Some thoughts on: Kathryn Janeway. Me and the fair captain go way back, all the way back to those murky days I can barely remember when I had just turned eleven and was waiting to start high school. I'm not sure exactly when I first noticed her but I do remember the actual incident, vaguely. I had been a watcher of the various Treks on and off for a while but I had never really paid much attention to Voyager. And then one day I decided to give it a go. By the end of the episode (I have no idea which one it was btw) I knew three things; I wasn't going to be a casual Star Trek viewer anymore; women were awesome; and I'd just encountered the best person I'd ever seen in my life. It will come as a surprise to exactly nobody that Kathryn Janeway is the only female Star Trek captain ever to have had a lead role in one of the series. This is obviously a factor in why I latched onto her as a character quite so hard. I imagine I was unconsciously looking for female role models and hey, there she was, in space, in charge and being generally amazing. But since then I've come to love a lot of female characters on television, so what makes her so special? Janeway cops a lot of abuse among Star Trek fans. A lot of love too, I might add. But it's not unusual for a discussion about 'who is the best captain?' or something similar to devolve into a slanging match about the inconsistency of her character or decisions she made that some viewers find questionable. Well, I'm not here to debate that or to take into account whether the writers wrote her well or not. This entry has no other ambition than to be a declaration of love and affection for a character that I adore. It's difficult to know where to start in these things so perhaps here will be as good as any other place: Janeway:Shannon O'Donnell inspired me when I was a girl. She had a... an influence on my imagination, on my goals... I wouldn't have become a Starfleet captain if it wasn't for her. I think it's a good thing and a very realistic thing that she had a female role model growing up. We know her father was important to her, being an Admiral and all, so that obviously had an impact on her going into the service, but I like that she outright states here that if it wasn't for Shannon she wouldn't have become a Starfleet officer. I'm not entirely sure that's true; Janeway is extremely dedicated to Starfleet and very capable. But it is nice that she acknowledges a female influence in her life, as we rarely hear much about her mother and sister. Janeway: I have faith in each and every one of you. Let's do it! Ultimately Captain Janeway got her crew home. There were a lot of different factors that contributed to why that happened but I think the most important one was belief. Belief in the ship to withstand the vagaries of the Delta Quadrant, belief that there would be a shortcut beyond the next asteroid belt, belief in her own ability to maintain a command structure despite having no support from a higher authority, belief in Starfleet's principles, belief in her crew, belief in her friends among that crew, belief that people can change and grow and learn and become more, belief that she could help others to become all that they could be. Simple belief. I really admire that she retained this almost unfailing belief throughout the entire journey. A lot of people would have given up, or been crushed under the weight of responsibility, or by the loneliness she must have felt for great stretches of time. But she never gave up. She may have stepped away from the role of captain for a while in Night but she never thought for a minute that the rest of the crew would be unable to go on without her; she believed in them. And the first speedbump that hit the ship she was straight back out there, doing everything that could be done to protect her crew and ship. Her family. And really this is an important point about Kathryn Janeway; she may have been on her own, in fact she said so a number of times, but the way she treated the people who became her senior staff and the personal interest she took in the more troubled members of her crew helped to forge ties that created a family unlike that portrayed on any of the other Starfleet ships we have seen in any detail. Chakotay: All you've seen are bits and pieces. You're not getting the whole picture. Janeway: Really? Just what am I missing? Chakotay: It's not "what," it's "who." People like Seven of Nine, a Borg Drone who'll become a member of this crew after you help her recover her humanity. Or Tom Paris, a former convict who'll be our pilot, chief medic, and a husband to B'Elanna Torres. Janeway: That angry woman I just met? Chakotay: She's going to be your Chief Engineer. Two crews, Maquis and Starfleet, are going to become one. And they'll make as big a mark on the Delta Quadrant as it'll make on them... by protecting people like the Ocampans... curing diseases... encouraging peace. Children like Naomi and Icheb are going to grow up on this ship and call it home. And we'll all be following a Captain who sets a course for Earth and never stops believing that we'll get there. Tom Paris, B'Elanna Torres, Kes, Harry Kim, Neelix, The Doctor, Seven of Nine. Each of these characters had problems to overcome, some more serious than others, and Janeway helped them all: Harry was just a green ensign with no proper