Rewriting Star Trek: Voyager's Final Episode
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
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While I love the ending to "Pale Blue Dot," I probably couldn't resist one additional scene. Janeway beams out and we see the camera slowly moving through the dark, empty corridors of Voyager. We see a slow pan around the deserted bridge, and then we hear a voice say "Computer, cancel self-destruct." The lights come up, and we see the Doctor standing on the bridge. "I should have known they'd forget I had a second program core on the ship." The Doctor sighs. "Computer, activate the Emergency Command Hologram. We have a long voyage home." Que the extended Voyager theme and scenes of Voyager sailing past several new planets. After the theme is over, we see a battered but still intact U.S.S. Voyager, slowly pass by the Voyager one probe, and the camera turns to show the Starship Voyager slowly approaching the pale blue dot in the distance.
That would just be....Amazing
Wow, now that would be interesting.
This is actually kinda cool!
Only thing that would not make that possible would be the fact that Voyager didn't have holo-emitters on the Bridge if I recall correctly. It would still be amazing, though xD
That's a good ending too.
We need all of the ideas created on film and then we vote which was best. Think how much money movie makers could make doing these types of endings with voter response. I know I'd go to those movie clips with changed endings.
Bonl
The solution is obviously to travel back in time in order to pitch this idea to the Star Trek creators.
But we can't mess with time unless someone else does first...
@@shinigamimiroku3723 thats the never ending question. Who was first? the egg or the Chicken. Why cant we be aktive and has allways be reactive?
It wouldn't matter. That writing team was so convinced of their own brilliance that they had Ronald D. Moore join the team and their inability to listen to his good ideas caused him to quit in frustration within a season. They just couldn't tolerate good ideas.
That would be ... reckless :-p
But if he does... can he also arrange Braga & Berman to get fired and Manni Coto to take over Enterprise from Episode 1 on?
And then get hired, ruin the studios from the inside, and say "must've been someone you hired"
Me: *scoff* who does he think he is. Rewriting the most rewatched Star Trek episode (according to Netflix)
Me: *watches video*
Someone find this man a space time anomaly so he can fix Voyager's ending with the Pale Blue Dot.
I love how it shows Barkley's development of truly conquering his fear of transporters by taking one of the riskiest transporter rides ever.
Oooh yes. That is so good
"One to beam home"
Wow
Really touching.
Lot of love in that draft by a guy who says he doesn't like Voyager.
Not liking the execution doesn't mean you cannot be fond for the series or the characters...
bad scripts are a good reason to prefer other series over one like Voyager (and it's even less the scripts, many Voyager episodes are just as well written as the other series' ... but the overall coherence, the atmosphere, the ideas going behind the overarching storyline...)
I think Steve, like most Trek fans, really really really wanted to like Voyager as much as he could. However inconsistent writing and the show being largely static in regards to characters really kept it from being a favorite for many of us. It's no surprise he'd at least want to genuinely make the ending of the series better.
It occurs to me he doesn't like it, he loves it.
The primary problem I feel Endgame had was giving us the payoff at the beginning instead of the end. We definitely needed the Voyager docking and crew disembarking scene (especially the reuniting Paris') rather than showing all the good stuff before the episode proper begins.
I would love to see both of these episodes, "Endgame 2.0" and "Pale Blue Dot"
For the ending of "Pale Blue Dot", an addition, after Janeway beams home, rather than a fade to black imediately, perhaps some shots of the empty Voyager bridge, hallways, engineering, mess room, etc, and finally a visual of the countdown click over to Zero, then black, no explosion, no shots of destruction.
I think better it have them before Janeway leaves, having all the lights go off.
*laughing*
That's silly! It hasn't been 18 years since...
*looks at calendar*
Oh god... oh god no....
*cries*
But joking aside, that'a a DAMN GOOD episode pitch!!
with the "Pale Blue Dot" idea, i feel like you could mention that the probe was called Voyager
everyone called it Vger for some reason because part of the name of it was covered, and according to one source (not sure if this is actually canon or not) Vger went through a black hole and was discovered by lifeforms who ended up worshipping it and made the decision to incorporate any and all carbon-based lifeforms into a hive mind, thus the first generation of borg was created.
Still mystified as to why Admiral Paris keeps a photo of Nick Locarno on his desk but not his own son.
Nick was a way better pilot than Tom, everyone knows that
I still don't get why they didnt just use the Nick Lacarno character in the first place. It would have been awesome to see that character come back. It's the same damn backstory anyway.
It came with the frame
@@jasonstephens6109 Robert Duncan McNeill feels that Tom Paris and Nick Locarno are actually sort of opposite characters, and I think he makes a good point. Nick Locarno presents himself as upstanding and ethical, but scratch the surface and he's the sort of jerk who will do anything to get what he wants and preserve his reputation. Tom Paris, on the other hand, has a problem with taking orders and doing what he's told, but in the end he always (or almost always) does what he feels is the right thing. I think he even got a demotion on Voyager at one point because he disobeyed an order of Janeway's that he felt was wrong.
@@Steven_Edwards Nick may not even be Admiral Paris's illegitimate son: I like to think Admiral Paris noticed Nick Locarno while he was in Star Fleet Academy, and kept badgering Tom about, "why can't you be more like that fine and upstanding Nick Locarno?" And when Nick got drummed out over the Kolvoord Starburst incident, Admiral Paris completely lost his shit about how Tom could never ever be good enough. Tom even got plastic surgery to look more like Nick, but it didn't help. No wonder Tom had so many issues.
Worse ending: Janeway wakes up at Starfleet Command in a cold sweat, "Wow! What a crazy dream!"
Only if if the camera pans to Admiral Bob Newheart , in bed next to her...
Wakes up…. As current borg queen
"One to beam home" I'll admit it. That sent a little shiver down my spine. Very poignant.
One thing that's lovely about "Pale Blue Dot": it makes the show the story of Voyager, the ship, from its maiden voyage to its end. It is, indeed, Star Trek: Voyager.
(Plus, I love that the probe that took the "pale blue dot" photo is... Voyager. It's a lovely touch.)
Yes I really liked the "new finale" as a fan but would not prefer it as it lacked what tv exec.s loved
1_defeat of a (big) enemy
2_a big space battle
Preferred yr modified endgame but with a bit more of (1+2) n think it would be 2.5hrs to make a good finale
Well they would have had enough shuttle craft to evacuate the whole crew.
