Growing up, I was a huge Star Trek fan. Not so much the old series, cuz frankly I’m not that old, but the Next Generation was wondrous to me. The world, the technology, the excitement. I’d daresay that Star Trek may have been responsible for my interest in computers and my career as a software engineer.
I watched TNG with glee, and was an avid Deep Space Nine fan. DS9 is by far the most underrated entry in the Star Trek universe. It had some of the deepest characters and most epic stories in the franchise. When Voyager hit the scene, so did girls and high school, cars and studies. I couldn’t keep up anymore, and Voyager fell by the wayside. I tried to watch it here and there but the first season was disappointing and I finally let Star Trek slip away from my life.
Recently, I’ve come to a point in my life when I can afford to reminisce about the good ol’ days. Luckily I also have the funds as well. I purchased all 7 seasons of Voyager on DVD (through Ebay; Best Buy prices are stupid). Since then I’ve been working my way through the series. I’m halfway through season 4 now and I’m impressed.
What started as a mediocre entry into the Star Trek cosmos grew into a wonderful world with all new aliens and problems; characters with depth and humor. I didn’t feel that Janeway could ever live up to Kirk, Picard or Sisko but over the seasons she came into her own and took the show in all the right directions.
To anyone who is an avid reader of my wife’s blog, you’ll know that we have plans for a week long excursion to Vegas where we will be attending a 40th anniversary Star Trek convention. A little crazy, but the kind of crazy that sounded like it could be a good time.
I’m glad that I’ve gotten to watch at least most of Voyager before attending. Having not indulged in the Voyager universe I was missing a huge chunk of Star Trek lore that made me incomplete as a Trekker. Now I won’t feel like a nubtard when the freak next to me asks me what I thought of the EMH Mark II or the USS Prometheus.