11. Neelix
Neelix (Ethan Phillips) was never as annoying as Jar Jar Binx but he still wasnt very appealing. Picked up by the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, his job was to act as a guide for the crew as they made their way home through the uncharted region of space. He was soon promoted to be the ships cook even though no one enjoyed his cooking; a running gag that soon fizzled out. It did surprise me that there was no other crew members qualified to take the very important task of feeding everyone. If you are on a 70,000 light year journey and have to ration use of the Replicators, surely the best course of action would be to find a cook that will appeal to everybody. Maybe continued use of the Replicator meant that no one can cook, so they can only blame themselves as they built the rod for their own back; or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. Obviously on a TV show where you are exploring new worlds and new civilizations, the cook is not going to have much to do in every episode so Neelix was given another job to do on top of advising the Captain and cooking for the crew, he was Voyagers Morale Officer. Tasked with keeping the crew chirpy, Neelix would often do the exact opposite and drive them deeper into depression. Interfering in inappropriate moments, Neelixs heart was in the right place but he was very lucky that the crew wasn't routinely armed. Later, his collection of jobs went onto include providing the ship with news and even a stint as a security officer. Obviously the job-hopping meant that the writers were struggling to find a place for Neelix in the show. Ethan Phillips did a great job playing the part but the character was just too nice and bland to make any impact with viewers. It also hurt the series because every Neelix episode was seen as nothing more than filler.
Most entertaining moment: When he wrote the holonovel ''Cooking with Neelix, a Culinary Tour of the Delta Quadrant.''
10. Chakotay
The second in command of the USS Voyager had a lot of potential when he first started. A native American in charge of a of a Marquis cell, a group of ex-Federation citizens labelled as terrorists after they didnt take too kindly to their home planets being handed over to the Cardassians in a peace treaty. Being Star Trek, this idea was based on real world politics, namely the Israeli-Palistinian conflict. After being stranded in the Delta Quadrant along with the USS Voyager, Starfleet and the Marquis are forced to work together as they make the 70,000 light year journey back home. The idea was that as each side was on opposite ideological fences, it would create tension and conflict on board the ship, especially as Chakotay has been promoted to second in command which might annoy some of the Starfleet loyalists. The problem was, the conflict idea was pretty much dropped by the second season as everyone became friends and Chakotay was left with nothing to do other than flirt with Captain Janeway and go on Spirit Walks. Yes being Native American, we had endure him do Native Americany stuff like go on spirit walks and talk to his ancestors. It didnt develop the Chakotay character, it just made any episode centered on him a total drag. With the writers having no idea what to do with him for the whole series, he was the victim of that age-old-quick-fix for any fledgling character, the rushed romance. Never mind the fact that a Chakotay and Janeway romance was teased from the get-go, near the end of Voyagers run, we were suddenly supposed to believe that he was locking lips with Borg bombshell, Seven Of Nine. Robert Beltran wasnt oblivious to the fact that his character was threading water for most of the series. He was very vocal to the point that even the danger of being fired didnt deter him. He said;
Im just kind of a blunt person and, because I have brain, I can see problems and so Im vocal about them. I think a lot of the actors were feeling the same way, but for me it was like, OK, you can fire me if you want to. Go ahead, and Ill leave. That gave me a certain amount of freedom. I was single at the time. I didnt have to worry about a family like everybody else on the show, except maybe Garrett . I felt like I was telling the truth, and if people cant take the truth, thats fine with me, but Im not going to be stifled by the prospect of being fired.
In any case, Beltrans fault or the writers and producers, Chakotay was an immensely dull character in a crew that didnt have many shining stars.
Most entertaining moment: Having found out is Marquis girlfriend Seska was actually a surgically altered, Cardassian spy. She defects from Voyager to the Kazon but not before stealing some of Chakotays DNA and impregnating herself. This was genuinely interesting storyline but it occurred early in Voyagers run and also marked an early peak for Chakotay.