When veteran Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore joined Voyager’s writers’ room in Season 6, he was struck by how directionless it felt. The stressed and detached staff seemed interested only in getting the next episode out the door, with little thought to what it meant for long-term storylines and character development. Serialization wasn’t common in late ‘90s and early ‘00s genre television, but Voyager seemed almost aggressively disinterested in challenging itself, and the result was a competent but soulless product that left the entire franchise feeling like it was on autopilot.
Those problems weren’t present when Voyager aired its debut episode, “Caretaker,” 30 years ago today. It’s a strong premiere that briskly sets up a unique premise; unfortunately, the show soon began running away from it.