experience onboard an active ship and yet Janeway was an important role model for him, she looked out for him, nurtured him, gave him ample time to gain command experience on the night shift. She cared about him. Janeway: The truth is, Harry, I think about you differently than the rest of the crew. Which isn't to suggest that I don't care deeply about each of them. You came to me fresh out of the Academy, wide-eyed with excitement about your first deep space assignment. From that first day, I've always felt more protective of you than the others. Harry: I appreciate that, but that was five years ago. I've changed. Janeway: Yes, you have. Harry: Maybe I'm not the perfect officer anymore. Janeway: Maybe not, but you're a better man. Kes was like a child in a lot of ways but she grew into a woman under Janeway's careful watch, in Elogium Kes flat out states that the Captain is the closest thing she has to a parental figure on the crew. And Janeway always encouraged Kes to contribute, to make her voice heard. When Kes is injured in Sacred ground Janeway goes through an incredibly rigorous ceremony to help bring her back, culminating in her taking an actual leap of faith. The goodbye scene between these two women is one of the most touching and genuinely emotional that Star Trek ever produced. Janeway: On the basis of a feeling, an intuition, you're asking me to let you go. Quite likely for ever. Kes, I just can't do that. Kes: It's my decision. My fate. Would you really try to stop me? Janeway: No, but argue with you, even plead with you to reconsider, absolutely, for as long as it takes. Kes: It won't work. Look at me, Captain. I'm the same Kes you've always known. I haven't lost my judgment. I'm not under some alien influence. I believe something crucial is happening to me and I want to see it through. Janeway: You've lived most of your life here. Voyager has been your home and you've been a vital part of this family... Oh... I'm going to miss you. Neelix was a man who drifted through life, shattered by the losses he had suffered during the war on his homeworld, but becoming an integral part of the Voyager crew helped him create a new family; to be part of something, belong to people, be needed and relied upon. For a long time he thinks he is only allowed to stick around because he can give Voyager navigational information but Janeway lets him know that he has it all the wrong way round. Again and again the Captain lets him know how important he is to the crew and finally when he wants to leave she makes him an Ambassador because she knows that the goals and aspirations of his adopted family on Voyager mean a lot to him and leaving to join the Talaxian colony in Homestead shouldn't feel like he is walking out on everything he helped work for alongside his Federation friends. This way he gets the best of both worlds. Janeway: You can't just walk away from your responsibilities because you made a mistake. You're part of a family now, and you have obligations. Neelix: But... I can't guide you. I can't advise you; I don't know what's coming. Janeway: Well, that's not the point - is it? None of us knows what's coming. That's what Starfleet is all about. We are all in this together, Neelix; and we have to be able to count on each other, no matter how hard it gets. Tom Paris was her 'personal reclamation project', Chakotay's words not mine. When we first meet Tom he's busy wasting his life away in a New Zealand penal colony. This is a man with little to no self respect who just about manages to remember he's a good pilot, he says as much to Janeway in the opening episode, but that's about it. She gives him a chance though, to make a difference and help Starfleet out, he goes along with it, ostensibly to get out of prison sooner, but it always seemed like he helped because he wanted something to do more than anything. A lot of things affected Tom's growth as a character; his friendship with Harry, his relationship with B'Elanna, his own deep-seated ideals, the disappointment his father felt in him; but I would argue the biggest influence on Tom was Captain Janeway. By allowing him to become Voyager's conn officer and placing faith in him to do his job well she helped him rediscover his own self-respect. The fundamental thing about Tom is that he already possessed all the good qualities we see in him in later episodes prior to the start of the series but Janeway reminded him that they were there, that he could become something more than he was allowing himself to be. Tom: When I was a boy, my father used to tell me that I was special. That one day I'd do something significant. My teachers at school, all the kids, everyone used to say, "Tom Paris is gonna do something important when he grows up". Obviously that didn't happen. Janeway: This isn't about personal redemption. We're talking about medical risk. Your life could be in danger, and we need you. Tom: Captain, this is the first time in ten years I feel I *have* a life to risk. and Janeway: I understand your passion, but passion alone doesn't give you the right to take matters into your own hands. Four years ago, I released you from prison and gave you a fresh start. Until now, you've been a fine officer. Your service on this ship has been exemplary. I really believed you were past this kind of conduct. Tom: I've never been very good at playing