The fact that Voyager is still running holodecks is not talked about enough, because excuse me whAT. They are rationing food and replicator use. They close down a whole deck to save energy. And they're RUNNING HOLODECKS? Deeply unserious space fleet. Honestly shocking that there wasn't a holodeck on the Defiant. How did Trek humans even won any wars with that crippling holodeck addiction
Ok so I get it I also think it’s strange but they do say that the holodeck has an independent energy system which can’t be used for replicators etc which seems a bit bullsit but whatever. If we assume that the holodeck uses a lot less energy than we think it does, and that the energy from a day’s holodeck use would make one or two replicator meals then that is quite negligible for a crew of about 150 people.
Holodecks aren’t just an activity room in Voyager, they function very much like communal places in a way that they haven’t done in any other Star Trek show that I’ve seen (so far). Voyager is a smaller ship, and apart from the mess hall there aren’t a lot of places to socialize. Also, the crew on Voyager are on this ship against their will and think they might be for their whole lives. The holodeck is what keeps Voyager from being a prison.
Even if the holodeck took a lot of energy, I’d argue that it’s correct to prioritise it. The Swedish Sci-fi film Aniara is also about a ship that’s most probably lost in space forever. *Spoilers* things quickly go south when that ship’s holodeck equivalent stops working and I believe Voyager would have suffered a similar fate if Janeway removed the holodecks for a few more replicator rations.
Ron Moore hated the way VOY used holodecks. He said it was as if the Skipper and Gilligan had a color TV in their hut.
VOY didn't seem to like their own premise much, which I found disappointing. Even if they were determined to keep the holodecks, I'd have liked to see more evidence of the cost of that choice. Like, is it really necessary for them to wear costumes? The holocharacters don't notice when supposed German officers are reptilian aliens, or that the bartender has pointed ears, or that the Nazi's mistress has ridges on her forehead. Surely they could also not notice people's clothing.
If it was necessary to replicate costumes...we should have seen people sharing them. Maybe we see an extra wearing Janeway's governess dress, waiting outside the holodeck for Tom and Harry to finish. Janeway's done with her holonovel, and has lent it, and the costume, to someone else.
If you read behind the scenes stuff, like A Vision of the Future, it's clear that what they really wanted was to make TOS again. They thought DS9 had drifted too far from "real Trek," and wanted to go back to Trek's roots.
Janeway was repeatedly described as "a female Kirk." Writers were told that any lines they wrote for Janeway should fit Kirk as well. If you can't imagine Kirk saying it, Janeway shouldn't say it.
I think they wanted Voyager to be out of contact with Starfleet so Janeway would be free to take charge, like Kirk (and unlike Picard). That whole space pioneers thing.
I suspect they found the TOS model didn't work, because they had race and gender issues TOS didn't, with its all white male main cast. They were afraid to let Tuvok and Chakotay challenge Janeway, the way Spock and McCoy could challenge Kirk. Because she's just a girl, and it would undermine her fragile, female authority. The closeness between Kirk and Spock would have been seen as romantic between a man and a woman (heck, it was anyway!), and so they shied away from the Janeway-Tuvok relationship. (Black man/white woman was a third rail back then. Still is, kinda.)
And a Spock-McCoy kind of conflict between Tuvok and Chakotay would have been seen as sexual jealousy over Janeway, so their relationship was downplayed. Janeway, Tuvok, and Chakotay were supposed to be the Big Three of VOY. Instead, Tuvok and Chakotay faded into the woodwork.
Anyways, I think they wanted isolation from the Federation, but not really the privation of being a lone starship far from home. At the beginning, there was talk of holodeck rations, but by the end, Seven can fall asleep on the holodeck and no one even notices.
