I’ve never made it much of a secret that I am just not a fan of Star Trek: Voyager.

I tried to watch it first run and made it through about four and a half seasons.  With each episode, I’d feel like it was missing something or that it was just slightly off.  I’ve always felt that the individual performances turned in by the cast were wonderful, but I was never a fan of the writing and I never got the sense that the ensemble was as familial as the Next Generation of Deep Space Nine casts.

I gave up when I felt the series became “The Doctor and Seven of Nine Show,” because felt like every other episode featured one of those two characters. I’ve tried to re-watch the entire series on DVD twice and I’ve given up in roughly the same place.

I’ve been listening to a lot of the Mission Log Podcast during my commute to and from work and it’s allowed me to see Star Trek with a far more critical eye. It’s also provided me some inspiration where my least favorite Trek series is concerned.  Perhaps I’ve been a little tough on Voyager and her crew over the years. If I can appreciate the new Trek films by J.J. Abrams, clearly I can find some love in my heart for this show.

Voyager has 172 episodes, and I’m going to go back and watch all of them–starting with the pilot, “Caretaker” and then I’ll blog about it.  I’ll cover what I liked about each episode as well as what I didn’t and how I think it works in the Star Trek Universe. Along the way, perhaps I’ll discover a new appreciation for what is one of Trek’s most popular incarnations.

(If you are unable to see the embedded video of “Caretaker” above, you can watch the episode on Hulu or StarTrek.com.)