by the rules. That doesn't mean that serving under your command hasn't changed me, for the better. At least this time, I broke the rules for a reason. For something I believed in. The Doctor was a (highly advanced) collection of photons and forcefields when he was first activated and struggled to be taken seriously as a person by the crew for a period of time. I would argue that Kes was the most important crewmember on Voyager to the Doctor's growth as an individual because she advocated for him at a time when nobody else would have bothered to entertain the notion. Captain Janeway was certainly one of the people on the crew who was disinclined to look at him as anything other than a tool in the beginning but she gradually learned to put faith in him to to the point that she was willing to sit with him for 16 hours straight as he worked through the psychological issues he suffered from after allowing a member of the crew to die, grant his request to research the Emergency Command Hologram and even argue for his rights as a sentient being in Author, Author. Janeway: When I met him seven years ago, I would never have believed that an EMH could become a valued member of my crew, and my friend. The Doctor is a person as real as any flesh and blood I have ever known. If you believe the testimony you've heard here, it's only fair to conclude that he has the same rights as any of us." and Janeway: If there's one thing I've learned about you, Doctor, it's that you can do just about anything you set your mind to. B'Elanna Torres was a woman at war with herself when she first found herself onboard Voyager; unable to reconcile the Klingon and human parts of her heritage; angry and disillusioned with her parents and Starfleet. Like Tom there were a number of reasons that she finally managed to find herself on a path toward healing the deep rifts within herself but Captain Janeway was certainly a big part of it. By puttng her absolute trust in B'Elanna and granting her the Chief Engineer position so early on she showed her that she believed she could become a good officer; B'Elanna already knew she was a brilliant engineer but the fact that she dropped out of Starfleet Academy seemed to have left her with a doubt in her ability to play well with others, to work within the rules, to get along with authority figures. Janeway's own engineering abilities helped the two women to bond, on a certain level Janeway understood what made B'Elanna tick and she responded to that. As early as Prime Factors we see B'elanna resist Seska's appeal to go against orders, despite B'Elanna very much believing that the Captain was making the wrong decision. B'Elanna's character growth is more gradual than other characters on the show, and more subtly done, but it becomes obvious that serving under Janeway's command has helped B'Elanna learn to control the elements of her personality that continually stand in the way of her being happy and successful. In Barge of the Dead it is made clear that B'Elanna wants to come to terms with the issues she has with her mother and the hug she greets Janeway with upon waking up from her experience in the spirit world suggests she values her Captain not just as a commanding officer and friend but as a mentor and mother figure too. B'Elanna: I know that we haven't always seen eye to eye. But despite our differences, you helped me become a good officer, and I'd like to think that you're proud of me for it. Janeway: I am. B'Elanna: My mother never had the chance to be proud of me. I'd like her to know me the way you do. The whole Janeway and Seven relationship is too big of a deal for me to go into here; maybe I'll do another post on it one day. The above examples say a lot about what kind of woman Kathryn Janeway is; but more than this she is willing to put everything on the line to protect her crew and achieve her goals and she demonstrates this conviction again and again. Perhaps the most potent depiction of this is in Year of Hell; her single-minded belief that they will find a way to immunise Voyager from the time weapon and her refusal to abandon the ship are remarkable. When she is forced to send most of the crew away she lets them go with a note of optimism, refusing to be cowed by the dire straits they are all in. Janeway: When we find each other again - and we will; we will find each other again - I expect all of you to be in one piece, with some interesting stories to tell. Good luck. She refuses a birthday gift of a pocket watch from Chakotay stating that it's a luxury the crew can not afford: Janeway: That watch represents a meal, a hypospray, or a pair of boots. It could mean the difference between life and death one day. When the Doctor tries to get her to rest after she is badly injured she informs him that nothing will stop her from doing her duty: Janeway: You'd better grab a phaser; because before I give up command, you'll have to shoot me. Finally after sending what's left of her crew to relative safety, she sits alone at the conn and kamikazes the hell out of a race that have been making life miserable for Voyager for over a year. She doesn't know for sure what will happen as a result of this action but she does it anyway because she knows the Krenim have to be stopped and she believes that things will be better with the timeship destroyed. But she stays onboard