Terry Weaver he also said escape pods. The shuttles would not have enough space to take the whole crew home
@@jacobhale5527 guess you didn't get the joke. voyager seems to have had a "limited" amount of shuttles and photon torpedoes when they got stuck in the delta quadrant
@@roachman7496 You mean an "Unlimited" amount of shuttles
Seems like Star Trek ships do not carry many shuttlecraft. There's a scene where three shuttlecraft are shown, and there is the Delta Flyer.
I'm not sure what the compliment of escape pods is.
Michael Graham - The compliment of escape pods is - Hello there Mr. escape pod. Have you lost weight? You look amazing!
I so agree about the reunion with Admiral Paris. That would have been so much better.
'Goodbye old friend'. 'One to beam home'. Clutching a coffee mug.
First of all: Consider my mind blown. I was hoping for an answer in the comments - maybe *MAYBE* being mentioned in the next commentary video - but this?! Thank you so much. I really liked your ideas and I enjoyed hearing them.
As you said, the moment you described your episodes I had ideas as well. I would have included a bit of politics as drama in "Endgame 2.0". Maybe an old Cardassian Gul or Romulan Senator who disagrees with the plan and tries to stop it because it would destroy almost all of their resources.
And I love the melancholy and sadness at the end of "Pale Blue Dot" (great title!). "Sad is happy for deep people."
I believe a bit of butter would have made the episode much better... ;-)
(Sorry... I was unable to resist.)
Ready for your mind to be blown again?
The "some probe" that took that famous photo?
Voyager 1.
The scene just took on a whole new meaning.
Frank, I'm also glad Steve did this video in response to your comment. I love his creative interaction with other Star Trek fans. Steve does great videos, but he also has a great sense of the dynamic in Star Trek fandom that has been there since at least the '70s (I think this is one of the key reasons I keep watching his videos). I found this video fascinating and thought provoking. Thanks to both of you for your contribution. :)
There's a precedent for beaming over long distances via wormhole - that romulan guy from the past they encountered that one time. Maybe throw in a plotline about the romulan government finally giving starfleet Voyager's message from their ancient archives, which they use the data from to help calibrate their new wormhole transporter.
That’s an amazing idea! Nothing ever came of that and they could have done something with it. The most satisfying conclusion for Voyager would have been to find some way to combine all sorts of experiences and technology they’ve amassed over the entire series run and create some sort of solution they wouldn’t have been able to come up with any other way.
I like that. While the Pale Blue Dot pitch is good overall, I do feel it's slightly lacking if Barclay is the one who comes up with it. Makes the Voyager plot and character development less important. Your idea helps that, if the tech or idea for the wormhole teleport is at least initiated in some part by the Voyager crew using all of the things they've come in contact with over the course of their mission.
Perhaps the early part of the episode seems like a rote contact with a new alien species only for that species to give them some information that kickstarts the idea. Then different characters can realize parallels or draw inspiration from some of their past adventures. If they can even get specific callouts to past episodes that would be great. Barclay could still give ideas from the Federation side but I'd think a proper send off would be to give more of the impetus to the Voyager crew.
Have the data sent from the Romulans, Starfleet decides it's too risky, and Barclay does it anyway. We've seen Barclay do this sort of thing before so kinda a retread but appropriate with characterization.
Given the warming of relations with the Romulans as a result of the Dominion War it was disappointing that they did not follow up on that storyline.
andyscout perhaps seven notices the gravimetric readings when shes monitoring the daily comms window and comes up with the idea but theres a problem and barclay finds the missing link.
I think your 'Pale Blue Dot' finale would have made for an incredible ending - I think I might have shed a tear at the end there. There's something about the crew leaving behind a ship that has been their home for 7 years that's quite poignant. Brings to mind also the end of Stargate Universe's final episode, where we see the ship powering down as it prepares to leave the galaxy. That really got me, especially as I knew there was zero chance of that series continuing beyond that point.
They are still just floating out there... sleeping forever.
I actually somehow liked that ending. because it gives the opportunity to continue the story at a later date but doesn't force it. It's a somewhat open ending.
Captain 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.
She would never leave her ship behind.
Voyager episode Hope and fear has a similar plot.
You got me at “Pale Blue Dot”. Brilliant title on so many levels. Now for the rest of the video 😁
I actually teared up at the description of the pale blue dot scene
I assume this was the idea behind the title but it was never actually said in the video AFAICT: The name of the probe that took the "Pale Blue Dot" picture was "Voyager", for anyone who may not be aware of that fact.
Ray Nothnagel That’s true. It also has another nice Star Trek reference/nod. Most Trekkie’s may be more familiar with the probe’s other name, “V’Ger” from Star Trek the motion picture. 🤔 😏👍
@@StarManta Voyager 1 to be exact. Janeway could simply have been musing about the irony of it all for 7 years! Giving the scene a whole new dimension!
V'ger was Voyager VI.
Endgame 2.0 is probably the version they'd make. But Pale Blue Dot is the one I'd want to see. Just you explaining it got me a little choked up. Good job!!!
I love your ideas. Especially bringing in Barkley and Admiral Paris.
You should do something like this to fix/replace Star Trek Nemesis. Give the TNG crew a better send off
I'd be interested to see him do a TOS "mock" Finale... if never a movie had been made... what better way than just going out after Turnabout Intruder would there have been?
His Enterprise rewrite heavily emphasized an "end of an era" approach, destroying a ship, accepting a promotion, the crew going different ways... it might be interesting to see that realized in a TOS environment.
They had a great send-off with All Good Things, but yeah. The ending of Nemesis still depresses the hell out of me.
I always felt like my biggest issue with Nemesis that people don't communicate. Yes they say a lot, but don't talk.
Like Shinzon has this medical issue because he wasn't aged to Picards age when the Romulans dropped their plan and he needs Picards DNA to fix himself. He even goes so far and gives the Enterprise his blood to confirm his identity, but he is also scheming like a Romulan and never acts human. All he needed to do is ask Picard for a sample. It's Picard after all, he wouldn't decline. The moral point of "if things went differently, would I be the same person" is good and should stay, but some things need some changes.
