are set in the traditional "western" setting, with a few examples of "contemporary" setting here and there. So the idea of seeing a Lakota in the 24th century Star Trek setting has an appeal to me, especially since the only chance we got to see Natives in Star Trek were either as background characters in stereotypical dress, or as members of that Space Reservation we saw in that episode of TNG that was far closer to Pueblo people, and seemed to be made up of Luddites living in the traditional "western" setting again. Which kind of bothers me. Plus I dig the idea of the first officer having occasion to count coup, and it could actually be a way he motivates those under his command. On the other hand, the Maori culture seems interesting, and I'd learn more about them in researching them for the character. And the character would be fairly unique to Star Trek in that I don't think there ever was one, even standing in the background anywhere. The only commonality is that he'd go through some development in that he would basically not take his cultural background all that seriously to begin with, and would probably use it as a source of humor from time to time based on old stereotypes. He would not be the stereotypical "proud warrior" as is typically portrayed, though he would still have that background in security and tactics as well as having been an instructor at the academy. He'd be a bit like Colonel O'Neill from SG-1, so while he isn't proud warrior guy, he'd still be a competent fighter, and perhaps even joke about the fact he's not much of a diplomat. He'd also have something of a power struggle with Janeway, though not out of malice, but rather out of a sense of duty to his own people as well as the stranded Starfleet crew. He'd feel that she was simply too inexperienced and thus a danger to ship and crew, but he'd stop short of mutiny, because that sense of duty is there to get in the way of that. As time went on, though, he'd get a bit closer to his culture, and thus serve as something of a conduit for the audience to learn about his culture as he did so.

Seska is another, somewhat related question. Should she simply be a Bajoran? That idea has its appeal, honestly. I would have her and Chakotay straight-up be a couple, though.

Neelix I'd rather see as someone along the lines of Captain Reynolds from Firefly, though I'd give him the additional trauma of losing his ship and crew with the law finally catching up to them. And by that I mean the ship would have been impounded and while some of his crew might have been killed, most would have been arrested. So the upshot is that he'd be much more competent when it comes to survival skills, a good idea of the lay of the land (so to speak), at least for a ways, which would mean all the good places to stop by for supplies, and methods of avoiding attention. And for added bonus points, he'd actually be a good cook. Oh, and he'd be married to Kes.

Kes and the Ocampa would be another good question, in part because it would help to define exactly what strands them in the Delta Quadrant. This is a bit of a struggle for me, as I really like the idea of the Ocampa being these mysterious people that no one much knows about other than rumors. And she'd also help to act as a guide, especially after they pass the extent of her husband's knowledge. So basically, they'd be Voyager's Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau. I would not have her be such a mayfly, though. Perhaps more along the lines of how long Salarians from Mass Effect were said to live, if nothing else because it seems like every other species in the galaxy seems to live longer than humans, so it's be interesting to have that role reversed in at least one instance.

This leads to the question of the Caretaker and what form that would take. I suppose it could be much the same, but with a different species than the Ocampa. Or perhaps Ocampa, but an odd offshoot of them that has the short lifespan, perhaps as an experiment with the dark implications that Chuck hinted at.

[DanteC]

OK, this could be messy.
First of all the crew. Keeping it as it is, with a few changes, and having the writers remember that both Starfleet and Marquis have different ideas of, well, everything...

First of all, the main cast.
Janeway, maybe have her as the first officer on a brand new ship model, and is forced to take command when the ship is dragged through. Have her suffer from her decisions and her inexperience.
Chakotay, dull, but let's change that. Have him an expert on different cultures, not just his own, and why not have him as someone who never went to Starfleet? He doesn't know their way of doing things. Him and Janeway butt heads over best way to do some things more.
The Doctor. Keep as he is, but let's make more use of his nature. He's essentially an AI. Have him clone himself, create artificial crew members, soldiers etc when needed. Maybe one episode deals with the crew deciding they need an upgrade to their ships memory as a result of him learning new skills.
Torres. Not bad, but give her plot. Maybe bring up more with her dual nature and the problems she has with both sides. Put her with Carey, as dual engineers (he covers night shift). Carey's better with Starfleet tech and is more familiar with what it can do, Torres can hodge-podge solutions together.
Harry. Show his development. Make him take other responsibilities, maybe tactical to support Tuvok? Show us the inexperienced ensign who doesn't know what he wants to do.
Paris. Ace pilot. Make him the true rebel with a cause.
Tuvok. Again, keep him similar. He's meant to have tried that emotional banishment ritual but decided against it. Why? Why is he in the position he is? Maybe those violent emotions are too close to the surface and he's struggling with embracing them?
Kes. Don't ditch her character. Change her physiology, make her the inexperienced psychic. Show her as the first member of her race to leave her planet, but she knows she's far from her true homeworld. Legends tell that her race has evolved to energy beings? (Yes, I like B5).
Neelix. Oh Neelix. Let's make you the survivor you always claimed to be. Oh, and actually competent without being annoying. Voyager accidently destroyed your ship when they arrived, and you're demanding restitution. He's got contacts, he knows the area, and understands how capitalism works.
Seven. Keep her similar without overwhelming the other characters. Her implants are removed gradually (unlike Picard she had the nanotech upgrade and they're far harder to remove). Let her interact with other Borg survivors. More on them later.
And have other crewmen all over the place. Let's have someone other than Paris flying the ship on occasion (if I was attacked, I'd rather rely on the guy currently flying the ship than call another who might be better, but is at least three minutes away, and is still sleeping).

