Having more Janeway thoughts (what’s new?) and thinking more about her judgement and agency when it comes to romance, and the doubts she might have.
Spoilers for the Mosaic novel, if you haven't read it (and if you haven't you really should)
We know that Janeway is very cautious romantically, almost pathologically so. A lot of that can be attributed to losing Justin and how she fell apart after that. She understandably doesn’t want to end up back there. It’s later compounded by losing Mark. She’s been in love twice and lost that love twice through no fault on anyone’s part. But... I think there’s even more to it.
Her first boyfriend in Mosaic (Cheb) was utterly toxic, and she was so besotted with him she couldn’t see that. Yes, she was young, but for all her intellect, many other girls the same age would have seen him for the gaslighting, narcissistic bully he was. The next we see of her love life is her literally running out on Will Riker. Yes, she had to work on her thesis proposal, but it’s also obviously a convenient excuse to get out of a situation with a man who reminds her physically of Cheb. This is towards the end of her time at the Academy, so after that her romantic life is Justin, then Mark... then she’s in the Delta Quadrant.
And the first time we see her really flirt with anyone in the Delta Quadrant, it’s Gath. Yes, she is playing the diplomatic game with him, but she’s obviously also attracted to him, and while it’s obvious to the audience that he’s a slimeball, it takes her a scene or two longer to fully realise that. Even though by the time he refuses to help Voyager she's figured him out, she still acts somewhat wounded by his actions.
After this, we see her noticing Chakotay’s feelings for her and getting confirmation that he’s fallen in love with her in Resolutions, which is also where we see that the feeling is mutual, and where leaving New Earth becomes such a sore point for her. She tries to keep barriers around herself, to 'define parameters', but she cannot hide how she feels, no matter how hard she tries.
Then, a couple of years later, Mark (formerly her safe place) breaks her heart from afar with the Dear John letter. Again, she was expecting it, but it still hurt, and it makes her even more romantically defensive.
After that comes Kashyk, and while it was all a ruse, she is once again clearly very attracted to a man for whom becoming a sleazeball would be an improvement. He’s a piece of fascist shit but she’s clearly into him, more for his charm and charisma than anything else. She knows she should hate him, but she clearly loves the game they play, until she wins, and he leaves, and she suddenly feels even more alone – and extremely disappointed in herself.
The next time we see her flirting is with Michael Sullivan, who is supposed to be a harmless piece of fun... but he’s a married piece of fun... delete the wife! And she’s so controlling with him: altering him to suit her needs (and making him more like Chakotay), getting in way too deep with what should just be some fun, and feeling she’s embarrassing herself in front of the crew even though none of them are judging her. (Because almost everyone on that ship has probably had some “fun” with a hologram - Chakotay basically admits to it - so why is the Captain making such a big deal out of it?!)
After that there’s nothing. She still flirts with Chakotay on the very odd occasion still, but after Michael she seems to shut down romantically...
Until Jaffen.
And in Workforce, the episode instructs us to view Jaffen as a nice guy, even though his actions tell a different story. Jaffen is forceful (Janeway is clearly a little uncomfortable with his early advances, but that doesn’t stop him), possessive (he’s clearly not happy when he sees her talking to ‘Amal’), and controlling (either he forced Janeway to call the authorities on Chakotay, or he did it himself with her knowledge). After they sleep together, it clearly means a lot to Janeway - you can see how happy she is - but Jaffen honestly looks like he couldn’t care less. She’s invested in them as a couple, but I get the distinct impression that he just wants to possess and control her. He’s absolutely in charge in that relationship, and it’s a harsh echo of the young Janeway who fell for Cheb and got walked all over before she realised her inner strength.
But it also speaks to a pattern in Janeway. She hasn’t always had the best taste in men, and she can’t easily weed out the “good guys” from the actual good guys. And who knows what happened between Cheb and Justin, how many other men abused her trust and questionable judgement during those formative years. Even Justin himself wasn’t Mr. Perfect - he was hostile and argumentative and a bit of a social misfit, who initially only stresses her out until she gets to understand why he is how he is.
I don’t think she trusts herself romantically. She doesn’t trust her tastes or her judgement, and she’s been let down by people she’s let in, even a little. As soon as the knowledge of the harsh romantic lessons of her past are taken from her in Workforce, she’s back to repeating those same old mistakes with Jaffen. It’s really no wonder that when Chakotay - who, in my opinion, is Mr. Perfect for her - appears on the scene, she doesn’t trust herself enough to formally start a relationship, even when it would have been the best thing for her. She holds him back, even while letting him in. And Chakotay isn’t the problem - she is, and she knows it.
There’s also the issue of how she lets men interact with her. It’s obvious from adolescence that Mark is besotted with her. He finds every excuse to be in her vicinity even when she’s a complete brat to him. She’s clearly aware of his attraction even if she doesn’t acknowledge it, but she never attempts to ‘define parameters’ with him and tell him she's not interested. Mark isn’t pushy, but he is very persistent.
Then there’s Cheb, who seems to have been the one to decide they’re dating. She’s initially just taken aback by the attention because at this stage in her life she has a very poor opinion of herself. So it’s not really a case of “Oh, I like this guy, and he likes me back”; it reads more like “the popular guy noticed me,” and only after that does she become infatuated.
Then there’s Justin, who crucially does not pursue her. In fact, he seems to put up barriers to keep her at arm’s length until he rescues her from the Cardassians and, in the aftermath, can no longer hide his feelings. It’s only after that that they get together.
Then he’s gone, and maybe a year later she re-encounters Mark, who has grown up somewhat but is clearly still very interested in her. And she knows in her heart he’s a good man, and she kind of settles for him because of the safety he offers... and then she starts to love him.
Then there’s Chakotay, who, a little like Justin, doesn’t pursue her, but for different reasons. Justin didn’t want to let her in, while Chakotay is open and honest and wants her to be the one to decide. He doesn’t put that pressure on her, and she doesn’t quite know what to make of it. I think if Chakotay had pushed at all after New Earth, she’d have let him take the lead, but because he loves her too much to add to her stress, they remain stuck somewhere between friendship and romance, to the point that domesticity becomes their norm.
Gath pursues her. Kashyk pursues her (kind of). Jaffen pursues her. In each relationship she’s almost passive, except for Justin - but even then, he sets the pace. He’s the one who holds back initially, hides his feelings and gives her reason to get pissed off with him. The men in her life are almost always in control.
Except for Chakotay. It’s only Chakotay who offers her unconditional love without setting the tone. Even on New Earth he’s only ever open and honest. There’s no agenda, no manipulation. It’s simply, “I love you, and I can’t control my feelings, but I can at least control my actions.”
The ball is in her court, and that’s completely new for her. Her love life is the one area of her life where she struggles to have agency.
And she freezes. She freezes for five whole years after New Earth, only ever showing any sort of initiative beyond a little bit of flirting once - in Timeless. The rest of the time she flounders because she can’t trust her romantic judgement, and Chakotay doesn’t follow the script set by the other men in her life.
If only he’d been a bit of a douche, or unwilling to easily take no for an answer, they’d have been together by season 3!