Hey there Steve! I’ve been subbed to you and watching your "Trek, Actually" videos for quite some time. I’m also a filmmaker and I love your pitch for “Pale Blue Dot.”
That said, I think based on your description there isn’t quite enough meat here to pad out 2 hours of TV time, and while ultimately a very technical and “Trekkie” ending for the show, there isn’t a whole lot (in my opinion) that really gives an emotional hook for the casual TV viewer, so with that in mind here are my ideas for “Pale Blue Dot 2.0”
- I love the idea of using the transporter in conjunction with the MIDAS array as a means of getting home, however I think there needs to be more of a more solid reason why this hasn’t occurred to anyone before, so I propose that it needs to be related to something localized, like the amplification necessary is ONLY possible through the natural oscillations of a nearby nebula or a pulsar the crew encounters. There’s still a ticking clock, but there is also a need to be at a specific place too, just to add a little more tension.
- Localizing this means we can place Voyager in a hostile, disputed region of space in order to get home - they find themselves negotiating with a race that’s ravaged by war just to get into the Nebula or near to the Pulsar. The aliens are dually impressed with the Federation’s technological prowess when invited on board for diplomatic reasons, and remark that if their fleet were equipped with such amenities their bloody war could be resolved in a matter of weeks. They beg Janeway for technology as part of their negotiations and she refuses. Tensions escalate and it becomes a game of ultimatums - if Voyager crosses their borders to transport home, it will be attacked and seized. Getting home now means, in addition to a ticking clock, they would have to defend themselves from a hostile force. This serves as a convenient way to remind the audience that they would HAVE to scuttle the ship lest it fall into the hands of aliens that would use her technology to alter their fates.
- You might be thinking to yourself “wow this is super reminiscent of the moral conflict that got Voyager stuck in the Delta Quadrant in the first place” and you’d be correct! Captain Janeway finds herself in the same conundrum she did 7 years earlier - she knows that getting home means risking superior technology falling into the hands of people who would misuse it. The aliens make it clear that they wish to seize Voyager and will go to great lengths to steal its technology and Janeway is feeling haunted by decisions she made 7 years earlier.
- They still decide to risk it for a test, and that’s when Barclay beams aboard, but before he has a chance to get back the ship is under attack by a fleet of raiders and they have to leave, meaning that Barclay is now stuck in the Delta quadrant with Voyager and has to help them figure out how to take advantage of their limited window for everyone to get back home. This would also allow for some meaningful exchanges because Barclay finally has the chance to serve with the crew he’s been a vicarious part of for so long. Maybe the “Pale Blue Dot” exchange is something Barclay now says to Janeway as a way to reinvigorate her as she grapples with her moral quandary. (There could be a fun self-deprecating line here about how he doesn't think he'd make much of a ship's counselor, but he's "been in enough counseling sessions" to occasionally know the right thing to say.)
- They realize the obvious problem is that they have to drop their shields in order to transport but this leaves the ship vulnerable to an attack, and thus, working with Seven of Nine, B’lanna and Harry, Barclay figures out that they can punch a hole in Voyager’s shields just big enough for a transporter signal to get through (which calls back to how he created a micro-wormhole in the first place.)
- Voyager can now “safely” reside in the space they need to and they can begin transporting their crew to the Alpha Quadrant with only 15-20 minutes to spare - they set the self-destruct to match, so now it's do or die. Naturally though, they have to do it while warding off an attack from a growing enemy fleet. In fact, the aliens aren’t satisfied with small raids anymore, they have a giant juggernaut of a ship that they just called back from the front lines of their conflict, and while technologically inferior, can still wreak pretty severe damage upon Voyager and poses a significant threat.
- So the ship is under siege at the same time they’re transporting the crew away. B’lanna is in labor, and The Doctor might have a quip that it’s very unsafe to transport someone who’s physically in the process of giving birth, but it has to be done anyway. They send Tom Paris away as Chakotay takes the helm.
- Slowly but surely the crew shrinks and shrinks until it’s just Janeway and Chakotay on the bridge piloting Voyager and fighting the aliens as the ship crumbles around them. Seven of Nine is with Barclay in Engineering. He eventually leaves, leaving Seven on her own, refusing to listen to repeated screams from Janeway to beam out - she's concerned about the shield's collapsing and wants to make sure everyone else gets out. A bulkhead blows and she’s severely injured - now that nobody can reach her, Chakotay springs into action and goes down to Engineering. He grabs Seven of Nine and the two of them beam out just as the shields finally collapse.
- They materialize on the other side at Pathfinder. He’s screaming to be sent back but is quickly dismissed in the pandemonium of the moment as we cut to Voyager getting boarded by a hostile force. There's still a substantial amount of time left on the self-destruct clocks. Perhaps we have some interior shots of the aliens yelling amongst themselves to find the Captain, since she's the only person left who can abort the self-destruct.
- Janeway has only seconds to react as the turbolift whisks open on the bridge. We see her hurriedly type a few commands at the helm before she beams herself away - a phaser blast moves right through where she just was. The aliens try to take control of the ship, but to their horror the helm is completely locked, and it’s on a collision course with their juggernaut.
- They scramble and try to get out, but it’s too late - the ship impacts with the Juggernaut and they both go up in a spectacular explosion.
- We cut to black… we hear Chakotay’s muffled voicing screaming “Katherine?? Katherine??” As she slowly drifts awake, Chakotay, Tuvok, Harry, and Barclay all crowded around her. She slowly comes to and takes stock of the room in a dizzy haze, an entire room filled with Voyager’s crew as well as the crew at Pathfinder looking on with awe. As Captain Janeway rises shakily to a stand the entire room erupts with uproarious cheers and applause.
- We have a brief montage at the end -- slow motion footage of all of the crew hugging and crying and shaking hands with Pathfinder people (which includes a cutaway to Admiral Paris meeting B’lanna, The Doctor, and Tom at Starfleet Medical) as a voice-over from Janeway wraps up the series, ending by proposing a toast to the ship itself since it was the one “member of the crew” that didn’t make it.
- Cut to a wide shot of The Earth itself as the credits begin (the Pale Blue Dot.)
