Janeway didn’t get hate as much as it was criticism of the writers for making her inconsistent. One week it was “Prime directive no matter the consequences”, the next was “Lets do whatever to make drama.”
For all of Roddenberry’s faults, his presence for the early years of TNG kept TNG consistent instead of allowing the writer of the week to change characters for their personal story. By the time he was gone, the formula was set such that writers wouldn’t mess with characters.
Voyager has no singular authority so consistency of character was rare.
Edit: Except for Ensign Kim. He was born an Ensign and died one. Nobody messed with perfection.
I’ve actually come to think of Janeway as someone consistently written to be an inconsistent Captain, rather than 100% inconsistently written. Others are nowhere near as inconsistent as Janeway.
Once I started thinking of her inconsistency as being the result of trying to walk a tightrope of sticking to Starfleet ideals, as well as maintaining order in a demoralised crew in unfamiliar territory where they don’t have the support and full might of the Federation and its allies behind them, Janeway’s inconsistent and contradictory behaviour starts making a lot more sense and feels a lot more organic.
@TheGrandNagus Kinda makes sense that way. Flung into trouble because of her adherence to the Prime Directive, then had to do whatever it took to get the crew home… I’d waffle about, too.
You might be right, the inconsistency was well around. But it still was a good show. I always perceived her as a more “indecisive” captain. Or one being able to change her opinions. Whatever. It’s what it is. The best female captain we had so far 😊
Janeway didn’t get hate as much as it was criticism of the writers for making her inconsistent. One week it was “Prime directive no matter the consequences”, the next was “Lets do whatever to make drama.”
For all of Roddenberry’s faults, his presence for the early years of TNG kept TNG consistent instead of allowing the writer of the week to change characters for their personal story. By the time he was gone, the formula was set such that writers wouldn’t mess with characters.
Voyager has no singular authority so consistency of character was rare.
Edit: Except for Ensign Kim. He was born an Ensign and died one. Nobody messed with perfection.
Several times.
I’ve actually come to think of Janeway as someone consistently written to be an inconsistent Captain, rather than 100% inconsistently written. Others are nowhere near as inconsistent as Janeway.
Once I started thinking of her inconsistency as being the result of trying to walk a tightrope of sticking to Starfleet ideals, as well as maintaining order in a demoralised crew in unfamiliar territory where they don’t have the support and full might of the Federation and its allies behind them, Janeway’s inconsistent and contradictory behaviour starts making a lot more sense and feels a lot more organic.
@TheGrandNagus Kinda makes sense that way. Flung into trouble because of her adherence to the Prime Directive, then had to do whatever it took to get the crew home… I’d waffle about, too.
You might be right, the inconsistency was well around. But it still was a good show. I always perceived her as a more “indecisive” captain. Or one being able to change her opinions. Whatever. It’s what it is. The best female captain we had so far 😊