Sad to say Voyager rarely addressed these issues, and when it did it was so superficially done that in the end it was nothing more than a minor inconveience.

I love Voyager but I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in a TV show's unrealized potential. OK, maybe Heroes, but otherwise...

I remember when I first sat down to watch Voyager (streaming through Netflix, so I may have a different take on serialization vs. standalone episodes compared to someone who watched as it aired). I knew nothing about it beforehand. So I watched the first episode and--oh! It's The Odyssey! Cool!

I loved the premise so much, especially the added tension that was sure to come from forcing the Federation and Maquis to work together. And they left so many opportunities to develop that on the table, and in some cases eroded the premise itself.

Going back to the Odyssey again for comparison. When that poem opens, Odysseus has been hanging out with Calypso for seven years. It's only when he finds out that his son and wife need him at home that he really gets motivated to leave (with substantial assistance from the gods to persuade Calypso to let him go, granted). So you've got this strong dramatic pull via Odysseus's family giving him the drive and determination to get home.

In Voyager, on the other hand, Janeway gets a message from her fiance letting her know he's moved on. That serves the plot in the tiniest way by freeing her to fall in love with the holographic Irish bartender, but it completely eliminates one of her key motives for getting home. The writers should not have been severing people's ties to home; they should have been reinforcing them.

I was so excited at the episode where the Maquis crew were preparing to mutiny. I think I was screaming "it's about time!" at the TV. And then they revealed that it was fiction within the show. It was insulting.

It's a credit to (most of) the cast, I think, that I love watching this show despite its many issues.