This was a lot longer than I wanted it to be, but I really felt like your premise (the natural phenomenon and transporter enhancement) was a great starting point, but I really want to see Voyager go out in a blaze of glory if the ship is going to get left behind, which jives nicely with the idea of punching in some added conflict to make the stakes a little higher. We’ve seen plenty of alien races along the way that wanted to seize or board Voyager for its technology, so if not a new race, we have a callback of some kind.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on my take on Pale Blue Dot - (assuming you’re still reading these comments 4 months later.)
If you wanted to go full callback, have it be the Kazon from caretaker, Jabin. And have him be the leader of the fleet that attacks her at the end. Even have him go "I told you you made an enemy that day"
It feels like too much. Way too much.
I loved the relatively calm and quiet finale Steve suggested. This is just as stressful as Endgame.
I like that even better than the original one. I feel like it is more exciting and there are more risks. I wish that this episode could be made. Well done.
@@liranpiade4499 yeah but with Steve's version I agree with @d.notive, you're going to be hard pressed to fill an hour of television with that. And especially 2 hours if you want to make it a 2 part event.
This one is wonderful!
Man! How did you manage to say all that without crying?! Oh deer lard, when you said "Janeway to Pathfinder..." I burst into tears :)
you weren't the only one shedding tears...
Haha me too
Well, now you've got me tearing up.
Same
Me too. Literal hot tears running down my face.
Wow, I'd watch the heck out of Endgame 2.0! Pale Blue Dot would be a darn good finale too! You realize, of course, that now we're going to want to hear your idea of a finale for Enterprise? :)
What are you talking about? Terra Prime was a pretty good finale! :)
Please let this happen!
Oh my goodness, yes. A proper finale for Enterprise would be amazing.
Completely agree. Let's see it.
Come on Steve! Do it!
Holy damn dude, Pale Blue Dot would make such a good episode! I thought for a minute you were gonna have Janeway go down with her ship
"Pale Blue Dot" listening to the pitch was incredibly powerful.
It was so well told that i was able to imagine and believe the story as it unfolded.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, it was beautiful.
9:30 that cube should reveal that Seven was now the "new queen" and the reason why the federation couldn't hold out against the borg. As the Queen's whole plan for such things was to raise a queen that had the Federation's innovative instincts to guide the borg.
Edit. this change would further allow present-janeway to have a Mother Hen moment, of "You will never have Seven in your collective again, she is mine!" It would also add a nice epilogue to Seven's character arc with the borg queen/her mother fighting against janeway's adoption of Seven.
That could be interesting
Dare they have her say a recognisable variant of "Get away from her, you bitch!"?
I really like your second idea. It would probably need some type of action set piece to make it feel bigger but that's not all that important.
The one point that I think you need to add, as minor is it is, is that when Barkley is getting ready to beam back he needs to comment on his phobia of transporters just to remind people of just how impressive his transporting himself to voyager actually was.
Or, better yet, show that saving Voyager has healed him. Maybe he comments to the crew, "I'll head back first, make sure my success wasn't a fluke... it's funny, longest transport distance in history and I'm... I'm... not afraid. Huh."
@@smirk-in-progress4800 Well technically it would be the second closest since Voyager would've moved slightly closer to Earth while he was on it, making his transport to Voyager slightly longer.
"Pale Blue Dot" had me in tears...bravo.
I actually feel the melancholy... bravo! All this Voyager talk is making me want to rewrite the series in novel form. I won't ever get around to it... but the itch is there!
You can always work on a script.
Modifications I would make to your plots.
Endgame 2.0:
Episode starts. Janeway, B'Elanna, Tom, and the Doctor escape the Borg assassination squad on the Delta Flyer. It's a single Tactical Sphere. No other crew survives, the Borg don't break off but follow the Flyer through the transwarp conduit and they meet with a fleet of Starfleet ships, it goes almost as badly as Wolf 359. B'Elanna loses the baby in childbirth because of the stress of the attack and the Doctor doesn't have everything he needs. Admiral Paris is actually on one of the ships in the battle and you see he is assimilated in the attack. The Borg ship is destroyed after heavy losses.
Cut to ~20 years later, Borg have overrun the galaxy. The remnants of the Federation are actually allied with the Dominion as the Borg are a threat to everyone. Changelings can't be assimilated and die when the Borg capture and attempt it. Also Changelings can't impersonate Borg for whatever reasons you want to give. Have Species 8472 also be part of the alliance. Janeway and her resistance encounter but do not engage with a Tactical Sphere, the first they had seen in 20 years.
The computer confirms it is identical to the one encountered long ago. The crew of the Flyer perform recon on the Sphere, Admiral Paris is on it, he is like Locutus and communicates with Janeway and her ragtag band of merry men monologuing about the Borg will assimilate them in the past. Cue battle, Tactical Sphere initiates time warp, Flyer follows, attack from Borg heavily damages Future Flyer in timestream, only Janeway and the Doctor survive but they arrive near Voyager and before the Borg.
--- To be Concluded ---
Both past/present and future Janeway are stunned seeing their counterpart. Skeptical of Future Janeway the Present Janeway doesn't trust her. The Future Doctor appears (As an Emergency Engineering Hologram, he's gotten upgrades and can now fill any role needed) and Present Janeway is more skeptical because he's in Gold instead of Blue, and he tells her something that only they would know from a physical exam Present Janeway would have just had. Something like she had a tumor growing but it was removed with no ill effects. Future Janeway glares at the Doctor for breaking Doctor Patient Confidentiality but he says something to the tune of that subroutine isn't active while he is serving as EEH or ECH.
They board Voyager, they begin to devise a plan to stop the Tactical Sphere. Future Doctor begins giving extra attention towards B'Elanna due to her losing the baby in his timeline, both as an EMH and as the EEH (to assist with repairs and upgrades). The plan comes to a screeching halt when the Sphere arrives to the past and hails Voyager, Admiral Paris the Borg tells them they will die. Tom is broken, his father is the enemy. They meet in X hours for a showdown, Red Alert, all hands to battle stations. Future Doctor upgrades his present self with future knowledge and programming.
Confrontation happens, Future Janeway has her moment with the Borg Queen and Borged Admiral Paris. Future Doctor uses a Phase Cloaked Future Flyer to fly into the main core of the Sphere, uncloak, and destroy them both, Voyager uses conduit to return home, the Paris family has a big hug, Miral Paris doesn't die during birth, 29th Century Timeship swoops in and tries to go "oh no you don't" and Janeway throws in their face that without their time meddling just now the Timeship wouldn't exist so back off, when they get the data and confirm it, maybe even confirming assimilation of a timeship is how the Tactical Sphere was able to time travel, they apologize and run away back to the future.
