Why shouldn’t Jennifer Lynn’s sack be cut from Star Trek: Voyager?

The character of Kes (Jennifer Lynn) in Star Trek: Voyager has been controversial from the beginning. It belonged to a species called Ocampa, which was only nine years old. Kes was only two years old in the Voyager pilot (Lien was 19) and was dating character Neelix (Ethan Phillips). Many audience members found it disturbing that a grown man would be dating a two-year-old.

However, the concept of a short-lived character was interesting. “Star Trek: The Next Generation” ended after seven seasons, and there was every reason to believe that the concurrent “Deep Space Nine” would do the same, so it looks like “Voyager” is set to run for a full seven years. During that time, the audience would see Kiss grow from being a 20-year-old to a 90-year-old. Trekkies will watch Kiss mature, grow up, and die in seven years, an entire life in microcosm. And yes, dear readers, she did give up on Neelix in the end.

However, Kes was written out of Voyager at the end of its third season. Unlike “The Next Generation” before it, “Voyager” struggled to achieve high ratings, so its showrunners were constantly trying to boost its numbers with cheap tricks. There was a 3D bikini beach that the cast regularly visited, clumsily adding half-naked bodies to the show. Then, in a final effort, Kes was removed from the show And it was replaced by the clothes of Seven of the Nine Cats (Jeri Ryan), “Borg’s lover.” In the words of one of the producers.

Unfortunately, it worked. The “Voyager” writers liked Seven of Nine more than Kes, and Seven became, essentially, the new star of the show. Ryan had the look of a magazine model and wore a tight corset throughout her time on the show. Seven was an interesting character, but it was clear that the Voyager showrunners added her for reasons of sex appeal. Suddenly the pronoun “Voyager” disappeared. Kes was off the show and the whole dynamic changed.

I would argue that Kes was vital to Star Trek: Voyager in ways that the show’s creators never fully exploited. She was, unlike the Starfleet characters, innocent, possessing a natural pacifism and a sense of youthful curiosity. She was the guardian of mercy. Neelix sometimes felt jealous when she talked to other men, but it was clear that Kes was forming healthy social relationships. She was also the first person to assume this The ship’s anthropomorphic doctor (Robert Picardo) He was alive and encouraged Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to take peaceful courses of action when Janeway’s first course of action seemed needlessly harsh. Janeway would often walk the USS Voyager Thunder through a difficult scenario. Then Kes steps in and reminds her of a gentler path.

Kes basically reined in Janeway’s dark impulses. She was the conscience of the show, which is vital to Star Trek. The characters, for the most part, seek to take the most ethical course of action and strive to do as little harm as possible. Although Janeway was assertive, she tended toward harsh tyranny, and often took risks she didn’t need to take. Kes, if left in the series, could have continued to balance Janeway, reminding her to be kind.

Kes also served as a vital teacher to the Doctor. The hologram was younger than Kes, having only recently been activated. The two observed humanity with an outside eye, trying to figure out what human behavior should look like and what the two could ideally achieve. Like Data (Brent Spiner) on Next Generation, Case looked at humanity with her own unique perspective. A hologram and a young alien are raising each other. That would have made for some good stories.

However, the authors of “Voyager” were never fully interested in the capabilities of Kes. There were very few scenes in which Kes and Janeway could compete morally. She had the potential to be a continuing counterpart to Janeway and perhaps become the second most important character on the show, had the writers tapped into her myriad potential. At the very least, the dynamic between Kes and the Doctor came across as a good emotional hook. One can see the mutual familial affection for each other.

Instead, the writers returned to soap opera dynamics, inventing a boring love triangle between Kees, Neelix, and Tom Paris (Robert Duncan MacNeil). No one, not even the actors, liked this story.

When “Voyager” began to decline in the ratings, the decision was made to remove one of the characters and replace her with a Borg character. Rumors circulated that Paramount was Choosing between Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and Kiss, but Wang was saved when he appeared in a prominent issue of TV Guide. The bag was out. In the show’s mythology, Kes’ budding psychic powers became too powerful and she needed to get away from the USS Voyager to learn how to control them. In the seventh step of nine, the aforementioned “Borg babe.”

The dynamic between Janeway and Seven was more prickly and more antagonistic. Seven was a more active and determined character, challenging Janeway’s authority. The writers loved this conflict and milked it for all it was worth. The book also gave Seven every possible job. She served as scientific officer, Borg expert, and supervisor of the new astrometrics laboratory. The Doctor took Case’s lessons and became the teacher, telling Seven everything he knew. Ratings soared.

But it’s unfortunate that the trick worked, because “Voyager” lost its philosophical core. For a series that is all about pacifism, it was a shame that Voyager’s most pacifist character was cut out. Seven was fine, but the bag should have remained.