Formspring Question #88--Future Voyages Edition

Are you going to review Voyager?

As soon as I am finished ripping out clumps of my hair in frustration over repeated answering this question. The answer is maybe, but not anytime soon.

Here is the deal about the television reviews. Back in May 2009, I was rapidly burning out writing about politics. I do not have a journalist’s mindset to write intelligently about the events of the day whether they hold my interest or not. I am a political scientist, albeit an amateur with only a BA in the subject. I should have stuck with it instead of law, but that was my error in youthful judgment. So I often have a tough time getting into the general news of the day. Besides, the Eye is small potatoes. By the time you get here, you have already read conservative viewpoints on issues a dozen times. Why would you care to read it again from me? So I figured to broaden my writing topics.

I am not only a political science geek, but a science fiction geek, too. It made sense to give myself a chance to indulge both. The plan to review an episode of Star Trek: the Original Series was threefold. One, I wanted to see if I could commit to such a propject without biting off more than I could chew. Eighty episodes meant nearly three months of daily work, but not too overwhelming a task. Two, I wanted to branch out to more science fiction, maybe even to the point I might never have to resort to current events for content. Finally, I assumed TOS would offer many chances to write about Bib Issues. It did, all things considered.

I moved on to Star Trek: the Next Generation because I preferred the series, was confident I could manage the 170+ episodes, and assumed the issues dealt with in the series would be even more relevant. Then I reviewed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine because it is my favorite trek series. Considering its themes of being forced into a war that sacrifices your ideals, I assumed there would be some interesting things to say about it in the post-9/11 era. All that was well and good, but I got a reputation for being the Star Trek Guy rather than the political science junkie who analyzes science fiction.

Fortunately, I was in a nostalgic rage at this point. It was fun to run through old DVD sets and review television series I liked in my younger days. To demonstrate I had shifted gears, I reviewed The Wild Wild West, a silly childhood favorite that has absolutely nothing profound to say about anything. I have since moved on to The X-Files. If you have not noticed, I am far more fond of that show than any other I have written about. From being an enthusiastic X-Phile--I would rather be known as that than a Trekkie--I have enjoyed the emphasis on film/literary criticism than political.

The bottom line is that I have to work my nerve up to go back to Trek. I would have to do shore myself up even if Star Trek: Voyager was good, which it most certainly is not. It is 174 episodes of poorly written, knee jerk progressivism with a cat suited Jeri Ryan thrown in towards in the end to distract the audience from the fact everything else about the series is awful. On top of everything else then, you should expect numerous poison pen reviews. My enthusiasm is underwhelming.

There are other series I am considering reviewing after The X-Files instead. I have not decided whether to do a couple short series to broaden the scope of reviews, or dive into another long series I can sink my teeth into. I may throw it out to you in a poll. I have never done one of those before. The X-Files will run through June, so there is plenty of time to make up my mind. But do not hold your breath waiting for VOY.