Pale Blue Dot:
Give Harry the insight to link the computers, but Reg still overcomes fears and beams himself to Voyager to prove it works. At the end have it be Chakotay, Janeway, and the Doctor. Self destruct sequence starts, Chakotay leaves with Doctor. Long tracking shot of Janeway still happens. Upon arriving at the transporter room the Doctor convinces the Captain that instead of destroying Voyager he brings it home, himself. Janeway relents because she trusts the Doctor. The ship is given completely to the Doctor's ECH and he brings it home over X years, maybe with a cloaking device.
Also the Chakotay/Seven romance never started.
I would add your idea about the doctor bringing the ship home to Steve's version for sure !
Kinkajou1015
Why not have a clone of Locutus in this episode? Like in the Star Trek Armada video game.
Both pitches would have been great. Just visualizing the tracking shot of Janeway heading to the transporter made me tear up. I would still like to have the ship reach Earth though. I do actually like Endgame but my chief complaint is Tom doesn't even say anything to his father. A simple, "I'll see you soon, with your granddaughter." would have satisfied me. Closure for Tom and Admiral Paris and you can get a proud grandfather shot from the Admiral. Oh, and good work taking out the Chakotay/Seven relationship that came from no where.
I also imagined the whole scene as he described it. Awesome!
You're pitch for 'Pale Blue Dot' gave me the chills. Seriously, that is a truly epic idea and would have been a beautiful send off for an often 'meh' show.
*Steve Shives* travels back in time to slap the writers of the end game episode, on the head, use this or else! Drops the two script ideas on the desk.
Definitely worth the risk to the timeline.
Great episode that you came up with. One thing, before Janeway leaves the bridge, she should goes over to remove the ship's name plate. The one that cChekote and her put back up after the fight with the Equinox, I believe. Other then that, it's an ending I would like to see. Keep up the great work.
Pale Blue Dot sounds to me to be the superior ending as for all of its faults Voyager was actually good at melancholy. My question is, in her conversation on the bridge about the origin of Pale Blue Dot, would Janeway say it came from a probe called Voyager and explain about the history of it and liken her ship to a descendant of that probe, or would she mention it and add a throwaway ironic comment like "I forget the name," leaving the audience to get the joke or miss the reference at their choosing?
No way would janeway not know about EVERY ship/probe/toaster named voyager. I would assume that she has a model of it somewhere like Picard had models of enterprises from sea to spacefaring.
It’s amazing how a whole team of writers and producers couldn’t come up with something as close and touching as this?
Really good idea. I’ve always thought Voyager was like “Lost in space meets Star trek”, not my fav. BUT your ending was actually very good and very moving. I loved the pale blue dot idea. Very nice. If the whole series had the kind of conceptual writing you had for the last episode it wouldn’t have been the red headed step child of the star trek universe. Good job. You should pitch ideas to hollywood
For me, i think Pale Blue Dot would have been better if right at the end, after we think the ship as probably exploded, we realize the Doctor has actually stayed on the ship as the ECH to try and bring the ship itself home.
We then jump forward in time a year to see how the original crew are doing on earth when Voyager suddenly arrives home commanded by the doctor and other various new crew he has amassed. Voyager is using a newly invented Phonic slipstream drive the doctor figured out with some help
That would be dope
I like it, but a bit too fanfic-y for my tastes. Maybe change it to a far distant future and have a new Voyager made by the Doctor's backup from "Living Witness"? Still a bit fanfic-y, but that's one of the episodes that I've always wanted a far future conclusion to. That and "Distant Origins." Oh, and if we're going all the way, a bit of an upbeat ending to "Course: Oblivion." Have it 100% as we saw, but right after the original ending have Kim or Paris or someone on the "real" Voyager saying that they see some weird "biomemetic debris and, hold on. What's that? A beacon with a Starfleet comm signature?!" With Janeway ordering it brought aboard. I just wanted those guys to be remembered in the end, damnit!
It never ceases to amaze me that the fans have better ideas then the people paid to write this stuff. I know we have the benefit of hindsight, but you people are amazing. What a vast reservoir of untapped talent this planet has.
I hadn't considered that. The ECH doesn't age and can continue to collect data to get the ship home, albeit decades later. The problem is that the Doctor would have had to remain behind as the ECH program was just an upgrade to the EMH. If you recall, the Doctor could not be reproduced as he was, so he would have to stay behind. His holo matrix would not have enough storage capacity to adapt to more data and he would malfunction. To quote Seven of Nine, "your logic is flawed."
Anthony Jones You day that despite not seeing any of these ideas developed beyond the “oh wouldn’t it be cool if...” phase.
It’s foolish to think that with no experience you or some other non professionals can easily do what professionals do.
Thanks for this, really needed something like this today.
Wow, just finished. Love that alternate ending, especially the long shot as she leaves the ship.
I would actually ended "Pale Blue Dot" with the captain being received and with Voyager being blown up. No loose ends and fitting end. Love this concept. Great work!!
You do realise he left those ends loose on purpose, right?
"Pale Blue Dot" definitely gets my vote though I absolutely think the whole Borg arc should be ABSENT from the finale. Much too much airtime was given to the whole "turn Seven of Nine back into Annika Hansen" plot, even though Jeri Ryan did a fantastic job of the whole psycho-drama / PTSD issue.
Your idea is so much better. A complete character arc for Tom Paris, coming full circle from Caretaker to reconciling with his father at the end of the 'self discovery' journey. Also the communications project was called "Pathfinder" so making that name apt is a lovely concept. Towards the end of season 7 we get to see a lot more of both Owen Paris and Reg Barclay so why not make them integral to the homecoming.
Your final scene still allows Captain Kathryn Janeway to close the show and allows a happy ending without everything being that little bit too convenient. Leaving the ship behind makes the moment bittersweet for her character and also gives a "price to pay" for making it back ahead of time.
Fantastic concept.
"Pale Blue Dot" made me cry on a few levels. Thanks.
