After my Week of Unplesent Movies, I needed a pallet cleanser post. It has been a while since I talked about my journey through the "Star Trek" series, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to write an update. I have gotten through "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager" series. In the past few weeks, I started watching "Enterprise" (there is nothing worth mentioning with that series just yet, so it will remain absent from this post).

"The Next Generation"

"Next Gen" set itself apart from the original series in that everything felt bigger. The ship felt like a place where people lived and worked. There were families and children, and not everyone on board Enterprise" was an officer in Star Fleet. Overall, I really liked the series. I will admit that there were a lot of stinker episodes (as happens in a long-running show), but all the ones heralded as classics lived up to the hype.

I also watched all the "Next Gen" movies, and much like the original series movies, the quality varies wildly. The first two, "Generations" and "First Contact," are solid "Star Trek" stories. The last two, "Insurrection" and "Nemesis," are not good.

"Deep Space Nine"

Before I get too deep into this, I need to say this. I liked "Deep Space Nine." I think it was hampered by the conceit that DS9 was a space station, not a starship. That sense of exploration that I love in "Star Trek" was missing. What kept me watching, besides the fact that I am watching all the "Treks," was the characters.

Odo, the shapeshifting constable of DS9 (played beautifully by Rene Auberjonois), had an incredible arch in the show. At one point, the major villains are other members of Odo's race. He is caught between two worlds and has to deal with his love for the people he calls his family and his loyalty to his species.

"Voyager"

I must be honest; this whole post was to justify talking about "Star Trek: Voyager." It is, hands down, my favorite "Trek." Captain Kathrine Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew of Voyager are pulled to the far side of the galaxy, 75 years away from their friends, family, and Starfleet.

There are not many hills I would die on, but Janeway is the best Star Trek captain is one of them. Her crew is in an impossible situation, but she holds them together. Some of them are former members of The Maquis, a terrorist organization (it's a bit more complicated than that). Still, she takes them onto Voyager and makes them part of her crew. Part of it is by necessity since they are so far from home. Many of them become confidants of Janeway as she gets everyone home.

This show is incredible. That last season was one of the most consistently great things I have ever watched. Even knowing they would get home in the end, the final seventh season was an engaging, thrilling, emotional rollercoaster. If I were to rewatch a "Star Trek" series, this would be it. Sure, there are a few bad episodes (recently, I have seen articles about two of the most divisive episodes of "Tuvix" and "Threshold"). However, the show shakes off the stench of those and still represents the best that "Star Trek" can be.