Endgame: a love letter and review
by Liz Barr
June 2001
Voyager has finished, and with it, my seven year obsession. I've bought videos, read novels, created websites and written so much fanfic that Word automatically capitalises words like "janeway" and "harry".
Seven years ago, I read the novelisation of "Caretaker", not knowing anything about the series except the blurb, that the captain was a woman with strange hair, and that it had "Star Trek" in the title. I got to the end, and, even knowing the premise of the series, I was surprised that they were still stranded in the delta quadrant at the end.
Six months later, I got the video of "Caretaker", and discovered that the captain not only had strange hair, but an odd voice and a funny walk. The first officer's name was pronounced completely differently from the way I'd expected, and the young alien woman was surprisingly charismatic.
I stuck around. I kept watching, enjoying "Time and Again", adoring the Q episodes and becoming strangely fascinated by the Janeway/Chakotay interaction. I started writing fanfic. I tried to write a spec script (all evidence of which has since been destroyed I took care of that). I created a website, and discovered the heady thrill of feedback. Wrote more fanfic, watched "Counterpoint" twice in one evening and started planning a fanfic opus which, two years later, *still* isn't finished. Joined more mailing lists than probably healthy, made friends who I value, and discovered that naked Neelix cartoons *always* get a reaction. I defended it from detractors, and still maintain that it's better than "Big Brother".
It's better than "Big Brother".
It's not as good as "Buffy" or as well written as "The West Wing". It's not as intense as "Deep Space Nine" or as mainstream as "The Next Generation". It's not as fun as "Farscape" or as carefully planned as "Babylon 5".
It's better than "Big Brother", than "Roswell", *much* better than "Dark Angel". It's more intelligent than "SeaQuest", more honest than "Dawson's Creek". Well, usually.
It's my favourite show, and now it's finished.
The ending didn't please everyone. Let's face it, if you were hanging out for a J/C white wedding, or a J/7 coming out party, you were pretty much guaranteed disappointment. Tom and B'Elanna's childbirth scenes were cliché, Chakotay and Seven's courtship was rushed. The age makeup was slightly dodgy, and Doc married a slightly vacant blonde.
But Janeway grows up to be a crazy admiral, arrogant, stubborn and deeply flawed. Harry becomes a captain. Tom becomes a balding holo-novelist, B'Elanna becomes a dignified, stylish diplomat. Naomi Wildman apparently gives birth to an slightly irritating child. Tuvok goes crazy. Seven and Chakotay die.
Seven and Chakotay die, and Janeway apparently can't live without them. Whether she was in love with Seven, or so emotionally interdependent with Chakotay that she was scarred by his loss, we're not told, although there's a certain amount of evidence either way. Well, okay, there's a lot of evidence for J/7 but I spent a long time obsessing over J/C, and I'm not gonna ditch that now.
Does Janeway become an arrogant megalomaniac, more concerned by her own desires than the fate of the universe? Yup. Do I like her anyway?
Hell yeah.
Her actions in changing the timeline were wrong. We all know that screwing around with the past is a big no-no, and I appreciate the lack of preachy speeches to that effect. Because, having sent the admiral back in time, the writers couldn't exactly resolve the scenario by giving her a good talking to and sending her back to her quadrant. "Gosh, yes, now I realise that I was wrong. Gee, I'm sorry. Well, back to the alpha quadrant I go "
My mind isn't exactly capable of dealing with all the temporal paradoxes presented, but I'm fairly sure that Admiral Janeway has metaphorically killed her grandfather by changing her past. Yet it succeeds. Maybe Q was looking out for her, or maybe the department of temporal investigations (and the twenty-ninth century time cops) are open to bribery. Temporal logic aside, it was a damn entertaining two hours of television.
I liked "Endgame". I like that Janeway is powerful and respected, and that age is only another challenge for her to conquer. I liked the scenes of the crew in the future, and the graveside visit. I liked the earrings. God help me, I even had a goofy smile on my face during the C/7 scenes.
Ah yes, C/7, the ultimate Crime Against Trekkies.
I could have lived without it. It was rushed, it was sudden, it was slightly forced. It was a slap in the face to J/Cers, J/7ers, EMH/7ers, J/EMHers and C/EMHers (hey, there has to be one ). And the most compelling scene was the one where Seven tries to "alter the parameters." (Ha! Take *that,* J/Cers, said Biller, dancing around the room. Nah, no one will remember that far back, said Braga.) This is interesting and slightly worrying, since Chakotay's physical presence could be seen as intimidating. On the other hand, it's the first sign in ages that Beltran isn't just sleepwalking, and the hand-holding and forehead touching at the end is nice.
The age makeup was generally good. Not perfect Tom seemed particularly odd but not bad. Janeway, of course, looked wonderful. I thought it was interesting that, while the guys generally ended up grey/bald and paunchy, Janeway and B'Elanna were still slim and well put together. Seven, of course, is dead they'd rather kill her than have her in age makeup. Admiral Janeway's appearance is, I think, more artificial here than at any other time in the series both she and B'Elanna wear more jewelry and accessories than we usually see, and Janeway's hair is carefully styled. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it's interesting to see Janeway as a powerful, matriarchal maniac.
As for that other major female, wow. The
Borg haven't been particularly well-used in Voyager, but the filming of
the Borg Queen sequences and Alice Krige's performance are almost compensation
for "Unimatrix 0". The Krige Queen is sexy, dangerous and highly
watchable, and I for one am glad she was able to return. And I was
amused that we didn't get the usual assembly scene, but did get to see
her fall apart at the seams.
So, Voyager is finished. I'm packing up my bags, redecorating the website and preparing to watch "Buffy" and "West Wing", and trying to decide how much of a chance I should give "Enterprise". I'd expected the fanfic to slow down with Voyager's end, but (writer's block aside) it seems to be coming at the usual pace. The future, at least until the novel relaunch, is in my hands. Well, mine and the rest of the internet community. And the future's looking romantic, slashy, fannish and interesting.
All in all, it's looking rather good.