I rewrote the first episode when I was younger. Have to admit it was awesome! In my story Voyager was actually a constitution class ship that they find after they are stranded. Janeway was a lieutenant commander and science officer. She has to take commander being the only surviving senior officer left. Torres was an Andorian, Kess was Nelix’s slave and Tom and Harry hate each other to begin with.
sounds good what else?
We don’t reveal where they are or why straight away. They find a lost starfleet ship in the asteroid field. Half the crew are on board to fix it up. An energy way comes in and janeway has to decide either to rescue the remaining people on the original ship or move into safety. She chooses safety and has to watch the rest die. This is much more interesting than saving the Ocompa.
The one scene you forgot in that second scenario is Jane way talking to a consul thanking Voyager for getting them that far.
I got chills when you described the last moments with Janeway for "Pale Blue Dot."
Yeah love the pale blue dot plan too. Can I add as Janeway is having her final moments on the bridge, she takes the dedication plack off the bridge with her as a moment.
Pale Blue Dot is an amazing "sci-fi" conclusion, full of science drama and emotional/character closure. Unfortunately, TV network and Hollywood producer shills would dismiss the pitch for not having enough exploding spacecraft and big budget special effects. Shame that Star Trek has been losing its "sci-fi" identity for quite some time now.
Great hypothetical pitches and analysis as always Steve!
OMG, I would have been a pile of tears at the end of that second pitch. Ships have personality, each ship is its own character in each Star Trek franchise, and it should certainly be a moving emotional moment when a crew has to leave their ship for the last time.
I can even imagine Kate Mulgrew's face as she stands on the transporter pad, taking in that last look of her first command, "Janeway to Pathfinder......one to beam home.".
Maybe I would also have her take the dedication plaque with her before she leaves the bridge. Before getting on the turbolift, she turns around, takes a last look at the bridge, looks down at the dedication plaque in her hands, emotional as she rubs her cuff over it as if to dust if off, looks back up at the bridge, says "Thank you.", comes to attention, then quickly turns and enters the lift.
I would take Jeanway take the mattel plate witch says USS Voyager on it with her by the 2nd alternativ ending.
Yes
"Pale Blue Dot": No, I am not crying, just dust in my eyes. "Endgame 2.0": You just solved every gripe I had with the ending., you turned a selfish reason into a legitimate self-sacrifice.
My fix for Enterprise series finally is leave the ending but remove all of the TNG and hologram crap out of it.
I loved them both, though Pale Blue Dot was easily the better of the two.
And yet, I'm not sure about scuttling Voyager. It would be a melancholy end, akin to Babylon 5's ending. But there's something special about seeing Voyager approach Earth, or even have it's own Pale Blue Dot moment, "Captain, we've entered the Solar System" "Onscreen" and there it is, that small pale blue dot.
Were I to be so bold as to tweak it I'd keep everything but have Barclay's epiphany to be about how the quantum singularity could be widened using research from Dr Lenara Kahn, giving a nice little shout out to DS9, allowing for the whole ship to use it as a once off one way wormhole. They'd have to travel to the singularity which may be behind them even. This would allow for an action set piece as to fight their way to the singularity, perhaps Borg, could be the race from "Dragons Teeth" if they use the Quantum Slipstream to get there. So they fly through and set course for Earth seeing up the pale blue dot moment to end on.
Downside: Doesn't have the nice pay off with Admiral Paris but a workaround perhaps Tom could volunteer to fly a test shuttle through to make sure it works, potentially separating him from his wife and child, but he's the best pilot they have, and then have Janeway pilot Voyager home.
Very elegant and simple resolution to endgame’s problems, and a very watchable alternative. I salute you.
LOVE the alternative last episode with the Borg and time travel. As you say it gives Janeway a valid reason to go back and change history.
Also love the Pale Blue Dot episode. Great title and brings in the theme of exploration.
It always pleases me to hear/read people’s reworkings of Endgame. Of the two I think Endgame 2.0 is the more realistic ending, but that ending of Pale Blue Dot really got me. I would’ve LOVED to see that, maybe even with Janeway doing an emotional voiceover reflection of their journey or a voiceover of various lines from throughout the series. Both versions are HUGE step-ups from the actual version and I applaud you sir.
As much as I love Voyager, the finale just wasn’t satisfying. I see why people are frustrated with the Admiral’s motivations, but my biggest gripes were that they never actually tied up the loose ends the series had going, like the fate of the Maquis, Seven, and the Doctor. They never showed any after scenes, only Voyager in orbit and that still upsets me. I wanted to see reunions and tears and all that sappy stuff. I’m glad there are people out there like me that care enough about Voyager to give it the proper ending it deserved. Thank you :)
I really like your pitch for Pale Blye Dot. Even though the show was called Voyager, the thing Janeway always said in a crisis was 'get this crew home.' There was the emphasis on the Crew, not the Voyager and your pitch seems to focus on that. One of the best pitches for a Voyager ending rewrite that I've heard.
Wow, just even hearing your re ending scenario was a great bed time story. I was on the edge of my pillow waiting for each scene to go thru the inner portal of my mind. I'd love to see this in actuality. It brings the true depth of what "Voyager" deserved as its ending.. Bravo.. Your a great story teller and "Voyager" my favorite Sci-fi show.
Dunno about "Pale Blue Dot". The whole series is about getting Voyager home, even if the crew makes it, it doesn't deserve to be blown up in the end imho.
Credits roll over the Cosmos: a personal voyage theme
But Steve, that means we don't get those weapons and armor upgrades! What's the point? :p
"Janeway to Pathfinder. One to beam home." {emergency klaxons sound. Computer voice declares system fault. Visual of self destruct count down timer rapidly reaches zero. Voyager explodes at beginning of transport sequence. Shift scene to pathfinder.) "Transporter bridge to Voyager failed. We lost the pattern." Fade too black. Janway finally meats her transporter accident.
It's good your humble, but don't sell yourself short, those were some damned good ideas; very touching. Makes me wonder what you'd think about the new Star Trek show staring Patrick Steward.
Endgame 2.0 sort of sounds like umm, a certain obscure film from the 1980s starring a certain Austrian bodybuilder.
But it does seem a lot more compelling.
Star trek is doing skynet now...why not then.
I was thinking it sounded like a 2014 mutant movie...