Seska. She stays around. Yes, she's revealed to be a surgically-altered Cardassian, but she stays with the crew, and buts heads with them on occasion.
Ensign Wildman. Let's actually give her some proof-of-life.
The Marquis who Tuvok breaks in that episode that escapes me, and the ones from Good Shepherd, keep them around.
And on the note of the Marquis, they never joined Starfleet, they don't have the elite skills the rest of the crew have. Maybe have a few scenes with characters giving lessons in the holodeck somewhere. Both crews harmonise, to the point that Janeway herself will sometimes take an approach which is not strictly the Starfleet way. Hell, maybe have the crew wear clothes other than uniforms to work.

As for the universe itself...
Borg. Yes, lets address them first. Yes, they're a threat, but why aren't they everywhere in the delta quadrant? Maybe they've just taken over a specific section and just send out the occasional cube for research/assimilation, but for a race that prides itself on perfection, they've not embraced the idea of utterly conquering worlds and spreading out. Maybe the other races have anti-Borg technology. Maybe there's something nastier out there (Kes's people perhaps?) Let's have more rescued Borg drones.

Vidians. Haven't they ever heard of cloning? They're ultimate geneticists, and can enhance you, for a price.

Kazon. They've overthrown their masters and refuse to be under the thumb of anyone ever again.

No technobabble.

As to the ship, it's a hodgepodge of repairs as and when the crew can do so. Replicators and other tech are fried near the start, so they are forced to rely on hydroponics and fresh food supplies from traders.

So for the opening episode, again lets keep it similar. The Badlands not only contains a plasma storm, but an unstable, one-way wormhole, which dumps ships in the Delta quadrant. The Caretaker is dying and has been maintaining his station in defense of the planet below, a world that used to be a paradise but is since dead due to a plague affecting all sentient life on it. Essentially it's a cemetery world and the caretaker is the groundsman. Just before dying, he offers Janeway some local maps of the area, plus wormhole knowledge that might get them home(no, she won't turn into Crichton), as long as she takes Kes with her (she's been on the station with no memory of her parents and essentially cared for by, well, the caretaker) and Janeway travels to a specific world to investigate why he's not had a response to his broadcasts. This world turns out to be where Suspiria is living.

Both Voyager and Marquis crew team up. Janeway promises both crews that she'll do what it takes to get back home, but she won't jeopardise their safety in doing so. Also, they will be doing Starfleet's mission of exploration, but that's partially due to Neelix's suggestion, that star maps are valuable commodities, and passing on knowledge of certain phenomena will help improve their bargaining position.

[DanteC]

Oh, and random episode idea. One planet puts Janeway on trial as she uses the transporter on someone without consent. The people of this world have warp tech and replicators, but refuse to use it on pre-existing organic matter, as they believe that it destroys the soul.

[Durandal_1707]

this is an idea i came up with as a kid, after the season 2 premier

really really commit to the idea of a 70+ year journey home. no teasing with fake wormholes and 'will voyager make it home?' plots. no 'we shaved 2 years off our journey' endings.

instead, make them take the whole damn 70 years, and have the show jump forward by a decade or so with each new season. the original crew would age, eventually retire, some would die. kids would be born, grow up, eventually take over. the ship itself would change as well, growing worn and battered, having to be modified to suit the conditions and tasks it was never designed for.

each season would be largely self-contained, with its major story arches closed by its finale. aside from the crew and the ship, there would be very little that caries over between seasons; each premier would be a new and fresh start. each season would have a unique and distinct sense of identity to make it stand out from the others, maybe some sort of a theme.


i think it could have been something really different and interesting from what had been done before. i cant think of any tv show i've seen that's ever had that sort of a sense of long-term scope and scale.

Oh, I can think of one.

(that's one way to get around the makeup problem, as well )

[Meushell]

Oh, and random episode idea. One planet puts Janeway on trial as she uses the transporter on someone without consent. The people of this world have warp tech and replicators, but refuse to use it on pre-existing organic matter, as they believe that it destroys the soul.

I like that. Starfleet just using the transporter on people is creepy.

[FakeGeekGirl]

I like that. Starfleet just using the transporter on people is creepy.

I have no idea why but one time I was watching an episoe and realized how scary easy it would be to kidnap someone with transporter technology.

Actually that's essentially what they do in several episodes, isn't it?