Janeway = Awesomeway
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Captain Kathryn Janeway, of the USS Voyager, NCC-74656. You may be familiar with the name, though most people probably won’t know who you’re talking about. For far too long she’s been overshadowed by the juggernauts of Star Trek canon.
In many ways Voyager was the most overlooked of the series. There isn’t a geek alive who doesn’t know who Seven of Nine is. But time and again all I ever hear is how much people loved The Next Generation, or the original, Kirk and Picard zealots who will hear none of this “Janeway” or “Sisko” business. Don’t even get me started on how underrated Captain Benjamin Sisko was.
I submit to you that Janeway was one of the best Starfleet captains. Single-handedly she took a crew that was part United Federation of Planets (Federation) outlaws and a green Starfleet crew and intertwined them into an efficient survival-machine. Whisked away to the Delta quadrant in a place where no one had even heard of the Federation, and with no support she forged alliances, fought through hostile territories, and layed the groundwork for future Federation expeditions. She single-handedly made more first contacts than Captain Kirk. She was armed with an Intrepid-class starship, a very fast deep-space research vessel: a far cry from the Federation flagships that Kirk and Picard were issued, or even the Bajoran space-station Sisko commanded. Don’t worry, I won’t bring up Archer and the NX-01.
She survived the emotional ramifications of being 70+ years away from her husband at high warp. She formed an alliance with the Borg and bartered her way through their space, and battled an enemy, Species 5472, that even the Borg were afraid of. She handled time travel and ambassadorial functions with ease. She traded with local populations to get dilithium crystals and replacement parts and somehow managed to incorporate Borg technology in the form of adaptive shielding into her ship. Through all of this she remained strong and committed to the prime directive, the Federation’s most important rule: non-interference in cultures that have not achieved warp technology. In fact, she could have easily gotten her ship home from the Delta quadrant within a day had she been willing to sacrifice an entire alien species. Time and again she was faced with the moral dilemma of “us or them” and every time she chose the high road and stayed true to her morals. Even after encountering another Federation vessel that was fueling their ship at fast speeds at the expense of an alien race’s life force, she destroyed them, rather than allow them to get home in that manner- and refrained from using the technology for herself.
She incorporated aliens into her crew. She didn’t even have a chief medical officer; she had a hologram, which Starfleet decommissioned because they were deemed to be ineffective. His programming was improved to such that he was able to improve himself, much in the same way Lt. Cmdr. Data did in The Next Generation.
Janeway was also all about sustainability: she had a hydroponics bay to supplement their replicator energy supply and a ship’s galley where food was made the old fashioned way.
Like any good leader, she couldn’t start her day without a cup of black coffee in the morning. None of that lame-o tea that Picard drank.
In some ways, she was the spiritual successor to Kirk. She wasn’t afraid to run ‘n gun. She had no fear of death. And time and again she proved that “Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn.” She always asked questions first, and just like Kirk, if you started trouble, she was there to finish to it. She had a habit of blowing things up and fighting her way through tough situations. She would’ve gotten along well with Lt. Cmdr. Worf. In that way she was the antithesis of the thoughtful Picard, and in some senses she was every captain rolled into one. She had the daring-do of Kirk, the humanitarianism of Picard, and the dark side and sense of humor of Sisko, coupled with an extreme sense of duty and self-determination that bordered on cockiness.
This is why I feel Janeway is the best Starfleet captain, and why she made Vice-Admiral after making it back from the Delta Quadrant. Also, there’s just something about a woman who’s in charge and who knows what she wants…she has that fire in her eyes that I just can’t resist.
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