I admit, as it was being described, I was imagining a scene where future Janeway holds out a hand to Seven: "Come with me if you want to live."
I'll be back!
@@mmattson8947 with austrian accent please
After hearing your pitch for Pale Blue Dot, I looked up at the clear sunny sky and all I could say was "it's a terrible day for rain"
What do you mean? It's not raining.
OMG! I loved both rewrites! Picturing part blue dot made me cry! I'm thinking that when Janeway had her few minutes alone on the bridge, she took the nameplate with her as a souvenir. I would've if I were her.
Delighted to see such a grammatically correct comment, particularly the last sentence which many might have rendered as "I would of if I was her." Thank you. I also agree with every word of your first four sentences, by the way.
Both ideas are great, with "Pale Blue Dot" being my favorite... but I'm still going to present a slight change.
It's Janeway who thinks of the transporter bridge, due to seeing some famous bridge in that Victorian holonovel we saw her in so many times (which was ALSO never paid off). She runs out of the holodeck, contacts Barkley, he beams in, follow from your idea.
I always liked the image of Voyager approaching earth flanked by other federation ships. Her own welcome home aside from the other characters.
I liked both of your pitches better than the actual last episode.
While your second pitch does offer a great emotional closure I do think it lacks closure of the external conflicts like the borg. Maybe they could have resolved that in the prior episodes?
Yeah, most of the events in Endgame (if not all save for actually getting home) could have happened in a 2 parter prior to the finale.
VOY is my favorite, but you sir have provided my favorite ending (Pale Blue Dot). I know Mulgrew would have executed the role perfectly.
I usually never comment but this deserved it, holy Christ that Pale Blue episode sounded absolutely incredible and beautiful. I can imagine the quiver of sadness and joy in Janeway’s voice as she would have said that. Fantastic work
Aww they lose the Delta Flyer too! I love your ending idea. 2 questions that come to mind:
1) Would you rewrite the Neelix exit in either ending? Would you have him return with them, or stay in the Delta Quadrant. Not that he was ever the best character, but I wasn't really a fan of his deciding to stay.
2) In the Endgame 2.0 would there be any futuristic Anti-Borg tech that goes back with Janeway or would that piece also be elmininated?
The fixing of Endgame pitch has a bit of terminator vibe to it, but definitely works out much better. There needed to be a compelling reason for Janeway to go back in time. The episode, as aired, didn’t remotely have that. It’s still not a great pitch... I mean, you’re trying to polish a turd, so it is what it is.
I like your original pitch. It makes the pathfinder project pay off, and sets Barclay out to be the hero of Voyager... which, seems to be what the writers HAD been hinting at sense pathfinder was introduced. So, your pitch would have been a final episode much more fulfilling and consistent with where the series was heading in the first place.
Part of why I hate Endgame as much as I do is because of how they seem to ignore their own set up for how pathfinder and Barclay would eventually get the crew back home.
Looking back over it, if anything I think I have Barclay being _too_ much of the hero. I want Barclay and Pathfinder to play an important role, but maybe one of the crew (Harry?) should be the one to have the epiphany, and then Barclay can volunteer to make the risky proving attempt. I dunno. I like Barclay using the prefix code to access Voyager's computer, though . . .
Harry can come up with the idea... everyone else thinks it’s too risky, and Barclay takes it upon himself to test it behind everyone’s back. Your pitch works, just needs little tweaks around the edges.
@@derpimusmaximus8815 Laughing way more than I should as a mature individual at that one. :-D
@@derpimusmaximus8815 Top it of with Harry accidentally having the transformer alignment off on his attempt, causing him slip / fall and needing to spend a night in sickbay for pure evil comic relieve. And his parents are out of town, so he's left on his own while the rest of the crew parties.
@@SteveShives Maybe at first it seems as though the doctor can't be beamed through, and he offers to sacrifice himself staying behind. Of course Janeway will have none of that, he's part of the crew and all that. So then maybe Barclay (perhaps while on board Voyager) can figure out a way to let him come along anyway.
Janeway:"BTW we defeated the Borg by ourselves." Admiral Paris:"Arrest the Maquis, We will sort this out later."
just watched this video and tbh, both of your alternate series ending pitches game me chills. I can't decide which I liked better, but they were both amazing. just wow. thanks for taking the time to do a what-if thing like this for a Voyager wrap-up!! bravo, and brilliantly done, sir!!!
I would love to hear your thoughts on properly ending Enterprise too.
I teared up just visualising it. Well done!
Tears to my eyes! I loved both of your end episode variations. I was able to picture it all in my head 😁 thank you!
"Pale Blue Dot" as described doesn't have enough plot in it for a series finale, nor enough meaningful character moments -- no decision to be made, no sacrifice, only Barclay (not even one of the Voyager crew) overcoming some TECH difficulty with a TECH solution.
One way to solve this would be if it initially seemed there'd enough energy/fluctuations/space juice/whatever to transport *half* the crew home. So much of the drama of the ep would be the officers debating whether they should reveal this to the rest of crew, and how to decide (and who gets to decide) who gets to go home.
Then after the decision has been made (whether it's a lottery or asking for volunteers to stay behind or whatever other criteria) there's a TECH solution where they determine perhaps there's a way can affect the fluctuations EVERYONE can get home -- but there's an equally likely chance that their messing about will mean that they will lose the chance to teleport ANYONE back. So they then need to decide -- do we take the 100% chance of transporting back 50% of the crew, or do we take a 50% chance of transporting back the entire crew. Janeway & Chakotay decide that only the people who were the ones that had already been decided they would get to *go home* should be the ones to decide this dilemma. It's actually put to a vote among them -- and in a marvellous show of solidarity the vast majority of the crewmembers in question decide their fates should be the same as the rest of Voyager, to take the chance of remaining stranded if it also means taking a chance of getting everyone home safely. The solution ends up working, and everyone gets to go home, but it wouldn't have happened without those people being willing to potentially sacrifice their own personal return.
Unlike the other comment regarding suggestions, making the episode very big and bombastic, your suggestions keep the relatively calm spirit of the episode. No time travel, no major Borg threat, no more Delta politics, it's just Voyager dealing with problems in getting back home, finally leaving Voyager behind.
Your episode would have been a pretty solid finale and would ultimately be a callback to Eye of the Needle. What if Barclay gets this idea after studying that incident while reviewing the current conditions he was working with? Might be a nice little bonus.
