10 Star Trek Characters Who Didn't Deserve Their Fate
2. Joe Carey
This one just hurts. Poor Lt. Joe Carey. Think of it from his point of view - there he is, serving in Starfleet, having completed a turn on the Enterprise-D (allegedly) before being assigned to the brand-new Intrepid-class USS Voyager. This exciting opportunity is soured by the ship becoming stranded in the Delta Quadrant.
Initially, Carey looked set to take the post of Chief Engineer, after the existing officer is killed. Then he is supplanted by B'Lanna Torres, the ex-Maquis hothead who begins her shift by breaking his nose. Quite aside from the physical pain, that had to sting.
Still, Carey was a professional. He served under her for seven years, fading somewhat into the background. To be fair, Voyager wasn't a ship that gave much opportunities for career growth (just ask a certain eternal Ensign). But to only have poor Carey appear again in the show's seventh season set tongues wagging and Carey-enthusiasts trembling.
In Friendship One, Carey is assigned to the away team that investigates a crashed Starfleet probe, only to end up on the wrong end of a disrupter blast. If there was ever a character who fit the 'one day left til retirement' stereotype, it's poor Joseph. Pity the Joe. Pity the Carey.