because a captain always goes down with her ship. Janeway: This ship has been our home. It's kept us together. It's been part of our family. As illogical as this might sound, I feel as close to Voyager as I do to any other member of my crew. It's carried us, Tuvok - even nurtured us. And right now, it needs one of us. Kathryn Janeway was a woman who sometimes struggled to balance her ingrained Starfleet principles with the necessary decisions to ensure survival in the Delta Quadrant. She wasn't perfect. She did make mistakes. And I like that she was all too human on occasion. Like anybody else she had conflicting philosophies, occasionally she was ready to 'punch her way through' other times she took a more diplomatic approach. I never saw this as inconsistency of character but rather different threads in the tapestry that made up her personality and life. Janeway: Principles, principles - that's what it comes down to. Do I compromise my almighty principles? But how do I not compromise them, if it involves a chance to get the crew more than halfway home? How do I tell them... my principles are so important, I would deny them that opportunity? But despite skirting close to the edge on occasion she knew where to draw the line most of the time, unlike Captain Ransom and the crew of the Equinox, whom she pursued with almost reckless abandon in her quest to prevent them from doing further harm and to bring them to justice. Janeway: Now let me be just as blunt: you're right, I am angry. I'm damned angry. He's a Starfleet captain, and he's decided to abandon everything this uniform stands for. He's out there right now, torturing and murdering innocent life forms just to get home a little quicker. I'm not gonna stand for it. I'm going to hunt him down, no matter how long it takes, no matter what the cost. She also struggled with the problem that all Starfleet captains have; how close do you get to your crew? Her situation was different than most of the captains who had come before her and I think she dealt with the problem in an all too real way. She was close to her command staff but seemed to keep more of a professional distance from the lower decks. I think she often felt isolated and this resulted in her pulling away from her friends sometimes. I also think in the later years she took solace in Seven of Nine; whom I see as a passion project for Janeway. I genuinely believe she came to care for Seven on a more personal level than she did with the others on her crew. (I should point out here that I'm not a J/7 shipper but I like that their relationship can be interpreted in so many ways because it speaks volumes about how important they were to each other.) When it came to romantic relationships Janeway stated pretty early on that 'pairing off' wasn't a luxury afforded to captains and she stuck to this mantra for the most part; I should add that I always saw the dalliance she had with the hologram from the Fair Haven program as an interesting result of this self-imposed singleness. I know a lot of people really hate the episode but I think it does cast an intriguing light on Janeway's psyche and as a consequence adds to the complexity of her character. The Doctor: I apologise for overstepping my bounds but I'm worried about you. Michael Sullivan is a hologram. His broken heart can be mended with the flick of a switch. Your feelings however, are a little more complicated. In conclusion, Kathryn Janeway was many things to her crew and many things to me as a viewer; she was often right, occasionally wrong, sometimes she got mad, sometimes she was as lovely as a person can be, other times her willingness to sacrifice herself for the good of the crew prevented her from seeing the bigger picture. She laughed a lot, wasn't afraid to cry if she was sad, was warm and nurturing to those who needed it, could be cold as hell to those who deserved it. She never gave up, she never stopped caring, she fought for what she believed was right. Once she said: Janeway: There are three things to remember about being a starship captain: keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship... and never abandon a member of your crew. If that is a measurement of what makes a good captain, she stuck to these 'rules' pretty rigidly. Personally, I think she was an excellent captain who Starfleet were lucky to have on the payroll. In fact, I think the universe in general was pretty damn lucky to have her. She was a great lead character who really made Voyager fly as a show and despite being the fourth captain to head up a Star Trek series she certainly left her mark on the franchise.Not only that but I know that she was an inspiration to many people who watched Voyager, especially to the female viewers. I have already mentioned a little of what she means to me but everyone has their own 'why I love Janeway' story. And I like that. I like that she was so important at the time it was originally airing and I like that she remains so important for Star Trek fans now. There's a lot more I could write but an endless cycle of praise would become very boring so I'll just leave you with this amusing yet accurate quote from Bride of Chaotica: Tom: I was about to say 'Captain Proton to the rescue'. But I see you have everything under control. Janeway: I'm the queen, remember? Yes. She was and she is and she always will be. ♥