Wonderful ideas! I think they could have done an episode focused on the life of the crew after the return on earth
I love both pitches. Great job Steve. I enjoy watching your videos. Thank you.
24:18 It would be fun, in this last sequence, if the camera could transform from a third-person omniscient viewer of Janeway walking into the transporter room, to the camera becoming Janeway's character and showing what Janeway herself sees. As she stands on the transporter pad we'd see her viewpoint, looking out toward the control console. We'd hear her voice speaking "one to beam home," and then see what the transportation process looks like to Janeway as she is being transported.
I like it.
Both options.
I think there needs to be more action personally for a finale.
With ST:V you expect significant action sequences.
Yes!! I really like these kind of alternative story - it always cool and my imagination have a really big special effect budget!
I think your, 'Pale Blue Dot,' pitch is damn-well a thing of beauty. It has all the good elements of great Sci-Fi. I was working and listening to your pitches in the background and it properly caught my imagination. Nicely done, sir.
Beautiful ending, Steve. You painted the picture so vividly. Thank you.
The main issue I have with your version of Endgame is that it ruins the reveal if Seven had the virus and wanted to be assimilated. A slight change I would suggest could fix this is that Seven's plan wasn't to be assimilated, but to inject the virus into the computers but gets caught, and Old Janeway beams over to save her, as if she's just sacrificing her life to save Seven.
But then you have the reveal that Janeway infected herself, taking a chance that assimilation would work just as well at the injection.
A great idea. Steve's pitch was really good but Seven's role didn't quite gel. The virus wouldn't work in a computer - Seven would be trying to subdue and inject one of the Borg drones when she gets caught, then older Janeway goes to save her - excellent idea about her taking a chance by self-injecting before beaming over!
Both pitches are good, though with pale blue dot better would be you seeing the destruction of Voyager, or as Ben Wilson says the EMH stays behind and brings Voyager home himself.
Star Trek always love their dramatic explosions.
I don't think Captain Janeway would like the idea of leaving the ship behind. So having the doctor take it home would make sense.
This was completely enjoyable and I’m so glad I found your channel.
It’s great to meet someone who is balanced, even when we don’t see eye to eye (cuz Voyager is amazing).
Dude...
I just found your channel and...
I love your ending.
Much love fellow trekker.
Regarding "Endgame 2.0", I love this fixit. The most important element being that which you pointed out before - it's irresponsible to use time travel to change stuff that's relatively trivial. But using it to prevent a quadrant-wide catastrophe that gets Voyager home early as a side effect would be serving the greater good, which is what they should arguably always be doing.
If they're using an EMP to disable the first Borg cube mentioned, they could use something like Sisko's recreated Bajoran lightship as their getaway vehicle. No electronics.
How about it being Icheb that was the Borg's target? Given that his story already had him being a really effective weapon against the Borg when he was assimilated. I mean yeah, the actor turned out to be a vile little shitstain so giving his character focus now feels grimy, but it would make use of something already established. Maybe he's planning to nobly sacrifice himself the way his family were going to involuntarily sacrifice him, and Janeway basically says nope, not your sacrifice to make, I'm taking those altered genes of yours and deploying them myself.
"Pale Blue Dot" would be a nice callback to that time they managed to beam a Romulan officer aboard from the Alpha Quadrant through a pencil-thin wormhole, only without the tragic time displacement. Which would be a good concept to revisit, and slightly subvert the Star Trek convention that if a solution found to a problem in a prior episode would solve the problem fuelling the drama of a subsequent episode, everyone has convenient amnesia about it. Remember that time they accidentally discovered a cure for old age in Next Gen? In the episode from the middle of a writers' strike in which the child actors were surprisingly not annoying and one of them just was the child version of Whoopi Goldberg that year? Never heard about that again.
To end "Voyager" by ending Voyager would be rather poetic.
The most obvious benefit to Barclay's revelation about using transporters at both ends is that they'd each have to do half the work. Ooh, how's this for high risk - before they work out how to bridge them, their best solution is for Voyager to beam to a halfway point, which Starfleet then picks up from. But it's kinda touch and go, so there's no absolute guarantee that what Voyager sends to the midpoint won't get stuck there.
I did kinda think you were going to say that Janeway would step up onto the transporter pad, tap her combadge to contact Pathfinder, and nothing would happen. Glad you didn't.
I love your outline of Pale Blue Dot, if for no other reason that it involves Reginald Barclay 😁👍 The fade to black at the very end would have been a classy way to end Voyager's story.
As for End game 2.0, I would have followed a very similar storyline, but one that involves no deus ex machina time travel at all. Voyager discovers the Borg transwarp hub. After first turning away from it, some of the crew (most likely Seven, Harry and B'Elanna working together) use all the information they have gathered about the Borg along their journey to devise a way to overcome the hub's defenses. They pitch the strategy to Janeway, who decides it's now worth the risk and they make it through by the skin of their teeth. I very much like the notion of adding an actual reunion of Tom and his father, maybe even one of Doctor doctor Zimmerman and the Doctor, why not?
Mmmm, you can sum up you pitch with a single sentence: 'Voyager finds a transwarp hub, AND THEN they figure out how to use it to get home.'. It's a tad simple, even for a single episode. And let's not start about the problems with 'AND THEN'S'.
Really liked 'Little Mako's suggestion of making use of 'Telek R'Mor' encounter with Voyager, as it would be a nice tie in with the improved relations between the Romulans and the Federation after the Dominion war: aka tie-in with Barcley (TNG) and DS9 as Voyager was (at the time) the end of a Star Trek Golden era.
I'm loving the fix(es). I was kind of hoping some recuts of the videos, but you described your scenes well i was able to see them in my head clearly unfolding.
Your idea for Pale Blue Dot is just perfect. And the bit with Barclay being glad he got to see Voyager is just icing on the cake.
That was actually very good.
Yeah, that was good. I loved how he walked us through the ending. While he was saying it I would see it in my mind. I wish he could make it him self I would watch it.
Interesting Steve, thanks for the vid.
Im developing an immense respect for your creativity and opinions. Thank you for sharing!! Good stuff.
Pale Blue Dot would have been an absolutely beautiful way to end the show. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.