#I completely forgot about the Equinox crew joining Voyager until someone in a tag on an unrelated post said they were missed opportunity

[bumblingbabooshka]

Honestly the Equinox survivors being a running Thing in Voyager instead of never being mentioned again after they're assimilated into Voyager's crew is something I never thought of before but that has SO much potential. Both in showing how far the Maquis and Starfleet crews have grown (they are now a united front!) and also having new blood in the water when it comes to 'crew vs crew' storylines. (Voyager barely did anything with the Maquis v Starfleet thing in the first place but y'know) Ex: Are the Equinox crew held in contempt by the rest of the crew? Unlike the Maquis, their motives are far less sympathetic, and yet there's a core of dark relatability to them. They all want to survive. They were all thrown into this quadrant without wanting to be. If they were in the same position as Equinox's crew, not a captain or commander - but an ensign etc. Would they have stood up and said something? Does the introduction of this new blood stir up old grievances with the existing crew? (They are a Starfleet crew turned Criminal, there are parallels to both sides of the crew) Does it unite them into a larger 'us' to vs 'them' - and is that unity coming at the expense of these new crew members? Are there people that are sympathetic to the Equinox crew under these circumstances and do they too start being treated with contempt? Is the Equinox crew is being treated poorly, does it stir up resentment amongst them? Does it lead to them isolating themselves further, giving the crew even less chance to get to know them? Do people feel less inclined to protect and stand up for these crewmembers? How culpable are the members of the Equinox crew? Should they be forgiven, can they be forgiven? Do the Equinox crew feel like actual members of Voyager? Do they suffer from any trauma from what they went through and what they ended up resorting to to survive? What can be done to help them, should we help them? Do they deserve to suffer? Are some of the Equinox crew resentful? On all sides: Do they mean us harm? Can we trust them? Can we trust them? Can we trust them? Picture an episode where an Equinox crewmember is sent out and gets injured. That Equinox member then claims that they were sent out intentionally by a member of Starfleet with intent to harm them. We then see an investigation carried out - multiple people with varying complicated allegiances all within the crew talk about what they saw, what they think happened, etc and as we slowly shift focus to the crew itself (shifting focus from our main characters - this is Voyager's 'Lower Decks' episode) we see that crew relations are not as blandly positive as the senior staff think. In the end, it's determined that what happened was a normal accident with no ulterior motives. But we the audience aren't sure, and we're left with that uncertainty.